Saturday, September 5th, 2009 at 2:56 pm | By: Radical Russ
Show 001: Steve Fox (MPP), Mason Tvert (SAFER), & Paul Armentano (NORML) discuss "Marijuana is Safer" book; NORML Exec. Dir. Allen St. Pierre; MMA Fighter Toby "Tigerheart" Grear
I am thrilled to be hosting our debut show tonight at 6pm PT / 9pm ET. I hope you all make it a regular Saturday night ritual.
You can listen to the show live three ways (and no, regular terrestrial or satellite radio is not one of those ways… yet):
Point your web browser to http://live.norml.org and follow the links to Show 001. (Or use the link on the powder-blue BlogTalkRadio player you see there on the right…)
Point your mobile phone’s browser to http://m.blogtalkradio.com/norml. Click the link at the bottom of the page for Shows and Blogs. Click the link for Show 001. (I’m not completely sure the live show will play this way; it may only allow you to see the blog and comments. If so, try…)
Call 347-994-1810 on your mobile phone. (”347″ is a New York area code, so long distance charges, if any, would apply. Probably only an option if you’ve got unlimited minutes and free domestic long distance.)
The show will also be archived about one hour following the live broadcast. You’ll be able to hear it all week on the embedded player to the right or by subscribing to it as a podcast on iTunes.
In our 2nd hour, mixed-martial arts champion Toby “Tigerheart” Grear of True Warrior Fitness discusses being banned from fighting professionally in California because of positive tests for his legal medical marijuana.
We’re also taking your calls at the bottom of each hour. Dial 347-994-1810 to listen in on your phone and press 1 at any time if you’d like to speak to the host or guests. Your call will be screened and we remind you to have a question ready, keep it short and to the point, and avoid profanity (we’re not FCC regulated on the net, but if we want to take this to terrestrial radio, we need to act like it.)
Thursday, August 6th, 2009 at 7:32 pm | By: Radical Russ
NORML’s Paul Armentano has already done a stellar job taking on the latest reefer madess on ABC News. This is another one of what seem to be an increasing number of stories (NY Times, Dr. Drew, The Tenneseean, CNN, TransWorldNews, Christian Science Monitor) that bring up the idea of “marijuana addiction” by telling the personal stories of people whose lives became full of turmoil and regret when they just couldn’t give up the doobies.
Many years ago the former head of the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) Alan Leshner made this statement when forced to confront the fact that tens of thousands of patients were successfully using cannabis as a medicine:“The plural of anecdote is not evidence.”
Someone ought to pass on Lesnher’s cop out to ABC News, whose recent feature, “Reefer Madness Redux: Is Pot Addictive?“, is little more than a series of anecdotes from folks claiming that it’s becoming harder and harder for some individuals to quit weed.
Yes, if 10,000 people say that using marijuana helped them medicinally, that’s just anecdotes and no basis for medicine. But if a dozen people say that they were daily tokers, it ruined their lives, and they had a hard time quitting the bong, that’s enough for the mainstream media to question “Is Pot Addictive?”. Which, by the way, is one of those sneaky ways the media tries to push a narrative by just asking the question and not declaring the fact. “Is President Obama a Kenyan-born Illegal President?” or “Has Former President Bush Returned to His Hard Drinking Ways?” would be similar examples of the technique.
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Thursday, July 23rd, 2009 at 3:46 pm | By: Radical Russ
Paul Armentano's New Book, with Steve Fox and Mason Tvert. Click to pre-order!
(Reuters) Tough marijuana laws are driving millions of Americans to a more dangerous mood-altering substance, alcohol. The unintended consequence: violence and thousands of unnecessary deaths. It’s time, therefore, for a serious public debate of the case for marijuana versus alcohol.
How dismally that effort has failed is not in doubt. Marijuana is so easily available that around 100 million Americans have tried it at least once and some 15 million use it regularly, according to government estimates. The U.S. marijuana industry, in terms of annual retail sales, has been estimated to be almost as big as the alcohol industry — $113 billion and $130 billion respectively. On a global scale, marijuana is the world’s most widely used illicit drug.
The case for adding a compare-and-contrast dimension to the debate is laid out in a statistics-laden book to be published next month entitled “Marijuana is Safer, So why are we driving people to drink?” The authors are prominent legalization advocates – Steve Fox of the Marijuana Policy Project, Paul Armentano of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) and Mason Tvert, co-founder of SAFER (Safer Alternative for Enjoyable Recreation).
“The plain and simple truth is that alcohol fuels violent behaviour and marijuana does not,” Norm Stamper, a former Seattle police chief, writes in the foreword of the book. “Alcohol … contributes to literally millions of acts of violence in the United States each year. It is a major contributing factor to crimes like domestic violence, sexual assault and homicide. Marijuana use … is absent in that regard from both crime reports and the scientific literature. There is simply no causal link to be found.”
Columnist Bernd Debusmann has been a guest on the NORML Daily Audio Stash… and will be again!
Friday, July 10th, 2009 at 5:20 pm | By: Dudemaster
You can’t escape the headlines; recently a cornucopia of athletes have been in the headlines relating to Marijuana. Some in possession, others test positive in urine tests, and others are photographed with a bong like Olympic swimming champion Michael Phelps.
In this particular article, two Oklahoma State football players were arrested for Marijuana possession. As you read this article and my opinion, try and put yourself or one of your children in the place of one of these young men.
Stillwater Newspress - Two Oklahoma State football players — sophomore Jamal Mosley and freshman Dexter Pratt — have been charged with one count each of misdemeanor possession of marijuana in court documents filed on Wednesday.
Both players were charged on June 17 and arraignment for both is scheduled for July 29.
OSU media relations said Thursday that OSU head coach Mike Gundy is out of town and would have no immediate comment on the situation and that information on the situation would likely come within the next few days.
Mosely, a tight end, is expected to battle for the starting spot while Pratt was one of the top incoming recruits for the Cowboys at running back. There has been talk of Pratt redshirting with Kendall Hunter and Keith Toston expected to see much of the playing time.
Police records said that both players possessed and controlled within a residence a small plastic bag containing what appeared to be, and subsequently field tested positive as a small amount of marijuana.
Most people will probably snicker after reading this and move onto more important things in their lives. But, for these athletes, their dilemma has just got started.
Because they are college students, they will probably lose their college loan, and also any scholarship they may have earned. You see, these athletes signed a contract with their university which allows them to compete in athletics. The contract specifies each athlete will support NCAA rules and regulations.
Let’s see what the NCAA requires when one fails a drug test:
NCAA Positive Test Result
If the NCAA tests you for the banned drugs listed in Bylaw 31.2.3.1 and you test positive, you will lose a season of competition in all sports if the season of competition has not yet begun for you. If the season of competition has begun, you will lose one full season of competition in all sports – i.e. remaining contests in the current season and contests in the following season up to the time that you were declared ineligible in the previous year.
Now let’s not forget these guys live in a state with extremely draconian Marijuana laws. The article didn’t mention the quantity the athletes were charged with, but assuming it was a smaller amount, the laws leave a great deal of discretion to the judge. They could receive any amount in fines and up to 1 year in prison for simply choosing a safer alternative. Is this the message we want to send our children as they approach college?
There is a really good chance that one or both of them will have to leave his college dreams behind and go to work. Since they have a drug conviction, the only jobs they can find are the kind of jobs that you and I don’t want to do. Over time they see their friends succeed financially, and it’s only logical to conclude that some people in their position have turned to selling drugs. Why not? The rationalization is that society has already made them outcasts and the only way to make an appropriate income means selling contraband or committing crimes.
In comparison, college binge drinking is a worse offense, although tolerated by universities a great deal more than Marijuana use.
According to Mothers Against Drunk Drivers
* 54 percent of binge drinking college students black out and forget what they did or where they were at some point in the year. For students who don’t binge drink, the number was 25 percent.
* 48 percent of the alcohol consumed at a 4 year college is consumed by an underage student.
* 44 percent of students report symptoms of alcohol abuse and dependency
* 25 percent of students say they have faced academic consequences (missing class, getting a bad grade, etc.) as a result of drinking.
* On average, students who have more than 5 drinks per occasion have a GPA that is half a grade lower than the GPA for other students.
A little non-toxic Marijuana isn’t going to hurt you, but alcohol may kill you and you might just take a few people with you when you slam your car head-on into someone else.
Think for just a moment; our standing President admitted he had used Marijuana earlier in his life. The only difference between these young men and our current standing president is they got caught, he didn’t. Does that sound fair to you?
Mr. President, can you take just a moment of your time to address the growing number of Americans who are clamoring to get your support for Marijuana legalization? I know you think it’s really funny, but people are going to prison and lives are being ruined every day because you can’t stop laughing long enough to be a real president. Step up, your constituents are demanding it.
Coloradans say they are doing less hard drinking than they did in the past few years but say they are more likely to smoke pot, according to a two-year federal assessment to be released today.
The National Survey on Drug Use and Health found Colorado was the only state to log a decrease in those who think they are at risk to binge- drink since the last study completed in 2006, from 29.8 percent in the previous study to 25.8 percent in the most recent.
Meanwhile, Colorado is one of seven states that notched “significant” increases in teens and adults who say they are more likely to smoke pot at least once a month than those who participated in the last government survey.
“We’ve been saying for some time that many adults want a safer alternative to drinking,” said Mason Tvert, executive director of the Denver-based pot-legalization group Safer Alternative for Enjoyable Recreation, which has passed two pro-pot public votes in the city since 2006.
The increase in stoners could logically be tied to the rocky economy, said Tvert, co-author of a book to be released in August that measures the economics of getting buzzed, “Marijuana Is Safer: So Why Do We Drive People to Drink?”
The report also puts Colorado among the top 10 states for:
• The highest illicit-drug use in every age category.
• Failure of teens and adults who need alcohol treatment to receive it.
• Survey takers using cocaine in the past year.
Even though the previous drug czar, John Walters, commonly characterized Americans as stupid for choosing a safer alternative, it’s not stupid.
We all know that alcohol kills brain cells, impairs judgment, and has a measurable addiction rate. Alternatively, Cannabis – when consumed responsibly – can help one’s health and happiness.
I’m proud of you folks who live in Colorado for choosing a safer alternative! Lead the charge, Lead the Country and Free the Weed!
[I'll testify - these Coloradoans are not only smoking more pot, it's really good pot! -- "R"R]
Tuesday, May 5th, 2009 at 2:20 pm | By: Radical Russ
420Knight, Sister Sativa, Dwarvenbud, and WeedWizard cannot play in World of Warcraft, but KegKnight, Sister Champagne, DwarvenBudweiser, and WhiskeyWizard would be welcome.
Blizzard Entertainment sells the most-popular MMORPG in cyberspace, “World of Warcraft” . (That’s MMORPG, or a Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game. For those of you my age and older, think back to your old Dungeons and Dragons game, but instead of you and five geeky friends, a bunch of arcane rule books, 2-liter bottles of Mountain Dew, and funny-looking dice being thrown on a library table, imagine hundreds of thousands of people worldwide playing that D&D game online in real time.)
Players in this cyberspace world can become wizards and fighters and clerics and so forth, all your typical fantasy world Tolkien-esque stuff. Players can give themselves fantastic names and as players gain power, they can join together and form “guilds” with fantastic names.
So long as those player names or guilds are not in any way a slang reference to marijuana.
A Stasher named Thomas noted this policy when his online character’s name was changed because it was a slang term for pot (he never told me what the original name is, maybe he’ll explain more in the comments). As Thomas so adroitly noted:
there are multiple references to different herbs in the game that are not only hallucinogenic but way more potent and dangerous than marijuana (which by the way could be said about almost anything). all of which are illegal as well. theres even an herb you can be addicted to as well am i correct?
After many emails to many different employees at Blizzard Entertainment, Thomas finally got an answer:
Thank you for your continued interest in how the World of Warcraft policies are created. I have looked at your account history and I will do my best to answer any questions you have had regarding our naming policies.
I understand that your concern is that your name was changed due to its association with a slang term for marijuana while there are numerous references to alcohol within the game. Please understand that the naming policy currently prohibits the use of any name which refers, directly or indirectly, to illegal activity. As the use of alcohol is not illegal, names and activities associated with the use of alcohol are not currently against our policies.
Sincerely,
Karliss
Account Administrator
Blizzard Entertainment
www.blizzard.com
So, let me see if I understand this. You run a game where a person can become a fighter, name himself “Skullcrusher”, purchase a two-handed broadsword, and murder other people in battle, yet with a straight face you tell me you’re concerned about Warcraft promoting illegal activity. Player characters can become “rogues”, whose skills include assassination, lock picking, and thievery, but we can’t have that “rogue” have a “420″ anywhere in his name, because we don’t want to promote illegal activity. We can’t promote illegal activity in the World of Warcraft, but for a significant portion of players (those under 21), the promotion of alcohol does represent an illegal activity. Ironically, player characters can become “herbalists” and use any number of plants with mystical or hallucinogenic properties, like “Ghost Mushrooms”, “Black Lotus”, and “Deathnettle”, and they can sell those plants for a profit to “alchemists”, but we can’t have any “420″s anywhere reminding people of the illegal market of selling cannabis plants for a profit.
Ultimately, the marijuana may be less harmful to you than the World of Warcraft itself:
According to Stiftelsen Ungdomsvård, a Swedish youth organisation specializing in game addiction, “(World of Warcraft) is the crack cocaine of the computer world.”
The Youth Care Foundation is about to release it’s report in which labels World of Warcraft as “the most dangerous game on the market.”
Author of the report, Sven Rollenhagen, claims, “There is not a single case of game addiction that we have worked with in which World of Warcraft has not played a part.”
The poster child for the report is a 15-year-old Swedish boy who collapsed and suffered seizures after playing World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King for 24 hours straight.
The report also has the backing of the Swedish National Institute of Public Health, which warns of the ever-growing increase worldwide of game addiction.
I’m not a fan of throwing the word “addiction” around unless we’re talking about physical withdrawal / severe craving akin to kicking cocaine, meth, heroin, Oxycontin, Vicodin, or alcohol, so I don’t buy the idea that World of Warcraft is like crack cocaine. But if we’re talking about compulsion or dependence, then I’m willing to personally say that for some people, World of Warcraft is more dangerous than marijuana.
Tuesday, April 28th, 2009 at 9:20 am | By: Radical Russ
Moscow Police say a 23-year-old University of Idaho student from Wilder died Saturday morning from a toxic level of alcohol.
Daniel Mark Miller was a senior at the University of Idaho, said Moscow Assistant Police Chief David Duke.
Miller was found unresponsive about 8 a.m. on Saturday and transported via ambulance to Gritman Medical Center in Moscow where he was later pronounced dead.
Miller and a group of friends started drinking about 7 p.m. Friday at a local tavern. The group left about 11:30 p.m. and went to a private residence where they continued playing drinking games up until 2 a.m., Duke said.
Miller was “quite intoxicated and passed out,” Duke said. Friends put him in a bed and checked on him several times through about 4:30 a.m. When they checked on Miller at 8 a.m., he did not respond.
Dan Miller did not break any laws or university policies. University of Idaho does list the following restrictions on alcohol use on campus:
The sale, use, or possession of illegal drugs is a violation of this code.
Sale or illegal possession or illegal consumption of alcoholic beverages is prohibited in facilities owned, leased, or operated by UI and on campus grounds.
Alcoholic beverages may not be possessed or consumed under any circumstances in areas open to and most commonly used by the general public. These areas include, but are not limited to, lounges, student union buildings, recreation rooms, conference rooms, athletic facilities, and other public areas of UI-owned buildings or grounds.
UI’s primary role in handling matters involving the use or potential use of drugs or alcohol by its students is that of counseling. However, in appropriate situations, the full range of sanctions may be applied.
Dan was 23-years-old and did his drinking in a tavern and at a private home, so he abided by University standards. If he’d been caught with a baggie of weed, he would he be alive now, but he’d be subject to a full range of potential sanctions by the University, including suspension, permanent loss of student housing, and expulsion.
Monday, April 27th, 2009 at 8:20 am | By: Radical Russ
In the Associated Student Government election last week, the SAFER Referendum, which stated that marijuana offenses should not be punished by the university any harsher than alcohol offenses, passed with 67 percent of the student vote. The sanctions for marijuana possession and use have not yet been modified, but the changes will be discussed, said Daniel Pugh, vice provost for Student Affairs.
“Most of the students we see make the same poor decisions with marijuana that they do with alcohol,” Pugh said. “It’s not the usage itself that’s the bad thing.”
Proponents of the initiative are excited to meet with Pugh and other university officials to discuss where to go from here, said Robert Pfountz, campaign director for the initiative and a member of the campus chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML).
A workforce composed of law enforcement, professors, administrators and members of the SAFER campaign will discuss how to adjust the penalties, said Pfountz, who said he is optimistic that progress will be made because both Pugh and Chancellor G. David Gearhart seem open-minded.
Reducing penalties for marijuana use is a way to curb binge drinking, which is involved in 90 percent of sexual assaults on college campuses and 95 percent of violent crime, Pfountz said. Alcohol encourages violent behavior and contributes to 1,700 deaths on college campuses a year, he said.
Though they do not want to demonize alcohol, members of NORML maintain that it does more damage than marijuana, so the university should not punish people for choosing a safer alternative, Pfountz said.
“There is an epidemic across college campuses of kids being hurt very badly,” he said. “Some may scoff at promoting marijuana over alcohol, but we believe it is a matter of life and death.”
Ronald Reagan for Chesterfield Cigarettes (tvparty.com)
It’s not really about promoting marijuana over alcohol. It’s really about not promoting alcohol over marijuana! Think about this: how many alcohol ads do you see on TV in a day? Plenty. Now, how many tobacco ads do you see on TV in a day? None.
On April 1, 1970, President Nixon signed legislation banning cigarette ads from airing on television and radio. The ban took effect at midnight on Jan. 2, 1971.
The last cigarette TV commercial (for Virginia Slims) was broadcast on the Johnny Carson Tonight Show at 11:59pm on January 1, 1971. It was expected to be devastating for the networks when tobacco ads were banned – but they did all right without them, in spite of immediately losing $220 million dollars a year in revenues.
Now they make more than that from anti-smoking ads!
Not only did cigarette advertising disappear from TV and radio, but also from all major sporting events as well. Even the most signature tobacco-sponsored event – NASCAR’s Winston Cup – had to become the Nextel Cup.
The Colorado-based Safer Alternative For Enjoyable Recreation (SAFER), which drafted the document, contends that the criminalization of marijuana is inconsistent with the legal status of alcohol. The organization argues that the high penalties colleges and universities dole out for marijuana use force students to revert to alcohol as a recreational alternative.
“[Colleges and universities] are sending a dangerous message that fosters and perpetuates a ‘culture of alcohol’ on campuses nationwide, and drives students to drink rather than make the rational, safer choice to use marijuana instead,” the Emerald Initiative website, safercampuses.org, states. “Marijuana is safer than alcohol. It’s time we treat it that way.”
The Emerald Initiative is a more radical offshoot of the Amethyst Initiative, a national petition circulated last summer which called on college and university presidents to support lowering the drinking age to 18 in an effort to curb high-risk binge drinking.
Following the passage of the Drug-Free Student Loan Act of 1998, students convicted of possessing or distributing marijuana or any other type of narcotic stand to lose federal student loans.
Such government legislation is based on “entirely arbitrary reasons” that foster dangerous recreation patterns, SAFER executive director Mason Tvert told The Daily Pennsylvanian. “The government and universities clearly acknowledge that alcohol is a problem on campuses, but all their policies to prevent it — ‘Drink Responsibly’ campaigns, for example — just promote the notion that students should be drinking.”
Track Snack: Mornin Stashers! Tokin on the Mean Green Martian for breakfast.
MrSpof: Maybe Dr Mitch could comment on the efficacy of reasonable amount of weed like that consumed (smoked) quickly mitigating migraine effects. I know the lowering of blood pressure would be [...]
MrSpof: Had the onset of a migraine yesterday. Immediately took 8 , moist cool washcloth on eyes, heating pad on neck and upper back, turned off lights. Migraine gone in [...]
MrSpof: As you personal non-accredited doctor, I advise the rest of you to smoke/vape/eat heavily
slash5city: frickazee'd.... Mr. Spof, thank you very much
MrSpof: Risen and roasted How the hell are you?
RevRayGreen: always Fidget......always.
Adam: Maybe in WA, judges are starting to think about the true cost of a Drug charge...
Adam: Tim Lincecum, pitcher for the San Francisco Giants will pea to a paraphernalia charge/ Possession charges DROPPED
Adam: Add some cottage cheese to your pancake batter, replace the maple with a fruit syrup! f-ing killer, YES I was stoned...
Fidget Truittelli: Good morning from beautiful Arizona! I hope you all have a happy, fun day. Remember to 'pay-it' forward. Do something nice for someone.
BenJaMin: Go NORML!!!
BenJaMin: Russ Is Tha BEst! :smokin:
SneakerPimp: oh there it is thanx russ
SneakerPimp: so whats up with today stash?
RevRayGreen: Barney Frank Present When Partner Arrested for pot-- http://bit.ly/1XpM2R
RevRayGreen: KMK 11/17/09 VAL AIR ballroom DSM
bullbog: that's crazy. I had a NORML black t-shirt on. It was hell of a show
RevRayGreen: dude I was probably 4-5 seats from you then
bullbog: 4th row center. I wish I was closer.
RevRayGreen: were in in the orchestra pit 4th row? or 4th row center, that's where I was bu slightly to the right
RevRayGreen: our show ______v'''''''
RevRayGreen: catch our chow tomorrow online Carl'sCannabis Corner
www.macswordlive.com 12-2 PM you can go there now and find archived shows
bullbog: revraygreen after looking at your pic from last nite. I'm pretty sure I seen you. I regonize you from the march in May
Just Legalize It: nothing really cool dealing with marijuana happens in massachusetts.... it sucks.... other than the boston freedom rally... but one thing a year isnt enough! i want to move to [...]
"Truth In Trials Act" Reintroduced In Congress; Maine: Voters Approve Medical Marijuana Dispensaries Measure; Colorado: Breckenridge Voters Overwhelmingly Decide To End Pot Penalties. […]
Maine: Voters To Decide Next Week On Medical Marijuana Expansion Measure; Colorado: Breckenridge Voters To Decide Next Week On Eliminating Pot Penalties; California: Lawmakers Hold Historic Hearing On Marijuana Legalization; New Hampshire: Senate Fails To Override Medical Marijuana Veto. […]
Gallup: Majority Of West Coast Voters Back Marijuana Legalization; Pot Arrests Responsible For Majority Of Marijuana Treatment Referrals; DOJ To Federal Prosecutors: Do Not Focus Resources On Medical Marijuana. […]
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. […]
NORML SHOW LIVE premieres tonight 9pm ET / 6pm PT at http://live.norml.org
frickazee'd.... Mr. Spof, thank you very much
and roasted 
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