Gil Kerlikowske and five other former drug czars penned an anti-Prop 19 op/ed piece for the LA Times. No surprise there. But if the tone and balance of the online comments* following it are any indication, the proposition, which would legalize cannabis in California is leading about 60 to 1.

Could thi… Read full post »

 ^{Will "Medusajuana" really turn onlookers into stoners?}

Firedoglake's "Just Say Now" campaign which supports the rethinking of our marijuana policies, and California Prop 19, just ran into the common corporate-fear-syndrome: "if people smoke pot, we won't be able to manipul… Read full post »

Jocelyn Elders, former United States Surgeon General has come out in favor of Prop 19, the California referrendum which will make cannabis possession for adults 21 years and older, legal, while imposing taxes on any sale of the herb.

Elders, along with Alice A, Huffman, President of the California NAA… Read full post »

National Black Police Association Endorses Marijuana Legalization. African American Cops Say California's Prop. 19 Will Protect Civil Rights & Public Safety

SACRAMENTO, CA -- A national organization of African American law enforcement officers has announced its endorsement of Proposition 19, Calif… Read full post »

When my mother was dying, the only thing that relieved her suffering was edible marijuana. Not anything else. Not one of the 30 FDA approved medications which she took religiously – half of which were prescribed to deal with side-effects caused by the other half. When she switched to cannabis,… Read full post »

Sometimes a simple cartoon gets a message across more clearly and effectively than any number of scholarly tomes.

In this short, 3 1/2 minute animation, graphic artist Haik Hoisington nails virtually every issue in that comes up in any serious discussion on the legalization… Read full post »

In another misguided attempt to tell the American People that that are too stupid to know what is good for them, Dianne Feinstein (D), Senator from California introduced a bill (S258) that would force medical cannabis patients to smoke marijuana by doubling the federal penalties for manufacturing… Read full post »

This handsome and happy young man is Trevon Cole, and if he only had a different name, he would still be alive.

But, unfortunately, Trevon Cole shared his name with someone else. Someone who was, allegedly, a "big time" drug dealer. Of course, that Trevon Cole was seven yea… Read full post »

One in 100 adults in the United States are in prison, most of them because of non-violent drug charges. That percentage increases to an astounding 1 in 15 for African-American males, yet drug use in this community is lower than those of whites.

Clearly, laws that so unfairly targets one segment… Read full post »

Carl Olsen, Founder of Iowans for Medical Marijuana 

For many years, a man called Carl Olsen has made it his mission to get cannabis rescheduled under the Federal Controlled Substance Act (CSA). His premise is simple: Federally, cannabis is classified, along with heroin/… Read full post »

Have you ever wondered about the forces which attempt to keep cannabis under lock and key? Why do they persist, in spite of decades of research, social and medical, which indicate, basically: it's not… Read full post »

"Under the law of nature, all men are born free, every one comes into the world with a right to his own person, which includes the liberty of moving and using it at his own will. This is what is called personal liberty, and is given him by the Author of… Read full post »

Fear of "the other" is at the core of marijuana prohibition. At least that is the conclusion that may be drawn from a review of its history, as outlined in a 70 page article in the 2009 Volume of the Utah Law Review. The article, entitled Medical Marijuana: The Conflict Between… Read full post »

In 1974, University of Virginia researchers discovered something very unlikely. Cannabis, banned in the United States in 1937, and further demonized by the Nixon administration in 1968, had an unexpected property: it inhibited the growth of lung cancer cells. But, even more surprising was the respons… Read full post »

Children are not stupid. Indeed, they tend to be more aware than most adults, who, by the age of 30 have generally devolved into repetitive patterns of mind and behavior. We either engage in futile endeavors to preserve the status quo, or launch doomed attempts at improvement by… Read full post »

Pomona, CA

On May 6, 2009, Candace Walsh, a 23 year old honor student from the University of California at Long Beach got a nasty civics lesson she won't soon forget. She was arrested, roughed-up, cuffed, stripped-searched, and thrown into jail, on what the police told her was a million dollar… Read full post »

and my house, whichever dies first.

or

The Magnificent Obsession of Small Birds 

I don't know what either of them did to incite such rage. My car is a sedate, though somewhat crumpled, 1994 Mercury Sable that has seen better days.… Read full post »

                                                     ^{images courtesy cannabisbook.com}

There was a time when cannabis was used happily and without nega/… Read full post »

Yesterday, I blogged about President Obama's dismissive and laughing response to the most highly rated question posted to the Online Town Hall meeting, and how he suggested that it said "something about the online community".

What was the question which drew such an embarrassed rejoinder from the Pre… Read full post »

The public did it again. They voted drug policy issues to the top of the agenda on Obama's latest experiment in civic give-and-take.

In preparation for the first online Town Hall meeting offered by the Obama Administration, the public was invited Wednesday to submit questions which would be addresse… Read full post »