By Donna Tam, The Times-Standard
Source: Times-Standard
California — Humboldt County’s foray into open communication about its pot-based economy put a statewide spotlight on the county, and community organizers a little bit closer to a legitimate — and functioning — marijuana industry.”Every place I’ve gone people have wanted to talk about it, people have been aware of it,” 3rd District Supervisor Mark Lovelace said Friday.
Lovelace said he has been to meetings in Fresno and Sacramento since Tuesday’s meeting, and from the interest voiced by people he’s met he thinks there may be similar discussions happening all over the state.
CLICK ON TITLE FOR FULL STORY......
Showing posts with label government monopoly. Show all posts
Showing posts with label government monopoly. Show all posts
Monday, March 29, 2010
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Is Marijuana a "Buy American" Program that Actually Works?
The cry of "Buy American" is being renewed as the nation tries to climb its way out of a recession. Often times those programs can fall short. But there's a surprising market where people are indeed increasing domestic purchases -- marijuana. And, in the process, it is hurting the bottom line for the murderous Mexican and Colombian drug cartels in a way that the official War on Drugs couldn't do.
There was a time when virtually all of the marijuana used in the United States came from Mexico or Colombia. Now, half of the pot being smoked is produced here, according to a report in The Washington Post.
CLICK ON TITLE FOR FULL STORY.....
There was a time when virtually all of the marijuana used in the United States came from Mexico or Colombia. Now, half of the pot being smoked is produced here, according to a report in The Washington Post.
CLICK ON TITLE FOR FULL STORY.....
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Pot Advocates Think Legalization Is Nearer
The 38th annual national convention for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws wraps up today at the downtown Grand Hyatt, and groups of medical marijuana users have been casually passing joints on the outdoor patio. It’s probably what some visitors from Des Moines were afraid would happen when they landed in the marquee city of the Left Coast.
But NORML delegates, basking in the glow of their Barack Obama themed-convention motto - “Yes We Can-nabis” - are convinced this isn’t a fringe issue any more.
“There is no doubt that today, Sept. 25, 2009, is the moment of genuine zeitgeist to decriminalizing marijuana in America,” said Allen St. Pierre, the executive director of NORML. “This conference represents that we are at that tipping point.”
Maybe in the Bay Area, but I doubt voters in conservative Orange County will be thrilled to vote for the Regulate, Control, and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010.
The cannabis act was endorsed Friday by Oakland mayoral candidate and former Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata. Perata was supposed to appear at the conference, but was ill and was not available for comment.
The act would make it lawful for anyone over the age of 21 to “possess, share, or transport not more than one ounce of cannabis.” The act is currently gaining signatures in a petition drive to make the ballot, but it seems more like a first step than a popular vote winner.
The same can be said about State Assemblyman Tom Ammiano’s bill, the Marijuana Control, Regulation, and Education Act, which he says could raise as much as $1 billion. Ammiano insists that even right-wingers will see the benefits of legal pot.
“It’s not the wedge issue it once was,” he said after speaking to hundreds of delegates at the NORML morning session. “When they see that the sales of pot to adults is financing a health clinic, they will see why it will work.”
CLICK ON TITLE FOR FULL STORY....
But NORML delegates, basking in the glow of their Barack Obama themed-convention motto - “Yes We Can-nabis” - are convinced this isn’t a fringe issue any more.
“There is no doubt that today, Sept. 25, 2009, is the moment of genuine zeitgeist to decriminalizing marijuana in America,” said Allen St. Pierre, the executive director of NORML. “This conference represents that we are at that tipping point.”
Maybe in the Bay Area, but I doubt voters in conservative Orange County will be thrilled to vote for the Regulate, Control, and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010.
The cannabis act was endorsed Friday by Oakland mayoral candidate and former Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata. Perata was supposed to appear at the conference, but was ill and was not available for comment.
The act would make it lawful for anyone over the age of 21 to “possess, share, or transport not more than one ounce of cannabis.” The act is currently gaining signatures in a petition drive to make the ballot, but it seems more like a first step than a popular vote winner.
The same can be said about State Assemblyman Tom Ammiano’s bill, the Marijuana Control, Regulation, and Education Act, which he says could raise as much as $1 billion. Ammiano insists that even right-wingers will see the benefits of legal pot.
“It’s not the wedge issue it once was,” he said after speaking to hundreds of delegates at the NORML morning session. “When they see that the sales of pot to adults is financing a health clinic, they will see why it will work.”
CLICK ON TITLE FOR FULL STORY....
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
DON'T BOGART THAT RESEARCH
When the federal Department of Health and Human Services recently issued a request for proposals, seeking competitive applications for the production, analysis and distribution of "marijuana cigarettes," the request might have seemed a bit unusual to those unfamiliar with Washington's dance around cannabis research. The federal government, after all, is not widely known to support marijuana cultivation.
But those in the know just shrugged. The department has issued similar requests every few years to select a contractor to conduct government-approved marijuana research, and with depressing regularity it has then awarded an exclusive contract to the University of Mississippi. For 40 years now, Washington has sought such "competitive applications" and Mississippi "wins" every time.
Even if the university were running a perfect program, one institution cannot fulfill the country's research needs. In February 2007, when Administrative Law Judge Mary Ellen Bittner recommended that the Drug Enforcement Administration grant a license to cultivate marijuana for research purposes to a botanist at the University of Massachusetts, she said she had concluded that the supply of marijuana from the University of Mississippi program was of insufficient quality and quantity for research purposes.
The deadline for this latest round of applications is Oct. 9. The government should take the opportunity to break the University of Mississippi's monopoly and choose a different institution. That step alone would be a sign that the Obama administration will prioritize science over politics. Merely shifting the contract from one institution to another, however, won't change the status quo. That will only happen when the federal government changes policy and awards multiple contracts for this important research.
For full Story click on title....
But those in the know just shrugged. The department has issued similar requests every few years to select a contractor to conduct government-approved marijuana research, and with depressing regularity it has then awarded an exclusive contract to the University of Mississippi. For 40 years now, Washington has sought such "competitive applications" and Mississippi "wins" every time.
Even if the university were running a perfect program, one institution cannot fulfill the country's research needs. In February 2007, when Administrative Law Judge Mary Ellen Bittner recommended that the Drug Enforcement Administration grant a license to cultivate marijuana for research purposes to a botanist at the University of Massachusetts, she said she had concluded that the supply of marijuana from the University of Mississippi program was of insufficient quality and quantity for research purposes.
The deadline for this latest round of applications is Oct. 9. The government should take the opportunity to break the University of Mississippi's monopoly and choose a different institution. That step alone would be a sign that the Obama administration will prioritize science over politics. Merely shifting the contract from one institution to another, however, won't change the status quo. That will only happen when the federal government changes policy and awards multiple contracts for this important research.
For full Story click on title....
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
LA Times Editorial on Federal Marijuana Research
Kudos to the Los Angeles Times for publishing an editorial on medical marijuana that gets at the heart of the federal obstruction of meaningful research into one of the most promising therapeutic substances.
Despite a press release recently issued by Americans for Safe Access on the federal solicitation of proposals for the production and distribution of medical marijuana, and a report published in April highlighting the government’s monopoly on marijuana research, mainstream media coverage has been scant.
For more than 40 years, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has awarded an exclusive contract to the University of Mississippi to produce and distribute marijuana for research purposes. And, although several studies in the United States have amply illustrated the medical efficacy of marijuana, the National Institute on Drug Abuse has funded most studies, favoring a focus on the supposed negative effects of marijuana. Because of a general resistance by the federal government to better understanding the medical benefits of marijuana, numerous countries have surpassed the United States on this issue.
Pointing out the government’s charade of competitive applications for the production and distribution of research grade marijuana, the Times recognized that the “rigged contest has successfully thwarted meaningful academic inquiry into marijuana’s medicinal value.”
Perhaps more importantly, the Times discerned that, “Even if the university were running a perfect program, one institution cannot fulfill the country’s research needs.” And, the Times is not alone in reaching that conclusion. The DEA’s own Administrative Law Judge ruled in 2007 that the marijuana produced by the University of Mississippi was of insufficient quality and quantity for research purposes.
By issuing a public request for applications, the government can feign a position of fairness and impartiality with respect to medical marijuana research. But, the Times rightly concluded that:
Merely shifting the contract from one institution to another, however, won’t change the status quo. That will only happen when the federal government changes policy and awards multiple contracts for this important research.
Let’s hope that editorials such as this one place the requisite pressure on the DEA and the federal government to break the monopoly on the supply of research marijuana and bring to bear the importance of better understanding all of the therapeutic benefits of marijuana.
click on title for full story.
Despite a press release recently issued by Americans for Safe Access on the federal solicitation of proposals for the production and distribution of medical marijuana, and a report published in April highlighting the government’s monopoly on marijuana research, mainstream media coverage has been scant.
For more than 40 years, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has awarded an exclusive contract to the University of Mississippi to produce and distribute marijuana for research purposes. And, although several studies in the United States have amply illustrated the medical efficacy of marijuana, the National Institute on Drug Abuse has funded most studies, favoring a focus on the supposed negative effects of marijuana. Because of a general resistance by the federal government to better understanding the medical benefits of marijuana, numerous countries have surpassed the United States on this issue.
Pointing out the government’s charade of competitive applications for the production and distribution of research grade marijuana, the Times recognized that the “rigged contest has successfully thwarted meaningful academic inquiry into marijuana’s medicinal value.”
Perhaps more importantly, the Times discerned that, “Even if the university were running a perfect program, one institution cannot fulfill the country’s research needs.” And, the Times is not alone in reaching that conclusion. The DEA’s own Administrative Law Judge ruled in 2007 that the marijuana produced by the University of Mississippi was of insufficient quality and quantity for research purposes.
By issuing a public request for applications, the government can feign a position of fairness and impartiality with respect to medical marijuana research. But, the Times rightly concluded that:
Merely shifting the contract from one institution to another, however, won’t change the status quo. That will only happen when the federal government changes policy and awards multiple contracts for this important research.
Let’s hope that editorials such as this one place the requisite pressure on the DEA and the federal government to break the monopoly on the supply of research marijuana and bring to bear the importance of better understanding all of the therapeutic benefits of marijuana.
click on title for full story.
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