Thanks to a wonderful WordPress plugin service called “Mippin”, you can now access a text-and-thumbnails quick-loading version of the Stash Blog by pointing your cell phone’s web browser to our URL —http://stash.norml.org.  You can even browse the comments on a post and Twitter it to your friends.

We have also installed a new sharing service which you can find by clicking Email, Tweet, Post, Share at the bottom of any post.  It will give you options for email, text message, Twitter, Digg, Facebook and just about every other social network and web tagger there is.  Spread the Truth about Marijuana!

On Wednesday, it was California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) who was put on the spot. Digg.com users propelled a legalize-marijuana question to the number two position (behind one asking about what he was thinking when photographed grimacing at President George W. Bush). (Marijuana question hits at 5:15)

Earlier this month, Schwarzenegger said “it’s time for debate” about legalizing marijuana. Read on for an excerpt from the CNN interview.

Q: What is your stance on the legalization, cultivation, and regulation of marijuana in the state of California?

A: I like the law that we have in place. And I don’t believe in legalizing marijuana, but I’m always open for the debate because there are people that feel differently. And I said I’m always interested in debating any of these issues because there’s always different ways of looking at it. And I think it would be interesting to see the information that is available, if there’s any information available, of well countries are doing that have legalized marijuana. But I don’t think that information is available, and I’d want us to see that.

But I believe in the law, the way the law is right now, and I think it’s worked very well for the state of California. And I think it would be a mistake to just go and legalize something that we don’t believe in just because it would produce an extra billion dollars in revenues. And I think we just have to learn how to live within our means rather than trying to do things we really don’t want to do.

Q: New polls actually show that more than half of Californians support legalizing marijuana. So would that sway your stance on it whatsoever in this open debate that you’re calling for? Would it sway your opinion?

A: Well, it could very well go on an initiative one day, where they ask the voters directly, that could very well be. And if the voters make that decision, that’s fine. But I think it is very important for us to make certain decisions not just because they would bring in some extra money, and I think this is why people have been talking about that in California, to go in that direction, and to start debating that issue. Because it would produce, as they say, $1.3 billion, $1.4 billion extra revenues.

The House Minority Leader, John Boehner, was interviewed from the “Digg Dialogg” segment on CNN.com and, of course, the first question asked by the public to a politician is once again about marijuana legalization (question appears at about 3:20 on the video):


Uh… so which is it, Rep. Boehner? Do you support “states making their own laws” or not? Out of one side of your mouth you seem to be saying you support states’ rights to determine their own laws, out of the other side you seem to be saying the federal government is correct in squashing state laws that legalize medical marijuana?

And it’s a bit disingenuous to say the  American Cancer Society and the American Medical Association don’t think cannabis is medicinal. They have an issue with the smoking of cannabis.  Both believe there is enough medicinal promise in cannabinoids that they have endorsed more research into it.

American Cancer Society
“[California Senate Bill] 535 focuses on medical marijuana research. [The] American Cancer Society … supports S.B. 535 because it is consistent with our long-held position of supporting research of any agent or technique for which there may be evidence of a therapeutic advantage.”
Reference: letter from ACS to California State Senator John Vasconcellos (July 24, 1997)

American Medical Association
“The AMA recommend that adequate and well-controlled studies of smoked marijuana be conducted in patients who have serious conditions for which preclinical, anecdotal, or controlled evidence suggests possible efficacy in including AIDS wasting syndrome, sever acute or delayed emesis induced by chemotherapy, multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injury, dystonia, and neuropathic pain.”
Reference: Council on Scientific Affairs Report #10: Medical Marijuana