The national marijuana-policy group that largely bankrolled Arizona's medical-marijuana initiative held an educational forum Monday to explain key parts of the law, federal marijuana statutes and how medical-marijuana programs were implemented in other states. About 150 prospective participants in the Arizona medical-marijuana program attended the forum. Professionals urged the audience to be informed of the state health department's rule-making process. The Arizona Department of Health Services will release the first draft of its rules on medical marijuana Friday, kicking off a public-comment period. [continues 273 words]
PHOENIX -- A Phoenix political consultant has launched a campaign designed to convince Arizonans not to allow medical marijuana in the state. Max Fose has formed a campaign committee called "Stop The Pot." Campaign finance reports show he is the only contributor to date, having put up $2,500. Fose did not return repeated phone calls asking him his interest in the issue or whether he is fronting for some other organization. But Web pages already erected by the committee appear designed both to alarm Arizonans about the effects of the ballot measure and undermine the credibility of the national Marijuana Policy Project, which is funding the Arizona initiative. [continues 503 words]
If We Wish For Our Laws To Prevent Harm, They Need To Be Based On Evidence. Our nation is having the most intense debate about our marijuana laws in more a generation -- one that Minnesotans recently saw play out in full force as legislators and Gov. Tim Pawlenty debated medical marijuana. As one who has pushed for just such a debate, I'm delighted, but as I and other Marijuana Policy Project staffers have engaged with journalists and policymakers lately, it's become clear that this debate is being hobbled by a series of myths. [continues 652 words]
NEW YORK -- Snap, crackle ... pot? Bursting with indignation, legions of legalize-marijuana advocates are urging a boycott of Kellogg Co., including all of its popular munchies, for deciding to cut ties with Olympic hero Michael Phelps after he was photographed with a pot pipe. The leader of one of the biggest groups, the Marijuana Policy Project, called Kellogg's action "hypocritical and disgusting," and said he'd never seen his membership so angry, with more than 2,300 of them signing an online petition. [continues 118 words]
NEW YORK (AP) - Snap, crackle ... pot? Legions of indignant marijuana advocates are urging a boycott of products made by Kellogg Co. after it cut ties with Olympic hero Michael Phelps because he was photographed using a bong. The leader of the Marijuana Policy Project called the cereal maker's action "hypocritical and disgusting," and said he'd never seen his membership so angry, with more than 2,300 signing an online petition. "Kellogg's had no problem signing up Phelps when he had a conviction for drunk driving, an illegal act that could have killed someone," said Rob Kampia, the group's executive director. To drop him for "choosing to relax" with a substance the group considers safer than beer "is an outrage," Kampia said. There was no immediate response from Kellogg. Last week, the company announced Phelps' conduct was "not consistent with the image of Kellogg." The swimmer has been appearing on Frosted Flakes and Corn Flakes boxes since September. [end]
NEW YORK - Snap, crackle ... pot? Bursting with indignation, legions of legalize-marijuana advocates are urging a boycott of Kellogg Co., including all of its popular munchies, for deciding to cut ties with Olympic hero Michael Phelps after he was photographed with a pot pipe. The leader of one of the biggest groups, the Marijuana Policy Project, called Kellogg's action "hypocritical and disgusting," and said he'd never seen his membership so angry, with more than 2,300 of them signing an online petition. "Kellogg's had no problem signing up Phelps when he had a conviction for drunk driving, an illegal act that could actually have killed someone," said Rob Kampia, the group's executive director. "To drop him for choosing to relax with a substance that's safer than beer is an outrage, and it sends a dangerous message to young people." [continues 575 words]
A marijuana advocacy group is urging a boycott of the Kellogg Company for deciding to cut ties with the Olympic hero Michael Phelps after he was photographed with a marijuana pipe. The leader of one of the biggest legalize-pot organizations, the Marijuana Policy Project, called Kellogg's action "hypocritical and disgusting," and said he had never seen his membership so angry, with more than 2,300 of them signing an online petition. "Kellogg's had no problem signing up Phelps when he had a conviction for drunk driving, an illegal act that could actually have killed someone," said Rob Kampia, the group's executive director. A Kellogg spokeswoman, Kris Charles, said in an e-mail message, "Our contract with Michael Phelps was set to expire at the end of February, and we made a business decision not to extend that contract." Last week, the company announced his contract would end and described Phelps's conduct as "not consistent with the image of Kellogg." [end]
Michigan voters said yes to medical marijuana by a ratio of nearly 2-1. And while the law takes effect Dec. 4, details of how it will play out remain hazy among doctors, law enforcement officials and state residents who want to use the drug for medicinal purposes. The state's Department of Community Health, through its county-level health departments, has been designated to maintain a registry and issue registration cards to patients and ''caregivers'' who will then be legally allowed to have up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana. The law also allows for patients and their caregivers to grow up to 12 plants, as long as they grown them in an ''enclosed, locked facility.'' The department has until April 4 to have the registry up and running. [continues 996 words]
Marijuana reform measures fared well in Michigan and Massachusetts on Tuesday, November 4, but a California measure that would have reduced penalties for possession of a small amount of pot was defeated by a substantial margin. In Michigan, voters approved Proposal 1, the state's medical marijuana initiative, by a margin of 63 percent to 37 percent. Seriously ill patients with a physician's recommendation who register under the new law will be allowed to possess up to 2.5 ounces of cannabis without facing arrest. Patients, or their designated caregivers, will also be permitted to grow up to 12 plants in a secure indoor facility. The initiative is scheduled to go into effect in early December, and the state health department will have 120 days to issue regulations for a medical marijuana registry. [continues 295 words]
Voters in Massachusetts and Michigan approved measures to slacken marijuana laws, while voters in other states were to decide questions on abortion and gay rights. Michigan became the 13th state to legalise marijuana for medical use, while Massachusetts decriminalised possession of one ounce or less of the substance, making the offence punishable with a citation and a $100 fine. "Tonight's results represent a sea change," said Rob Kampia, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project, which backed the Massachusetts and Michigan ballot proposals. "Voters have spectacularly rejected eight years of the most intense government war on marijuana since the days of 'Reefer Madness'." [continues 222 words]
DENVER -- Bob Barr has been to the Dark Side, and they do indeed have cookies. The Libertarian National Convention kicked off yesterday with a tea-and-cookies reception hosted by the Marijuana Policy Project featuring none other than Mr. Barr, the party's leading candidate for its presidential nomination. Such a scene would have been unthinkable a few years ago when Mr. Barr's name was synonymous with the war on drugs. In 1998, he authored the Barr Amendment, which prohibited the District of Columbia from voting to permit medical-marijuana use and became a lightning rod for drug-legalization advocates. [continues 548 words]
In the late 1980s Rob Kampia was a carefree, third-year science major at Penn State University, who admits to inhaling now and then. "I was on a dual track of occasionally smoking pot and studying really hard so that I could do something in physics or astronomy," he says. In a strained voice he relays the event that changed his life: "I was arrested for growing my own marijuana in April of 1989 and sentenced to three months in county jail." When he got out he had several felony charges on his record. "One for cultivation, an attempt to distribute and a couple of conspiracy charges as a result of that one incident," he says, recalling the disbelief he felt at the time. [continues 1056 words]
A leading US doctors group has endorsed using marijuana for medical purposes, urging the US government to roll back a prohibition on using it to treat patients and supporting studies into its medical applications. The American College of Physicians, the second-largest doctors group in the United States, issued a policy statement on medical marijuana this week after it was approved by its governing body. The group cited evidence that marijuana is valuable in treating severe weight loss associated with Aids, and nausea and vomiting associated with chemotherapy in cancer patients. [continues 364 words]
A leading US doctors group has endorsed using marijuana for medical purposes, urging the US government to roll back a prohibition on using it to treat patients and supporting studies into its medical applications. The American College of Physicians, the second largest doctors group in the United States, issued a policy statement on medical marijuana this week after it was approved by its governing body. The group cited evidence that marijuana is valuable in treating severe weight loss associated with AIDS, and nausea and vomiting associated with chemotherapy in cancer patients. [continues 360 words]
A LEADING US doctors group has endorsed using marijuana for medical purposes, urging the US government to roll back a prohibition on using it to treat patients and supporting studies into its medical applications. The American College of Physicians, the second largest doctors group in the United States, issued a policy statement on medical marijuana this week after it was approved by its governing body. The group cited evidence that marijuana is valuable in treating severe weight loss associated with AIDS, and nausea and vomiting associated with chemotherapy in cancer patients. [continues 361 words]
Look at the numbers for teenage cigarette smoking. Now look at the numbers for teenage marijuana use. Folks, there's a lesson here. Last week, President Bush touted new survey results showing a modest drop in teen use of marijuana and other drugs, but he failed to mention the drug for which prevention efforts have had the most spectacular success -- tobacco. If he had, he might have had to make some troubling comparisons. Bush noted that drug use has declined from its recent peak in 1996, but sidestepped the longer-term picture that doesn't look nearly so rosy. [continues 586 words]
AUSTIN -- It's been decades since Willie Nelson smoked that first joint in Fort Worth, but -- Ain't it funny how time slips away? -- he's still singing the praises of pot. On Friday, the country music legend headlines Austin Freedom Fest, a benefit concert for four pro-marijuana groups, including the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. Nelson co-chairs NORML's advisory board. "Marijuana is like sex," the Hill Country crooner wrote in his 1988 biography, Willie. "If I don't do it every day I get a headache." [continues 494 words]
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- A woman whose doctor says marijuana is the only medicine keeping her alive can face federal prosecution on drug charges, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday. The ruling was the latest legal defeat for Angel Raich, a mother of two from Oakland suffering from scoliosis, a brain tumor, chronic nausea and other ailments who sued the federal government pre-emptively to avoid being arrested for using the drug. On her doctor's advice, Raich eats or smokes marijuana every couple of hours to ease her pain and bolster her appetite. [continues 370 words]
Sitting in for Lou Dobbs, Christine Romans. ROMANS: The war on drugs in this country is being fought at the federal, state and local level as law enforcement officials try to crack down on drug smuggling and drug sales. But what you might find surprising is what's happening in some of the wealthiest circles in this country. Private donors are spending millions of dollars to promote the decriminalization and legalization of marijuana. Bill Tucker reports. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) BILL TUCKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's just a plant, that's all. Not a dangerous drug. It's a children's book, where farmers grow it and parents, doctors, mayors, even presidents use marijuana. It's aimed at 6- to 12-year-olds. [continues 956 words]
WASHINGTON -- Abuse of the painkiller OxyContin by younger teens hit record levels in 2006, a national survey says. While most other teen drug and alcohol use continued a decade-long decline, teen abuse of pharmaceuticals, including prescription narcotics, barely budged, the survey says. The annual survey of 50,000 high school and middle school students, released Thursday, was conducted by the University of Michigan for the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Among high school seniors, the percentage reporting that they had used prescription narcotics, including OxyContin and Vicodin, in the past year declined from 9.5% in 2004, the peak year, to 9% in 2006, the survey found. Among younger teens, OxyContin use rose this year: 2.6% of eighth-graders and 3.8% of 10th-graders reported having used the drug, up from 1.8% and 3.2% in 2005. [continues 377 words]
Kampia, Rob
