Real, Strange News

Legalize it now. Protect the victims. Save America. Vote Bloomberg

Reparations, baby!

Time to quit the Gestapo acts upon harmless gardeners. Especially those with certificated medical need.

As George Washington instructed his gardener-- "Make the most of the Indian hemp seed; sow it everywhere."

"Police take an oath to protect the law, you don't get to pick and choose which laws to follow." Remember Nuremberg?

Excellent article, this is a prime example that neighbors should not invade the privacy of others. Reefer Madness, please.

"Absurd" (police chief's word) is police "protecting and serving" their community by conducting witch-hunts on their sick and dying constituents, despite Colorado's Medical Marijuana Laws (part of CO's Constitution).

The police found this war veteran's legally-binding Medical Marijuana Certificate during their illegal raid on his home, but the police blatantly and transparently ignored it, stealing and WITHHOLDING all of his medicine, in direct violation of the laws they are sworn to uphold.

Polls have indicated for years that the majority of Americans want medical access to Cannabis for the sick and the dying, but for some "inside reason," most of our elected officials continue to turn their backs on the medical marijuana issue, while their sick and dying constituents are targeted, harassed, raided, physically "thrown around," incarcerated, and sometimes killed.

If this police captain doesn't want to "preserve evidence," like a law-abiding officer of the law, then perhaps he should not be stealing medicine from legal Colorado medical marijuana patients in the first place.

Why are our elected officials ignoring the will of the people, and how do we get them out of their very comfortable, very lucrative, big industry bed?

Yet another example of the anarchist's manipulation of the left-wing media's. Medical marijuana is nothing more than a tied ploy to legalize pot for all. As a "medicine" if you choose to call it that, grass is unproven at best and more likely harmful.
DO NOT BE FOOLED

This is disturbing. Police are supposed to protect and serve. This makes it harder for them to do both. They are not the enemy but our allies and friends.
As a parent of 2 teens in Denver, this case turns my stomach. I pray this policy will be struck down in court.

Pot IS addictive. Here are some facts:
Laboratory studies have shown that animals exhibit symptoms of drug withdrawal after cessation of prolonged marijuana administration. Some human studies have also demonstrated withdrawal symptoms such as irritability, stomach pain, aggression, and anxiety after cessation of oral administration of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), marijuana's principal psychoactive component. Now, NIDA-supported researchers at McLean Hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts, and Columbia University in New York City have shown that individuals who regularly smoke marijuana experience withdrawal symptoms after they stop smoking the drug.

Studies at Columbia University in New York City have demonstrated that, in addition to aggression, marijuana smokers experience other withdrawal symptoms such as anxiety, stomach pain, and increased irritability during abstinence from the drug. "These results suggest that dependence may be an important consequence of repeated daily exposure to marijuana," says NIDA.

People have enough vice and temptation!

Marijuana has been used effectively as a medicine for millenia, and will continue to be medicine forever and ever, despite the fear tactics/"New Reefer Madness" from people like Create Right.

One the most amazing properties of Cannabis -- that many of the FEDS and their industry friends don't want you to know -- is Cannabis' incredibly low toxicity: in 5,000 years of use (and millions and millions of users)there has not been a single, credible account of death from overdose/toxicity.

D.E.A Judge Francis Young summed it up quite well:

"Marijuana, in its natural form, is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man. By any measure of rational analysis, marijuana can be safely used within a supervised routine of medical care...

The evidence in this record clearly shows that marijuana has been accepted as capable of relieving the distress of great numbers of very ill people, and doing so with safety under medical supervision.

It would be unreasonable, arbitrary and capricious for DEA to continue to stand between those sufferers and the benefits of this substance in light of the evidence in this record..." -- DEA Administrative Law Judge Francis L. Young, In the Matter of Marijuana Rescheduling Petition. Docket No. 86-22. OPINION AND RECOMMENDED RULING, FINDINGS OF FACT, CONCLUSIONS OF LAW AND DECISION. DATED: SEPTEMBER 6, 1988

Be nice - and sorta Democratic - if the DEA listened to their Judges.

End the lies about Cannabis...

Create Right you are a moron, second perhaps only to the Colorado police who think that people smoke marijuana leaves! Please explain how can they are policing a drug if they have no idea how its used?

National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine:

"Scientific data indicate the potential therapeutic value of cannabinoid drugs, primarily THC, for pain relief, control of nausea and vomiting, and appetite stimulation. ... For certain patients, such as the terminally ill or those with debilitating symptoms, the long-term risks [associated with smoking] are not of great concern. ... [Therefore,] clinical trials of marijuana for medical purposes should be conducted. ... There are patients with debilitating symptoms for whom smoked marijuana might provide relief. ... Except for the harms associated with smoking, the adverse effects of marijuana use are within the range of effects tolerated for other medications."
Reference: "Marijuana as Medicine: Assessing the Science Base," National Academy Press: Washington, DC. 1999
________________________________________

New England Journal of Medicine
"Federal authorities should rescind their prohibition of the medical use of marijuana for seriously ill patients and allow physicians to decide which patients to treat. The government should change marijuana's status from that of a Schedule I drug ... to that of a Schedule II drug ... and regulate it accordingly."
Reference: Editorial by NEJM editor Dr. Jerome Kassirer, January 30, 1997

AIDS Treatment News
"The scientific case for medical [marijuana] use keeps growing stronger. Far more dangerous psychoactive drugs, like morphine, are successfully allowed in medical use. Somehow marijuana has become a symbolic or political hard line to be maintained by anti-drug believers regardless of human cost...

The costs will mount until the public can organize itself to insist that those who urgently need this medicine can obtain and use it legally."
Reference: AIDS Treatment News, #287, January 23, 1998

To Create Right:

I don't think that you're in a position to tell people dying of cancer which medicines they should be allowed to use to ease their suffering. Frankly, the minor side effects you list regarding potential marijuana dependency pale in comparison to the severe nausea and vomiting I've endured. Vaporizing marijuana allows me to eat. How can you defend the government's position that I'm a criminal who should go to jail? Because I might experience some minor withdrawal symptoms if I stop vaporizing marijuana? Because the government knows best and needs to protect me from myself and my crazy doctors who suggest I vaporize marijuana so I can eat?

And of course no other medications doctors regularly prescribe have any potential for addiction or withdrawal, or have any side effects.

Yeah, I'm definitely better off in jail. Thanks for your concern and compassion.

Just a few of the Nat'l Health Organization Supporting Medical Cannabis:

The Institute of Medicine, The American Academy of Family Physicians, The American Bar Association, The American Public Health Association, The American Society of Addiction Medicine, AIDS Action
Council, British Medical Association, The American Nurses Association, The New Jersey Nurses Association, American Medical Students Association, California Legislative Counsel for Older Americans,
California Nurses Association, California Pharmacists Association, National Association of People with AIDS, New York State Nurses Association, Virginia Nurses Association, Alaska Nurses Association,
American Preventative Medical Association, Being Alive, Connecticut Nurses Association, Federation of American Scientists, Hawaii Nurses Association, Illinois Nurses Association, Florida Nurses Association, Medical Society of the State of New York, Colorado Nurses Association, Consumer Reports Magazine, Kaiser Permanente, Lymphoma Foundation of America, National Nurses Society on Addiction, the New England Journal of Medicine, and The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society...

Of course, there are a lot more, but this is a good starter list...

End the lies about Cannabis.

Look you can cite a million studies stating a million things. If you really are dying then you should be able to do whatever you want. Different drugs work for different people and if a doctor prescribes you pot legally then I say take it.
But all the pro-pot commentators on this board come off a little fanatical by not admitting that this goes beyond just medicine. They want marijuana legalized outright. Pot isn't like oxycotin because you can cultivate pot. It is against the law for anyone to make oxy in their house so that analogy doesn't fly.
If you want to be fair and prescribe marijuana then it should be produced and distributed legally and professionally to cut the illicit use (a stoner basement operations don't fly). Anything else and it sounds like a gesture towards outright legalization which most of America opposes.

Face it: Cops break down doors and hold guns to people's heads because it's fun! Who are you to deny someone's happiness?

On Cannabis' Safety as a Medicine (more from DEA Administrative Law Judge Francis Young's recommendation to allow sick and dying access to Cannabis):

"The most obvious concern when dealing with drug safety is the possibility of lethal effects. Can the drug cause death?

Nearly all medicines have toxic, potentially lethal effects. But marijuana is not such a substance. There is no record in the extensive medical literature describing a proven, documented cannabis-induced fatality.

This is a remarkable statement. First, the record on marijuana encompasses 5,000 years of human experience. Second, marijuana is now used daily by enormous numbers of people throughout the world. Estimates suggest that from twenty million to fifty million Americans routinely, albeit illegally, smoke marijuana without the benefit of direct medical supervision.

Yet, despite this long history of use and the extraordinarily high numbers of social smokers, there are simply no credible medical reports to suggest that consuming marijuana has caused a single death.

By contrast aspirin, a commonly used, over-the-counter medicine, causes hundreds
of deaths each year." DEA Judge's Findings of Fact

"Nothing is more infuriating to a person who has been relieved of crippling nausea than to be told that he has not been relieved. It is almost predictable, for reasons of political harmony and acuity, that the administration will dodge that problem by simply -- doing nothing." William F. Buckley, Jr on Medical Cannabis

This is great news. Patients using state law to their advantage!!! They are absolutely right to get reimbursed by the police for the destruction of their property.

To those who don't realize the full potential of marijuana for medical purposes, there is an amazing organization in Santa Cruz called WAMM (Wo/Mens Alliance for Medical Marijuana). The group is living proof that marijuana works in treating terminal diseases and improves the quality of life for people who would otherwise be suffering.

Check out their website at http://www.wamm.org

Cannabis should be an option, along with all the other meds, for our Docs and patients, especially since "there will always be a sub-population of patients who don't respond to the normal medication regimen." National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine

btw, I am not a fanatic or an anarchist, but a registered Republican. In fact, I believe that unjust laws -- like laws that deliberately limit medical options for our sick and the dying -- weaken the overall strength of our laws and distort our collective vision of justice for all.

Laws are designed to protect us from harm, not designed to limit our medical options or encourage attacks on our sick and dying.

More Credible Links on Medical Marijuana

1) Marijuana's History as a Medicine, by Harvard's Dr Lester Grinspoon, one of the world's foremost experts on marijuana:

http://www.maps.org/mmj/grinspoon_history_cannabis_medicine.pdf

2) Emerging Clinical Applications for Cannabis and Cannabinoids: A Review of the Recent Scientific Literature, 2000 - 2006 - Paul Armentano, Senior Policy Analyst, NORML (this document takes a while to download) :

http://www.norml.org/pdf_files/NORML_Clinical_Applications_for_Cannabis_and_Cannabinoids.pdf

3) On Marijuana's Safety as a Medicine - DEA Administrative Law Judge Francis L. Young's recommendation to reschedule marijuana:

http://www.fcda.org/pdf/young88.fcda.pdf

And here's a link to Safe Access Now, a Nat'l organization working to create access to this ancient plant for our sick and dying:

http://www.safeaccessnow.org/

great resource on what is happening on this very real war on patients...

Quote from Create Right:"These results suggest that dependence may be an important consequence of repeated daily exposure to marijuana," says NIDA.

Funny that Create Right is using NIDA as a source, especially since NIDA has been running a very quiet Federal Medical Cannabis Program since 1978.

Just a tad contradictory on NIDA's part?

That's right. Way before California's Medical Marijuana Laws, our Federal Government's Compassionate Investigational New Drug (IND) program began sending close to 9 ounces of federal cannabis every month to federal patients with debilitating conditions. Program still exists today for these federally-legal ten patients.

Here is a great article on one of the participants and how Cannabis has helped him to survive, despite having a highly rare and highly fatal disease, Nail Patella Syndrome (NPS):

http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/story?oid=oid:164587

To Barney Pie:

You're correct that many Americans -- including me -- believe that no responsible adult should be considered a criminal just for having and using marijuana, and that marijuana prohibition has been a spectacular failure no matter how you measure it.

This isn't about being "pro-pot" -- it's about being pro-good policy.

However, the reason legitimate patients cannot simply get a prescription for marijuana from a doctor and have it dispensed at their local pharmacy is not because anarchic hippies prefer to make them grow it in their basements, as you seem to suggest. It's because federal policy -- at odds with mountains of scientific evidence and public opinion -- forbids it.

If you believe seriously ill people should have safe, dignified access to marijuana -- but its possession and use should remain a crime for everybody else -- then please act on those convictions.

But I find it tragic to think that otherwise compassionate, decent folks would deny sick people a safe, effective medicine simply to spite those who would end marijuana prohibition altogether.

There is a sensible way to distribute pot without having people grow it in their basements. The Colorado gov. should build facilities that will grow and dispense these drugs or simply grow them and ship them to pharmacies that can distribute. Certainly pot is no more dangerous than a lot of the drugs (or for that matter guns) that WalMart already has behind its counters.

From Create Right:

"Pot IS addictive. Here are some facts:

Laboratory studies have shown that animals exhibit symptoms of drug withdrawal after cessation of prolonged marijuana administration. Some human studies have also demonstrated withdrawal symptoms such as irritability, stomach pain, aggression, and anxiety after cessation of oral administration of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), marijuana's principal psychoactive component...

...People have enough vice and temptation!"

Yep, it can be addictive. But so can the sleeping pills that thousands (millions?) of Americans are prescribed every year. And if my brother goes cold turkey off his prescribed depression meds, he gets the same symptoms listed above. So do 10 year olds who take Prozac and other prescriptions of the like. All drugs have risks, and all drugs work differently for different people. If marijuana is going to help some sick people ease their suffering, and it's prescribed and monitored by medical professionals, I really don't see how any of use should be in a position to deny them that.

...any of us should be in a position to deny them that.

I haven't had a single toke in over thirty years.
Why?--because one can be busted for simple possession.

That one should remain abstinent for such a reason strikes me as absurd; but in the United States of America (once thought to be the greatest experiment in human self-governance since the ancient Greeks) one has no other real choice.

How very tragic..!

Why is it tragic that our cities aren't filled with stoners looking for their next fix?
J Greene, your country has put a law in place that keeps you from taking a drug that would make you lazy, fat and possibly sick. In my book that is a triumph, not a tragedy.
And just so you know, in Greece 90% of the population smoke cigarettes and most die of lung cancer.

"J Greene, your country has put a law in place that keeps you from taking a drug that would make you lazy, fat and possibly sick. In my book that is a triumph, not a tragedy."

And alcohol makes many people belligerent, fat and possible sick.... Are we now going to argue that alcohol should be outlawed? Time to bring back prohibition? Cause that worked so well.

Can you hear it.... the tide is turning. And it is going to come back and swallow those who stand in its way.

Cannabis is the only dioecious (gendered) annual in the plant kingdom. What does that mean? Well, it procreates. It does this just as other species of this earth do. IT'S IMPORTANT DUMMIES

Our brain also has specific cannabinoid receptors. Meaning that we either evolved with this plant to have them. Or, god, "creator", etc, put them in our brain.

Perhaps the biggest travesty is the fact that Hemp, which is in the Cannabis family, is persecuted because of its medicinal relative. Why? because it is a renewable source of energy. It is the strongest known natural fiber. All of the first bibles were printed on it. The ships that sailed the seas, ALL of the sails made from it. We could fuel our country (biofuel) provide clothing. Lower our current c02 levels (which is causing the greenhouse effect), because Cannabis can consume up to 2000 ppm of co2 (atmosphere is around 300-400ppm). WE COULD BRING BACK THE AMERICAN FARMER. WE ARE THE ONLY INDUSTRIALIZED NATION THAT FORBIDS HEMPS CULTIVATION.

There is only so much ignorance that the universe allows before it snaps back.

even if i just want to get high, so what? im an adult living in a free country, i should be able to get high if i want. i can get drunk why cant i get high if i want to? id much rather get high then drunk.

you know why, because of stupid closed minded people.

dee dee dee, weed is evil. stupid people!

what is the actual crime in smoking a little pot, even growing it

im sick of this bs war on pot

More people are killed or injured by marijuana law enforcement, than by marijuana itself.

These anti-marijuana laws issue from those who want to save us from hell. But I would rather burn for eternity than put up with this kind of oppression on Earth. I expect to see those prejudice of cannabis consumers there with me.

Bottom line though, it's my life, and I will use whatever drug I want to use regardless of any government or law, and there's nothing anyone can do about it, except use the police to kill or incarcerate me. Until then, I think I'll celebrate this post with a fresh bowl of marijuana. Click!

To say pot has never killed is incorrect. Check your stats A. Stern! How many automobile fatalities have their been when marijuana was found in the bloodstream? How many murders/suicides have been committed by those under the influence of pot? I'll admit its probably pretty hard to OD on weed, but people have certainly killed or been killed as a result of its intoxication.

smoke this,

Again, what I said earlier was "in 5,000 years of use (and millions and millions of users)there has not been a single, credible account of death from overdose/toxicity."

The key words you missed were "overdose" and "toxicity." I agree with you that marijuana has definitely been a contributing factor in many fatal accidents, not just motor vehicle accidents.

But accidents and having marijuana "in the system" at the time of death are distinctly different than Cannabis causing a death from toxicity or overdose (take it up with DEA Law Judge Francis L Young, because this information is from his findings of FACT.).

Given traditional medications kill about 100,000 people in the U.S. -- even when properly prescribed and properly taken (J.A.M.A. stats )-- it is INSANE that we are "demonizing" a plant that HAS NOT KILLED FROM OVERDOSE IN 5,000 YEARS.

Well, I do believe that just like we shouldn't drink and drive, we shouldn't smoke and drive and I actually support those laws.

As far as accidents/suicides/murders, how do you know those incidents would not have occurred anyway?

Say a woman drank a few beers and killed someone. If she is a murderer, she was bound to kill anyway. It's too bad that she took a drug that made her do that, but she should go to jail for murder, not drug use.

And try to remember, people drive and die on prescription drugs, caffiene is linked to road rage, tobacco kills about half a million nicotine addicts a year, marijuana, effectively zero. Where's common sense?

I guess no one else blinked when the Det. Shannon Lucy, an Aurora police spokesperson, feigned ignorance of the marijuana plants they have been confiscating for years and no one questioned why cops bothered to trimmed off the buds (containing 5-10x the THC 'resin' that the leaves do) so that only the post-manicured 'leaves' were available to be returned.

We are to believe that only parts stored as police evidence happen to be the "waste product" of a first-pass manicuring of cannabis after harvest in preparation for sale or(/and) consumption? We are, also, to believe that the glistening, sticky, resin-coated buds are considered 'worthless' so their disappearance in "police custody" is considered to be normal evidentiary procedure?

I can imagine the cops being angry; next those damn citizen grower-patients will be wanting the buds back as well!

Search Google news for "marijuana" and you'll see why it's still illegal, not because it's harmful, it's not, but because law enforcement and private prisons both benefit from it strongly. Sure, you could legalize it and tax it, which I'm all for, but with marijuana illegal, the gov. profits from it much more than it ever would by it being legal. Do you know how many properties, vehicles, and so on they seize because people are growing a few plants of NATURE? Watch some Bill Hicks and learn the truth, the war on drugs is a lie, it's just another way for our freedoms to be eroded for the profit of liars and scumbags. When alcohol was illegal, you had the Al Capones, it's the same with drugs today, no war on drugs = no drug lords, and they know it. Who do you think protects big pharma? Three letters, take a guess. Marijuana is medicine, it is a planet, and if you begin to study plants, you'll see they all have effects on the human body. Why is foxglove legal but I can go chew it and possibly die from it? If you want marijuana legalized, go collect signatures to change our laws and vote, vote, vote. If legalization efforts fail, try again, and again, keep rolling the dice until it works in our favor. Nature should not be illegal, people who profit from prosecuting people enjoying nature should be the ones behind bars.

oooooohhhhhhhh i love it. it's so damn hilarious... DEA's estimation of 5200 per plant... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA.... wooooooooo I LOVE IT WHEN THESE SNIVELING RATS GET WHAT THEY DESERVE... DEA is next on the agenda. it's time put that rabid dog to sleep! DEA raids are going to net the abused patients millions when factor in pain and suffering. oh yeah. well i hope so.

Yeah this is some great reading. Legalize and Stop the abuse of power, for the good of All.

A lot of people don't know that the DEA is obligated to protect the prohibition laws from ever being repealed. This is a duty put on the DEA *in addition* to its enforcement role.

We need to call on Congress to remove this obligation from the DEA and allow the prohibition laws to stand or fall based solely on the actual risks associated with marijuana!

Society needs to know that the laws that govern it can be repealed if repeal is necessary. It is intolerable to be governed by laws that can never even be questioned.

Anyone who busts a marijuana user has no soul and has the intelligence of a slug.

These are your protectors?

"A Baltimore police officer accused of having sex with a 16-year-old girl inside a station house will avoid serving time in prison but will have to resign from the force under a deal made yesterday with city prosecutors."

Typical, the average Joe goes to prison, subjected to the violence and gang rape.

"While awaiting transfer to Baltimore County, Welch led the girl into an interview room in the Southeastern District station on Eastern Avenue. Alone with her, Welch flirted, confronted her about the marijuana he said he had found in her purse and told her that he could charge her with a crime, prosecutors said." - http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-md.welch11jan11,0,6612201.story

"The war on drugs to me is absolutely phoney; it's so obviously phoney, okay? It's a war against our civil rights, that's all it is. They're using it to make us afraid to go out at night, afraid of each other, so that we lock ourselves in our homes and they get to suspend our rights one by one." - Bill Hicks

Actually, in scientific research as opposed to popular lore, people who are stoned on marijuana are better drivers than people who are not. Stoners are more observant, more careful, drive slower, and less likely to have an accident than are straights. If you want to reduce some of our 40,000 annual traffic deaths, you could do worse than require all drivers to stay fully stoned while driving.

"current process for medical marijuana certification could easily be abused by people who want to grow it illegally."

no no oates you got it all wrong, no one wants to grow it illegally. certification would therefore make it legal, not illegal you dumb pigger!

I live in Colorado and voted for medical marijuana and decriminalization.

The cops in Colorado are all knuckle-dragging brutish thugs who voted for Chimpy twice. Their information about marijuana comes from watching "Reefer Madness" too many times.

Colorado cops love to bust potheads because they don't agree with their politics and because it is an easy bust. Much easier than looking for the assassins who murdered a Denver Bronco football player a year ago.

That case is still unsolved.

The misguided and ill-informed attempts to undermine Colorado's Medical Marijuana Laws -- on the part of a few Colorado "leaders" like Senator Salazar and former Governor Owens -- have trickled down into reckless and questionably-legal public policy, that endangers Colorado's most vulnerable citizens; disgraces Colorado's law enforcement; and squanders Colorado's precious resources on insane witch-hunts.

Even Colorado's current Governor Ritter was caught holding meetings in secret -- without the input from the public that is required by law -- to limit the scope of Colorado's Medical Marijuana Law.

Why are these leaders working so hard to undermine the laws their people voted into place? Whose interests are they really serving?

Until people like Governor Ritter begin to seriously protect Colorado's constituent-patients and begin to protect Colorado's Constitution from this illegal, immoral, inhumane, and INSANE War on Our Sick, necessary lawsuits will continue to fly.

Coloradoans, including some elected officials who have educated themselves on the realities of medical marijuana, like Congressmen Tancredo and Udall, have already spoken: leave medical marijuana patients alone...

H.L. Mencken 's definition of a puritan : " A person who is haunted by the fear that somewhere, someone is enjoying himself. "

Something to think about , Create Right? ;D

Everything was understandable , up to they point the police found the permit . Then they confiscated most of the crop , and effectively destroyed it .Seems to be out of vindictiveness, or a conviction that their opinion of medical marijuana should prevail regardless of what the law says .
If it was a different, legally prescribed medication, in pill bottles , and they did that , there wouldn't be anyone questioning the need for compensation or replacement.But it's marijuana, so everybody(almost) gets inconsistently hysterical.

Can anyone explain why alcohol is legal and marijuana is not?

This is the ultimate test of logic regarding laws intended to protect the piblic safety.

Fantastic article, and kudos to Mr. Dickes for following through with a lawsuit. It's about time for these raids to cease altogether.

http://video.google.ca/videoplay?docid=-7215884908568593154

Its all about the $!

for anyone who says that pot is more "dangerous" than other drugs used as prescription medication consider this- while pot has no overdose level while almost every other prescription medication has an overdose level. how then, is pot more dangerous than standard prescription medication? if something CANNOT be lethal in any way it's used (besides perhaps shoving marijuana in someones throat to suffocate them) then how is it dangerous? please get some unbiased studies that say marijuana is more dangerous than any over the counter drug or prescription drug and i am sure users would listen. if you don't have facts people won't listen to your half-assed argument. period.

Interesting to see the states talking this into its own hands.

http://p2plendingwithprosper.blogspot.com/

ok how in the hell can the state think that pot is soo evil i mean seriously if docters can subscribe drugs like oxycontin wich is basicly synthetic heroin or morphine wich more americans are addicted to than any other drug and they are soo easy to get pot dosent even compare to opiates and its not legal for medical use this to me is ridiculous if pot cant be used for medical reasons then every narcatic should also be illigal heck might as well make alchohal and tabbacco illegal as well it blows my mind how theese morons think pot is the devil we got much more to worry about then some meer weed what about meth heroin cocain thats what the government should be focasing on not us peaceful pot heads

well a man said he was dieing and the nausia and the pain left him wasting away he couldent keep a meal down he tryed everything perscription could abtain but to no avail the side effects where worse than the pain now he breaks the law to use the one thing that seems to help him out and people say o hes just getting high
havent u ever wonderd why getting highs a crime yea a crime

Det. Shannon Lucy, an Aurora police spokesperson, illustrated her department's cultivation ignorance, explaining that they kept only the leaves, which she called the "only thing of value," not the buds in which most of the active ingredient, THC, resides.

^^^^I laughed a great amount when I read that

"Prohibition will work great injury to the cause of temperance. It is a species of intemperance within itself, for it goes beyond the bounds of reason in that it attempts to control a man's appetite by legislation, and makes a crime out of things that are not crimes. A Prohibition law strikes a blow at the very principles upon which our government was founded."
-- Abraham Lincoln

Prohibition didn't work for alcohol and it's not working for pot. I've never taken a puff in my life because I think it's stupid (I don't drink either), but frankly I'm tired of paying the cost of trying to keep these druggies on what we think is the "straight and narrow path". We end up spending billions of dollars, increasing police powers at the expense of civil liberties, and incarcerating hundreds of thousands of non-violent citizens, and after all that most people who want to smoke pot are able to do so anyway. Heck, I've been blessed to have a great life, if my life sucked as much as some of these druggies' lives, I might take a puff or two to help forget about it now and then, who am I to judge them for that?

Let's listen to Abe Lincoln and end pot prohibition now.

Jake,

I'm sure a lot of very sick and dying people would deeply resent you calling them "emotionally weak," because they are using a safe and effective medicine to treat their conditions.

Check out the following links, before you embarrass yourself with more ugly displays of judgment and ignorance. No matter how hard you wish it to be otherwise, Cannabis/marijuana has been medicine for thousands of years. And Cannabis will continue to be medicine forever:

1) Marijuana's History as a Medicine, by Harvard's Dr Lester Grinspoon, one of the world's foremost experts on marijuana (this statement was prepared for the DEA):

http://www.maps.org/mmj/grinspoon_history_cannabis_medicine.pdf

2) Emerging Clinical Applications for Cannabis and Cannabinoids: A Review of the Recent Scientific Literature, 2000 - 2006 - Paul Armentano, Senior Policy Analyst, NORML (this document takes a while to download) :

http://www.norml.org/pdf_files/NORML_Clinical_Applications_for_Cannabis_and_Cannabinoids.pdf

3) On Marijuana's Safety as a Medicine - DEA Administrative Law Judge Francis L. Young's recommendation to reschedule marijuana:

http://www.fcda.org/pdf/young88.fcda.pdf

Colorado sounds like a pretty sweet state I have a friend living there and I live in California. But soon it will not matter anyway people will begin to realize that the world we live in is sick everything. Some have said that Cannabis is "For the Healing of the Nations". In every sense of the world. Think about it there was a time in this great nations history when it was illegal if you did not grow any Cannabis on your property. That time in America was the Golden Age the Age which made this country the biggest force in the whole world. Ever since 1937 when Bush and his Nazi devil worshiping family and all there crazy friends have messed our nation up because of there delusions of being the first American Royal Family. Bullsh*t and everybody wants to help the earth and save our climate which is not warming because of us. that is very arrogant to think that we are so great and massive that we can change an entire planets climate WoW. Al Gore must think human beings are something else. no our sun the biggest piece of energy in the whole damn solar system is getting warmer countless numbers of people have mentioned that and now huge massive planets are are melting oh yeah this sun will flip its sh*t and explode. 2012? anyway if All of humanity wants to have a good time wise up or one day you will realize you were duped and that it is too late maybe not for you but your children's children's children will have to deal with the mess you made by cutting all their trees down and turning the only places to live into the New Sahara desert only this one stretches across continents. Oh and polar ice caps melting and rising tides yeah well what the hell did you think would happen when the sun gets hot! yeah the whole world needs to relax and take a nap for like the whole day and relax no stress no worry and get a little high. then the whole world will be saved we would realize the wrongs of the world get rid of them and dare I say Utopia! Well I hope because what is the Alternative?

I know so many people who smoke pot. Most of them are professionals, over 30 (way over, even) and have been occasional users since their teen years. I cannot smoke anything because I have weak lungs, so I just drink. Legalize it. That's my vote -- then we can take all the money we spend on incarcerating people for weed and pay off our debt, or at least the war. If I could have a pot cookie once a month, that would be cool. But I am not motivated enough to look for it -- it's just easier to open up a bottle of wine.

It's time we all band together and let our governments know that marijuana needs to be legalized!!!!..no need for marijuana users to be sitting in jails...weed is no different than alcohol or cigarettes...i am a medicinal weed user, or i could be addicted to "Oxy's" for my 24/7 pain...geez, i think i will stay with the weed....I don't know any pot users who go out and kill, etc. they are all to laid back and happy....look at the money the governments would make if they taxed it and made it legal...it would be cheaper in price for everyone....legalize marijuana!!!!start putting tax payers money towards issues that are really major concerns, like poverty, homelessness, murders, rapists, etc....

my only question is how does someone dyeing of cancer and smoking marijuana prescribed by their doctor effect you? I also must agree that by legalizing it completely the government could gain money and use the money towards more important things also it could even help other countries who would distribute it because it would raise their economies. but i would hate for all that to happen if some people don't like the idea that someone could be in there house smoking a joint...ya i mean that could ruin their day...

Holy Jesus! "Police are made to protect laws". What about THE PEOPLE!!!! THE MOST DANGEROUS THING ABOUT CANNABIS/MARIJUANA IS THE PEOPLE WHO REGULATE IT.

If cannabis is not the greatest medicinal plant in the history of man, what is. People should read JackHerer.com and the online edition of The Emperor Wears No Clothes to see what cannabis prohibition says about our corrupt governments. They are more rulers than governors where justice means nothing. The prohibition laws led to the destruction of the Constitution which wasn't cracked up to be what everyone thought to start with. California will have an initiative in 2008 to Free Cannabis at all levels and give amnesty to the nonviolent convicted victims of this huge injustice. Legalize freedom.

Hello everyone,

Everything the legalizers claim is correct and the bottom line is, as we all should have learned long ago, PROHIBITION DOES NOT WORK! Any politician who tells you different is either an idiot, or he or she thinks you are an idiot.

However strong the argument for justice and efficiency, there is an even stronger case for ending adult drug prohibition. They are revealed in what I call THREE MOST IMPORTANT DRUG FACTS TODAY:

1. Illegal drugs are out of control.
2. Current drug laws are mostly unenforceable.
3. Current drug laws are widely ignored.

These failed drug laws - along with a sinking economy - are creating a culture of lawlessness and disrespect for the rule of law, and those who enforce it. If you doubt it, look at what is going on right now along our border with Mexico. It's little known here, but there is an all out shooting war there, and more. Some of the same grizzly stories we hear about decapitated bodies in Iraq are also becoming common in places like Tijuana and cities and towns throughout northern Mexico and the Baja. It's only a matter of time; this level of violence and carnage is drifting north like a toxic cloud as the drug/black market economy continues to grow, almost unchecked. Local law enforcement officials on the U.S. side of the border are, needless to say, very nervous.

I have no doubt society (government and private enterprise) can do a much better job of controlling the manufacture and distribution of popular drugs for personal, adult, use. I am equally sure major segments of our society will crumble into anarchy and brutality if this so-called War on Drugs is allowed to go on much longer.

So, with election fever running high and candidates falling over each other to convince us they have plans for resolving this crisis or ending that disaster, none of the so-called "top tier" candidates even acknowledges the fundamental problem with our nation's drug policies. They must think we're all idiots.

Hey,
I just wanted to make some comments about pots addictive nature that some one here brought up and what it does to your body and mind.
I am a married, stay at home, mother of 3, not on any government assistance of any kind. I smoke a quarter every 2 weeks. And yes, when I am not smoking a little pot, I am crabby, sleepy and unambitious. I was like that before I smoked pot. All of these being signs of depression.I used to be on anti-depressants but those had side effects I didn't like. Nor did my husband.

I quit my pills and started regularly smoking pot. I had always recreationally smoked( once a week), outside of my pregnancies of course. My life is awesome now. In the 4 years that I have smoked regularly my husband and I have renovated our house from the inside to out ourselves. And had a new baby. We even built an awesome playhouse on top of our new shed with a cedar deck to match the one we put on back of our house this year as well. and my life has never been calmer for me, my husband and my 3 children. I have 14 yr. old, who (although he is not aware of the reason) he likes me better a little high. And I don't blame him.

And for those of you who picture me sitting on the couch all day watching soaps, you couldn't be more wrong. I keep an immaculate home, bake awesome goodies for my family and friends, am also a pretty good cook. My 14 yr old is honor roll, my 6 yr old reads at a gr 4-5 level. And can chat in MSN. My 3 yr old loves to sing, mostly her abc's but lots of others as well. I give credit for that to my husband and I as our kids are mostly always with us. We are teaching them responsibility and family values. I am raising good kids to live alongside of your kids, are you doing the same, are you teaching them to be accepting of others? I hope so. If pot makes you stupid then you shouldn't do it. But the same goes for anything else, prescribed meds or not.

God made pot
Man made alcohol
I trust in GOD

It is very difficult to read the same flawed arguements for prohibition. In a truly free society there should be no laws to protect an individual from himself.

victimless crimes are waste of time and resources and create criminals of good people...

LEGALIZE IT. This is just another reason why its stupid that its illegal. Think about all the taxes coming out your pocket becuase people are being busted.

If it weren't for marijuana I would still weigh 90 pounds and unable to eat. Marijuana has helped me live with my thyroid disorder comfortably. Before that I was miserable every day with stomach pains and lack of appetite. It never made me lazy, in fact I am about to graduate a private college at the top of my class... I did it all in four years. I smoke with all kinds of people... doctors, ceo's, musicians, poets, bankers, writers, insurance agents, chefs, professors, scholars, my pastor at my church, lawyers, seminary recruiters, optomologists.... In fact the most influential and successful people that I know are all potheads. Anyone that is down on people that smoke have not thought critically about much of anything. I mean, there are so many ways to live, so many different people. Marijuana brings those different people together. I am ever grateful for all of the wonderful people I have met through the commonality of smoking trees. That's all I have to say:)

The laws against marijuana and its use have all failed. People will grow it and use it if they like and the government can't stop all of these users. The laws should be changed to allow for the small time user to be able to smoke in peace without fear of going to jail. It should be legal to be in possesion of a small amount of marijuana. The government would still be making money busting the people higher up and all the people lower (who probably only smoke pot, don't do other drugs, and are overall good citizens) won't be sitting in jail. Not to mention, our tax money is paying for all these decent citizens to stay in jail.
If anything, medical marijuana should definately be an option for patients who could benefit from it. I don't see how a non-lethal plant that can help someone could be illegal.

As for the actual article...I don't think he was growing 60 plus plants just for himself so I can see why the cops would want to take them. And they did say that they left 6 plants there. Oh, and I don't believe the whole "Yeah we're not that smart and cut off all of the buds". There had to be a reason behind that because if anyone of those cops had ever confiscated marijuana from someone they would know it doesn't look like a leaf. Maybe the cops just wanted a little smoke ;]

Why isn't Internal Affairs investigating how the buds "magically disappeared" in both Mr Dickes' and the Masters' case (another recent CO attack on medical patients)?

Usually, drugs disappearing from evidence rooms warrants investigation.

I too am suspicious of the Detective Lucy's insinuation that the police didn't know the "buds" contained the most THC and other compounds. I think she was floating a lie, to explain how the buds "magically disappeared," perhaps to prevent said IA investigation.

All these moral conservatives need to get off their high hog. Marijuana is no more harmful than Tabacco and Alcohol, in fact I'd argue its much less harmful.

You never hear about people coming home "high" and beating their spouce/children or anything like that. If anything you'll have more people sitting on their sofa vegging out, watching tv and eating Doritos.

Contrast that with the problems associated with alcholol, such as drunk driving, domestic violence and the numerous health problems associated with heavy drinking. Yet as long as your 21 you can drink yourself to death.

But god forbid a law abiding american smoke a bowl at the end of a long hard day at the office. What a crock!

Here's a solution - Lets take all the millions we spend on busting marijuana users/dealers and funding their jail stint and spend it on something worthwile.

while we're at it, lets legalize it so that it can be taxed just like tabacco and alcohol. A fat new money stream that can be utilized to help fund healthcare, education, ending poverty, or whatever other cuase is deemed worth while.

The War on Cannabis is inhumane and incredibly costly.

Few interesting tidbits:

**According to Dr John Gettman, Senior Research Fellow, School of Public Policy, George Mason University, our current marijuana laws cost American taxpayers 42 BILLION each year ($10.7 billion in direct law enforcement costs, and $31.1 billion in lost tax revenues).

** According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's annual Uniform Crime Report, police arrested a record 829,625 persons for marijuana violations in 2006, which boils down to an arrest every 38 seconds...

** The total number of marijuana arrests in the U.S. for 2006 far exceeded the total number of arrests in the U.S. for all violent crimes combined, including murder, manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery and aggravated assault...We need to focus on people who who others...

** Of the 829,625 charged with marijuana violations, approximately 89 percent, 738,915 Americans were charged with possession only...

** Annual marijuana arrests have nearly tripled since the early 1990s...

** Polls indicate that the people want access to medical marijuana for our sick and dying, But our elected officials want something else...

THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO EVIDENCE THAT INDICATES MARIJUANA IS IN ANY WAY HARMFUL AT ALL TO ANYONE!!

The problem here is really growing your own. If it is medical, let pharmacists distribute it. Then there will be no need for the consumer to grow it and no confusion on the part of the police. Growing your own is like someone using cocaine in place of prescribed codine.

Problem is not growing your own. That is what the pharmaceutical companies and the FEDS want you to believe, to maintain market share with far more dangerous medications.

Growing your own is the way it should be, just that our country got a little off track, when the FEDS started lying to us about Cannabis, back in 1937.

The problem is government intrusion - into our medical lives and into our homes.

In its natural form, not synthetic, marijuana is one of the safest substances known to man.

We grow all sorts of plants with medicinal benefit, like Aloe Vera, without Mommy and Daddy. Why should we not be allowed to help ourselves?

Why should we be so dependent on FDA-approved drugs, especially considering FDA drugs kill approximately 100,000 people each year?

Why should a citizen pay the government for something they (the citizen) can do much better?

The Federally grown U.S. Cannabis (for the NIDA program) is some of the worst quality Cannabis on the planet.

Nature's/God's recipe has never killed; can't even say that about aspirin.

"It would be unreasonable, arbitrary and capricious for DEA to continue to stand between those sufferers and the benefits of this substance in light of the evidence in this record..." -- DEA Administrative Law Judge Francis L. Young, In the Matter of Marijuana Rescheduling Petition. Docket No. 86-22. OPINION AND RECOMMENDED RULING, FINDINGS OF FACT, CONCLUSIONS OF LAW AND DECISION. DATED: SEPTEMBER 6, 1988

Colorado now allows medical marijuana users to produce documentation AFTER a bust. My doctor completed my application and advised me to keep it without sending it in to the state. He suggested that since the law provides for exception after the fact, it is stupid to pay for registration and have my name on any list. The risk of not submitting the forms for registration before hand is that it takes LEO off the hook when it comes to taking care of any plants seized. Luckily, I can always get replacement plants free from other med MJ growers I know.

FDA-approved drugs -- even when properly prescribed and properly taken -- kill roughly three times the number of people dying each year from automobile accidents.

Another of way of looking at this would be a person dies every 5 minutes in the U.S. from properly taking, properly prescribed medication.

What in tarnation is up with that?

Should we really be trusting the FDA?

How many people died from Vioxx?

And how many homo sapiens have died from cannabis toxicity?

First, full support to the bloke here and I hope he gets full reinbursement from those pigs who had their nasty hands all over his beautiful ladies.

Secondly, I have a question... Doesn't Colorado law only allow for 6 plants per patient? Can someone correct me on this? Was he a caregiver for others?

peace

CO law allows for AT LEAST 6 plants per patient (3 in flowering). However, if it is "medically necessary" (medical necessity is determined by a Physician, not the Police or the D.A.) a patient can have more than the six plants (law doesn't give a cap; it is up to the doc).

A few misguided elected officials, like Democrats Senator Salazar and Governor Ritter, have tried hard to limit the scope of these laws and to sabotage these laws' protection, in direct opposition to the will of their people and in direct opposition to all that is decent and good.

Again, "medical necessity" is determined by a physician, not by Governor Ritter or Colorado Judges deliberately thwarting and undermining their own state laws...

Regarding how many plants a Colorado-legal medical marijuana patient can have, from 0-4-287 - ARTICLE XVIII - Miscellaneous (the enabling statute to Amendment 20 of Colorado's Constitution):

"For quantities of marijuana in excess of these amounts (6 plants), a patient or his or her primary care-giver may raise as an affirmative defense to charges of violation of state law that such greater amounts were medically necessary to address the patient's debilitating medical condition."

Again, a Physician is the "person in the neighborhood" who determines how much medicine is needed to address a patient's debilitating illnesses. Somewhere along the way, people like Salazar and Ritter, forgot this simple fact. The bought and/ or excruciatingly ignorant elected officials, like Salazar and Ritter, need to stay out of the medical field! Lord knows, they have enough problems with credibility in the political arena...

weird...this article vanished from Google News...probably just some glitch...

The second-largest group of doctors in the United States, the American College of Physicians (ACP), came out with a 13 page position paper on the efficacy of medical marijuana this week.

This ACP's huge endorsement of medical marijuana urged the federal government to reschedule marijuana as a Schedule I drug, to allow it to be prescribed; to ease the approval process to allow cannabis to allow cannabis to be researched; and to remove criminal and civil penalties in the states where medical marijuana laws have been adopted.

This was HUGE medical news around the world, but the Washington Post didn't even mention it. Not a word, from what I could tell. Instead, the Washington Post ran another negative story on Cannabis that is a couple of weeks stale.

I used to read the Washington Post, but if the Post is controlling the news like this, I will never give the Post another cent.

Absolutely pathetic, one-sided coverage of an incredibly important subject. Your readers deserve more balanced coverage of the topic of medical marijuana.

The second-largest group of doctors in the United States, the American College of Physicians, came out with a 13 page position paper on the efficacy of medical marijuana this week.

This huge endorsement of medical marijuana urged the federal government to reschedule marijuana as a Schedule I drug, to allow it to be prescribed; to ease the approval process to allow cannabis to allow cannabis to be researched; and to remove criminal and civil penalties in the states where medical marijuana laws have been adopted.

This was HUGE medical news around the world, but the Washington Post didn't even mention it. Not a word, from what I could tell. Instead, the Washington Post ran another negative story on Cannabis that is a couple of weeks stale.

I used to read the Washington Post, but if the Post is controlling the news like this, I will never give the Post another cent.

Absolutely pathetic, one-sided coverage of an incredibly important subject. Please catch up to the rest of the world; your readers deserve a more balanced picture.

The second-largest group of doctors in the United States, the American College of Physicians, came out with a 13 page position paper on the efficacy of medical marijuana this week.

This huge endorsement of medical marijuana urged the federal government to reschedule marijuana as a Schedule I drug, to allow it to be prescribed; to ease the approval process to allow cannabis to allow cannabis to be researched; and to remove criminal and civil penalties in the states where medical marijuana laws have been adopted.

This was HUGE medical news around the world, but the Washington Post didn't even mention it. Not a word, from what I could tell. Instead, the Washington Post ran another negative story on Cannabis that is a couple of weeks stale.

I used to read the Washington Post, but if the Post is controlling the news like this, I will never give the Post another cent.

Absolutely pathetic, one-sided coverage of an incredibly important subject.

The second-largest group of doctors in the United States, the American College of Physicians, came out with a 13 page position paper on the efficacy of medical marijuana this week.

This huge endorsement of medical marijuana urged the federal government to reschedule marijuana as a Schedule I drug, to allow it to be prescribed; to ease the approval process to allow cannabis to allow cannabis to be researched; and to remove criminal and civil penalties in the states where medical marijuana laws have been adopted.

This was HUGE medical news around the world, but the Washington Post didn't even mention it. Not a word, from what I could tell. Instead, the Washington Post ran another negative story on Cannabis that is a couple of weeks stale.

I used to read the Washington Post, but if the Post is controlling the news like this, I will never give the Post another cent.

Absolutely pathetic, one-sided coverage of an incredibly important subject. Please catch up to the rest of the world; your readers deserve a more balanced picture.

Honestly this is stupid! If my husband is in imense pain after being hurt in Iraq, I would want him to have a medicine that will help ease his pain without all the side effects that medications have. My broter is a schizo, and I see how his medications compleately changed who he was, I dont want that for my husband. How dangerous can an injured veteran be anyway? Legalize if for all of thoes who actually need it, like my grandmother who died of ovarian cancer and was in so much pain she could'nt speak.Or My father-in-law who died of colon cancer and who died a painful death. LEGALIZE IT NOW!Each year hundreds of thousands od people die from tobacco, 0 die from marijuana.

The issue is not the police, they only serve warrants that have been issued by a judge, after the affidavit has been read,and approved by both the D.A. and the issuing judge. As for the Medical marijuana law pertaining to number of plants which can be grown,it states that a defendant and his physician may raise as an "Affirmitive Defense" against a charge of violation of law. This means it can only be raise after charges have been filed, that is why it is considerd an affirmitive defense. The law considers more than six plants a violation and requires charges be filed. If there is a medically sound reason, this is presented to the court of jurisdiction, not the police!!!!!!

Either know what you are talking about, or stop bashing things based on ignorance and or personal biases. Most of those here bashing are not even medical users, they are criminal users, so you make your bed, be willing to sleep in it without whining!!!!

Realist makes a very good point. Judges issue warrants, not the police. Also, I am all for medical marijuana use, but not for criminal use, the ones who grow it for profit, sell it to our children, and then claim it is harmless. If it were harmless, it would not have any affect on your body or mind what so ever. get it? Some of those who jump on the whole medical marijuana band wagon do it is great dis-service because they are basically drug users and or sellers, looking to hitch their wagon to a noble cause in order to turn a profit and avoid accountablility. They call the police pigs, and other vile names, yet they offer little to no value to our communities except to leach off of society by selling drugs to our children. Who is the true pig, the police who prevent or punish such behavior, or those who are engaging in such behavior. Wake up America, stop feeling sorry for our criminals, and start holding them accountable!! If you need marijuana for medical reasons, follow the law, get a prescription, and grow it or use it, but as the law allows. If you are not a medical marijuana patient, then it is illegal, you know it, and if you do it, now you are a criminal. It is Truely That Simple!!!!!

O.K. start your whining, and name calling, proove me right!!!!

Damn there's some ignorant people posting. Best you can come up with is.."It's addicting"..haha. I broke my back and marijuana seriously helps my back. Pain pills made me lose my job from the addiction, but I could get them prescribed legally...hmmmm

Xanax...addicting
vicodin.addicting
oxy cotin...addicting
valume...addicting

Another point was..gives you anxiety when you stop. That's your body saying, why aren't you high right now, it's so much more fun :)

i am so sick and tired of the government using safety and protecting the public health as a guise to kick our doors in and enter our dwellings.

if they were so concerned about our health and a better lifestyle for the citizens, then why do they put non-dealing drug users in prisons which are the most unhealthy conditions around? why do they destroy your life and brand you as a convicted felon for using a substance that you did not hurt anyone with?

the government has no place getting involved in what we put into our bodies. i know many people who have used all differenet kinds of drugs for over 30 years. guess what? none of them have had a health problem out of the norm; most of them have great jobs; none of them would ever hurt a fly.

i am tired of people equating drugs with violent gangs and murder. give me a break! this whole thing is a lie and the public buys it.

as far as the children go...be a parent for God's sake and pay attention to what they do. it is not the government's job to punish the adults who don't even have kids and prevent them from partaking in doing something pleasureable behind closed doors.