bugjuice

Sun, Sep 19, 2010 : 4:21 p.m.

From the left side of the political spectrum, Carl Sagan was a pot smoker. I guess he ruined his brain smoking pot. "The illegality of cannabis is outrageous, an impediment to full utilization of a drug which helps produce the serenity and insight, sensitivity and fellowship so desperately needed in this increasingly mad and dangerous world." On the conservative right, William F Buckley. "Even if one takes every reefer madness allegation of the prohibitionists at face value, marijuana prohibition has done far more harm to far more people than marijuana ever could." Ever the capitalist, Henry Ford. "Why use up the forests which were centuries in the making and the mines which required ages to lay down, if we can get the equivalent of forest and mineral products in the annual growth of the hemp fields?" Prohibition is crazy. Marijuana is a benign recreational drug and has many other qualities and benefits the the Reefer Madness crowd conveniently overlook when spreading their paranoid lies.

Michael Schils

Sun, Sep 19, 2010 : 12:50 p.m.

Tij Jit, to support your conclusion that "Medical marijuana ruined the brains of many teens", you wrote: "...You can hide something and they think they lost that object..." Have you really tried this? What objects did you hide from these pot-crazed teens you refer to? Their Cheesy-Poohs? Their video-game controllers? You are the mischievous one, aren't you. :-)

bugjuice

Sat, Sep 18, 2010 : 8:26 a.m.

Taking medical marijuana out of the hands of patients and caregivers and putting it in the hands of federal bureaucrats in Washington is insane. The bottom/up top/down talk makes no sense whatsoever. It's psycho talk by people without a clue. It's nobodies business but my own what I grow and what I smoke in my own home. That's all the medical marijuana law is about. The reason it does not address dispensaries is because dispensaries are not necessary for the law to work. If a municipality does not want dispensaries, then so be it. But do NOT under any circumstances allow the forces of the Reefer Madness crowd to extend the law to cover what is not in it or allow other bureaucracies to bastardize it to suit their personal and political agendas. 79% of the states voters approved this law the way it was written. The voters have spoken LOUDLY! To think that politicians are any smarter than a patient who can take care for their own medical needs by growing a harmless plant is the height of arrogance. There sure is a lot of crazy talk when all any patient is asking for is the right to grow and use what they grow in accordance with the law. The patient/caregiver relationship is perfect and no more needs to be done. Anything else is nothing more than governmental meddling in personal freedoms and what one does in the privacy of their own home.

Tij

Fri, Sep 17, 2010 : 10:46 p.m.

The state needs to REPEAL the medical marijuana laws because the medical marijuana laws are UNENFORCEABLE. The medical marijuana laws conflict with the Federal Laws. It is a "spaghetti" law that shows a complex maze of conflicting laws. These types of LAWS are unenforceable and will cost the state and local government lots of wasted time and money. Medical Marijuana needs to start with FDA and at the Federal Level. After the Federal government changes the law, then the states can control and regulate the medical marijuana laws properly. Medical marijuana should only be prescribed by doctors and dispensed from real pharmacies. Medical marijuana must be dispensed in SHRINK-WRAP with a universal tracking number so it distinguishes it from street drugs. If medical marijuana is dispensed from a prescription bottle, that bottle can easily be refilled with pot from the street dealers. Medical marijuana programs are being developed from the bottom-up which is why it is a MESS. Medical marijuana programs should be set up using a TOP-DOWN approach. Only disorganized people with NO VISION and have self-centered goals work from the bottom-up. You've got to see the big picture first from above which is at the Federal level, then down to the state and local levels. Bug CONGRESS to change the law.

E. Manuel Goldstein

Fri, Sep 17, 2010 : 7:38 p.m.

What are Rick Snyder's and Virg Bernero's opinions on the Michigan Medical Marijuana laws? Anybdy at AnnArbor.com care to ask the candidates?

bugjuice

Fri, Sep 17, 2010 : 8:39 a.m.

I bet that there is more than one person here who has broken some sort of law then rationalized it away because they thought that the law was stupid. And rightly so. We are not automatons and have the God given gift of being able to think for ourselves. Yes, laws make for an ordered society, but many laws are made by vindictive small minded people who for no other reason other than to control someone or something they don't like, laws get passed that restrict some of our most precious freedoms, like being able to enjoy a joint in the privacy of their own home. Anti marijuana laws are stupid. Especially if a young person who, when convicted of possessing a single joint can be denied entry into college or getting a job. Of those alleged 200,000 people denied entry into college because they were, rightly or possibly wrongly (the cops do make mistakes and can be vindictive and not use common sense when harassing someone for smoking pot) found to be in possession or puffing... Then that law is just plain stupid. People do not fear the law, when that law is stupid and the punishment far exceeds the "crime". Stupid laws that are unequally and randomly enforced actually breed disrespect for the law! People who spread more fear and Reefer Madness are actually hurting their "cause", because when a kid smokes a joint or when a patient gets relief because they ate a brownie, they realize that the anti marijuana law that makes it a crime to get high or to get pain relief is stupid so they make a rational decision and disobey it.

Tom Joad

Thu, Sep 16, 2010 : 11:02 p.m.

A marijuana conviction precludes a student from obtaining federal financial benefits, which can cause ruinous consequences for future advancement with the cost of education prohibitively expensive without such aid. How about for the simple reason that marijuana is illegal under federal and state law? Respect for the laws makes a more well ordered society. If you want to pick and choose which laws to obey you should be willing to suffer potential incarceration and a crippling disadvantage in pursuing higher education and a decent paying job. Nearly 200,000 people have already been denied. Ask yourself if you want to join the list....

Tom Joad

Thu, Sep 16, 2010 : 11 p.m.

A marijuana conviction precludes a student from obtaining federal financial benefits, which can cause ruinous consequences for future advancement with the cost of education prohibitively expensive without such aid. How about for the simple reason that marijuana is illegal under federal and state law? Respect for the laws makes a more well ordered society. If you want to pick and choose which laws to obey you should be willing to suffer potential incarceration and a crippling disadvantage in pursuing higher education and a decent paying job. Nearly 200,000 people have already been denied. Ask yourself if you want to join the list....

bugjuice

Thu, Sep 16, 2010 : 3:40 p.m.

Here's the difference that speaks to everyone in these hard economic times. We spend billions of tax dollars to put harmless pot heads in jail while our taxes subsidize tobacco growers, beer and alcohol producers that have killed more people and ruined more lives than pot has in the last 2000 years.

bugjuice

Thu, Sep 16, 2010 : 3:20 p.m.

These reports offer nothing but anecdotal evidence. None of Mr Joad's "reports" offer a link to actual evidence that anyone was actually under the influence of marijuana to the extent that it may have impaired their ability. Other drugs and alcohol are mentioned. Drugs found in a pocket are NOT evidence of anything. 16 year olds are not particularly experienced vehicle operators. NHSTA "after alcohol"... What's the percentage of alcohol related vehicle deaths compared to marijuana? Yeah, it's wrong to operate a motor vehicle while impaired, but to compare the number of accidents "reportedly" attributed to pot when compared to alcohol and other drugs is miniscule. Then to suggest that pot heads are as dangerous ans junkies and alcoholics is disingenuous and blindly stupid. You have to remember that the government is the one spending our tax dollars on the War on Drugs and putting harmless pot heads in jail. Many bureaucrats jobs are at stake if the evidence says otherwise. More Reefer Madness anyone?

Cash

Thu, Sep 16, 2010 : 3:16 p.m.

@Alfred, You should be thankful the MD didn't prescribe codeine or another chemical pain reliever. With that kind of reaction from a natural substance you would have died from a strong chemical pain killer.

jcj

Thu, Sep 16, 2010 : 3:13 p.m.

@Atticus F. I did not think you believed that to be the case that is why I posed the question. And I do not know why alcohol have gone down so dramatically since 1982. But I do know that in most instances ignoring the problem seldom make it better. So I am inclined to believe that stricter enforcement and stiffer penalties have had an effect. But as far as marijuana use and traffic deaths it is not as serious as alcohol but is nothing to be taken lightly.

Alfred

Thu, Sep 16, 2010 : 3:04 p.m.

@ Tom Joad. Everyone should listen to this guy, he knows whats up. Last year when i turned 18, as part of mt rite of passage, i went to my doctor. I had the flu so he gave me a cannabis recommendation. That week i had the flu, cannabis really seemed to help. that was until after i ran out and started having serious withdraws. My brain was addicted to the psychoactive effects in just over 2 weeks. I had to go to rehab because i couldn't deal with the withdraw symptoms. What a terrible place that was. when i got out, i had a relapse and almost smoke myself to death. I was hospitalized for a month. Today, i'm all clean and doing great. it's been 4 months since i smoked cannabis. Listen to Tom and don't let this happen to you!

Tom Joad

Thu, Sep 16, 2010 : 2:32 p.m.

This fell [cruel] sergeant DEATH is strict in his arrest: Read on... The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has found that marijuana significantly impairs ones ability to safely operate a motor vehicle. According to its report, "[e]pidemiology data from road traffic arrests and fatalities indicate that after alcohol, marijuana is the most frequently detected psychoactive substance among driving populations." Problems reported include: decreased car handling performance, inability to maintain headway, impaired time and distance estimation, increased reaction times, sleepiness, lack of motor coordination, and impaired sustained vigilance.46 Some of the consequences of marijuana-impaired driving are startling: * The driver of a charter bus, whose 1999 accident resulted in the death of 22 people, had been fired from bus companies in 1989 and 1996 because he tested positive for marijuana four times. A federal investigator confirmed a report that the driver "tested positive for marijuana when he was hospitalized Sunday after the bus veered off a highway and plunged into an embankment."47 * In April 2002, four children and the driver of a van died when the van hit a concrete bridge abutment after veering off the freeway. Investigators reported that the children nicknamed the driver "Smokey" because he regularly smoked marijuana. The driver was found at the crash scene with marijuana in his pocket.48 * A former nurses aide was convicted in 2003 of murder and sentenced to 50 years in prison for hitting a homeless man with her car and driving home with his mangled body "lodged in the windshield." The incident happened after a night of drinking and taking drugs, including marijuana. After arriving home, the woman parked her car, with the man still lodged in the windshield, and left him there until he died.49 * In April 2005, an eight year-old boy was killed when he was run over by an unlicensed 16 year-old driver who police believed had been smoking marijuana just before the accident.50 * In 2001, George Lynard was convicted of driving with marijuana in his bloodstream, causing a head-on collision that killed a 73 year-old man and a 69 year-old woman. Lynard appealed this conviction because he allegedly had a "valid prescription" for marijuana. A Nevada judge agreed with Lynard and granted him a new trial.51 The case has been appealed to the Nevada Supreme Court.52 * Duane Baehler, 47, of Tulsa, Okalahoma was "involved in a fiery crash that killed his teenage son" in 2003. Police reported that Baehler had methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana in his system at the time of the accident.53

Ryan J. Stanton

Thu, Sep 16, 2010 : 12:28 p.m.

Please note that I added the following paragraph to the story to further clarify that this is the opinion of one judge and not the entire appeals court: Postema noted that O'Connell's opinion is that of a single judge and is not the prevailing view of the entire appeals court. O'Connell's is only a "concurring" opinion, agreeing with the result in the case in Oakland County reinstatement of drug charges against two people using marijuana on the advice of a doctor without proper registration but using different reasoning and arguments than the other two judges on the three-judge panel.

Atticus F.

Thu, Sep 16, 2010 : 12:20 p.m.

jcj, the point that I was trying to make, is that TomJoad is really spreading non-factual propaganda. I personally dont know weather or not all of the harsh punishment has in fact had an effect on DUI deaths...But I do know that TomJoad was speaking it as if hids statements were the gospel truth.

Robert

Thu, Sep 16, 2010 : 11:26 a.m.

"One of the reasons the Michigan law does not address dispensaries is because the legislators intended that the small scale growing and use of a simple herb be left to those who would grow and use it for their personal medicinal use. They wanted to believe, as most of us do, that people have the sanctioned right ability to provide for their own benefit particularly when it comes to health care. The law, the medical marijuana law, is health care law and it actually allows for self determination and self reliance to acquire a medicine outside of the for profit health care industry paradigm. Imagine that!" The current MM statute in Michigan, although voted in by citizens, was rushed in its inception. As California pushes ever closer to state wide recreational legalization, other states jumped on the bandwagon without first researching the proper guidelines. I will agree, that initially, the law was structured around small scale production of marijuana for those who would seek to use it for pain relief and other medicinal purposes. This article, as well as the judge's comments, are more directed toward the ever growing numbers of "dispensaries" which have sprung up in cities around the state. The classification of a "dispensary" is still technically illegal in Michigan, as patients almost never make contact with the caregivers that provide the meds to these clinics. Patient to Patient transactions are NOT covered in the state's MM statute. Thefore, these clinics act as tertiary caregivers in the interim until the patient is either assigned a caregiver or obtains the necessary funds for construction of a grow facility en route to providing meds for themselves. This allows patients to obtain the necessary meds they need through a psuedo-legal means instead of purchasing it off the street, until they can provide for themselves. The buracracy of pharmaceutical companies has played a role in medicating Americans of all ages for the last fifty years, by supplying drugs that are documented "addictive" and often some of the side effects are worse than the ailment they are intended to treat. The large scale production and distribution of these medicines is akin to the stranglehold that Big Tobacco has had over this country until recently. As long as people are dependant on something, the money keeps rolling in. Despite the fact that marijuana has never been proven to be habit forming nor as harmful as pharmaceutical drugs or alcohol, it continues to be more demonized than tobacco, which is chemically altered and added to provide "flavor" which is just another name for addictive substances included therein. Until the nation is educated as a whole on marijuana and its potential benefits, there will be a stigma surrounding the drug. There have been studies that show that Tetra-hydrocanibanol (THC) virtually eliminates tumors in lab animals. In essence, cannibis could be the long sought after cure for Cancer, but because of the initially racially motivated buracracy of our state/federal governments it may never come to light. That being said, I agree that the certification system needs an overhaul. Not the patient system, but the caregiver system. While patients are required to pay a fee, and become doctor certified (as noted in other comments, many doctors are legitimately turning away patients who they deem are using the law as a loophole to legal marijuana use), the caregivers are just named by a patient and a $10 processing fee is paid to the state. There is not any type of screening process, so anyone can potentially have the right to cultivate cannibis, under the guise of "compassionate caregivers." It would seem that it is safer to establish a legal storefront for purchase/tax of cannabis, which provides to patients, as opposed to a caregiver which can be anyone off the street, who are potentially pushing their "product" back on to the street via illegal channels. I personally believe that while the MM statute is indeed a "backdoor to legalization" it is necessary to circumvent the archaic laws that have been in place for decades, because until there is a new generation of educated politicians, marijuana will continue to be demonized and deemed illegal on the federal level.

jcj

Thu, Sep 16, 2010 : 11:19 a.m.

@Atticus.F "In other words, we've spent billions of dollars ruining peoples lives to no effect" Do you believe that to be a true statement? @Tom Joad "The carnage of drunk driving deaths still continues unabated in Michigan and the nation." While there are way too many alcohol related traffic deaths each year, The fact is that since 1982 the number of alcohol related traffic deaths has dropped from 26,173 to 13,846 nationally! So maybe the effort put into "all of the money we've spent to lock people up in jail, take peoples licenses away, impound peoples cars, and making people lose their jobs?" has had an effect!

Atticus F.

Thu, Sep 16, 2010 : 10:39 a.m.

I also want to note that we have been locking people up at a record rate for DUI in this state, more in the last 10 years than any time in history... So my question to Tom Joad is; are you saying that all of the money we've spent to lock people up in jail, take peoples licenses away, impound peoples cars, and making people lose their jobs? hasn't had any effect on the number of drunk driving deaths in the state? In other words, we've spent billions of dollars ruining peoples lives to no effect. All for nothing.

Atticus F.

Thu, Sep 16, 2010 : 10:30 a.m.

Pot has been proven to kill cancer cell, yet it is 100% non toxic to human cells. It also doesn't effect the parts of the brain that control reflex and cognition, as does alcohol. I've also seen a documentary that referances the 'studies in Australia' that Tom Joad spoke of...I can tell you they are nothing more than a bunch of hysterical reefer madness propaganda...Essentially, the documentary focused on a bunch of kids with behavioral problems that want to blame pot for their actions. In a double blind study conducted in this country, they found that drivers that smoked pot before driving didn't preform any worse than drivers who had not smoke pot. the only noticable difference was that people who smoked pot tended to drive slower. The people who drank alcohol in the study preformed alot worse.

Cash

Thu, Sep 16, 2010 : 9:58 a.m.

http://www.opensecrets.org/industries/indus.php?ind=h4300 For anyone who thinks that money has nothing to do with what drugs are legal and what drugs aren't legal.

Blue Marker

Thu, Sep 16, 2010 : 9:49 a.m.

bugjuice = truth. Thanks for taking the time to try and educate. I get too frustrated.

Cash

Thu, Sep 16, 2010 : 9:48 a.m.

The Food and Drug Administration has voted, 15 to 9, against placing the restrictions of the Controlled substance Act on cough syrups containing dextromethorphan (DXM), the active ingredient in many OTC cough medications like Robitussin DM and Tylenol Cough, even though teens are still robotripping.DXM is commonly found in many cough medicines such as Robitussin, Dimetapp, Vicks, and NyQuil. It is chemically associated to codeine and if taken in high doses, can cause euphoria and hallucinations. Abuse of cough medicine, nicknamed robotripping, is popular among teens as a cheap way to get high. At high doses the drug causes elevated blood pressure, heart rate and fever. Abusers can also suffer side effects from other ingredients mixed in cough medicines, such as acetaminophen, which can cause liver damage and sometimes, death.The inappropriate use of the syrups with DXM led to 8,000 emergencies room visits in 2008, an increase of 70% over four years. ____________________ However the FDA always looks out for the consumer, not big drug companies.Let's depend on them to look out for our best interests.

jcj

Thu, Sep 16, 2010 : 9:35 a.m.

I agree that it does not help much to try to control what people do by passing laws against it. To me most users, aside from those who it truly helps cope with chronic pain, are individuals that have to escape reality! And the same goes for alcohol consumption. Some people just cannot deal with life. And have to have something to alter their state of mind to some degree. So let them have it. For me its a big steak! @bugjuice "Enough with the paranoid hyperbole." You might be correct but it appears there are paranoid individuals on both side of the argument. The government and pharmaceuticals are conspiring they say.

bugjuice

Thu, Sep 16, 2010 : 9:03 a.m.

"Remember it does take about thirty days for the THC to wear out of one's system, unlike the twenty-four hours to come clean from alcohol." Just because TRACE amounts of THC may remain in the body for 30 days does not mean that the effects of being "high" continue the intoxication for 30 days. Obviously written by someone who has never smoked pot and knows nothing of the effects of a hangover or the stupor of prescribed sleep medication or the long term effects of alcoholism. Using any drug, be it alcohol or prescription or pot is a matter of personal adult responsibility. I bet that most anti pot crowd are all in favor of personal responsibility. Well, then let me, as an adult, exercise my legal right of choosing personal responsibility and medicate myself as the law allows. The "personal responsibility" crowd doesn't think that 75% of the voters in Michigan who voted for this law can be personally responsible, so the folks who constantly decry the nanny state want to nanny state all over my rights!

bugjuice

Thu, Sep 16, 2010 : 8:22 a.m.

"So if you picked up the wrong strain of marijuana, you can become a psycho." Unbelievable and typical of delusional head in the sand, prohibition at any cost paranoid who need professional help and maybe a toke or two to relax.

Cash

Thu, Sep 16, 2010 : 8:17 a.m.

@Tracyann, "It's just because we've been taught that marijuana is bad, but vicodin, or any other pharmaceutical for that matter, is fine." And we've been taught that by the big drug companies advertising the "safe and gentle, sleep..... sleep....sleep" song while butterflies dance across the screen. Kids in school sing that song!!! In the U.S., chemical prescriptions have increased over the past decade to 3.4 billion annually, a 61 percent increase. Retail sales of prescription drugs jumped 250 percent from $72 billion to $250 billion, while the average price of prescriptions has more than doubled from $30 to $68. Can we not see why politicians want to stop a natural substance from use for pain relief?

bugjuice

Thu, Sep 16, 2010 : 8:14 a.m.

Paranoid hyperbole continues to be perpetuated by the Reefer Madness crowd. This has been going on since the 30's. It must have been passed through their parents genes. Hide your children! The Boogie man is hiding under the bed and wants to kill them! The hundred billion dollar Drug War continues to be an unmitigated and costly disaster that fills our prisons and ruins people's lives. For what? Using a weed that has far less physical and mental effects than over prescribed and over the counter medications that ruin peoples bodies from their prescribed use, let along their abuse. Prohibition is costly and does not work, never has, never will. Alcohol and prescription drugs ruin far more many lives than pot. Marijuana has a long history of safe and effective medicinal use. It's biomass and oil can be processed for energy. It is simple to grow, requires less fertilizer and energy to grow and is the perfect substitute for costly and chemically intensive wood fiber used for pulp paper. Imagine America's farmers growing hemp for fuel and paper and with far less oil for and fertilizer. Yes, foreign oil is used to make fertilizer. George Washington grew hemp and was keenly aware of it's medicinal properties. Once the Reefer Madness crowd is defeated and the paranoid screaming herds of head in the sand know nothings are quieted, we will see that the sky didn't fall, the costs of prisons have been reduced, people with real medical needs and interventions are tended to, our energy needs now being produced by American farmers, fewer dangerous polluting chemicals are being put into the earth, air and water and while a few folks might enjoy a puff or two to relax after a days work, marijuana will best serve those who finds its therapeutic medicinal properties helpful and healing. Get over it! Everyone knows that pot is a benign recreational drug. It's medicinal value is widely known and it's benefits go far beyond it's medicinal qualities. Stop the paranoid madness! Legalize it!

tracyann

Thu, Sep 16, 2010 : 8:01 a.m.

I seriously doubt that it's becoming a rite of passage for 18 year olds to get a MM card. Is it that easy for them to get one? What, because they can't get their hands on alcohol or other prescription drugs? Oh, wait; they can and do. Just because marijuana is used (enjoyed?) by many without medical conditions doesn't mean it doesn't have a place in medicine. By that logic then there should not be any kind of narcotics or painkillers available to anyone because people use those too when they have no medical condition. While we're at it, let's get rid of alcohol too because that's just straight out poisonous to your body! People using for medical reasons are not using to "get stoned". Consider this: a cancer patient is going through chemo and experiences severe nausea and vomiting, and can barely hold anything down, which is a common side effect of chemo. What's the difference if that patient takes chemically engineered meds to control the side effects or smokes some pot or eats a pot-laced brownie? Is there a difference? No, there isn't. It's just because we've been taught that marijuana is bad, but vicodin, or any other pharmaceutical for that matter, is fine.

Cash

Thu, Sep 16, 2010 : 6:17 a.m.

Go to any AMA member (aka political contributor) and get prescriptions for any and every chemical drug manufactured by any large drug company (aka political contributor.) Everyone's happy. Go in your backyard, grow a plant and use it for pain relief instead? You are a criminal. This is the attitude of the same party that fights for NRA (aka political contributor)gun rights! But they don't fight for simple human rights.

malcolm kyle

Thu, Sep 16, 2010 : 6:14 a.m.

For those of you who are still living in some strange parallel universe, one where prohibition actually works, here is part of the testimony of Judge Alfred J Talley, given before the Senate Hearings of 1926: "For the first time in our history, full faith and confidence in and respect for the hitherto sacred Constitution of the United States has been weakened and impaired because this terrifying invasion of natural rights has been engrafted upon the fundamental law of our land, and experience has shown that it is being wantonly and derisively violated in every State, city, and hamlet in the country." "It has made potential drunkards of the youth of the land, not because intoxicating liquor appeals to their taste or disposition, but because it is a forbidden thing, and because it is forbidden makes an irresistible appeal to the unformed and immature. It has brought into our midst the intemperate woman, the most fearsome and menacing thing for the future of our national life." "It has brought the sickening slime of corruption, dishonor, and disgrace into every group of employees and officials in city, State, and Federal departments that have been charged with the enforcement of this odious law." http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/HISTORY/e1920/senj1926/judgetalley.htm And the following paragraphs are from WALTER E. EDGE's testimony, a Senator from New Jersey: "Any law that brings in its wake such wide corruption in the public service, increased alcoholic insanity, and deaths, increased arrests for drunkenness, home barrooms, and development among young boys and young women of the use of the flask never heard of before prohibition can not be successfully defended." "I unhesitatingly contend that those who recognize existing evils and sincerely endeavor to correct them are contributing more toward temperance than those who stubbornly refuse to admit the facts." "The opposition always proceeds on the theory that give them time and they will stop the habit of indulging in intoxicating beverages. This can not be accomplished. We should recognize our problem is not to persist in the impossible, but to recognize a situation and bring about common-sense temperance through reason." "This is not a campaign to bring back intoxicating liquor, as is so often claimed by the fanatical dry. Intoxicating liquor is with us to-day and practically as accessible as it ever was. The difference mainly because of its illegality, is its greater destructive power, as evidenced on every hand. The sincere advocates of prohibition welcome efforts for real temperance rather than a continuation of the present bluff." http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/HISTORY/e1920/senj1926/walteredge.htm And here is Julien Codman's testimony, who was a member of the Massachusetts bar. "we will produce additional evidence on this point, that it is not appropriate legislation to enforce the eighteenth amendment; that it has done incredible harm instead of good; that as a temperance measure it has been a pitiable failure; that it as failed to prevent drinking; that it has failed to decrease crime; that, as a matter of fact, it has increased both; that it has promoted bootlegging and smuggling to an extent never known before" "We believe that the time has come for definite action, but it is impossible to lay before Congress any one bill which, while clearly within the provisions of the Constitution, will be a panacea for the evils that the Volstead Act has caused. We must not be vain enough to believe, as the prohibitionists do, that the age-old question of the regulation of alcohol can be settled forever by the passage of a single law. With the experience of the Volstead law as a warning, it behooves us to proceed with caution, one step at a time, to climb out of the legislative well into which we have been pushed." "If you gentlemen are satisfied, after hearing the evidence supplemented by the broad general knowledge which each of you already possesses, that the remedy that will tend most quickly to correct the wretched social conditions that now exist, to promote temperance, find to allay the discontent and unrest that the Volstead Act has caused, is to be found in the passage of one of the proposed bills legalizing the production of beer of an alcoholic content of 4 per cent or less. We do not claim that it will do away with all the evils produced by attempted prohibition, but it would be a step in the right direction." http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/HISTORY/e1920/senj1926/codman.htm

Tij

Thu, Sep 16, 2010 : 4:24 a.m.

Repeal the Medical Marijuana Laws. Marijuana smoke has not been approved by FDA as treatment for any medical condition. Medical marijuana needs to be legalized at the Federal Level. You are putting teens with medical marijuana cards in danger. They will pick up a prescription bottle of medical marijuana, then if they cannot refill it at the dispensary, they will use drug dealers to refill their prescription bottles. Medical marijuana must be SHRINK-WRAPPED and should have an FDA stamp or tracking number. If the teen refills that prescription bottle with street pot, they can pick up a MORE potent form of marijuana. MARIJUANA is NOT SAFE. There are many strains of marijuana. So if you picked up the wrong strain of marijuana, you can become a psycho. "Seizures of a super-strong strain of marijuana nicknamed "skunk" have risen sharply in the UK and experts say it could be causing an epidemic of cannabis-induced psychosis, the Daily Telegraph reports. Skunk is up to four times more potent than regular herbal cannabis, and now accounts for 80% of street seizures. British politicians are now debating reclassifying marijuana as a more dangerous drug." QUOTE The results are considered particularly worrying as skunk now accounts for around 80 per cent of the street market in cannabis in the United Kingdom. Scientists at the Institute of Psychiatry at King's College London made the discovery after studying admissions to hospital for psychotic illnesses such as schizophrenia, paranoia and serious depression. "Our study is the first to demonstrate that the risk of psychosis is much greater among people who are frequent cannabis users, especially among those using skunk, rather than occasional users of traditional hash," said Dr Marta Di Forti. "Unfortunately, skunk is displacing traditional cannabis preparations in many countries, and the availability of skunk on the UK "street market" has steadily increased over the past six years. UNQUOTE http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/6691992/Skunk-linked-to-huge-increase-in-risk-of-psychotic-disease.html

malcolm kyle

Thu, Sep 16, 2010 : 4:08 a.m.

Please consider the following very carefully: It wasn't alcohol that caused the surge in crime and homicide during alcohol prohibition in the 1920s, it was prohibition itself. That's why many of us find it hard to believe that the same thing is not happening now. We clearly have a prohibition fueled violent crime problem. A huge number of these violent crimes are perpetrated by criminal syndicates and gangs who use the proceeds form the sales of illegal substances to further even more of their criminal activities. Prohibition is nothing less than a grotesque dystopian nightmare. We have to regulate and we have to do it now! The second biggest business during prohibition in Detroit was liquor at $215 million a year and employing about 50,000 people. Authorities were not only helpless to stop it, many were part of the problem. During one raid the state police arrested Detroit Mayor John Smith, Michigan Congressman Robert Clancy and Sheriff Edward Stein. The Mexican cartels are ready to show that when it comes to business they also like to be nonpartisan. They will buy-out or threaten politicians of any party, make deals with whoever can benefit them, and kill those who are brave or foolish enough to get in their way. If you support prohibition you've helped create the prison-for-profit synergy with drug lords. If you support prohibition you've helped remove many important civil liberties from those citizens you falsely claim to represent. If you support prohibition you've helped put previously unknown and contaminated drugs on the streets. If you support prohibition you've helped to escalate Murder, Theft, Muggings and Burglaries. If you support prohibition you've helped evolve local gangs into transnational enterprises with intricate power structures that reach into every corner of society, controlling vast swaths of territory with significant social and military resources at their disposal.

Tij

Thu, Sep 16, 2010 : 3:03 a.m.

The medical marijuana laws are also called "SPAGHETTI" laws. Medical marijuana "is" the NEW RITE OF PASSAGE to those who just turned 18. And the BAD thing is that those who just turned 18 are being pushed by the older friends to get their medical marijuana cards right away! It has become an UNDERGROUND rite of passage that the parents do not even know about. The parents have no idea that these 18 year olds are having their pot parties and if the police catches them, all they have to show is their medical marijuana cards and they are off the hook. It is pretty SCARY because many of these teens are becoming forgetful and are developing severe anxiety and paranoia. They have been brainwashed either by the doctor that prescribed to them or some authority that marijuana is safe and good for them because they will argue with you to the teeth that pot is good. All that SAY NO TO DRUGS programs since Kindergarten is down the drain. They do not even listen to the parents and get very very stressed when you talk to them about drugs. They cannot handle stress anymore. They are also forgetful. You can hide something and they think they lost that object. Pot is BAD for the developing brains of teens and these teens are CONVINCED 100% that pot is good for them. Medical marijuana ruined the brains of many teens.

Tom Joad

Thu, Sep 16, 2010 : 2:11 a.m.

It is indeed a fact that marijuana adversely affects one's cognition, judgment and impairs one's ability to operate a motor vehicle. There is absolutely. Michigan, like 15 other states, makes it illegal to operate a motor vehicle with the presence of any marijuana metabolites in the blood. It's a per se DUI state regarding marijuana. Studies conducted in Australia show conclusively that in a large percentage of fatal accidents the person at fault was under the influence of marijuana or some other illegal drug. The carnage of drunk driving deaths still continues unabated in Michigan and the nation. So now are we supposed to feel better knowing that no pot smoker ever overdosed smoking marijuana. Do you want to share the road with someone who has smoked marijuana and whose motor skills and driving ability have been directly affected by weed? The brain is much too complex and marijuana affects each person differently. Are we to rely on the so-called pro-driver who can toke and not miss his exit?

Tom Joad

Thu, Sep 16, 2010 : 2:10 a.m.

It is indeed a fact that marijuana adversely affects one's cognition, judgment and impairs one's ability to operate a motor vehicle. There is absolutely. Michigan, like 15 other states, makes it illegal to operate a motor vehicle with the presence of any marijuana metabolites in the blood. It's a per se DUI state regarding marijuana. Studies conducted in Australia show conclusively that in a large percentage of fatal accidents the person at fault was under the influence of marijuana or some other illegal drug. The carnage of drunk driving deaths still continues unabated in Michigan and the nation. So now are we supposed to feel better knowing that no pot smoker ever overdosed smoking marijuana. Do you want to share the road with someone who has smoked marijuana and whose motor skills and driving ability have been directly affected by weed? The brain is much too complex and marijuana affects each person differently. Are we to rely on the so-called pro-driver who can toke and not miss his exit?

KathrynHahn

Thu, Sep 16, 2010 : 12:54 a.m.

"Remember it does take about thirty days for the THC to wear out of one's system, unlike the twenty-four hours to come clean from alcohol" After seriously injuring multiple discs in my back, and being barely able to move sometimes witout something to ease the muscle spasms, which MM has been proven to help, I am more worried about the long term effects that the narcotic pain killers and muscle relaxers the Dr.s want me taking have on my liver, kidneys and such, when a natural herb can provide the same help. I don't like being "stoned", never have, but don't like the idea of early organ failure or cancer caused by over use of pain killers either! They want me taking large quantities of stuff like Vicodin multiple times a day and have for almost two yrs now. What, I'm supposed to keep on toxifying my body daily for the rest of my life? No thanks!

Joe Hood

Wed, Sep 15, 2010 : 11:06 p.m.

Perhaps the writers of the law were stoned. Remember it does take about thirty days for the THC to wear out of one's system, unlike the twenty-four hours to come clean from alcohol.

bugjuice

Wed, Sep 15, 2010 : 10:19 p.m.

You have to wonder why, Silent Steve Postema, the city attorney, whose vague public pronunciations are few and far between, seems so compelled to comment so profusely on this issue?

treetowncartel

Wed, Sep 15, 2010 : 9:46 p.m.

This is not surprising since the legislature failed to understand the will of the people, and the jo shmoes in the grass roots effort for reform were allowed to write the statute as it appeared on the ballott.

AlphaAlpha

Wed, Sep 15, 2010 : 9:34 p.m.

Follow the money: Big Pharma = very big political donor, to both parties.

David Briegel

Wed, Sep 15, 2010 : 9:32 p.m.

Is there anyone who believed that the politicians would write a clear, concise, easily administered statute? Incompetence abounds! Mike Cox is an incompetent joke! Highly addictive psychotic drug? Poppycock! Since the will of the people is being ignored, we may have to do this again. Once and for all time! It should be legalized! Period!

Alan

Wed, Sep 15, 2010 : 9:22 p.m.

The solution is to outright legalize marijuana for use in your own home. There is no solid evidence that moderate use is significantly harmful to adults. This is supposed to be the land of the free but we are spending billions to jail thousands every year for the possession of a plant. If someone has a good reason that adults should not be allowed to use marijuana in their own home I'd sure like to hear it.

johnnya2

Wed, Sep 15, 2010 : 8:17 p.m.

"There should be a more rigorous screening process for dispensing what is arguably a highly addictive, psychotic drug." No, it is not arguably anything of the sort. Unless of course anything people enjoy is considered addictive. There has been ZERO overdose deaths from marijuana use. EVER. Since the beginning of time. If a doctor is willing to give out a prescription for xanax or amoxicillan, they can give out marijuana prescriptions

bugjuice

Wed, Sep 15, 2010 : 8:04 p.m.

Right on, Todd. Activist bureaucrats and judges are attempting to extend and interpret the law to fit their personal view and political agendas. One of the reasons the Michigan law does not address dispensaries is because the legislators intended that the small scale growing and use of a simple herb be left to those who would grow and use it for their personal medicinal use. They wanted to believe, as most of us do, that people have the sanctioned right ability to provide for their own benefit particularly when it comes to health care. The law, the medical marijuana law, is health care law and it actually allows for self determination and self reliance to acquire a medicine outside of the for profit health care industry paradigm. Imagine that! Keeping Medical Marijuana out of the control of business, including profit driven chains of gray area dispensaries and pharmaceutical companies, I feel, was one of the prime motivators of this law. Let market forces determine the potential need for dispensaries. Or not. But DO NOT prohibit legitimate users and patients from from exercising their rights as written in the law or attempt to delay the parts of the law which are indisputable. As a long time federal bureaucrat and close family friend of mine once said, "bureaucrats may only do what to law allows, the people may do whatever the law does not prohibit". Thank you, Uncle H.

Todd

Wed, Sep 15, 2010 : 7:21 p.m.

This law is not murky. The only murky thing is that the Attorney General of Michigan, Mike Cox still has yet to do his job and inform and clarify the law. Dispensaries are not included in the law. The patient caregiver system works just fine and is not a sale of controlled substances. The dispensary on the other hand has to be a sale, therefore illegal. At least till a ruling. This article never once makes any positive statements. This law is not hard to comprehend at all. It only becomes a problem when you want to push the intent of the law to include businesses which bypass the patient caregiver system.

Bulldog Jones

Wed, Sep 15, 2010 : 7:13 p.m.

Argue all you want on the merits or dangers of smoking pot, but the fact remains, this law was POORLY DRAFTED! A judges job, IS NOT TO MAKE LAWS, BUT ENFORCE THEM! A poorly written law means that it's enforcement will be sketchy at BEST! Law 101: Whenever there is a conflict between two or more laws having the same authority on a matter, the STRICTEST OF THOSE LAWS IS THE ONE WITH PRECEDENCE! Some judges will interpret the confusion as such, and enforce the clearer of the laws with jurisdiction. In stoner's terms: A judge confused on the meaning of the new law, may ignore it altogether, and let the appeals courts deal with the matter, while you sit in jail waiting on the final decision! Legal or not, is it worth it? I think the judge did the right thing in stating the obvious! Maybe the problem people are having is that they are misdirecting anger at the courts when the real issueis that this law was written by politicians who were smoking something while writing it? Or is it just anger that they cannot get stoned legally?

bugjuice

Wed, Sep 15, 2010 : 6:28 p.m.

Judges and politicians know that being "soft on crime" won't get them re-elected. Well, on this issue, those days and the lying about marijuana are over. Give it a rest your honor, retire and get out of the way. The voters have spoken and the will of the people easily trump your old tired ethics.

A22Ypsi

Wed, Sep 15, 2010 : 5:52 p.m.

@Tom Joad: There is no argument that marijuana is either highly addictive or psychotic, whatever that means. And as someone who voted for medical marijuana at age 18, I'm curious what evidence exists that receiving one's med card is a "rite of passage", or what harm it would cause anyone even if that were true. Marijuana is one of the most harmless drugs in existence, and the 18 year olds using it "kids" unable to make their own decisions. We feed 7 year olds Adderall, whose dangers and addictive properties are well known, based on 5 minute consultations, but the anti-pot crusaders hardly say a word about that.

bugjuice

Wed, Sep 15, 2010 : 5:50 p.m.

Enough with the paranoid hyperbole. Marijuana is not a highly addictive psychotic drug. Never has been, never will be. Kids cannot walk into a doctors office and walk out a legal pothead. The doctor who filled out my state MM forms said he rejected ALL the "kids" who came to see him A medical marijuana card is not a rite of passage for "many teens". The law, approved by almost 75% of the states voters hasn't been around long enough to become a rite of passage for anyone. The "medical community" wants us to buy chemical drugs...err pharmaceuticals, from Big Pharma companies and not be able to grow a harmless weed for our own needs. Marijuana was made illegal so law enforcement and government bureaucrats could justify their existence. All the paranoid, scare monger Reefer Madness crowd should just give their tired old arguments and lies a rest. All of them has been disproven and refuted. The facts are in. Marijuana is less harmful than mothers milk. Get over it.

A22Ypsi

Wed, Sep 15, 2010 : 5:36 p.m.

Why is a judge suggesting that sick patients "avoid" their legal medication as approved by voters and recommended by doctors? Maybe he should have asked police and prosecutors to avoid marijuana cases until the law is clarified instead. That would save some tax money without hurting patients.

Tom Joad

Wed, Sep 15, 2010 : 5:21 p.m.

Of course they're trying to legalize it through the back door. It's a complete shame that an 18 year old kid can waltz into a 'doctor's' office and after a 5 minute consultation is defacto a legal dope smoker. I'm not denying marijuana's medical efficacy for certain terminal illnesses or chronic debilitations but the State of Michigan licenses doctors. There should be a more rigorous screening process for dispensing what is arguably a highly addictive, psychotic drug. Perhaps the medical community can create more stringent guidelines for prescribing marijuana for palliative conditions. As it is obtaining one's medical marijuana card is a rite-of-passage for many teens turning 18.