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Hemp Headlines

1. Colorado Census workers discover marijuana growing next door to office
2. Maine government looks at institution of dispensaries
3. Olympia, Washington, councilman caught with marijuana: update
4. Chilean high school students have greatest marijuana use rates in South America
5. World-class indoor sprinter Ivory Williams suspended for three months for marijuana
6. Vote Hemp calling for more support for industrial hemp in America

Daily Toker Tunes

Brought to you by Eric Smokesbud

• Rockin’ Friday: HUKA – “Chronic Boom”

HIGH TIMES Magazine preview with Senior Editor Dave Bienenstock, author of The Official Pot Smoker’s Handbook

• West Coast Cannabis Cup information
• Ed Norton’s new marijuana-themed movie
• Top Ten Canadian Strains and Manitoba Hemp
• HIGH TIMES new medical marijuana magazines

NORML Newsmakers

• Jen Alexander from Oregon NORML on police abuse of medical marijuana patients’ privacy rights to further anti-medical marijuana agenda

From the folks at CHEAR (Coalition for Higher Education Act Reform):

Earlier this year, the House Education & Labor Committee passed a student aid bill with language to scale back Rep. Mark Souder’s infamous financial aid/drug conviction law (http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/595/higher_education_act_HEA_drug_provision_vote). The new version of the law would only count sales convictions — a great step forward, though we still want full repeal. More than 200,000 students already have lost aid for college because of drug convictions.

Tomorrow, we’re told, Rep. Souder will offer an amendment on the floor of the House of Representatives, seeking to have this good language stripped from the final version of the bill. PLEASE CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVE AND ASK THAT HE OR SHE VOTE NO ON SOUDER’S AMENDMENT TO THE STUDENT AID BILL. Students should not lose access to college because of drug possession convictions! The bill is called SAFRA, the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act, H.R. 3221.

To reach your Representative (or find out who your Rep is), call the Congressional Switchboard at (202) 224-3121. When the receptionist in your representative’s office answers the phone, politely say something like the following: “My name is _____ and I’d like Rep. ___ to vote against Rep. Souder’s amendment to the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act, which would deny educational opportunities to students with minor drug possession convictions. Blocking access to education causes more drug problems and hurts the economy. Thank you.”

When you’re done, please forward this alert to all your friends, and please post it to sites like Facebook and Twitter too. Visit http://www.raiseyourvoice.com for further information on this issue and the hundreds of organizations that support repeal.

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Hemp Headlines

1. Hawaii woman dies after being kicked off liver transplant list for marijuana use
2. Bill would restore financial aid for students convicted of marijuana possession only
3. Stress, dieting, may lead to positive marijuana test results
4. Student shot by police over miniscule amount of marijuana sentenced

This Month in NORML with Executive Director Allen St. Pierre

• Update on Obama “Yes We Cannabis” Poster
• NORML’s presence at Seattle Hempfest

Daily Toker Tunes by Marijuana Music Awards . com

• Message Monday – ‘Policeman (Always Come and Take My Weed)’ by The Killin’ Time Band

Cannabis Conversations

• Casper Leitch from Time 4 Hemp on his new live radio show, Time 4 Hemp Radio

WASHINGTON (McClatchy) — College students convicted of illegal drug possession could get federal financial aid for the first time in more than a decade under legislation aimed at overhauling the student loan system.

The bill, which a House of Representatives committee approved recently and which the full House probably will consider after its August recess, says that those convicted of selling illegal drugs still would be barred from receiving federal financial aid.

However, students convicted of possession would be able to get loans, grants and work-study assistance.

The new provision is part of the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act, which passed the House Education and Labor Committee on July 21. It would increase the maximum Pell Grant, the primary federal need-based scholarship, and end the private sector’s role in student loans. Instead, the government would be the sole provider of student loans.

As of 2006, nearly 200,000 students who’d been convicted of drug charges — about 1 percent of students across the country — had been denied student aid under the law.

Under current law, students convicted of possessing illegal drugs are ineligible for federal aid for one year for first offenses, two years for second offenses and forever for third offenses. Those convicted of selling are barred for two years for first offenses and forever for second offenses.

In February 2006, Congress softened the law so that it would affect only those who were convicted of possessing or selling drugs while they were in college and receiving aid. Before, the law applied to prior convictions.

Rep. Mark Souder (R-IN) was the author of the 1998 bill that revoked student aid from those caught with cannabis or drugs.  His reasoning was that if the government is going to pay for your college, the taxpayers shouldn’t be on the hook for subsidizing a student’s pot smoking or drug use.  Because if you’re really trying to insure that a young person doesn’t get deeply involved with drugs, the best way to do that is to make sure they can’t get an education, can’t get a good job, and are forced to deal marijuana or drugs to make ends meet.

Oddly enough, Rep. Souder doesn’t seem concerned at all about alcohol binge drinking on campuses that actually kill students.  He sponsored no legislation to make sure that students under age 21 lose their federal student aid if they are caught drinking, for instance.  Somehow the drug that leads to the most drop-outs, date rapes, and death of any drug on campus was miraculously spared from his morality crusade and the safest substance of the group – cannabis – was not.

You may recall the ONDCP “Burrito Taster” ad campaign I mocked a while back (The Drug Czar’s Latest Ads – Your Tax Dollars Hard at Work (even if “potheads” aren’t).  GanjaBlue via Twitter asked the universe for a parody of that ad featuring Michael Phelps.

Your wish is my command.  Feel free to copy and re-post this anywhere you like, so long as you provide a link back to the Stash. — “R”R

Download audio file (NORML_Daily_AudioStash_2009-02-02.mp3)

Well, wasn’t THAT one hell of a Super Bowl?  I was pulling for the Cards and thought my 23-21 Steelers-miss-last-second-FG prediction was going to be pretty darn close.  But what do you know, a stoner goes and catches the game winning last minute touchdown and is voted MVP.

Well, wasn’t THAT one hell of a Super Bong?  Michael Phelps was pulling from a big ol’ piece of glass without remembering that cell phone cameras exist now and he is the most famous Olympian on the planet.  But what do you know, a stoner went off to Beijing and became the only human to win eight gold in one Games.

Well, wasnt’t THAT one hell of a Super Bhang?  George Obama was pulled out of a Nairobi slum and was headed to the slammer for possession of marijuana and resisting arrest.  But what do you know, a stoner gets released from jail with charges dropped because his half-brother (a stoner) went and got elected President of the United States.

(It’s Groundhog Day.  Sonny & Cher keep playing on my radio.)

On today’s Stash, Allen St. Pierre drops by to give his take on the toker trifecta we hit this Super Bowl weekend, and Kelly Maddy from Jopin NORML is here to discuss medical marijuana legislation in Missouri.

Dear America,

I take it back. I don’t apologize.

Because you know what? It’s none of your goddamned business. I work my ass off 10 months per year. It’s that hard work that gave you all those gooey feelings of patriotism last summer. If during my brief window of down time I want to relax, enjoy myself, and partake of a substance that’s a hell of a lot less bad for me than alcohol, tobacco, or, frankly, most of the prescription drugs most of you are taking, well, you can spare me the lecture.

Go read the whole thing, it’s brilliant, especially the “let’s see you rationalize in your next lame ONDCP commercial how the greatest motherfucking swimmer the world has ever seen . . . is also a proud pot smoker” part.  The comments are pretty good, too, especially this one from Eric Ogunbase:

You know who I feel bad for? Everyone who competed against him in the pool.

“You mean I’ve been training my whole life for these events and I STILL got my ass kicked by a dude who smokes the chronic?!”

Also, my diary at DailyKos could use some comments and recommendations.  Let’s bump this one up!

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Olympic great Michael Phelps has acknowledged ”regrettable” behavior and ”bad judgment” after a photo in a British newspaper showed him smoking marijuana.

In a statement released to The Associated Press, the swimmer who won a record eight gold medals at the Beijing Games conceded the authenticity of the exclusive picture published Sunday by the tabloid News of the World.

Phelps said: ”I engaged in behavior which was regrettable and demonstrated bad judgment. I’m 23 years old and despite the successes I’ve had in the pool, I acted in a youthful and inappropriate way, not in a manner people have come to expect from me. For this, I am sorry. I promise my fans and the public it will not happen again.”

via Phelps Apologizes for Marijuana Use – NYTimes.com.

Youthful and inappropriate.  Childish things, as our president might say.  ”It will not happen again.”  Not to get all Clintonian on you, Mike, but does “it” refer to “smoking marijuana” or does “it” refer to “photos surfacing in newspapers showing you smoking marijuana”?

I’ll never understand the mindset that accepts as rational the idea that these world class athletes – Michael Phelps, Ricky Williams, Ross Rebagliati, those Russian sumo, etc. - can dedicate their entire lives to eating right, working out, honing their bodies and minds to the pinnacle of their sport, but should they wish to relax and unwind, they’re forced to ingest a hard liquid drug that has noticably deleterious effects on health and athletic ability (Max McGee notwithstanding) rather than a mild herb that doesn’t seem to  have affected their abilities whatsoever.

Even more perplexing is the notion that, in the name of “sports medicine”, these athletes are accustomed to taking all manner of narcotic pain killers and other pharmaceutical cocktails that aid performance or mitigate injury, but are addicting (Brett Favre, *cough*,) and wreak havoc on the liver and kidneys, yet if we catch them smoking weed we have to mete out severe punishment (Santonio Holmes, notwithstanding).

As I look at the coverage on Huffington Post (admittedly, a liberal website) almost all comments are “it’s well past time to legalize it” and “so what” and “didn’t hurt Phelps’ performance any”.  Oh, an Obama brother pot bust and an eight-time gold medalist bong photo following ten days of growing drumbeat over President Obama’s non-response to the Tahoe Raid… somebody really did get me a swell birthday present!

Download audio file (NORML_Daily_AudioStash_2008-08-04.mp3)

Today’s Stash features part three of my interview with Wendy Chapkis, Richard Webb, and Valerie Corral on the book “Dying to Get High”, which chronicles medical marijuana in California from Prop 215 through the advent of Corral’s WAMM collective (Wo/Men’s Alliance for Medical Marijuana).  Catch up with Part 1 and Part 2 from last week.

Kris Krane joins us from Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP) to relay the sad news that the Higher Education Act was reauthorized along with its Aid Elimination Penalty.  Learn how that affects college students’ financial aid and the incentive to join the military instead.

NORML.ORG US: Appeals Court Rejects Challenge To Law Denying Student Aid To Drug Offenders
Opponents of a law that prevents students who are convicted of drug offenses from receiving federal financial aid were handed another legal defeat today.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, upholding a 2006 decision by a U.S. District Court, has refused to reinstate a lawsuit that sought to strike down the law.

In its ruling the appeals court rejected arguments by the Students for Sensible Drug Policy Foundation, which filed the appeal, that the federal law is unconstitutional.

The group argued, in part, that denial of financial aid by the Education Department to students who have already served a court-imposed sentence violates the U.S. Constitution’s ban on double jeopardy, criminally punishing someone twice for the same offense. But the appeals court said that the federal law’s sanctions cannot be considered criminally punitive, especially in the double-jeopardy context.

So refusing to grant federal aid for students caught smoking pot isn’t a criminal punishment, therefore, it is not double jeopardy.  OK, I guess technically speaking, that is true.  The student isn’t being fined, imprisoned, or put under probation.

But being told you lose your financial aid for school certainly is a punishment, after all, it is called the Higher Education Act Aid Elimination Penalty.  A penalty that is not meted out to any other type of criminal – murderers, rapists, arsonists, thieves, con artists, brawlers, embezzlers, traitors, and spies can all receive financial aid, but a pot smoker cannot.

I believe there is a motivation by those in power to keep marijuana smokers in the lower socioeconomic classes.  SSDP mentions the “Drug War Draft”, and I agree that the policy of denying college to cannabis consumers while lowering their barriers to military enlistment is a backdoor draft.  But it is also a brain drain of the best and brightest of our community who would excel in higher education (pun not exactly intended) who aren’t allowed to fulfill their potential.

When marijuana is the choice of the oppressed, the lower classes, the people without letters and degrees, it is easier for the drug warriors to maintain prohibition lies.  Even when a notable pot smoker like the late astrophysicist Carl Sagan stands up for marijuana, he can be treated like one of the irrelevant exceptions to the rule.

This stereotype of the idiot dopehead, of course, is a fabricated concept.  So many doctors, lawyers, scientists, authors, and great thinkers have been cannabis consumers that it rebukes the idea that most of us are “Cheech & Chong”.  But the average person on the street will think just that stereotype when considering marijuana reform.

Conversely, the drug that causes the most societal harm, alcohol, has exactly the opposite marketing campaign behind it.  Alcohol drinkers are portrayed as adventurous, sexy, fun, exciting, athletic, and sociable, when my personal experience of playing music in bars for fifteen years proves just about the opposite.

That’s not to say there aren’t responsible social drinkers or there aren’t any Jeff Spicoli-style potheads out there.  It’s just interesting to me that the portrayal of the lowest-functioning stoner gets lots of play, but the portrayal of the lowest-functioning drunk is rarely mentioned.