A World Wide Breakdown

With all the recent media buzz surrounding marijuana and the "drug war", it is easy for Americans to forget about the rest of the world. We need to understand that drugs are a worldwide issue that affects people everywhere.

This article points out the problem is alot worst than just the Mexican drug cartels whose violence is starting to spill into the United States. It also makes one realize that America has it's problems but it is still a great country to live in.

Anything goes in the “war on drugs,” or so it seems. Governments around the world have used it as an excuse for unchecked human rights abuse and irrational policies based on knee-jerk reactions rather than scientific evidence. This has caused tremendous human suffering. It also undermines drug control efforts. .... In 2003, law enforcement officials in Thailand killed more than 2,700 people in the government’s “war on drugs.” More than 30 U.N. member states, including China, Indonesia and Malaysia, retain the death penalty for drug offenses — some as a mandatory sentence — in violation of international law. In Russia, untold thousands of heroin users cannot obtain opioid substitution treatment because the government has banned methadone, despite its proven effectiveness.

They even continue to argue that health care across the world has deteriorated because of our naive focus on controlling drug abuse.

The “war on drugs” has distracted countries from their obligation to ensure that narcotic drugs are available for medical purposes. As a result, 80 percent of the world population — including 5.5 million cancer patients and 1 million terminally ill AIDS patients — has no access to treatment for severe pain. Strong pain medications are almost unavailable in most African countries. In India alone some 1 million cancer patients endure severe pain; most have no access to appropriate medications because of restrictions on prescribing them.

America needs to lead the world with new public policy and a new stance on drugs. The United Nations and other countries are searching for someone to guide them in the right direction. The world will start taking alternatives more seriously as America and other countries do. Portugal's drug decriminalization has gone relatively unnoticed, but skeptics have started backing off as empirical data continues to support the change.

The international reporters finish "A Misguided War on Drugs" with a grave warning the world needs to take seriously.

This is not only a human rights problem: It is bad public policy. Research shows that abusive drug control practices, including mass incarceration, are ineffective in controlling illicit drug consumption and drug-related crime, and in protecting public health. Scientific evidence has shown that more supportive “harm-reduction” programs prevent HIV among injection drug users, protect people’s health and lower future health costs. And for those with untreated pain, ignoring their needs removes them and their caregivers from productive life..... Too many lives are at stake for the current head-in-the-sand politics, and if the United Nations and member states continue to bury their heads, they will be complicit in the abuses.

The Failure of Prohibition and the U.N.

"The Failure of the War on Drugs: Charting a New Course for the Commonwealth" sounds like another opinion article written by a hopeful marijuana activist. In reality The Massachusetts Bar Association issued this report calling for drug policies to be reexamined.

The report points to four areas of widespread failure: the increase of arrests without the diminished use of illegal drugs, a disparate impact of drug laws on minority groups, economic effects for offenders looking for work with a criminal record, and high rates of recidivism.

The United Nations is supporting drug decriminalization in their 2009 World Drug Report. When Portugal decriminalized drugs in 2001 the U.N. wasn't clear about if they were violating any international drug treaties. Statements made in the most recent report should ease concerns any country might have while reexamining their drug laws. Ryan Grim highlights part of 2009's World Drug Report.

But in its 2009 World Drug Report, the UN had little but kind words for Portugal's radical (by U.S. standards) approach. "These conditions keep drugs out of the hands of those who would avoid them under a system of full prohibition, while encouraging treatment, rather than incarceration, for users. Among those who would not welcome a summons from a police officer are tourists, and, as a result, Portugal's policy has reportedly not led to an increase in drug tourism," reads the report. "It also appears that a number of drug-related problems have decreased."

New Hampshire is trying to become the 14th state to pass medical marijuana legislation. After the original bill passed Governor John Lynch demanded some changes before he would sign the bill. The changes have been made and the new bill is now awaiting his signature.

"The Law and Marijuana": NORML Essays

A series of essays is being published by NORML, submissions were sent in by attorney's from their legal committee. Sean McAllister, from Breckenridge Colorado, detailed a number of the reasons why marijuana prohibition is still going on in America. He points to prohibition failures as one of the many reasons we need to explore legalization.

Marijuana remains illegal even though prohibition has miserably failed. After 35 years of a war on drugs largely targeting marijuana, the same number of high school students now say marijuana is easy to get and they had used it as answered those question in the affirmative in 1975. It remains illegal even though the Obama administration has declared an end to the “war on drugs,” while at the same time laughing off marijuana legalization.

This Huffington Post article provides an in depth examination of Barney Frank's recent marijuana legislation.

The medical marijuana bill aims to fix a problem in the federal classification of marijuana. The problem was best summed up in a live performance by Bill Maher I saw a number of months ago, where he talked about medical marijuana laws that states such as California (and others) have passed. I don't remember his exact words, but it went something like this: "It's still illegal to grow it, it's illegal for doctors to prescribe it, it's illegal to sell it, it's illegal to buy it, but if a joint happens to fall from the sky into your lips, then it's OK to smoke it."

"America's High" special that Anderson Cooper last week was disappointing to me. Each weeknight two segments aired featuring a pot story. Most of the information was recycled, and I felt they should have followed more current news headlines. Instead they just ran features of stories that have been in the headlines for months. Below is a video of Bruce Mirken on CNBC discussing marijuana.

Barney Frank Calling for Bold Change

Barney Frank reintroduced legislation entitled, "Act to Remove Federal Penalties for Personal Use of Marijuana by Responsible Adults". Eliminating federal penalties for personal possession of up to 100 grams.

Passage of this act would provide state lawmakers the choice to maintain their current penalties for minor marijuana offenses or eliminate them completely. Lawmakers would also have the option to explore legal alternatives to tax and regulate the adult use and distribution of cannabis free from federal interference.

This great piece of news follows Rhode Island's overriding their Governor's recent veto of a bill allowing compassion centers. "Drugs Won The War" hammered at many of the valid points marijuana decriminalization has. His statement below is something I believe more opponents should be investigating more.

Moving forward, we need to be less ideological and more empirical in figuring out what works in combating America’s drug problem. One approach would be for a state or two to experiment with legalization of marijuana, allowing it to be sold by licensed pharmacists, while measuring the impact on usage and crime.

Medical Marijuana Protection Act

Barney Frank (D-MA) reintroduced a bill to protect medical marijuana patients. H.R. 2835 has 13 cosponsors at this time, it has been referred to the house committee on energy and commerce. As this issue continues to grow in media coverage, this bill could start leading to more promising changes. Everyone should at least agree that it is difficult for America to remain credible with such contradictory laws between the state and federal levels. Ben Morris highlights why he thinks this legislation is important.

H.R. 2835 makes two important changes to federal law. First, it eliminates federal authority to interfere with patients, caregivers, and collectives operating in accordance with state medical marijuana laws. Second, it moves marijuana from Schedule I under the Controlled Substances Act into Schedule II. Schedule II drugs have recognized medical benefits and can be prescribed by doctors to patients in need (for example, morphine is a Schedule II drug).

In California, marijuana advocates are working hard to get an initiative on the November 2010 ballot. Supporters will need to gather over 433,000 valid signatures from registered voters. Richard Lee, founder of Oaksterdam University, thought the initiative process could be quicker than waiting for any pending legislation. "We believe that the people lead the politicians on this issue," he said.

Visit Procon.org for their opinion regarding medical marijuana. They are an independent, non-partisan website that investigates controversial issues.

Anderson Cooper and Drug Sense

I read earlier on a forum that Anderson Cooper was going to be doing a special on marijuana next week. Getting excited, I started scouring CNN. Not only is CNN running a special about marijuana, it is lasting all week on Anderson Cooper 360. The only clue to what is going to make the air, is an add they have on the sidebar that I copied below. I look forward to watching each episode and plan to post my thoughts throughout next week.

NEXT WEEK: ‘America’s High’

Can the U.S. afford to make pot legal? Can we afford not to? We’re keeping them honest on both sides of the argument. All next week, 10 ET

JOIN: LIVE BLOG Weeknights 10p ET

SURVEY: Your input on CNN.com and this site

Get videos of the shows | Transcripts | Send feedback

I am adding the "Drug War Clock" gadget to my blog. I think it is important for people to see this information and support the great site that created it. I just discovered DrugSense and am busy exploring their community.

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A Plea and a Professor

A Professor from Brown University wrote a great opinion article for the LA Times about her personal experience with marijuana. Marie Myung-Ok Lee story is about her search for the best way to treat her sons medical problems.

I'm on the phone getting a recipe for hashish butter. Not from my dealer but from Lester Grinspoon, a physician and emeritus professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. And not for a party but for my 9-year-old son, who has autism, anxiety and digestive problems, all of which are helped by the analgesic and psychoactive properties of marijuana. I wouldn't be giving it to my child if I didn't think it was safe.

I came to marijuana while searching for a safer alternative to the powerful antipsychotic drugs, such as Risperdal, that are typically prescribed for children with autism and other behavioral disorders. There have been few studies on the long-term effects of these drugs on a growing child's brain, and in particular autism, a disorder whose biochemical mechanisms are poorly understood. But there is much documentation of the risks, which has caused the Food and Drug Administration to require the highest-level "black box" warnings of possible side effects that include permanent Parkinson's disease-like tremors, metabolic disorders and death. A panel of federal drug experts in 2008 urged physicians to use caution when prescribing these medicines to children, as they are the most susceptible to side effects.

Its funny how the Harvard Professor she references, Lester Grinspoon, started researching marijuana. Originally he set out to build a case against marijuana and instead the project ended as "Marihuana Reconsidered". Currently he runs a blog which he is using to help him write his next book about marijuana. His "Cannabis Odyssey" essay launching this project has been a big influence on me and is one of the reasons I started this blog. It is pretty long but anyone and everyone who enjoys smoking marijuana should check out his essay.

After the publication of Marihuana Reconsidered I was often asked about my personal experience with cannabis. Some questioners were skeptical when I replied that I had never used it: " What, you wrote a book about marijuana and you never experienced it!" The implication was that inexperience would invalidate my claim to expertise. I would defensively respond, "I have written a book on schizophrenia and I have never experienced that." It was not until some years later that I realized that there was validity to this criticism of my lack of personal experience with cannabis. Especially in the later phases of this research and writing, I had flirted with the idea of trying marijuana, not because I believed at that time that it would inform my work, but because it appeared to be such an interesting experience. I decided against it out of fear that it would compromise my goal of producing as objective a statement as I could. Of course the further I pursued the subject the more I realized how difficult, if not impossible, it would be to produce a truly neutral and objective statement. But I was not about to add to this difficulty by personally exploring marijuana at this time even though the temptation to do so became greater as I learned more about it.

I had another reason for postponing personal experience with cannabis. If the book were successful, I expected to be called as an expert witness before legislative committees and in courtrooms. I correctly anticipated that some of my interrogators would want to know whether I had ever used cannabis, and I wanted to be able to deny it so as to preserve at least the appearance of objectivity. In the beginning I did not believe this question unfair. It seemed to me to be no different from other questions about my credentials. But I soon learned that when it was asked, it was almost always put by a legislator, lawyer, judge, or media person who was hostile to the suggestion that cannabis might not be as harmful as he firmly believed. It became increasingly clear that the question was asked, not in the spirit of learning more about the context of my understanding of this drug, but rather in the hope that I would answer affirmatively and that this would discredit my testimony. More than a year after the publication of the book I was testifying before a legislative committee when a senator who had already revealed his hostility asked, "Doctor, have you ever used marijuana?" Perhaps because I was irritated by the hostility reflected in his previous questions and his sneering tone of voice, I replied, "Senator, I will be glad to answer that question if you will first tell me whether if I answer your question affirmatively, you will consider me a more or less credible witness?" The senator, visibly upset by my response, angrily told me that I was being impertinent and left the hearing room. That was the moment that I decided that the time had come.

Look before you LEAP

The perfect idiom to describe how our politicians need to open up their minds so they can analyze and debate marijuana prohibition. Americans need to realize and accept the fact that our criminal justice system is broken. The United States can't expect to house 25% of the worlds incarcerated population and maintain its status as a world power.

Marijuana policy reform would be a great start for our country in its efforts to emphasize drug problems as a public health issue, treating it as a criminal offense has failed far too long. I think if more people knew that LEAP also stood for Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, or visited their website they just might start to believe me.

“Marijuana Prohibition dramatically reduces public safety,” Officer Howard Wooldridge said. “Except for a hand-full of die-hard prohibition cops, most will admit that fact, at least in private. A solid majority of cops would legalize/regulate it today. Why? Most cops will put in 30 years and never respond to a call generated by the USE of marijuana.

Howard Wooldridge works for LEAP and offered that opinion to his brother Frosty, during a series of interviews. That opinion caught me off guard, surprising me more than his picture, but I couldn't agree more with how the last statement in the article.

“Envision a world where crime is cut in half, terrorists don’t make money selling drugs and kids are not employed in the drug trade,” Wooldridge said. “Envision a world where the police focus on DUI, child predators and terrorists. Imagine a world where if you have a drug problem, you see a doctor not a judge. All are possible, when we find the courage to end our Prohibition.”

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Supporting a Cause

Anyone can be a marijuana advocate, it's simple and there are countless ways to support the cause. A high school junior, with a 3.7 gpa, was willing to light a joint during a class presentation to voice his opinion. It takes some guts, but it is as simple as voicing your opinion. I have always been a big fan of the outspoken Megan Fox, and reading this quote she gave in an interview with Britain's GQ magazine, only cemented her status in my book.

I can't tell you how much bull**** I've been through because I will openly say that I smoke weed. People look at it like it's this crazy, hippy, f*****-up thing to do. And it's not. I hope they legalize it.

And when they do, I'll be the first person in line to buy my pack of joints.

Marijuana policy reform appears inevitable when considering age use trends, older generations with little to no experience using marijuana should be expected to have a negative stance regarding marijuana. Congress will be interesting to follow as younger politicians get elected, and baby boomers become the elders holding office.

Marijuana supporters and users are becoming more visible at a rapid rate. I love Andrew Sullivan's "Cannabis Closet" posts, composed of brief biographies submitted by readers sharing their experience with marijuana. A stay at home mom battling insomnia shares her dilemma while pondering the right decision about smoking marijuana.

I have tried prescription sleep aids, they make it impossible to wake up if my daughter cries. The over-the-counter ones work, but they leave me drugged and hungover the next morning. Sedatives work, but it bothers me that they can be physically addictive.

Ban Easily Exploited

Los Angeles' difficulty with controlling medical marijuana shouldn't surprise anyone. This problem will continue across America as long as there is a contradiction between state and federal marijuana laws. Since a moratorium in 2007 cannabis dispensaries have spread throughout L.A. at an alarming rate.

"The city of L.A. has failed us on this issue," said Michael Larsen, public safety director with the Eagle Rock Neighborhood Council. "There's a huge loophole. L.A. city's not watching. L.A. city's not enforcing."

No other city in California has seen such uncontrolled growth in dispensaries. As signs featuring the easily recognized saw-toothed cannabis leaf multiplied on commercial strips, neighborhood activists like Larsen began to ask their council members why the city was not shutting down dispensaries that opened after the moratorium.

People can usually recall a situation where they chose to rebel in their life. It has been apparent since we were children and defying our parents, people want things we aren't suppose to have. Ranging from children getting tattoos or piercings, to the mob days of alcohol prohibition. History has proven a ban is an ineffective tool in fighting for prevention.

The moratorium includes a standard provision that allows dispensaries to appeal to the City Council for a hardship exemption to be allowed to operate. Some time last year, medical marijuana entrepreneurs discovered that the city attorney's office was not prosecuting dispensaries that had filed hardship applications, saying the City Council needed to rule on them first. The council has not acted on any of the applications.

So far, 508 dispensaries have applied for exemptions.

Marijuana Benefits?

It is impossible to know pot's potential. The government has limited scientific studies of marijuana for years. That shouldn't surprise most people, but there is another fact that just might. The United States of America holds a patent on cannabinoids, weird that government officials still question the medical benefits marijuana holds.

I wasn't sure how to react yesterday to NORML's blog post. It highlights scientists exploring synthetic cannabinoids to help treat multiple sclerosis. When is society going to realize that people aren't gods? We can't fix and create everything. Is it crazy to believe that marijuana could be more effective than these synthetic solutions?

I would bet on the plant being better for our bodies than another pill. How does anyone know? We just continue in our overmedicated society, popping pills, questioning how our country is going to fix the health care system.

People use to believe that chiropractors were quacks. That they were overpaid massage therapists. Many people today depend on the same chiropractors, we need to realize alternative medicines can be a viable option.

I hate taking pills when I am sick, and I think commercials have nullified society's concern for their many side effects. Products love the small writing no one can read on their TV, and the announcers usually find time as the commercial is ending to warn consumers of possible side effects.