Cannabis Legalization My Be Closer Than We Think

After much ado, it seems that the relatively harmless nature of cannabis, and the inanity of its criminalization has finally started to dawn on lawmakers across the country. The now concluded year 2009 is appearing to be one of the best years for publicity that the cannabis legalization movement has ever seen. It seems as though every day, another state is considering medical marijuana legislation, decriminalization, and even legalization. Even the federal government has started to change its attitude toward the highly controversial plant after President Obama issued a memorandum to the Department of Justice requesting that the organization not pursue medical marijuana recipients and their suppliers who operate legally under state law. However, it seems that the biggest news occurred as the decade drew to a close; our very own state of Washington is now considering cannabis legalization.

State representatives Roger Goodman and Mary Lou Dickerson have introduced the bill, and it aims to reclassify cannabis from an illegal drug to a licit and taxable substance. This bill differs from other bills such as decriminalization and deprioritization bills, which still treat cannabis possession and cultivation as a crime. The legalization bill would treat cannabis like alcohol, as a substance that would be sold through the state, with a hefty tax attached. Whether or not cannabis would be sold in liquor stores is up in the air as for one, the bill hasn’t passed yet, and secondly, Goodman has suggested that he would like a provision that would prevent cannabis from being sold were alcohol is sold.

The tax revenue from the bill would not go into the Washington state general fund, but rather it would be used specifically to fund drug treatment and mental health services. These services have been on the chopping block since our state’s budget woes began. It is unclear how much tax revenue could be earned from cannabis, however estimates place the figures in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Regardless, the monetary figures generated from cannabis tax would doubtfully be small potatoes, and the added tax revenue could make a serious difference in our state.

In addition to earning our state money by taxing cannabis, the legalization of cannabis could potentially save our state untold and gargantuan sums of money. As of right now our state prosecutes citizens for cannabis possession and cultivation, and even simple possession of cannabis in amounts of less than forty grams is considered a gross misdemeanor and can warrant jail sentences of up to a year. If cannabis were made legal, we could literally fill swimming pools with the money that we would save by not investigating, arresting, prosecuting and incarcerating cannabis offenders, and that is just the start.

In addition to money earned and money saved by the state, our very own citizens would also be saving and earning money if cannabis were made legal. Convictions for cannabis possession can cost an individual thousands of dollars in legal fees and fines, and in addition it can prevent that individual from gaining employment, finding a place to live, and even getting money to go to school. Cannabis legalization could once and for all end the viscous circle of tragedy that follows a drug which has negligibly harmful effects that don’t even begin to compare with the very harmful effects of alcohol, which is currently legal.

Finally, in addition to our own citizens saving money, among many other things, legalizing cannabis would increase personal opportunity by opening the doors to new industries and economies. It is important to remember that cannabis is not simply a recreational drug. When grown as hemp, it is a valuable and environmentally friendly industrial resource. There are over 25,000 uses for industrial hemp, and much of our farmland is prime real estate for hemp cultivation. Industrial hemp could provide our state with a bio-fuel source, while simultaneously reducing our use of pesticides and fertilizers on farmland.

There are countless and untold benefits to cannabis legalization, and it is important to insure that this bill succeeds. This means that all of us must do our part by encouraging our representatives to support this legislation.

If you live in Washington, please contact you're legislators and tell them that if they expect your continued support for their political careers, that you expect their support of this bill in return. Remember, they are employed by your tax dollars, so make them work for you

If you don't know who your legislator is, go here.

I have already contacted my district reps, and they so far one has replied and showed interest, which just goes to show you that if you want your legislators to support or not support a bill, you have to let them know.

Marijuana Isn't A Gateway Drug, But the Commentary Is Hilarious

I stumbled upon this article some time ago, and always meant to write about it, but for some reason or another, I just couldn't find my muse...until now. In brief, the article basically covers what most of us already know, that cannabis use is not a gateway to other drugs. However, according to this article we no longer need to rely on common sense as the "gateway" theory has now been dis-proven by a definitive scientific study. The article itself is informative, but the comments, oh man the comments, don't even get me started...too late, I'm already started.

"We Value Our Brain

April 24, 2009 by Anonymous, 21 weeks 5 days ago

Comment id: 36349

ha ha
There is no way that none-users will "try" marijuana.

We value our brains, as they are, undamaged. You will never get your intellect back.

We will never be influenced by user comments."

That's fantastic! If you don't smoke pot, then there will be more for me. On the subject of your brain being undamaged, well first off, I think it may be more damaged than you think as the title of your comment is "We Value Our Brain." We? Brain? As in two people sharing one brain? Are you sharing your brain with a conjoined twin?

By the way, I still have my intellect as pot doesn't cause brain damage, but alcohol does Mr./Ms. Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. I apologize to anyone who actually has FAS and was offended by being compared to this genius.

"Dear Anonymous (Comment id: 36223)

April 21, 2009 by Anonymous, 22 weeks 1 day ago

Comment id: 36311

Response to the writer of "you know what look at a." You are not doing any good to the people who want to legalize marijuana. You see what a life time of smoking pot does to you. Makes you write long run on sentence full of misspellings. Set the bong down and pick up a grammar book you illiterate son of a..."

Oh, oh dude, let me help you out and make some much needed corrections to your post...

Here is how it should look:

In response to the author of the post titled You Know What Look At A. You are not doing any good for the people who want to legalize marijuana. Don't you see what a life time of smoking pot does to you? It makes you write long wrong on sentences full of misspellings. Set the bong down and pick up a grammar book you illiterate son of a bitch (this is the Internet, its okay to swear).

Now who is the illiterate one?

In all fairness though, the post he/she was replying to wasn't very eloquent...

"You Know What Look At A

April 17, 2009 by Anonymous, 22 weeks 5 days ago

Comment id: 36223

you know what look at a smoker of tobacco then look at a smoker of weed can you figure out the diffrience cause i know what it is one ask a smoker who smokes daily for a ciggerete then look at a kid 15 16 and see what he dose when he gets some the first thing he dose is calls his or her friends and saies hey man i just got some cool new shit bring your piece and we can smoke some bowl then go and ask a smoker of cigertettes and see what they say some will give it to you and walk away and mabey offer you a light but others will just be like no i see weed as a better thing to do if any of the two even if it is illegaile thats why ill never smoke a ciggerete peace"

I'm not even going to go there, except to say that pot use is not a reliable indicator of literacy.

"Hey stupid, yeah you

April 15, 2009 by Anonymous, 23 weeks 3 hours ago

Comment id: 36165

just to let your pot smoking ass know...MAIL is spelled MALE..im assuming since you are possibly a MALE you should know how to spell your own gender. just a thought...have a nice day love you bye

love michelle"

Holy Shit! That is feisty. In all seriousness though, is this your argument for why pot should be illegal? Simply because it may cause someone to spell "male," "mail?" How can you get on someone about something so trivial when you don't even capitalize your own name?

"Yeppp

February 25, 2009 by Anonymous, 30 weeks 2 hours ago

Comment id: 34834

Hmmm. All I have to say is screw the studies and look at the facts. If you look around ANY high school, the teenagers catorgorized under "stoners" AREN'T the straight A students and don't participate in any extra cirrucular activities. I believe weed ruins relationships and makes you say stupid things that aren't yourself!! If your going to smoke pot, look around you first."

Screw the studies and look at the facts? Where the hell do you think facts come from? Your facts obviously come from your butt-hole. Furthermore, I never got straight A's in high school, and yet I never tried cannabis until after I graduated. Does that mean that because I didn't get straight A's in high school that I was a stoner by default? Oh, oh! I think I have an answer; not that many students get straight A's. Think about that the next time you go see your doctor (if you have health care that is). By the way, you spelled "categorized" and "curricular" wrong.

I'm going to stop there because there are far too many comments, and too few hours in the day to dissect and criticize them.

To see these comments and more go here. Its well worth reading the comments if you need a good laugh, in addition to a lively Internet debate, there are also plenty of accusations of folks knob slobbing, dick sucking, ass licking and being retarded to boot.

Marijuana Manifesto: Why The United States Should Legalize Cannabis

Marijuana, its green, its sticky, and it can get you high. Sadly, that’s probably the full extent of most people’s understanding of the Cannabis plant. For this reason it has become the most controversial drug, rather, the most controversial plant on the planet. As of right now, it is strictly illegal in the United States, save the few states that allow the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes in spite of superseding federal laws. However, the cannabis plant’s expansive industrial and medicinal value and remarkably large margin of safety warrant it’s immediate legalization.

To begin, the cannabis plant has vast industrial and medicinal value. Most people probably don’t know this, but the cannabis plant is possibly the most valuable renewable resource on the planet. Almost everything that we produce today could be made with the cannabis plant. Just one acre of hemp is the equivalent to 4.5 acres of trees for paper production. It is extremely easy to cultivate, requires little to no pesticides, and returns most of its nutrients to the soil. An acre of hemp can be grown in one season, while an acre of trees may require ten to twenty. On top of that it can be used to make fuel for cars, clothing more durable and comfortable than cotton, and about 25,000[1] other commercial products, heck, we could build house made completely from hemp.

As a drug, there are a multitude of ailments that can be treated with cannabis. Some of the more common ailments include glaucoma, post-chemotherapy nausea, epilepsy, HIV/AIDS, migraines, multiple sclerosis, arthritis, spinal chord injury, and various other painful and debilitating conditions. However the list doesn’t end there and it is believed that cannabis may be useful for the treatment of many more conditions. In addition to that, not only is it possible to treat many conditions with cannabis, cannabis itself may even be safer than the treatments already in place.

That’s all well and good, but it’s still a drug isn’t it? Well, yes it is a drug, however according to the DEA’s Chief Administrative Law Judge, Francis L. Young, in a 1988 ruling, “Marijuana, in its natural form, is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man.”[2] Yet the federal government still list marijuana a Schedule I controlled substance, which means that it has no medical value, it is addictive, and it is not safe to use, even under medical supervision. The federal government places marijuana in the same category as drugs such as heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine, and ecstasy. Why does this matter? Because marijuana doesn’t belong on that schedule, unlike most schedule I drugs, marijuana cannot kill you.

The safety of a drug is determined by its therapeutic index. A therapeutic index is determined by dividing the dose that is lethal in 50% of test subjects by the dose that is effective in 50% of test subjects.[3] The therapeutic index for heroin is 6, meaning that it is lethal at a dose six times its therapeutic dose. For alcohol it is 10, for cocaine 15, aspirin 20. Marijuana’s therapeutic index is so high that it is probably impossible to quantify, although it is usually listed as "<" 1000. That means a smoker would need to consume about 1500 pounds in 15 minutes to cause a lethal reaction.[4]

As a medicinal and recreational drug, marijuana is extremely safe, safer than most substances that we consume regularly. In fact, in 5000 years of human experience with cannabis, there is not one credible record that indicates that anyone has ever died from consuming cannabis.[5] By comparison, tobacco causes 435,000 deaths per year, and alcohol causes 85,000 deaths per year, even over the counter pain medicines such as aspirin, acetaminophen (Tylenol), ibuprofen (Advil), and naproxen (Aleve) manage to pull down a couple thousand deaths a year.

Given that tobacco and alcohol are perfectly legal, and kill plenty of people every year, does cannabis use even matter at all? Yes and no. The amount of harm done by cannabis is virtually non-existent, with the exception of the artificial harm that has been fabricated by the Justice Department via arrest and conviction. However if cannabis were legal, the tax revenue from cannabis and all of its constituents would be massive, and its legalization could even save our ailing economy, while displacing many if not most harmful and high pollution industries. Now that matters.

So know you know, cannabis is remarkably safe, and incredibly useful. Of course, this isn’t new information; people have known this for centuries. It has only been the last century that cannabis has had any formal sanctions against its production and use. The question remains, how can we reverse a century of flawed policy? Education; educate yourself, and then educate others.

Next Time: Find out how cannabis’s legal status fosters an environment for organized crime to profit.

---

[1] Harris Sherline, “The Case For Hemp.” Santa Ynez Valley Journal. 06 Aug 2009. http://mapinc.org/norml/v09/n774/a08.html

[2] Young, Pg. 58

[3] Daniel E. Becker, DDS. “Drug Therapy in Dental Practice: General Principles Part 2—Pharmacodynamic Considerations.” Anesthesia Progress. Spring 2007. Pgs 19-24. http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pmcentrez&artid=1821133

[4] Francis L. Young. Marijuana Rescheduling Petition Opinion and Recommended Ruling, Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law and Decision of Administrative Law Judge Francis L. Young. 06 December 1988.

http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/library/studies/young/young4.html. Pg 57.

[5] Young, Pg. 57

The VaporTower-Review

I won't lie, I'm a bit disheartened by my lack of readership, I'm afraid however that at first I failed to realize that I didn't put my whole heart and sole into this blog. No more however, as I intend to bring new, quality content that is timeless and enjoyable. Well, maybe those are high aspirations, but then again, I am high. No, seriously, I'm blazed, I've been blazed all day. How are my lungs not dead do you ask? Well, I'll tell you, its because of my shiny new vaporizer, the VaporTower. Its simple in design, but sturdy in construction, unlike many of the low quality, cheap vapor box's that your local head shop doubtlessly carries.

The VaporTower is of durable construction, and is thoughtfully designed with the user in mind. The bowl has a glass on glass connection, and sits upright. It unscrews, and has two separate screens; one to place the herb on, and the other to prevent the bud from being inhaled. There are many pluses to this situation. For one, the two screens are fairly close together, which helps keep the weed in place. Also, the screens ensure that your smoking material (which is obviously pot) is spread evenly.

This vaporizer doesn't have a digital temperature display, which I do like, is hardly necessary. With the dial pointed somewhere between ten and twelve 'o clock, the VaporTower works beautifully. Seriously, vaporization is the superior method of inhalation. Furthermore, it is thirty percent more efficient. I can attest personally to this, with a vaporizer, both another person and myself can get completely stoned off of what would be one bowl out of a normal sized pipe or bong stem. The best part is, its easy on the lungs and far less harmful. I won't say its harmless because I don't know, but it is a hell of a lot better than smoking.

Look, I can't say it enough, the VaporTower is great. Its high quality, and its built to last. It even looks kind of cool and retro (if you're into that). Even better, they are made in the USA, and from what I can tell, they come with a lifetime warranty. They sell for about $200 plus shipping, but if you're lucky you might be able to find one at a head shop for less. Compared to the prices of other vaporizers, the VaporTower is a hell of a buy. On the flip side, vaporizer prices are a sin in general. Still, its worth it, take my word for it, go to VaporTower.com if you want more info. Search for them at your local head shop or on eBay if you decide to get one.

P.S. I'm not earning anything for this. Hell I don't even have a readership, I'm just putting the word out there that this is a quality product.

Oh, and by the way, this is it:



I don't know who this person is, but apparently her name is Claudia.