Marc Emery, Canada's self-proclaimed "Prince of Pot," was taken into custody in a Vancouver courtroom Monday morning to await extradition to the United States. Before entering the B.C. Supreme Court, Emery spoke to a crowd of reporters and supporters outside, telling them he still believes Canada's drug laws prohibiting the use of marijuana are unjust and blaming the laws and the politicians who support them for creating the large criminal organizations that control the illegal trade in marijuana. "There is no crime here. The politicians who support this extradition are supporters of organized crime. We are making criminals with laws like this," said Emery. After his surrender, Emery was expected to be sent to North Fraser Pretrial Centre in Port Coquitlam, east of Vancouver, to await extradition to the U.S., a process the judge suggested will likely take a month to complete. Once extradited, Emery, 51, is expected to plead guilty in a Seattle court to conspiracy to manufacture marijuana. The leader of B.C.'s Marijuana Party, who runs a magazine called Cannabis Culture, faces a five-year prison term as part of a plea deal. Emery was arrested in 2005 — following an investigation by Canadian and U.S. police — for allegedly selling marijuana seeds over the internet from Vancouver to residents of the U.S. He said accepting jail time allowed his two co-accused — Michelle Rainey and Greg Williams — to each be given two years' probation. Had he gambled on a trial, he could have faced up to 50 years behind bars, he said.
Ready for jail term Emery said his biggest concern about serving time in a U.S. prison is the boredom he will face. "Boredom is the primary problem in jail, so I'm hoping to keep busy with books and writing, and learning languages — French and Spanish," he told CBC News. His wife, Jodie Emery, is trying not to think about what awaits her husband. "It'll be very lonely, but that'll just encourage me to get him back in my arms as soon as possible," she told CBC News. Her plan is to lobby the federal government for Emery's swift transfer to a Canadian prison. Emery has said his business made millions of dollars over the years selling marijuana seeds by mail order and running a hemp product store in downtown Vancouver. He said he used the money to run his many political campaigns and to support marijuana advocacy groups around the world. http://www.cbc.ca http://cannazine.co.uk/cannabis-news/united-states/marijuana-activist-emery-awaits-extradition.html
Wednesday, 30 September 2009
Sunday, 27 September 2009
American Hands In The Canadian Pot
Canada's "Prince Of Pot" Talks With The Argus Before Extradition To U.S. Prison Most Canadians think pot should be legalized, but we just can't seem to muster much outrage over its prohibition. Even students, well known for their love of hedonism and their hatred of "The Man", often dismiss the issue as marginal and sophomoric. In short, nearly everyone with a bone of sense in their bodies realizes the glaring contradictions and sheer absurdity of marijuana prohibition, but for the progressively-minded, it can seem like a distraction from the "real" issues.
Marc Emery disagrees. Of course, as a man on the verge of serving hard time in a U.S. prison for distributing marijuana, he has reason to take legalization a bit more seriously than most. But his arguments for the issue's importance rest on much more than personal interest. He has cited the U.S.-led "war on drugs" as one of the most important issues facing North Americans today, positioning it in a constellation of other issues like the impact of Christian fundamentalism on the continent's politics, class and race warfare, and personal liberty. Whether Emery is a martyr ( like Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, and Gandhi, comparisons he's fond of invoking ) or a blowhard is largely up for debate. It's tempting to say he's both. Like Gandhi's, his life is an intriguing mix: an appealing political philosophy rooted in direct action, coupled with some very odd, sometimes off-putting opinions and behaviour. Emery began what has become a long and distinguished shit-disturbing career in London, Ontario in the 1980s. His first brush with the law came in 1988, when he served four days in jail for keeping his bookstore open on Sundays. He also made a habit of stocking the store with banned material, going so far as to sell 'High Times' magazine on the steps of London's police station. It's interesting to note that shopping on the Christian Sabbath and the sale of pro-pot literature were both legalized within a few years of Emery's actions ( in Ontario, at least ). In 1994, after moving to Vancouver, Emery started 'Hemp BC', a store selling marijuana seeds and paraphernalia - a "cannabis superstore," depicted in all of its surreal glory in the CBC documentary 'Prince of Pot: The U.S. vs. Marc Emery'. He founded the magazine Cannabis Culture and the internet show Pot-TV. After a couple of raids by Vancouver police in the mid-1990s, he moved his seed business online. He went mostly unmolested by police during the next decade, as most seed and paraphernalia vendors in Canada typically do. He funnelled the profits from his ventures into marijuana legalization efforts. "I've always promised people: when you send me the money, you get the seeds, we pay our suppliers, and whatever's left over, we use it to subvert the political system," he explains. His attempts to subvert the system included bids for the Vancouver mayorship and the federal legislature. Emery usually received 3 to 4 percent of the vote in these contests, but that wasn't the point - the press took notice, and it got people talking. All of his activity has made Emery into something of a cult figure in the marijuana sub-culture, and even brought him appearances on major media like the CBC, BBC, NPR, CNN, and 60 Minutes. The government's tacit acceptance of Emery's activities ( they accepted nearly $600,000 in taxes from his seed-selling business, which he identified as such on his tax forms ) came to an abrupt halt in 2005. Why the sudden change of heart? It seems that Emery had attracted the attention of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration ( DEA ). He was arrested for "Conspiracy to Distribute Marijuana" and "Conspiracy to Distribute Marijuana Seeds", and subject to extradition and trial in the U.S. What makes the DEA's arrest of Emery especially suspect is a press release published soon afterward, which called his arrest "a significant blow. to the marijuana legalization movement. Hundreds of thousands of dollars of Emery's illicit profits are known to have been channeled to marijuana legalization groups active in the United States and Canada. Drug legalization lobbyists now have one less pot of money to rely on." The DEA's pot puns leave something to be desired. But more importantly, the press release makes explicit the fact that Emery's importance to the U.S. government lies not in his illegal activities ( which are not discussed ) but in his legal "propaganda" in favour of marijuana legalization. Emery's place as the sole Canadian on a list of the U.S. Attorney General's most-wanted drug traffickers would seem to confirm this - is Emery really more dangerous than the Hell's Angels, or dealers of Heroin, Crystal Meth, or Cocaine? Whether or not they support legalization, many Canadians see Emery's arrest as a dangerous precedent for Canadian sovereignty ( or the lack thereof ). The Liberal, Green and New Democratic parties have all condemned the Conservative government's handling of Emery's case. "Canadian law enforcement officials have been aware of Mr. Emery's activities for years yet have chosen not to penalize him," said Green Party leader Elizabeth May. "By turning a blind eye to his activities, Canada has implicitly acknowledged that our marijuana laws are nothing short of ridiculous. The United States' ideologically-motivated pursuit of Mr. Emery has gone far enough. We should either enforce our laws, or change them." Liberal justice critic, Marlene Jennings says Emery's extradition sends the message to the U.S that "we'll let you do the dirty work for us. And then we'll stand by with our arms crossed.'" The NDP, meanwhile, stated "we should not be sending individuals to face harsh punishment in another country when we have agreed as a society their actions are not worthy of prosecution here in Canada." Emery, who faces trial Monday, September 21st, is set to plead guilty to the charges against him as part of a plea bargain, which saw two of his coworkers let off with lighter sentences. He will likely be sentenced to five years in prison, of which at least the first part will be served in the U.S. Visit: www.cannabisculture.com 2002 Senate report: http://www.parl.gc.ca/37/1/parlbus/commbus/senate/com-e/ille-e/rep-e/summary-e.htm Thunder Bay's "Green Scene Productions" on facebook Interview Argus: What do you think accounts for the fact that marijuana is still illegal, despite popular support? Are politicians just scared of speaking out? Emery: What we have in Canada is this unusual thing: a republican fundamentalist government that was elected with 35 percent of the voting public - about 16 percent of the total public - who are all from these rural areas where they've been steeped in Christianity. It's really difficult dealing with fundamentalists, especially the kind we're getting. Stephen Harper just appointed Chris Somerville, who's a premillenialist minister, [to the Canadian Mental Health Commission]. Those are the people who believe Jesus Christ is coming back in our lifetimes to take the chosen ones with him to heaven, and then the rest of us get cast into the lake of fire. When they have these beliefs, they don't really care how good our health care system is in thirty years, or our schools, or the environment. Because, you know, we're all going to get called to account before the great Lord by then, so why bother, right? That very much worries me about the future of drug policy, because the whole point of prohibition [in the fundamentalist Christian paradigm] is to provide suffering for people who have this moral failing. Over forty-five years, billions of dollars [have been spent], 2 million Canadians and 14 million Americans have been criminalized for marijuana alone. What was the public benefit for those billions and billions of dollars and all of those people and their families hurt? Argus: A lot of people are sympathetic to legalizing marijuana, but they see it as a side issue, as sophomoric. Emery: Well, that's because they don't have any trouble getting the drugs they want at the price they're comfortable paying. Being an [anti-prohibition] advocate is about providing for a decent, safe, honest social system. it's not about getting high. The problem is that most people who are sophisticated have the money and the access to whatever they want, so they don't think it's such a problem, because they're not the ones being arrested. Most people in the marijuana legalization movement don't get out and vote, because they don't think it does any good. That's a really big mistake, because our opponents do get out and vote, and they influence the elections a lot. 80 percent of people over 55 vote in presidential and federal elections in the United States, whereas 80 percent of people in their twenties do not vote. We're being outflanked by prohibitionists, who tend to be older and rural. People who live in the cities tend to be educated and cynical, so they don't go vote, and it really hurts us. Argus: Another interesting contradiction is that a lot of the people who identify with your struggle are NDP supporters, a lot of them would profess themselves as socialists - whereas you are very much revolted by socialism and statism. So I wonder how you reconcile that, that a lot of your support would be ideologically opposed to you in many ways. Emery: Oh, for sure. But there are two different objectives running on parallel tracks. One is myself the idealist: I have a vision of the world, a libertarian state of being where everybody is consenting and cooperative, and that's what I always advocate and promote. But who I work with regarding political parties is only geared to one thing: that is, who is going to bring in legislation that will reduce the number of people in jail? Whoever promises to work towards that, I help. We ally with the people who are going to be most sympathetic, so that means allying with the Green party, sometimes with the NDP and the Bloc Quebecois, and very rarely but occasionally with the Liberal party. Typically, our biggest enemy is always the Conservative party in Canada or the Republicans in the U.S. The big caveat there is really the exception of Ron Paul, who's the greatest politician we've seen in a century, and who of course totally wants to repeal the war on drugs and prohibition. Argus: A lot of people are skeptical of the importance of the issue. Can you explain how marijuana legalization fits into a wider set of issues or a wider struggle? Emery: When you consider the hypocrisy of our society. all of the things that kill people are legal and available: alcohol, tobacco, prescription drugs, peanuts, deli meats, government-approved water coming out of the tap in Walkerton, Ontario - I mean, Christ, table salt is a big killer. And yet, marijuana doesn't kill anybody, won't give you lung cancer, will prevent you from ever getting Alzheimer's disease as long as you have your three puffs a day. all of these incredible things, and yet it's illegal. The people who make, sell, and consume marijuana go to jail, but the people who manufacture alcohol, tobacco, prescription drugs, and all of those other killers ( fast cars, guns, sugar, you name it ), they don't go to jail. So what's the explanation? There's only one: so that we're made to suffer. It's literally a biblical type of Inquisition, whereby we're suffering because we're the free thinkers; we're not buying into this one-book dogma, this book of the bible. The people who believe in the bible try to wrestle control over the other book, the book of the law, so that things are viewed in their Christian fundamentalist paradigm. But it doesn't achieve any social benefit, there's no public good that comes out of it. Argus: If you look at a Canada with legalized marijuana, how would it be different? Emery: If they did it appropriately, marijuana would be produced legally in massive greenhouses under license by the government. It would cost about $20 an ounce, so about 65 cents wholesale per gram [up to twice that much with tax]. It would be sold in places like Starbucks. Marijuana in a legal environment would be very inexpensive - - that would be the only way you could keep the black market out of it, which is the incentive to the government to legalize it in the first place. No government really ever understands civil rights or the people's right to do something. So you can't use that as an example, because politicians don't run for office to give us our freedom, they run for office to control us with their rules and regulations - that's why they're fascinated with the calling. Argus: You don't think there are some altruistic people who get into politics? Emery: No. Argus: None whatsoever? Emery: No, not really. See, altruism is the worst reason to get into it, because those are the people who think they want to help others. But what they really want to do is be a meddler, because it's their vision of help that's going to be imposed upon people. And for that matter, in Canada, [MPs] are so whipped by their leader that it won't even matter what they think up anyway; It's a dictatorship out of the executive offices of each party. So it doesn't matter who you vote for: that person, when elected, is very compromised by the party structure that we have. Argus: Like with a lot of causes, there are many people who quietly agree with you but aren't quite sure what they might be able to do. Let's say somebody's sitting around Thunder Bay and he or she agrees with you, what can they get out and do, realistically? Emery: The first thing you can do is that you have to come out of the closet, but that involves some degree of risk. If you can't, say because you're growing or selling pot, then make sure you give money to people who are doing the work for those causes. Go to the rallies, absorb the energy, and see what you can do. Right now, everybody in Canada should be calling their senator to tell them to vote against bill C-15, because that bill will send thousands of us to jail. If it passes the senate, we're in big trouble. People who are growing pot ( just five plants or more ) in a rented place are going to get 9 months mandatory minimum jail time. If they've got kids at home, it's a year minimum. I don't know how that's supposed to help the kids, it's insane! And make sure they get out to vote next time! Most people who smoke pot are very enlightened, and they won't get out to vote because they get jaded and cynical about whether politics achieves anything. Well, then they don't vote, and then they let our enemies determine the issues that are going to be affecting us. Argus: One of the things Noam Chomsky says is that governments are very selective in which drugs they make illegal, that they use it as a tool of social control. He sees it as a class thing. Would you agree with that? Emery: That's certainly true, but there's a racial element to it as well. All the things that were Western European are legal, like alcohol or prescription drugs. But anything that comes from foreign cultures, like khat from Somalia, marijuana from India, opium from China, or coca coming from Central and Latin America - all of those things are demonized and made illegal, because all of the people associated with them are necessarily being demonized and made illegal. Just in the same way that we've always tried to keep Chinese people out of North America, we try to keep their drugs out of North America. It's the same with Mexicans and Hispanics - they've been trying to keep those people out of America, and they try to keep their drugs out of America. What we find is that all Western forms of inebriation are acceptable, even though they're the most dangerous ones with the highest mortality rates. Because they're Western, they're familiar and we don't fear them the same way we fear the less harmful foreign drugs. That's a very big component of [marijuana's illegality]. http://www.theargus.ca/
Marc Emery disagrees. Of course, as a man on the verge of serving hard time in a U.S. prison for distributing marijuana, he has reason to take legalization a bit more seriously than most. But his arguments for the issue's importance rest on much more than personal interest. He has cited the U.S.-led "war on drugs" as one of the most important issues facing North Americans today, positioning it in a constellation of other issues like the impact of Christian fundamentalism on the continent's politics, class and race warfare, and personal liberty. Whether Emery is a martyr ( like Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, and Gandhi, comparisons he's fond of invoking ) or a blowhard is largely up for debate. It's tempting to say he's both. Like Gandhi's, his life is an intriguing mix: an appealing political philosophy rooted in direct action, coupled with some very odd, sometimes off-putting opinions and behaviour. Emery began what has become a long and distinguished shit-disturbing career in London, Ontario in the 1980s. His first brush with the law came in 1988, when he served four days in jail for keeping his bookstore open on Sundays. He also made a habit of stocking the store with banned material, going so far as to sell 'High Times' magazine on the steps of London's police station. It's interesting to note that shopping on the Christian Sabbath and the sale of pro-pot literature were both legalized within a few years of Emery's actions ( in Ontario, at least ). In 1994, after moving to Vancouver, Emery started 'Hemp BC', a store selling marijuana seeds and paraphernalia - a "cannabis superstore," depicted in all of its surreal glory in the CBC documentary 'Prince of Pot: The U.S. vs. Marc Emery'. He founded the magazine Cannabis Culture and the internet show Pot-TV. After a couple of raids by Vancouver police in the mid-1990s, he moved his seed business online. He went mostly unmolested by police during the next decade, as most seed and paraphernalia vendors in Canada typically do. He funnelled the profits from his ventures into marijuana legalization efforts. "I've always promised people: when you send me the money, you get the seeds, we pay our suppliers, and whatever's left over, we use it to subvert the political system," he explains. His attempts to subvert the system included bids for the Vancouver mayorship and the federal legislature. Emery usually received 3 to 4 percent of the vote in these contests, but that wasn't the point - the press took notice, and it got people talking. All of his activity has made Emery into something of a cult figure in the marijuana sub-culture, and even brought him appearances on major media like the CBC, BBC, NPR, CNN, and 60 Minutes. The government's tacit acceptance of Emery's activities ( they accepted nearly $600,000 in taxes from his seed-selling business, which he identified as such on his tax forms ) came to an abrupt halt in 2005. Why the sudden change of heart? It seems that Emery had attracted the attention of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration ( DEA ). He was arrested for "Conspiracy to Distribute Marijuana" and "Conspiracy to Distribute Marijuana Seeds", and subject to extradition and trial in the U.S. What makes the DEA's arrest of Emery especially suspect is a press release published soon afterward, which called his arrest "a significant blow. to the marijuana legalization movement. Hundreds of thousands of dollars of Emery's illicit profits are known to have been channeled to marijuana legalization groups active in the United States and Canada. Drug legalization lobbyists now have one less pot of money to rely on." The DEA's pot puns leave something to be desired. But more importantly, the press release makes explicit the fact that Emery's importance to the U.S. government lies not in his illegal activities ( which are not discussed ) but in his legal "propaganda" in favour of marijuana legalization. Emery's place as the sole Canadian on a list of the U.S. Attorney General's most-wanted drug traffickers would seem to confirm this - is Emery really more dangerous than the Hell's Angels, or dealers of Heroin, Crystal Meth, or Cocaine? Whether or not they support legalization, many Canadians see Emery's arrest as a dangerous precedent for Canadian sovereignty ( or the lack thereof ). The Liberal, Green and New Democratic parties have all condemned the Conservative government's handling of Emery's case. "Canadian law enforcement officials have been aware of Mr. Emery's activities for years yet have chosen not to penalize him," said Green Party leader Elizabeth May. "By turning a blind eye to his activities, Canada has implicitly acknowledged that our marijuana laws are nothing short of ridiculous. The United States' ideologically-motivated pursuit of Mr. Emery has gone far enough. We should either enforce our laws, or change them." Liberal justice critic, Marlene Jennings says Emery's extradition sends the message to the U.S that "we'll let you do the dirty work for us. And then we'll stand by with our arms crossed.'" The NDP, meanwhile, stated "we should not be sending individuals to face harsh punishment in another country when we have agreed as a society their actions are not worthy of prosecution here in Canada." Emery, who faces trial Monday, September 21st, is set to plead guilty to the charges against him as part of a plea bargain, which saw two of his coworkers let off with lighter sentences. He will likely be sentenced to five years in prison, of which at least the first part will be served in the U.S. Visit: www.cannabisculture.com 2002 Senate report: http://www.parl.gc.ca/37/1/parlbus/commbus/senate/com-e/ille-e/rep-e/summary-e.htm Thunder Bay's "Green Scene Productions" on facebook Interview Argus: What do you think accounts for the fact that marijuana is still illegal, despite popular support? Are politicians just scared of speaking out? Emery: What we have in Canada is this unusual thing: a republican fundamentalist government that was elected with 35 percent of the voting public - about 16 percent of the total public - who are all from these rural areas where they've been steeped in Christianity. It's really difficult dealing with fundamentalists, especially the kind we're getting. Stephen Harper just appointed Chris Somerville, who's a premillenialist minister, [to the Canadian Mental Health Commission]. Those are the people who believe Jesus Christ is coming back in our lifetimes to take the chosen ones with him to heaven, and then the rest of us get cast into the lake of fire. When they have these beliefs, they don't really care how good our health care system is in thirty years, or our schools, or the environment. Because, you know, we're all going to get called to account before the great Lord by then, so why bother, right? That very much worries me about the future of drug policy, because the whole point of prohibition [in the fundamentalist Christian paradigm] is to provide suffering for people who have this moral failing. Over forty-five years, billions of dollars [have been spent], 2 million Canadians and 14 million Americans have been criminalized for marijuana alone. What was the public benefit for those billions and billions of dollars and all of those people and their families hurt? Argus: A lot of people are sympathetic to legalizing marijuana, but they see it as a side issue, as sophomoric. Emery: Well, that's because they don't have any trouble getting the drugs they want at the price they're comfortable paying. Being an [anti-prohibition] advocate is about providing for a decent, safe, honest social system. it's not about getting high. The problem is that most people who are sophisticated have the money and the access to whatever they want, so they don't think it's such a problem, because they're not the ones being arrested. Most people in the marijuana legalization movement don't get out and vote, because they don't think it does any good. That's a really big mistake, because our opponents do get out and vote, and they influence the elections a lot. 80 percent of people over 55 vote in presidential and federal elections in the United States, whereas 80 percent of people in their twenties do not vote. We're being outflanked by prohibitionists, who tend to be older and rural. People who live in the cities tend to be educated and cynical, so they don't go vote, and it really hurts us. Argus: Another interesting contradiction is that a lot of the people who identify with your struggle are NDP supporters, a lot of them would profess themselves as socialists - whereas you are very much revolted by socialism and statism. So I wonder how you reconcile that, that a lot of your support would be ideologically opposed to you in many ways. Emery: Oh, for sure. But there are two different objectives running on parallel tracks. One is myself the idealist: I have a vision of the world, a libertarian state of being where everybody is consenting and cooperative, and that's what I always advocate and promote. But who I work with regarding political parties is only geared to one thing: that is, who is going to bring in legislation that will reduce the number of people in jail? Whoever promises to work towards that, I help. We ally with the people who are going to be most sympathetic, so that means allying with the Green party, sometimes with the NDP and the Bloc Quebecois, and very rarely but occasionally with the Liberal party. Typically, our biggest enemy is always the Conservative party in Canada or the Republicans in the U.S. The big caveat there is really the exception of Ron Paul, who's the greatest politician we've seen in a century, and who of course totally wants to repeal the war on drugs and prohibition. Argus: A lot of people are skeptical of the importance of the issue. Can you explain how marijuana legalization fits into a wider set of issues or a wider struggle? Emery: When you consider the hypocrisy of our society. all of the things that kill people are legal and available: alcohol, tobacco, prescription drugs, peanuts, deli meats, government-approved water coming out of the tap in Walkerton, Ontario - I mean, Christ, table salt is a big killer. And yet, marijuana doesn't kill anybody, won't give you lung cancer, will prevent you from ever getting Alzheimer's disease as long as you have your three puffs a day. all of these incredible things, and yet it's illegal. The people who make, sell, and consume marijuana go to jail, but the people who manufacture alcohol, tobacco, prescription drugs, and all of those other killers ( fast cars, guns, sugar, you name it ), they don't go to jail. So what's the explanation? There's only one: so that we're made to suffer. It's literally a biblical type of Inquisition, whereby we're suffering because we're the free thinkers; we're not buying into this one-book dogma, this book of the bible. The people who believe in the bible try to wrestle control over the other book, the book of the law, so that things are viewed in their Christian fundamentalist paradigm. But it doesn't achieve any social benefit, there's no public good that comes out of it. Argus: If you look at a Canada with legalized marijuana, how would it be different? Emery: If they did it appropriately, marijuana would be produced legally in massive greenhouses under license by the government. It would cost about $20 an ounce, so about 65 cents wholesale per gram [up to twice that much with tax]. It would be sold in places like Starbucks. Marijuana in a legal environment would be very inexpensive - - that would be the only way you could keep the black market out of it, which is the incentive to the government to legalize it in the first place. No government really ever understands civil rights or the people's right to do something. So you can't use that as an example, because politicians don't run for office to give us our freedom, they run for office to control us with their rules and regulations - that's why they're fascinated with the calling. Argus: You don't think there are some altruistic people who get into politics? Emery: No. Argus: None whatsoever? Emery: No, not really. See, altruism is the worst reason to get into it, because those are the people who think they want to help others. But what they really want to do is be a meddler, because it's their vision of help that's going to be imposed upon people. And for that matter, in Canada, [MPs] are so whipped by their leader that it won't even matter what they think up anyway; It's a dictatorship out of the executive offices of each party. So it doesn't matter who you vote for: that person, when elected, is very compromised by the party structure that we have. Argus: Like with a lot of causes, there are many people who quietly agree with you but aren't quite sure what they might be able to do. Let's say somebody's sitting around Thunder Bay and he or she agrees with you, what can they get out and do, realistically? Emery: The first thing you can do is that you have to come out of the closet, but that involves some degree of risk. If you can't, say because you're growing or selling pot, then make sure you give money to people who are doing the work for those causes. Go to the rallies, absorb the energy, and see what you can do. Right now, everybody in Canada should be calling their senator to tell them to vote against bill C-15, because that bill will send thousands of us to jail. If it passes the senate, we're in big trouble. People who are growing pot ( just five plants or more ) in a rented place are going to get 9 months mandatory minimum jail time. If they've got kids at home, it's a year minimum. I don't know how that's supposed to help the kids, it's insane! And make sure they get out to vote next time! Most people who smoke pot are very enlightened, and they won't get out to vote because they get jaded and cynical about whether politics achieves anything. Well, then they don't vote, and then they let our enemies determine the issues that are going to be affecting us. Argus: One of the things Noam Chomsky says is that governments are very selective in which drugs they make illegal, that they use it as a tool of social control. He sees it as a class thing. Would you agree with that? Emery: That's certainly true, but there's a racial element to it as well. All the things that were Western European are legal, like alcohol or prescription drugs. But anything that comes from foreign cultures, like khat from Somalia, marijuana from India, opium from China, or coca coming from Central and Latin America - all of those things are demonized and made illegal, because all of the people associated with them are necessarily being demonized and made illegal. Just in the same way that we've always tried to keep Chinese people out of North America, we try to keep their drugs out of North America. It's the same with Mexicans and Hispanics - they've been trying to keep those people out of America, and they try to keep their drugs out of America. What we find is that all Western forms of inebriation are acceptable, even though they're the most dangerous ones with the highest mortality rates. Because they're Western, they're familiar and we don't fear them the same way we fear the less harmful foreign drugs. That's a very big component of [marijuana's illegality]. http://www.theargus.ca/
Hey, Bud, That's Not Marijuana
WOODSTOCK -- It may look and smell just like marijuana, but there's a good chance it's not. Police say several hemp plants stolen from a Stratford-area research plot have been recovered in Woodstock. Gordon Scheifele, a plant breeder and retired University of Guelph researcher, said thieves this week raided his legal 0.8 hectare (two-acre) plot licensed by Health Canada. Although it was labelled hemp, Scheifele, a former president of the Ontario Hemp Alliance, said thieves still stole about half a garbage bag of hemp tops. "They just went in thinking it was marijuana -- thinking it was too good to be true," he said. "It was obvious it was not marijuana. "It's absolute foolishness -- it's absurd the trouble they're getting into." While there's no way to distinguish the two crops, smoking hemp reaps no benefit and can make you sick. "It has virtually no THC," Scheifele said. "But it has high levels of other cannabinoid chemicals. "They can make you sick or sleepy. You're better off smoking rope or a newspaper -- it would be safer." Oxford Community Police say they found the hemp plants after responding to a disturbance at a Dundas St. apartment in Woodstock. Police have charged an 18-year-old female and a young offender with possession of property obtained by crime. http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/News/Local/2009/09/26/11128741-sun.html
Latin America Moves to Decriminalize Drugs
In recent months, a paradigm shift has taken place in the way Latin American governments are decriminalizing the possession of small amounts of drugs, to free up law enforcement resources and prison space for drug traffickers. And supporters of similar decriminalization efforts in the United States, have interpreted Washington's silence on the changes in drug laws in Latin America, as a hopeful sign. Countries like Mexico, Brazil, Colombia and Argentina have realized that the war on drugs has failed to stem the tide of drug use or trafficking, and have decided to concentrate their resources to combat the organized crime associated with trafficking, while emphasizing prevention and treatment programs. Mexico recently decriminalized small amounts of marijuana, coc*ine, and her*in for personal use, with countries like Brazil soon to follow suit. Allen St. Pierre, the executive director of Norml noted the more common sense views on our nation's drug policies under the Obama administration, believing the prior administration would have strongly objected to Mexico's decriminalization law. "If this were the prior administration they would have made hay out of it," says Pierre. He referrers to the change, as "a generational evolution that transcends continents and ideologies." Indeed, the U.S. has taken steps to discontinue federal raids on medical marijuana facilities, and has made policy changes to put more emphasis on treatment and prevention programs as well. However, it's unlikely the decriminalization of marijuana or other drugs would garner sufficient political support in the U.S. in the near future. http://chattahbox.com/world/2009/09/25/latin-america-moves-to-decriminalize-drugs/
California mulls legalising marijuana
In 1996, voters in California approved a referendum that made it legal for the first time in decades in the US for people to consume cannabis for medicinal purposes.
More than a dozen states have followed suit since and several others - the most recent of which is Massachusetts - have approved laws decriminalising the possession of small amounts of the drug. Now, there are moves afoot in California to go further to fully legalise marijuana. Evidence of the impact that the approval of medicinal marijuana has had on some areas of California is clear in Oakland. Across the bay from San Francisco, it has come to be known as Oaksterdam, in a nod to the symbolic global capital of marijuana deregulation, Amsterdam. The relaxed approach to marijuana use in this part of Oakland has led to the opening of several marijuana dispensaries. They are establishments in this once deprived area of town which sell a broad array of cannabis related products, from food products such as brownies and cereal bars laced with cannabis to traditional marijuana for smoking. Oaksterdam University "This is where it all started," says Richard Lee, a leading advocate for the legalisation of cannabis, pointing to a building where the first ever dispensary was opened in 1996. His sense of excitement is palpable as he shows me around Oaksterdam, which beyond dispensaries is also home to a facility where state residents can go through the process of getting the ID needed for their right to use cannabis for medical purposes. The area is also home to the Oaksterdam University, which Mr Lee runs. He shows me around the student union of the university, which he describes as a trade school for all of those interested in finding a place in the thriving cannabis trade that medicinal marijuana has spawned. Mr Lee tells me that making cannabis use legal makes economic sense but would also help in the fight against the Mexican drugs cartels. "According to some estimates, the Mexican cartels get about 60-70% of their money - their profit - from cannabis," he tells me. "So if we cut that out of the equation then theoretically 60-70% of the violence they perpetrate would be cut out, because they'd have less money for the guns and weapons and ammunition to kill people and to spend on bribing officials and all the rest," Mr Lee says. Trailblazing That perspective, along with the fact that the California state authorities estimate that marijuana could bring in nearly $1.5bn a year in much needed tax revenue if it were legalised, has led to an increased support among the state's voters for the full legalisation of the drug. And, politicians like Tom Ammiano, who represents one of the most liberal districts of San Francisco in the California state assembly, have been paying close attention. Mr Ammiano came into politics as a trailblazing gay rights activist in the 1970s and has long advocated greater tolerance for cannabis use. Earlier this year, he took that approach one step further and introduced a bill in the California state assembly, which, if approved, would grant cannabis the same legal status in the state as alcohol and tobacco. That would put California ahead of even Amsterdam, where marijuana use is tolerated but not altogether legal. Sitting with him in his office in the state government building in San Francisco, with its sweeping views of the city, it becomes very clear that his proposal is far from a flight of fancy. He tells me he has been finding that more and more of his colleagues in the state assembly are coming around to seeing why moving towards legalisation makes perfect sense. 'Lighten up' "People across the board, whether they're conservative or liberal, have come to realise that the so-called war on drugs has failed and failed miserably," Mr Ammiano says. "In fact, it's costing us money instead of saving us money. This new approach would be a way for the policing efforts to be focused on the big bad guys, the cartels, with their violence and murder, and lighten up on the more minor offenses. We like to say prohibition is chaos and regulation is control," he adds. "On the streets a drug dealer does not ask a kid for his ID before selling him cannabis," he concludes with an acerbic, humorous tone that serves as proof that he has, beyond politics, also had some success in his other career as a stand-up comedian. But, despite his optimistic tone, Mr Ammiano says that he knows that those who oppose his proposal, including key figures in the medical and law enforcement community, are armed with statistics pointing to the damaging long-term effect of the drug and have the stamina and resources to wage a major fight to ensure that the bill never gets signed into law. One of those opponents of the proposal is Ronald Brooks, the president of the National Narcotic Officers' Associations' Coalition, which represents more than 70,000 narcotics enforcement officers in the US. We meet in the town of Redwood City, south of San Francisco, and as I get in his car, we drive past what appears to be a nondescript office building.'Seriously flawed' However, he tells me that, in the 1980s, it was a bank - the place where his partner on the police force was killed in front of him by a ruthless marijuana dealer, who was carrying out a bank robbery to fund his drug business. He says experiences like that have strengthened his resolve that America can't allow itself to take on a more lenient approach to marijuana. "This argument of freeing up law enforcement so that we can take on the cartels is seriously flawed," he tells me. "This is really a hoax being perpetrated on the voters of California to authorise their political agenda - that is to legalise marijuana as one step to legalise drugs in America because they simply don't think that the government ought to control drugs," he adds. "The people who are going to lose if this gets approved are the taxpayers because we're going to have increased costs associated with this, both healthcare and law enforcement costs, and the people who have to drive on the state's highways who are going to be in danger from being hit by someone intoxicated from using cannabis. This is simply a reckless public policy," he concludes. Back across the San Francisco Bay in Oakland, specifically Oaksterdam, the patrons of the Bulldog Cafe are enjoying their legally sanctioned right to consume marijuana for medicinal purposes. Emerging industry Gary has travelled from Texas for the weekend to attend a seminar on the cannabis trade at the Oaksterdam University across the street. He is in his 50s, but says he is hoping to take the information he has picked up in his course on the cannabis business and make a life-transforming move in the coming months to California. "My girlfriend and I are interested in moving to California from Texas to become a part of this here. We're not quite sure where we fit in but we want to get into the business itself. We feel it's an emerging industry, and this is where I feel compelled to come," he tells me as the smell of cannabis wafts through the room. Like Gary, there are hundreds of others participating in the courses at the Oaksterdam University on any given week. Beyond that, there are more than 200,000 people in the state registered as consumers of marijuana for medicinal purposes. As for Mr Ammiano's proposal to legalise marijuana in the state, that is still making its way through the California state assembly and it is difficult to say whether it will succeed or not. What is clear, however, is that whatever the outcome of the legalisation proposal, the medical marijuana law and the multi-million dollar industry it has spawned appear to be here to stay in California. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8275794.stm
Artificial Cannabis JWH-018 - The Taste Test
With all the news surrounding the still-legal cannabis-replacing psychoactive substance which is romantically named JWH-018, there are a lot of people who may be inclined to think they are missing out on something? For those out the loop, JWH-018 is the laboratory-synthesized substance which has been designed 'from the ground up', just to get people high. At least that was the explanation JW Huffman gave it. He's the fella who invented this stuff as well as the man who put the JWH in JWH-018. When asked about the possible harms caused by his recipe, he said users should be more concerned with impurities from the manufacturing process, rather than worry over the harms caused by the substance iself. JHW-018 is a CBD receptor agonist. What that means is, just like the THC it is meant to replace, JHW-018 works directly on the CB1 and CB2 receptors in the human body to create a very similar high to that which cannabis creates. And as Huffman himself says, "You can't overdose on THC." So without a direct risk associated with this product, one would have to ask why its getting banned? And to find out the answer to this it was necessary for me to get hold of some. Purely in the interests of research you understand.. JWH-018
I ordered a packet of JWH-018 and I only waited a single working day for my delivery to arrive. But as I was out of the house when it arrived I had to wait 24 hours then collect it from my local sorting office as a signature was required. On returning from the sorting office I immediately opened my package, which is still legal to buy in the UK, to find a see-thru ziplock bag with a printed label on it which read. "JWH-018 - 250mg - (1-pentyl-3)1-napthoyl) indole)". And in big red letters it stated quite clearly this was not for human consumption. Indeed this is one of the mixes which is marketed as a plant feeder, but which everyone who buys it seems to consume instead of cannabis. Inside the larger ziplock bag was another, smaller ziplock, and this contained a scary looking white crystaline substance which had about it the feintest yellow tinge. Health & Safety?
Perhaps most important of all is the fact there were no safety sheets provided to buyers who purchase JWH-018. And right away we can see a problem with the UK and its current stance on drugs, or anything which could be construed as an analogue of a drug. The fact is tens of thousands of people will buy this substance right up until it is physically banned. But as vendors prefer to market it as a plant feed it is sold without any safety data regarding doseage etc. Meaning there is a very real risk of consuming too much. And with a substance on which we have no history the risks associated with using JWH-018 are clear. Before trying out the substance I wanted to do a bit of research just so I was happy in my own mind I was not about to kill myself, so I visited the font of all drug knowledge and a website which every one with an interest in recreational drugs should familiarize themselves with; Erowid ! Erowid
A website which by its own admission, is exploring the complex relationship between humans and psychoactives. On carrying out a search for the term JWH-018 I was presented with a number of articles written by individuals who had tried the JWH-018 for the first time. So I did some reading, and without the a doubt the biggest concern amongst the many voiced, related to doseage, or the amount used, and for me this is the biggest issue with all the legal high's which are for sale currently. No one knows how much to take so every time a person uses legal high's they put themselves in the laps of the gods. And the same can be said with all the other legal high's such as khat, (available on every high street in the UK), salvia divinorum, magic mushrooms as well as the plethora of pills potions and lotions which have come to market over the last 5 years or so. If you want to reduce harm from drugs, surely its better to tell people how to use them safely rather than let them die and say "we TOLD you so"? JWH-018 The Substance
The substance itself came as a pure white powder looking for all the world like cocaine. In good natural light it has something of a yellow tint to it, but its very hard to see and for all intents this stuff is pure white. In the bag itself the powder comes in two distinct forms. First of all the powder (obviously) is the majority, but mixed in the powder are also some small rocks; obviously a by-product of the manufacturing process. Think of a crack-cocaine rock but much smaller and you won't be far off base. These rocks are small as mentioned, but don't let their diminutive stature take you by surprise. If one of these rocks finds its way into your joint you ARE in for a white knuckle ride, but more on that later. For the sake of my first time using this stuff I decided to go easy. SUPER easy in fact, and if you think of a regular hand-sized pen-knife, this is what I used to get the substance out of the bag. I place the tip of the pen-knife into the white powder and removed the knife from the bag with just the tip covered in white powder. The next problem is, how to spread such a small amount of JHW-018 across a single-skin king sized joint. In the end I was distributing literally, tiny white specks throughout the tobacco and with a seasoned display of origami I was ready to light up. The first puff always gets wasted as its only paper, but on inhaling the second toke the effect was almost instant, with the elevator effect of good home-grown weed kicking in pretty soon after. I took another toke in quick succession and then put the joint down to weigh things up a while. Although I'm used to smoking good grass, this was a totally new experience. My body was totally clean of the substance I was ingesting so a quick uptake was only to be expected. After about 15 minutes I feel like I have consumed four fingers of good malt whisky. My cheeks are warmed up nicely and I have the beginnings of what the canna-sseur may call something similar to a 'sativa' buzz. Its all in the head and around the shoulders. with absolutely no effect at all in the body and legs. All of which seems like a great trip for the recreational or creative user, but for those who use cannabis as a medicine I'm not feeling any of the benefits in my lower limbs. So I fire the joint up again and consume some more, all the while sitting in front of my laptop writing the days news up for CannaZine Cannabis News. As is often the case I lose myself in time and an hour later I break away from my writing to reach for the joint again, only to find out it is long gone. The ashtray cooled down some while ago. I take stock of the situation and suddenly realise I'm hammered. But the stone is definitely what I would call 'creative'. After losing myself in my writing I carried on smoking. As is often the case I have multiple tabs open and I flit from one to another researching material, and time flies. But today it was going by even faster, and my concentration was absolute. I worked late into the night and finally got to sleep on the sofa around 4 or 5am, having consumed three joints in total. At 7am the youngest member of the household (8 years of age) comes and switch's on the TV and sits on my legs with his blanket and teddy. A sure signal its time to get up and make his breakfast so he can get ready for school. I make myself a strong black coffee and take stock. Apart from feeling groggy through lack of sleep my head is clear, I have zero tightness around the chest (a sure sign of a good night), and I can recount my 6 times table without effort. Looking good. With the kids gone to school and my partner out shopping I settle down to some more writing. But by 11am I'm starting to wane a little. I need to get some sleep so I decide to roll a joint of JHW-018 and see if it can help switch my brain off. So I go through my routine, including the trick with the pointy knife blade, load one together and get back to work. Only this time there was a subtle difference, as I had not been so careful about filtering the rocks out of the mix, and even as I'm putting the finishing touches to my joint I can see the pure white specks, about the size of half a grain of short-grain rice, sitting just beneath the surface of the paper. I light the blue touchpaper and get back into my work. Smoking this as if I had been smoking it for years, and as is often the case my blase attitude came back to kick my butt. The taste is far more intense this time. Its not like plastic as I've read elsewhere, but its not far off. Although I can taste it quite strongly my partner lets me know there is no smell in the room after its been smoked. ..3..2..1
The onset this time was very pronounced. All I can deduce is the first rock must have been consumed in my first toke, and I pigged the lot and held on to it. In the distance I could hear a feint whistle as the runaway freight train I was about to board was leaving its station at the top of the mountain. The sensations this time were all over. Like smoking the tops off a good full bodied, mature skunk plant. But on top of the limb-stone there was also this strong 'wave' rising up from the base of my spine in a physical pulse, until it cascaded over the top of my skull culminating in an intense head-rush. Just as soon as it was over, it began all over again, at the base of my spine. By now the buzz is a physical, all over feeling. Its roaring so loud I can almost hear it, and the first sign of anxiety flares in the pit of my stomach. I get a bit fidgity, and decide to go and busy myself elsewhere in the house but as I leave one room and enter another I know the storm is only just beginning as it starts to press down on the top of my head so my spine bends automaticaly under the weight and for the first time I think I might chuck. And still it comes on. I've now lost the use of my arms and legs, in much the same vein as a boxer does when he is 'blown'. My limbs are jelly and I struggle to carry my coffee. I head upstairs, deciding its time for a lay down. 20-30 minutes later and the stone is now full on, and as such easier to ride. Its not the altitude which is the problem. Its the speed in which you get there, and the elevator has slowed to a crawl as we approach cruising altitude and the seat-belt lights go out. So I busy myself with some yoga arm excercises to pass the time. I'm happy of the oportunity to think of something else for a while but then a thought dawns on me. Adhesive Capsulitis
I was recently diagnosed with Adhesive Capsulitis, more commonly known as a frozen shoulder. In short adhesive capsulitis is when adhesions (gristly strips) grow in the shoulder socket and cause restriction in movement, stiffness and pain. Lots of pain. And as a result of this pain there are a number of movements I simply cannot carry out. Or rather I probably could but don't as its super-painful. So I decided to try to 'yoga' my adhesions in the hope that I would break them, (or break myself in the process), and whilst I could still feel the pain to a degree, it was almost as if I was sensing the pain from the other end of a long corridor. It wasn't at the forefront of my mind and I was able to move my limbs seemingly freely. So I took advantage and gave my shoulder a real workout of stretching and flexing. A legacy I'm still living with today as its sore and aching. Did it do any good? Only time will tell but one thing I know for a fact is this. My shoulder socket was restricted for movement on both the inside and the outside of the shoulder joint, (closest to and furthest from, my armpit/chest junction). But the restrictions on the inside of the socket are gone. This side of the joint is no longer immoveable. Now, the only movement I can't manage is to lift my left arm up away from the body in a wide arc. If '6 o clock' was my legs, and 12 o clock was my head, I can only get to about 9 or 10 o clock before the pain is unbearable, from the tricep down to just below my elbow. Not only that but it takes a good minute or two to subside. During which time I feel sick to my stomach. So it would appear the much touted analgesic qualities ofJHW-018 are plain to behold. 2 hours after my white-knuckle ride started and it was coming to an end. I was flaked out on my bed, listening to some music and massaging my achy shoulder. The come down wasn't particularly jittery, or certainly not as jittery as the getting up. I was chatting to my partner, laughing at myself for making a pig of myself, and admonishing myself for being careless. summary
Make no bones about it. This will be off the market just as soon as the politicians can make it happen. And with the benefit of my own experiences I have to say its probably no bad thing. And right here is where I have a real conflict of interests. On the one hand I believe absolutely in the rights for a person to grow cannabis. I was watching the Discovery Channel recently and a British journalist (Donal Macyntire) was living in the rain-forest with a tribe, who regularly use all sorts of plants and roots to treat their clans, and for everything from period pains to snake bites. Although they smoked a great deal, if they used cannabis it was well hidden from the camera crews, but during a staged pig hunt, which the tribe had put on for the benefits of the film crew, Donal Macyntire, who was sharing an elevated 'spearing position' with a tribal elder, was chewing a psycho-active root, and getting well giggly they were too. So plants, and roots have been providing medicine, and dare I say recreation, for as long as time has been documented. Cannabis
The reason cannabis is outlawed, is because of how useful it is to humanity. In terms of food, fibre, medicine, building materials etc, you name it in fact. And it can be grown using the cannabis plant. But at an immeasurable cost in terms of lost revenues, to big industries like pharmaceuticals, oil, and alcohol. As a result, all of these new synthetic CB receptor agonists are finding their way to market. Bringing with them a whole new bunch of risks, and all of which are directly attributable to the drug war. So while I do believe if a person wants to consume cannabis in the privacy of their own home they should be allowed to, I also believe substances like JHW-018 need to be controlled in some way. As things stand currently it won't be long before people start cutting this substance like they do with cocaine and heroin. And thats a situation which is going to expose cannabis smokers to the same risks people who buy 'cheap' heroin are exposed to. In my opinion it would be safer to allow people to use the cannabis. As the alternatives could be a lot more dangerous than the drug they've been created to replace. And there in a nutshell, we have the real danger's created by the irrational war on drugs. As for JHW-018? Do some homework on your source, and handle with care! By Red Dragon @ Cannabis Forums CannaZine Cannabis News
http://cannazine.co.uk
I ordered a packet of JWH-018 and I only waited a single working day for my delivery to arrive. But as I was out of the house when it arrived I had to wait 24 hours then collect it from my local sorting office as a signature was required. On returning from the sorting office I immediately opened my package, which is still legal to buy in the UK, to find a see-thru ziplock bag with a printed label on it which read. "JWH-018 - 250mg - (1-pentyl-3)1-napthoyl) indole)". And in big red letters it stated quite clearly this was not for human consumption. Indeed this is one of the mixes which is marketed as a plant feeder, but which everyone who buys it seems to consume instead of cannabis. Inside the larger ziplock bag was another, smaller ziplock, and this contained a scary looking white crystaline substance which had about it the feintest yellow tinge. Health & Safety?
Perhaps most important of all is the fact there were no safety sheets provided to buyers who purchase JWH-018. And right away we can see a problem with the UK and its current stance on drugs, or anything which could be construed as an analogue of a drug. The fact is tens of thousands of people will buy this substance right up until it is physically banned. But as vendors prefer to market it as a plant feed it is sold without any safety data regarding doseage etc. Meaning there is a very real risk of consuming too much. And with a substance on which we have no history the risks associated with using JWH-018 are clear. Before trying out the substance I wanted to do a bit of research just so I was happy in my own mind I was not about to kill myself, so I visited the font of all drug knowledge and a website which every one with an interest in recreational drugs should familiarize themselves with; Erowid ! Erowid
A website which by its own admission, is exploring the complex relationship between humans and psychoactives. On carrying out a search for the term JWH-018 I was presented with a number of articles written by individuals who had tried the JWH-018 for the first time. So I did some reading, and without the a doubt the biggest concern amongst the many voiced, related to doseage, or the amount used, and for me this is the biggest issue with all the legal high's which are for sale currently. No one knows how much to take so every time a person uses legal high's they put themselves in the laps of the gods. And the same can be said with all the other legal high's such as khat, (available on every high street in the UK), salvia divinorum, magic mushrooms as well as the plethora of pills potions and lotions which have come to market over the last 5 years or so. If you want to reduce harm from drugs, surely its better to tell people how to use them safely rather than let them die and say "we TOLD you so"? JWH-018 The Substance
The substance itself came as a pure white powder looking for all the world like cocaine. In good natural light it has something of a yellow tint to it, but its very hard to see and for all intents this stuff is pure white. In the bag itself the powder comes in two distinct forms. First of all the powder (obviously) is the majority, but mixed in the powder are also some small rocks; obviously a by-product of the manufacturing process. Think of a crack-cocaine rock but much smaller and you won't be far off base. These rocks are small as mentioned, but don't let their diminutive stature take you by surprise. If one of these rocks finds its way into your joint you ARE in for a white knuckle ride, but more on that later. For the sake of my first time using this stuff I decided to go easy. SUPER easy in fact, and if you think of a regular hand-sized pen-knife, this is what I used to get the substance out of the bag. I place the tip of the pen-knife into the white powder and removed the knife from the bag with just the tip covered in white powder. The next problem is, how to spread such a small amount of JHW-018 across a single-skin king sized joint. In the end I was distributing literally, tiny white specks throughout the tobacco and with a seasoned display of origami I was ready to light up. The first puff always gets wasted as its only paper, but on inhaling the second toke the effect was almost instant, with the elevator effect of good home-grown weed kicking in pretty soon after. I took another toke in quick succession and then put the joint down to weigh things up a while. Although I'm used to smoking good grass, this was a totally new experience. My body was totally clean of the substance I was ingesting so a quick uptake was only to be expected. After about 15 minutes I feel like I have consumed four fingers of good malt whisky. My cheeks are warmed up nicely and I have the beginnings of what the canna-sseur may call something similar to a 'sativa' buzz. Its all in the head and around the shoulders. with absolutely no effect at all in the body and legs. All of which seems like a great trip for the recreational or creative user, but for those who use cannabis as a medicine I'm not feeling any of the benefits in my lower limbs. So I fire the joint up again and consume some more, all the while sitting in front of my laptop writing the days news up for CannaZine Cannabis News. As is often the case I lose myself in time and an hour later I break away from my writing to reach for the joint again, only to find out it is long gone. The ashtray cooled down some while ago. I take stock of the situation and suddenly realise I'm hammered. But the stone is definitely what I would call 'creative'. After losing myself in my writing I carried on smoking. As is often the case I have multiple tabs open and I flit from one to another researching material, and time flies. But today it was going by even faster, and my concentration was absolute. I worked late into the night and finally got to sleep on the sofa around 4 or 5am, having consumed three joints in total. At 7am the youngest member of the household (8 years of age) comes and switch's on the TV and sits on my legs with his blanket and teddy. A sure signal its time to get up and make his breakfast so he can get ready for school. I make myself a strong black coffee and take stock. Apart from feeling groggy through lack of sleep my head is clear, I have zero tightness around the chest (a sure sign of a good night), and I can recount my 6 times table without effort. Looking good. With the kids gone to school and my partner out shopping I settle down to some more writing. But by 11am I'm starting to wane a little. I need to get some sleep so I decide to roll a joint of JHW-018 and see if it can help switch my brain off. So I go through my routine, including the trick with the pointy knife blade, load one together and get back to work. Only this time there was a subtle difference, as I had not been so careful about filtering the rocks out of the mix, and even as I'm putting the finishing touches to my joint I can see the pure white specks, about the size of half a grain of short-grain rice, sitting just beneath the surface of the paper. I light the blue touchpaper and get back into my work. Smoking this as if I had been smoking it for years, and as is often the case my blase attitude came back to kick my butt. The taste is far more intense this time. Its not like plastic as I've read elsewhere, but its not far off. Although I can taste it quite strongly my partner lets me know there is no smell in the room after its been smoked. ..3..2..1
The onset this time was very pronounced. All I can deduce is the first rock must have been consumed in my first toke, and I pigged the lot and held on to it. In the distance I could hear a feint whistle as the runaway freight train I was about to board was leaving its station at the top of the mountain. The sensations this time were all over. Like smoking the tops off a good full bodied, mature skunk plant. But on top of the limb-stone there was also this strong 'wave' rising up from the base of my spine in a physical pulse, until it cascaded over the top of my skull culminating in an intense head-rush. Just as soon as it was over, it began all over again, at the base of my spine. By now the buzz is a physical, all over feeling. Its roaring so loud I can almost hear it, and the first sign of anxiety flares in the pit of my stomach. I get a bit fidgity, and decide to go and busy myself elsewhere in the house but as I leave one room and enter another I know the storm is only just beginning as it starts to press down on the top of my head so my spine bends automaticaly under the weight and for the first time I think I might chuck. And still it comes on. I've now lost the use of my arms and legs, in much the same vein as a boxer does when he is 'blown'. My limbs are jelly and I struggle to carry my coffee. I head upstairs, deciding its time for a lay down. 20-30 minutes later and the stone is now full on, and as such easier to ride. Its not the altitude which is the problem. Its the speed in which you get there, and the elevator has slowed to a crawl as we approach cruising altitude and the seat-belt lights go out. So I busy myself with some yoga arm excercises to pass the time. I'm happy of the oportunity to think of something else for a while but then a thought dawns on me. Adhesive Capsulitis
I was recently diagnosed with Adhesive Capsulitis, more commonly known as a frozen shoulder. In short adhesive capsulitis is when adhesions (gristly strips) grow in the shoulder socket and cause restriction in movement, stiffness and pain. Lots of pain. And as a result of this pain there are a number of movements I simply cannot carry out. Or rather I probably could but don't as its super-painful. So I decided to try to 'yoga' my adhesions in the hope that I would break them, (or break myself in the process), and whilst I could still feel the pain to a degree, it was almost as if I was sensing the pain from the other end of a long corridor. It wasn't at the forefront of my mind and I was able to move my limbs seemingly freely. So I took advantage and gave my shoulder a real workout of stretching and flexing. A legacy I'm still living with today as its sore and aching. Did it do any good? Only time will tell but one thing I know for a fact is this. My shoulder socket was restricted for movement on both the inside and the outside of the shoulder joint, (closest to and furthest from, my armpit/chest junction). But the restrictions on the inside of the socket are gone. This side of the joint is no longer immoveable. Now, the only movement I can't manage is to lift my left arm up away from the body in a wide arc. If '6 o clock' was my legs, and 12 o clock was my head, I can only get to about 9 or 10 o clock before the pain is unbearable, from the tricep down to just below my elbow. Not only that but it takes a good minute or two to subside. During which time I feel sick to my stomach. So it would appear the much touted analgesic qualities ofJHW-018 are plain to behold. 2 hours after my white-knuckle ride started and it was coming to an end. I was flaked out on my bed, listening to some music and massaging my achy shoulder. The come down wasn't particularly jittery, or certainly not as jittery as the getting up. I was chatting to my partner, laughing at myself for making a pig of myself, and admonishing myself for being careless. summary
Make no bones about it. This will be off the market just as soon as the politicians can make it happen. And with the benefit of my own experiences I have to say its probably no bad thing. And right here is where I have a real conflict of interests. On the one hand I believe absolutely in the rights for a person to grow cannabis. I was watching the Discovery Channel recently and a British journalist (Donal Macyntire) was living in the rain-forest with a tribe, who regularly use all sorts of plants and roots to treat their clans, and for everything from period pains to snake bites. Although they smoked a great deal, if they used cannabis it was well hidden from the camera crews, but during a staged pig hunt, which the tribe had put on for the benefits of the film crew, Donal Macyntire, who was sharing an elevated 'spearing position' with a tribal elder, was chewing a psycho-active root, and getting well giggly they were too. So plants, and roots have been providing medicine, and dare I say recreation, for as long as time has been documented. Cannabis
The reason cannabis is outlawed, is because of how useful it is to humanity. In terms of food, fibre, medicine, building materials etc, you name it in fact. And it can be grown using the cannabis plant. But at an immeasurable cost in terms of lost revenues, to big industries like pharmaceuticals, oil, and alcohol. As a result, all of these new synthetic CB receptor agonists are finding their way to market. Bringing with them a whole new bunch of risks, and all of which are directly attributable to the drug war. So while I do believe if a person wants to consume cannabis in the privacy of their own home they should be allowed to, I also believe substances like JHW-018 need to be controlled in some way. As things stand currently it won't be long before people start cutting this substance like they do with cocaine and heroin. And thats a situation which is going to expose cannabis smokers to the same risks people who buy 'cheap' heroin are exposed to. In my opinion it would be safer to allow people to use the cannabis. As the alternatives could be a lot more dangerous than the drug they've been created to replace. And there in a nutshell, we have the real danger's created by the irrational war on drugs. As for JHW-018? Do some homework on your source, and handle with care! By Red Dragon @ Cannabis Forums CannaZine Cannabis News
http://cannazine.co.uk
Saturday, 26 September 2009
5 Things the Corporate Media Don't Want You to Know About Cannabis
Writing in the journal Science nearly four decades ago, New York State University sociologist Erich Goode documented the media's complicity in maintaining cannabis prohibition. He observed: "[T]ests and experiments purporting to demonstrate the ravages of marijuana consumption receive enormous attention from the media, and their findings become accepted as fact by the public. But when careful refutations of such research are published, or when later findings contradict the original pathological findings, they tend to be ignored or dismissed." A glimpse of today's mainstream media landscape indicates that little has changed -- with news outlets continuing to, at best, underreport the publication of scientific studies that undermine the federal government's longstanding pot propaganda and, at worst, ignore them all together. Here are five recent stories the mainstream media doesn't want you to know about pot: 1. Marijuana Use Is Not Associated With a Rise in Incidences of Schizophrenia Over the past few years, the worldwide media, as well as federal officials in the United Kingdom, Canada and the U.S. have earnestly promoted the notion that smoking pot induces mental illness. Perhaps most notably, in 2007 the MSM reported that cannabis "could boost the risk of developing a psychotic illness later in life by about 40 percent" -- a talking point that was also actively promoted by U.S. anti-drug officials. So, is there any truth to the claim that pot smoking is sparking a dramatic rise in mental illness? Not at all, according to the findings of a study published in July in the journal Schizophrenia Research. Investigators at the Keele University Medical School in Britain compared trends in marijuana use and incidences of schizophrenia in the United Kingdom from 1996 to 2005. Researchers reported that the "incidence and prevalence of schizophrenia and psychoses were either stable or declining" during this period, even the use of cannabis among the general population was rising. "[T]he expected rise in diagnoses of schizophrenia and psychoses did not occur over a 10-year period," the authors concluded. "This study does not therefore support the specific causal link between cannabis use and incidence of psychotic disorders. … This concurs with other reports indicating that increases in population cannabis use have not been followed by increases in psychotic incidence." As of this writing, a handful of news wire reports in Australia, Canada, and the U.K. have reported on the Keele University study. Notably, no American media outlets covered the story. 2. Marijuana Smoke Doesn't Damage the Lungs Like Tobacco Everyone knows that smoking pot is as damaging, if not more damaging, to the lungs than puffing cigarettes, right? Wrong, according to a team of New Zealand investigators writing in the European Respiratory Journal in August. Researchers at the University of Otago in New Zealand compared the effects of cannabis and tobacco smoke on lung function in over 1,000 adults. They reported: "Cumulative cannabis use was associated with higher forced vital capacity [the volume of air that can forcibly be blown out after full inspiration], total lung capacity, functional residual capacity [the volume of air present in the lungs at the end of passive expiration] and residual volume. "Cannabis was also associated with higher airways resistance but not with forced expiratory volume in one second [the maximum volume of air that can be forcibly blown out in the first second during the FVC test], forced expiratory ratio, or transfer factor. These findings were similar amongst those who did not smoke tobacco. … By contrast, tobacco use was associated with lower forced expiratory volume in one second, lower forced expiratory ratio, lower transfer factor and higher static lung volumes, but not with airways resistance." They concluded, "Cannabis appears to have different effects on lung function to those of tobacco." Predictably, the scientists' "inconvenient truth" was not reported in a single media outlet. 3. Cannabis Use Potentially Protects, Rather Than Harms, the Brain Does smoking pot kill brain cells? Drinking alcohol most certainly does, and many opponents of marijuana-law reform claim that marijuana's adverse effects on the brain are even worse. Are they correct? Not according to recent findings published this summer in the journal Neurotoxicology and Teratology. Investigators at the University of California at San Diego examined white matter integrity in adolescents with histories of binge drinking and marijuana use. They reported that binge drinkers (defined as boys who consumed five or more drinks in one sitting, or girls who consumed four or more drinks at one time) showed signs of white matter damage in eight regions of the brain. By contrast, the binge drinkers who also used marijuana experienced less damage in 7 out of the 8 brain regions. "Binge drinkers who also use marijuana did not show as consistent a divergence from non-users as did the binge drink-only group," authors concluded. "[It is] possible that marijuana may have some neuroprotective properties in mitigating alcohol-related oxidative stress or excitotoxic cell death." To date, only a handful of U.S. media outlets -- almost exclusively college newspapers -- have reported the story. 4. Marijuana Is a Terminus, Not a 'Gateway,' to Hard Drug Use Alarmist claims that experimenting with cannabis will inevitably lead to the use of other illicit drugs persist in the media despite statistical data indicating that the overwhelming majority of those who try pot never go on to use cocaine or heroin. Moreover, recent research is emerging that indicates that pot may also suppress one's desire to use so-called hard drugs. In June, Paris researchers writing in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology concluded that the administration of oral THC in animals suppressed sensitivity to opiate dependence. Also this summer, investigators at the New York State Psychiatric Institute reported in the American Journal on Addictions that drug-treatment subjects who use cannabis intermittently were more likely to adhere to treatment for opioid dependence. Although a press release for the former study appeared on the Web site physorg.com on July 7, neither study ever gained any traction in the mainstream media. 5. Government's Anti-Pot Ads Encourage, Rather Than Discourage, Marijuana Use Sure, many of us already knew that the federal government's $2 billion ad campaign targeting pot was failing to dissuade viewers from toking up, but who knew it was this bad? According to a new study posted online in the journal Health Communication, survey data published by investigators at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania found that many of the government's public-service announcements actually encouraged pot use. Researchers assessed the attitudes of over 600 adolescents, age 12 to 18, after viewing 60 government-funded anti-marijuana television spots. Specifically, researchers evaluated whether the presence of marijuana-related imagery in the ads (e.g., the handling of marijuana cigarettes or the depiction of marijuana-smoking behavior) were more likely or less likely to discourage viewers' use of cannabis. Messages that depict teens associating with cannabis are "significantly less effective than others," the researchers found. "This negative impact of marijuana scenes is not reversed in the presence of strong anti-marijuana arguments in the ads and is mainly present for the group of adolescents who are often targets of such anti-marijuana ads (i.e., high-risk adolescents)," the authors determined. "For this segment of adolescents, including marijuana scenes in anti-marijuana (public-service announcements) may not be a good strategy." Needless to say, no outlets in the mainstream media -- many of which donated air time to several of the beleaguered ads in question -- have yet to report on the story.
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