Month: November 2019

In this candid essay, one mother discusses her use of marijuana as a coping tool for stress.

As a new mother, I have learned quite a few lessons over the past nine months. I went from being an outspoken, lively young newlywed taking on the world to a frazzled, controlling and overwhelmed mother, almost overnight. I read the “What to Expect” books. I talked with friends and family. But nothing can truly prepare you for parenthood.

As a new parent, your only barometer of right and wrong is a screaming infant. How do I know if I am doing the right thing? How do I know if I’m hurting her, if she is hungry, tired, dirty? My role as “mom” continuously evolves, and with each passing day I grow more confident and more in love with my baby.

Perhaps the most important lesson I have learned is to let go. The stress of parenting can be all-consuming. Trying to seek out patterns, trying to establish routines, to answer the never-ending list of questions, desperate to eke out order — these things are futile. My goal every day is to enjoy each moment and to appreciate every hour with my child. But how?

Over the years, marijuana has proven a useful tool for me. In the past, weed has served to calm me down — to unwind me so that I am able to enjoy my life. I have always been attracted to high-stress jobs and have performed very well in that capacity; little did I know that parenting would be the highest-stress, most-demanding job yet. In the moments when I am ready to lose my mind — when the baby has been crying nonstop, for example — I take a little puff and my patience and calm is restored. My new state of mind enables me to not only tap into my unfound stores of patience but also lets me to relate to my baby as a baby and not a screaming, pooping monster.

Read more at Metro.

I’ve been a long-time fan and Internet friend of Mr. Dan Carlin, a Libertarian-leaning journalist, commentator and historian who painstakingly crafts some of the best podcasts in podcast history. Hardcore History is a captivating look at historical events and should be a must-listen for any college student who is tired of history being flat and boring. (I’ve learned more from this program than all of my college years combined.)

Dan Carlin’s other podcast is Common Sense. This is where Dan gets down and dirty with current political events and their bigger implications on our individual freedom.

What does this have to do with medical marijuana?

His latest podcast called “Fearsome Safety” is an in-depth look at the local and federal incentives behind drug busts as well as the increasing militarization in our police forces.

To have a greater understanding of what’s going on behind-the-scenes in California as the federal authorities there continue to close established, law-abiding medical marijuana dispensaries by the dozens, listen to this first.

I’ll give you a little hint:

In short: the Feds reward police forces with money and equipment for drug raids – and have for a long  time. Due to forfeiture laws, police keep money and property seized as “suspected” drug proceeds. No conviction is required. Drugs destroyed, money kept.

In the US Attorney’s current “witch hunt” in California, the financial and political gains are multiplied exponentially. Millions of dollars are being seized and dispersed, with little to no accountability. Legal profiteering, plain and simple.

And even more insidious are the ultimate Big Brother goals, which are to rid the U.S. of these “mom and pop” dispensaries and replace them with Big Pharma companies hand-chosen by greedy politicians such as Haag.

And to put a cherry on top of this pile of…corruption is the oh-so-noble reason Haag gives for these relentless and needless crackdowns:

Come on, let’s say it together. You know the words: THE CHILDREN.

“The main theme that I was hearing from members of this community, members of our community in the northern district of California was a concern about children.” – Melinda Haag

So touching, her concern. I wonder if she can babysit for me tonight.

Listen to Dan’s Podcast Now!

Dan Carlin’s Facebook Page

Dan Carlin on Twitter

Dan Carlin on iTunes

Americans for Forfeiture Reform

Book suggestions by Dan Carlin on this topic:

(Click on books for purchase information – Amazon free!)

Beth Mann is a popular blogger and writer for Open Salon and Salon. She is also an accomplished artist with over 15 years of experience, as well as the president of Hot Buttered Media. She currently resides at the Jersey shore where she can be found surfing or singing karaoke at a local dive bar.

Contact: maryjane {at } freedomisgreen.com

CBD, One Step Closer to the Clinic

by – Jahan Marcu, Science EditorLast month, Dr. Sean McAllister traveled from California to talk in Philadelphia on a potential new breast cancer treatment. Dr. McAllister has been studying the anti-cancer effects of cannabinoids for years and he has discovered that the cannabinoid, CBD (Cannabidiol) is a very potent inhibitor of breast cancer. Usually, his research draws a lot of media interest and then some. His research sparks an interest in the general public, as CBD is also the second most abundant compound on the Cannabis plant.Dr.McAllister shared his results of his recently published study on CBD and breast cancer. This is not the first paper on the anti-cancer activity of CBD, the McAllister lab also published other articles on cannabinoids and cancer: CBD and Breast Cancer and THC&CBD kill brain cancer cells. The current study is an in depth look at how CBD kills breast cancer cells in an animal model. Specifically, CBD affects a protein called ID-1. ID-1 appears to be a major conductor of cancer cells and thus is an excellent target for a cancer treatment.Find out how CBD’s anti-cancer properties in the full article at cannabination.com

Find out how CBD’s anti-cancer properties in the full article at cannabination.com

4/8/2011 – What do a funeral director an Army tank crewman and a sitting New Jersey legislator have in common? Cannabis.

Assemblyman Thomas Giblin, a Democrat from Clifton and the current Deputy Majority Leader, sits on the Medical Advisory Board of Greenleaf Compassion Center.

Newly released documents are showing some further political connections for the blooming New Jersey medical marijuana industry.

Half of the new Alternative Treatment Centers were tied to Republican politicos, but it seems that the Dems won’t be kept out of the garden…or in this case the carefully run indoor hydroponic operation.

Greenleaf Compassion Center hopes to open in Montclair, a community that would serve as a likely location for success. Mayor Jerry Fried, a well-known Democrat in the region, even supplied a letter of support included in the application. It stated, “ I believe GCC has a strong business plan. I am impressed with the relationship they have established with Montclair State University and our local Assemblyman Thomas Giblin.”

Mayor Fried (pronounced frEEd by the way) closed with “I look forward to a long and fruitful relationship between the Township of Montclair and GCC.”

Joe Stevens is the Chairman at Greenleaf and the former funeral director. According to his short biography Stevens decided to move into medical care instead, now he is specializing in medical marijuana. Robert Gurino is a Greenleaf Board principal and the Army vetran who served overseas in recent conflicts. Along with some physicians, a business specialist, two horticultural experts and the powerfully positioned Giblin they own one of the first regulated medical marijuana facilities on the East Coast.

Arguably, all of the new NJ ATCs face a tough battle to open their doors and are burdened with the greatest risk for federal interference. New Jersey’s Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) went forward with the ATC application process without final regulations in place; those will be finalized in May.

Nonetheless, twenty-one groups turned in proposals with a $20, 000 fee. All of the potential medical cannabis providers in New Jersey had to demonstrate that are very well capitalized as not-for-profit businesses. Instead of utilizing traditional loans there is a big block of raw cash capital. Recent DEA raids in Montana and California have shown the federal tactic of targeting cash and assets.

The centralized system in the Garden State with just six medical marijuana facilities for almost 10 million people (all of them with bank accounts bulging with millions of dollars) are bound to be a attractive targets for the Feds.

That makes Assemblyman Giblin’s decision to sign on Greenleaf Compassion Center’s medical board all the more interesting. He is the first elected official in any state to serve such a prominent role in a regulated medical marijuana business.

We are continuing to review the 1500 pages of documents released yesterday from the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS). These are the six successful applications for the NJ Alternative Treatment Centers that have been redacted by DHSS.

Stay tuned for detailed reviews of each application.

9/27/2012 – A crowd of over 30,000 made a big donation to family farmers and got a wonderful event in return last Saturday. The 27th Farm Aid concert took place at Hershey Park Stadium with the feel of a county fair/protest rally.

Small business agriculture is under tremendous pressure from new threats like shale fracking for natural gas. Farm Aid, founded by superfriends Willie Nelson, Neil Young  and John Mellencamp, remains a vital support net for American farmers. On stage there was incredible music but also moments to highlight important issues.

Neil Young played a memorable, light drenched set with Crazy Horse. Young paused between songs to speak about the roots of their mission:

“Why we’re still here: When you go to your market, try to buy something that came from really nearby. Its great to buy from the USA, but its even better to buy something from your neighborhood or your county or your state. Our farmers are competing with an agri- business that is… huge. And they’ve got lobbyists in Washington buying this and buying that so that [family farmers] can’t get what they need. [Family farmers] can’t stay in business; they get choked out of business because of big corporations.”

Young gave the crowd this take-away:

” What we want is for you to buy food that matters!”

Willie Nelson brought activist John Trudell to the stage just before his signature closing set.

Trudell, a Native American, brought his appeal for hemp farming in the USA:

“As a person of the land and as a human being I relate to farmers as being people of the land. With all of the problems that we are confronted with and are faced with…I would like you all to consider learning the realities of industrial hemp.”

The crowd cheered and Trudell added:

“The economic and environmental realities of industrial hemp; teach it to the young. Have your organizations and the people who represent you; and take it upon yourself, to learn the realities of industrial hemp  It will save the family farm. [Hemp] will give the young farmer a future. It’s a part of American history. It’s always been here… And in the next election 2016… Vote Hemp!”

The work of Farm Aid continues year-round: Consider a donation at farmaid.org

To find out more about industrial hemp check out votehemp.com and the National Hemp Industries Association.

 

Chris Goldstein is a respected marijuana reform advocate. As a writer and radio broadcaster he has been covering cannabis news for over a decade. Questions?  [email protected]

6/27/2011 – The first public hearing this legislative session on a bill to legalize medical cannabis in Massachusetts will take place tomorrow, June 28th. The Joint Committee on Public Health will begin testimony at 10AM on H.625. The measure would allow doctors to recommend cannabis and regulate up to nineteen “Medical Treatment Centers” for marijuana across the state.

Representative Frank Smizick (D-Brookline) is sponsoring the bill and issued this statement: “ I’ve met patients with ALS, multiple sclerosis, chronic pain, cancer, and other serious diseases who cannot tolerate the side effects of available medications or find them ineffective.  Some of these patients have been able to reduce their intake of toxic or addictive medications and others have been able to stay on life-prolonging treatments like chemotherapy by using medical marijuana. As long as use is approved by a doctor, medical marijuana should be an available treatment option for these individuals, just as it is in Maine, Rhode Island, and Vermont,” said Smizik.

Matthew Allen at the Massachusetts Patient Advocacy Alliance said that residents want to see the law passed. “There is huge public support right now for this reform,” said Allen, “Polling shows 81 percent of residents want us to be the next medical marijuana state. Patients, public health professionals and other groups will be there tomorrow to testify.”

There is also stronger support this session among legislators. “We did triple our co-sponsors between last session and this one,” Allen noted. “That is really is due to the hard work of the patients working with us actually going up to the State House and asking for support.”

Allen is hopeful that more elected officials can be swayed during the public hearings. “When legislators really see the patients with HIV, cancer, ALS – how much they are suffering – and we can explain the multiple levels of regulation in the bill that we find this can be … hopefully the committee will understand that this is a compassionate reform that needs to happen not just for these patients but for the greater cause of public health.”

The bill has earned some important endorsements icnlouding: The Massachusetts Nurses Association,  the Massachusetts Public Health Association, the MA Chapter of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, the MA Breast Cancer Coalition, the Massachusetts Bar Association, the Massachusetts American Civil Liberties Union, the AIDS Action Committee, the AIDS Support Group of Cape Cod, Cambridge Cares about AIDS, the Teen AIDS Peer Corps, and the Massachusetts Hepatitis Patient Empowerment Project.

“The dozens of patients who will come forward tomorrow are just a small portion of those suffering across the state,” said Allen.

Maine legalized medical marijuana in 1999, Vermont passed in 2004 and Rhode Island in 2006. All three states are now moving towards regulated dispensaries but Maine is the only state on the east coast with facilities open for patients.

Massachusetts decriminalized adult possession of cannabis (for all uses) by a ballot measure in 2008. But doctors are still not allowed to address the issue with seriously ill residents in a fully legal manner.

“Patients are being left behind,” said Allen, “Right now a Massachusetts doctor can write a recommendation for a patient in Rhode Island but not for someone with the same conditions living 2 miles over the border.”

Massachusetts Patient Advocacy Coalition

MASSCANN/NORML

MA Joint Committee on Public Health

Chris Goldstein is a respected marijuana reform advocate. As a writer and radio broadcaster he has been covering cannabis news for over a decade. Questions?  [email protected]

In official testimony just one-week apart, powerful state regulators in New Jersey and Maryland refused to call marijuana a “medicine” and are widely deferring to the federal government.

Dr. Poonam Alaigh, the Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Health and Human Services (DHSS) is supposed to be implementing the state’s year-old medical cannabis law, but her department has crafted unworkable regulations.

Testifying about the broken rules before a Senate committee on March 3, 2011 Alaigh said, “I am a scientist. So unless I see studies to verify that marijuana can be used a medicine, and I don’t see those studies right now, I cannot call it a ‘medicine.’”

Several times during her testimony Alaigh carefully pointed out that the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not approved marijuana.

Alaigh and NJDHSS have apparently confined their research on the issue to the handful of cannabis studies that were conducted through the federal governments of the United States and Canada. This ignores mountains peer-reviewed scientific and medical research data published in the world’s most respected journals.

During a grilling by NJ Senator James Whalen (D-2) about a possible home delivery service for patients Alaigh made an interesting remark, “ In terms of the federal law, the DEA, this is still an illegal substance.”

Alaigh is not the only state-level bureaucrat using federal policy to confound safe access to cannabis.

Dr. Joshua M. Sharfstein, Secretary of Maryland’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DHMH) testified last week against medical marijuana legislation in his state saying: “This is not just because marijuana is a controlled substance. It is also because marijuana, unlike approved pharmaceuticals, has not been characterized, studied, and determined by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to be safe and effective.”

It is important to take note that the FDA’s research labs are based in Maryland.

So if it is called “medical marijuana” or “medical use of marijuana” in the legislation then why not just call marijuana “medicine”?

Because this is where the big money starts talking.

Medicine is one of the biggest businesses in the world. New Jersey and Maryland serve as the corporate bedroom communities and lobbying base for the pharmaceutical industry.

There was also a strange twist at the close of the NJ Health Commissioner’s testimony.  Dr. Alaigh, a practicing physician, testified that she currently has a patient who benefits from medical marijuana use.

“I have to tell you I have patient right now who tells me how impactful his medicinal marijuana is…and his life changes because of what he takes. So, is it effective in a certain patient population? Yes, I have patient where it is effective.”

NJ State Senator Jim Whelan responded quickly, “Well it sounds like a medicine to me.”

More info:

NJ – www.cmmnj.org

MD- http://www.mpp.org/states/maryland

Chris Goldstein is a respected marijuana reform advocate. As a writer and radio broadcaster he has been covering cannabis news for over a decade.  He volunteers with local groups to change prohibition laws including PhillyNORML and The Coalition for Medical Marijuana New Jersey. He enjoys old-school hip-hop, vintage airplanes and changing the world. Contact chris { at } freedomisgreen.com

Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey says that he does not agree with the state’s medical marijuana law. But he should feel better knowing that close allies will own three of the first six facilities. New Jersey media sought out the individuals behind the non-profits given a green light to produce medical cannabis. Michael Symons at the Asbury Park Press revealed the deep political ties at half of the approved operators.

David Knowlton who led Christie’s gubernatorial transition team on health care issues chairs one of the non-profits and Webster Todd, the brother of former governor Christine Todd Whitman, is on the Board at another successful applicant.

Here is part of Mr. Todd’s extensive resume:

He served one term in the Assembly more than 40 years ago and was chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board in the late 1970s.

Todd is a trustee for the Compassionate Sciences [Inc.] center. He was in the Assembly from 1968 to 1970 and worked in the White House, State Department and, from 1976 to 1979, the National Transportation Safety Board, where he served as chairman. He founded Princeton Aviation Corp., was president of Frontier Airlines and was senior director of air safety at the Airline Pilots Association.

Todd said he got involved with the medical marijuana effort at the urging of his oldest son, William.

“And I personally happen to believe in compassionate use,” Todd said. read more

Symons uncovered another connection at a different non-profit called Compassionate Care Centers of America Foundation Inc.:

The New Brunswick center’s board includes Kevin Barry, an anesthesiologist who was chosen by Christie as chairman of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey board of trustees, as well as a former federal prosecutor who served as a division chief in the U.S. Attorney’s Office. read more

This particular non-profit partnered with the Meadowlands Hospital Group on their application.

Since being approved these permit holders have heaped public praise on the overly restrictive regulations being proposed by the NJ Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS). However, the patients they hope to serve have been working with the Legislature to re-craft the very same regulations.

So far the Christie Administration has delayed the medical marijuana program’s implementation by almost a year. Gov. Christie has been unwilling to compromise on the key issues, continually referring to federal law instead of state statute.

Many qualifying patients say that they will remain in the underground market unless the regulations are changed. That would give  the governor’s close associates little opportunity to try their medical cannabis cultivation skills.

More at freedomisgreen.com:

No Permit for Low Cost Marijuana Supplier in NJ

New Jersey Licenses Six Alternative Treatment Centers for Medical Marijuana

VIDEO: HIV Patient Calls Out NJ Gov Christie on Medical Marijuana

Watch Gov. Christie discuss his views about the compassionate use law on 3/22/2011
Takes place at 23:30 in this video – http://millenniumradionj.com/AskTheGovernor/ask-gov-WKXWFM.html

Chris Goldstein is a respected marijuana reform advocate. As a writer and radio broadcaster he has been covering cannabis news for over a decade. He volunteers with local groups to change prohibition laws including PhillyNORML and The Coalition for Medical Marijuana New Jersey. Chris enjoys old-school hip-hop, vintage airplanes and changing the world. Contact: chris { at } freedomisgreen.com

Can medical marijuana users carry concealed guns? Oregon’s Cynthia Willis will soon find out:

Cynthia Wills, 54, has a medical marijuana permit to treat arthritis and muscle spasms. She also has a permit to carry a concealed handgun.

Oregon police, AP reports, have tried to take away Willis’s gun, prompting Willis to fire back with a lawsuit, joined by three co-plaintiffs. The case is pending in the Oregon Supreme Court.

“Under the medical marijuana law, I am supposed to be treated as any other citizen in this state,” said Willis, a retired school bus driver whose gun of choice is a Walther P-22. “If people don’t stand up for their little rights, all their big rights will be gone.”

State sheriffs, according to AP, say that federal gun laws prohibit firearm sales to drug addicts, a term that includes medical marijuana users, they contend.

“The whole medical marijuana issue is a concern to sheriffs across the country . . . because there is so much potential for abuse or for misuse and as a cover for organized criminal activity,” Washington County Sheriff Rob Gordon told AP.

Gordon’s office rejected three medical marijuana patients in the Portland suburbs who applied for concealed handgun permits.

If Willis loses, she plans to carry her pistol out in the open, in a holster on her hip, which is legal under Oregon law, according to AP.

“I’ve been done harm in my life and it won’t ever happen again,” she said, explaining why she carries a gun.

Source: Wall Street Journal

7/6/2011, Updated – The issue of medical marijuana is set to be encamped on President Obama’s doorstep. The District of Columbia is in the process of implementing a 1998 law that was specifically blocked by Congress until 2009. The Washington Times reported yesterday that eighty-two applications to run cannabis centers were submitted to Washington DC Mayor Vincent Gray’s administration.

A majority of them, 47, listed mailing addresses in the District in their letters to the health department. Other applicants were from Maryland (18), Virginia (7), New York (3), New Jersey (2), and one each from California, Colorado and Montana.

A few of the out-of-state applicants boasted experience in medical marijuana where it is already legal. A spokeswoman for the health department could not be reached for comment on whether experienced growers and sellers would gain preference over applicants originating in the District.

Of the applicants who listed a cultivation or dispensary site, many of them had lined up property in Northeast, where industrial space is more plentiful.

A panel of five members — one each from the Department of Health, Metropolitan Police Department, Office of the Attorney General, Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, and a consumer or patient advocate — will score each of the eventual applications based on a 250-point scale that examines criteria such as security and staffing at their facilities, their overall business plans and the opinions of local Advisory Neighborhood Commissions. READ FULL ARTICLE

The current regulations for medical marijuana in Washington DC are similar to those in Delaware and New Jersey. There are no provisions for patients or caregivers to cultivate a personal amount of cannabis. There are no legal protections for patients who access the underground marijuana market. All of the seriously ill residents who would qualify must access one of the proposed dispensaries.

In 1998 District voters approved Initiative 59, a ballot measure legalizing medical marijuana, with 69% approval. That was just the beginning to one of the strangest stories in medical marijuana politics.

Congressman Bob Barr (served 1995 to 2003), a Republican from Georgia, was one of America’s most vehement prohibitionists. He had a particular dislike for marijuana reform. Barr attached an amendment to the Omnibus Spending Bill in 1999 that funds Washington DC. The US Congress controls the DC budget. The amendment blocked Initiative 59 from being enacted. Despite several court battles the Barr Amendment was inserted into successive spending bills for a decade.

In 2008 Barr shifted in his stance on marijuana a full 180 degrees. And it wasn’t just talk, Barr began professional lobbying activities on behalf of the two groups he battled the most on the issue: The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and The Marijuana Policy Project (MPP).

In 2009 Congress lifted the amendment  from the Omnibus Spending Bill and Washington DC was allowed to proceed with medical marijuana implementation. Barr’s intensive lobbying effort to remove his own creation was seen as a key factor.

Another driving force behind DC’s compassionate use law was one of the worst tragedies of American marijuana prohibition. In 2004 Jonathan Magbie, a quadriplegic man in his late 20′s, was caught with a marijuana blunt while riding in a car with friends. A municipal judge sentenced Magbie to 10 days in the city jail after he was unabashed about his marijuana use to relieve some of his symptoms. The jail failed to provide the ventilator Jonathan needed to breathe and he died on the floor of his cell serving the first night of his sentence.

Magbie’s death may have been avoided if the DC medical cannabis law had not been blocked by Congress. Now, patients like Magbie continue to wait for the law to be fully implemented.

DC Mayor Vincent Gray and other officials are aware of the recent “Cole memo” from the Department of Justice. But the DC regulations require each prospective facility to grow less than 95 cannabis plants at any given time. This quantity (less than 100 plants) is thought to avoid interference from federal agencies like the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

It remains to be seen if the federal authorities will set armed agents and prosecutors against the centralized dispensary systems in DC, New Jersey and Delaware. Because of the free-market model employed in states like Colorado and Michigan federal raid activity does not shut down entire state-regulated systems for patient access.

But raiding or interfering with these centralized facilities could completely shut down all of the regulated supply of medical cannabis to qualifying residents. Such activity may be much harder for federal authorities to justify.

Having an operating medical marijuana law and access system in Washington DC could set the stage for another major shift in the politics for American cannabis: a US Senator or Representative who is also a card-carrying medical marijuana patient.

Chris Goldstein is a respected marijuana reform advocate. As a writer and radio broadcaster he has been covering cannabis news for over a decade. Questions?  [email protected]