Tuesday, October 13th, 2009 at 6:16 pm | By: Radical Russ
The folks who follow the big money at CBS MarketWatch can see the handwriting on the wall – there is too much money going underground in the War on Drugs that corporate America is missing out on:
ARROYO GRANDE, Calif. (MarketWatch) — Mexican drug lord “El Chapo” made the Forbes list of billionaires earlier this year. No, you can’t make this stuff up: He runs the Sinaloa cartel, a major supplier of cocaine to the United States. He’s an assassin, another bin Laden … and Forbes honors him right up there with the world billionaires.
Psychologist Anne Wilson Schaef saw the trend coming a couple decades ago: We’re a “Nation of addicts … our society is deteriorating at an alarming rate.” Why? We refuse to face the real problem: Demand. Legalizing it will.
Till then we’re losing the war. In a “nation of addicts” it doesn’t matter if drugs are legal or not … where the drugs come from … who gets hurt … nor if we have to waste hundreds of billions fighting ineffective wars to protect suppliers … a corrupt Afghan government, the source of 95% of the world’s heroin … or Mexico, the main traffic route for wholesalers feeding America’s addicts … or Big Pharma the biggest pusher for prescription drug addicts. When a “nation of addicts” needs a fix, they always find it.
Seriously, drugs are a megabusiness. America spends about $2.5 trillion on health care annually — including $315 billion in Big Pharma revenues last year. They must be secretly exploring the untapped market in illicit drug traffic that siphons off an estimated $400 billion annually — plus keep in mind another $175 billion on alcohol addiction.
If Big Pharma can capture part of the market share that’s now going to competing Mexican and Afghan drug warlords, then they can feed their shareholders addiction to earnings, feed their CEOs’ addiction for megamillion paychecks, while capitalizing on the American addicts need for a fix. We just need to end our moralistic charade, decriminalize and control all illicit drugs.
The truth is, there’s no war on drugs to win, nor to lose, just millions of addicts who need help. I’ve been in recovery 36 years. Back in the ’80s I worked professionally with hundreds who went through places like Betty Ford Center. Statistics show that over 10% of Americans are physiologically predisposed to addictive behavior. That will never change. It’s in our DNA.
Given that painful reality, Big Pharma should wise up and get ahead of the legalization trend. Lead it. If Big Pharma capitalizes on their unique experience, they can capture new products and new markets driven by the relentless demand for a fix. Lead in the development of a new national policy shifting away from military action to treatment, decriminalization and regulation, generate new sources of tax revenues, and help millions of addicted Americans.
Big Pharma is already on that trend, examining different ways of synthesizing the therapeutically-active cannabinoids in marijuana in pill, spray, lozenge, and inhaler form. The problem for Big Pharma is that their bar-coded, marked-up, highly-profitable cannabis drugs can’t compete with the raw cannabis plant itself. They need a system wherein raw plant cannabis is prohibited, but synthesized cannabinoid extracts are allowed. This would be somewhat like a cookie maker requiring a law that chocolate chip cookie dough is illegal, but a box of Chips Ahoy is not.
Furthermore, Big Pharma is also aware of reports from medical marijuana patients around the country who’ve found they can cut their need for prescription opioids and benzodiazepenes in half by using natural raw cannabis. Big Pharma can’t have a free plant competing with their cannabinoid drugs and reducing demand for their other products!
Thursday, September 17th, 2009 at 11:00 am | By: Radical Russ
(New York Daily News) ALBANY – Legislation sponsored by Assemblyman Richard Gottfried and Sen. Thomas Duane, both Manhattan Democrats, would make it legal for people with serious medical conditions to score limited amounts of marijuana from state-certified distributors or grow it themselves.
The bill has passed the Assembly but gone up in smoke in the Senate, where it is unlikely to win approval anytime soon.
[Marijuana Policy Project] is running the ads on WNBC-TV and local cable stations, hoping to woo key senators. The ads are also running upstate.
[New York City's] ABC, CBS and Fox affiliates harshed the group’s buzz by declining to run the ads, [MPP communication's director Bruce] Mirken added.
Well, these must have been some pretty controversial ads, right? Were there pot leaves flying all around as a cartoon dog and cartoon infant sing the praises of a “Bag of Weed”, as the New York City Fox affiliate showed when they aired the “Family Guy 420″ episode? Did it feature a teenager smoking pot as the New York City ABC affiliate showed when they aired an episode of Desperate Housewives? Was there an island dedicated to growing huge fields of marijuana as the New York City CBS affiliate showed when they aired an episode of Numb3rs?
Let’s take a look at these crazy hippie pothead dope smokin’ counterculture offensive advertisements, shall we?
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Monday, August 3rd, 2009 at 8:20 am | By: Radical Russ
Marijuana legalization is the hottest topic in the media these days. MSNBC, CNBC, CNN, FOX, NatGeo, and CBS News have presented special features on marijuana business, medical marijuana, and the marijuana legalization movement. Google Trends is showing double the interest in searches and news hits for the term “marijuana legalization”. Showtime’s hit series Weeds, about a suburban mom turned pot dealer, is entering its fifth season. Everywhere you look, corporate media are happy to profit from America’s most popular herb.
Unless you want to address marijuana’s illegality and the lives that are shattered by the effects of marijuana prohibition. In that case, the corporate media cannot have anything to do with you, even if you want to pay to broadcast the message of ending adult marijuana prohibition.
Sunday, July 19th, 2009 at 10:00 am | By: Radical Russ
Launching Sat. Sep. 5 - Labor Day Weekend
NORML SHOW LIVE will be a two-hour live program airing on CBS Streaming Radio’s “Chat About It .com” channel, as well as AOL (America Online) Music and Yahoo! Music Launchcast, every Saturday night from 9pm-11pm Eastern / 6pm-8pm Pacific.
CBS’s six New York City-based terrestrial radio stations will be promoting the channel, including the market-dominating news channels 1010 WINS and 880 WCBS, as well as presenting the channel on those stations’ websites.
As a decrepit old man, I can remember when marijuana legalization was a laughing matter. When thousands of your countrymen are dying and criminal profit are corrupting your government institutions, you get a little more serious about it, unless you’re an American politician. Mexican Ambassador Arturo Sarukhan joined CBS’ Bob Schieffer on Face the Nation on Sunday. When Bob Schieffer seriously brought up the issue of legalization Arturo has plenty to say.
“Those that suggest that some of these measures need to be looked at understand the dynamics of the drug trade; you have to bring demand down and one way to do it is to move in that direction [towards legalization]…There are many others who believe that doing this will just fan the flames, but this is a debate that needs to be taken seriously, that we have to engage in on both sides of the border: both in producing, in trafficking, and in consumption countries.”
Arturo Sarukhan knows that legaization is a touchy issue here and would not champion it for many reasons. But he is encouraging the U.S. (that means us) to take up the matter seriously. And for Mexico, this issue is as serious as life and death.
There’s a new video from CBS’s Health department with our own Dr. Mitch Earlywine in a point/counterpoint debate with Dr. Herbert Kleber. The show is refereed by Dr. Jon LaPook. The video is funny to me as medical professionals are generally much more polite than politicians or news folks when arguing with each other. It’s still pretty easy to see they both don’t particularly care for each other’s views.
Two doctors enter, one doctor leaves. Thunderdome!
Tuesday, February 3rd, 2009 at 2:39 pm | By: Radical Russ
(CBS) So far, there hasn’t been much negative reaction to the photo showing Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps smoking what appeared to be marijuana.Â
A few years ago, it might have ruined his career, but so far it hasn’t — perhaps a sign of changing attitudes.
The seeming lack of outrage… may reflect America’s changing attitudes towards marijuana – an estimated $30 billion dollar industry in the United States alone.
While a majority of Americans still oppose the legalization of marijuana use, a new CBS News poll shows a big swing in opinion in recent years.
Twenty-seven percent supported legalization in 1979; 41 percent support it today.
Understand that when you get “41% support legalization”, that’s over 2 out of 5 people when asked, “Should marijuana be legalized” who will say “yes.” Â That’s without any explanation of how, where, when, or for whom it will be legalized, so that includes the spectrum from “fine-only possession, jail for sales, cultivation, and trafficking” to “pre-rolled joints at the convenience store”.
When you change the question to actually define what you mean by “legalization”, the numbers rise. Â In a 2001 Zogby poll, ten weeks after 9/11, we found:
RevRayGreen: I'll post a pic of me and my son....gimme a minute
Missippi Hippy: Guess what... I'm gonna be a new... ummmmm well, my pet piggie Ganja is in labor and they ain't mine in the same sense. See what your wife [...]
RevRayGreen: days they didn't talk back..or act disrespectful..
RevRayGreen: feel so lucky my son is 18 going 19 and my daughter 16 going on 17..relish the days that can't talk back
Urb Age: Congrats Spof thats awesome. My little Clara is about to hit 20 months. Im not the activist I used to be, but its made me a better man.
Urb Age: Heck I was gonna go up there, but just not feeling well this weekend..Dang it, I hate it when that happens..
RevRayGreen: wishing I was hanging at NORML cafe...
JohnH: Just a quick comment about tokin' and sperm motility....been tokin since age 14 and have 8 kids ranging in age from 30 to 9...(what can I say, I found 2 [...]
slash5city: really ..oprah 35 yr or more in the closet toker ...outed ....o my god !!
SneakerPimp: that would be huge news just imagen the headline
RevRayGreen: maybe Oprah smokes and keeps it on the DL...
SneakerPimp: and good afternoon
mr reuben: I could do without seeing Rob K. on tv. But Bruce and Eithan get a big thumbs up from me.
SneakerPimp: waitn for NSL and congrast for spofett.
mr reuben: I don't respect her opinion bluzguy.
Missippi Hippy: Something about the last year in a contract... folks become more ballsey... and Oprah has big ones.
Adam: Oprah won't actually go off air for over a year, 2011 sometime. Maybe with here leaving the network soon, she'll be more likely to speak out about MMJ.
The Bluzguy: She promotes movies, turns books into best sellers overnight, and millions respect her opinion. Please contact her!
Missippi Hippy: I totally disregarded it Spof... My wife and I had 5 youngins
Adam: I'm rolling a fat joint, Everyones invited,Spof, Russ,MH,NORML, and MPP.
Missippi Hippy: Oprah announced her last show earlier this week
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. […]
CBS MarketWatch: End the War on Drugs, Start the Legalization
waitn for NSL and congrast for spofett.
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