Friday, November 20th, 2009 at 11:35 am | By: Radical Russ
(Seattle Times) Tim Lincecum just did a conference call with reporters to talk about winning the Cy Young Award for the second year in a row. I’ll have some of his comments on that in a bit, but at the end of the call, Lincecum made a statement on his recent traffic stop in Hazel Dell, Washington, about four miles north of the Oregon border, on Oct. 30. It’s the first time he’s talked about the incident.
Lincecum was stopped for speeding, and handed over 3.3 grams of marijuana and a pot pipe after officers smelled marijuana.
Lincecum was facing misdemeanor marijuana charges, but county prosecutors and the 25-year-old pitcher agreed to a plea agreement in which, as this San Francisco Chronicle story explains, he admits to one count of buying or selling a pot pipe, an infraction, in return for having misdemeanor charges of possessing the marijuana and the pipe dropped. Lincecum agreed to pay a $372 fine, but Clark County District Court Judge Darvin Zimmerman has still ordered Lincecum to appear in a Vancouver, Washington court on Dec. 22 for an arraignment. At that time, the plea deal will be presented and most likely approved, according to the Chronicle story.
At any rate, here’s what Lincecum said today (the guidelines for the conference call were that all questions were to be about baseball, and Lincecum said this is all he can say about the matter right now):
“I made a mistake and I regret my actions earlier this month in Washington. I want to apologize to the Giants organization and the fans. I know as a pro athlete I have a responsibility to conduct myself appropriately on and off the field. I certainly learned a valuable lesson from all of this. I promise to do better in the future.”
Another half-assed apology from another superstar pro athlete. Is he apologizing for his use of marijuana or for speeding through Hazel Dell? What is he promising to do better in the future, use cruise control? I guess it is a good thing that athletes like Phelps and Lincecum apologize for their “mistake” without ever claiming that smoking marijuana itself is the mistake, instead of getting caught being the mistake.
Still, I’m just happy that Lincecum must appear in Clark County court for arraignment. I’m putting together an informative protest in Vancouver, WA, on Tuesday, Dec 22, won’t you join me?
Thursday, November 19th, 2009 at 5:08 pm | By: Radical Russ
NORML SHOW LIVE provides you with exclusive access to Oregon’s world-famous Cannabis Café, this Saturday Night from 6pm-8pm Pacific.
You’ve read about it on the Reuters wire, New York Times, the Times of London, and even Al Jazeera, USA Today, and the Associated Press will be bringing you the story soon, but only “Radical” Russ can get you inside the first café exclusively for Oregon’s 21,000 medical marijuana cardholders.
Madeline Martinez from Oregon NORML and the NORML Board joins us to describe how her vision of a cannabis café has become a reality. We also speak to the patients in the café enjoying cannabis liberty in a way few outside Amsterdam enjoy.
We’ve upgraded to the latest 4G WiMax wireless technology to bring you the best remote audio possible from the café. Cannabis Karri will be screening your calls from back in the studio and Cousin Kenny will take your questions online via our live chat window.
It’s two hours of live talk radio from the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. Hosted by “Radical” Russ Belville, NORML SHOW LIVE features a recap of the week’s top stories in medical marijuana, consumer cannabis, and industrial hemp; interviews with the top cannabis activists, politicians, scientists, doctors, actors, musicians, and comedians; and your calls live at 347-994-1810.
Monday, November 16th, 2009 at 4:47 pm | By: Radical Russ
(WestWord) According to [Colorado State Senator Chris] Romer, he spoke to the [student newspaper] in order to reach students at the University of Colorado, among others. His goal: to shine a spotlight on his thoughts concerning the creation of “a medical review board for those under the age of 25.” He doubts that marijuana is medically necessary for a lot of younger people who’ve managed to get a doctor’s approval for obtaining it. As he puts it, “There’s some evidence of abuse in that age category when you correlate the statistics about conditions that can benefit from medical marijuana and then cross-correlate that data with those under 25.”
He’d like to “tighten up the requirements to get approval to receive medical marijuana. I’d like the initial review to include a full physical, and then that diagnosis would be sent to a second review board for their concurrence.”
What exactly is this “abuse” Sen. Romer is concerned with? That some young people might not be in quite enough pain to really deserve medical marijuana? That a person under age 25 might receive a recommendation from a doctor who doesn’t quite have the medical training and background to evaluate pain to Sen. Romer’s standards?
Here’s what I don’t understand about people who cry about “abuse” of medical marijuana. Let’s assume you have a 21-year-old who is smoking pot. Irrespective of any physical ailment, whether she lives with absolute torture from chronic pain or she just gets an annoying headache every six months, how would you prefer the 21-years-old’s use of marijuana be dealt with? Should we:
Require her to visit a physician who verifies her ailment, have her fill out paperwork with the state, pay a fee to the state, become listed in a state registry, receive an identification card, and purchase marijuana from a regulated facility, where her ID and recommendation are checked, no minors are allowed, and her purchase creates jobs in a tough economy and generates sales taxes for the state; or
Have her find a friend with a connection or a dealer in a park, where no doctor sees her, her use is unknown to the state, and all revenues generated support everything from a dealer buying a new sports car to a Mexican cartel buying a local cop.
“If a patient has cancer or multiple sclerosis, that’s not going to be particularly hard to document in a physical review,” he maintains. “But 90 percent of the people who come in under the category of ‘chronic pain,’ we’ll go through a little more due diligence. Those who really do have chronic pain will make it through the system, and those who are abusing the system will not.”
So in addition to the review already performed by a patients’ doctor, Sen. Romer wants another full physical by another doctor, and a review panel of still more doctors to make sure that the patient is in severe enough pain to warrant the recommendation of a non-toxic herb. Even Oxycontin, Vicodin, and morphine patients aren’t subject to that type of strict review! Because if someone was only in slight pain and using medical marijuana, why, that would… uh… well, I’m not sure what the down side is there aside from denying an opportunity for police to arrest someone who was willing to visit a doctor, pay a fee, and get a card to smoke pot.
As for those people “who set up a clinic with a pool table and video games,” Romer says, “that model isn’t going to fly — and I don’t think they’re going to be around in six months.”
“I’ve come across dispensaries and caregivers who I think provide fantastic care for their patients,” Romer emphasizes. “But I’ve also come across dispensaries that resemble frat houses, not clinics. I don’t know if 50 percent or more are in the frat house mode, but those in the clinical mode will survive, and those in the frat-house mode will go out of business — and the sooner, the better. And for people who really need medical marijuana, that’s a good thing.”
What does that mean, “frat house mode”? Does that mean medicine can only be dispensed and administered in a sterile, clinical, serious place and that all forms of entertainment must be abolished? What then of hospitals with their TVs in every patients’ room, or with a social area with board games or video games? What Sen. Romer and others don’t understand is that we are social animals and that many patients lose so many social outlets because they cannot use their medicine in a public place. If you suffer chronic pain and you have a Vicodin prescription, you can go to the movie, concert, parade, club, ballgame, or play, and if sitting still for three hours becomes too painful, you can open your pill bottle and pop a Vicodin. Medical marijuana patients don’t have that option because of the illegality of marijuana for healthy people and lack of smoking areas even if it were legal. So many dispensaries in California and Colorado and now the café in Oregon provide a place for patients to enjoy some social interaction and entertainment in comfort and safety.
Monday, November 16th, 2009 at 2:47 pm | By: Radical Russ
Cheech & Tommy hit the road this winter!
(CheechandChongTour.com) Cheech & Chong: Get It Legal is the follow-up to their hugely successful reunion tour, Cheech & Chong: Light Up America, where they performed together for the first time in over 25 years. The pop culture duo performed for more than 100 audiences and quickly became one of the most sought after shows of 2008-2009. Additionally, their performance in San Antonio, Texas was filmed by the Weinstein Company and will be released as Cheech and Chong’s: Hey Watch This on 4/20 of next year.
“We had an amazing time last year reconnecting with each other and our fans in a way that felt like it was part of our DNA, we were meant to be together,” said Cheech Marin. “In 2010 we are looking forward to doing more classic material that people haven’t seen for years and years, performing more of our songs and introducing some new bits. We’ve had material brewing separately for the past 25 years,” said Tommy Chong.
The Cheech & Chong: Get It Legal tour is scheduled to make 17 stops across North America including Boulder, Indianapolis, Baltimore, Bellingham, Portland, Santa Barbara, Tampa, Minneapolis, Rockford, Detroit, Louisville, DC, Bakersfield, Phoenix, and Fort Worth with Canadian stops in Regina, and Saskatoon. Additional dates to be announced soon. Chong’s wife and comedy partner, Shelby Chong, will open all dates on the tour as well as DJ-Joey Mojo. Fan club members will have access to presale tickets beginning November 17th at CheechandChongTour.com.
Monday, November 16th, 2009 at 2:20 pm | By: Radical Russ
(Washington Post) A federal survey of Americans’ drug use shows that [Joe Lee, a 62-year-old, and his friends] are not the only baby boomers approaching the age of retirement much as they departed the Age of Aquarius — with an occasional case of the munchies. The government’s most recent survey showed that the share of marijuana users ages 50 to 59 increased from 5.1 percent in 2002 to almost 10 percent in 2007.
Some of those users are empty-nesters, returning to the drug decades after their pot habits gave way to raising children and building careers. Others, like Lee, have kept using pot all along, researchers said.
[O]lder marijuana users say they are living evidence that smoking pot does not preclude a normal life, and more older smokers seem more comfortable than at any point since their teen years with going public — a tribute, they say, to a big boost in public tolerance of marijuana use.
“I don’t think more people in their 50s are smoking marijuana. I think we are just more comfortable talking about it,” said Rick Steves, who writes travel guidebooks and hosts a public TV series on travel. At 54, the clean-cut guru of mass-market European tourism has begun to present himself as the hard-working, successful face of the longtime smoker.
“Even my pastor knows I smoke pot,” said Steves, who was recently named Lutheran activist of the year for his work on international poverty relief.
One older smoker who doesn’t mind outing herself is Florence Siegel, an 88-year-old artist from New York who has been smoking regularly since her early 50s. That’s when the family’s pediatrician suggested they try marijuana together to see “what the kids were so excited about.” The pediatrician didn’t feel a thing. Siegel said she never stopped.
Now her routine is to sit in her favorite chair each evening, listen to Bach and take a few hits from one of her many pipes. Marijuana boosts her creativity and helps with joint pain that has come with aging, she said.
Siegel smokes occasionally with her daughter Loren Siegel, 64, a recently retired lawyer. But does her 93-year-old husband ever join her?
“Oh, no,” she said. “Well, only very rarely.”
I know some sixty-, seventy- and eighty-year-olds who occasionally use cannabis, and some who still drink coffee, and a few who even still use alcohol and tobacco. I can’t say that I’ve met one yet who was an active cocaine, heroin, or methamphetamine user.
There is a joke in medical marijuana circles that “after forty, all use is medical.” There is a certain grain of truth to that, though. Even as I approach age 42, I can feel pain in my knees and back that never used to bother me before. When you think of the things marijuana can be used to treat – arthritis, chronic pain, Alzheimer’s, cancer, and so on – it seems to be a natural fit for many seniors who’d prefer an herbal remedy over a handful of increasingly expensive pills.
Monday, November 16th, 2009 at 12:25 pm | By: Radical Russ
Show 012 This Saturday, 9pm Eastern / 6pm Pacific
My deepest apologies to those of you who tried listening last Saturday to Show 011, the Grand Opening of the Oregon NORML Cannabis Café. We were beset by technical difficulties and could not complete the show.
I will solve the technical issues and return this weekend to Oregon’s first Cannabis Café. Oregon’s law does not allow for marijuana sales, but does allow patients to medicate “out of public view”. Any cardholder may freely exchange medicine with any other. So Madeline Martinez and Oregon NORML have created a private, members-only club for the social benefit of medical marijuana patients.
However, this is not a medical marijuana dispensary with a café; this is a café for medical marijuana patients. Patients can visit the smoke-free vapor bar where a budtender will load up one of six Volcano Vaporizers, fill the bag with the vapor of any one of more than twenty of the strains available, and cap it with a sterilized mouthpiece. Others bring their own pipes or papers and request a small ceramic bowl filled with their choice of freshly-ground cannabis strain and roll a joint as they play pool or smoke a bowl as they join in a card game. All sorts of café food and drink are available, though not alcoholic beverages (the owner surrendered his liquor license rather than fight with the commission over the use of cannabis in the café.) Many have questioned how this café can operate due to Oregon’s smoke-free laws, but the actual statutes in question specifically reference “tobacco smoke”. Thus, no tobacco smoking is allowed in the café.
Most amazingly, all the cannabis is provided free through the donations of local area medical marijuana growers. Oregon’s law provides for six mature plants, eighteen seedlings, but only twenty-four ounces of dried, cured marijuana. I say “only” and people’s jaws drop, wishing they could possess 24 grams, much less a pound and a half of marijuana. But that works out to four ounces per mature plant, which some growers are able to surpass, so they donate their excess to Oregon NORML for distribution to patients. In fact, on the day of the Grand Opening, the café had more marijuana at the end of the day then they had started with, thanks to generous donations.
While I attended on Saturday night, two officers from the Portland Police Bureau stopped by to investigate the operations. They were very friendly and just wanted to know where the medicating was taking place and how Oregon NORML was controlling the situation. They were pleased to learn how relentlessly ID’s and medical cards were being checked and that the front entrance was closed as a measure to help control the smell from permeating the public area. The police let everyone know that they had no intention of harassing the club or its patrons and that absent any complaints from neighbors the Cannabis Café would be free to operate.
Annual membership in Oregon NORML is required, since it is a private club, as well as monthly club dues, which go to support Oregon NORML’s lobbying and outreach efforts and pay the overhead of running the club, respectively. This Saturday, November 21, we’ll return to the café and speak to Madeline Martinez and these patients and hear their medical marijuana stories, as well as taking questions about the café from the live audience and our callers. It’s live talk radio from the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. Hosted by “Radical” Russ Belville, NORML SHOW LIVE features a recap of the week’s top stories in medical marijuana, consumer cannabis, and industrial hemp; interviews with the top cannabis activists, politicians, scientists, doctors, actors, musicians, and comedians; and your calls live at 347-994-1810. Join us every Saturday Night, live, at http://live.norml.org from 9-11pm Eastern / 6-8pm Pacific.
Tuesday, November 10th, 2009 at 6:07 pm | By: Radical Russ
Joss Stone: “I smoke cannabis, but I don’t think it’s really a drug. It’s more of a herb. I don’t regret saying that at all.”
(Celebrity Health & Fitness) Joss Stone, the UK singer, who rose to fame at 16 because of her sultry, blues-inflected voice, is determined to live a rock star life. She openly admits she smokes marijuana and says she is likely to “dabble” in other illegal drugs because they look like “fun.” Is she high, or just crazy?
Stone said cannabis is less harmful than alcohol, and while she acknowledged that drugs are horrible, she said the also sound like “fun.”
“I might dabble now and then,” she declared. “I smoke cannabis, but I don’t think it’s really a drug. It’s more of a herb. I don’t regret saying that at all.”
First, if you haven’t heard Joss Stone sing, do yourself a favor and find one of her tracks. I first heard her when she was hitting at age 16 but it wasn’t until I saw her on Austin City Limits with Michael McDonald that I realized she wasn’t an African-American woman singing in an old black church’s choir since the age of 3 like I’d suspected, but she was some white teenage British girl!
Now I have even more reason to like her.
Plus, let’s not get too outraged over her saying that she might dabble with drugs. She’s telling one of the secrets about hard drugs they never tell you in school: they are fun. Why do you think people do them? There are people who have taken all manner of drugs, enjoyed their experiences, and didn’t become addicts. There are also people who have played Russian Roulette and not shot themselves in the skull. Drugs themselves aren’t bad; to quote Clapton, “it’s in the way that you use it”.
Some will read this and think I’m encouraging hard drug use. Nope. Neither encouraging or discouraging, I’m just telling it like it is. Drugs are fun… until they stop becoming fun anymore. That’s why I prefer cannabis. Nineteen years with Mary Jane and she’s still fun.
Monday, November 9th, 2009 at 8:10 pm | By: Radical Russ
I get the most incredible emails, and I mean “incredible” as in “it strains credibility” to believe this really happens in America.
My name is [Bob]. I’m 23 years old and I’m from … Mississippi. Until this year I had never been convicted of a crime. I had never even had a speeding ticket. I was on my way home from work and I was pulled over. I got caught with a stem on my floorboard. Which probably wouldn’t even register as .01 [grams] on a scale. The officer searched my vehicle 4 times before he even found it. I was arrested and taken to [jail.] My vehicle was impounded. I lost my job and eventually my home. I bonded out and received my court date later in the mail. When I went to court I received an 1100 dollar fine and my license was suspended for 6 months. The funny thing was a repeat offender 2 cases before me only received a 600 dollar fine for simple assault. He also received a set number of hours in an anger management class. His charge was for beating his pregnant girlfriend. I have lost faith in America and our leaders. Marijuana is a wonderful herb and I enjoy the way it makes me feel. Sometimes I suffer with horrible depression and marijuana makes me feel soooooo much better. I’m a musician as well and marijuana stimulates my mind in ways that I never could naturally. … Anyways I figured I would share this with you so you could see how bad we have it down here in Mississippi.
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.
mr reuben: Russ is MPP that much bigger then norml?
Radical Russ: Whoo hoo! After two weeks of being hella-busy between DPA & Café, I'm finally caught up! That means STASH at 6PM! Hooray! (Apologies to Jack the [...]
Radical Russ: WakeUpDead, the answer to your question is money.
Missippi Hippy: recommend copy/paste that email addy to your own service... too much info using theirs... stuff I couldn't answer... same with the Prez
Missippi Hippy: 'ts been a good day for blowing off steam.
Missippi Hippy: Then, in my own words asked them to make changes.
Missippi Hippy: Here is the email addy for the doj
AskDOJ@usdoj.gov
I sent them a letter starting with this statement...The American Medical Association (AMA), our largest medical professional organization, voted on Nov [...]
Adam: Italian prosecutor "Or perhaps after smoking hash, they decide to include Meredith in an extreme sexual game" Hash smoking blamed in Amanda Knox murder trial.
Missippi Hippy: Aaah 1987... my third year in Hawaii. No schwaggie stuff for me... it was da kine Maui Wowie n Kona bud for this whiskey swillin, beer guzzlin', doobie puffin', ho [...]
WakeUpDead: 1987, wow flashback, think that was a huge Acid Summer, well alot were between 85-90, Um "The Dead" were still around and life was alot simpler. Dirt weed was abounding [...]
MrSpof: Off topic but there's no way any geek wouldn't want to build this http://tinyurl.com/yhj6h6a , get , and mow the damned grass
WakeUpDead: Wow when did Thrus 19th stash post? Missed it all day, never looked. Oh well I get to have two new stashes tonight + CCS on Ustream too. Happy 420!
MrSpof: Time for another weekend funny story? Scooch up and listen: A long time ago in an apartment far, far away, my roomie and I scored some absolute crap weed in [...]
WakeUpDead: Im still wondering why Cheech and Chong went with MPP to do their new tour. Im kinda peeved, why didnt they invite all reform groups be represented? I dont understand?
Adam: I wish I had a job
lost my a year ago...
MrSpof: The 3B high: accept no substitutes. If this had been an actual emergency, would have been served.
Missippi Hippy: Yes... work is That is why I retired at 48, or should I say... I fired my bosses and replaced them with myself.
mr reuben: oh wait now it works. hah
mr reuben: using mozilla and it didn't seem to work
RevRayGreen: mr reuben.....we would tell you but we would have too...just kidding are you using Mozilla or Exporer?
MrSpof: Thank god, the pain of another week is history. Work =
mr reuben: Thanks sameoldwine
sameoldwine: And on that cheery note, I bid you all a good weekend! Adios
Marijuana-Related Health Costs Minimal Compared To Those Of Alcohol, Tobacco; California Medical Association Says Pot Prohibition Is A "Failed Public Health Policy"; Oregon: State NORML Affiliate Opens First 'Cannabis Café'. […]
American Medical Association Calls For Scientific Review Of Marijuana's Prohibitive Status; Dutch Marijuana Use Lower Than European Average, Study Says […]
"Truth In Trials Act" Reintroduced In Congress; Maine: Voters Approve Medical Marijuana Dispensaries Measure; Colorado: Breckenridge Voters Overwhelmingly Decide To End Pot Penalties. […]
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. […]
2-time Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum’s marijuana mea culpa
wouldn't want to build this 
, and mow the damned grass 
lost my a year ago...
would have been served.
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