Soca Warriors Online Discussion Forum
General => General Discussion => Topic started by: Tallman on November 01, 2007, 08:11:04 AM
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Panday: New approach to marijuana
By Julien Neaves (Trinidad Express)
United National Congress (UNC) political leader Basdeo Panday has suggested that there should be another approach to dealing with marijuana usage.
"I think we ought to look at that. To see whether prohibiting things really ends the problem," he said.
Panday was speaking on the Synergy cable station "youth forum" broadcast on Tuesday night; Congress of the People political leader Winston Dookeran's interview was broadcast on Monday night and Prime Minister and People's National Movement political leader Patrick Manning's interview was scheduled to be broadcast last night.
Panday, commenting on the issue of marijuana and drug use among youths, recalled that in the old days there was a shop in Princes Town where they sold "ganja" as he noted it was called back them. Interviewer Jason Williams pointed out that marijuana-scientifically known as cannabis sativa-was still called that today.
The UNC political leader reminisced that on a Saturday night, after people had worked in the fields all week, they would smoke ganja in a chillum and pass it around.
"It never was a problem. That is the strange thing about it. I think we ought to go back and study that," he said.
Panday explained that if ganja was made unavailable "fellas would plant it in their backyard" and it would be as unsuccessful as the US attempts to prohibit alcohol, which occurred in the 1920s and early 1930s. He said there needed to be "another approach" but he did not specify.
The decriminilisation of marijuana has been a hot button issue in Jamaica for many years.
Panday noted that "heavy drugs", however, were another matter, and pointed out that 80 per cent of crime in this country was linked to drugs. He advised to deal with drugs the "mafia" has to be dealt with.
During the interview Panday also spoke about addressing the "brain drain" of academics from this country by providing opportunities for employment and housing, providing low cost dormitories for University of the West Indies students, in the face of rising rents, and encouraging young people in business.
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EXPLAINS A LOT TO ME...I WONDER IF HE AND DOOKS AND KAMLA AND JACK ALONG WITH GANGA SINGH DID SIT AROUND PULLING ON AH CHILLUM?
HMMMMMMMMMM>?
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KINGSTON, Jamaica - Jamaica is considering the legalization of marijuana ;D, a drug revered by members of the island's large Rastafarian population who say smoking it is part of their religion.
A seven-member government commission has been researching possible changes to the Caribbean nation's anti-drug laws, which some police complain are clogging courts and jails with marijuana-related cases, a government official said Friday.
"We have discussed it, and we are preparing a report to present to the prime minister," said Deputy Prime Minister Kenneth Baugh.
In 2003, a government commission recommended legalizing marijuana in small amounts for personal use. But lawmakers never acted, saying legalization might entail loss of their country's U.S. anti-drug certification. Countries that lose it face economic sanctions.
A U.S. State Department report Friday said that Jamaica is the largest producer of marijuana in the Caribbean and a major hub for drugs bound for the United States.
Members of the Rastafarian movement, which emerged in Jamaica in the 1930s out of anger over the oppression of blacks, have long lobbied for the legalization of the drug that they say brings them closer to the divine.
There are an estimated 700,000 Rastafarians in the world, most of them among Jamaica's 2.6 million people.
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I have been hearing that for the longest time. They can't eradicate ganja from JA. Ganja is a natural plant. Not that I will use it. There is medicinal value to ganja. It is a sedative. the only problem is that humans want to use all the flooking time. That is where the problem ies.
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That figure is questionable. Who really believes that most of the world's Rastafarians live ayard? Steups. In fact, ah wonder if de reporter using de correck terminology.
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Allyuh playing politically correck on dis issue or what? Dis thread is surprisingly stunted. Iz full time now.
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ok.................. ;D
from the stats that I have read, there are MAYBE 300,000 rastas in Jamaica top end (most probably 200,000)
is since the 30's this movement has been in Jamaica and with the spread of Bob's music it has spread around the world.
everywhere you look now a days there are people with rasta hair styles. That in itself may not prove that they are following all the precepts, but an indication of something about Rastafarianism none the less.
Countries like The Netherlands have tolerated herb for years, but the conservative element is putting a squeeze on things.
The Canadian Senate had called for it's legalisation. (http://www.medicalmarihuana.ca/legalize.html) That will probably never happen in my lifetime considering our NAFTA partners. ;)
many people say that marijuana has no side effects (http://www.legalizationofmarijuana.com/), yet "In July 2007, British medical journal The Lancet (http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140673607611623/abstract) published a study that indicates that cannabis users have, on average, a 41% greater risk of developing psychosis than non-users." Since my job now is dealing with people on the fringes of society, I tend to understand the latter point.
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A making another attempt here ... WC ah fully sensitive to the 'latter point' ...
How much $$$$$$$$ and tangible/intangible resources gehhin wasted in Trini in pursuit of this folly?
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I often wonder if it wouldn't be more effective to legalise all illicit drugs.
The billions of dollars spent so far on law enforcement and incarceration of drug offenders has done little to stem the tide, if anything it's gotten worse. Jail is more of a convention where criminals can make develop contacts in the drug underworld not punishment and many prisons are practically run by the criminals thmeselves.
Legalising drugs will put the money into corporate hands and put drug dealers out of business.
Some of the billions of public money saved could instead be used to develop and fund a network of community centers to counsel those with addictive personalities that abuse drugs.
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No government will comletely legalize weed or anything else unless they can find a way to get their stink little hands in it to make a killing offa taxes. For Jamaica that probably means only small money transactions to cut down on summary type offences.
Weed can be easily gprown and sold in small portions without hassle and extra expense. But coke must be imported in large quantities and is much more expensive to make and will still have HEAVY social and medical penalties.
A good way to go about it may be a prohibition on the sale/posession of more than 10g or whatever amount of weed.
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I say legalize all drugs yes....Put ah cap on de price so that everyone who want it can afford it. So no big setah teffin go happen and all dem drug lords not going to want to push no more and they could become legal businessmen. Make sure de quality good and dat way yu not going to have so much ppl ODing all de time. Hospitals not going to see all dem crackheads all de time. Gov't could ress ah tax on it so that it would help pay some ah dem bills or push it to poor ppl so dat dey could live better....Man so much could be done yes. :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :beermug: :beermug: :beermug: :devil: :devil: :devil:
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Weed can be easily gprown and sold in small portions without hassle and extra expense. But coke must be imported in large quantities and is much more expensive to make...
Dis sounding like ah first-hand account :devil:
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I fully support the decriminaliation of drugs, this war against drugs will never be won and based on personal experience of visiting Holland and Portugal the system they have there seems to work. It has constantly be shown that in Europe (excluding scandanivia) Holland has one of the lowest rates of drug addicition.
We can look at the prohibition of Alcohol and what happened in that era with the rise of the MAfia and the deaths due to home stills almost mirrors the drug trade of today.
I can buy a bottle of 75% puncheon rum but cant buy a joint ? that doesnt make sense
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think about the accident rate???
think about the children being left out because dad was high???
think about the amount ah people losing jobs because they cyar function high???
think about the workers output when ah man too high to remember???
think about the doctor who smoke a spliff b4 operating on yuh wife???
think about the pilot who feeling stressed???
think think think
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Weed can be easily gprown and sold in small portions without hassle and extra expense. But coke must be imported in large quantities and is much more expensive to make...
Dis sounding like ah first-hand account :devil:
I feel he buy some seeds from mark emery :devil:
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think about the accident rate???
think about the children being left out because dad was high???
think about the amount ah people losing jobs because they cyar function high???
think about the workers output when ah man too high to remember???
think about the doctor who smoke a spliff b4 operating on yuh wife???
think about the pilot who feeling stressed???
think think think
All those things are judgement calls on the part of the individual. Most, if not all of those things you have mentioned fall under the topic of "operating under the influence", whether it be rum, herb, prescription drugs, coke, crack, meth, X, lack of sleep etc. They already have applicable laws to deal with it. I eh tink it have anyting to do with de decriminalization/legalization of herb.
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yuh beat me to it just cause yuh could buy weed in Amsterdam doh mean you could drive........ same laws apply
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From a cost-benefit analysis I wonder whether a credible case can't be made for us saving some of these resources we're currently expending. Lehwe admit it ... our fight against drugs is in shambles and our security infratructure remains both porous and compromised ... my perception is that there is a fear/stigma associated with deviating from the path laid out by the US for fear of compromising foregn aid and assitance ... yet, even the Brits have moved away from some strict prerogatives in this arena ... as well, cops in some jurisdictions don't want the hassle of pursuing a 'lil weed' in court and a lengthy papertrail ... there are so many contradictions and paradoxes.
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think about the accident rate???
think about the children being beaten and abused because dad was high???
think about the amount ah people losing jobs because they always drunk???
think about the workers output when ah man too drunk to function properly???
think about the doctor who 2 shot b4 operating on yuh wife???
think about the pilot who feeling stressed???
think think think
The legal system is one of the most wasteful and counterproductive branches of government. Think of how much one stupid marijuana charge cost taxpayers and citizens. Investigation, police report, cost of operations, cost of having to defend oneself, cost of the courts time, costs associated with court paperwork, cost associated with of more serious charges getting delayed, costs of possible incarceration, use of expensive painkillers when weed could be an easy substitute, and then repeat the whole thing over again, several times a day.
This is the 21st century. We must have the courage to try new things and not just wait for others to act. T&T would save a great deal of money and free up resources to do what is really needed: fight violent crime and the importation of hard drugs, if we were to drop petty posession offences.
Just fore the record I don't smoke cigarettes or weed and rarely consume alcohol.
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think about the accident rate???
think about the children being beaten and abused because dad was high???
think about the amount ah people losing jobs because they always drunk???
think about the workers output when ah man too drunk to function properly???
think about the doctor who 2 shot b4 operating on yuh wife???
think about the pilot who feeling stressed???
think think think
The legal system is one of the most wasteful and counterproductive branches of government. Think of how much one stupid marijuana charge cost taxpayers and citizens. Investigation, police report, cost of operations, cost of having to defend oneself, cost of the courts time, costs associated with court paperwork, cost associated with of more serious charges getting delayed, costs of possible incarceration, use of expensive painkillers when weed could be an easy substitute, and then repeat the whole thing over again, several times a day.
This is the 21st century. We must have the courage to try new things and not just wait for others to act. T&T would save a great deal of money and free up resources to do what is really needed: fight violent crime and the importation of hard drugs, if we were to drop petty posession offences.
Just fore the record I don't smoke cigarettes or weed and rarely consume alcohol.
Duly noted :D. But on de real, support of legalization need not mean subscription to said products. ah feel dahis why some of us being silent/circumspect.
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dey should legalize it in Kentucky... since is de no 1 cash crop already !
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Lawmakers consider outlawing 'next marijuana'
Florida among states mulling ban on controversial hallucinogenic herb
(http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photo_StoryLevel/080311/080311-salvia-hmed-6a.widec.jpg)
Nick Ut / AP
Daniel Siebert, an amateur botanist, poses with salvia divinorum plants outside his Malibu, Calif., home. Florida is considering making the herb illegal.
What keeps you up at night? Gut Check America wants you to tell us what really matters to our country. Click here to learn more and get involved.
NBC Field Notes
updated 10:58 a.m. ET, Tues., March. 11, 2008
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - On Web sites touting the mind-blowing powers of salvia divinorum, come-ons to buy the hallucinogenic herb are accompanied by warnings: "Time is running out! ... stock up while you still can."
That's because salvia is being targeted by lawmakers concerned that the inexpensive and easy-to-obtain plant could become the next marijuana. Eight states have already placed restrictions on salvia, and 16 others, including Florida, are considering a ban or have previously.
"As soon as we make one drug illegal, kids start looking around for other drugs they can buy legally. This is just the next one," said Florida state Rep. Mary Brandenburg, who has introduced a bill to make possession of salvia a felony punishable by up to five years in prison.
Some say legislators are overreacting to a minor problem, but no one disputes that the plant impairs judgment and the ability to drive.
Native to Mexico and still grown there, salvia divinorum is generally smoked but can also be chewed or made into a tea and drunk.
Hour-long hallucinations
Called nicknames like Sally-D, Magic Mint and Diviner's Sage, salvia is a hallucinogen that gives users an out-of-body sense of traveling through time and space or merging with inanimate objects. Unlike hallucinogens like LSD or PCP, however, salvia's effects last for a shorter time, generally up to an hour.
No known deaths have been attributed to salvia's use, but it was listed as a factor in one Delaware teen's suicide two years ago.
"Parents, I would say, are pretty clueless," said Jonathan Appel, an assistant professor of psychology and criminal justice at Tiffin University in Ohio who has studied the emergence of the substance. "It's much more powerful than marijuana."
Linked to boy's suicide
Salvia's short-lasting effects and fact that it is currently legal may make it seem more appealing to teens, lawmakers say. In the Delaware suicide, the boy's mother told reporters that salvia made his mood darker but he justified its use by citing its legality. According to reports, the autopsy found no traces of the drug in his system, but the medical examiner listed it as a contributing cause.
Mike Strain, Louisiana's Agriculture and Forestry Commissioner and former legislator, helped his state in 2005 become the first to make salvia illegal, along with a number of other plants. He said the response has been largely positive.
"I got some hostile e-mails from people who sold these products," Strain said. "You don't make everybody happy when you outlaw drugs. You save one child and it's worth it."
An ounce of salvia leaves sells for around $30 on the Internet. A liquid extract from the plant, salvinorin A, is also sold in various strengths labeled "5x" through "60x." A gram of the 5x strength, about the weight of a plastic pen cap, is about $12 while 60x strength is around $65. And in some cases the extract comes in flavors including apple, strawberry and spearmint.
'Experience immortality'
Some Web sites tout the product with images like a waterfall and rainbow and include testimonials like: "It might sound far-fetched, but I experience immortality."
Among those who believe the commotion over the drug is overblown is Rick Doblin of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, a nonprofit group that does research on psychedelic drugs and whose goal is to develop psychedelics and marijuana into prescription medication.
"I think the move to criminalize is a misguided response to a very minimal problem," Doblin said.
Doblin said salvia isn't "a party drug," "tastes terrible" and is "not going to be extremely popular." He disputes the fact teens are its main users and says older users are more likely.
"It's a minor drug in the world of psychedelics," he said.
Moreover, it's hard to say how widespread the use of salvia is. National and state surveys on drug use don't include salvia, and because it is legal in most states, law enforcement officials don't compile statistics, either.
San Diego State University last year surveyed more than 1,500 students and found that 4 percent of participants reported using salvia in the past year.
Brandenburg's bill would make salvia and its extract controlled substances in the same class as marijuana and LSD.
Florida state Sen. Evelyn Lynn, whose committee plans to study the salvia bill Tuesday, said the drug should be criminalized.
"I'd rather be at the front edge of preventing the dangers of the drug than waiting until we are the 40th or more," she said.
More from msnbc.com
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reminds me of a drug they use in africa called khat. ah wonder if iz de same thing
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Oh shims man, there goes my internet business
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/91/StandardizedSalviaD.jpg/200px-StandardizedSalviaD.jpg)
A package of 20x extract leaves found at a convenience store
in Canada where salvia is legal to possess, cultivate, and sell.
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Oh shims man, there goes my internet business
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/91/StandardizedSalviaD.jpg/200px-StandardizedSalviaD.jpg)
A package of 20x extract leaves found at a convenience store
in Canada where salvia is legal to possess, cultivate, and sell.
:rotfl: Only in BC
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Man feeds birds ganja seeds: fined $2,500
By Nikita Braxton (Trinidad Express)
ANTHONY MARCANO decided to stop feeding his feathered friends traditional bird seeds and instead he resorted to marijuana seeds.
The idea to give marijuana seeds to his birds came from an old man, Marcano, a labourer of Pleasantville, San Fernando told the San Fernando Second Magistrates' Court on Wednesday.
He was held on Tuesday with 16 grammes of the drug after he was searched.
Marcano, 32, admitted he had the drug and that he smoked marijuana.
"Because you smoke, you feel the birds should have something too?" Magistrate Melvin Daniel asked Marcano, who said he fed the birds with marijuana seeds once every other day.
"You think that would get your birds bigger?" Daniel asked Marcano, who had served six months jail on a previous charge.
He did answer the question but said marijuana seeds cost less than bird seeds.
"Don't distress your birds," Daniel told Marcano as he ordered him to pay a $2,500 fine.
Mason: I boiled ganja
By Nikita Braxton (Trinidad Express)
FOR the past 12 years Wayne Leith said he would boil marijuana and drink it to help his eye problem. On Wednesday, as he stood before Magistrate Melvin Daniel, he resolved to visit an eye specialist instead.
Leith, a mason, was held on Tuesday at Carlton Lane, San Fernando with three grammes of marijuana.
He said he was short-sighted and would boil and drink the marijuana which cleared his both eyes within 48 hours. This remedy would last up to four months, Leith told the San Fernando Second Magistrates' Court.
This may shock you, Daniel told the 46-year-old, but there were millions of nearsighted people who did not use marijuana.
Leith, who spoke with a heavy American accent and said he lived abroad for some time, agreed.
"I would go to the eye specialist as soon as possible," he said. Daniel told him he would first have to pay the $3,000 fine imposed or he would have to serve 18 months in prison.
Leith had previous convictions for possession of marijuana and a device for using cocaine.
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Some years back it had one tell ah magistrate he does smoke because of mosquitos , he say that he from Moruga and the mosquito problem real bad but when he smoke it does drive away the mosquitos and he don't feel the bite.
The magistrate tell him it cheaper to buy cockset and fine him.
What he did'nt tell the magistrate was that in moruga ganga plenty cheaper than cockset.
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but as youths, my brother had real birds in cage. The occasional times I would slip some ganja seed into the bird's mix..talk bout chune that bud singing.. but the birds used to also fly direct into the cage walls..like they gone mad as well.
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Yeah I have no issues with marijuana use by any means, but ah can't condone giving the seeds to birds....That could real f*ck up a lil bird dread.... Animal tolerance to that kinda thing is very low...(especially a small creature like a bird...laaawd).
Funny story though.
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meh u-16 goalkeeper used to chew it to have energy fuh ah game
proberly explains the pink wig he wore fuh de woodbrook game
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Nice title
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My brother and his pardners smoked and blew the smoke into a paper bag, caught my neighbours cat and force its head into the bag.
That cat look like Pepe Le Pew, it was bouncing off the walls.
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My brother and his pardners smoked and blew the smoke into a paper bag, caught my neighbours cat and force its head into the bag.
That cat look like Pepe Le Pew, it was bouncing off the walls.
Ah like dat one LOL :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:
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http://www.trinidadexpress.com/index.pl/article_news?id=161399396
Every year many young men are arrested on marijuana charges.
They fill already overcrowded jail cells, clog up the judicial system, and the police spend much of their limited resources attempting to fight a crime that affects mainly the user. As more countries change their attitudes, and laws to allow the use of this herb for medical reasons, the question has been asked time and time again, isn't it time for Trinidad and Tobago to decriminalise marijuana for personal use?
Today, in the second part of the Ganja series, Nazma Muller travels the mystic trail that brought the herb to this country - from its use in devotion rituals to the god Shivain India, to shops on sugar cane estates during indentureship, to its present-day incarnation as the "healing of the nation" for Rastafari.
The sign outside the shop reads "Govt Authorised Bhang Shop". Inside the owner rattles off the various levels of potency of his bhang lassi. "Okay, you have normally strong," he says with a straight face, "super-duper-sexy strong, and full-power 24-hour, no toilet, no shower."
The place is Rajasthan, India; the time August 2006; and British celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain is about to get stoned out of his mind on the Travel Channel.
Bhang lassi is a special yogurt drink that contains a liquid derivative of marijuana. It is legal in many parts of India today and mainly used for religious purposes, particularly during the festival of Holi (what we call Phagwa), when pakoras (snacks like kachoree, saheena and bhaigani) containing bhang are eaten.
Bourdain orders a 'super-duper-sexy strong' lassi. The owner blends some yogurt with water, salt, pepper, ice and a tablespoon of ganja until the drink is frothy. The chef gulps the drink down and declares it 'delicious'. Then, expecting to feel the pangs of hunger very soon, he orders a few bhang cookies and bhang chocolate, and heads back to his hotel room to "mellow out".
A century and a half earlier...
Ram sat down wearily. He could barely move - his back was sore from bending, his palms covered in calluses and he felt as if his skin was on fire. The sun had been terrible today. He looked out over the cane, and yearned for his family and friends back in India. His village in Biharseemed so far away. Feeling tears form in the corner of his eyes, he reached for the tin of ganja on the shelf above his head. Sniffling, he rolled a joint and settled himself in his hammock.Â
The place was a sugar cane estate in Trinidad; the time 1850 or thereabouts; and an ordinary East Indian labourer was about to get stoned out of his mind.
"It came with the British," historian Gerry Besson corrects me gently. "The Indians were in charge of very little."
Contrary to popular myth, it was not the indentured labourers who "brought" ganja to Trinidad, but the colonial authorities. "No doubt somebody had a little bit in their pocket when they arrived on the boat," Besson commented wryly.
A publisher and "amateur historian", as he calls himself, Besson is the author of works such as The Mystic Masseur, an excerpt from the film by Merchant Ivory and essays on the East Indian community, Â along with celebrated Kittitian writer Caryl Phillips; A Photograph Album of Trinidad at the Turn of the 19th Century; Folklore & Legends of Trinidad and Tobago; and The Book of Trinidad, which he co-authored with UWI professor of history Bridget Brereton.
As he tells it, ganja was introduced to this country by the British, together with opium. "It is important to remark that these narcotics were not perceived as illegal in that time," Besson said. "This was not an illegal substance in the decades of the 1840s, '50s and '60s. It was just one of the many chemicals that were used for all sorts of purposes - along with arsenic, gunpowder, etc - that had to be quantified. It had to go through Customs and that sort of thing."
The British, drawing on their experience of colonialism in India, fully understood the purpose and use of ganja in religious practices by Hindus. Called ganjika in Sanskrit, marijuana was used in Hindu culture as early as 1500 BC, and its ancient use is confirmed within the Vedas (Sama Veda, Rig Vedaand Atharva Veda). The most potent preparation, charas, is similar to hashish or "hash". Charas is smoked by some Shiva devotees and cannabis itself is seen as a gift ("prasad" or offering) of Shiva to aid in sadhana (spiritual practice). Some of the wandering ascetics in India known as sadhus smoke charas out of a clay chillu. High-caste Hindus, who are not permitted to use alcohol, may drink bhang at religious ceremonies, and as an intoxicant at marriage ceremonies and family festivals.
Bhang was used by labourers "to relax at the end of the day; to relieve fatigue; to obtain a sense of well-being; to stimulate appetite; and to enable them to bear more cheerfully the strain and monotony of ... daily routines", reported The National Commission on Marihuana And Drug Abuse to the President and Congress of the United States on March 22, 1972.
"So this was one of the few facilities that was really offered to indentures," explained Besson. The colonial authorities allowed ganja to be sold under licence in shops on the sugar cane estates. The distilleries on the estates produced "a rather apocalyptic rum", according to Besson, and so to discourage the men from drinking rum - they were here, after all, without wives or families, and many were confined to the estates - the British supplied them with ganja.
Alcohol was far more dangerous to the body, the mind and the environment. "And there was the very real problem of Indians drinking too much rum," Besson pointed out. "There still is."Â
And so the likes of Huggins and Company, and Alstons, imported ganja on behalf of the authorities.
There are still battered black signs with white writing that say 'Licensed to sell ganja' in some parts of Trinidad. Besson said he had seen one at a place on the north coast which used to be an estate. "This (marijuana) was something you could go and buy in a shop. You just carried your birth certificate to show you were over 18 and that was that."
So what changed the British attitude towards marijuana?
In the early 1900s, partly as a response to attempts by administrators to tax the Indian poor, bureaucrats initiated a study of ganja as a hallucinogen in India. They looked at the effects on the minds and came to the conclusion that it was making the natives crazy.
"What they may have seen was malnutrition among very poor people, aided and abetted by smoking half a pound of marijuana a day," mused Besson.
This would eventually lead to ganja becoming a highly controlled substance, then an eventual ban in India.Â
However, up until the 1940s and '50s, it was still widely used in the countryside in Trinidad. The last of the Indian immigrants arrived in 1917, and immigration stopped in 1920. The people who came in 1917 still lived in barracks and smoked their ganja at
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Sat, please weigh in on the weight.
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'Forgetful' dad enters court with ganja
By Joel Julien (T&T Express)
CURTIS LAWRENCE, concerned about his son's arrest, went to court to look for him on Monday. The problem, though, was that Lawrence forgot some marijuana in his pocket.
And for his absent-mindedness, the 49-year-old will have to pay $1,200 in one day's time or go to jail for two months.
Lawrence yesterday appeared before Magistrate Adrian Darmanie in the Tunapuna Second Magistrate's Court charged with possession of 0.9 grammes of marijuana.
Lawrence, who was represented by attorney Yaseen Ali, pleaded guilty to the charge.
The drama unfolded around 9.15 a.m. on Monday when Lawrence tried to walk through the scanners at the entrance to the court. During that routine search, estate constable David Wickham, of the Judiciary Security Unit, found the illegal substance in Lawrence's pants pocket. The ganja was hidden inside of an empty du Maurier pack.
Lawrence, a self-proclaimed ganja smoker for the past ten years, told the court that he intended to quit the habit for his 50th birthday next month, and would use this opportunity to finally stop once and for all.
"This is one of the most stupid things I have ever seen," Ali told Darmanie as he made a leniency plea for Lawrence.
However, Ali said that although his client's action was without a doubt a foolish act, Lawrence had just forgotten the weed in his pocket.
"He is more fool than brave," Ali told the court as he tried to prove that his client did not intend to intentionally enter the court with the illegal drug.
Lawrence's son is still before the court charged with an altercation in a maxi-taxi.
Darmanie also praised Wickham for his "diligent work" in finding the drugs on Lawrence.
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"This is one of the most stupid things I have ever seen,"............................."He is more fool than brave,"
:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:
That he would say this in court. :rotfl: :rotfl:
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;D
I would have loved to see his son's face. He just finished telling the other inmates how daddy coming to rescue him and then he finds out daddy turned up and got himself arrested for being more foolish than brave...lol
truth better than fiction oui... :D
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one fuh de retarded archives.
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He start bunning weed at 39?
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he eh stopping at 50 neither 8)
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http://www.dailyfinance.com/2009/11/15/first-u-s-marijuana-cafe-opens-for-business-in-portland/
First U.S. marijuana cafe opens for business in Portland
Cancel your flight to Amsterdam – the U.S. just got its first marijuana cafe on Friday. Located in Portland, Ore., the Cannabis Cafe shows how attitudes have changed since the Obama administration moved into the White House. A month ago, President Barack Obama told federal attorneys to ease off medical marijuana prosecutions.
The widening use of medicinal marijuana has forced governments into a tenuous legal balancing act, according to a Reuters report. Some states passed legislation to allow it, starting with California in 1996. Nonetheless, a federal ban remains in place. The operation of businesses like the Cannabis Cafe, as well as marijuana establishments in California, has been possible as long as federal authorities have chosen not to pursue them. Unlike the shops in California, though, the Portland establishment is the first in the U.S. where certified medical marijuana users can both acquire and consume their marijuana, as long as they stay out of public view.
Madeline Martinez, executive director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws in Oregon, says that the Cannabis Club "represents personal freedom, finally, for our members." NORML supports legislation to legalize marijuana.
"Our plans go beyond serving food and marijuana," Martinez continues. "We hope to have classes, seminars, even a Cannabis Community College, based here to help people learn about growing and other uses for cannabis."
The Food is For Sale, but the Pot is Free
The Cannabis Cafe's new home is a two-story building with an interesting past. Once upon a time, it was occupied by a speakeasy, and later, an adult entertainment club called Rumpspankers. The Cannabis Cafe is a private club, but any Oregon resident who is a member of NORML and has an official medical marijuana card can gain entry.
Members pay $25 a month for use of the cafe, which has a capacity of 100. The product offered is not sold. Rather, it's provided free over the counter from the "budtenders" employed by the establishment. Food, of course, is available for purchase, but the club doesn't have a liquor license. (Why bother?)
The potential market for the Cannabis Cafe is small, but likely committed. Approximately 21,000 patients are registered to use medical marijuana in Oregon, with doctors prescribing the drug for a wide range of illnesses, among them Alzheimer's, diabetes, multiple sclerosis and Tourette's syndrome.
Eric Solomon, the proprietor, says he still just runs a coffee shop and events venue, as he did before he converted it to the current format, but he says, "now it will be cannabis-themed." Film festivals and dances are expected for the second floor ballroom, not to mentioned marijuana-themed weddings.
Neighboring businesses have mixed feelings about the new cafe, but they are hopeful that it will benefit them, too. David Bell, who works at a nearby boutique, is "withholding judgment." He notes, "There's no precedent for it. We don't know what to expect. But it would great if it brought some customers into our store."
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Oregon must have a lot of happy people now lol.
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743 pounds of marijuana found in septic tank truck, Arizona police say
CNN
In a messy drug bust this week, investigators uncovered more than 700 pounds of marijuana stuffed in a septic tank truck full of human waste, Arizona police said Friday.
And the search of the truck was as awful as it sounds.
"Yeah, that really does suck," Arizona Department of Public Safety spokesman Bart Graves told CNN. "It's a long way to go to make a bust."
Hidden in the holding tank of the truck were 743 pounds of pot, worth about $409,000 on the street, police said in a news release.
An officer pulled over the septic tank truck Wednesday after a check of the license showed it was invalid, police said. The truck was headed northbound on I-19 and stopped about 35 miles south of Tucson, Arizona. Police patrolling the area tend to be more vigilant, Graves said, because the interstate -- which leads directly to Mexico -- is a major thoroughfare for drug and human trafficking.
After the stop, the officer discovered that the commercial vehicle markings on the truck were also invalid. A subsequent search revealed the bales of marijuana in red and orange packages amid the waste.
"It just shows how desperate these drug cartels are," Graves said. "They'll go to any lengths to conceal their product. We've seen it concealed [among] watermelons, bell peppers. This is the first time we've seen it concealed in human waste."
Police arrested the driver, Leonard Salcido, 24, of Tucson, and charged him with possession of marijuana, possession of marijuana for sale and transportation of marijuana, police said.
The bust was not the largest for Arizona police. In 2008, police found more than 2,000 pounds of marijuana in a fake UPS truck, Graves said.
Wednesday's smelly pot was just one major bust this week. On Thursday, police confiscated $681,000 worth of methamphetamine concealed in the false floor of a vehicle.
The driver was stopped for speeding on I-17 near Camp Verde, Arizona, police said. The officer asked to search the vehicle and found 15 pounds of meth, police said.
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oh geeedoh
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now dat is real CACA DIVIN oui
dat would have been some goood "shit" ;D
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That weed is the S***!
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Pass dat sh*t nah.... :devil:
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Probably not the first time.
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Pot legalization measure headed to California ballot, advocates say
By Alan Silverleib (CNN.com)
(CNN) – California voters will be able to decide this fall whether their state will be the first in the nation to legalize the possession of marijuana for nonmedicinal uses, advocates claimed Wednesday, saying they have the needed signatures for a ballot initiative.
The proposed ballot initiative legalizing adults' possession of up to one ounce of marijuana has collected almost 700,000 signatures, according to a statement from the Marijuana Policy Project, a Washington-based organization.
Roughly 434,000 signatures are required to place an initiative on statewide ballot in California this year, the statement said. State election officials are expected to validate the signatures Wednesday, it said.
City and county governments would be allowed to imposed a sales tax under the proposed statute. They also would be allowed to establish local ordinances relating to distribution.
California first enacted a law allowing for the medicinal use of marijuana in 1996, according Marijuana Policy Project spokesman Steve Fox. Fourteen states now allow medical marijuana, he said.
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Synthetic Marijuana Spurs State Bans
(http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2010/07/11/us/11k2-span/11k2-span-articleLarge.jpg)
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/11/us/11k2.html?_r=1 (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/11/us/11k2.html?_r=1)
ST. LOUIS — Seated at a hookah lounge in the Tower Grove district, Albert Kuo trained his lighter above a marbleized glass pipe stuffed with synthetic marijuana. Inhaling deeply, Mr. Kuo, an art student at an area college, singed the pipe’s leafy contents, emitting a musky cloud of smoke into the afternoon light.
“I know it’s not going to kill me,” said Mr. Kuo, who likened the drug’s effects to clove cigarettes. “It’s a waste of time, effort and money to ban something like this.”
On Tuesday, Gov. Jay Nixon, a Democrat, signed a bill prohibiting possession of K2. Missouri is the nation’s eighth state this year to ban the substance, which has sent users to emergency rooms across the country complaining of everything from elevated heart rates and paranoia to vomiting and hallucinations.
Investigators blame the drug in at least one death, and this month, Gov. Mike Beebe of Arkansas, a Democrat, signed an emergency order banning the substance. Similar prohibitions are pending in at least six other states, including Illinois, Louisiana, Michigan, New Jersey, New York and Ohio, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
“It’s like a tidal wave,” said Ward Franz, the state representative who sponsored Missouri’s legislation. “It’s almost an epidemic. We’re seeing middle-school kids walking into stores and buying it.”
Often marketed as incense, K2 — which is also known as Spice, Demon or Genie — is sold openly in gas stations, head shops and, of course, online. It can sell for as much as $40 per gram. The substance is banned in many European countries, but by marketing it as incense and clearly stating that it is not for human consumption, domestic sellers have managed to evade federal regulation.
“Everybody knows it’s not incense,” said Barbara Carreno, a spokeswoman for the federal Drug Enforcement Administration. “That’s done with a wink and a nod.”
First developed in the lab of a Clemson University chemist, John W. Huffman, K2’s active ingredients are synthetic cannabinoids — research-grade chemicals that were created for therapeutic purposes but can also mimic the narcotic effects of tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the active ingredient in marijuana.
In a statement, Mr. Huffman said the chemicals were not intended for human use. He added that his lab had developed them for research purposes only, and that “their effects in humans have not been studied and they could very well have toxic effects.”
Nevertheless, pure forms of the chemical are available online, and investigators believe that many sellers are buying bulk quantities, mixing them with a potpourrilike blend of herbs and labeling the substance K2.
“It’s not like there’s one K2 distributor — everybody is making their own stuff, calling it K2 and selling it, which is the most unnerving aspect,” said Dr. Christopher Rosenbaum, an assistant professor of toxicology at the University of Massachusetts who is studying the effects of K2 in emergency room patients.
The American Association of Poison Control Centers reports that so far this year there have been 567 K2-related calls, up from 13 in 2009. But investigators add that no one is really certain what is in K2, and people are arriving at emergency rooms with symptoms that would not normally be associated with marijuana or a synthetic form of the drug.
“I don’t know how many people are going for a box of doughnuts after smoking K2, but they’re sure getting some other symptoms,” said Dr. Anthony Scalzo, a professor of emergency medicine at the St. Louis University who first reported a rise in K2-related cases and is collaborating with Dr. Rosenbaum in researching K2’s effects. “These are very anxious, agitated people that are requiring several doses of sedatives.”
Dr. Scalzo, who is also the medical director for the Missouri Poison Control Center, added that although tests had found cannabinoids in K2, it was unclear “whether the reaction we’re seeing is just because of dose effect, or if there’s something in there we haven’t found yet.”
That question remains at the center of an investigation into the death of David Rozga, an Iowa teenager who last month committed suicide shortly after smoking K2. Mr. Rozga, 18, had graduated from high school one week earlier and was planning to attend college in the fall.
According to the police report, Mr. Rozga smoked the substance with friends and then began “freaking out,” saying he was “going to hell.” He then returned to his parents’ house, grabbed a rifle from the family’s gun room and shot himself in the head.
“There was nothing in the investigation to show he was depressed or sad or anything,” said Detective Sgt. Brian Sher of the Indianola Police Department, who led the investigation. “I’ve seen it all. I don’t know what else to attribute it to. It has to be K2.”
But many users say they are undaunted by reports of negative reactions to the drug. K2 does not show up on drug tests, and users say that while they would like to know what is in it, they would take their chances if it means a clean urine test.
The Missouri ban, which goes into effect Aug. 28, prohibits several cannabinoids that investigators have found in K2 and related products. Nevertheless, investigators and researchers say that bans like the one in Missouri are little more than “Band-Aids” that street chemists can sidestep with a slight alteration to a chemical’s molecular structure.
“Once it goes illegal, I already have something to replace it with,” said Micah Riggs, who sells the product at his coffee shop in Kansas City. “There are hundreds of these synthetics, and we just go about it a couple of them at a time.”
Investigators say that a more effective ban might arise once the Drug Enforcement Administration completes its review of cannabinoids, placing them under the Controlled Substances Act. Currently, however, only one such substance is controlled under the act, though the agency has listed four others as “chemicals of concern.”
“It’s hard to keep up with everything,” said Ms. Carreno of the D.E.A., adding, “The process of scheduling something is thorough and time consuming, and there are a lot of gifted chemists out there.”
Meanwhile, states are largely on their own when it comes to controlling this new breed of synthetic cannabis, which often comes down to a game of cat-and-mouse where law enforcement agents, politicians, users and their families must formulate new responses as each iteration of a drug comes to market.
“Where does a parent go to get answers?” asked Mike Rozga, who said he learned of K2 only after his son’s death. “We talk to our kids about sex. We talk to our kids about drugs, and we talk to our kids about drinking and being responsible. But how can you talk to your kids about something you don’t even know about?”
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Man arrested after asking police how much marijuana he could grow
By Tom Cleary (newstimes.com)
All he wanted was a little free legal advice. Unfortunately for one Farmington man, he decided to dial 911 instead of a lawyer.
In a tape of a Thursday night 911 call made available by Farmington police, a man identified by police as Robert Michelson, 21, of Farmington, asks how much trouble he'd get into for growing one marijuana plant. The dispatcher advises that he could be arrested, at which point the caller thanks the dispatcher and hangs up.
Police were able to trace the call back to an address on Waterville Road. Narcotics officers from Farmington went to the house and allegedly discovered that Michelson was growing marijuana there. Michelson allegedly admitted that he had spent "a lot of money online buying everything he needed to grow marijuana, including the seeds," police said. Officers seized a small amount of marijuana and numerous items of drug paraphernalia for smoking and growing the drug, police said.
During the conversation with the dispatcher, the man identified by police as Michelson is asked what his emergency is, and he replies "Uh, let's not get into that yet."
It all goes down hill from there, as the caller learns that he can indeed get into trouble for growing just one marijuana plant.
"Well, I have a legal question," the caller said.
"Is it life threatening or an active crime in progress?" the dispatcher asked.
The caller said, "Crime in progress, possibly."
After being asked, "What's going on?" by the dispatcher, the caller said, "I was just growing some marijuana and I was just wondering what, how much trouble you can get in for one plant."
The dispatcher asked how big the plant was and the caller responded that it is a seedling. The dispatcher then told him he could get arrested for possession, so the caller thanked him and hung up.
Michelson was charged with possession of drug paraphernalia in a drug factory, possession of less than four ounces of marijuana, illegal cultivation of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia. He was released on $5,000 bond.
But before he left the police station, Michelson reportedly gave one final goodbye to the dispatcher: two middle fingers, "presumably for doing such a good job," police said.
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Mr Michelson call the police to find out how he can legally break the law :rotfl:
He shoulda call jack instead :beermug:
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http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/apps/cvp/3.0/swf/cnn_416x234_embed.swf?context=embed&videoId=crime/2011/02/04/dnt.911.pot.question.wtnh
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He soppoze to tell the police that is nuttin lets move on .
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trust me...manning know where he was coming from...i seriously doubt anything will come out of this as daddy payroll is huge....ask him bout monos island one time
____________________________
Handpicked state chairman assists cops in $2M marijuana probe
The Prime Minister’s “handpicked choice” for chairman of a state board has been assisting police in connection
with a $2 million marijuana haul. The recent appointment of the well-known businessman to the board has left
some members of the Cabinet in shock over the decision and even raised eyebrows among concerned party
supporters. The board member—who is reportedly said to be the preferred choice in spite of concerns raised by
certain supporters—was in April quizzed by the Organised Crime and Narcotics Unit (OCNU) in relation to the
marijuana bust at the Point Lisas Port over the Easter weekend.
Police officers discovered close to $2 million worth of compressed marijuana in the container belonging to the
popular businessman.
Probing by Sunday Guardian and official government records confirmed that the board member is the owner of
an established company. The company’s telephone number is also listed under the board member’s name.
Telephone calls to the businessman’s place yesterday and conversations with a member of staff, further
corroborated that the board member is the owner of the company. In fact, in a list of preferred companies
certified by the Ministry of Trade and Industry as at July 2009, the board member is listed as an authorised
business operation. However, the document failed to list the first name of the board member and only states
the middle name and surname.
OCNU, Customs: Investigations ongoing
Yesterday both officers of the OCNU and the Customs and Excise Division confirmed to Sunday Guardian that
investigation into the matter is ongoing. The drug haul, police reports stated, occurred over the Easter
weekend. However, up to yesterday police officers were still trying to piece together how the illegal drug ended
up in the container. According to police reports, officers of the OCNU acting on a tip off swooped down on the
port and intercepted the container that was shipped from Jamaica. The container was listed at Customs as
containing legal items to be sold by the businessman. Police officers conducting a search however discovered
millions of dollars in compressed and packaged marijuana. The container was impounded by police who launched
an investigation.
Party members: It’s embarrassing
Top party sources have revealed to Sunday Guardian that the board member played an integral role in the
children’s gift distribution during the Christmas season last year. “This entire situation is really embarrassing.
This appointment is not sitting right at all. This particular individual was recently helping police with
investigations regarding an illegal operation and now he is a board member. It is not looking right. “We fought
an election on transparency and we must live up to this. Quite frankly, this particular board member has no
right sitting on a state board given the current investigation,” a top party source revealed. Several attempts to
contact the Prime Minister for comment on the matter proved futile last night.
Warner, Roopnarine: We do not appoint boards
However, Minister of Works and Transport Jack Warner and Junior Minister in his ministry, Stacy Roopnarine
who are both members of the Cabinet distanced themselves from any wrongdoing. Both said they had no
authority over the appointment of board members. “We had no say in that appointment. The chairman in
question was appointed by the boards committee and then the appointment was ratified by Cabinet. We have
no say in appointing board members,” both Ministers reiterated during an interview at Queen’s Park Savannah
where the ministry held its environmental, health and safety walk.
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Sometimes I does wonder what is the point of some of these news articles if they not naming names... is like reading decommissioned files from the CIA, yuh getting bits and pieces of the story but the real important points redacted with ah black marker.
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T&T laws....
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now ah raking mih brain trying to remember this drug bust and which board get appointed recently so ah could figure out who is de Chairman.....
If all yuh know doh keep mih in suspense nah.....send mih ah PM please and thanks..... ;D
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Was not here Easter weekend so eh have a clue but call a name nah.
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I think I read about customs in some foreign used parking lot checking on Christmas gifts around April last year....I remember it becasue ah was thinking, dem real early with this Christmas thing boy.
Look ah find the article...not sure is de same but the timing right.
http://www.guardian.co.tt/news/2010/12/04/customs-officers-inspect-pm-s-gifts-children
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T&T laws....
What are the laws?
...and point to ah link if yuh have it, if not I'll go try and find it.
EDIT:
It certainly NOT contained in the libel laws (http://rgd.legalaffairs.gov.tt/Laws2/Alphabetical_List/lawspdfs/11.16.pdf) (see, Section 13, pg. 7)... which is where you'd expect to find it.
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Assisting in investigations is different from being charged..I think that is the reason why persons suspected are never named in T&T...only after officially charged.
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Assisting in investigations is different from being charged..I think that is the reason why persons suspected are never named in T&T...only after officially charged.
Makes no difference where the libel laws are concerned... assuming that is the governing law and not some other.
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Clue: That chairman have plenty frequent flyer miles
Jack doh like him either
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Clue: That chairman have plenty frequent flyer miles
Jack doh like him either
Hope dem clues eh fly over people head.
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Ten posts and none allyuh eh gih mih ah name yet :-\
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he does be in town regular...he big and blue...so big he have lions guarding him..
(my court clothes is fuh church)
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Clue: That chairman have plenty frequent flyer miles
Jack doh like him either
Hope dem clues eh fly over people head.
St. Nick ?
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so is Issa son? allyuh sure ah dat?
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so is Issa son? allyuh sure ah dat?
How to Dress for a Court Appearance
By an eHow Contributor
When you dress for a court appearance, dress as if you were going for an important job interview.
Difficulty: Easy
Instructions
1
Understand that a courtroom is a formal, serious place and that judges are generally conservative.
2
Choose clothing that you are comfortable wearing. You will look nervous and shifty if you are adjusting your clothing and constantly rearranging yourself in court.
3
Avoid sneakers, trendy clothing, lots of jewelry, loud colors (especially red), revealing outfits, outrageous hairdos, and stained or damaged clothes. Do not wear a lot of perfume, cologne or aftershave. Wearing leather is not advisable.
4
Wear a suit, dress, or blouse and skirt if you are a woman. Do not wear spike heels, sandals or open-toed shoes. Wear a bra and pantyhose even if it kills you. Be sure your bra and slip are not showing.
5
Wear a suit, jacket and tie, or shirt and tie (only if you don't own a jacket) if you are a man. Never wear a hat.
6
Remove your coat before entering the courtroom.
7
Look as serious, reasonable, modest and ordinary as possible. You don't want to stand out or call attention to yourself.
8
Take off any expensive pieces of jewelry if you are trying to get the court to award you money.
9
Leave pocketknives, guns and any other weapons at home. They are not permitted in the courthouse.
Read more: How to Dress for a Court Appearance | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_8979_dress-court-appearance.html#ixzz1PMKhhOgD
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:rotfl: :rotfl:
Good one mukumsplau....
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By Nikita Braxton-Benjamin nikita.braxton@trinidadexpress.com
A BOY who placed in the top 100 of the Secondary Entrance Assessment (SEA) examination two years ago, and passed for Naparima College, pleaded guilty in court yesterday to having marijuana for the purpose of trafficking.
The teen said he was told the marijuana was a herbal medicine that could be boiled to make tea and would help with his studies.
The Third Form pupil, a scholarship winner, was represented by attorney Ramesh Deena, when he appeared before San Fernando Magistrate Alicia Chankar.
The magistrate asked the boy to explain how he ended up with the drugs last Thursday.
The teen said he was waiting on transportation at a maxi-taxi stand when he was approached by a man who spoke to him about weight-lifting.
The boy said weight-lifting was also one of his hobbies and the man explained that he used the herb for this. The man also told him that the "herbal extracts can be used for studying".
The boy, who said his parents would usually buy him over-the-counter supplements, purchased the drugs at $25 per pack.
The boy took the drugs to school to show his friend.
It was around 10.30 a.m. on Tuesday when the dean of discipline at the college went to the boy's classroom and asked if he had anything illegal in his possession, police prosecutor Russell Ramoutar said.
"The defendant took out two transparent packets containing marijuana and placed them on the table," Ramoutar said.
At the San Fernando Police Station, Constable Desiree Luke charged him with having the four grammes of marijuana. Since it was found on the school's compound, the pupil was charged with trafficking the illegal substance.
The boy, whose parents stood at his side, has a nine-year-old sister and attends a Presbyterian church with his family, his lawyer said.
His father, a teacher, admitted that since placing in the top 100 in the SEA exam, with 97 per cent, the boy's grades had dropped.
"I made it my business and said this term I will work with my son," he told the magistrate.
The child, who aspires to become either a doctor or a lawyer, admitted that his school work had become "challenging".
Chankar told him he brought shame on himself, his parents and the community.
"Sometimes we have brains but lack common sense... There's a saying, 'From the sublime to the ridiculous.' You're a walking example of it. You have to be sure of yourself, of your values, ethics and morals," Chankar said.
The boy said he was guilty and frightened over the experience.
Chankar encouraged the parents to communicate with their child.
"To err is human. You need to find out why and how to fix it," the magistrate said.
She reminded them that not one person was to blame in this situation. "Sometimes our expectations cloud behaviour and we end up with this."
Attorney Deena said he believed the boy had learnt his lesson.
Chankar ordered that a probation officer's report be conducted before sentencing is passed.
The boy, who is on $25,000 bail, will return to court on October 14.
Ramoutar said the Criminal Investigative Department will be investigating this matter further, as it was given information that could assist in finding the person who sold the boy the drugs.
Another 14-year-old from Naparima College also faced the court, charged with having two grammes of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking.
Represented by attorney Saira Lakhan, he pleaded not guilty and was ordered to return to court on December 19.
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set di yute free.. He made a mistake this yute look like he positive.. gave him a bligh.. go look for di big fish....
war
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made mistake my ass...i went a prestige school trust me they does very well know what they doin...weed and alco was d order from form 2 go up...fellas be knowin what they do is wrong..jus that it never really had snitches..
sad thing is d same ppl who talkin bout crime outta control yadda yadda is some ah d same ones who provide d market for weed, coke etc...i know dozens of doctors, lawyers, engineers etc etc who does mek sure tuh get dey 'supply' but when d lights on they does b d most vocal about crime etc
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buy wuh kinda parent go buy weed fuh they child
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Dai'z de best lie they coulda come up with? lol
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buy wuh kinda parent go buy weed fuh they child
i don't think that is the case... poorly written sentence
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Marijuana smoking does not harm lungs
New York Times
A large new government study has found that smoking marijuana on a regular basis, even over many years, does not impair lung function. Marijuana, the most widely used illicit drug in the US, has become increasingly popular and less stigmatised in recent years, particularly among young adults. One government report released in December found that one out of 15 high school students now smokes marijuana nearly every day, a growth fueled in part by the spread of medicinal marijuana, which is legal in 16 states. With its use rising, questions about the drug’s long-term medical consequences have garnered more attention.
The new research is one of the most extensive looks to date at whether long-term marijuana use causes pulmonary damage, and specifically whether its impact on the lungs is as harmful as smoking cigarettes. The researchers followed more than 5,000 people over two decades and found that regularly smoking marijuana, the equivalent of up to a joint a day over seven years, did not impair performance on a lung function test. The test, a measure of pulmonary obstruction that looks at the amount of air a person can force out in one second after taking a deep breath, is typically worsened by smoking tobacco. In something of a twist, the researchers found that compared to nonsmokers, marijuana users performed slightly better on the lung function test, though the improvement was minuscule.
“Even with this tiny increase in airflow, I have to admit that I really doubt that there’s any real increase in lung health,” said Dr Stefan Kertesz, an associate professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham school of medicine and an author of the study. The finding may merely reflect marijuana smokers’ years of “training” in taking deep inhalations and holding the smoke, the researchers said. In the near term, smoking marijuana irritates the airways and can cause coughing, and public health advocates stress that it causes impairment that reduces attention, lowers motivation and heightens the risk of accidents. Over days or weeks, chronic use can lead to problems with learning and memory. But whether smoking marijuana sets off the type of pulmonary changes that lead to lasting damage like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, a leading cause of death among Americans, was not entirely clear.
Earlier research suggested that the impact of marijuana smoke, which contains some of the same noxious chemicals as tobacco, was not as harmful to lung function as cigarette smoke. But many of the studies were carried out over relatively short periods and contained hundreds, not thousands, of subjects. In the new study, which was published in The Journal of the American Medical Association and financed by the National Institutes of Health, roughly 5,100 men and women in four cities, Oakland, California; Chicago; Minneapolis; and Birmingham, were interviewed and given lung function tests repeatedly over 20 years. They were on average about age 25 at the start, and more than half smoked marijuana, cigarettes or both.
The researchers found that for marijuana smokers, an exposure of up to seven “joint years”, with one joint-year equivalent to smoking 365 joints or filled pipes, or an average of one joint a day for seven years, did not worsen pulmonary function. Dr Kertesz noted that with heavier marijuana use, described as ten joint-years of exposure or more, lung function did begin to decline. And for a person who smokes both marijuana and cigarettes, “the net effect is going to be continued loss of lung function.”
Dr Donald Tashkin, a pulmonologist at the University of California, Los Angeles, who has studied marijuana for over 30 years and was not involved in the study, said it confirmed findings from several other studies showing “that essentially there is no significant relationship between marijuana exposure and impairment in lung function.” He said one reason marijuana smoke may not be as harmful as tobacco smoke, despite containing similar noxious ingredients, may be the fact that its active ingredient, THC, has anti-inflammatory effects. “We don’t know for sure,” he said, “but a very reasonable possibility is that THC may actually interfere with the development of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.”
Dr Tashkin said he and his colleagues had found in their own research, unexpectedly, that even smoking up to three joints a day did not appear to cause a decrease in lung function. “I think that the bottom line is that there does not appear to be any negative impact on lung function of marijuana smoking,” he said, “and that therefore marijuana is not a risk factor for the development of COPD. Tobacco smoking is the most important risk factor for COPD.”
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Yuh cyah have ganja files without a ganja farmer.
Big stinkin helicopter flow through di air
what dem call it dem call it weedeater
dem never did there when me was totin water
or when me did applying fertilizer
yet outta di sky dem spittin fire
and im a little youth man with a hot temper
me dig up me stinkin rocket launcher
and in a di air dispense the helicopter
me a chaaaant!!!
...
Tru Jah Jah bless I with nuff a good vibes man
and true mi a di artist with di ganja inna di land
make doctors get nuff medication
and so dem coulda give it to dem sick patients
make get chemists get nuff medication
and so dem coulda brew new medication
make singers get some inspiration
and so dem coulda spread Jah message pon di land ... Me a chaaaant!!!
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What ever happen to this?
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What ever happen to this?
as if yuh had to ask.......come on now...........
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Remember the 'Central Businessman' and UNC financier Goolcharran Sirju was also assisting police after more than $30 M of compressed marijuana was found in a container during the State of Emergency.
Remember the statement Patrick Manning was suspended from Parliament for.
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http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/07/politics/marijuana-legalization/index.html?hpt=hp_c2_7
Los Angeles (CNN) -- Pro-pot groups cheered passage of referendums legalizing recreational marijuana in Colorado and Washington state as the "light at the end of the tunnel" in their 50-year campaign to make the drug legal nationwide.
"Yesterday's elections have forever changed the playing field regarding cannabis prohibition laws in America (and probably in large parts of the world too)," Allen St. Pierre, executive director of NORML -- the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws -- wrote in a celebratory blog Wednesday.
But Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper warned it's too soon to "break out the Cheetos" since his state must still navigate federal laws before citizens can legally buy and sell cannabis.
The Drug Enforcement Administration quickly tried to spoil their Rocky Mountain high, issuing a statement Wednesday morning saying the DEA's "enforcement of the Controlled Substances Act remains unchanged."
"In enacting the Controlled Substances Act, Congress determined that marijuana is a Schedule I controlled substance," the DEA statement said. "The Department of Justice is reviewing the ballot initiatives, and we have no additional comment at this time."
Voters in Massachusetts -- and possibly Montana, pending final vote counts -- also approved medical marijuana referendums, allowing doctors to prescribe the drug to patients suffering serious medical problems, which were carefully spelled out.
Colorado, Washington pass marijuana legalization; Oregon says no
In Massachusetts, a doctor who has a "bona fide" relationship with a patient would have to certify the patient suffered "a debilitating medical condition, such as cancer, glaucoma, HIV-positive status or AIDS, hepatitis C, Crohn's disease, Parkinson's disease, ALS, or multiple sclerosis."
Medical marijuana is already legal in 17 states, including California, where it was estimated two years ago that Los Angeles County had more medical marijuana shops than liquor stores.
Salesmen invited tourists walking along the Venice Beach boardwalk into a store, next to the T-shirt and sunglasses stall, to see a doctor who would give them a marijuana license and prescription.
The smell of burning cannabis wafted through the air along Hollywood streets and neon green crosses marked where citizens could get their pot supplies.
In the past two years, however, local city councils have enacted restrictions on where the shops can locate, forcing many to close down.
"Some medical marijuana clinics have been taken over by illegal for-profit businesses that sell recreational marijuana to healthy young adults and attract crime," Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck said in September.
Federal prosecutors have aggressively worked to rein in the proliferation of pot distribution locations, contending the operations draw criminals because of the large amounts of cash involved.
Three forfeiture lawsuits were filed and warnings letters were sent to 71 "illegal marijuana stores" in Los Angeles and Huntington Park, California, in September by federal authorities.
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.... sticky, bhudda,MJ, Haze, Red Ants, sensi, cheeba..............
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Best news I heard for the day.
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You mean War and Just Cool could share a splif in Wash. and Colorado? Life is someting else, oui!!!
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The end of the war on marijuana
By Roger A. Roffman (CNN)
The historic measure to regulate and tax marijuana in Washington State deserves to be looked at closely as a model of how legalization ought to be designed and implemented elsewhere in America.
We've turned a significant corner with the approval of Initiative 502, which purposefully offers a true public health alternative to the criminal prohibition of pot.
For the first time in a very long time, the well-intended but failed criminal penalties to protect public health and safety will be set aside. Adults who choose to use marijuana and obtain it through legal outlets will no longer be faced with the threat of criminal sanctions. People of color will no longer face the egregious inequities in how marijuana criminal penalties are imposed. Parents, as they help prepare their children for the choices they face concerning marijuana, will no longer be hobbled by misinformation about the drug and the absence of effective supports to encourage abstinence.
"The great experiment" of alcohol prohibition became the national law in 1920. Its intentions were good, but it failed in a number of vitally important ways. In 1923, the state of New York repealed its alcohol prohibition law. Ten other states soon followed, and in 1933 national Prohibition ended.
I believe Washington state has just played that pivotal role with regard to marijuana. Moreover, by borrowing from public health model principles known to be effective, the state has offered the most compelling replacement to prohibition considered to date.
What is a public health model? In brief, it's an approach that acknowledges use of marijuana can present harms to the user and to public safety, and includes provisions to prevent or ameliorate those harms.
A public health model includes six key elements. Washington state's new law incorporates each of them.
The first is accountable oversight by an agency of government. The Washington state legalization model assigns responsibility to a state agency for writing regulations concerning how the growing, producing and selling of marijuana will occur. Among those regulations are tight limitations on advertising and the prevention of access to marijuana by minors. Then, that agency will have the authority to issue licenses to growers, producers and sellers and to enforce adherence to the rules.
The second element is a well-funded multifaceted marijuana education program that is based on science rather than ideology. Far too few Americans are sufficiently informed about marijuana's effects on health and behavior, both the positive and the negative. A key to good decision-making is possessing accurate information.
The third element is well-funded prevention programs widely available to all the state's geographical and demographic communities. We've learned a great deal about what knowledge, skills and community supports actually work in helping young people navigate a world in which drugs such as marijuana are readily available. Sadly, far too little funding has been devoted to putting such programs to work in our communities.
A fourth element is making treatment of marijuana dependence readily available. The new law dedicates funding to establish a statewide Marijuana Help Line. It also earmarks funding to state, county and local governments for the provision of services for those in need of help.
Evaluation of the new law's impact is the fifth element. An independent state agency will receive funding to conduct periodic assessments of how the new system affects behaviors, attitudes and knowledge. Using the findings of these evaluative studies, the state agency overseeing the pricing and taxing of marijuana can adjust those costs to maximize undercutting of the black market and deterrence of youth access to marijuana.
The sixth element is research. The new law earmarks funding to the state's two major research universities for the purpose of conducting marijuana-focused studies. As we gradually learn how to live more healthfully and safely with marijuana, the knowledge derived from those studies will inform education, prevention, treatment and refinements in the law.
In more than 40 years of research -- primarily marijuana dependence counseling interventions for adults and adolescents -- it has seemed to me that prohibition has hindered more than it has helped good decision-making. Far too many teens think smoking pot is "no big deal," greatly underestimating the risk of being derailed from social, psychological and educational attainment. Far too many adults don't take seriously enough the risk of marijuana dependence that accompanies very frequent use.
We can do better. By regulating and taxing marijuana based on a set of strong public health principles, I believe our cultural norms concerning marijuana will shift and the harms we've witnessed will greatly reduce.
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This story in yesterday's El Tiempo caught my attention. (http://www.eltiempo.com/justicia/marihuana-en-bogota_12714810-4)
Seńala que cada 10 días llegan a Bogotá entre 4 y 5 toneladas de marihuana para el narcomenudeo. Esa misma cantidad llega en promedio a Medellín, otro de los centros donde más se distribuye esta hierba.
En el caso de Bogotá, el general Luis Eduardo Martínez ha dicho que la marihuana que las mafias del Bronx, como las de 'Gancho Homero' y 'Gancho Mosco', a través de intermediarios compran en el Cauca la hierba.
Inteligencia de la Policía Antinarcóticos seńala que en Colombia los cultivos de marihuana están en el Cauca, Meta y Magdalena, en la Sierra Nevada, pero el 70 por ciento del estupefaciente que se incauta proviene de Cauca.
Allí, de acuerdo con la Policía, los dueńos de esos cultivos son el frente sexto y la columna Daniel Aldana de las Farc, que a su vez se encargan de vender a redes la marihuana que generalmente sale hacia Bogotá, Medellín y Venezuela, camuflada entre frutas, viseras, vegetales o cualquier producto.
Una vez llega a Venezuela, una parte de queda para la distribución en ese país y otra va a parar a países del caribe y de Centroamérica.
Four to 5 tons of weed enter every 10 days ... 4 to 5 tons in each city! (Bogota and Medellin) ... and this weed reaches Trinidad & Tobago ...
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Seattle's budding economy: Pot tourism
By Bryn Nelson (CNN)
If you think 2013 will be a half-baked year for tourism in Seattle, you haven't been paying attention to the curiously pungent smoke signals emanating from this city.
On a recent chilly evening, an unmistakable smell has drifted across the street from an industrial space in the SODO neighborhood. Inside, a DJ spins an eclectic mix of rock while a man in a tie-dyed hoodie distributes cannabis-infused buttered rum and root beer-flavored hard candy to a diverse crowd of revelers. Another volunteer passes around a 12-foot-long "vape bag" filled with marijuana vapor -- one way to get around the city's indoor smoking ban.
Four glassblowers demonstrate the art of making bongs while attendees sip beer, munch on Greek meatballs, and dip an assortment of fruit, marshmallows and gummy worms in chocolate fountains.
If only the party wasn't running low on grilled cheese sandwiches.
This "Member's Frolic," hosted by the organizers of a huge "protestival" called Hempfest, is but a fraction of the size of the annual pro-pot rally that drew an estimated 250,000 people to the Seattle waterfront last August.
But with last year's legalization of recreational marijuana use for adults in both Colorado and Washington State, the gathering offers a telling preview of how a creative counterculture may be poised to go mainstream and reap the rewards of a new "green economy" based on pot tourism.
Just imagine how much the food truck vendors are salivating.
Despite a host of unanswered questions -- not the least of which is whether federal authorities may harsh the mellow by filing a lawsuit that voids all recreational use -- many so-called "ganjapreneurs" are treating the potential for marijuana tourism as a serious business. Recent calculations by a state-hired consultant projected that Washington State might earn up to $180 million in yearly tax revenue from marijuana sales (yes, retail pot shops), not to mention the revenue from a quickly growing list of related cottage industries.
On his blog, travel guru Arthur Frommer wrote that observers should expect a "torrent of new tourism to Seattle and Denver" due to marijuana legalization, and added both cities to his shortlist of hot destinations for 2013. Officials in New Zealand, British Columbia, and multiple U.S. states have openly wondered whether pot tourism might help fill their own coffers.
Sorting out new laws
In Washington State, residents over the age of 21 can now possess up to an ounce of cannabis, one pound of "a solid marijuana-infused product" like peanut butter fudge brownies, or 72 ounces of an infused liquid like a green tea smoothie. But as the Seattle Police Department helpfully notes in "Marijwhatnow? A Guide to Legal Marijuana Use In Seattle," public puffing is still illegal, just as the state's open container law prohibits public consumption of alcohol.
Buying or selling marijuana won't be legal until December, after Washington's Liquor Control Board has ironed out all the necessary licensing and enforcement regulations. Police will be able to arrest drivers above the legal limit of 5 nanograms of THC, the psychoactive ingredient in pot, per milliliter of blood (officers already use roadside sobriety tests to issue DUI tickets, but the new law establishes a defined impairment level). And the police department dutifully notes that because it's still illegal to grow, sell or possess any amount of marijuana under federal law, "you probably shouldn't bring pot with you to the federal courthouse (or any other federal property)."
Naysayers have warned that an open embrace of pot tourism and ads that position Seattle or Denver as the Amsterdam of America could tarnish the cities' reputations and invite illegal activity. Then again, both destinations already allow medical marijuana and have had a long history of tolerating the occasional toke.
In Seattle, Hempfest is a major tourist draw as one of the largest annual events in the Pacific Northwest, and minor pot possession has been the lowest enforcement priority of the police department for nearly a decade. Hempfest executive director Vivian McPeak has held brainstorming sessions on marijuana tourism with some city boosters -- he calls it "vision-questing." Publicly, however, government and tourism officials have taken a conspicuously low profile -- a defensive posture that advocates say is likely due to fear of federal intervention.
Optimists assert that the Obama administration is unlikely to take a hard line against the end of pot prohibition here, and have been buoyed by a new Pew Research Center poll that is the first to show majority support among Americans for legalizing the drug. Pessimists, however, point out that the federal Drug Enforcement Administration has regularly exercised its authority to shut down medical marijuana growers and dispensaries around the country. The clear contradiction between state and federal laws has left nearly everyone guessing whether parts or all of the new pro-dope reality may be, well, nipped in the bud.
Entrepreneurs making business plans
Even so, the opportunities are proving hard to resist. Hilary Bricken, lead attorney for the Canna Law Group, a practice area of Seattle-based law firm Harris & Moure, has fielded dozens of pitches from enthusiastic entrepreneurs seeking help in developing business models and navigating the legal issues. One company in the adult entertainment industry even sought her advice on branching out into hemp-based adult products.
"I've heard everything pitched to me from gaming lounges, where there would be a series of recliners and you can get stoned and play Xbox all day, to cannabis cafes where there's a full menu that really adheres to the cannabinoids (the chemicals in cannabis) and how they affect your taste buds and your interaction with food," Bricken says. Some entrepreneurs have talked up the idea of "evaluation bars," where people could bring their own marijuana and experts would educate them on each strain's composition and its potential effects, and Bricken says the sophistication level could eventually rival that of high-end wine purveyors.
Washington's wine industry, in fact, is often cited among cannabis enthusiasts who envision similar tours through bucolic, organic pot farms. Bricken says she has already spoken with winemakers and commercial farmers in eastern Washington who are considering whether a certain new crop might help them tap into a big curiosity factor and generate new revenue. Cannabis farmers markets -- currently limited to medical marijuana patients -- also are popping up around the region and poised to expand their customer base.
Following the lead of several establishments in Colorado, at least two bars in the Seattle region have opened BYOP (bring your own pot) private clubs, while party promoters are gearing up for this month's big "Studio 4/20" bash, complete with acrobats, food trucks, a beer garden and a latex fashion show. Toking while drinking at local watering holes may be a fleeting attraction, however: the Washington State Liquor Control Board has begun a rulemaking process aimed specifically at banning marijuana consumption in bars that serve alcohol.
Christopher Russek, who runs a cannabis bakery called Zzyzyx out of his home in suburban Issaquah, is betting on marijuana edibles instead. Russek, who has a medical marijuana license due to a heart condition, provides fully-loaded confections like Chocolate Raspberry Hazelnut Brownies and Tie Dyed Rasta Cookies to other patients. He has fielded multiple inquiries from people who have come to Seattle on business or vacation, however, and views Washington's new law as an "incredible" opportunity to add tourists to his business model. Does he see a baked goods storefront in his future if the law remains intact? "You can bet on it," he says.
Seattle's takes on pot tourism
Most tourists will need a guidebook, of course, and Brendan Kennedy, CEO of Seattle-based startup Leafly, is positioning his company to become the Fodor's, ZAGAT and Yelp of cannabis. The company's Leafly iPhone and Android apps, among the most popular of a burgeoning class of electronic ganja guides, help medical marijuana users chose among more than 500 strains (with names like Wonka's Bubbilicious and Blue Dream), find nearby dispensaries, and then post their reviews.
Kennedy says the app already has the necessary code to add on retail locations in Colorado and Washington once they come online. In the meantime, he and two partners are using their Privateer Holdings equity firm and its $5 million-plus in capital from private investors to scout out other promising cannabis startups. In essence, Privateer is helping to fill the void left by skittish banks that have all but refused to grant loans to pot-friendly businesses until they discern which way the legal winds are blowing.
Despite the uncertainty, Bricken says companies are still rushing to join what she calls the "secondary risk market," the modern-day equivalent of Seattle's early entrepreneurs selling pickaxes, supplies, and services to prospectors seeking their fortune during the Yukon Gold Rush of the 1890s. Instead of directly providing marijuana -- a model that may prove too risky for many -- businesses are positioning themselves as experts in enhancing the experience.
"They're coming up with things like 'Cannabis Crawls,' going from dispensary to dispensary and showing you how to get there and providing you with food and transportation along the way," Bricken says. Others are creating art and merchandise ranging from coffee mugs to hand towels that depict some of the most popular marijuana strains.
Whatever tourism model emerges here, many observers say it's likely to be uniquely Seattle. With the region's long tradition of art glass, glassblowers are already setting their sights on the high-end cannabis crowd. One recent ad touting a $175 "Create Your Own Bong" class fizzled when only one person inquired. But other glass studios in the area say it's no longer taboo for people inquiring about one or two-hour lessons to specifically ask whether they can make a bong or pipe instead of a "modified vase."
At the recent Hempfest party, one of the four artisan glassblowers holds his partially molten creation aloft at the end of a blowpipe and parades it through the crowd as the bidding begins. It's a detailed, richly colored and surprisingly large bong in the shape of a monkey wearing a yellow top hat and suit coat, and it fetches a winning bid of $350.
Behind a nearby table laden with smaller, handmade pipes fashioned from art glass and recycled guitar wood, a volunteer points out the grand prize for a raffle at Hempfest's own upcoming "420 Fest": a colorful hand-stitched quilt with a stylized marijuana leaf in its center panel. On the reverse side, a dark green camouflage motif features a grinning Scooby Doo in various poses.
Aspiring comic book artist Joshua Boulet has set up shop at a smaller table, with a duffel bag full of several issues of his tongue-in-cheek comic, "The Green Reefer," which follows the antics of a pot-smoking anti-hero and his beer-drinking sidekick, Six-Pack. In many ways, Boulet is the embodiment of Seattle's new entrepreneurial optimism. After attending Hempfest as a tourist last August, he fell in love with the city and moved from Dallas two months later. Boulet says he is now hoping to sell his comic books in Seattle's thriving head shops -- for $4.20, of course.
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Marijuana: The Next Diabetes Drug?
By Maia Szalavitz (TIME.com)
Toking up may help marijuana users to stay slim and lower their risk of developing diabetes, according to the latest study, which suggests that cannabis compounds may help in controlling blood sugar.
Although marijuana has a well-deserved reputation for increasing appetite via what stoners call “the munchies,” the new research, which was published in the American Journal of Medicine, is not the first to find that the drug has a two-faced relationship to weight. Three prior studies have shown that marijuana users are less likely to be obese, have a lower risk for diabetes and have lower body-mass-index measurements. And these trends occurred despite the fact that they seemed to take in more calories.
Why? “The most important finding is that current users of marijuana appeared to have better carbohydrate metabolism than nonusers,” says Murray Mittleman, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and the lead author of the study. “Their fasting insulin levels were lower, and they appeared to be less resistant to the insulin produced by their body to maintain a normal blood-sugar level.”
The research included over 4,600 men and women participating in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey between 2005 and 2010. Among them, 48% had smoked marijuana at least once in their lives, and 12% were current cannabis smokers. The authors controlled for other factors like age, sex, income, alcohol use, cigarette smoking and physical activity that could also affect diabetes risk.
Even after these adjustments, the current marijuana users showed fasting insulin levels that were 16% lower than those of former or never users, along with a 17% reduction in another measure of insulin resistance as well. Higher levels on both tests are associated with Type 2 diabetes, which is linked with obesity. Marijuana users also had higher levels of high-density lipoprotein, the so-called good cholesterol, which can protect against heart disease. And the regular smokers also boasted smaller waistlines: on average, they were 1.5 in. (3.8 cm) slimmer than the former users and those who had never smoked cannabis.
Researchers don’t yet know how to explain these correlations — and since the study was not a controlled trial, it’s not clear whether marijuana or some other factor in marijuana users’ lifestyles actually accounted for the beneficial effects. Studies showed, however, that the cannabinoid brain receptors affected by marijuana are deeply involved in appetite and metabolism. But the exact details of how the compound alters the relationship between appetite, caloric intake and insulin response isn’t obvious yet.
One clue, however, may lie in the effects of a diet drug that was developed to have the opposite effect that marijuana has on the brain. That drug, rimonabant, produced significant weight loss and a drop in fasting insulin levels by affecting certain cannabinoid receptors in the exact opposite way that THC, marijuana’s main psychoactive ingredient, does. This action is complex: rimonabant doesn’t simply block the receptor and keep the natural cannabinoids from activating it. Instead, while the natural cannabinoids elevate the normal level of activity already going on in the system, rimonabant lowers it so the result is precisely the reverse of activating the receptor naturally. However, because of psychiatric side effects like increasing suicide risk, rimonabant was pulled from the European market and never approved in the U.S.
How could both marijuana and a compound that has the opposite effect of pot act on the same brain receptors and lead to weight loss? Natural marijuana includes many different potentially active compounds, and one of them — rather than THC — could be responsible for this effect. One potential candidate is a substance called cannabidiol, which also affects cannabinoid receptors, but in a different way from the way THC or rimonabant does.
Another possibility involves tolerance: repeated use of a drug can make receptors less sensitive over time. “The most likely explanation is that prolonged cannabis use causes the [receptors] to lose sensitivity and become inactive,” says Daniele Piomelli, a professor of pharmacology at the University of California, Irvine, who was not associated with the new research. “This has been shown to happen in people who smoke marijuana. This weakening of [these receptors] translates into a lower risk for obesity and diabetes because the inactive receptor would be unable to respond to our own cannabis-like molecules, which we know are important in keeping us chubby.” While marijuana may initially promote appetite and overeating, in the long run it has the opposite effect because it desensitizes cannabinoid receptors and may even protect against obesity.
So don’t skip the gym and break out the bong just yet: there’s still not enough data to tell whether marijuana, like alcohol, could have health benefits in moderation. Mittleman says the study relied on self-reported use of marijuana, which can be unreliable. However, he points out that since people are more likely to hide drug use than they are to falsely claim it, the findings could even underestimate marijuana’s effects.
But whether that’s true, and whether marijuana might be a window into understanding how to best control glucose and insulin to prevent diabetes, isn’t known yet. “It is much too early to say,” says Mittleman, “We need much more research to better understand the biologic responses to marijuana use. We really need more research to allow physicians and patients to make decisions based on solid evidence.” An editorial that accompanied the study also urged government action to reduce barriers to such research.
Even with 18 states now approving marijuana for medical uses, the politics of pot will always overshadow research efforts to understand how cannabinoids work in the brain — or affect disease. But, as Piomelli says, “the [new] study suggests that smoking marijuana [may] protect people against obesity and diabetes.” And following up on that finding could yield new insights into how to tackle one of our biggest public-health issues.
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Highlights of Colorado's new marijuana laws
By The Associated Press | Associated Press
Colorado's governor signed six marijuana regulatory bills into law Tuesday while the state awaits a federal response to recreational pot legalization. The new laws seek to regulate the newly legal drug and keep it away from children, without being so strict that weed stays in the black market. Some highlights from Colorado's new green laws:
— YOU CAN COME BUY IT, BUT YOU CAN'T TAKE IT HOME: Visitors to Colorado will have purchasing limits of a quarter-ounce of marijuana in a single transaction. The law doesn't ban adults over 21 from possessing a full ounce, residents or not. But the purchasing limits were seen as an effort to reduce interstate trafficking and help persuade the federal government not to crack down on recreational sales.
— THE POT BUSINESS ISN'T OPEN FOR BUSINESS, YET: Colorado's marijuana industry will for the first few months be limited to people already licensed to sell or produce medical marijuana. Even once the grandfathering period expires, licensees will need to be Colorado residents for two years, and investors will face residency requirements, too. The residency requirements were added to try to prevent Colorado from becoming a production ground for criminal drug cartels.
— THE CAMERAS BETTER BE ROLLING WHEN YOU GROW IT: Colorado tried and failed to establish constant video surveillance of medical marijuana, establishing a seed-to-sale tracking system to keep the industry honest. The vaunted system hasn't worked out as expected because of a lack of money, but the agency that oversees pot says it has learned its lesson and will have the money to follow through with seed-to-sale tracking next year.
— NOT EVERY TOWN WILL SELL IT: Colorado's marijuana framework gives local and county governments broad power to ban retail pot sales if they wish, though home growing will be allowed statewide. Legalization backers say the next Colorado political battle to watch will be which communities ban pot shops, prompting the possibility that marijuana sales will be largely concentrated in big cities that currently allow retail medical marijuana shops.
— MARIJUANA CLUBS AREN'T SAFE: Entrepreneurs in Colorado have been testing the new marijuana law in recent months by opening private clubs that allow communal pot smoking, but no sales, for a membership fee. The legislation tries to crack down on the spread of such cannabis clubs by stating that they're not exempt from clean indoor air laws, unlike membership cigar clubs.
— KIDS GET NEW PROTECTIONS: Colorado's new laws aim to prevent youth marijuana use as much as possible. The laws create a new crime of sharing marijuana with someone under 21, an analogy to current delinquency laws and alcohol. The laws also mandate child-proof packaging for marijuana sales, and bans types of marketing thought to appeal to kids, such as cartoon characters in advertisements and packaging. The new 10 percent marijuana sales tax will be used in part on educational campaigns telling people under 21 to avoid the drug.
— DON'T SMOKE AND DRIVE: After years of debate, Colorado now has as blood-level limit for marijuana and drivers. The law says that juries can presume drivers are too stoned to drive if their blood contains more than 5 nanograms per milliliter of THC, marijuana's psychoactive ingredient. Washington state adopted the same driving standard on the ballot last year, but Colorado left the question to the state Legislature.
Source: House bills 1042, 1238, 1 317, 1318 and 1325, and Senate Bill 283
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Why I changed my mind on weed (http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/08/health/gupta-changed-mind-marijuana/index.html?hpt=hp_t1)
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Dookeran: T&T should weigh new marijuana policy
By Amy Li Baksh (T&T Guardian)
Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Dookeran said yesterday Government should find a way to decriminalise the use of drugs like marijuana. “We should find ways and means to decriminalise the operation and the use of drugs,” he said during a signing ceremony on agreements between Trinidad and Tobago and Guatemala.
The conversation during the ceremony turned when Guatemalan Minister of Foreign Affairs, Luis Fernando Carrera Castro, raised the concept of decriminalisation as a type of policy reform with the hope it would curb the organised crime system that has been built up around global drug trades. That new approach would treat recreational or experimental drug use in a manner more similar to how the tobacco industry was currently treated.
“Today we are losing many of our young people to organised crime and to drug traffickers because we cannot manage the problem correctly,” Castro added. The Organisation of American States’ declaration on the drug problem, which Dookeran said he was in full support of, encourages “the consideration of new approaches to the world drug problem in the Americas based on scientific knowledge and evidence.”
Although Dookeran was careful not to specify whether T&T would be putting measures in place to legalise any forms of narcotics, such as marijuana, he did endorse the OAS declaration and said the T&T Government would “try to translate those policies into action by the relevant bodies. “I think the concept was to decriminalise as opposed to legalising it,” Dookeran said.
Castro pointed out Uruguay’s recent bill to legalise the production and the sale and consumption of marijuana, which was passed on July 31 in the lower house of congress. The bill will make Uruguay the world’s first nation to create a legal marijuana market, he said. “We’re encouraged by this,” said Castro, who highlighted the need for a multi-lateral approach to the problem, with an international agreement on policy instead of single countries changing their laws.
He referred to the problem as being “a human issue.” “We believe that in the long term, recreational consumption of drugs will continue to exist but we can regulate the market and we can control it so that organised crime does not take our young people,” he said.
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I often wonder if it wouldn't be more effective to legalise all illicit drugs.
The billions of dollars spent so far on law enforcement and incarceration of drug offenders has done little to stem the tide, if anything it's gotten worse. Jail is more of a convention where criminals can make develop contacts in the drug underworld not punishment and many prisons are practically run by the criminals thmeselves.
Legalising drugs will put the money into corporate hands and put drug dealers out of business.
Some of the billions of public money saved could instead be used to develop and fund a network of community centers to counsel those with addictive personalities that abuse drugs.
Well said, PantherX! :beermug:
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think about the accident rate???
think about the children being left out because dad was high???
think about the amount ah people losing jobs because they cyar function high???
think about the workers output when ah man too high to remember???
think about the doctor who smoke a spliff b4 operating on yuh wife???
think about the pilot who feeling stressed???
think think think
True....but all this is already happening in this current system where it is illegal.
The legality or illegality of the plant or substance has almost no effect on usage.
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think about the accident rate???
think about the children being left out because dad was high???
think about the amount ah people losing jobs because they cyar function high???
think about the workers output when ah man too high to remember???
think about the doctor who smoke a spliff b4 operating on yuh wife???
think about the pilot who feeling stressed???
think think think
All those things are judgement calls on the part of the individual. Most, if not all of those things you have mentioned fall under the topic of "operating under the influence", whether it be rum, herb, prescription drugs, coke, crack, meth, X, lack of sleep etc. They already have applicable laws to deal with it. I eh tink it have anyting to do with de decriminalization/legalization of herb.
Well said, Tallman! :beermug:
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CNN special
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqWxys3P_nI
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Dookeran: T&T should weigh new marijuana policy
By Amy Li Baksh (T&T Guardian)
Castro pointed out Uruguay’s recent bill to legalise the production and the sale and consumption of marijuana, which was passed on July 31 in the lower house of congress. The bill will make Uruguay the world’s first nation to create a legal marijuana market, he said. “We’re encouraged by this,” said Castro, who highlighted the need for a multi-lateral approach to the problem, with an international agreement on policy instead of single countries changing their laws.
He referred to the problem as being “a human issue.” “We believe that in the long term, recreational consumption of drugs will continue to exist but we can regulate the market and we can control it so that organised crime does not take our young people,” he said.
The country of Portugal also has a very enlightened approach, by decriminalizing the possession of ALL drugs. They became the first European nation to abolish all criminal penalties for personal drug possession back in 2001...though if caught with drugs, instead of jail-time, one is instead replaced with an offer of therapy. As far as I'm aware, the person can refuse the offer of therapy, and simply go about their lives as they see fit.
Anyway, I'm not too certain how Portugal treats people who intend on distributing, though. Maybe someone here can shed some light on that.
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Don't tweet about your weed need.
http://www.thestar.com/news/crime/2013/08/14/man_tweets_need_a_spliff_york_regional_police_asks_to_tag_along.html (http://www.thestar.com/news/crime/2013/08/14/man_tweets_need_a_spliff_york_regional_police_asks_to_tag_along.html)
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Florida Medical Marijuana Petition Headed to Supreme Court With 100,000 Signatures
By Tim Elfrink (Miami New Times)
Florida is one step closer to getting a statewide public vote on legalizing medical marijuana. With powerful backers like Orlando super-lawyer John Morgan and funding from big Democrats around the state, the push by People United for Medical Marijuana is blazing ahead.
The group announced yesterday that it's already gathered 100,000 signatures (http://www.unitedforcare.org/campaign_update_an_enormous_start), enough to start a Supreme Court review of its proposed language for the vote.
"I am pleased to announce that we have already collected over 100,000 petitions since we started our drive less than a month ago," the group's campaign manager, Ben Pollara, wrote in a release. "This allows us to submit the petition to the Florida Supreme Court for their review of the ballot language."
While the Court looks at the language to rule whether it's misleading or too broadly worded, Pollara's group will temporarily stop its paid petition-gathering drive, which the campaign manager tells the Miami Herald costs $150,000 a week.
To get a constitutional amendment on the ballot, Pollara's team needs to collect 683,149 valid signatures by Feb. 1. The initiative would then need 60 percent approval from the public.
As Marc Caputo reports this morning, that's not impossible: Polls have shown that upwards of 70 percent of voters could back legalized medical pot.
Pollara has asked for an expedited review from the Supreme Court so his teams can get back to signature collection quickly.
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Miami Beach Sets Straw Vote For Medical Marijuana In November
By Francisco Alvarado (Miami New Times)
Reefer common sense is taking over Miami Beach. When voters go to the polls in November to elect a new mayor, they will also get the chance to answer a non-binding straw ballot question on whether the city commission should adopt a resolution urging the federal government and the Florida Legislature to decriminalize and approve the medicinal use of marijuana in the Sunshine State.
The Miami Beach City Commission quietly approved the straw ballot language in July as a compromise with a pro-pot organization that had collected more than 8,000 signatures from voters in support of a measure to remove criminal penalties for anyone caught with small amounts of weed.
"There was a a ton of work, time, and effort that was put into Miami Beach, and something needed to happen with relation to its marijuana policy," says Eric Stevens, one of the organizers behind Sensible Florida, the group that collected the signatures. "It may not be 100 percent of what we were asking for, but it is a great start, and it will give everyone who cares about this issue in Miami Beach a feel for what the electorate wants done regarding marijuana."
The Miami Beach straw ballot question comes at a time when it seems the medical marijuana movement in Florida is gaining momentum. On Thursday, People United for Medical Marijuana, or PUFMM, announced they had collected 110,000 signatures to get a proposed medical marijuana constitutional amendment on the 2014 statewide ballot -- enough to trigger a Florida Supreme Court review of the initiative's language. The group needs to collect a total of 683,149 verified voter signatures needed by Feb. 1 to get the measure on the 2014 November ballot. If it does, then 60 percent of Florida voters would need approve the amendment in order for it to be adopted.
Currently 20 states in the union have legalized medical marijuana in some form. Washington and Colorado became the first states to outright legalize pot for recreational use. However, the federal government continues to enforce marijuana prohibition laws in states that have legalized weed.
The Miami Beach petition drive began in 2010, seeking to stop arresting individuals for possession of small amounts of marijuana. Instead, pot smokers would get hit with civil fines. Several states and cities around the country have passed similar local laws. With support from Miami Beach documentary film production company Rakontur, and real estate developer Todd Glaser, Sensible Florida's volunteers collected more than 8,000 signatures. But Sensible Florida had to sue the city because Miami Beach officials kept delaying putting the measure on a ballot. Stevens says the city attorney's office proposed the straw ballot as a compromise.
On July 19, the city commission approved the ballot language with Mayor Matti Bower being the only dissenting vote.
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Alaska becomes latest state to legalize marijuana use
By Greg Botelho (CNN)
Marijuana smokers now have a new place to put on their bucket lists: Alaska, which on Tuesday became the third state to officially OK marijuana use.
Following Colorado's lead, voters passed the Alaska Marijuana Legalization ballot measure in November. Legalization became official on Tuesday, which means that now "the use of marijuana (is) legal for persons 21 years of age or older."
There are limits to this law, as there are in similar ones in other states. People still can't legally have more than 1 ounce of marijuana on them. Nor can they harvest more than 4 ounces in their home. And consuming marijuana in public and driving while high are no-nos.
Then there's the fact that the law isn't fully implemented yet. The regulatory structure allowing for entrepreneurs to set up shops like those found in Colorado is still in the works, so right now no one can legally make a living selling the drug.
Not to mention that, under federal law, marijuana is classified as a Schedule 1 narcotic. That makes its use a federal crime.
Still, as in many states, there seems to be movement in Washington on that front. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder told CNN in October he is "cautiously optimistic" on the subject of marijuana legalization. Holder said the Justice Department is focused on marijuana distribution to minors, interstate trafficking and drug violence, not incarcerating "low level people who are simply there for possessory offenses."
In the absence -- some might say in defiance -- of any sweeping federal change on marijuana, some states have taken the initiative.
Twenty-three states still prohibit cannabis outright. But the rest of them have either legalized medical marijuana or decriminalized marijuana possession.
Colorado became the first to go one step further in legalizing pot, followed by Washington state. And now there's one more in Alaska.
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Jamaica decriminalises marijuana use
BBC
Jamaica has decriminalised the possession of small amounts of marijuana for personal use.
The country's parliament passed a much-debated law allowing the possession of up to 2oz (57g) of marijuana.
It will also allow for a licensing authority to oversee the medical and scientific uses of the plant.
Marijuana is widely grown in Jamaica and has cultural roots there - but the decriminalisation drive ran into fears of possible sanction from the US.
The island nation is thought to be the biggest Caribbean exporter of marijuana - also known as ganja and cannabis - to the US.
Its decision to relax domestic restrictions against marijuana forms part of a broader global trend.
Several Latin American countries and US states - most recently Alaska - have decriminalised the drug in recent years.
The decriminalisation measures were approved by the Jamaican cabinet last month and by its Senate in early February.
Tuesday night's vote in the upper house of parliament means the measures can now be passed into law.
The law will also allow Jamaica's Rastafarians to use marijuana for religious purposes.
The plant is regarded as sacred by members of the faith, and has been celebrated in the island's reggae music.
Jamaica's national security minister, Peter Bunting, said the law does not represent any easing of Jamaica's stance on the international drugs trade, or on the illegal cultivation of the plant.
Decriminalisation spreading
South and Central America and the Caribbean countries have been battling the impact of drug trafficking and drug use for decades.
Cocaine and marijuana produced in the region is transported through many countries, their citizens turned into consumers by the trade.
But many governments have begun to recognise that heavy-handed tactics and the crackdown on drugs have failed, as trafficking and consumption continue to grow, correspondents say.
Elsewhere in the region:
- Mexico, Colombia and Argentina decriminalised the possession of small amounts of marijuana a few years ago
- In Guatemala, President Otto Perez Molina is proposing moves to push for the legalisation of marijuana and potentially other drugs
- Chile and Costa Rica are also debating the introduction of medical marijuana policies
- Uruguay last year became the first country in the world to approve the growth, sale and distribution of marijuana
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Sense
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WATCH: The Nation in Need of Healing (https://tv6tnt.com/originals/the-nation-in-need-of-healing-part/article_06f03a22-341c-11e7-9205-5b300f8a5d43.html)
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Any hobby growers? looking to get a couple trees going to experiment with edibles. Basically looking for tips etc.. especially what strains can grow outdoors (not controlled setting) in 6b zone and are suited for edibles/cooking
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Cannabis: the fabric of Japan
By Jon Mitchell, The Japan Times. (https://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2014/04/19/lifestyle/cannabis-the-fiber-of-japan/#.WszkLnrwbIU)
(https://www.japantimes.co.jp/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/p14-mitchell-cannabis-a-20140420-870x580.jpg)
An increasing number of states in the U.S. are easing policies on cannabis prohibition but little discussion has taken place in Japan on the potential benefits of adopting a similar approach. As various locations around the world celebrate annual April 20 marijuana festivals, we examine the country’s historical and cultural links to the much-maligned weed.
When Junichi Takayasu was 3 years old, a picture book about ninjas changed his life forever. What fascinated him most, however, wasn’t the assassins’ stealthy skills or secret gadgets but their usage of a very special plant.
“The book showed how ninjas trained by jumping over cannabis plants,” Takayasu says. “Every day they had to leap higher and higher because cannabis grows very quickly. I was so amazed that I told my mom I wanted to grow cannabis when I was older.”
Understandably, Takayasu’s mother was rather distressed by her son’s aspiration. Japan’s anti-cannabis laws are among the strictest in the world, with possession of even small amounts punished by five-year prison sentences and illicit cultivation earning growers seven years behind bars.
However, Takayasu refused to let this put a damper on his dreams. Today, more than 40 years later, he is one of Japan’s leading experts on cannabis and the curator of Taima Hakubutsukan — the nation’s only museum dedicated to the much-maligned weed. Opened in 2001 in the town of Nasu, Tochigi Prefecture, approximately 160 km north of Tokyo, the museum’s mission is to teach people about the history of cannabis in Japan — a past that, Takayasu believes, has been denigrated and forgotten for far too long.
“Most Japanese people see cannabis as a subculture of Japan but they’re wrong,” Takayasu says. “Cannabis has been at the very heart of Japanese culture for thousands of years.”
According to Takayasu, the earliest evidence of cannabis in Japan dates back to the Jomon Period (10,000-200 B.C.), with pottery relics recovered in f**kui Prefecture containing seeds and scraps of woven cannabis fibers. “Cannabis was the most important substance for prehistoric people in Japan,” he says. “They wore clothes made from its fibers and they used it for bow strings and fishing lines.”
It is likely that the variety of cannabis from which these Jomon Period fibers originated was cannabis sativa. Tall-growing and valued for its strong stems, it is from sativa strains that today’s specially bred industrial hemp is derived.
In the following centuries, cannabis continued to play a key role in Japan — particularly in Shintoism, the country’s indigenous religion. Cannabis was revered for its cleansing abilities so priests used to wave bundles of its leaves to bless believers and exorcise evil spirits. This significance survives today with the thick ceremonial ropes woven from cannabis fibers that are displayed at shrines. Shinto priests are also known to decorate their wands with strips of the gold-colored rind of cannabis stalks.
Cannabis was also important in the lives of ordinary people. According to early 20th-century historian George Foot Moore, Japanese travelers historically used to present small offerings of cannabis leaves at roadside shrines to ensure safe journeys. He also noted how, during the summer Bon festival, families burned bundles of cannabis in their doorways to welcome back the spirits of the dead.
Until the mid-20th century, cannabis was cultivated all over Japan, particularly in Tohoku and Hokkaido, and it frequently cropped up in literature. As well as references to cannabis plants in ninja training, they also feature in the “Manyoshu” — Japan’s oldest collection of poems — and the Edo Period (1603-1868) book of woodblock prints, “Wakoku Hyakujo.” In haiku poetry, too, key words describing the stages of cannabis cultivation denoted the season when the poem is set.
“Cannabis farming used to be a year-round cycle,” Takayasu says. “The seeds were planted in spring then harvested in the summer. Following this, the stalks were dried then soaked and turned into fiber. Throughout the winter, these were then woven into cloth and made into clothes ready to wear for the next planting season.”
With cannabis playing such an important material and spiritual role in the lives of Japanese people, one obvious question arises: Did people smoke it?
Takayasu, along with other Japanese cannabis experts, isn’t sure. Although historical records make no mention of the practice, some historians have speculated that cannabis may have been the drug of choice for commoners. Whereas rice — and the sake brewed from it — was monopolized by the upper classes, cannabis was grown widely and was freely available.
Some scientific studies also suggest high levels of psychoactive tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in cannabis plants in Japan. According to one survey published by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in 1973, cannabis plants from Tochigi and Hokkaido clocked THC levels of 3.9 percent and 3.4 percent, respectively. As a comparison, the University of Mississippi’s Marijuana Potency Monitoring Project revealed that average THC levels in marijuana seized by U.S. police in the 1970s were only around 1.5 percent.
Nor are Japanese people averse to taking advantage of the medicinal benefits of cannabis. Long an ingredient in traditional Chinese medicine, cannabis-based cures were available from Japanese drug stores to treat insomnia and relieve pain in the early 20th century.
However, the 1940s — in particular, World War II — marked a major turning point in the story of Japanese cannabis production.
At first, the decade started well for farmers. “During World War II, there was a saying among the military that without cannabis, the war couldn’t be waged,” Takayasu says. “Cannabis was classified as a war material, used by the navy for ropes and the air force for parachute cords. Here in Tochigi Prefecture, for example, half of the cannabis crop was set aside for the military.”
Following the country’s defeat in 1945, however, the U.S. authorities occupying Japan brought with them American attitudes toward cannabis. Washington had effectively outlawed cannabis in the United States in 1937 and now it moved to ban it in Japan. In July 1948, with the nation still under U.S. occupation, it passed the Cannabis Control Act — the law that remains the basis of anti-cannabis policy in Japan today.
There are a number of different theories as to why the U.S. outlawed cannabis in Japan. Some believe it was based upon a genuine desire to protect Japanese people from the evils of narcotics, while others point out that the U.S. allowed the sale of over-the-counter amphetamines to continue until 1951. Several cannabis experts argue that the ban was instigated by U.S. petrochemical interests in a bid to shut down the Japanese cannabis fiber industry, opening the market to man-made materials such as polyester and nylon.
Takayasu locates the cannabis ban within the wider context of U.S. attempts to reduce the power of the Japanese military.
“In the same way that U.S. authorities discouraged kendo and judo, the 1948 Cannabis Control Act was a way to undermine militarism in Japan,” he says. “The wartime cannabis industry had been so dominated by the military that the Cannabis Control Act was designed to strip away its power.”
Whatever the motivation, the U.S. decision to prohibit cannabis created panic among Japanese farmers. In an effort to calm their fears, Emperor Hirohito visited Tochigi Prefecture in the months prior to the ban to reassure farmers they would be able to continue to grow in defiance of the new law — a surprisingly subversive statement.
For several years, the Emperor’s reassurances proved true and cannabis cultivation continued unabated. In 1950, for example, there were approximately 25,000 cannabis farms nationwide. In the following decades, however, this number plummeted. Takayasu attributes this to a slump in demand caused by the popularity of artificial fibers and the costs of the new licenses cannabis farmers were required to possess under the 1948 act.
Nowadays, Takayasu said, there are fewer than 60 licensed cannabis farms in Japan — all of which are required to grow strains of cannabis containing minimal levels of THC. With the number of farmers so low, Takayasu fears for the future of cannabis in the country. As far as he knows, there is only one person left in the nation versed in the full cycle of seed-to-loom. That person is 84 years old and when she dies, Takayasu fears, her wisdom will disappear with her.
Faced with this danger of extinction, Takayasu is determined to preserve Japanese cannabis culture. He organizes annual tours to the legal farms near his museum to show visitors how space-intensive cannabis cultivation is and how it requires few — if any — agricultural chemicals. Additionally, Takayasu runs monthly workshops to teach people about weaving cannabis fibers. On display in the museum are a variety of clothes made from cannabis; the soft cream-colored material is warm in winter and cool in summer — perfectly suited to the Japanese climate.
Among the museum’s fans are members of the local police department, who praise his efforts to revitalize the rural economy and sometimes visit to learn more about the outlawed weed.
All of this is testament to Takayasu’s ongoing enthusiasm for the special plant he first encountered as a 3-year-old boy.
“Japanese people have a negative view of cannabis but I want them to understand the truth and I want to protect its history,” he said. “The more we learn about the past, the more hints we might be able to get about how to live better in the future.”
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Antigua And Barbuda PM Apologises To Rastafarians (http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/news/20180418/antigua-and-barbuda-pm-apologises-rastafarians)
Jamaica Gleaner
Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne says the prohibition of cannabis less than 100 years ago was not prompted by altruistic motives or concern for the health or well-being of users, but to serve 'the racist, political and economic interests' of the then global powers.
In a message marking International Day of Cannabis, commonly referred to as “420’, Browne, whose government recently announced plans to allow for the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes, said in the Caribbean, the Rastafari Community has championed the many uses of cannabis and have asserted that the herb is utilised as a sacrament in their rituals, celebrations, and worship.
“The prohibition and demonisation have led to Rastafari being brutalised and castigated by police and other government authorities, because of the utilisation of the plant Cannabis Sativa,” he said in a recorded message to the Cannabis Movement of St. Lucia which is marking “420” celebration in Antigua n Friday.
Browne said that it is in this context, and now that his administration is moving to amend legislation regarding cannabis that “I have issued a ‘genuine’ apology to the Rastafarian Community, and have asserted that Rastafari sacramental or spiritual use be acknowledged”.
He urged that the Rastafarian Community “be given a stake in production and benefits to be derived from the medicinal and other uses going forward".
“Let us regard this as reparations for Rastafarian, for the wrongs inflicted on this significant minority group in our Countries, through the so-called ‘war on drugs’ which evidently was prompted by pernicious prohibition,’ Browne said in his statement.
The Cannabis Movement of St. Lucia said it was pleased with the statement given by Browne, saying he is “the first sitting Caribbean Head of Government who has acknowledged the wrongs against Rastafarian in the Parliament of Antigua and Barbuda and has issued an official apology to the Rastafarian community”.
It described his government’s decision to liberalise the cannabis laws as “courageous” adding that it hoped that a comprehensive Cannabis Act that will regulate the use of cannabis in Antigua and Barbuda will be enacted by the end of this year.
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Homegrown ganja blooms for farmers
DARREN BAHAW (NEWSDAY).
Yes I'm a ganja planter
Call me di ganja farmer
Deep down inna di earth where me put di ganja
Babylon come and light it up on fire
Me a chant
Yes I'm a ganja planter
Call me di ganja farmer
Deep down inna di earth where me put di ganja
Babylon come, yo yo
Marlon Asher (2006 Ganja Farmer)
Three months after the passage of legislation which decriminalised the use of marijuana and allowed people to plant their own crops, the homegrown herbs are beginning to bloom.
Novices as well as experienced farmers rushed to germinate their own strains in their backyards, no longer having to conceal their crops from police or nosy neighbours.
For days, amateurs hovered over their four seedlings as they sprouted from the ground and followed the advice of online bloggers, agriculturists and friends.
And as with any kind of farming they encountered mishaps. If it weren't the pesky mole crickets which snapped the heads off, wrong choice of fertiliser or potting soil, or even too much water.
Darren Mahabir, a farmer and bee-keeper, said he decided to try his hand with four plants even though he was not a smoker. He said he got the seeds from his friends who are recreational marijuana smokers and soon enough he applied his knowledge and research to cultivate the plants.
Mahabir said there were at least three main types of marijuana species and it was difficult to determine a plant's gender by simply examining the seeds.
To be certain, the genetics of the plant had to be determined, he said.
Activist Nyasha Sadlow, who runs an online blog, BudwiseTT, said the experience of growing her own plants "has been refreshing."
She admitted she began growing her own crops since 2018 and the paranoia of watching over her back for the police still lingers.
"Sharing my experience with people who are not as experienced is the fun part about it. It's all a learning experience and a teaching experience for me."
Sadlow, 22, said she began using marijuana medicinally to cope with a compromised immune system and was grateful for the opportunity to teach her relatives and anyone else how to grow their own herbs.
Barrackpore farmer Malachi Mead started growing his own crops to save money.
"It safer for me and financially better. No one likes to go on the block. It is not only marijuana on the block."
Mead said so far he spent about $150 to buy chemicals and hopes to produce a large enough supply to last him for a considerable period.
"It is not that technical, once you take your time and use the proper grooming and proper chemicals. I watched a video online and they grew well."
He advised the plants needed to grow in a clean environment and people should avoid touching it incessantly. Mead said while the law allowed for people to grow four plants, it was not guaranteed that each seedling will survive or that the four seedlings were female.
He suggested a revision in the law to cater for such scenarios so that the efforts of growing his own can be more feasible.
Freeport farmer Kevin Samlalsingh said he planted his crops shortly after the legislation was approved and would be ready to harvest in the next month and a half.
He was anxious for the regulations to be approved so he can get his seeds or seedling from a legal source.
Samlalsingh said he was an experienced grower and did not think first-timers would get a bumper harvest in their first try.
"You could end up with a useless tree if the lights from your house shines on your plant," he said, adding that for the buds to form they needed total darkness.
Samlalsingh, 41, said it was cost prohibitive to grow such a small number of plants indoors using artificial lighting and suggested "it's best to grow natural."
None of the first-timers or experienced farmers were clear on what they should do when their plants are finally ready for harvest and they get more than the 30 grammes legal amount.
Some said they would share freely while others hoped to harvest in batches but none intended to dump excess produce.
(https://newsday.co.tt/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/7986897-1024x768.jpg)
Freeport farmer Kevin Samlalsingh stoops next to his homegrown marijuana plants. -
(https://newsday.co.tt/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/7989633-1024x768.jpg)
Marijuana activist and blogger Nyasha Sadlow with her four marijuana plants. -
(https://newsday.co.tt/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/7989659-1024x1024.jpg)
Ready for transplant to a bigger pot. -
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Marijuana Trees Found in House in Penal
T&T Express Reports.
A Penal bank teller was arrested and marijuana plants seized by officers of the Southern Division Task Force, during an anti-crime exercise conducted in the Penal district this morning.
Officers executed a search warrant for firearms and ammunition at the Clarke Road, Penal, home of a 34-year-old man.
Officers said they found 50 marijuana trees in two rooms in the house.
The man, a bank teller with a commercial bank in Siparia, was arrested in connection with the finds.
The exercise was coordinated by Snr. Supt. (Ag.) Yusuf Gaffar, Supt. Nobee, Supt. Doodai, ASP Mohammed and Insp. Teeluck, all of the Southern Division.
(https://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/trinidadexpress.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/4/e3/4e3771f6-08c7-11eb-8c75-bfdf89d52854/5f7e02f31fd4a.image.jpg?resize=640%2C480)
Marijuana allegedly found at the Penal house.
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Jamaica faces marijuana shortage as farmers struggle
By SHARLENE HENDRICKS and DÁNICA COTO, AP
https://apnews.com/article/world-news-jamaica-kingston-coronavirus-pandemic-marijuana-2d9e9c6dbc4d311e7b7085708eca0571
KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) — Jamaica is running low on ganja.
Heavy rains followed by an extended drought, an increase in local consumption and a drop in the number of marijuana farmers have caused a shortage in the island’s famed but largely illegal market that experts say is the worst they’ve seen.
“It’s a cultural embarrassment,” said Triston Thompson, chief opportunity explorer for Tacaya, a consulting and brokerage firm for the country’s nascent legal cannabis industry.
Jamaica, which foreigners have long associated with pot, reggae and Rastafarians, authorized a regulated medical marijuana industry and decriminalized small amounts of weed in 2015.
People caught with 2 ounces (56 grams) or less of cannabis are supposed to pay a small fine and face no arrest or criminal record. The island also allows individuals to cultivate up to five plants, and Rastafarians are legally allowed to smoke ganja for sacramental purposes.
But enforcement is spotty as many tourists and locals continue to buy marijuana on the street, where it has grown more scarce — and more expensive.
Heavy rains during last year’s hurricane season pummeled marijuana fields that were later scorched in the drought that followed, causing tens of thousands of dollars in losses, according to farmers who cultivate pot outside the legal system.
“It destroyed everything,” said Daneyel Bozra, who grows marijuana in the southwest part of Jamaica, in a historical village called Accompong founded by escaped 18th-century slaves known as Maroons.
Worsening the problem were strict COVID-19 measures, including a 6 p.m. curfew that meant farmers couldn’t tend to their fields at night as is routine, said Kenrick Wallace, 29, who cultivates 2 acres (nearly a hectare) in Accompong with the help of 20 other farmers.
He noted that a lack of roads forces many farmers to walk to reach their fields — and then to get water from wells and springs. Many were unable to do those chores at night due to the curfew.
Wallace estimated he lost more than $18,000 in recent months and cultivated only 300 pounds, compared with an average of 700 to 800 pounds the group normally produces.
Activists say they believe the pandemic and a loosening of Jamaica’s marijuana laws has led to an increase in local consumption that has contributed to the scarcity, even if the pandemic has put a dent in the arrival of ganja-seeking tourists.
“Last year was the worst year. ... We’ve never had this amount of loss,” Thompson said. “It’s something so laughable that cannabis is short in Jamaica.”
Tourists, too, have taken note, placing posts on travel websites about difficulties finding the drug.
Paul Burke, CEO of Jamaica’s Ganja Growers and Producers Association, said in a phone interview that people are no longer afraid of being locked up now that the government allows possession of small amounts. He said the stigmatization against ganja has diminished and more people are appreciating its claimed therapeutic and medicinal value during the pandemic.
Burke also said that some traditional small farmers have stopped growing in frustration because they can’t afford to meet requirements for the legal market while police continue to destroy what he described as “good ganja fields.”
The government’s Cannabis Licensing Authority — which has authorized 29 cultivators and issued 73 licenses for transportation, retail, processing and other activities — said there is no shortage of marijuana in the regulated industry. But farmers and activists say weed sold via legal dispensaries known as herb houses is out of reach for many given that it still costs five to 10 times more than pot on the street.
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Coto reported from San Juan, Puerto Rico.