Oregon Legalized Marijuana Initiative, Measure 91 (2014)

The Oregon Legalized Marijuana Initiative, Measure 91 is on the November 4, 2014 statewide ballot in Oregon as an initiated state statute. If approved by voters, the measure would legalize recreational marijuana for people ages 21 and older, allowing adults over this age to possess up to eight ounces of "dried" marijuana and up to four plants. Additionally, the measure would task the Oregon Liquor Control Commission with regulating sales of the drug. The initiative is being sponsored by the group "New Approach Oregon." Anthony Johnson, the chief petitioner, hoped legislators would refer the measure to the ballot, however they failed to do so before the 2014 session ended on March 10, 2014. It is also known as the Control, Regulation, and Taxation of Marijuana and Industrial Hemp Act of 2014. Via Ballotpedia

This will be the third time that Oregon voters have voted on a marijuana legalization proposal. The first initiative, Measure 5 in 1986, the Oregon Marijuana Legalization for Personal Use Act, would have legalized the personal possession and cultivation of marijuana for personal use; it won the support of only 26 percent of the voters. More recently, Measure 80 in 2012, the Oregon Cannabis Tax Act, would have allowed the personal cultivation of marijuana and established a licensing system for the commercial production and sale of marijuana; it came close, with the support of 46.5 percent of the voters.

The latest Oregon initiative, Measure 91, proposed by New Approach Oregon, would legalize the use of marijuana by those 21 and older, and establish a system of licensing, taxing and regulating marijuana under the auspices of the Oregon Liquor Control Board.

Please sign this petition to bring medical marijuana to NY State and help my friend who suffers from dozens of daily seizures

It is time for The Compassionate Care Act to be brought to the senate floor for a vote!

Oliver Miller desperately needs legal access to certain strains of medical cannabis. He does not have the time to wait for this to be held up any longer! The decision to have access to compassionately prescribed medicine should be up to the physician, not the senate! Yet the senate is who holds this power currently. Senator Dean Skelos has the power to bring this bill to the floor for a vote. Please let him know that you want him to do this now! Do it for Oliver and for all the children and adults suffering in NY. Children are dying everyday, IT IS TIME!!!!

Link: The Petition Site

Help suffering children in need. They need 300 signatures in the next 2 days in order to pass.
 

Study: Cannabis Compound Reduces Cigarette Consumption In Tobacco Smokers

Investigators at University College London conducted a double blind pilot study to study the impact of organic non-psychoactive cannabinoid CBD (cannabidiol) versus placebo in 24 tobacco-smoking subjects seeking to quit their addiction. Participants were randomized to receive an inhaler containing CBD (n=12) or placebo (n=12) for one week. Trial investigators instructed subjects to use the inhaler when they felt the urge to smoke.

Abstract

The role of the endocannabinoid system in nicotine addiction is being increasingly acknowledged. We conducted a pilot, randomised double blind placebo controlled study set out to assess the impact of the ad-hoc use of cannabidiol (CBD) in smokers who wished to stop smoking. 24 smokers were randomised to receive an inhaler of CBD (n=12) or placebo (n=12) for one week, they were instructed to use the inhaler when they felt the urge to smoke. Over the treatment week, placebo treated smokers showed no differences in number of cigarettes smoked. In contrast, those treated with CBD significantly reduced the number of cigarettes smoked by ~40% during treatment. Results also indicated some maintenance of this effect at follow-up. These preliminary data, combined with the strong preclinical rationale for use of this compound, suggest CBD to be a potential treatment for nicotine addiction that warrants further exploration.

Investigators concluded in the preliminary data that CBD could be a potential treatment for nicotine addiction and warrants further exploration.

Marijuana Bacon Recipe

Watermelon cleverly combines two of your favourite things Marijuana & Bacon for the perfect treat. The BC bacon is then wrapped around cubes of cantaloupe. This recipe makes a perfect appetizer for any soiree.

Marijuana Mojito Recipe

Letters to Congress on ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition

Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act of 2013

By reading the letters to the representatives in support of ending cannabis prohibition and those against it, we can better inform ourselves in our quest to end cannabis prohibition. While some are well-articulated and factual, while others are uninformed, poorly worded.

In order to turn the tides, factual information and activism will be needed in order to turn the tides of inaction and misinformation. Get out and urge your representative to represent the will of the people.

Take Action: Safer Arizona Marijuana Legalization Initiative

Safer Arizona is a grassroots initiative to legalize Marijuana in Arizona. At the moment the initiative is at the petition stage. In order for this initiative to get on the election ballots in November they need to have support from a large enough representation of the population to prove there is a large enough collective that feels strongly that change needs to take place.

So make your voice heard if you are a resident of Arizona, and spread the word.

You can email Volunteer@saferarizona.com to let them know you are interested in volunteering!

Racially Biased Arrests for Pot

Editorial by the New York Times Editorial Board

Researchers have long known that African-Americans are more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than whites, even though studies have repeatedly shown that the two groups use the drug at similar rates.

New federal data, included in a study by the American Civil Liberties Union, now shows that the problem of racially biased arrests is far more extensive that was previously known — and is getting worse. The costly, ill-advised “war on marijuana” might fairly be described as a tool of racial oppression.

The study, based on law enforcement data from 50 states and the District of Columbia, is the most detailed of its kind so far. Marijuana arrests have risen sharply over the last two decades and now make up about half of all drug arrests in the United States. Of the more than eight million marijuana arrests made between 2001 and 2010, nearly 90 percent were for possession. There were nearly 900,000 marijuana arrests in 2010 — 300,000 more than for all violent crimes combined.

The 'Stop and Frisk' program carried it out in NYC, which targets almost exclusively minorities lead to the higher rates of arrest. The marijuana arrest rate for minorities is disproportional skewed do to this practice.

The Future of Weed: HIGH COUNTRY

Ohio Lawmaker Introduces Measure to Put Marijuana Legalization Before State Voters

Via: NORML
Representative Robert F. Hagan (D-Youngstown) has introduced a measure that would put marijuana legalization on the ballot before state voters. House Joint Resolution 6 would place a question on the Ohio ballot asking voters to approve allowing people 21 or older to purchase and use marijuana. Under this proposal marijuana would be sold only by state-licensed establishments and would be subject to a 15 percent excise tax.

“With billions upon billions spent on the war on drugs with little progress to show for it, it is time for more-sensible drug policy in this country,” stated Representative Hagan.

To be placed on the ballot, HJR 6 would need to receive a three-fifths vote from the legislature. The full text of the measure is available online here.

If you live in Ohio, please take a moment to contact your Representative and urge him/her to support this historic legislation! It is time to let the people of Ohio decide for themselves whether or not it is time to legalize marijuana.

Medical Marijuana-Hating Assemblyman Caught With Marijuana Gets Charges Dismissed

NY State Assemblyman Steve Katz, who was arrested for alleged pot possession last month after voting against the legalization of medical marijuana last year gets his case dismissed thanks to a plea deal.

In March, Katz was pulled over at a car stop in Albany, and officers found less than 25 grams of pot in his vehicle. But the charge—a violation carrying up to $285 in fines—will be dropped, provided Katz completes 20 hours of community service and refrains from law-breaking for a year. "We said from the beginning that this would be quickly resolved, and it was. And we’re very happy this is done,”

Vermont House Approves Marijuana Decriminalization

Valley News
If this bill goes all the way Vermont would become the 16th state to have decriminalized.

The Vermont House gave preliminary approval Friday to a bill that would change the offense of possessing up to an ounce of marijuana from a misdemeanor crime to a civil offense similar to a speeding violation.

On roll call vote of 98-44, the House endorsed the bill, which would impose a fine of as much as $300 for anyone caught with up to an ounce of the drug.

The bill also contains provisions designed to eliminate the possibility of a permanent criminal record or future collateral consequences such as ineligibility for certain jobs or government benefits for those convicted of possessing up to two ounces, or up to four plants.

The legislation now goes to the Senate, which is also expected to pass it.

The evolution of marijuana laws

The best visualization of that trend that we’ve seen comes courtesy of the Atlantic Wire’s Philip Bump and Elspeth Reeve.

House Resolution 499: Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act of 2013

HR 499

House Resolution 499 introduced by Congressman Jared Polis (D-CO) has proposed legislation, which would effectively end the federal prohibition on marijuana and allow states to set their own policies.

House Resolution 499: The Ending Marijuana Prohibition Act of 2013, would remove marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act, transfer the Drug Enforcement Administration’s authority to regulate marijuana to a newly renamed Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Marijuana and Firearms, require commercial marijuana producers to purchase a permit, and ensure that federal law distinguishes between individuals who grow marijuana for personal use and those involved in commercial sale and distribution.

NORML Take Action to End Marijuana Prohibition! Congress needs to hear from you, please take a minute and click here to quickly and easily write your Representative and urge him or her to support the Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act of 2013!

Incoming Dutch government ditches 'weed pass' plan

USAToday

The incoming Dutch government has ditched plans for a national "weed pass" that would have been available only to residents and that would have effectively banned tourists from Amsterdam's marijuana cafes.

However, under a provisional governing pact unveiled this week, cities can bar foreigners from weed shops if they choose.

The pact says that it wants only Dutch residents to have access to marijuana cafes, but leaves enforcement up to cities. Amsterdam opposes a ban, which would hurt tourism.

Some cafe owners said Tuesday that they are satisfied Dutch weed policy will remain unchanged, while others criticized the lack of clarity.

Marijuana trafficking is technically illegal in the Netherlands, but people can't be prosecuted for possession of small amounts and the drug is sold openly in designated "coffee shops."

GOP Mogul Behind Drug Rehab 'Torture' Centers Is Bankrolling Opposition to Pot Legalization in Colorado

The Nation

When you look at drug prohibition objectively it, it show how that it only makes since if you are gaining something for continued prohibition. In this case it's shocking to see how far some people will go to continue the business as usual.

Marijuana legalization would harm kids, says Smart Colorado, a group advertising stock images of children along with messages asking for voters to reject Amendment 64, a ballot initiative this year to legalize and tax pot.

Smart Colorado, led former Republican senate candidate Ken Buck and a team of Republican lobbyists and campaign operatives, hopes to drive down the popularity of Amendment 64 before Election Day. The supposedly family-friendly group, however, relies heavily on funds from a pair of controversial Republican fundraisers who once led a drug rehab center shut down over wide-ranging child abuse scandals.

Save Our Society from Drugs, a Florida-based nonprofit founded by Mel and Betty Sembler, has given Smart Colorado contributions totaling $151,497 through September, according to The Nation’s review of state finance disclosures. That’s 95 percent of the money raised by the group so far.

The Semblers have been waging a war on marijuana for decades.

Before they led Save Our Society from Drugs, and its sister nonprofit, the Drug Free America Foundation, the Semblers were at the helm of STRAIGHT, Inc., which operated drug abuse treatment centers, mostly for teenagers, from 1976 through 1993.

Former clients of the rehab center recount episodes of brutal beatings, rape and systematic psychological abuse.

At one facility in Yorba Linda, California, state investigators found that STRAIGHT Inc. subjected children to “unusual punishment, infliction of pain, humiliation, intimidation, ridicule, coercion, threats, mental abuse…and interference with daily living functions such as eating, sleeping and toileting.” Samantha Monroe, who was placed into a STRAIGHT Inc clinic in Tampa at age 13, says she was locked in a room, and forced to wear a clothes stained with urine, feces and menstrual blood—a punishment her counselors called “humble pants.”

Richard Bradbury, a former STRAIGHT patient and counselor-turned-whistleblower, told the St. Petersburg Times that Monroe’s experiences weren’t unique. “It was pure child abuse,” Bradbury told reporters. “Torture.”

In 1988, Fred Collins, an 18-year-old college student, paid a visit to his brother, who was in treatment for drug abuse, at an Orlando STRAIGHT Inc. clinic. Counselors accused Collins of being high on marijuana because his eyes were red, and held him against his will for months. The abduction, strip-searches and other abuses ended when Collins managed to escape. He was one of many to win judgments against the chain of drug rehab clinics before it was forced to close after investigations and lawsuits began to mount in several states.

Though the STRAIGHT drug rehab clinic no longer exist, the Sembler network of anti-drug nonprofits have proliferated, in part because of the family’s extensive political connections. Mel, who served as a major fundraiser for George H.W., Jeb and George W. Bush, was appointed as the Ambassador to Italy in 2001. Betty Sembler, awarded “honorary agent status by the DEA,” has led various anti-drug commissions and task forces on the state and federal level.

Three years after STRAIGHT shut down, the Semblers changed its name to the Drug Free America Foundation, headquartered in St. Petersburg, Florida.

The Drug Free America Foundation, a nonprofit that shares resources, an office and staff with the Save Our Society group financing the Amendment 64 opposition in Colorado, has a contract with the federal government to help small businesses develop their own drug-testing programs for employees. In 2010, taxpayers forked over $250,000 to a Sembler group to oversee a drug-free workplace program for the Small Business Administration. It also helps produce anti-marijuana literature and promotional campaigns.

Mel Sembler, who made his fortune in real estate, says his opposition to marijuana use influenced his move to the GOP. He switched party affiliation in 1979, when he claims he found out “[President Jimmy] Carter was doing all this pot smoking and stuff in the White House.”

Since then, he’s been a proud Republican. Explaining his early support for Mitt Romney (he’s now a leader of Romney’s Florida fundraising team), Sembler says he accompanied then-Governor Romney to Israel during his first official visit and trusts the candidate’s business acumen. Viveca Novak, of OpenSecrets.org, noted that Sembler was spotted on a Romney bundler yacht during the Republican convention last month.

Sembler hasn’t renounced his sordid legacy with the STRAIGHT clinics. An online biography of Mel Sember posted by his nonprofit proudly touts his role in founding the scandal-plagued rehab centers. The biography cheerfully claims, that during “its 17 years of existence, STRAIGHT successfully graduated more than 12,000 young people nationwide from its remarkable program.” There is no mention of the child abuse scandals that led to its downfall.

There’s little time to worry about the past. He’s waging two battles now: one in Colorado, and another to evict a former Choom Gang member from the White House.

Cannabidiolic acid, a major cannabinoid in fiber-type cannabis, is an inhibitor of MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cell migration.

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

This does not imply that weed cures cancer. There are negative and positive effects caused by smoking. However the continued demonization of marijuana could be preventing any number of drug treatments derived form it's component parts.

Abstract
Cannabidiol (CBD), a major non-psychotropic constituent of fiber-type cannabis plant, has been reported to possess diverse biological activities, including anti-proliferative effect on cancer cells. Although CBD is obtained from non-enzymatic decarboxylation of its parent molecule, cannabidiolic acid (CBDA), few studies have investigated whether CBDA itself is biologically active. Results of the current investigation revealed that CBDA inhibits migration of the highly invasive MDA-MB-231 human breast cancer cells, apparently through a mechanism involving inhibition of cAMP-dependent protein kinase A, coupled with an activation of the small GTPase, RhoA. It is established that activation of the RhoA signaling pathway leads to inhibition of the mobility of various cancer cells, including MDA-MB-231 cells. The data presented in this report suggest for the first time that as an active component in the cannabis plant, CBDA offers potential therapeutic modality in the abrogation of cancer cell migration, including aggressive breast cancers.

UF study shows long-term drug abuse starts with alcohol

University of Florida

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Alcohol — not marijuana — is the gateway drug that leads adolescents down the path toward more serious substances, a new University of Florida study shows.

The findings may not settle a decades-old debate over how drug abuse begins, but it could help educators and policymakers build more effective drug-prevention programs, said Adam Barry, an assistant professor and researcher in the College of Health and Human Performance.

I'm not really a believer in the correlation/causation stance. I do however believe that if you have a tendency for dependence you will always crave something to fill that hole. The article dose provide evidence that the claim that marijuana is the gateway is false.

Marijuana Vaporizer Provides Same Level Of THC, Fewer Toxins, Study Shows

ScienceDaily (May 15, 2007)
A smokeless cannabis-vaporizing device delivers the same level of active therapeutic chemical and produces the same biological effect as smoking cannabis, but without the harmful toxins, according to University of California San Francisco researchers.


Results of a UCSF study, which focuses on delivery of the active ingredient delta-9-tertrahydrocannibinol, or THC, are reported in the online issue of the journal "Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics."

Not ground breaking news material in any way shape or form. However I try to post all news related to cannabis that i tend to come across(even when it is five years old).

Forbes Let's Be Blunt: It's Time to End the Drug War

Forbes

April 20 is the counter-culture “holiday” on which lots and lots of people come together to advocate marijuana legalization (or just get high). Should drugs—especially marijuana—be legal? The answer is “yes.” Immediately. Without hesitation. Do not pass Go. Do not collect $200 seized in a civil asset forfeiture. The war on drugs has been a dismal failure. It’s high time to end prohibition. Even if you aren’t willing to go whole-hog and legalize all drugs, at the very least we should legalize marijuana.

It's a great article that states the issue as it is not as how people would like it to be framed.