Months after Los Angeles ran a majority of medical marijuana dispensaries out of town by passing strict regulations, the shops are cropping up again. A judge this month scratched key portions of the ordinance that city officials spent years putting together and noted that a large number of collectives could reopen. David Welch, the lawyer who represents some of the shuttered clinics that sued the city, says nearly 60 have decided to open in recent months. About 180 collectives applied to remain open after hundreds were forced to close, but only about 40 met all the ordinance's criteria. which include being at least 1,000 feet from schools, parks and other gathering sites. [end]
Re: Don't Forget Pot-Psychosis Link, Tom Blackwell, Dec. 3. Tom Blackwell mentions our study in which we highlight the link between cannabis use and psychosis. It is important that the public, and especially young people, understand the potential consequences of cannabis use in order to make informed decisions. In reading Mr. Blackwell's piece, however, it could be inferred that our findings substantiate the argument in favour of the continued criminalization of cannabis. This was not the underlying policy conclusion of our paper. While we argue that it would be logical to pursue policies with the aim of reducing cannabis use in adolescents, we believe our current policy of prohibition is both costly and ineffective. It also violates individual freedoms and is inconsistent with how we treat substances such as alcohol and tobacco. There are other options for decreasing the use of cannabis. Many policy experts are advocating the decriminalization of marijuana, coupled with more intensive educational programs that encourage adolescents to make informed decisions about cannabis use. In our paper, we question whether Canada is spending enough resources on educating young people about the substance. Education programs should be realistic, non-judgmental and pursued in various forms, including at school and through media campaigns. Even though the research on the link between psychosis and cannabis is becoming clearer, this does not necessarily mean we should continue our policy of prohibition. Gilla Shapiro, Youthdale Child and Adolescent Sleep Centre, Dr. Leslie Buckley-Hunter, University Health Network [end]
Woman Charged HST on Medical Marijuana Warkworth -- The taxman wants to make sure he scores off Adrienne Baker-Hicks' pot purchases. The Warkworth woman didn't expect to get hit for nearly $100 of HST monthly when buying her usual $750 shipments of medical marijuana. But the taxman has been digging into her pocket ever since the HST came into effect in July. "It's ridiculous," said Baker-Hicks, 52, who became licensed to purchase marijuana last year. "I am charged $97.50 per shipment. The pills I have to take from my doctors, I don't have to pay HST on them," she added. "Here, the doctor signs it. That's how they fill out the cards -- they have to put how many grams you get for the month. It's the same thing as a prescription." [continues 293 words]
SEVERAL weeks after Miley Cyrus turned 18 in November, a video surfaced showing the pop singer and actor celebrating her adulthood with uncontrollable laughter, garbled speech and a shapely bong. It was neither marijuana nor hashish in the pipe, she explained in the face of public furor, but Salvia divinorum, a powerful hallucinogenic that adults can legally use in California. The controversy involving Ms. Cyrus, the former child star from "Hannah Montana," has led to new interest in this psychoactive Mexican herb. Google searches for "salvia" in the United States spiked 600 percent in the days that followed, Twitter went aflutter, and "Saturday Night Live" spoofed the incident last weekend. [continues 636 words]
Television evangelist Pat Robertson has made inflammatory remarks in recent years that offend gays, Muslims and others, but a recent comment he made on his Christian Broadcasting Network was more notable for whom it pleased: people who want to see marijuana legalized. "We're locking up people that take a couple of puffs of marijuana, and the next thing you know they've got 10 years," the controversial pastor said on "The 700 Club" on Dec. 16, in a clip unearthed by bloggers this week. "I'm not exactly for the use of drugs - don't get me wrong - but I just believe that criminalizing marijuana, criminalizing the possession of a few ounces of pot and that kind of thing, I mean, it's just, it's costing us a fortune and it's ruining young people." [continues 633 words]
Re: Shooting spree and drug addiction are linked, Letters, Dec. 19 I'm writing about Greg Harms' thoughtful letter. Actually the title should read: Shooting spree and drug prohibition are linked. Switzerland used to have a very serious heroin addiction problem. Now their heroin problem is a small fraction of what it used to be. Did the Swiss government get really tough on drug dealers and addicts? No. (Actually they got real tough on heroin dealers because they put them out of business). [continues 88 words]
Trevor Turner is a very experienced and highly respected psychiatrist but he's being a bit disingenuous when he writes that he has never seen "a psychosis due to cannabis" (letter, 20 December). There is a great deal of research which points to a connection between the emergence of psychosis and use of cannabis, but the exact relationship between them remains very unclear. What is clear from my longer but much less distinguished career in the same field is that there are some people with a susceptibility, for whatever reason, to mental illness who should stay well away from cannabis - and other street drugs, for that matter. They are no different from those, myself included, who should keep away from alcohol, or others, with different vulnerabilities, who should avoid salty or fatty foods. [continues 97 words]
Outgoing Mendocino County District Attorney Meredith Lintott has ruled the August 18 shooting of Mariano Lopez-Fernandez, 31, of Boonville, by the Mendocino County SWAT Team was justified. The district attorney's office conducted an on-scene investigation following the shooting, interviewing witnesses and gathering forensic evidence. The district attorney concluded Lopez-Fernandez died after he "took a position of cover behind a large group of trees and pointed a loaded semi-automatic rifle at the SWAT team. The three deputies on the SWAT team fired at Lopez-Fernandez from a distance of 10 to 15 feet" with their rifles. Lopez-Fernandez was struck several times, and although deputies stopped shooting once he dropped his weapon and "immediately rendered first aid," he was pronounced dead at the scene. [continues 234 words]
The welcome statement by the former minister Bob Ainsworth on the failure of prohibition to control drug use is yet another small turning point in the direction of what will inevitably come, namely decriminalisation. Dr Trevor Turner compares this debate with that of legalising homosexuality in the 1950s and 1960s. He might have done better to make the comparison with abortion law reform, which saw deaths from "back-street abortions" fall dramatically once abortion was seen as a social and public health problem and brought in to the NHS, rather than a criminal one. [continues 116 words]
It seems to be assumed that our politicians are scared to legalise drugs not out of conviction but for fear of the Daily Mail effect. Has it not occurred to them that the party which defies the Mail (and of course the USA) will quickly become lauded as wise and forward-looking when it dawns on people that crime has fallen, the prisons are short of inmates, public expenditure has been considerably reduced, and there has been little or no effect on drug-taking? Or perhaps they really are just addicted to failure. Jim Bowman, South Harrow, Middlesex [end]
Marijuana Fans Are Calling It the Mutiny in Montana. Five jurors raised questions about marijuana prosecution in a routine marijuana possession case in Missoula, Mont. It all began last Thursday, when a group of prospective jurors in Missoula were seated for a two-day trial of a repeat offender by the name of Teuray Cornell, whom the local police had arrested and charged with selling marijuana, a felony, and possession of a small amount of the drug, a misdemeanor. To seat a 12-person jury, Judge Robert L. Deschamps III of Missoula County District Court had called a passel of Montanans to serve, and 27 had arrived at court on Dec. 16. So far, so good. [continues 435 words]
Council Suspends Its Proposal for Four Large Operations After D.A.'S Warning on Liability. California's most cannabis-friendly city has temporarily suspended a plan to permit and tax four large marijuana-growing facilities because of ongoing legal concerns. The Oakland City Council voted 7 to 1 this week to send the measure back to legal staff for reworking after the city received a letter from the Alameda County district attorney. The letter suggested not only that the city's plan may violate the law, but also that elected officials could be legally liable. [continues 675 words]
In his letter "Impaired is impaired," (Dec. 9), Terrell Faulk makes some good points about driving under the influence. Unfortunately for the politicians, all the studies done on cannabis and driving (even from our own National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) point out that people drive more cautiously while under the influence of cannabis. Caution and driving go hand in hand. Unfortunately for us, politicians rarely care about knowing the facts, especially about cannabis. What I do suggest is that studies be done. [continues 80 words]
