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Sunday, November 27, 2011

Vancouver Mayors Say Legalize Marijuana

Vancouver Mayors Say Legalize Marijuana | StoptheDrugWar.org
"Marijuana prohibition is – without question – a failed policy," the former mayors wrote. "It is creating violent, gang-related crime in our communities and fear among our citizens, and adding financial costs for all levels of government at a time when we can least afford them. Politicians cannot ignore the status quo any longer; they must develop and deliver alternative marijuana policies that avoid the social and criminal harms that stem directly from cannabis prohibition."

The ex-mayors' intervention comes as the Canadian federal government of Conservative Prime Minister Steven Harper is attempting to push through a crime bill that would, among other things, impose mandatory minimum prison sentences for growing as few as five plants. But that's not a popular position in British Columbia, where a recent Angus Reid poll had support for taxing and regulating marijuana at 69%. It is past time for elected officials to get on board the marijuana reform bandwagon, the ex-mayor's said.

"Clearly, elected officials are out of step with their public on marijuana prohibition," they wrote. "It is time that elected officials enter the debate and deliver specific proposals to address the easy availability of cannabis to youth and the organized crime concerns stemming directly from cannabis prohibition."

Clearing the Smoke: The Science of Cannabis

Clearing the Smoke, reveals how cannabis acts on the brain and in the body to treat nausea, pain, epilepsy and potentially even cancer.

Extensive interviews with patients, doctors, researchers and skeptics detail the promises and the limitations of medicinal cannabis. Even though the video has an American perspective, marijuana use is illegal throughout many countries of the world for reasons that are not clear.

This video is important because it mainly investigates the scientific basis underlying the medical benefits of marijuana use instead of focusing on the social, political and legal hysteria that have been attached to it.

The paper mentioned in this video, Marihuana Reconsidered, was published in book form. The author, Dr Lester Grinspoon, is the world's leading authority on marijuana. In this book, Dr Grinspoon examines — and debunks — many of the common misconceptions about marijuana.

MontanaPBS Presents: Clearing the Smoke: The Science of Cannabis.
www.watch.montanapbs.org/video/1825223761/

Cannabis: What's the Harm? Episode 1



Ex-EastEnders star James Alexandrou explores the truth about Britain's favourite illegal drug, from cannabis sold on the street to the hidden world of organised crime. EPISODE 1 OF 2. Exploring the use and effects of Britain's most popular illegal drug.

James Alexandrou was caught smoking cannabis by the tabloids when he left the soap. Now he wants to find out the truth about the most popular illegal drug in Britain, see the lengths people will go to get it and discover exactly where it comes from.

In the first of two programs, James looks at the effects of the drug on the streets of Britain, meeting a 17-year-old who smokes weed with his parents and a mum-of-three who uses cannabis to keep her emotions in check. He meets people who are growing cannabis illegally for themselves and goes out on patrol with a police drug squad as they clamp down on large-scale cannabis growers. He also travels to California, the first state in America to license cannabis for medicinal use.

The Union

A very well built documentary about cannabis and drug prohibition. Does the drug prohibition work? Have a look and think for yourself