Why so many anti-medical marijuana editorials lately? Seems to be lots of opinion but little factual information.

As I understand it, much of what little research on marijuana in the U.S. was done right here in Arkansas at the National Center for Toxicological Research facility in Jefferson back in the 1980s. Why not send a reporter down there to see if anyone involved is still around and talk to them about their study results?

Time is changing opinions of many about this plant, and if restrictions are eased on its cultivation, Arkansas farmers just might get a new crop to grow, and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette a new source of cheaper newsprint that won't curl on the edges.

North Little Rock

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It seems the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette editorial writers really have a bug up their butts about the noble weed. They decry the fact that people outside Colorado are freer, too, since free trade and freedom of association allows cannabis to be moved and traded. And apparently unable to find onerous statistics showing any bad effects whatsoever from legalization of the herb, they attempt to trick their readers. Their car-fatality stat is a classic in this regard. (Hint: There won't be any comparative auto-accident stats for years.)

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Marijuana-legalization activist Glen Schwarz filed as a candidate for Pulaski County judge Tuesday.

Schwarz, 60, is a Libertarian who is filing during the party's first year on election ballots since 2011.

In 2012, as the president of the Arkansas chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, Schwarz ran for the Little Rock Board of Directors' at-large position 9, where he finished third in the race won by City Director Gene Fortson.

Former state Rep. Barry Hyde filed for county judge Monday, the first day candidates could file for Pulaski County office. Hyde, 57, is a Democrat who served in the Arkansas House of Representatives from 2007 to 2012, when he was unable to run again because of term limits.

The county judge position has been filled for 23 years by Buddy Villines, who announced last year that he would not run again.

The filing period closes at noon Monday.

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LITTLE ROCK (AP) - The Arkansas attorney general's office has rejected the wording of a proposal for the November ballot that would legalize marijuana in the state.

Attorney General Dustin McDaniel's office on Wednesday said the measure by Arkansans for Medical Cannabis contains ambiguities in its text.

McDaniel's office says the proposal doesn't explain that passage would change the state constitution. Further, the office cites an ambiguity in a section covering how the state would regulate sales.

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Mcdaniel: Ballot Titles Ambiguous

Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel on Wednesday rejected ballot titles for two proposed constitutional amendments, citing ambiguities in the text of both.

One measure, proposed by Arkansans for Medical Cannabis, would repeal all laws prohibiting the sale, production and distribution of marijuana and prohibit the General Assembly from passing laws that prohibit cannabis or its derivatives. Representatives of the organization did not return messages seeking comment late Wednesday.

The second measure was proposed by the Arkansas Regnat Populus group. The measure would prohibit "corporations, proprietorships, firms, partnerships, joint ventures, syndicates, labor unions, business trusts, companies and associations" from making political contributions directly to candidates running for office, ban elected officials from working as lobbyists for two years after they leave office, and bar elected officials from accepting gifts from lobbyists.

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You-Know-Who Lives in the Details

IT'S HARD to avoid the news about marijuana these days. You could get a contact high from all the stories coming out of Colorado alone. Last week, some government outfit with a long name put out a report about weed's making its way out of that state, where it's now legal, and into other states where it's definitely not.

Goodness, who could have guessed that such a thing could happen? Except maybe everybody. If only Horace Greeley were writing editorials today, one of them might be headed, Go West, Young User!

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I wish Paul Greenberg would dismount from his moral high horse and give marijuana a rest.

Instead of listening to his Guy Lombardo and Lawrence Welk records tonight, perhaps Paul should watch the 1930s propaganda classic, Reefer Madness. My favorite scene that I remember is the guy smoking a joint and then jumping out of an upstairs window.

Gateway drug? Sure, and those two beers at the fraternity house party turn you into an alcoholic. I believe decriminalization of the possession and use of small amounts of marijuana is both smart and inevitable. Too many law enforcement resources are wasted on chasing weed.

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WASHINGTON - Oscar-winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman is yet another victim of the war on drugs. Prohibition is not working. It is time to try something new.

Hoffman, 46, was found dead in the bathroom of his Manhattan apartment Sunday morning, apparently the victim of a heroin overdose. According to widely published reports, there was a syringe in his arm. Police found the place littered with small plastic bags stamped "Ace of Spades" or "Ace of Hearts" - brand names that street dealers use.

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I can remember, from when I was growing up, the ads in the papers that showed "doctors" touting the benefits of smoking (and) how many advantages there were to nicotine use. (It) calms nerves, soothes a sore throat. In fact, nine out of 10 doctors smoked Camels.

Of course, now we know better, as the evidence piled up showing nicotine is instrumental in causing deadly cancers, and COPD, among other ailments.

Now, we face legalization of marijuana, such as what has passed in Colorado and Washington State. We have the option of making marijuana, with all the incumbent propaganda, legal. I'm surprised we are not seeing ads popping up with men in white coats being quoted as saying, "Nine out of 10 doctors love getting high on marijuana."

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A President Does His Best to Confuse the Issue

OH, FOR the days when a president of the United States only admitted to trying marijuana in his youth, claimed he didn't like it, and said, famously or infamously, that he didn't inhale.

This current president's comments to the New Yorker the other day about marijuana have been, well, selectively edited by some of our friends on the starboard side of the media. But the president shouldn't have his words changed. Not at all. What he said was confused enough, irrelevant enough, unhelpful and even harmful enough. Just quote him, folks. No need for embellishment.

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WASHINGTON - Everybody's doing it - confessing their youthful, pot- smoking ways - so here goes. I don't remember. Kidding, kidding. Anyone over 30 recognizes the old adage: If you remember the ' 60s, you weren't there. Nyuk-nyuk-nyuk.

It is true that marijuana smoking tends to affect one's short-term memory, but the good news is that, while stoned, one does relatively little worth remembering. At least that's my own recollection.

So, yes, I toked, too. This doesn't mean anyone else should, and I haven't in decades, but our debate might have more value if more of us were forthcoming.

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Hooray for Denver. Hooray for marijuana and the tax dollars. Suppose there will be enough dollars to cover the needs of those addicted? Will there be help for those who cannot help themselves?

I hope and pray that Little Rock and its fine reputation will not be tainted by the scourge of the weed. Once was enough for me, several years ago in a small room with a low ceiling full of secondhand smoke. Very similar to a pile of burning leaves. Once was enough! How about you?

McCrory

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Attorney General Dustin McDaniel on Monday rejected a proposed constitutional amendment to repeal all laws limiting the production, distribution, sale and use of cannabis.

McDaniel wrote in a letter to the proposal's author, Marjorie LeClair of Shirley, that he could not certify the popular name and ballot title of the measure because of ambiguities in the amendment's text.

LeClair's proposals have been rejected by the attorney general's office on at least seven other occasions.

The proposed constitutional amendment would repeal all laws against the drug and prevent the Legislature from enacting any more in the future.

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I live in Colorado's Rocky Mountains, and I am high. But wait. I mean that my house is 8,000 feet above sea level, not that I am giddily under the influence of marijuana legally purchased as a result of a historic development that could someday cause a teenager to think his TV is sending him secret messages.

What I am talking about is Colorado becoming the first state in the country to allow the selling of recreational pot without threat of criminal proceedings or the laughable excuse that it is for medicinal purposes only.

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Keep Your Eyes on the COLO News Wires

"They call marijuana a gateway drug. Medical marijuana could be called a gateway law. And the fight to keep such a law off the books in Arkansas isn't over yet. More petitions and votes are coming. Brace yourself. And until then, let's all keep a close eye on Colorado. Which might be hard. It's like watching a family member struggle with an addiction." - Arkansas Democrat-Gazette March 12, 2013

A COUPLE of groups are said to be working on getting a medical marijuana law on the books in Arkansas-again. The last effort was barely defeated at the polls. But the fight ain't over.

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I believe J. Fred Hart Jr.'s recent assertion that marijuana users are directly responsible for the deaths of Mexicans is as ridiculous as if I said that everyone who voted for "W" is responsible for the body count in Iraq and Afghanistan. I believe the real reason for the murders of Mexicans by the drug cartels is this nation's drug policy.

Four decades ago President Richard Nixon declared a War on Drugs, and what are the results? Over one trillion of our tax dollars have been wasted on this never-ending "war," yet more Americans use drugs than ever before. Our jails and prisons are overflowing, and the Mexican drug cartels (and other criminal organizations) profit greatly and grow stronger with each passing year.

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WASHINGTON - Federal Judge John Gleeson of the Eastern District of New York says documents called "statements of reasons" are an optional way for a judge to express "views that might be of interest." The one he issued two months ago is still reverberating.

It expresses his dismay that although his vocation is the administration of justice, his function frequently is the infliction of injustice.

The policy of mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenses has empowered the government to effectively nullify the constitutional right to a trial.

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Atty. Gen. Dustin McDaniel has again rejected the wording of a proposed ballot measure that would legalize marijuana in Arkansas.

McDaniel said Monday that there were ambiguities in the wording of a proposed constitutional amendment submitted by Marjorie LeClair of Shirley. McDaniel must certify the proposed amendment before supporters can begin gathering the signatures needed to place it on next year's ballot.

The proposal calls for repealing all state laws related to the cannabis plant.

McDaniel's letter to LeClair says the proposal had unclear language regarding how marijuana would be taxed.

McDaniel's office has approved language on two separate marijuana related issues, allowing supporters to gather signatures in an effort to put the items on upcoming ballots. Both of those proposals are related to the medicinal use of marijuana.

[end]

You've Got To Be Kidding Dept.

"Lest we forget, states that now allow marijuana for whatever purpose, and let their residents pretty much smoke 'em if you got 'em, started out by approving just medical-marijuana laws. In 1998, the state of Washington passed a medical-marijuana law, and now recreational use is legal there. Colorado passed its medical-marijuana law in 2000, and a dozen years later, you can get your Rocky Mountain High without much bother." - Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, December 11th

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I think people who know marijuana know that all it primarily does is give you a peaceful, easy feeling and better ability to do very wide-ranged thinking as you ponder the logics. Marijuana also leave no ghastly repercussions such as hangovers and nauseations like alcohol and some other drugs do.

Now, on the other hand, alcohol can make me and many others ornery, pugnacious and liable to misjudge everything. I think alcohol is likely the most preferred date-rape concoction since it can make someone become plumb mentally and physically incapacitated by drinking too much.

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