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Pot-related questions deluge W.H. By: John Ward Anderson March 26, 2009 12:12 PM EST When the White House put out a call for town hall questions, they might not have been expecting this. The more than 92,000 people who responded either have Cheech and Chong senses of humor, or there is a deep concern in America –undetected by the media — about the decriminalization of marijuana, its possible use for medicinal purposes and its potential as a new source of tax revenue. Given the opportunity to say what’s really on their minds without going through the filter of the mainstream...

One week after President Barack Obama's top law enforcement official seemed to indicate the feds would no longer raid pot clubs, DEA agents busted a medical marijuana facility in San Francisco Wednesday night. As agents carried large plastic containers of marijuana plants out of Emmalyn's California Cannabis Clinic at 1597 Howard Street, a small crowd of protesters formed a gauntlet outside the door, booing the agents and chanting, "our medicine is marijuana … listen to Obama!" DEA spokeswoman Casey McEnry told CBS 5 the documents regarding the raid are sealed, so the DEA was not able to give any details....

Celebrating the 10th anniversary of a landmark scientific studyTen years ago today, the use of medical marijuana went from fringe to mainstream. March 17, 2009 marks the 10-year-anniversary of the publication of the Institute for Medicine's landmark study on medical cannabis: Marijuana and Medicine: Assessing the Science Base. At the time this report was commissioned, in response to the passage of California's Compassionate Use Act of 1996, many in the public and the mainstream media were skeptical about pot's potential therapeutic value. The publication of the Institute for Medicine's findings—which concluded that marijuana possessed medicinal properties to treat and control...

This obscure clinical manifestation of severe vomiting sickness due to chronic abuse of marijuana, recognized by Dr. Sontineni and his colleagues at the Creighton University of Omaha, NE, was published on March 14, 2009 World Journal of Gastroenterology. Recent research into the neurobiology of cannabis has led to the identification of different receptor types including two specific types that mediate neuropsychiatric and immunologic effects. According to Dr. Sontineni, doctors and health care workers currently under recognize the syndrome leading to delayed diagnosis and expensive diagnostic investigations. Increasing consistent use of marijuana among United States populations, particularly young people, over several...

ScienceDaily (Mar. 20, 2009) — Marijuana, a commonly abused drug among high school and college students, is linked to a severe form of vomiting syndrome and compulsive bathing behavior. This form of severe vomiting sickness is increasingly recognized with widespread abuse of marijuana. The syndrome usually subsides with strict abstinence from marijuana abuse. This obscure clinical manifestation of severe vomiting sickness due to chronic abuse of marijuana was recognized by Dr. Sontineni and his colleagues at the Creighton University of Omaha, NE.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Attorney General Eric Holder has signaled a change in policy on medical marijuana.

Could marijuana be the answer to the economic misery facing California? Democratic State Assembly member Tom Ammiano thinks so. Ammiano introduced legislation last month that would legalize pot and allow the state to regulate and tax its sale - a move that could mean billions for the cash-strapped state. Pot is, after all, California's biggest cash crop, responsible for $14 billion in annual sales, dwarfing the state's second largest agricultural commodity - milk and cream - which brings in $7.3 billion annually, according to the most recent USDA statistics. The state's tax collectors estimate the bill would bring in about...

Video of Ron Paul debating Stephen Baldwin about the legalization of marijuana on Larry King Live March 13, 2009.

WATERBURY — John Carusello has sold pipes and related products for 30 years at his Lakewood Road shop, and he would love to see his customers put those products to use without fear of jail. "We sell everything for tobacco," Carusello said, carefully, from behind a counter stocked with glass pipes in a wide range of colors, shapes and sizes. What goes in those pipes when the customers go home, Carusello said, is not his business. "We don't ask." A bill now under review by the legislature's Judiciary Committee would create some peace of mind for many of Carusello's customers,...

GLENN BECK, HOST: Marijuana brownies, anyone? This is the worst — the people in our green room, I'm happy to say it's clear they've never been high. I'm going to ask you what's wrong with this picture. Chicago is trying to fix $50 million budget — their budget gap by taxing car rentals in suburban areas. And now, California is talking about legalizing marijuana and taxing marijuana to solve their budget problems. Rob Kampia is the executive director for the Marijuana Policy Project. How are you doing — how are you doing, Rob? ROB KAMPIA, MARIJUANA POLICY PROJECT: Doing well....

DEA to halt medical marijuana raids Holder confirms states to have final say on use of drug for pain control By Alex Johnson Feb. 27, 2009 Supporters of programs to provide legal marijuana to patients with painful medical conditions are celebrating Attorney General Eric Holder’s statement this week that the Drug Enforcement Administration would end its raids on state-approved marijuana dispensaries. Federal raids on medical marijuana distributors continued at least into the second week of Barack Obama’s presidency, when federal agents shut down at least two dispensaries in California on Feb. 3. Holder was asked about those raids Wednesday in...

No charges will be filed against American swim star Michael Phelps from his being photographed with a pipe typically used to smoke marijuana, police announced on Monday. Richland County Sheriff Leon Lett said that after a full investigation into the November party at which Phelps was photographed, touching off a controversy that led to a three-month ban, there was not enough evidence to charge anyone. Police confiscated the bong, whose owner reportedly tried to sell the now-infamous pipe for 100,000 dollars on eBay, and questioned people regarding the party after learning it was staged near the University of South Carolina.

SEATTLE — Washington State law prohibits the possession of marijuana except for certain medical purposes. Hempfest is not one of them. Yet each summer when the event draws thousands to the Seattle waterfront to call for decriminalizing marijuana, participants light up in clear view of police officers. And they rarely get arrested. “Police officers patrolling are courteous and respectful,” said Alison Holcomb, drug policy director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington. One reason for the officers’ approach, said Ms. Holcomb and others who follow law enforcement in Seattle, is the leadership of R. Gil Kerlikowske, the chief of...

COLUMBIA, South Carolina (AFP) – Police have made eight arrests in connection with the party that led to publication of a photograph of Beijing Olympic hero Michael Phelps, television station WIS reported Tuesday. Phelps, the American swim star who won a record eight gold medals at Beijing six months ago, was not among those charged in a probe by the Richland County Sheriff's Department, according to the report. Seven arrests were made for drug possession and another for distribution of drugs, with arrests resulting from search warrants served by the sheriff's department as part of their probe, WIS reported. None...

AN OPEN LETTER TO KELLOGG'S February 8, 2009 -- Whereas . . . 1) Kellogg's is a major manufacturer of cereal and junk food products including but not limited to Frosted Flakes, Pop Tarts, Cheez-Its, Froot Loops, Keebler's Cookies, Rice Krispies, Eggo Frozen Waffles, Famous Amos Cookies and many other products known to be a part of the diet of many marijuana using Americans. 2) The Kellogg's has profited for decades on the food tastes of marijuana using Americans with the munchies. In fact, we believe that most people over the age of 12 would not eat Kellogg's products were...

Obama May Change Medical Marijuana Policy Experts believe it is already clear the Obama administration will change the strategy, if not the law, on medical marijuana. Saturday, February 07, 2009 The White House won't say it explicitly. Neither will the Drug Enforcement Administration. Yet there is a whiff in the air that U.S. policy is about to change when it comes to medical marijuana

And then President Obama, and then George W. Bush, and then Bill Clinton . . . Michael Phelps, the aquatic icon who won eight gold medals at the 2008 Olympics, has violated the law. When a photograph of him smoking a bongful of marijuana was published, he admitted the crime. The same crime for which the better part of a million people were arrested last year. Shouldn’t Phelps be charged? Along with President Obama and his two predecessors, all of whom, it seems, used illegal drugs? If not, perhaps it is time to have a serious debate about the drug...

Marijuana has been in the news lately thanks to that infamous photo of Olympic swimming champ Michael Phelps puffing on a bong. But imagine Phelps had been smoking a joint instead. It turns out he would have been contributing to the national coffers. There is a small federal tax on rolling papers and it is about to get bigger. I came upon that bit of trivia while researching the children's health insurance bill that passed Congress yesterday and was promptly signed by President Obama. The new program will be partially funded by big increases in smoking taxes. That includes taxes...

Key sponsors Speedo, Omega back Michael Phelps after apology for marijuana pipe photo Two of Michael Phelps' leading sponsors expressed support for the Olympic great Monday, a day after he apologized for being photographed in a British newspaper inhaling from a marijuana pipe. Luxury Swiss watchmaker Omega termed Phelps' actions a private matter and "nonissue." Swim wear manufacturer Speedo called the 23-year-old American a "valued member of the Speedo team." Phelps acknowledged "regrettable" behavior and "bad judgment" after the photo appeared Sunday in the tabloid News of the World. Speedo gave Phelps a $1 million bonus for his record eight...

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Olympic superstar Michael Phelps could face criminal charges as part of the fallout from a photo that surfaced showing the swimmer smoking from a marijuana pipe at a University of South Carolina house party. A spokesman for Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott, who is known for his tough stance on drugs, said Tuesday the department was investigating. "Our narcotics division is reviewing the information that we have, and they're investigating what charges, if any, will be filed," said Lt. Chris Cowan, a spokesman for agency.

Marijuana Users Experience Withdrawal Symptoms, Typical of Drug Addiction Marijuana Addiction Characterized By Withdrawal Symptoms, Study Shows Atlanta, GA 1/28/2009 08:20 PM GMT (TransWorldNews) Marijuana use is often described by users as ‘recreational’ and ‘non-addictive'. These same users will, however, experience withdrawal symptoms when they stop using marijuana, a study shows. “Marijuana is generally not considered an addictive drug,” comments Mary Rieser, Executive Director for Atlanta Recovery Center, Narconon Drug Rehab GA. “Studies and interviews with people going through drug rehab have shown all the signs of withdrawal: irritability, restlessness, headaches, depression, and cravings for the drug.” A study by...

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Olympic great Michael Phelps has acknowledged "regrettable" behavior and "bad judgment" after a photo in a British newspaper showed him smoking marijuana.

THIS is the astonishing picture which could destroy the career of the greatest competitor in Olympic history. In our exclusive photo Michael Phelps, who won a record EIGHT gold medals for swimming at the Beijing games last summer, draws from a bong. The glass pipes are generally used to smoke cannabis. And after sporting chiefs announced laws which mean four-year bans for drug-taking, Phelps’ dreams of adding to his overall 14 gold medal tally at the 2012 games in London could already be OVER. GOLDEN BOY: Phelps at Beijing Those dreams seemed the last thing on his mind when he...

PAPER: OLYMPIC HERO PICTURED SMOKING BONG... DEVELOPING... 'NEWS OF THE WORLD' SET TO ROCK SPORTS WITH SHOCK PHOTO, STORY...

Medical marijuana dispensary raided at Tahoe The Associated Press Published: Saturday, Jan. 24, 2009 SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. -- Federal agents have raided a medical marijuana dispensary at South Lake Tahoe. Five agents from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency were joined by local and federal authorities when they served a search warrant Thursday on Patient to Patient Collective. DEA Special Agent Gordon Taylor says agents seized between five and 10 pounds of processed marijuana and a small amount of U.S. currency from the dispensary. Taylor declined to release additional details on the raid, saying the dispensary is part of an...

San Diego County filed papers this week asking the U.S. Supreme Court to erase California's medical marijuana law, arguing that federal prohibitions outlawing the substance supersede California's law allowing sick people to use it. The county is asking the nation's highest court to overturn a state appellate court's July decision upholding the voter-approved law legalizing marijuana use for medicinal purposes. "You have a conflict here between federal and state law, and we are in the middle," 5th District Supervisor Bill Horn said Friday. "What we have been asking all along is which takes precedence here. We will take it as...

Esquire magazine recently reported that representatives from Barack Obama's administration team admit the president-elect will give strong consideration to decriminalizing marijuana by the end of his tenure in office. Those remarks follow comments issued last summer by Rep. Barney Frank (D-Massachusetts), who introduced H.R. 5843 -- an act to remove federal penalties for the use of marijuana by "responsible adults." According to CNN, the liberal lawmaker "doesn't think it's the government's business to tell you how to spend your leisure time." Lending the Esquire article additional credence is an interview with Obama, recorded in January 2004, during which the then-U.S....

Border fence workers arrested for marijuana smuggling Mission police arrested three construction workers for the controversial border fence after they allegedly smuggled marijuana from Mexico and took a lunch break at a local Burger King (Video)

Famously, Franklin Delano Roosevelt saved the United States banking system during the first seven days of his first term. And what did he do on the eighth day? "I think this would be a good time for beer," he said. Congress had already repealed Prohibition, pending ratification from the states. But the people needed a lift, and legalizing beer would create a million jobs. And lo, booze was back. Two days after the bill passed, Milwaukee brewers hired six hundred people and paid their first $10 million in taxes. Soon the auto industry was tooling up the first $12 million...

A jury sentenced a Lakeview man to 10 years in prison for growing nearly 7,500 marijuana plants. Andrew Stever, 40, was sentenced on Monday after a three-day trial in the Federal District Court in Medford.Ten years is the mandatory minimum sentence for anyone convicted of growing 1,000 or more pot plants. In July 2007, officers from several local, state and federal agencies found 7,459 plants growing on Stever's Lakeview property, which bordered Forest Service land. Two men fled the scene, leaving behind personal property and three firearms, according to the U.S. attorney's office in Portland. Physical evidence and testimony linked...

Tags: Albert Einstein defined insanity as doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting different results. His definition fits America’s war on drugs, a multi-billion dollar, four-decade exercise in futility. The war on drugs has helped turn the United States into the country with the world’s largest prison population. (Noteworthy statistic: The U.S. has 5 percent of the world’s population and around 25 percent of the world’s prisoners). Keen demand for illicit drugs in America, the world’s biggest market, helped spawn global criminal enterprises that use extreme violence in the pursuit of equally extreme profits. Over the years, the war on...

Today the California Supreme Court ruled that people who merely provide marijuana to patients for medical use do not qualify as "primary caregivers" under the Compassionate Use Act, which means they are not allowed to grow or possess the drug.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Someone who supplies marijuana to a patient who has a doctor's approval for it can be prosecuted for drug-dealing, the state Supreme Court ruled today in a narrow interpretation of California's medical marijuana law. Advocates on both sides of the case agreed that the unanimous ruling would encourage Californians to obtain medical marijuana from patient cooperatives, which are authorized by a 2003 state law, rather than from an individual supplier. "Ideally, it (the ruling) won't have a tremendous effect," said Joseph Elford, a lawyer for Americans for Safe Access, a pro-medical marijuana group. "Patients will now increasingly...

Voters yesterday overwhelmingly approved a ballot initiative to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana, making getting caught with less than an ounce of pot punishable by a civil fine of $100. The change in the law means someone found carrying dozens of joints will no longer be reported to the state's criminal history board. With about 90 percent of the state's precincts reporting last night, voters favored the Question 2 proposition 65 percent to 35 percent. ...

A misguided joint initiative November 7, 2008 THE QUESTION 2 initiative to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana should be Exhibit 1 in the case against using ballot questions to make public policy. What seemed so simple to 65 percent of the state's voters on Tuesday - replacing the criminal penalties for possession of 1 ounce or less of marijuana with a civil penalty of $100 - is already fogging the legal landscape. Supporters of Question 2 sold the public on the idea that the penalty for pot possession should be on a par with traffic violations. But traffic...

The War on Pot Is a War on Young People By Paul Armentano, AlterNet Paul Armentano delivered this speech at NORML’s 2008 National Conference, "It's Not Your Parents' Prohibition" in Berkeley, Calif. Young people, in many cases those under 18 years of age, disproportionately bear the brunt of marijuana law enforcement. Demographically speaking, the above statement is a "no-brainer." Yet this is hardly a fact that we as a reform community like to admit or emphasize. Instead, you'll hear reformers argue that the war on pot is a war on patients -- and at some level, it is. Or you'll...

PORTERVILLE, Calif. — National forests and parks — long popular with Mexican marijuana-growing cartels — have become home to some of the most polluted pockets of wilderness in America because of the toxic chemicals needed to eke lucrative harvests from rocky mountainsides, federal officials said. The grow sites have taken hold from the West Coast's Cascade Mountains, as well as on federal lands in Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia.

With over 625 members - and over $1,000 in donations to Barack Obama in the name of the group we are united to declare that The War on Drugs is another "Dumb" war! Unfortunately, it is also a forgotten war. Nobody in any campaign is talking about it but the real answer is obvious and inevitable. Our group does not endorse illegal drug use, but we do denounce a hopeless war against our own citizens, which is only profiting the large Alcohol interests and sends millions of dollars out of our economy into criminal circles. Infringing on personal freedoms only...

What youth groups did Obama belong to? Boy Scouts, Royal Rangrs, Young Pioneers? I got to thinking, he never join the military, was he even a boy scout?

As the news media and country gets to know John McCain's vice presidential pick, Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska, tidbits are being dug from their archives (or sent to them by opposition researchers.)MTV unearthed a videotaped interview with Palin done in February where she praises and identifies with Ron Paul's independence from the "party machinery".MTV Video at story link.Politico dug up a quote by Palin from two years ago discussing whether she tried smoking pot:Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is known as a staunch social conservative. She's a life long NRA member, belongs to an anti-abortion-rights group called Feminists for Life...

A measure that would decriminalize minor marijuana-possession cases is on the ballot in Massachusetts largely because of one man: billionaire financier and liberal activist George Soros.Of the $429,000 collected last year by the group advancing the measure, $400,000 came from Soros, who has championed similar efforts in several states and spent $24 million to fight President Bush's 2004 re-election bid. The Committee for Sensible Marijuana Policy needed about $315,000 of that just to collect the more than 100,000 signatures that secured a spot on the ballot, according to campaign finance reports reviewed by The Associated Press. "All of us owe...

A measure that would decriminalize minor marijuana-possession cases is on the ballot in Massachusetts largely because of one man: billionaire financier and liberal activist George Soros.

Soros behind Mass. effort to decriminalize pot By STEVE LeBLANC – 1 hour ago BOSTON (AP) — A measure that would decriminalize minor marijuana-possession cases is on the ballot in Massachusetts largely because of one man: billionaire financier and liberal activist George Soros. Of the $429,000 collected last year by the group advancing the measure, $400,000 came from Soros, who has championed similar efforts in several states and spent $24 million to fight President Bush's 2004 re-election bid. The Committee for Sensible Marijuana Policy needed about $315,000 of that just to collect the more than 100,000 signatures that secured a...

Police say pot smokers who light up during the Democratic National Convention can expected to get busted under state laws..... Mason Tvert, leader of the group that sponsored the ordinance that discourages marijuana busts said, "During the DNC, police should be spending their time ensuring the security and safety of those in this city," Tvert said. "There is no reason why they should spend any of their time worrying about adults simply using a drug that is safer than alcohol. We're concerned during the Democratic National Convention that they are going to use the law to cite people or detain...

When Owen Beck was 17, doctors amputated his right leg to stop the spread of bone cancer. His parents, desperate to find a drug that would relieve their son's excruciating phantom limb pain, brought him to Charlie Lynch's medical marijuana dispensary in Morro Bay, Calif., carrying a recommendation from a Stanford University oncologist. The marijuana not only eased the pain but also alleviated the nausea caused by chemotherapy. Called to testify as a character witness in Lynch's federal marijuana trial, Beck did not get far. When he mentioned his cancer, U.S. District Judge George Wu cut him off and sent...

SEQUOIA NATIONAL FOREST, California (CNN) -- Beyond the towering trees that have stood here for thousands of years, an intense drug war is being waged. Illegal immigrants connected to Mexico's drug cartels are growing hundreds of millions of dollars worth of marijuana in the heart of one of America's national treasures, authorities say. It's a booming business that, federal officials say, feeds Mexico's most violent drug traffickers. "These aren't Cheech and Chong plants," said John Walters, director of the National Drug Control Policy. "People who farm now are not doing this for laughs, despite the fact Hollywood still thinks that....

It used to be that marijuana came to the Bay Area from the legendary back country of Humboldt County or the desert fields beyond Tijuana. Now the fields are in the Bay Area, and everywhere else in the state. Marijuana is one of the top cash crops in California, NBC Bay Area's Mike Luery reported. Many of the fields are located next to popular trails and in the middle of state parks. A fierce battle is being waged in our own back yard to remove the pot groves. They are hidden in brush so thick that specially trained officers must...

"Cheech & Chong: Light Up America ..." will hit 22 cities in the United States starting with Philadelphia on September 12 and ending in Denver, Colorado, on December 20. In between they will play Los Angeles, Miami, Washington, D.C. and other places.

After being caught twice with a "baggie" of marijuana, 23-year old Rachel Hoffman was reportedly told by police in Tallahassee, Florida that she would go to prison for four years unless she became an undercover informant. The young woman, a recent graduate of Florida State University, was murdered during a botched sting operation two months ago. "The idea of waging a war on drugs is to protect people and here it seems like we're putting people in harm's way," said Lance Block, a lawyer hired by Rachel's parents. The Florida Attorney General's office says it is reviewing the procedures and...

In front of me stand 120 marijuana plants whose thick bushy leaves cover the strong stems. John explains nonchalantly that this is just a small growing operation, or grow-ops. Every two to three months, John harvests 8lbs, worth about $20,000. Inspector Brian Cantera of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) believes that John's small grow-op is one of 20,000 to be found in residential houses around the province. That figure excludes the larger grow-ops in industrial locations, not to mention the huge dope farms that are scattered around British Columbia's vast interior. The striking aspect of BC's marijuana trade is...