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You know, the real problem here is the fact that this woman and her friends are incredibly boring – pot or not. Don’t go blaming the weed.

The captions become increasingly funny though. They include:

“Do marijuana smoking men make good husbands? Are they reliable? Responsible?”
“While many claim to function well on grass, outside observers disagree.”
“Marijuana can be a gateway to other drugs, such as mescaline.” [Really? Mescaline? Who can get their hands on that stuff?]

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

Other blogs:

Opensalon.com

Silly Lists of Nothingness

The Most Boring Blog Ever

12/8/2011 – It seems that student government is ahead of the state legislature in New Jersey. Seventy-five percent of Rowan University student senators voted to support a state bill to reduce penalties for adults possessing cannabis.

The bill to decriminalize possession of up to 15 grams of marijuana, A4252, was introduced in Trenton this summer. A4252 came out strong with eighteen bi-partisan co-sponsors in the Assembly, but a companion bill has not been introduced in the state Senate.

A4252 would make possession an “infraction” instead of a “misdemeanor” and create a tiered set of fines for those over the age of 21 ranging from $150-$500. Those under 21 would also need to attend an education class.

The Rowan University Student Government is the first in the state to formally support the bill. The final vote among the student senators was 70 in favor, 20 against and 2 abstentions

There are over 26,000 arrests every year in New Jersey for marijuana, about 85% of those arrests are for possession of less than 50 grams.

New York State decriminalized marijuana possession in 1979 and Connecticut passed a decrim law earlier this year. There are 14 states that have reduced penalties for adults possesing cannabis. NORML Decrim map

The Rowan senators can count on public support as well. A Rutgers-Eagleton poll on November 30, 2011 found that 58% of New Jersey residents favor decriminalizing marijuana for adults.

Rowan student senator Phillip Simmons, who is also president of the campus chapter of Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP), said, “I am happy that the Rowan Senate voted in favor of this bill because it means that the student body recognizes the unfair, unjust, and crippling effects of the current law.”

Rowan Student Government Supports NJ Bill No. A4252 An Act to decriminalize possession of 15 grams or less of marijuana. from Phil Simmons on Vimeo.

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]

4/12/2011 – The nascent medical marijuana program in New Jersey may change the laboratory research landscape for cannabis. Several of the first six Alternative Treatment Centers are planning heavy investments (tens of millions of dollars) into lab equipment and manpower. Although explained away as regulatory compliance the long-term profits from this type of science could be substantial.

In other states the legal medical marijuana industry consists of small businesses using a holistic model of care. The Garden State is  exploring a centralized system modeled on corporate health care instead. This could be the biggest change yet for the domestic medical cannabis market.

The result could be a disaster for patients like Sandy Faiola in Asbury Park, NJ and Charles Kwiatkowski in Hazlet who both live with Multiple Sclerosis. They joined well-known MS patient Montel Williams on a recent Dr. Oz Show. All three use raw Cannabis flowers to treat their symptoms and they all must access the underground market for relief.

New Jersey’s draft regulations – set to be finalized in May – call for each licensed facility to grow just three strains of cannabis, all of them less than 10 percent THC. Patients would only be allowed two ounces per month. The soviet-style regulated supply will be inadequate for Chuck and Sandy. They may continue to face arrest even though they have supporting physicians and would fully qualify for the program because they will need to find better quality pot on the street.

The dust never really settled in NJ for the medical marijuana debate, the battle lines only shifted. Governor Chris Christie, a conservative Republican with national presence, has been right in the middle since his first day in office. While bulldozing through a difficult budget, the characteristically aggressive Governor also rolled his heavy tracks over local AIDS and cancer patients. He successfully delayed the implementation of the compassionate use law for over a year, now Christie is pushing forward a set of regulations for therapeutic cannabis have their roots in deepest bedrock of big-money politics.

Half of the first six Alternative Treatment Centers were awarded to groups who have close ties right back to the Christie Administration. Democrats suddenly got a green thumb too; another licensed ATC has the Deputy Majority Leader in the State Assembly, Thomas Giblin, on the medical advisory board.

Then the two top officials at the Department of Health and Senior Services who have overseen the NJ medical marijuana program for over a year, Dr. Poonam Alaigh and Dr. Susan Walsh,  resigned just after the ATC awards. It was a strange and still unexplained twist, but somehow par for the course in NJ.

Now, even the most politically connected marijuana production centers in the country are still complaining about Governor Christie’s very unscientific ‘ten-percent cap’ on THC potency. Because of federal prohibitions cannabis research in the United States is very limited. By exploiting the current conflict between state and federal law the ATCs in New Jersey could be used to study marijuana and its component cannabinoids for pharmaceutical endeavors years down the road. Limiting THC might interfere with the super-lab concept.

But Sandy, Chuck and Montel don’t need research or something years away. Thousands like them risk arrest every day as Governor Christie demonizes medical marijuana programs in other states while select politicos are awarded the pot futures. The Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act had a model to bring sick and terminal patients out of the underground marijuana market. It was not passed as a plan to turn marijuana into a processed pharmaceutical.

Thankfully the Legislature is ready to act. Senator Nicholas Scutari has introduced SCR151, a resolution that would invalidate the worst parts of Governor Christie’s proposed regulations. The rare legislative maneuver is meant to maintain the integrity of the compassionate use law and the state Constitution.  If successful, the move could re-focus the regulations on the patients instead of business interests. The Senate and the Assembly have already passed similar resolutions and it would not require the Governor’s signature.

Still, the fact that health insurance companies, pharmaceutical manufactures, mainstream political players and hospital groups now actually own most of New Jersey’s regulated marijuana market is a major sea-change for the issue. The debate is no longer centered on whether medical cannabis should be legal or not but who makes the money.

Seriously ill and terminal residents use marijuana safely every day. Humans have used it for thousands of years and American medical cannabis is already turning a healthy profit.  But the big green bubble of the US cannabis economy is inflated only by federal policy; the current cost for high-grade medical cannabis is simply the price of prohibition. The mainstream corporate interests looking to farm some of that cash have found fertile ground in the Garden State.

Birdwatcher and troublemaker Robin Brown of Hollywood, Florida, was arrested after Broward County Sheriffs found her in possession…of sage, which they suspected was marijuana. And get this: the field kit that the police used tested positive for narcotics. Now she is suing over the wrongful arrest.

So much for sage clearing away negative energy.

 

Just because you’re buzzed doesn’t mean life stops being annoying. In a perfect world, we’d beam ourselves to a hassle-free planet and ride unicorns and eat marshmallow pies all day.

Until then, we must deal with these 10 buzz kills:

1. Cops

The uniform, the car, the militaristic attitude…goodbye buzz, hello “Can you step out of the vehicle?” (If you’re lucky, it’s a stripper cop and it’s all a great big joke with a sexy ending.)

2. Losing Stuff

My friend Lisa had a rule of thumb: get everything ready before you get stoned. Everything. If you wait until after, you will search endlessly for your keys, phone or general purpose in life. And never find it…never find it.

3. Frigid Temperatures

When I was a flannel-wearing teen lass, I used to hang out at an arcade in South Jersey. Our long-haired gang would pop into the woods on an icy winter’s night to light up. We’d all wonder why we didn’t feel high…until we went back into the arcade and our high would thaw out, just like magic! Head magic.

4. The Rambler

Nothing can be more deadly to a perfectly good high than the Rambler, who starts a story with no intentions of ending it. And because you’re high, you can’t muster up the energy to interject. So instead, you get sucked in, deeper and deeper. Soon your buzz has been bored right the hell out of you, never to return. (The Lecturer has a similar effect.)

5. Your Mother

Okay, some of you get high with your mom and she’s so cool and blah, blah, blah. But parents are similar to cops; you feel like you’ve done something wrong by merely being in their presence. They’re judging, watching all the time. And don’t you forget it.

6.  A Blow to the Head

Once during a party I got hit on the head by a lamp while pulling my coat out of the closet. Boom – high completely gone. Fucking lamp.

7. Monsters

They’re fun in the movies but when they are in your living room, they are unpredictable, angry and messy (because of the green goo). They also will eat your weed and projectile vomit it back up, which isn’t pleasant and a waste of perfectly good weed.

8. Dental Work

I thought it would be a good idea to smoke a little prior to some extensive dental work I had years back. Unfortunately, it just heightened the torturous sensations. Pretty soon, I thought the dentist had it out for me like Olivier in Marathon Man. My buzz was literally drilled out of my head.

9. Existential Angst

There is no god. You are all alone. The people are laughing at you and you look ridiculous. The world feels dry, chalky and desolate and you’re the only scrap of humanity left. The best you can do is listen to some Pink Floyd and embrace the painful truth. Cheetos may help but I make no guarantees.

10. Alien Abduction

I know, it depend on the alien, of course. Some aliens are totally down for a good time but others are into naval probing and mind melding. I find the smaller, ET-style aliens are much more easy going than the ones with the two rows of teeth.

So watch out for buzz kills. Life is short and highs aren’t cheap. Remember: you can always just walk away…even from the cops. Especially from the cops. Go do your own thing. Create your own world. Screw everyone else. Marshmallow pies await you, my friend.

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

Jahan Marcu is currently investigating the pharmacology of cannabinoid receptors. He was working at the California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute when exciting discoveries were made showing enhanced anti-cancer effects with THC and CBD from the Cannabis plant. The findings were published in the Journal of Molecular Cancer Therapeutics. In 2009 he received the Billy Martin Award from the International Cannabinoid Research Society (ICRS). Jahan is currently the vice-chair the Medical and Scientific Advisory Board at Americans for Safe Access (ASA).  He enjoys nuclear magnetic resonance and The Original Ghostbusters.

Contact:  science { at } freedomisgreen.com

Other blogs

www.cannabination.com

The Philadelphia Medical Marijuana Examiner

President Reagan meets Jonathan Magbie. At 27 years old, Jonathan would die on the floor of a Washington DC city jail. In 2004 he was arrested for smoking a marijuana blunt to ease the pain he endured as a quadriplegic. photo

6/17/2011 by Chris Goldstein – When President Nixon signed an Executive Order on June 17, 1971 it sent the United States down a costly path of prohibition. This misguided effort pits Americans against each other in a never-ending battle of biology, psychology and human nature. The result has been a nuclear reactor of violence and deadly addiction.

The “War on Drugs” is not a slogan. Ask any Police Officer. Ask anyone who lives in Trenton, Philadelphia or Camden. This is a pitched battle right in our streets and in our homes.  Thousands have lost their lives. Millions have gone to prison. Trillions of tax dollars have been spent at every level. There has never been a measurable result, only more victims.

I have seen many levels of this war in person. In high school my Quaker group helped tutor middle-school students in Camden. Spending time in the neighborhoods over the years brought the open air drug trade into quick focus. Then in the late 1990′s I was employed on a contract to test various housing projects in Philadelphia for lead paint. Armed with a computer pack and an x-ray gun we walked through thousands of occupied units in high rises and row homes. This is the no man’s land, communities that have been obliterated by the constant shelling.

For the last decade I have been working on marijuana law reform because it is the key to solving the drug war problem. Cannabis chalks up more arrests every year in the US than for all other drugs combined. The irony is that it was not supposed to be included under criminal prohibitions at all.

When President Nixon made that devastating order in 1971 marijuana was classified with drugs like cocaine as a temporary measure.  Nixon tapped a fellow Republican who had just stepped down as Pennsylvania governor to find out how cannabis should be treated. Raymond P. Shafer led The National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse.

This team of sociologists, psychologists, physicians, lawmakers and policy experts toured the country to conduct careful research and observations. Shafer then led the effort to craft the strikingly candid final report: “Marihuana: A Signal of Misunderstanding.” The conclusion was that cannabis should not remain in the narcotic drugs scheme. The Commission went further, recommending that personal possession of cannabis – even transfer for no remuneration – should be decriminalized.

If President Nixon had followed that careful advice we would have never fought a war against marijuana. Instead we would have eventually regulated the cannabis markets for recreation and medication. Hemp farming would be a valuable part of our agricultural economy and sustainable products. But Nixon was not pleased with the Commissions’ assessments and chose to leave them out of policy.

The “War on Drugs” is not a slogan. It is fought with laws, bullets, money, prison cells and human beings. It is fought in front of us every day. And it can stop. A real truce is to begin treating serious drug addiction as a public health problem. In order to pay for that treatment and research we need to legalize marijuana.

But this also brings up the bigger picture: Ending marijuana prohibition and signing a final armistice for the drug war could swiftly jumpstart the national economy – at a time when we need it the most. The tremendous influx of tax revenue from cannabis is already being realized in some places through medical marijuana. This is where the missing jobs could be found, in the millions.

Ending the drug war is the most important social justice and economic policy change we need to make today. After 40 years of failure it is time to try something new.

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]

4/28/2011 – State Senator Daylin Leach (D-17) re-introduced Pennsylvania’s medical marijuana bill on April 25th. The issue has strong public support, Franklin & Marshall polling in 2010 showed that 80 percent of residents are in favor of a medical cannabis law.

Senator Leach issued this statement on Wednesday April 27th: “I’m happy to have re-introduced Senate Bill 1003 and am hopeful it will be brought up for consideration by the Legislature. It is a common-sense bill that would simply give sick people access to medication so they feel better. Countless studies show marijuana can alleviate the side effects of many diseases. It’s time we give Pennsylvanians access to the treatment they need and deserve.”

SB 1003 would legalize the use of cannabis for residents with serious medical conditions such as cancer, Multiple Sclerosis and HIV/AIDS. The bill includes provisions for a system of Compassion Centers, ID cards for patients, home cultivation and sales tax.

Senators Larry Farnese, James Ferlo and Wayne Fontana are the initial co-sponsors. The bill has been referred to the Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee. READ SB 1003

PA residents may contact their legislators via www.pa4mmj.org

Found this video while browsing through the lovely website, UK-based Dope-Smoker. (Take note of their clean, contemporary design. There are so many collegiate-looking weed sites out there bogged down with too much green and pot leaves – nice to see something more modern.)

On a lighter note, my picks for the very few holiday tunes that don’t want me want to impale myself with skewers:

12/5/2011 – New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and the entire New Jersey Legislature got a big green wake-up call from voters last week. A Rutgers-Eagleton poll found overwhelming support for medical marijuana (86%) and a majority (58%) strongly favoring the decriminalization of cannabis possession. So what is driving the continued groundswell for cannabis reform?

Freedomisgreen.com spoke with Rutgers Professor David Redlawsk, who managed the poll. Redlawsk said that the results for medical marijuana showcased unprecedented level of public support.

Asked if any other issue came close Redlawsk replied, “I don’t think we’ve run across anything that positive in any issue we have looked at… A recent example is that we’ve polled in the 70s [percent range] for what has been dubbed the ‘Millionaire’s Tax.’”

The New Jersey Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act was passed two years ago but the Christie Administration has not fully implemented the law. The program has been overburdened with strict regulations that are unique compared to other states like a 10% cap on THC, a physician registry and a questionable facility selection process. Not a single NJ patient has been allowed to register or gain legal protections. Many patients have already given up on the program and have turned to the underground market for relief.

A bill that would remove criminal penalties for adults in possession of 15 grams of marijuana or less was introduced this summer with a strong group of bi-partisan co-sponsors. But A4252 has yet to receive a committee hearing or a floor debate in Trenton.

Professor Redlawsk explained why the marijuana questions were posed to voters. “We are celebrating the 40^th anniversary of the Rutgers-Eagleton poll and we’re asking some of the original questions.”

An interesting coincidence is that the poll started in 1972, the same year that cannabis was locked into Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act by the Nixon Administration.

Redlawsk explained that voters age 60+ have driven up the overall percentages for marijuana reform in 2011. “The reason we see an increase in support at all levels of this question is that older people are more supportive. Young people remain as supportive…almost as they always were.”

Politicians might want to take note (in bold and underlined) that senior voters have not changed their college-age views about cannabis.  Unfortunately it also highlights that elected officials at the state and federal level have ignored the will of the people throughout modern cannabis prohibition.

The Rutgers poll is the second time in three years that voters have polled 86% in favor of medical marijuana. Again, the most popular public policy issue in the state.

Action link- NJ residents can send emails supporting decrim bill A4252 online http://capwiz.com/norml2/issues/alert/?alertid=50985736

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]