It’s Tuesday, May 20th and it’s 4:20 somewhere in the world. I’m your host, “Radical” Russ Belville.
We here at NORML would like to remind you to get involved in the cannabis civil rights movement and join us here at NORML – you can learn everything you need to know at NORML.org. Make a donation, write a letter, attend a march – it all starts with you. Call your Congress at 202-224-3121 – they’ll ask your zip code and put you in touch with your elected officials. Tell them to support HR5842 and HR5843 to end DEA raids in medical marijuana states and legalize personal possession of pot. It still is a government of We the People, but you have to step up and do your part.
Tuesday is Government at Work day on the podcast, and coming up after the news, we’re going to speak with Tonya Davis of North Ohio NORML. Tonya’s here to deliver the fantastic news of the Ohio Medical Compassion Act, a medical marijuana bill sponsored by state senator Tom Roberts which will be introduced this Friday. (See Tonya’s YouTube videos and her MySpace page, too.)
After that Cannabis Karri brings us some instrumental electronica from Machine Love. It’s a trippy little number called “Stoner Girl” and I hereby dedicate it to all the sativa sisters and ganja girls listening to the Stash.
We’ll wrap up today with Professor Geraint Osborne from the University of Alberta in Canada. He’s just released some interesting data on the “typical” Canadian cannabis consumer and found that we come from all walks of life.
We’ve also got another great NORML Pass the Stash contest. This time you could win the uncensored DVD of “Totally Baked”, written by Craig Shoemaker (a guest on the Stash). Bonus for you Stashers: it’s autographed by the Executive Producer, Brian Johnson, the lead singer of AC/DC! No joke, there are even three brand new Brian Johnson songs on the DVD. Listen for details later in the podcast on how you can win.
There’s plenty to talk about, so sit back and relax with your favorite strain – this is your NORML Daily Audio Stash.
COLUMBUS – On Wednesday, May 21, at 11 a.m. in the Senate Minority Conference Room of the Ohio Statehouse, Senator Tom Roberts (D-Dayton) will unveil details regarding the Ohio Medical Compassion Act (OMCA), which would allow patients to use medicinal cannabis through a regulated system of quality health care.
“The OMCA would give patients the opportunity to choose the type of medicine that most effectively treats them,” Senator Roberts said. “Our laws should reflect the latest in medical research, which has shown that medicinal cannabis has a variety of benefits for treating pain, nausea and other symptoms related to a wide range of disease.”
The Senator’s press conference will feature speakers who will provide expert testimony on the various benefits of medicinal cannabis from a health, legal and financial standpoint, while patients who benefit from medicinal cannabis also will be present.
This legislation would allow qualified patients and primary caregivers to use medicinal cannabis through a cardholder system. Under the OMCA, the Ohio Department of Health and the Ohio Department of Agriculture would be authorized to establish an advisory board that would do the following:
Consider granting medicinal use of cannabis in cases of debilitated medical conditions;
Consider applications for and renewals of registry identification cards for qualified patients and primary caregivers; and
Provide recommendations for the safe use and efficient growing of medicinal cannabis.
The program created through the OMCA will generate sufficient revenues to offset all expenses. The OMCA would also allow qualified patients and primary caregivers with valid registry identification cards to use medicinal cannabis without fear of arrest, prosecution, penalty or denial of rights and privileges for such use. Law enforcement would be required to verify registration of patients before arrests, raids or other actions are taken.
Additionally, the OMCA would prohibit persons from engaging in the following:
Performing tasks under the influence of cannabis that would constitute negligence or professional malpractice;
Possessing or using cannabis in school buses, on preschool grounds, primary or secondary schools and in correctional facilities;
Smoking cannabis on public transportation systems or in correctional facilities, as well as operate or navigate motor vehicles.
“In an era of scientific breakthroughs and medical advances, patients should not be put in the position of choosing between living a normal life and living a healthy life,” Roberts said. “The current lack of medical alternatives highlights the urgent need for Ohio to join a growing list of other states and pass the OMCA, which is long-overdue.”
Medical marijuana has been confined so far to the West Coast and the Northeast. We are so excited to see this legislation working into Midwestern states like Ohio, Illinois, Minnesota, even Nebraska and Kansas are looking into medical marijuana. Now, these bills don’t always survive, but to even have them introduced and discussed is just another victory in the long struggle to end adult marijuana prohibition.
Chronic Candy has hemp oil in it, and you can find the novelty lollipops in some smoke shops.
Weed-flavored candy is popping up in some smoke shops in the Tri-State. But, good luck trying to find someone who has ever heard of lollipops that taste like marijuana.
“I was intrigued (when first hearing about marijuana flavored candy),” said Kathleen Szabo, never heard of Chronic Candy. “But it was the first I’d ever heard of it.”
“It kind of smelled like dirt,” said Michelle Taylor, never heard of Chronic Candy.
The lollipops are called Chronic Candy and have names such as OG and Train Wreck.
But, how high can you get off Chronic Candy? Turns out, you can’t.
They’re flavored with hemp oil from marijuana plants, but they don’t have any traces of THC, which causes the high people get from pot.
So, if you’re looking to get a buzz, you’ll have to get it somewhere else.
“If people want to eat candy that tastes like marijuana that’s cool, but if it doesn’t get you high, what’s the point?” asked Gene Fine, [who] never hear[d] of Chronic Candy.
The point for the makers of Chronic Candy is making cash.
On their website, they point out the candy is perfectly legal.
While some worry the candy sends the wrong message to kids, others say as long as it’s legal, they don’t see a problem.
“I guess it shouldn’t be marketed to children,” said Szabo. “But it should exist because people have the right to choose things like that if they want to.”
The company’s website says the lollipops are made for adults and sold only in age 18 and over stores.
What I don’t understand in all of this is why lollipops are a bad message specifically for kids, as if adults don’t eat candy. The candy makers aren’t putting these on the low shelves in a 7-Eleven along with the Snickers and gummi bears - they’re selling it in over-18 smoke shops!
And again, we’re back to the idea of whether a taste should be permitted. I don’t understand how the non-drug hemp-oil is an acceptable product when it is in a hand lotion or a vitamin capsule. I’ve seen hemp products like those for sale at the local Target store and nobody was carding minors if they tried to purchase them. Plus, it’s not as if there are a whole lot of kids eating marijuana; it is usually smoked and that taste is completely different than the taste of the eaten plant.
Finally, as a commenter on our earlier story about the ban on pot-flavored candy in Georgia said, “I remember buying tequila-flavored lollipops that even had the worm in them” as a kid. How is it that didn’t turn him into a raging alcoholic?
Just catching up on some of the reports from the March this weekend:
Close to 500 protesters took to the streets [of Calgary, Alberta, Canada] Saturday in favour of marijuana’s medicinal use and making it more accessible to those suffering debilitating pain.
Amid the incense aromas and reggae beats, several hundred Austinites rallied at the Capitol on Saturday for the legalization of marijuana for personal and medical use.
“These guys are easy compared to the anarchists,” said Sgt. Voepel of the Portland Police Department, “they’re on time, and they’re orderly.”
According to the Sarge, the only rabble rousers during the march were two drunkards who were pestering people but were unconnected to the peaceful pro-pot gatherers. No pot smokers were spotted.
It’s Friday, May 2nd and it’s 4:20 somewhere in the world! I’m your host, “Radical” Russ Belville and this is your NORML Daily Audio Stash.
Tomorrow is the Global Marijuana March, taking place in over 200 cities worldwide. Check out GlobalMarijuanaMarch.org for more details on the march in your area. Take to the streets and demand respect. We are not criminals, we are cannabis consumers. We are no more criminals for smoking pot in private than citizens who take a drink in private. We can end adult marijuana prohibition, but the world needs to see us standing up for our rights! It starts with you – take the time to get involved.
Friday is Cannabis Community day on the Stash, and coming up after the news, we’re speaking with our regular guest Steve Bloom, the webmaster at CelebStoner.com. Steve’s got the details for New York City’s Marijuana March, along with a New York native’s look at how the Big Apple became the marijuana arrest capital of the world. We also break down the role of weed in the NFL draft and great box-office weekends for Harold & Kumar and CelebStoner Amy Poehler’s movie, Baby Mama.
Next, Cannabis Karri brings back Freedom People with a perfect song for a protest weekend, “New (R)evolution”. Let’s all start a new revolution and get hemp re-legalized in this country.
Then we wrap things up with Tim Smith, a criminal defense attorney in Cincinnati, Ohio. Tim’s here to tell us about the Marijuana March event this weekend in Cincy and the threats by law enforcement to shut them down by threatening the venue owner’s liquor license.
Finally, don’t forget that every Saturday we’re now posting the NORML Weekend Music Stash, where you can get all of the last ten songs from our daily musical breaks in one podcast, suitable for your weekend party pleasure. If you have a band that would like to be featured on our podcast, please send us an email at stash ‘at’ norml.org.
So sit back and relax with your favorite strain and enjoy your NORML Daily Audio Stash…
Finally today, a personal note. This year’s Global Marijuana March marks the third year of my involvement with NORML through my local chapter, Oregon NORML.
We want to invite everyone in the Portland / Vancouver area to enjoy the huge festivities we have planned. We have Pioneer Courthouse Square reserved in the heart of Downtown Portland for the entire day. Vendors and bands will begin at 10am.
Then we leave for the march at High Noon, led by Ma, our Cannabis Dragon – a forty-foot-long hemp-cloth dragon like you might see at a Chinese New Year, with a four-foot head made completely from cannabis stalks.
We return to the Square for more of the festival, with special guest speakers, including myself, educating the public about marijuana in-between band sets.
We’re kicking off our PR campaign for OCTA 2010, the Oregon Cannabis Tax Act, an initiative for 2010 that will legalize, tax, and regulate the sales of cannabis in Oregon through state-run liquor stores.
The outdoor festival ends at 5pm, but then we’re off to the Mt. Tabor Legacy Theater at SE 39th & Hawthorne at 8pm to enjoy the Marijuana March After Party, a concert featuring The Martyrs and Marquee, with special guest Chief Greenbud and our headliners, Las Vegas hemp-hop superstars, Los Marijuanos.
Then the after after party is at my place, I suppose, since the DJ, his girlfriend, a visiting Sacramento NORML board member, and two vendors are crashing there for the weekend. Ah, you know what? I have the greatest job in the world.
Dr. Earleywine on cannabis and impotence, student drug testing; Paul Armentano on Sen. Kennedy's cancer and cannabis; WA debates medmj limits; music by The Hot Rocks.
Tonya Davis on Ohio medmj bill; Prof. Geraint Osborne on "typical" Canadian cannabis consumers; ABC News picks up transplant story; music by Machine Love.
Chris Fowlie from New Zealand NORML on "J-Day"; Paul Armentano returns with Israeli research on cannabis vs. alcohol and driving; music by Julian Fauth.
Pot’s Effects On Driving Performance Contrast Alcohol’s, Study Says; Survey: One In Seven Public School Districts Drug Test Students; Hawaii: Legislature Approves Medical Marijuana Task Force Measure; Dale Geiringer on CA bills; Jesse Stout on RI bill.
UK Parliament to vote on stiffer pot penalties; Inhaled cannabis reduces neuropathic pain; Keith Stroup goes to trial Monday, will argue constitutionality of Mass. pot laws; interview with Douglas Hiatt, attorney for Tim Garon.
Hepatitis C Patient Denied Transplant Based on State and Doctor Approved Medi-Pot Use; New Study Indicates Cannabis-Associated Psychosis Risk Is Minimal; More Than 230 Cities, 35 Countries To Hold Marijuana Rallies This Weekend
Part 1 of Marijuana Law Reform 2007: State Legislative Reforms and Future Efforts panel at the NORML 2007 Conference. Panelists: Mikki Norris, Joshua Schimburg, Alison Holcomb, Esq., Keith Stroup, Esq., Jesse Stout, Ray Warren, Ethan Nadelmann, Ph.D. Panel chair: Paul Armentano
