East Coast Cannabis News and Culture
Beth Mann is a popular blogger and writer for Open Salon and Salon. She is also an accomplished actor and director 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 often be seen surfing or singing karaoke at the local dive bar.
Contact: maryjane {at } freedomisgreen.com
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After making the final four in the Miss USA competition, Alyssa Campanella answered a question about legalizing marijuana by saying she didn’t think it should be fully legalized as a solution to help ailing economies. No, wait…that’s not exactly what she said.
Let’s look at her actual answer:
“Well, I understand why that question would be asked, especially with today’s economy, but I also understand that medical marijuana is very important to help those who need it medically,” she said. “I’m not sure if it should be legalized, if it would really affect, with the drug war. I mean, it’s abused today, unfortunately, so that’s the only reason why I would kind of be a little bit against it, but medically it’s OK.”
I knew this competition was about beauty and brains. I don’t care what those feminists say. That answer was the best mushy non-answer ever! I hope she runs for office soon. Maybe then she’ll find out that medical marijuana has actually been legal in California for quite some time. But I’m glad she’s okay with it.
Beth Mann is a popular blogger and writer for Open Salon and Salon. She is also an accomplished actor and director 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 often be seen surfing or singing karaoke at the local dive bar. Contact: maryjane {at } freedomisgreen.com
As part of an ongoing series, we’ll explore the great big world of herbs in general.
As you know, marijuana has numerous medicinal properties. And many of you are probably already hip to the other herbs out there that possess their own special healing and protective properties.
What you may not know is that herbs possess a more concentrated amount of antioxidants than you’ll get from fruits and vegetables alone. Not only that, but herbs often possess a wider array of antioxidants. So by integrating herbs into your diet, you are protecting your body from free radical damage in a substantial way.
So if marijuana is part of a holistic lifestyle choice, then that lifestyle should include any ways we can return to nature as a method to heal and protect ourselves.
Last month, we explored the myriad of benefits of thyme.
This week, the spotlight is on rosemary.
Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) is a woody, perennial herb with fragrant, evergreen, needle-like leaves. It is native to the Mediterranean region and a member of the mint family Lamiaceae. The name is derived from the Latin name rosmarinus, meaning “dew of the sea,” based on the fact that in many locations it needs no other water than the humidity carried by the sea to live.
Health Properties:
Cooking with Rosemary:
Whenever possible, choose fresh rosemary over the dried form of the herb since it is far superior in flavor.
Fresh rosemary herb should be stored in the refrigerator inside plastic bags. Dried rosemary should be kept in an air tight container and placed in a cool, dark and dry place where it will keep fresh for several months.
Finely chopped fresh rosemary is used in the preparation of delicious sauteed rosemary potatoes.
Rosemary complements fatty, strong-tasting meats such as lamb, pork, duck, and game. Add to casseroles, tomato sauces, baked fish, apples, summer wine cups, cordials, vinegars and oils.
Rosemary matches well with garlic and red wine. The spicy, pungent tough leaves of late season rosemary are strongly aromatic and peppery and will add to the roasting or grilling of meat. Use rosemary sprigs to flavor grilling charcoals or use sprigs to brush olive oil on meat and poultry before roasting.
Rosemary flowers are sweetly perfumed and delicious on salads, rice, pasta, or fruit salads.
Use the branch of rosemary to skewer meat and poultry before grilling. It infuses the food with the taste.
When burned, rosemary branches give off a distinct mustard smell, as well as a smell similar to that of burning wood, which can be used to flavor foods while barbecuing.
Random Facts and Tips about Rosemary:
Recipes:
1/3 to 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly cracked pepper
6 small fresh rosemary sprigs
3 russet potatoes, unpeeled, cut in half lengthwise
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Pour the olive oil into a medium-sized glass baking dish and add the salt and pepper. Stir to combine. Press a rosemary sprig or parsley leaf on the cut side of each potato half and place cut side down in the oil.
Note: A glass dish works well in this case because you can check for doneness by carefully holding the dish overhead and looking to see if the potatoes are browned. When you do this, be careful not to spill the hot oil. A metal pan will do, too, but testing for doneness will not be as easy.
Bake until the potatoes are nicely browned, 40 to 45 minutes. While the potatoes are cooking, using a spatula, gently move them every now and then to keep them from sticking. When they are ready, remove them from the pan, turning them flat side up and carefully leaving the pressed herb in place. Arrange on a platter and serve immediately.
Makes 4 to 6 servings.
Interactions:
If you have epilepsy, don’t take medicinal amounts of rosemary. The camphor in the herb could potentially aggravate seizures.
Pregnant women and those with high blood pressure should not take Rosemary extract. (However, the amounts that typically appear in food or cosmetics pose no risk.)
Antiplatelet and anticoagulant drugs (blood-thinners) — Rosemary may affect the blood’s ability to clot. It could interfere with any blood-thinning drugs you are taking, including:
ACE inhibitors — Rosemary may interfere with the action of ACE inhibitors taken for high blood pressure.
Diuretics (water pills) — Because rosemary can act as a diuretic, it can increase the effects of these drugs. That can raise your risk of dehydration.
Lithium — Because of its diuretic effects, rosemary might cause the body to lose too much water and the amount of lithium in the body to build up to toxic levels.
Diabetes — Rosemary may alter blood sugar levels and could interfere with any drugs taken to control diabetes.
Sources:
Beth Mann is a popular blogger and writer for Open Salon and Salon. She is also an accomplished actor and director 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 often be seen surfing or singing karaoke at a local dive bar.
Contact: maryjane {at } freedomisgreen.com
If that dull Hallmark card with the trite and dusty expressions of motherly love is just not cutting it this year (did it ever?), consider sending this e-card, created by The Women’s Marijuana Movement.
As part of an ongoing monthly series, we’ll explore the great big world of herbs in general.
As you know, marijuana has numerous medicinal properties. And many of you are probably already hip to the other herbs out there that possess their own special healing and protective properties.
What you may not know is that herbs possess a more concentrated amount of antioxidants than you’ll get from fruits and vegetables alone. Not only that, but herbs often possess a wider array of antioxidants. So by integrating herbs into your diet, you are protecting your body from free radical damage in a substantial way.
The way I see it: if marijuana is part of a holistic lifestyle choice, then that lifestyle should include any ways we can return to nature as a method to heal and protect ourselves.
This week, the spotlight is on thyme.
Thymus vulgaris grows as a small, woody shrub with petite and flavorful gray-green leaves. There are up to 400 subspecies of thyme; common thyme and Spanish thyme are often used interchangeably for medicinal purposes. Thymol is the primary volatile oil constituent of thyme. It’s powerful health-supporting effects continue to unfold, after centuries of use.
Health Properties:
Cooking with Thyme:
Restaurant critic Jeff Cox, a gardening and cooking guru, says if you have only one pot to use for an herb planting, plant thyme. And it’s one of the easier herbs to grow. (Trust me, I just look at plants and they wilt and die.)
Thyme, either dried or fresh, should be added near the end of the cooking process since heat can easily cause a loss of its delicate flavor.
Thyme can enhance the taste of:
Random Facts about Thyme:
The Ancient Egyptians used thymol and carvacrol because of their ability to preserve mummies. Thymol and carvacrol are now known to kill bacteria and fungi, making thyme well suited for such purposes. (So if mummification is in your future, don’t forget thymol. Your mummy will remain fresh and clean.)
Thymol and carvacrol are extensively used in book binding because of its ability to kill spores in the books which needed to be rebound after damage from mold.
The English word “thyme” comes from the Latin thymus, derived from the Greek thymon, “courage.” It also means “to fumigate or cleanse”, possibly because of its use as an incense throughout time.
A soup recipe of 1663 recorded the use of thyme and beer to overcome shyness.
Scottish highlanders drank tea made of wild thyme for strength and courage and also to prevent nightmares.
Thymol, one of the active ingredients in thyme leaves, is still used in cough preparations.
Thyme tea can be used as a digestive tonic, for hangovers, and as an acne wash. (Good for partying teens with sensitive stomachs.)
Thymol was used as a powerful antiseptic chemical in World War I to disinfect battlefield wounds.
Thymol is one of the ingredients in the antibacterial Listerine mouthwash.
Thyme may have the ability to attract fairies. (Now that’s a real added bonus, in my opinion.)
Just as sage is often used, thyme can been burned to cleanse the air and ward off evil spirits.
Interactions:
Do not use thyme essential oil internally. For instructions on how to use thyme for medical conditions, read here.
Theoretically, thyme may decrease levels of thyroid hormone. Patients taking thyroid replacement therapy or anti-thyroid agents should use cautiously. Monitoring may be necessary.
Although not well studied in humans, thyme may interact with agents with estrogen or progesterone receptor activity. Examples of agents that may be affected include hormone replacement therapies and birth control pills.
Topical (applied on the skin) thymol may increase the absorption of 5-fluorouracil. Caution is advised in chemotherapy patients, as 5-fluorouracil is often used in cancer chemotherapy. Consult with a qualified healthcare professional, including a pharmacist, to check for interactions.
Although not well studied in humans, thyme may interact with herbs with estrogen or progesterone receptor activity. Caution is advised when combining thyme with other herbs and supplements with proposed hormonal effects, such as black cohosh.
Sources:
Antioxidants for Health and Longevity
Beth Mann is a popular blogger and writer for Open Salon and Salon. She is also an accomplished actor and director 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 often be seen surfing or singing karaoke at a local dive bar.
Contact: maryjane {at } freedomisgreen.com
UPDATE from Americans for Safe Access:
“The Maryland State Senate voted 41-6 to pass a bill today that would give an affirmative defense to qualified patients who are arrested and prosecuted for possessing or growing medical marijuana. Senate Bill 308 amends the 2003 Darrel Putnam Compassionate Use Act, which already allows for a “medical necessity” defense but still results in a misdemeanor conviction and a $100 fine. The new Senate legislation would keep patients with “clear and convincing evidence” from being convicted and from sustaining a punitive fine.
SB 308 was amended earlier this month when its House companion bill stalled in committee due to opposition from the new administration’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DHMH). Both houses of the state legislature were prepared to pass a comprehensive bill this year that would have protected patients from arrest and prosecution altogether, and would have established a state-run production and distribution system. However, the new DHMH Director estimated the cost of such a program at more than $7 million over a 5-year period, despite a fiscal impact assessment of less than 1/10th of that amount for an almost identical bill debated last year. Advocates called this year’s fiscal impact extremely inflated, based on an inaccurate needs assessment.
“Rather than endure another failed attempt to pass meaningful medical marijuana policy in Maryland, patients have instead decided to support this stopgap measure,” said Caren Woodson, Government Affairs Director with Americans for Safe Access (ASA), the country’s largest medical marijuana advocacy group. “It’s not ideal, but the bill will help patients avoid what is now a guaranteed conviction if arrested.” ASA worked with State Senator Jamie Raskin (D-Montgomery County) to craft the amended version of SB 308, which also includes language to study the elements of a comprehensive policy change with the aim of passing such legislation next year.
SB 308 will now proceed to the House of Delegates for a floor vote and, if passed, will then go to Governor O’Malley for signature. Patient advocates have vowed to pass more comprehensive legislation next year by working with DHMH and the legislature to design a policy that not only protects patients from arrest and prosecution, but also establishes a system of licensed cultivation and distribution.”
Further information:
Text of SB 308: http://AmericansForSafeAccess.org/downloads/Maryland_SB308_Amended.pdf
Maryland is moving on bills that would legalize medical marijuana for ill residents and decriminalize possession for all adults. Both had committee hearings scheduled on March 3.
HB 291/ SB 308, the medical cannabis legislation is sponsored by Dan Morhaim, the only licensed physician in the MD Assembly.
But in a battle of the doctors current Secretary of Maryland’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DHMH), Dr. Joshua M. Sharfstein, voiced concerns over using cannabis as medicine.
“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.”
In late February, the Maryland General Assembly also held a hearing for a bill to decriminalize the personal possession of small amounts of cannabis by adults.
HB 606 would reduce punishment for small amount of pot to a civil citation and a nominal fine. Currently Maryland prosecutes possession of any amount as a criminal misdemeanor.
Phillip Strause, a marijuana activist local to Maryland and Virginia had this to say about HB291,
“The Department of Health and Mental Hygiene requested to work with Delegate Morhaim to ‘craft a better bill.’ The bill is currently not scheduled to be voted on for this reason. I believe political fear drives the system in MD, as few are willing to condone such a shift in policy.”
He added, “HB 606 has been heard in committee but has yet to be voted upon. I feel this is an excellent step in the correct direction but insufficient in fixing the heart of the problem, the perception that cannabis is more dangerous than it actually is.”
Ken Wolski, the Executive Director of the Coalition for Medical Marijuana—New Jersey (CMMNJ) submitted supporting testimony for MD through Americans for Safe Access saying,
“The Maryland bill closely resembles the Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act that passed into law in January 2010 in the Garden State. Over one year since the NJ law passed, not a single patient has yet received legal medical marijuana in state; there is not a single dispensary even close to opening; and not a single, legal, marijuana plant is even growing in this state.
Maryland needs to propose a bill that has at least some chance of actually getting marijuana to qualified patients. A provision for home cultivation is really the only way to guarantee this, as New Jersey’s experience proves.”
Read – Health chiefs in NJ and MD fight marijuana as ‘medicine’
Find out more about the efforts in The Free State: http://www.mpp.org/states/maryland/
Diane Fornbacher has been a cannabis law reform activist for 15 years. She has worked with some of the top reform organizations (NORML, Drug Policy Alliance, ASA, The November Coalition). Fornbacher is the current Vice Chair of the NORML Women’s Alliance and serves on the board of The Coalition for Medical Marijuana New Jersey (CMMNJ). When she isn’t working to change the cannabis laws, she enjoys photography and writing/performing poetry. Contact grassroots {at} freedomisgreen.com
Legislation is active in the Bay State to legalize and regulate medical marijuana through 18 distribution centers. A non-binding referendum last year regarding medical cannabis showed overwhelming support among voters.
The sponsoring legislator told the Boston Herald:
“Since the 1930s, we’ve been fighting marijuana as the killer weed, and that has to stop,” said state Rep. Frank I. Smizik, a Brookline Democrat championing the bipartisan bill. “There are so many people suffering with serious diseases where marijuana is the only way to stop the pain and keep them going.” Read full
A lot of new territory is opening up on the East Coast for the medical marijuana industry. Maine, Rhode Island, New Jersey and Washington DC are all currently in the process of approving medical marijuana production and distribution facilities.
Massachusetts made news in 2008 when voters decriminalized minor marijuana possession for adults. Those caught with small amounts of cannabis are currently issued a non-criminal ticket and are not arrested.
More info: http://masscann.org
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Neill Franklin speaking in Philadelphia – by C. David Freitag
5/13/2011 – Tonight in Washington DC there was a memorial for police officers killed in the line of duty. One of those keeping vigil was Neill Franklin. He worked undercover on the streets of Baltimore but now he is one of America’s leading voices calling for an end to the war on drugs as the executive director of LEAP, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition.
Franklin spent a career in Baltimore and then at the Maryland State Police Academy, so he has been to the event before, but in a different capacity. He attended the candlelight memorial service this year to honor his partner, Ed Toatley, who was shot during a cocaine buy in 2000 while on an FBI assignment.
Neill’s perspective is both moving and resolute. Still, this was the first time he attended Police Week as the director of LEAP.
We caught up with Neill for a telephone interview as he kept up a busy schedule.
Tell us about why you are attending the memorial event tonight?
Many years ago there was fund started to erect a police officer’s memorial in Washington DC. It’s similar to Viet Nam Memorial where the names are carved into stone. Every year the officers that die in the line of duty are engraved into the memorial with thousands of others. But during Police Week they they also have bike rides, torch runs – one from Philadelphia all the way down to DC Friday- and the vigil at 8:00pm.
It has been many years since I was at this event. The work I’m doing right now with LEAP kind of rung a bell for me …this October was 11 years since Ed Toatley’s assassination. I thought well this year I’m going back to DC for the vigil to celebrate and remember his life and try to make a stament this week that we can save officers lives by ending the war on drugs.
It’s not just police officers here in the US but many hundreds of officers are dying in Mexico, Venezuala, all over the world really. So it’s an international statement we’re making as well.
Chris I have to tell you that this is not a popular position to take among the law enforcement community.
So while I’m at the memorial yeah it’s probably going to be a little awkward if I’m in conversations with the other folks there; who are there to honor those who fallen. But if you look back at history there are so many things were never popular at the beginning – but it has to be done.
Have you seen some thawing on the part of active law enforcement that you have encountered when it comes to prohibition?
There has been more of that at the bottom of the ranks; at the patrol officer level, those out in the streets.
First of all they understand that this is a numbers game – to use the example of New York City; how can we miss that? Fifty thousand arrests! They know it’s a numbers game they see it’s a numbers game. This is how the federal funding comes into the coffers of local law enforcement agencies.
But if we at LEAP continue to do what we do, at least educate these officers to get the facts about the war on drugs – if they pause to let it sink in – they realize that this also makes their job much more dangerous than it needs to be.
When we talk about the Drug War many people many think of it in academic terms, but you experienced it right at the front of the conflict. It seems like police are given an awful job here to make war on their own communities?
This is what has happened. But because of our drug policies, over time, police have now become somewhat removed or physically separated themselves from their communities.
I’ve got to mention this – When I was growing up in Baltimore city the teenagers would all hang out at the end of my block. We weren’t the best kids … we did mischievous things. Some would smoke marijuana down there in the hood. But when the police car turned at the top of the hill no one scattered or yelled 5-0. But we walked over to the car and greeted Officer Rex. And if we were doing something that we shouldn’t be doing he would say ‘DON’T DO THAT! ‘and we stopped.
But he was part of the community. If something were to happen, if something were to go down and Officer Rex was to get in the middle of some real trouble, that community would be there to support and protect him. Let me ask you – Would that happen today?
Now that same neighborhood when the police car turns the corner the people scatter. If there is any communication at all there is no greeting.
This shift in relationship between police and community rests on the foundation of prohibition.
Back when was I was policing undercover I never carried a gun. We went out and worked our cases, many times without backup. That was the 1980s. Today it is unheard of to work without backup and firearm. That tells you how dangerous this job has become.
If the police were in fact a part of the community – which they should be because they often spend more time in the community they police than their homes – But if the police were just there to take a violent person out of the community they would have overwhelming support. That is how it should be.
So can these soldiers, our police, can they come around to get that community relationship back?
I believe so. It wouldn’t happen overnight. We have to begin by handling this huge wall that is put between them and their communities and it really is prohibition.
That’s why they go to search homes; for drugs. That’s why they search cars and search people, all looking for drugs. If you remove prohibition you can begin to re-build that relationship.
Because of this policy police are put in an awkward position. When you have people dying among them they shut down more and more ….they expect to deal with the worst. The policy creates the criminal market and that’s what creates the violence. Why are so many guns in our community today? Prohibition is the foundation of that too.
So there’s a real need, a necessity, to breakdown this huge barrier that has been constructed over the past 40 years.
Many of us thought we would never see the Berlin Wall come down – why can’t we do that here? Let’s end the madness of prohibition so that we can reduce the overall violence in America.
Learn more: Law Enforcement Against Prohibition http://leap.cc
[Editor’s Note – Also asked Neill about the NYC undercover encounter, look for his thoughts on that in a future post.]
Questions? [email protected]
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.
National Park Service Police move in on the marijuana legalization protest "Smoke Down Prohibition" May 18, 2013
5/19/13 – Federal Park Rangers and Philadelphia City Police disrupted the monthly “Smoke Down Prohibition” protest at the Liberty Bell calling for marijuana legalization and made several dramatic arrests.
On Saturday May 18, 2013 a crowd about 150 gathered in front of Independence Hall.
At 4:20PM, the moment when much of the crowd participates in civil disobedience by openly smoking cannabis, dozens of law enforcement moved into the crowd.
Those on stage speaking to the crowd were targeted for detainment, including one of the organizers.
Video: http://youtu.be/NTHBC6JOc4M
There were at least five arrests, including NA Poe of the comedy crew The Panic Hour.
Also arrested were Adam Kokesh host of AdamVsTheMan and Don DeZarn a New Jersey Libertarian candidate for US Senate.
Ed “NJWeedman” Forchion was briefly detained but released. One unidentified woman was roughly carried away but also quickly released.
The protests take place in front of Independence Hall permanently reserved by the National Park Service for First Amendment activity. Despite the targeted arrests and a heavy police presence, dozens in the crowd continued the action by openly smoking marijuana from 4:20PM-4:45PM.
At four previous “Smoke Down Prohibition” events there were no arrests or citations.
NA Poe and Adam Kokesh are still being held in the Federal Detention Facility at 7th and Arch Streets. A solidarity demonstration will take place in front of the jail today starting at 2:00PM.
“What was originally a rally to highlight issues regarding cannabis prohibition has shown that our First Amendment rights are not protected by the park rangers and police,” said PhillyNORML Executive Director Kevin Clough.
The Panic Hour issued this statement: “These arrests are the beginning of a long fight we have ahead of us to end cannabis prohibition and maintain our right to free speech.”
FB Solidarity Event – https://www.facebook.com/events/194482224036867/
The N.A. Poe Defense Fund – http://fundly.com/the-n-a-poe-defense-fund
