I am the producer of The NORML Network, the host of the NORML SHOW LIVE and The NORML Stash Blog, and NORML's Outreach Coordinator. I'm married, live in Portland, Oregon, and I am a registered medical marijuana caregiver in this state. I've worked days as an IT geek and nights as a professional musician. Previously, I have been the host of my own political talk radio show on satellite radio. I've been the High Times "Freedom Fighter of the Month" and I travel across the country to educate people on marijuana reform. I've dedicated my life to bringing an end to adult marijuana prohibition and re-legalizing cannabis hemp, and I'm honored to be chosen by NORML to give voice to the Marijuana Nation and to speak for those who can't speak up.
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If only we could get “The Emperor Wears No Clothes” on some kind of mandatory reading list in High School…or college if we’re worried about the children. With a bit of education nobody can refute the wonders of the weed. Problem is the government has a lock on the education of the nation. I guess that’s where we come in.
I know, I know… I was making more of a diss at mainstream media, not FOX’s political views. CNN, FOX, MSNBC, they’re all the same to me on the marijuana issue.
I hope you liked my Conservatives for Legalization column.
I thought dr.Nancy was gonna have an orgasm over McCaffery….pretty sure she was wet.
Maybe you should Russ! You could do well editing a book with Dr. Mitch, Paul, and other experts with a chapter. The book should be called something like “How to win the Debate on Cannabis”
MSNBC runs a biased, rigged, unintelligent discussion on medical cannabis and Russ disses Fox. That’s a classic.
Meanwhile, one of our nation’s best anti-prohibition activists, libertarian writer Radley Balko, has a regular column at FoxNews.com.
(Here’s his FoxNews column entitled “Casualties of a Corrupt Drug War.)
Russ, please remember that not everyone who opposes the Drug War is on The Left.
No. According to a NORML/MAPS study, told to me by Dr. Earleywine, bongs/water pipes are actually more harmful than pipes/joints, because the water filters some of the THC, so you’re getting more of a smoke hit. The order of use, from safest to least, is as follows
Vaporizer – most THC, no smoke
Joint – 2nd most THC, but smoke and hot air to lungs
Pipe – Some THC stuck on pipe, smoking of ash and resin which is tar-heavy and THC-light, hot air to lungs (the longer the pipe, the cooler the air, but the more THC stuck inside pipe
Waterpipe – Same as Pipe, but also with filtering of THC by water, producing a greater tar-to-THC ratio
Bong – Same as Waterpipe, but with more water to filter THC and surface area to catch THC
Just curious cause I was born in 1960 and grew up in a college town so weed was free and everywhere (as in you would run into a teacher at a party…weird). A lot of people used water bongs back then. Does anyone know if that was to just lower harshness or if it was considered to make smoking safer, like vaporization, and did it.
Oh…and exactly when did it become highly addictive
We need a super-smart(-ass) pro-pot pundit who can snap-back with these whipcrack responses that Russ idenitified and could pull off the closing argument:
“… and now a word from our sponsors, Viagrialis. Which will give you more wood than William Randolph Hearst!”
Yes sir, I was yelling all those things. You have taught me well.
Now Russ, don’t forget “real” medicine comes in precise dosages and with safety controls because that stuff is DANGEROUS!
Dr. Carter is a good guy; he spoke at our last NORML CON. However, he’s trying to play chess while cable pundit shows are more like Rock’em Sock’em robots. (Did I touch a nostalgia nerve with anyone?)
If you can’t give your rebuttal to Reefer Madness in a six-second stinging response, you cannot win a TV or radio talk panel, especially against two opponents who are definitely going to filibuster, because they’ve got no argument.
For example, when Marinol came up, the gut punch (and Dr. Carter almost hit it) is “Why is it 100% THC Marinol is safe and effective but 10% THC cannabis is ‘deadly super pot’?”
When they say Marinol works as well, the response is “Have you ever tried to swallow a pill while you’re puking from chemo?”
When they say pot has carcinogens in it, hit back with “Yeah, and water has hydrogen in it, an explosive gas. Aspirin has been deemed carcinogenic by the state of California, shall we stop taking Bayer?”
If it’s talk about FDA approval, reply with “Yes, and the FDA approved thalidomide, fen-phen, and Vioxx.”
Dr. Carter did get in the punch on smoked marijuana isn’t medicine with his vaporizer comments, but it can be done better. Vaporization is too obscure and hard to explain to lay-people. A better answer is “how much carcinogenic smoke is there in a pot brownie?”
If they go to the medical marijuana is a sham or a stalking horse for legalization, don’t disagree. “Yes, medical marijuana IS legalization – for sick people. Oxycontin is legal, but you don’t call it a stalking horse for Rush Limbaugh to get high, do you?”
If they say that obviously healthy people are getting medical marijuana, answer, “why do you think they are in such obvious good health?”
If they persist by saying that recreational users are using medical marijuana to get pot, deflect with “If they are, would you rather they give money to a drug dealer or pay taxes to the state in a well-lit, secure, adults only facility that checks ID and requires at least some interface with a doctor?” (That’s a bit long, so you could go with, “Well, at least they’re paying taxes and seeing a doctor, rather than funding the Mexical drug cartels.”)
Gee, somebody ought to write a book of this stuff and sell it at various hempfests and rallies over the late summer and early fall…
Good suggestion. If I’m ever on a talking head show, I’ll make sure to bring a Volcano and a brownie.
Isn’t it maddening to hear McCaffrey twaddle on about bringing new cannabinoid-based pharmaceuticals to market if ever they can come up with a proper (i.e. “no high”) delivery system? Yes, let’s take the plant, extract all its medically efficacious cannabinoids, and repackage it in a delivery system that we can patent, bar-code, and slap a 25,000% markup on it. That way, we can all feel safer when the official looking man in the white lab coat permits us to have it, dictates how we can use it, how often, how much, and for how long. Because leaving it as is in the natural state and letting people use it as they need it is anathema to the entire concept of Western Medicine. Sheesh, these are the same people who’ll spend good money and waste plastic buying bottles of aloe vera when they could grow it themselves and break off a frond (leaf? stalk?) and rub it on their skin and get better resluts.
But JT, one marijuana supporter vs. two opponents and a skeptical host, why, that’s just fair and balanced.
Whoops, that’s FOX. Like there’s a difference.
Whoops. It was MSNBC. It just sounded a lot like CNN. I wonder what Keith Olbermann thinks about this?
The segment is called, “Should marijuana be legalized? – with a set up discussing California’s discussion of legalizing marijuana for ALL use. Then, it turns out it’s really an attack on medical marijuana. Then, the deck is stacked against the one person who is defending medical marijuana. And the moderation looked like something out of Monty Python. EVERY time Dr. Carter began to mention “vaporization…..’, he was cut off.
CNN makes a great case for revolution. No wonder Jane divorced Ted.
Amazing. Vaporizers! I saw a doctor today because of asthma/allergies and I asked about the effect of vaporizing tobacco (I won’t say I’m MMJ patient or they might never help me) relating to small particulates causing inflammation (to make breathing difficult, possible COPD stuff; 23 is too young for COPD, good) and he answered…
“What’s a vaporizer?”
UGH..that was painful. I’m seeing the smoke as being the final argument against, I wish someone would bring a vaporizer on to the set, or some documentation. Bring a brownie or muffin as a visual aid… The opposition acts like they don’t even hear edibles or vaporizers. Their minds are so set against it… you know they have to argue every point because this is their big shot to be on TV… Also, it’s hard for an older generation to comprehend organically growing your own medicine or intoxicant, vaporizing or cooking it and thats that. They are so used to the old world where they needed a man in a lab coat to give them their medicine, so they can just quickly take the shortcut to relief by swallowing a pill… they cant comprehend the amount of work and nurturing it takes to grow cannabis, or how cheap it should be. Again that was PAINFUL.
I really wonder if these guys even beleive the crap they are selling? or Are they just sheep in the big scam of prohibition?
Oh and why didnt they respond to the new delivery system “Vaporizing”, they have no defence on that one yet, however if the FDA makes a synthetic version, that people can die from, then its OK?
Im SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO sick of this!!!!
Could have been worse. I felt sorry for the Ron Burgandy lookalike. It seems like the only way to lose a debate on marijuana is to not be given a chance to talk. Or by making dumb statements like “it’s a plant how can that be bad?” but usually the people that get interviewed are smarter than that.
Actually, yes! They all act like smoking is the only way to use cannabis. It’s the same ol same ol with the prohibitionists. I don’t even listen to what Barry McCaffrey has to say anymore because I know it’s going to be the same lies every time.
a few things:
1 I agree that vaporizing is better, but smoking marijuana is not as dangerous as smoking natural unadulterated tobacco (which we don’t sell in gas stations) – but it’s MY body!!!!
2 all these prohibitionists say “legalization just won’t work… look at all the problem we already have.” but they fail to point out that this WASN’T a problem until prohibition.
3 did McCaffery really say we should spend 200-400 million dollars to re-create marijuana (patents pending of course); and “… physicians should be unlimited in the use of appropriate pharmaceutical compounds…” (that is until the criminalization of that compound)
The worst thing is that these anti-marijuana ‘experts’ can’t even agree on the same language anymore. They don’t even try to stay current with anti-marijuana propaganda. They interchange ‘facts’ as they please and it’s sick, facts are not ad lib.
Ok, rant over ;)
Is she kidding!? EVERYBODY who consumes cannibis, benefits from it…as well as all those one interacts with during and after consumption.
And those same tired old arguments for prohibition, never anything new, never anything creative, just the power of raw lies and a gullible audience. We’ll see how much longer such a weak dam can hold up against a tidal wave of reality.
Isn’t McCaffery now SELLING WAR WEAPONS around the world?
pretty funny stuff here, thanks for posting!!!!
Dr Nancy obviously has not read the data from the LA study on cannabis smoke & lung cancer. Somebody get her a copy, stat!
As a “baby boomer” I can vouch for the good pot. They just didn’t know how to grow it well for a few years.
I watched it until Gen.Barry opened his prohibitionist mouth.
Same old slanted story where idots get to say whatever they want. Why do they always get away with their lies? Oh yeah, there must have been a Viagra add coming up during the break.
Anyone else screaming at their computer screens yet?
WE HAVE VAPORIZERS!
DR. DONALD TASHKIN!
GREAT POT EXISTED IN THE BABY BOOMERS’ TIME, TOO!
Kudos to Dr. Carter for keeping his cool.
She needs to be a lot better informed about Cannabis if she is going to have an hour medical show these days. It was a horrible format with 3 people who had only brief moments to speak. It takes a long time to right the misinformation, especially when 2 of the talking heads are ignorant. She and Rachel need to go to class.