Visual

OK, so I believe this is the visual Josh was talking about that would be good to show to the class. I link here two different tables. Both from wiki, though they are actually from the 2006 World Drug Report so they are good to use.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annual_cannabis_use_by_country
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adult_lifetime_cannabis_use_by_country

The second one, "lifetime cannabis use by country" the U.S. is number second, behind Canada, with 42.4

Oregon's Measure 33

I'm not sure if you guys have all your info yet or not, but I just came across this website for Oregon's Measure 33. It has a lot of arguments for, against, as well as the proposition of change in OR.

http://www.sos.state.or.us/elections/nov22004/guide/meas/m33_bt.html

So after talking to everyone we are set to meet on Saturday at 11:00 am in the CUB. See you there.

Weekend Meeting

So I think we are pretty set at meeting this weekend, the question would be when and where? if we could throw some ideas out there and set a time and place pretty soon it would be sweet. I should have my outline done by today or tomorrow as well.

Individual Sections...

So, I'm not sure if I missed a meeting or something, but I was wondering if we could clarify what each person will be "arguing" about... I just want to make sure that I'm not talking about someone else's piece in my part of the presentation, make sure it doesn't get repetitive, etc.

So as far as I know, I'm sort of discussing the opposition to legalizing marijuana, unless that's changed. I've been doing general research all semester, so I'm okay to do any part, as long as I know what it is.

Also, is our presentation scheduled for the 23rd? That's what I thought Salvador said in class, but again, not positive...

Are we planning on setting a meeting date in the next week to finalize the argument set-up?
Here are my available times (pretty much the same every week):
Monday: 12:00-anytime
Tuesday: 2:45-4:15 (I can probably skip my class from 1:25-2:45 if needed)
Wednesday: 12:00-anytime
Thursday: 2:45-3:45
Friday: anytime
Saturday-Sunday: anytime

Forum Date Approaching

Hey All:

So it seems to me like were getting close to the forum date, and so i wondering if you guys think we should set up a group meeting, in order to get things organized. I started doing my research yesterday so hopefully i can get that finished up this week.

P.S. Here is an interesting discussing the potential revenues the U.S. could generate if Weed were Legal.

http://www.prohibitioncosts.org/

Open Letter to the Gov't

This could definitely be used as support for Chris' argument - about the economic benefits, and it provides a ton of secondary credibility...

"Budgetary Implications of Marijuana Prohibition in the United States"
Endorsed by a number of economists

http://www.prohibitioncosts.org/endorsers.html

Myth: Marijuana Is Harmless

Reality: Marijuana Is Dangerous to the User

From Karen P. Tandy, DEA, for About.com

Updated: April 28, 2005

http://alcoholism.about.com/od/pot/a/bldea050426_4.htm

(I don't know how reliable About.com is, but this caught my eye... And surprise! It comes from the DEA!)

Facebook Event...

Marijuana: It's Time For a Conversation

Host:	ACLU at Washington State University
Type:	Education - Lecture
Network:	Global

Date:	Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Time:	7:00pm - 9:00pm
Location:	CUB Auditorium
City/Town:	Pullman, WA

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/event.php?eid=72022640271&ref=nf

Hey just a reminder that we have to turn in that sheet of paper and a list of who's discussing what. I had that sheet all filled out but i think someone took it when we were discussing stuff in class on tuesday. Whoever has it should make sure to bring it with them. See ya tomorrow

Group Dialogue?

Were we supposed to have a group meeting last Thursday, 3/5... If so, I'm sorry I missed it, I've been really busy lately, as well as being sick and I haven't even made it to most of my classes for the past 2 weeks. Great timing for midterms and all...

I saw that it also says we're supposed to meet this Thursday, 3/12. Is that happening? What do we have planned for the "progress report?"

Again, sorry I missed the meeting! Things are a lot better now, so I should be back on track!

Pullman Police Commander Chris Tenant

This afternoon I spoke with Commander Chris Tenant of the Pullman Police.

In regards to marijuana laws, Tenant said the toughest challenges are poorly written marijuana laws because of medicinal use (approved 7-10 years ago).

Law allows a 60 day supply, but what is a 60 day supply.

Manufacturing (growing) marijuana (unless for medicinal use) is a felony.

Tenant personally believes the government should “Legalize it and tax the shit out of it.”

Tenant does not buy the argument that legalization would stop the drug trade, because police efforts would still have to be focused on stopping growers from selling untaxed pot.

Tenant said decriminalization would still require the same paperwork, because police would still be issuing citations (level 2 civil infraction) - $100 fine.

Tenant said “moonshining” disappeared because it was a difficult process, but growing marijuana would be easier.

Tenant said people smoking marijuana “get sleepy and get the munchies,” and are not prone to
violent criminal activity.

Alcohol use carries higher risk for violence lately because of energy drinks. Tenant said, in the past, people would “get drunk and go home and sleep it off.” These days, because of the energy drinks, people stay out later and get drunker, and are more prone to get into fights.

Tenant believes the problems with alcohol use make it much worse than marijuana. However, he does believe that it adds the criminal element because of the money involved in selling it.

Because drug dealers want to protect their investments, they buy guns.
If the money was taken out of the illegal drug trade (through marijuana legalization), then violence would go down.

Pullman sees none of the money from drug prosecutions. Whitman county gets it because drug cases are filed through the district court.

Over 17,000 studies on record

Currently, there are over 17,000 cannabinoid-related studies on record according to a newly released scientific paper (see below).

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?db=pubmed&cmd=Search&term=Pharmacological%20and%20therapeutic%20secrets%20of%20plant%20and%20brain&doptcmdl=Books
Med Res Rev. 2009 Mar;29(2):213-71.
Pharmacological and therapeutic secrets of plant and brain (endo)cannabinoids.
Hanus LO.
Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Natural Products, School of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel. lumir@cc.huji.ac.il
Research on the chemistry and pharmacology of cannabinoids and endocannabinoids has reached enormous proportions, with approximately 15,000 articles on Cannabis sativa L. and cannabinoids and over 2,000 articles on endocannabinoids. The present review deals with the history of the Cannabis sativa L. plant, its uses, constituent compounds and their biogeneses, and similarity to compounds from Radula spp. In addition, details of the pharmacology of natural cannabinoids, as well as synthetic agonists and antagonists are presented. Finally, details regarding the pioneering isolation of the endocannabinoid anandamide, as well as the pharmacology and potential therapeutic uses of endocannabinoid congeners are presented. (c) 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

New British Report: Cannabis Less Harmful Than Drinking, Smoking Tobacco

The Global Cannabis Commission of the respected United Kingdom charity Beckley Foundation released a report today stating that cannabis is less harmful than alcohol or tobacco, and that there needs to be serious reconsideration of current prohibition policies.

Report Highlights:

• The differences between the annual deaths caused by cannabis and alcohol/tobacco products are stark: Two cannabis deaths worldwide, contrasted with an estimated 150,000 people in Britain alone die prematurely because of alcohol and tobacco consumption.
• Many of the harms associated with cannabis use are the results of prohibition itself, particularly the social harms arising from arrest and imprisonment.
• It is only through a regulated market that we can better protect young people from the even more potent forms of dope.

Link to Report: http://www.beckleyfoundation.org/pdf/BF_Cannabis_Commission_Report.pdf

http://blog.norml.org/2008/10/02/new-british-report-cannabis-less-harmful-than-drinking-smoking-tobacco/

NORML’s Weekly Legislative Round Up

Washington: Finally, last week the Senate Judiciary Committee approved SB 5615, which seeks to reduce the penalty for minor marijuana possession offenses to a civil fine of no more than $100. You can listen to audio from the hearing and vote here. This proposal now goes before the Senate Rules Committee, which must take action on the bill to put it before the full Senate. Tell them to do so by going here.

**There are also updates about California, New Jersey, and Montana.
February 24th, 2009 By: Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director
http://blog.norml.org/2009/02/24/normls-weekly-legislative-round-up-16/

U.S. Attorney General Says Justice Department Will No Longer Interfere With States’ Medical Pot Policies

Thu, 26 Feb 2009 18:56:12 By: Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director

Score one for the good guys!

Earlier this month, new U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder promised a clean break from the policies of the Bush administration. Yesterday, during a live interview on C-Span, he affirmed that this change includes ending the DEA raids of state-authorized medical marijuana providers!
Responding to a reporter’s question regarding the DEA’s recent actions against several California medical cannabis providers, Holder stated: “What the President said during the campaign . . . will be consistent with what we will be doing here in law enforcement. . . What [President Obama] said during the campaign . . . is now American policy.”

You can watch the video of Attorney General Holder’s remarks here.

Holder’s statement marks a dramatic shift in U.S. drug policy, and is a major victory for the 72 million Americans who reside in states where the use of medical cannabis is legal! It also lends support to the ongoing efforts in Minnesota, New Jersey, and Rhode Island — each of which are debating legislative proposals to make the production and distribution of medical cannabis legal under state law.

At this time, NORML would like to personally thank those of you who responded to our request to contact the Attorney General’s office and urge Eric Holder to call off the DEA raids. Your phone calls and e-mails have helped to change U.S. marijuana policy!

So go ahead and give yourself a pat on the back. And while you’re at it, click here to thank the new Attorney General for supporting the will of the people and the health and welfare of seriously ill patients.

“Change we can believe in?” Yes it is, and it’s about time.

http://blog.norml.org/2009/02/26/us-attorney-general-says-justice-department-will-no-longer-interfere-with-states-medical-pot-policies/

Legal Pot for Economic Prosperity

It seems that going green might be good for the economy.

Our group has picked full legalization as our argument, and that is exactly what a member of the California legistlature has proposed.

San Francisco Assemblyman Tom Ammiano has proposed raising funds for California's ailing state economy by making pot legal and taxing it. The tax, $50 per ounce, would raise over $1 billion dollars annually.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29374351/
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/02/25/opinion/courtwatch/main4828659.shtml
http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2009/02/25/a-revenue-and-legalization-lesson-from-fdr/

A paper from the Journal of Drug Issues about prices in drug markets:
http://www.puaf.umd.edu/faculty/reuter/Working%20Papers/What%20Price%20Data%20Tell%20Us.pdf







http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29374351/

From our group meeting

Topics to consider:

-->cost of law enforcement
-->Border Patrol
-->Relative danger of marijuana compared to drugs and alcohol
-->Instances of marijuana related violence. (Compared to other drugs)
-->Taxation
-->Health (and how to eliminate health risks?)
-->Societal attitudes to marijuana
-->DEA enforcement (States rights issues)
-->Gateway theory> exposure to drug market

We need to break our topic down into smaller subtopics. So far we have Josh talking about the Drug War. I could do something on the changing social attitudes toward marijuana.

Drug Czar

President Obama has named Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske to head the Office of National Drug Control Policy, commonly called the drug czar.

How will this affect the war on drugs?

Overkill: The Rise of Paramilitary Police Raids in America

Radley Balko is a political analyst at the Cato Institute (a libertarian think tank). This report describes the increase in SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics) teams and forced entry when police execute drug warrants.

http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=6476

The white paper also details accounts of botched drug raids, where officers enter the wrong home.

I'm sure we could use this in an argument about the Drug War.

Also, there is the case of Ryan Frederick out of Chesapeake, Va. Last year he shot and killed a police detective who was entering his home to execute a drug warrant. They suspected Frederick was growing marijuana in his garage. However, they only seized enough pot to charge him with misdemeanor posession.
Last week a Virginia jury convicted Frederick of voluntary manslaughter, and sentenced him to 10 years in prison. The prosecution was originally pushing for the death penalty.

Meeting Location

Is everyone okay with just meeting in the classroom on Tuesday and we can go from there.

Group Meeting on Tuesday

Blog site looks good. The color is very appropriate. So does anyone have a specific location they would like to meet on Tuesday.

This is the Marijuana Group Blog

This is the Marijuana Group Blog.