Open Holiday Thread

Hope everyone on the couch is having an enjoyable holiday season. Best wishes to all from DrugWarRant.

If you’re fortunate enough to have family, cherish that time.

Off to spend Christmas Day with my grand-nephews.

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85 Responses to Open Holiday Thread

  1. Hope says:

    Merry Christmas, Pete!

    Merry Christmas, couchmates!

  2. DonDig says:

    .
    .
    Peace on Earth and Goodwill towards All.

    (I can dream can’t I?) 🙂

    Thanks Pete

  3. Swooper says:

    Merry Christmas to one and all. Wishing everyone a great day.

  4. Texas Tony says:

    Feliz Navidad a todos!

  5. Peace on Earth :
    http://tinyurl.com/ay35m9y

    Merry Christmas to all of you!

  6. claygooding says:

    C\_/ + =========$$$ + ???***@@@&&&^^^ NY

  7. Caballus Jake says:

    Uk Cannabis producers have taken to using asymmetric warfare tactics to inflict damage on its drug war opponents, and are terrorizing long-suffering constabularies with novel methods of concealment.

    http://tinyurl.com/SmokeThisFuckers

    Merry Xmas all!

  8. Mouth says:

    ISIS, Rebels, the Kurds and Assad: financed by drug money

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ke13JNlpBQ

    This is why we always think of Saudi Arabia and the Gulf when we think of Meth use.

  9. Servetus says:

    Feliz Navidad, everyone.

    And, in that hopeful note, that of nipping the Inquisition in the Americas in the bud, so will go the drug inquisition:

    I MSS. of Library of University of Halle, Yc, 17.-Archivo de Simancas, Inquisicion,

    Libro 50, fol. 352; Lib. 61, fol. 524, 534.

    It does not seem that the tribunal of Cartagena had any part in a curious attempt to introduce the Inquisition into Louisiana, which was ceded to Spain by the Treaty of Paris in 1762. The disaffected colonists drove out their new masters in 1768, but were subdued the next year by O’Reilly. In 1772 the Governor, Don Luis de Unzaga, in a report to the Bishop of Havana, said “It is not the practice here to force anyone to submit to the Church, and the process of excommunication is held in utter abomination.”

    This toleration continued and, in 1789, the Governor Estevan Miro was surprised to receive from Fray Antonio de Sedella — one of a band of Spanish Capuchins who had been sent to New Orleans in 1772 — a communication stating that, in a letter of December 5th, he had received from the proper authority a commission as commissioner of the Inquisition, with instructions to perform his duties with the utmost zeal and fidelity; that, having made his investigations with the greatest secrecy and precaution, he notified the governor that, in execution of his instructions, he might, at some late hour of the night, deem it necessary to require some guards to assist him in his operations. That same night, April 29th, he was aroused from sleep to find at his door an officer with a file of grenadiers, when he thanked them and said that he had no use for them that night. To his astonishment, he was told he was under arrest; he was hurried on board a vessel which sailed the next day for Caldiz, and the Inquisition was nipped in the bud.

    Miro seems to have been called upon for an explanation, for in a dispatch of June 3rd he declared that he shuddered when he read Sedella’s note. He had been ordered to foster immigration from the United States, under pledge of no molestation on account of religion, and the mere name of the Inquisition in New Orleans would not only check immigration, but would be capable of driving away those who had come, and, in spite of his action with Sedella, he dreaded the most fatal consequences from … mere suspicion…. His justification seems to have been accepted, for the attempt was abandoned.– Gayarre, History of Louisiana. The Spanish Domination, pp. 56, 69, 269-71 (New York, 1854). Fortier, History of Louisiana, II, 62, 140,327.

    It may be assumed that the motive of commissioning Sedella was rather political than religious. The uprising in France was calling for active measures by the Inquisition in Spain to keep out revolutionary principles; Louisiana was French and its loyalty to Spain was doubtful, so that the Inquisition would be useful both as a source of information and as an instrument of repression.– Henry Charles Lea

    The foregoing history depicts the only time the Holy Office of the Inquisition set foot on U.S. soil. An instrument of repression indeed, as is the drug war, which continues the South American inquisitorial tradition that operated under colonialism to target indigenous Americans for their drug consumption.

  10. DdC says:

    Parliament added marijuana to a list of proscribed drugs in 1923. No explanation was given for why they criminalized smoking pot.

    Federal marijuana legislation to be introduced
    in spring 2017, Philpott says

    I’m Considering it more and more…
    Politician Prohibitionists
    EndoCannabinoid System Deficiency

    No Science backing anything, but continue arresting people. Have to follow the law. Even if its insane, damaging, deadly and highly expensive and costly to citizens. They need until spring to make sure its safe. That 50 years of continuous ilicit use has provided no victims. Or that any “science”on cannabis (not receiving Grants from NIDA) proves it is not a dangerous substance. Better to ruin a thousand more lives than risk pissing off Big Pharma eh?

    Montreal Mayor Vows ‘Zero Tolerance’
    as Illegal Marijuana Shops Open

    ☛ Marijuana was criminalized in 1923, but why?
    When it was the Senate’s turn to review the legislation, Raoul Dandurand, the Liberal government’s leader in the Senate, told his colleagues, “There is only one addition to the schedule: Cannabis Indica (Indian Hemp) or hasheesh.”

    And, in what may be the most detailed account of these 1923 events, the authors of the 1991 book Panic and Indifference: The Politics of Canada’s Drug Laws, state that the health department’s narcotic division’s files contain a draft of the bill that does not include cannabis. There are also several carbon copies, and to one of thi was added, “Cannabis Indica (Indian Hemp) or hasheesh.”

    It seis no one knows who added that phrase, or ordered it added. But both the House and the Senate agreed to the additions without any discussion.

    iily Murphy’s ‘new menace’
    With no parliamentary debate, no evidence of public debate or discussion, and no paper trail about why marijuana was criminalized in 1923, it’s understandable why people would later link the decision to The Black Candle. But Carstairs says it’s probably just happenstance.

    There’s also no reason to think there was any science behind the decision. The major report of the era, and it was seven volumes in length, was Britain’s Indian Hemp Drugs Commission report, published in 1894.

    “Moderate use practically produces no ill effects,” according to the report, and the evidence the commission heard “shows most clearly how little injury society has hitherto sustained from Hemp drugs.”

    ☛ The Politics of Pot

    Indian Hemp Drugs Commission, 1894
    “The commission has come to the conclusion that the moderate use of Hemp drugs is practically attended by no evil results at all. … …moderate use of Hemp… appears to cause no appreciable physical injury of any kind,… no injurious effects on the mind… [and] no moral injury whatever.”

    ☛ Why Canada banned pot (science had nothing to do with it)
    These days some think a total repeal of Canada’s drug laws is inevitable. We look at how the drug laws put in 90 years ago were based on panic and racism as opposed to science or medicine

    The Le Dain Commission’s findings wouldn’t have disappointed him. The ensuing decades — four exactly in Deciber — would have.

    After 55 months of exhaustive research, the commissioners found the penalties for marijuana to be “grossly excessive.” They recommended decriminalizing possession and drastically lessening charges for trafficking.

    The passage of time has only reinforced that finding. As a 2002 Senate study reported, “The (Le Dain) Commission concluded that the criminalization of cannabis had no scientific basis. We confirm this conclusion and add that continued criminalization of cannabis riains unjustified based on scientific data on the danger it poses.”

    Yet the report was ignored by politicians and largely forgotten by the public. In the 40 years since, Canadian police forces have recorded at least two million marijuana-related violations. Last year the Harper government introduced mandatory minimum sentences for growing as few as six pot plants.

    ☛ The Complete History of Cannabis in Canada

    1907-1923: Prohibition, Legislation, Propaganda

    The articles that Mrs. iily Murphy wrote were very biased and sensationalized. In one chapter a Los Angeles County Chief of Police is quoted as saying that:

    …persons using this narcotic [sic] smoke the dry leaves of the plant, which has the effect of driving thi completely insane. The addict loses all sense of moral responsibility. Addicts to this drug, while under its influence are immune to pain. While in this condition they become raving maniacs and are liable to kill or indulge in any forms of violence to other persons, using the most savage methods of cruelty without, as said before, any sense of moral responsibility.

    1938-1961: Studies Ignored; Penalties Increased

    • DdC says:

      Crazy Loco…
      No Sure Thing…

      Dec. 24, 1969
      John Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono, in Canada on a crusade for peace, meet Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau in Ottawa. Lennon shared his expertise with the Le Dain Commission, believing that marijuana was a catalyst for peace.

      December 5, 2016
      Justin Trudeau Supported Marijuana Dispensaries
      Before Election – But Now Wants Them Closed

      While Nixon Campaigned, FBI Watched John Lennon
      http://endingcannabisprohibition.yuku.com/sreply/292
      In December 1971, John Lennon sang at an Ann Arbor, Mich., concert calling for the release of a man who had been given 10 years in prison for possessing two marijuana cigarettes. The song he wrote for the occasion, “John Sinclair,” was remarkably effective. Within days, the Michigan Supreme Court ordered Mr. Sinclair released.

      Between 1969 and 1977, government appointed commissions in Canada, England, Australia, and the Netherlands issued reports that agreed with the Shafer Commission’s conclusions. All found that marijuana’s dangers had been greatly exaggerated. All urged lawmakers to drastically reduce penalties for marijuana possession, or eliminate them altogether.

      Should it be legalized? Soon we will know
      Marijuana: the law vs. 12 million people
      Life magazine, pgs 25-35 Oct 31, 1969

      12/24/03
      Canada’s Supremes Cower Under D.E.A.th Threats
      http://endingcannabisprohibition.yuku.com/topic/384
      December 23, 2003: Canada’s Supreme Court has proven that our society is a prison, and that we are but prisoners, whose inalienable rights may be suppressed by political whimsy and ridiculous twists of reasoning more suitable to a genie granting wishes than judges appointed to uphold humane standards.

      “You’re enough of a pro, to know that for you to come out with something that would run counter to what the Congress feels and what the country feels, and what we’re planning to do, would make your commission just look bad as hell.”
      – Richard Milhous Nixon to
      Former Pennsylvania Gov. Raymond P. Shafer, a Republican who pushed for federal decriminalization of personal marijuana use,

      “We have been terribly and systematically misled for nearly 70 years in the United States, and I apologize for my own role in that, I didn’t look hard enough, until now. I didn’t look far enough. … I was too dismissive of the loud chorus of legitimate patients whose symptoms improved on cannabis. I had steadily reviewed the scientific literature on medical marijuana from the United States and thought it was fairly unimpressive, I mistakenly believed the Drug Enforcement Agency listed marijuana as a schedule 1 substance [a category of dangerous drugs] because of sound scientific proof. They didn’t have the science to support that claim, and I now know that when it comes to marijuana neither of those things are true,”
      ~ Dr. Sanja Gupta,
      Obama’s first pick as Surgeon General

      “From time to time, I say that the suppression of medical marijuana is murder. This is not quite correct. It is actually mass murder. It has caused the deaths of countless thousands of people.”
      ~ the Financial Times Limited, 1998
      Ed. note:
      The FT is the London equivalent of the Wall Street Journal.

      • Tony Aroma says:

        Those Life magazine articles could have been written today. If they weren’t dated, you’d never suspect they were that old. Just shows, people have been making the same arguments for and against for almost 50 years. Interesting though that the former FDA director had a much more enlightened attitude than any representative of the federal government has today.

        • DdC says:

          Ya can never take it for granted…

          It should have ended with Leary v. United States Leary challenged the act on the ground that the act required self-incrimination, which violated the Fifth Amendment. The unanimous opinion of the court was penned by Justice John Marshall Harlan II and declared the Marihuana Tax Act unconstitutional.

          Before that…

          THE ANTIQUE CANNABIS BOOK

          Before that… The Scythians were a barbaric group of pre-Common Era nomadic tribes (seventh to first century BC.) who are a fascinating example of an ancient cannabis using group.

          For over fifty years the United States has been committed to a policy of suppressing the “abuse” of narcotic and other “dangerous” drugs. The primary instrument in carrying out this policy has been the criminal sanction. The results of this reliance on the criminal sanction have included the following:

          (1) Several hundred thousand people, the overwhelming majority of whom have been primarily users rather than traffickers, have been subjected to severe criminal punishment.
          (2) An immensely profitable illegal traffic in narcotic and other forbidden drugs has developed.
          (3) This illegal traffic has contributed significantly to the growth and prosperity of organized criminal groups.
          (4) A substantial number of all acquisitive crimes – burglary, robbery, auto theft, other forms of larceny – have been committed by drug users in order to get the wherewithal to pay the artificially high prices charged for drugs on the illegal market.
          (5) Billions of dollars and a significant proportion of total law enforcement resources have been expended in all stages of the criminal process.
          (6) A disturbingly large number of undesirable police practices – unconstitutional searches and seizures, entrapment, electronic surveillance have become habitual because of the great difficulty that attends the detection of narcotics offenses.
          (7) The burden of enforcement has fallen primarily on the urban poor, especially Negroes and Mexican-Americans.
          (8) Research on the causes, effects, and cures of drug use has been stultified.
          (9) The medical profession has been intimidated into neglecting its accustomed role of relieving this form of human misery.
          (10) A large and well-entrenched enforcement bureaucracy has developed a vested interest in the status quo, and has effectively thwarted all
          but the most marginal reforms.
          (11) Legislative invocations of the criminal sanction have automatically and unthinkingly been extended from narcotics to marijuana to the flood of new mind-altering drugs that have appeared in recent years, thereby compounding the preexisting problem. A clearer case of misapplication of the criminal sanction would be difficult to imagine.

          ~ by Herbert Packer, 1968
          “The Limits of the Criminal Sanction,”

          Neoliberalism – the ideology at the root of all our problems
          Financial meltdown, environmental disaster and even the rise of Donald Trump – neoliberalism has played its part in them all. Why has the left failed to come up with an alternative? Like Cannabis Food Fuel Fiber FARMaceuticals, Hemplastic or Fossil Fools Crud?

          ☛ In August and September, 1983, Turner went on national television to justify the illegal marijuana spraying (by plane) of paraquat in Georgia, Kentucky, and Tennessee by the DEA. He said it would teach a lesson to any kid who died from paraquat-poisoned pot.
          ☛ Turner was forced to resign after announcing his conclusions in public that marijuana caused homosexuality, the breakdown of the immune system, and, therefore, AIDS.
          ☛ After his resignation, Turner joined with Robert DuPont and former head of NIDA, Peter Bensinger, to corner the market on urine testing. They contracted as advisors to 250 of the largest corporations to develop drug diversion, detection, and urine testing programs.
          ☛ Soon after Turner left office, Nancy Reagan recommended that no corporation be permitted to do business with the Federal government without having a urine purity policy in place to show their loyalty.
          ~ Jack Herer,
          Electric Emporer, Ch 15,
          Corruption/Carlton Turner

          There are those who propose not keeping going with this battle and legalize drug trafficking and consumption. What is your opinion?

          I don’t think that will work. I mean,
          I hear the same debate. I hear it in my country.
          It is not likely to work.
          There is just too much money in it…

          ~ Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
          interviewed by Denise Maerker of Televisa

          Why Do Democrats Defend Nixon’s Drug War?
          http://endingcannabisprohibition.yuku.com/topic/1760

  11. Jerry says:

    Nadolig Llawen!

  12. DdC says:

    Santa Cruz County Encourages Cannabis Growers
    To Step Into Legal Light

    Santa Cruz Sentinel, 12.27.16

    For years, Utopia Farms and other marijuana growers in Santa Cruz County have worked in the shadows, building brands they could lose at any moment.

    No more.

    Months before California voters approved Proposition 64 to legalize recreational marijuana, Santa Cruz County embarked on a bold strategy, instructing all pot farmers to reveal themselves and come to the fold. And in a narrow three-month window that closed two days before the Nov. 8 election, more than 950 growers applied for licenses to get permits under a proposed ordinance that’s now in line with state law.

    As a result, long-illicit businesses are now quickly being converted into legal contributors to the California economy through a new regulatory system designed to support small cultivators, bust illegal marijuana operations and turn the coastal county into a powerhouse of high-end, hand-crafted products. And what’s happening in Santa Cruz County is providing an early glimpse into how the business of cannabis — Pot Inc., if you will — will look like in many parts of California a couple of years down the road. continued… here

    Cannifornian
    http://www.thecannifornian.com

    • Mr_Alex says:

      I see that as a good thing now that California has allowed Cannabis

      • DdC says:

        Civilized and Bona Fide

        or

        950 growers just handed Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III a list where to find them.

        I’m living it and loving it while it is here and hope for sanity to prevail in the future by removing it as a dangerous drug in the CSA. As usual Color Me Skeptical.

        • DdC says:

          Inside DEA Ban on Marijuana Extracts
          http://cannabisnews.com/news/29/thread29010.shtml
          There’s a lot of discussion in the community, however, about what exactly this new code is really changing – if it’s changing anything at all. According to Robert Capecchi, Director of Federal Policies at Marijuana Policy Project, people like Browne and the Thomas family have arguably been breaking the law all along.

          “A lot of the storylines that I’ve seen – or at least the initial reaction to this final rule – makes it seem as if these CBD oils and extracts are being more restricted than they currently were, and that’s just not true,” Capecchi says. “[The DEA] says that they’ve always considered marijuana extract, regardless of whether it’s CBD or THC or other cannabinoid, to be a Schedule I substance.”

          Capecchi agrees that petitioning Congress is the best recourse in this case. “I would argue that the easiest thing to do is to write your members of Congress on a weekly basis and tell them to take marijuana out of the controlled substances act all together,” he says.

  13. Servetus says:

    Hungover from the recent election? According to researchers at NYU, the brain can remain in an adverse state from an emotional trauma, resulting in an emotional hangover:

    26-DEC-2016—Emotional experiences can induce physiological and internal brain states that persist for long periods of time after the emotional events have ended, a team of New York University scientists has found. This study, which appears in the journal Nature Neuroscience, also shows that this emotional “hangover” influences how we attend to and remember future experiences.[…]

    The results showed that the subjects who were exposed to the emotion-evoking stimuli first had better long-term recall of the neutral images subsequently presented compared to the group who were exposed to the same neutral images first, before the emotional images.

    The fMRI results pointed to an explanation for this outcome.

    Specifically, these data showed that the brain states associated with emotional experiences carried over for 20 to 30 minutes and influenced the way the subjects processed and remembered future experiences that are not emotional.

    “We see that memory for non-emotional experiences is better if they are encountered after an emotional event,” observes Davachi.

    AAAS Public Release: Is there such a thing as an emotional hangover? NYU researchers find that there is

    Emotional hangovers may help people’s memory, but many find hangovers disturbing. That’s why they choose the best known remedy for this condition: drugs. I find that marijuana helps soothe my emotional hangovers, more so than alcohol. Our friends at the American Chemical Society (ACA) have produced the following new educational video, which is bound to offend people who believe alcohol is safer than weed, and, of course, all prohibitionists who are already offended by science.

    “This is your brain on alcohol”: https://youtu.be/1xVqwYxe4Gw

    • DdC says:

      Stress is stress is stress…

      The biggest killer on the planet is stress
      and I still think the best medicine
      is and always has been cannabis.
      — Willie Nelson,
      High Times, January 1991

      ☛ Seeking Rest From the Terrors, New York Pops Pills
      ☛ Seeking Rest From the Trump, Nation Pops Pills
      http://endingcannabisprohibition.yuku.com/topic/1247 01/05/02
      New Yorkers are increasingly turning to sedation to help them escape the nightmares created by the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center.

      According to doctors and pharmacists in the city, New York’s denizens–many grieving for lost friends and family–are looking to medicine more than ever before to help fall asleep.

      ☛ SLEEP AND RELAXATION
      Cannabis lowers blood pressure, dilates the arteries and reduces body temperature an average of one-half degree, thereby relieving stress. Evening cannabis smokers in general report more restful sleep. Using cannabis allows most people a more complete rest with a higher amount of “alpha time” during sleep as compared with prescription or sleep-inducing patent sedatives. Prescription sleeping pills (the so called “legal, safe and effective” drugs) are often just synthesized analogs of truly dangerous plants like mandrake, henbane and belladonna.

      One well known effect of THC is to life the spirit, or make you “high.” Cannabis users in Jamaica praise ganja’s benefits for meditation, concentration, consciousness-raising and promoting a state of well being and self assertiveness.

      ☛ CANNABIS LUNG CLEANER AND EXPECTORANT
      Cannabis is the best natural expectorant to clear the human lungs of smog, dust and the phlegm associated with tobacco use. Marijuana smoke effectively dilates the airways of the lungs, the bronchi, opening them to allow more oxygen into the lungs. It is also the best natural dilator of the tiny airways of the lungs, the bronchial tubes – making cannabis the best overall bronchial dilator for 80% of the population.

      ☛ Health series:
      Does marijuana cause lung cancer?
      Is secondhand smoke safe?
      A comprehensive 2014 study in the International Journal of Cancer found “little evidence for an increased risk of lung cancer,” even among heavy or long-term cannabis smokers.

      ☛ Ganja 4 PTSD & Depression
      http://endingcannabisprohibition.yuku.com/topic/1632
      I guess some could qualify as suffering traumatic stress from a Trump presidency.

  14. NCN says:

    Trump’s gonna be Trump. Our job is to make sure facts don’t drown in the sea of media garbage in their reporting on King Donald’s oral farting habits.

    The Chinese use the same characters for Crisis and Opportunity and I’m optimistic rather than depressed for our future. Fight for human rights because it’s the right thing to do.

    I’ve been in the process of moving furniture and household items for the past couple of months as I settle into my parent’s old home I inherited recently.
    That physical exhaustion parlayed into several alcohol purchases and binge-drinking exercises lately.

    I don’t really advocate alcohol so I’m a tad reluctant to make this comment. Folks here are likely aware that cannabinoids are NEUROPROTECTIVE. So if cannabinoids are neuroprotective and alcohol is neuro-toxic, it should make sense that using something like a 1:1 ratio of sublingual cannabis oil after a night of drinking might be helpful.

    While my sample-size of trials in the past few months is around a dozen binge-drinking episodes, I’ve found using the Sativex mimic cannabis oil SAVES MY ASS from a hangover. Really significant difference between drinking without and drinking with cannabis oil.

    I’m posting this now because some like to drink a bit for New Year’s Eve. I would encourage anyone expecting to drink a bit to try the cannabis oil experiment with the CBD/THC combo. I haven’t tried more CBD-dominant versions yet (2:1, 4:1, 8:1, or 18:1 and can’t speak to the best ratio of CBD to THC. But, I’ve gotten good hangover PROTECTION from using the Sativex-like (1:1) sublingual oil.

    Everyone’s different and I’m curious if this is just me getting this relief from a hangover. Live in a MMJ state where you can get some CBD/THC oil, AND plan on doing some drinking? I’d love to know if other’s are getting similar results.

    I’m not quitting tribe cannabis for awesome IPA’s, just mixing it up a bit. We’re about knowledge and harm reduction here. Use alcohol responsibly and if you drink too much, save your brain with some nice soothing cannabis oil. In addition to adults, I believe the Sativex-like tincture should be given out to every High-School and College-age kid in the country. Save those brain CELLS!

    Or better yet, don’t drink at all. Be safe out there peeps.

  15. jean valjean says:

    Meanwhile in mental health news:

    ‘“If you are corrupt I will fetch you using a helicopter to Manila and I will throw you out. I have done this before, why would I not do it again?” Duterte said during a speech to victims of a typhoon on Tuesday, a clip of which was posted on a video feed of the president’s office.’

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/29/philippines-rodrigo-duterte-says–threw-suspect-from-helicopter

    • DC Reade says:

      On re-reading the Syndney Morning Times article that I had posted in a previous thread, I realized that Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte never did make it clear whether he had stopped his use of fentanyl due to his doctor’s advice, or simply decreased his daily dosage:

      …”Mr Duterte told a business forum in the presidential palace that he started taking the opioid analgesic drug fentanyl, which is usually prescribed for cancer patients, despite never being diagnosed with cancer.

      He admitted his doctor told him to take just a quarter of a square fentanyl pill but he used to take two of them before being warned he was abusing the drug.

      “I have this migraine every day. I had a bad sleep … I have a lot of issues with my spine,” he said.

      “When (the doctor) knew it, he made me stop … the first thing that you would lose is your cognitive ability.”

      In comments before leaving the Philippines to visit Cambodia, Mr Duterte also said that when he was mayor of southern Davao city he used to hunt suspects on his motorcycle, shooting people on the spot…”

      http://www.smh.com.au/world/philippines-president-rodrigo-duterte-admits-to-personally-killing-people-20161214-gtbdjr.html

      Others are wondering, too http://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/2055580/duterte-urged-come-clean-health-after-his-fentanyl-drug-use

      Another critic, Senator Antonio Trillanes, said Duterte’s admission that he took more than the prescribed fentanyl dosage showed he “qualified as a drug addict”.

      However Duterte on Saturday denied any addiction.

      “When there’s regularity, my friend, when you take it and when there’s a monkey on your back, that’s addiction,” he told a BBC reporter…

      • jean valjean says:

        He’s there to make Trump look like a moderate and sane.

        • DC Reade says:

          or maybe Duterte’s there as the Vanguard of the resurgent Drug War. The cutting edge. The tip of the spear. In the grand tradition of Tu Yueh-Sheng, head of the old Nationalist China’s Opium Suppression Bureau, and confirmed opium addict. Also head of the Green Gang, one of the largest KMT heroin trafficking organizations.

          And I used to think Billy Lee Burroughs was only kidding. Having a laugh. Confabulating.

        • jean valjean says:

          DC
          There is abundant evidence in Johann Hari’s book Chasing the Scream that Anslinger was also an addict… seems to be a pattern and time Congress were all pee tested.

  16. DC Reade says:

    a more extended text excerpt of Rodrigo Duterte’s explanation of his history with fentanyl:

    “…De Lima’s call was supported by another critic, Senator Antonio Trillanes, who said Duterte “qualified as a drug addict” as he had admitted to taking more than the prescribed dosage of Fentanyl.

    Duterte, however, decried the claim. He pointed out that he constantly suffers from migraines and that while he did use the drug, it was because there was a prescription for it.

    “Yes. But I’m not an addict. Only when there is [a drug] prescribed. Addiction is when there’s regularity, my friend,” he told a reporter during an ambush interview during his maiden official visit to Singapore last week.

    According to ABS-CBN News, Duterte, who was visibly irked by questions on his alleged addiction, then schooled a journalist on the what drug addition means.

    “When you take it and there’s a monkey on your back, that’s addiction. You know what? I’ll give you an idea, nicotine is an addictive element. It’s more than…worse than the medications you take for your headache.”… https://asiancorrespondent.com/2016/12/philippines-duterte-drug-addict/

    Interesting the Duterte seems to be endorsing the position that nicotine is more addictive than opioids.

    Also idly wondering how many Americans have been prescribed fentanyl for their migraine headaches. A speculation related to my observation that one inevitable result of Drug War Prohibition is that it works to narrow access to the most powerful substances to a small, well-favored elite- people either wealthy or powerful enough to find physicians to be practically unencumbered in their prescription regimes, or to buy their way out of trouble if found transacting business in the illegal marketplace.

    • Servetus says:

      Opioids don’t work well for migraines:

      … there’s growing evidence that Migraine is a progressive brain disease. Growing evidence that we need to prevent as many Migraines as possible, and when we get one, stop it as quickly as possible. For more information on this issue, take a look at our article Is Migraine a Progressive Brain Disease?

      Pain medications such as opioids can’t do that. All they can do is mask the pain for a few hours, leaving us to hope that the Migraine runs its course and is over before the medication wears off. Pain medications can address only one of the symptoms of a Migraine, the pain. They can’t address nausea, vomiting, photophobia, phonophobia, osmophobia, allodynia, or any of the other symptoms.

      Source: http://www.healthcentral.com/migraine/medications-462715-5.html

      According to a chronic migraine sufferer I know, Topamax (Topiramate) works, but at $75 per pill (https://www.drugwatch.com/topamax/ ) . Cannabinoids have no effect on her migraine episodes.

      • strayan says:

        Jesus and to think I threw away a month’s supply.

      • NorCalNative says:

        …Cannabinoids have no effect on her migraine episodes…

        When I first read that sentence I was surprised. Cannabinoids are well-known to relieve the symptoms of migraine, something of which I know from personal experience.

        This may be what’s going on with her: One of the known gene variants of the CB1 receptor predispose people to migraines. An abstract of this study can be found on the conditions page at Project CBD under migraine.

        A gene variation at CB1 cannabinoid receptors predisposing people to migraine means there is dysfunction of the endocannabinoid synthesis of anandamide (the bliss chemical) and 2-AG. Not good. I suspect she’s got other health issues going on as well.

        When it comes to CB1 receptors we’re not all created equal.

        • Servetus says:

          Thanks, NorCal. I forwarded the information. She does indeed have many other health issues: arthritis, osteoporosis, heart condition, insomnia….

      • DdC says:

        The founder of WAMM suffered migraines she has said cannabis has helped relieve symptoms. As with many symptoms treated with cannabis, strains often tell the difference. Indica is better for pain and sleep while Sativa is better for creativity and thoughts that could provoke a migraine. I’ve had two migraines in my life, both most likely from food poisoning and cannabis didn’t help. But that was before the dispensaries and having to rely on street pot or a limit in available strains. So maybe it was the strain. I’m not willing to sacrifice getting one for science. Same with Schizophrenics possibly using Sativa when Indica would be more calming.

        WAMM’s Valerie Corral
        As a result of the accident, Corral’s injuries included brain damage, epilepsy and severe migraines. Despite taking prescription drugs, Corral continued experiencing convulsions, shaking and grand mal seizures. Having read in a medical journal that marijuana controlled seizures in mice, Corral’s husband recommended that she give the drug a try—she has maintained a steady level of marijuana in her system since then, finding that it helped alleviate her symptoms

        Has anyone heard of this?

        What is Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome?
        According to the study from Philadelphia, “hot bathing may act by correcting the cannabis induced disequilibrium of the thermoregulatory system of the hypothalamus.” This may sound scary, but it’s very rare. I’ve known many heavy smokers all my life and have only recently heard of it through research online.

        • tensity1 says:

          When you say, “Has anyone heard of this?” do you mean about Valerie Corral or about the hyperemesis syndrome?

        • DdC says:

          Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome tensity1

        • tensity1 says:

          tl:dr version–yes, I’ve heard of it and believe it and suggest chronic pain users watch their usage to not trigger the syndrome.
          ———————————-

          DdC, yeah, I actually heard about this about four, five years back. I remember finding a site that had dozens–if not hundreds–of testimonials about this problem, and all had very similar symptoms, and many expressed relief that there were others out there in similar distress–they didn’t feel crazy or alone. Of course, there were comments by some calling these people liars, that cannabis relieves nausea and not cause it, but the sheer number and variety of testimonials led me to believe their anecdotes.

          I’ve never experienced this syndrome, but I have experienced very uncomfortable withdrawal symptoms when reducing cannabinoid (natural and synthetic) use. When I’d see comments by people that cannabis isn’t addictive, that it’s only psychological or habit-forming or whatnot, I’d get indignant, but now I just let it slide. Everybody is different, and many will have no symptoms of withdrawal while others will. I would joke that the people without symptoms weren’t smoking enough or were smoking bunk, heh.

          I know my own head quite well, thank you, and it wasn’t my noggin causing the intermittent bouts of nausea, sleeplessness, and irritability. My abdomen would feel tight as if a large rubber band surrounded it, and a kind of ache-y “void” would be in my solar plexus. The nausea never led to any vomiting–it only lasted about five minutes, though I felt as if I were poisoned, and my appetite would disappear for a while. Hot showers definitely made me feel better, as with the hyperemesis sufferers, but I never took showers just to relieve temporary and relatively mild nausea. The worst of withdrawing was over after the first five or so days, but intermittent symptoms would appear during the first three weeks. After that, all good. Uncomfortable, but really not a big deal. Stopping synthetics when the DEA banned them was similar, but amped up. I felt like crawling up the walls the first few days.

          (By the way, the DEA action wasn’t the primary reason for stopping. I blame them for the synthetic arms race going on and the fact that many of the synthetics showing promise for medicine may never be studied.)

          Basically, I experienced what many researchers have found to be the typical course of withdrawal for many out there. I’ve never been addicted to hard drugs, although I was addicted to nicotine for the longest time, and that was harder to kick than cannabis (not that I was really trying to kick cannabis out of my life–only curtail). I don’t know the exact mechanisms and pathways by which some drugs cause addiction, but I think all manifestations of addiction are due to an imbalance of neurotransmitters, whether they be endorphins, endocannabinoids, or something else. Of course, there are psychological issues that aren’t caused by direct chemical imbalance, such as trauma or genetic mental illness. There are many factors to addiction to be able to point at any one boogeyman. What I definitely know is my own body, and my mind wasn’t making up withdrawal symptoms; I didn’t tell my body to feel like shit for days, and all the positive and magical thinking and ordering my body to be well didn’t speed up the process.

          To get back to your question, DdC, after a leisurely morning of exposition I probably should’ve condensed (gotta love captive audiences), I have heard of Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome, and due to my own experiences with curtailing cannabinoid use or quitting other substances, I believe the stories. Not only that, there are good doctors and researchers out there who aren’t overly politicized who say this syndrome is real. As long as doctors are aware of the possibility, I don’t see it being life-threatening–just very sucky to go through and possibly expensive due to unneeded tests and treatments. I just feel sorry for the people experiencing this, since some will react this way to cannabis even after getting over the syndrome, and for some people, cannabis may be a primary mode of ailment treatment, thus being deprived of effective medication.

          I’m interested to know what NorCal knows about this syndrome, since he (sorry, I’m assuming “he”) has taken courses on the endocannabinoid system.

          I suggest to heavy users treating a chronic condition to watch their dosing amounts and rates so as to not develop this syndrome–try not to let usage become compulsive, but that’s easy for me to say by when I’m not in severe pain or distress. All I know is that I would be saddened at the loss of wellness and joy that cannabis brings to me.

      • tensity1 says:

        And it could be the strain/ratio of THC to CBD/terpenes.

        Tell you friend to look into microdosing of psilocybin–some people have gained relief by using small, non-psychoactive doses.

        Here’s a link for a search on migraines specific to the phys.org site:

        https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=migraine%20site%3Aphys.org

        I include this because I remember reading something intriguing about migraines on that site recently.

        • NorCalNative says:

          tensity 1, I enjoyed reading your various comments and questions. You make a lot of interesting observations. I love reading these kinds of personal histories.

          You have more expertise on this subject than I do right now. I did come across this in my studies but I can’t come off as an expert on this topic. What I can add with confidence is what you’ve already alluded to, i.e., the potential for developing this through chronic and heavy use of cannabis.

          Tolerance levels to cannabis have a significant impact on endocannabinoid tone. Just like a muscle, your ECS can be in or out of tone, or it can be in the balanced area, the sweet spot, aka homeostasis. The medical terms are “up-regulated” or “down-regulated.”

          Using cannabinoids on a frequent basis ISN’T okay with our cannabinoid receptors. At a certain point some say “fuck you dude, I’m outa here.” That is, the “tired” receptors actually sink into the cell away from the cell membrane where they are no longer active. Regular users can and do chase receptors away and this is the basis of tolerance.

          The hyperemesis syndrome is relieved by abstaining from cannabis so that suggests ECS down-regulation. Down-regulated cannabinoid systems can be managed by adding exogenous cannabinoids. But, adding cannabinoids to an already down-regulated system (something many medical patients and rec users do every day) can apparently become problematic for some.

          Managing tolerance levels as you already pointed out, would seem to be the key in managing this puking problem.

          There’s an art to using cannabis as medicine, and part of that art is in learning when and how long to take a break. This is something I still struggle with.

          BTW, your skunk terpene search has given me a new project. What terpenes compromise the Skunk package?

          I’m curious if your experiences with cannabis withdrawal, which are on the rough side, may be due to using synthetics. They are designed to work at CB1 receptors but they can be up to hundreds times stronger than herb.

    • Servetus says:

      Late breaking research posits another explanation for Duterte’s fentanyl attraction:

      December 29, 2016 – A wide range of pre-existing psychiatric and behavioral conditions and the use of psychoactive drugs could be important risk factors leading to long-term use of opioid pain medications, reports a study in PAIN®, the official publication of the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP).

      AAAS Public Release: Psychiatric conditions linked to increased risk of long-term opioid use

      For Rody, the question becomes does the incumbent President of the Philippines take fentanyl because he’s psychotic, or does Duterte’s serial-killer instinct take precedence?

  17. darkcycle says:

    Merry Christmas (belated) and Happy holidays all. I’ve been out of commission….nursing a wife with a herniated Lumbar disk and resulting sciatica (she can’t walk)and trying to corral those boys over the long school holiday. Hope your Christmas/Hannukah/Kwanzaa/Whatever was bright and filled with joy.
    Pete, thanks for letting us camp on your couch for another year. I can’t believe you put up with the virtual stains, virtual sticky spots (Thanks for that, Wiggles)and virtual pizza boxes this crew leaves lying about. Happy holidays to you and your family.

  18. Jerry says:

    Finland ranks as the second least-corrupt country, after Denmark, in the global index compiled by Transparency International.

    A Finnish court has sentenced the former head of Helsinki’s anti-drugs police to 10 years in prison for drug-smuggling and other offences.
    Jari Aarnio was found to have helped a gang to import nearly 800kg (1,764lb) of hashish from the Netherlands and sell it in Finland in 2011-2012.
    Aarnio, 59, was found guilty of five drug crimes and 17 other offences.
    These included trying to frame an innocent man for being in charge of the drug ring.

    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-38458583

    • jean valjean says:

      Zero chance of anything like this happening to the DEA…the USA is definitely not the second least corrupt country…..

      • Mouth says:

        Just like the DEA would never stoop so low as to do something dangerous like finance Lashkar-e-Taiba’s 2008 terrorist attack in Mumbai, India. They would never go overboard looking for a few keys of smack. The DEA only picks the finest and most upstanding of snitches and informants–not known Jihadists and their networks. You cannot spell Al Qaeda without a D an E and an A.

  19. Servetus says:

    December 30, a day which will live in infamy—when in 1996 President Bill Clinton’s re-election continued its anti-medical-marijuana campaign, perpetrating a deliberate distortion of facts and scientific data, which would impugn the professional reputation of Dr. Tod Mikuriya, and help perpetuate years more of denial of the medical benefits of cannabinoids. Fred Gardner brings us a blast from the past at CounterPunch:

    CNN broadcast a press conference at which Drug Czar Barry McCaffrey, flanked by Attorney General Janet Reno and Health & Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala, reiterated the Clinton Administration’s opposition to the medical use of marijuana. Alan Leshner of the National Institute of Drug Abuse was there, too.

    The key visual element was a large chart on an easel to the speakers’ right. The heading read “Dr. Tod Mikuriya’s, (215 Medical Advisor) Medical Uses of Marijuana:” (sic content and punctuation). Twenty-six conditions were listed in two columns of 13. One of the conditions was misspelled — “Migranes.” Another, “Writer’s Cramp,” simply does not appear in the extensive list of conditions Mikuriya had advised Cannabis Buyers Clubs to be tracking.[…]

    Mikuriya, a 63-year-old psychiatrist, calls the McCaffrey chart “a crude dirty trick —the kind of disinformation the U.S. military put out during the Vietnam War. Only in this case the ‘enemy’ is the people of California.” […]

    The chart was prepared for McCaffrey by an aide in the Office of Drug Control Policy named David Des Roches.[…]

    Source: 20 Years Ago Today: Clinton’s Response to California’s Legalization of Medical Marijuana

  20. Mouth says:

    If Trump wants to be reelected, he’ll bow down to us and fulfill his slogan:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TG1egeDwHaw

    Happy New Years Couch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9kkNsZZVLU

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgeGCSF1Ga4

    Our movement is too big to fail, unlike the banks.

    • WalStMonky says:

      .
      .

      How about “too big to jail” instead of fail?

      • Mouth says:

        Yes we are too big to jail. Every time I go to local rap concerts and smell all the weed smoke and see the kids just puffing on joints and blunts outside the venue over in artys districts and higher end areas and every time I see the Armani and business crowd 20 and 30 somethings who eat at fusion restaurants (like Belgian Waffles topped with shrimp, honey garlic strawberry jam and mole sauce) passing the same joint around with former gang members turned local rap artists–yes, we are too big to jail.

  21. thelbert says:

    happy new year brothers And sisters. haven’t been posting since the old computer died on me. paul free had sentence commuted to 30 years. that’s better than nothing i guess. life with semi-legal pot is more fun than it was. been harvesting some volunteers after last year’s seed crop. should have a good garden in ’17.

    • NorCalNative says:

      Gardener’s Rock!

      Speaking of volunteers, when I was a pup just out of high-school I shared an apartment with my girlfriend. One day I looked down at the sidewalk in front of our place, and in this little strip of dirt there’s this 2-inch tall flowering female cannabis plant. A freaking marijuana midget.

      Damn right I smoked it.

  22. kaptinemo says:

    Belated Christmas wishes and a (hopefully) Happy New Year to Pete and all Couchmates!

    A word to the wise: keep some cash at home and out of the hands of the (money-laundering, corrupt, bankrupt, soon-to-crash) banks. The current giddy rise of the stock market is a fraud meant to draw in more lambs for the fiscal slaughter. Recall the look on Trump’s face after he met with Obama; his usual cockiness was replaced by something considerably less braggadocio. I believe that Obama may have given him the straight word as to what can be expected, and The Donald was deflated by the news that economic disruptions after Trump’s Inauguration are a near-certainty.

    The ‘King of Debt’ may find that trying to fund the government through more debt when we’re already 20 Trillion in the hole will not set well with our creditors, who are themselves in deep dookie. All around the planet governments are trying to use every trick in the ‘force and fraud’ book to balance their wastrel ways on their citizen’s backs. What is happening in India, China, Italy, Greece, Spain and a host of other countries is a test case for the rest of the world; rest assured, it will come here.

    Which is partly why all this worry about Trump’s pick for Attorney General and reversing the progress made in re-legalization may become seriously moot. The Gub’mint will have to be cut one way or another to prevent total collapse. With half the country having some form of legal cannabis, that’s too much for even the Feds to crush, when they may, finally, be crushed themselves by the inexorable weight of a debt-ridden economy. It’s been said here for a long time that the state of the economy will dictate for how long we continue to have prohibition; 2017 might be the final year of it as there may be no way to fund its prosecution any longer.

    For those who may wonder just WTF I am talking about, I urge you to look up such terms as ‘bail-in’, ‘demonetization’ and ‘unsecured creditor’, to start with. To be forewarned truly is forearmed.

  23. Hope says:

    To those that might be interested… and I could be wrong, the commenter calling himself Ben in these comments sounds like Duterte himself. It’s a bit odd. Check it out.

    Join fight vs drugs, corruption – Duterte

    http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2017/01/01/1658519/join-fight-vs-drugs-corruption-duterte

    • Hope says:

      I think it was him. You could feel the cold bloodedness. It sounded like him.

      • Servetus says:

        The article itself is pure fascist-style propaganda. Under the heading “Palace Hopes for a Better 2017”, Duterte evokes Mussolini who promised to make the trains run on time. He claims he can fix the entire country and make the Philippines an economic powerhouse, beginning with the scapegoating of certain groups of people for society’s ills, the way medievalists once targeted lepers and Jews, eliminating them for allegedly poisoning wells. Law and order is Rody’s underlying theme. He’s Nixon on steroids. The commenter Ben does sound like Duterte, and he also sounds like a professional propagandist. My guess is Ben may be with the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency, the Philippine government’s version of the CIA. Or as Seth Meyers would say, “If it looks like a duck, and talks like a duck, and steps like a goose, it’s a Nazi. ”

        • tensity1 says:

          Lol, that’s a great quote by Seth Meyers. Thanks for that.

        • Hope says:

          Thanks for looking at it, Servetus.

        • Mouth says:

          What is not funny is how the media forgets that Duterte has ties with The Taliban who are so dope rich that they’ve been able to open up legitimate businesses mining and transporting raw materials used in computer chips and lithium batteries etc to Filipino factories–industries that have financed his campaigns. And let us not forget about Middle Eastern oil where a few million in Al Qaeda meth, cocaine and opium can buy enough shares of a company and or it’s logistics to do business with Filipino corporations that line the pockets of Dorito or whatever his name is.

  24. tensity1 says:

    Happy New Year! Hope all had good holidays, although I know it has been rough for some over the past few months.

    I was going to save some bud to celebrate today (I’m in Nevada), but I smoked it all a few weeks ago and decided that instead of making today a special day (which it is), I would celebrate legalization by making it no big deal by not smoking–a sort of normalization.

    To any couchmates in SW Colorado/Four Corners area, I apologize in advance: the herb at the dispensaries in that area is quite mediocre. It’s all hybridized, genetically watered down version of some kind of Kush/Diesel. I assume Denver is better.

    Can anyone recommend some strains, whether seed from around the world or clones on the West coast, that is simply old-school, strong, and skunky-smelling (those terps seem to make me the happiest). I’m tired of being disappointed.

    Finally, let’s not forget our brothers and sisters who aren’t in a legal framework, and may humanity gain its senses and legalize all drugs for the purpose of harm reduction and compassion.

    Peace.

  25. Mouth says:

    Kip Magazine predicted doom and gloom for bonds since 35years of bull riding is bucking off the cowboy. But if you are young, keep putting “some” of that money in the stock market i.e. ETFs and Mutual Funds and of course Pref Stocks. The old guard who keeps jailing us youngens for pot will be saving their money, while us millennials will be cool with pouring money into a whole that will fill back up with the kind of funds that give us the power in the future. Without us common rednecks and gangster rap enthusiast pouring a “few” funds into the stock market, we’ll be letting the Oligarchs make all the decisions for our future. With out us kids putting money into the market, you can say goodby to non-marijuana drug reform, art, books, theater, family vacations, jobs, national Parks, charity organization and even more freedoms. Senior Citizens and those over 50 should save a lot more, but anyone younger needs to invest. It really needs to be us who are the ones doing it, otherwise we’re letting others who do not think like we do, control the world and that is a scary thought. Foreign Markets look good, but one needs ultra diversification . . . you cannot win a football game with 15 kickers and just 8 linemen right? I’ve been around too many old people who wish they didn’t panic, because the old people who could give a fuck less about the 2008 crash realize that one doesn’t loose money in a crash–given they pick the right brokers and companies.

    Edward Jones likes to shove bricks up the ass with no lube, but they pay out in the long run and have very wet liquidity for almost 100yrs (EJ likes to sell people ultra expensive houses at ultra deep discounts). I wouldn’t trust JP, MO Stan, Chase, BoA-M-Lynch, WF or Goldman and their ilk . . . they are so large, they’ll crush all with money in them. Smaller though very deep players like TD-AM, EJ and other ROBO brokers is the way to go (one day RobbinHood will pay divis and CapGs via reinvestment).

    Suggested Reading: ‘Why Stocks Go up and Down’
    ‘The Big Short’
    Graham’s ‘The Intelligent Investor’
    And letters from medical doctor, Dr. Mike Burry
    and of course Joel Greenblatt and Warren Buffet.

    Young people need to study the living habits of the old, like old people clothing, old people shoes, old people chow, depends diapers, old people meds and old people recreational habits etc . . . this is where the money is secured as well. REITS are good until we can find companies making more land the way they do cellphones.

  26. Mouth says:

    “Blow-Back” is what happens in a Porn film or at an Orgy. “Blow-Back” is what happened to President William Clinton after giving a kind young lady a nice job under his speech podium (and Monica wore knee pads so she could practice safe sex). “Blow-Back” is not what happens from the CIA screwing around, since those guys are all work and no play. (I used to work in arm’s reach from those guys in Baghdad and none of their sexy operatives played with my privates in my platoon or even touched my specialists parts.) And something tells me that had I not deployed during the recession, the government would have had funds enough to fly us Joes to Columbia so we could get hookers, drugs and liquor, like the DEA, CIA and Secret Service does.

    “Blow-Back”: because America works hard. Now that sounds like a good add for work pants, steel-toed boots or power tools–maybe a lawnmower or a tractor or an awesome AR-15.

    And butt wiping is what happens when the people start to believe in the lies the government tell them. Or is it called Butt washing? I know it starts with a B, like “Blow-Back” does. Maybe it’s Ball Washing . . . when the media washes the balls of the people so they can believe in everything the government says.

    New Mood: Feisty and pissed off at the Drug War.

  27. Blow-Back in Brazil says:

    Brazil prison riot: At least 60 dead

    Among the hostages were 74 prisoners and an unknown number of prison guards, Fontes said. Bodies were thrown over the wall of the complex, and at least six people were decapitated, the news agency reported.

    The violence was the latest clash between inmates aligned with the Sao Paulo-based First Capital Command (PCC) drug gang, Brazil’s most powerful, and a local Manaus criminal group known as the North Family.

    The Manaus-based gang is widely believed to be attacking PCC inmates at the behest of the Rio de Janeiro-based Red Command (CV) drug gang, Brazil’s second largest.

    Authorities said they did not know how many prisoners might have escaped.
    Developing story – more to come

    http://edition.cnn.com/2017/01/02/americas/brazil-prison-riot/index.html

    • Mouth says:

      And Brazil is so much closer to Africa, that they are flying lots of cocaine to the west coast, disrupting the government, financing gangs and funding Jihad. What is happening in Guinea-Bissau is an example and Boko Haram in Nigeria. And a lot of this coke does travel north to North Africa and Europe and east to the Middle East, thus funding gangs, the mafia and jihad.

      And Brazil is so bad with corruption, I wouldn’t touch it with an ETF or mutual fund, let alone a convertible corporate bond. But I would buy a swap betting against the Brazilian economy. If they legalized all the drugs, they would have more stability in their economy and less corruption in both small and large government and then they’d be worth investing. I wouldn’t even vacation there . . . Mexico and Honduras are tough enough to visit as it is, but Uruguay looks like it would be an excellent place to visit. Sorry Brazil.

  28. “Will Congress End Federal Marijuana Prohibition in 2017?”
    – U.S. Representative Jared Polis says he will introduce bill to do just that
    by Mike Adams at MerryJane http://tinyurl.com/heq23gp

    … “The “Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol Act,” if it does not stray from its original language, would eliminate cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act and allow the herb to be regulated under the guidance of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. It would also give the U.S. Food and Drug Administration the same control over the cannabis plant that it currently has on alcoholic beverages.” …

    And, Here’s a list of ten reasons Donald Trump will legalize marijuana (according to the Santa Monica Observer): http://tinyurl.com/hq98tht

    Sounds wonderfully plausible to me.

    • Tony Aroma says:

      I don’t think too many of Trump’s supporters would think that legalizing marijuana would be consistent with making America great (again).

      • Mouth says:

        Explain Arkansas, Florida, Dakota, Maine, Montana, Michigan and Pennsylvania? Even Gov, Mother Fucker of Oklahoma is passing out CBD oil. The nation wants change and the two or three Turnip or Bill Clinton supporters of 2016 won’t get in our way.

        • DdC says:

          Remember the Pissants!
          Those who willfully do harm to American citizens by circumventing voters laws should never be forgotten. They should be impeached or recalled or arrested and never elected again. They have proven their loyalties lie with multinational pharmaceuticals and the profits of prohibition over sick and dying American citizens. There is no precedent for such evil acts, and they should all be held accountable.

          ☛ Lawmakers Delay Key Provisions of New Massachusetts Pot Law

          ☛ Florida Facing Numerous Roadblocks with Medical Marijuana Legalization

          ☛ Here Come the Marijuana Scammers
          Maryland has been on the growing list of states allowing medical marijuana for almost four years—this, despite not a single patient receiving a scrap of legal cannabis in that time. Patients and doctors are still waiting for the state to complete its excruciatingly slow rollout of what should be simple policy—a doctor recommends, a grower grows, a patient uses; it’s not that complicated—and in the meantime, a growing legion of scammers are taking advantage of people tired of waiting.

          ☛ Colorado: Child Welfare Cases Increase
          After Pot Legalization, But Is There a Connection?

          There is evidence to suggest that this increase in drug welfare cases has less to do with marijuana legalization and more with the rampant use of opioid medications and even cocaine.

          Interestingly, Colorado lawmakers have suggested that county child welfare departments dip into the tax revenue generated from the sale of legal weed in order to help them get to the bottom of the problem. Only, these legislative forces seem to be convinced that it is, in fact, legal marijuana that has contributed to the spread of child neglect cases throughout the state.

          ☛ Ganjawar and Child Protection Racketeering

          Letting this disgusting Ganjawar last 45 years knowing full well it was based on Nixon’s prejudices and not Science of Cannabis. Tells more about the integrity of the politicians and the American citizens watching their neighbors be persecuted for 45 years and saying nothing. We will always get what we’re given, until we stop taking it. When the people do decide to finally stop taking it. Politicians who cheat them should be made an example for the country. Enough of this fascist crap!

    • DdC says:

      Will Congress End Federal Marijuana Prohibition in 2017

      “If we don’t take action and hold President-elect Trump accountable, in one fell swoop, the federal government could damage state economies, and discourage entrepreneurship—placing some of our innovators behind bars, all while eroding states’ rights.”
      ~ Representative Jared Polis, Democrat from Colorado

      “New rules implemented by Speaker of the House Paul (Eddie Munster) Ryan, “amendments related to guns, abortion, LGBT issues and marijuana will no longer be permitted” … ref

      “an affront to regular order
      and a travesty to our democracy.”
      ~ Thomas Massiea.
      Kentucky Representative,
      sponsor of a bill to protect industrial hemp programs

      Ryan hoping to hit jackpot after secret meeting
      with billionaire casino owner Sheldon Addlebrain.

      A politician normally prospers under democracy
      in proportion …
      as he excels in the invention of imaginary perils
      and imaginary defenses against them.
      — H. L. Mencken, 1918

      Ya can never take it for granted…

      Demand Obama Remove Cannabis as a Controlled Substance

  29. Servetus says:

    The ‘bad trip’ is back in the news, however this time quantified in a survey done on adverse psilocybin experiences that depends upon the definition of ‘bad’.

    One of they study’s authors, Dr. Roland Griffith, notes that “The counterintuitive finding that extremely difficult experiences can sometimes also be very meaningful experiences is consistent with what we see in our studies with psilocybin — that resolution of a difficult experience, sometimes described as catharsis, often results in positive personal meaning or spiritual significance,”

    30-DEC-2016 — In a survey of almost 2,000 people who said they had had a past negative experience when taking psilocybin-containing “magic mushrooms,” Johns Hopkins researchers say that more than 10 percent believed their worst “bad trip” had put themselves or others in harm’s way, and a substantial majority called their most distressing episode one of the top 10 biggest challenges of their lives. Despite the difficulty, however, most of the respondents still reported the experience to be “meaningful” or “worthwhile,” with half of these positive responses claiming it as one of the top most valuable experiences in their life.

    The results of the survey were published in the Dec. 1 print issue of the Journal of Psychopharmacology.

    AAAS Public Release: Researchers urge caution around psilocybin use: Survey assesses both risky behaviors and positive outcomes

    Psilocybin is a brain-chemical equivalent of ‘what does not kill you makes you stronger ’. Perhaps now future research will be better able to accentuate the positives of the psychedelic experience.

    • Mouth says:

      In Amsterdam, this smartshop worker’s boyfriend bought his girl friend a brand new con-air curling iron and on the large communal couch that overlooks the canal, there were some plug ins. This was my first night and first time in a foreign country all by myself and I was going to be in Europe for 3 weeks and had been home from Iraq for a little over a month before heading across the Atlantic and while in Baghdad, I watched the movie ‘Hostel’ 1&2 a few times but mostly because it dealt with Europe (I’m a big Europhile) and I’d been planning my trip all year while deployed. Well, the boyfriend plugs in the curling iron and my trip was at its peek and I was afraid of being the first American killed by a curling Iron (and listening to Enigma wasn’t helping when he plugged it in), so I had 3 options: jump through the window and into the icy canal, just sit there or leave through the door and out into the Dutch night. I just left through the door. And as soon as I left, my trip was mostly gone. Mushrooms are all fun and games until someone speaking a different language than you turns on the con air curling iron.

      Screw Mushroom prohibition, just say no to curling irons

      • tensity1 says:

        Lol. Thanks for sharing that, Mouth. If curling irons are that bad, I’d hate to imagine what clowns are like while tripping. I’d be the dumbass to sit there and take the horror instead of leaving, ha!

      • Hope says:

        I just keep laughing at that. That’s so funny, Mouth. I’m glad you survived it.

      • Mouth says:

        Thank you tensity 1 and Hope. I hope your new year is going well and those illegal pesky laws stay away from you.

  30. DdC says:

    I’ve never felt violent tendencies with acid. Seems odd, 4 cases. One thing there is no doubt about. Bullets are not the recommended remedy for bringing someone down. I thought it was Beer or Vitamin A. I’ve also never seen modern hits or liquid even close to the Orange Sunshine of yesteryear. Deadhead acid was mellow and measured last time I saw it in the late 80s. 4 separate cases, a kid shot. Santa Cruz’ motto is Stay Weird, but this is strange.

    Sheriff’s Office warns parents about violence sparked by LSD

    Santa Cruz Sheriff identifies deputy who fatally shot teen
    The Aptos High School sophomore was fatally shot by deputy Chris Vigil on Saturday around 3 a.m. while the teen was armed with a knife, high on LSD, and struggling with a K-9.

    Toxicology results for Arlt found “Ethanol, Cotinine, Bupropion, and THC” in his body at the time of his death, according to the coroner.

    Ethanol is commonly known as alcohol, THC is marijuana, Cotinine is nicotine, and Bupropion is a prescription antidepressant drug used to treat a major depressive disorder.

    “LSD made my brother extremely violent and ended with the police shooting him. Nothing could stop him from what he was doing, because he wasn’t himself; this drug brought out some form of evil in him. Luke Smith was, and still is, the funniest, happiest, most loved kid in the county,” Savannah Smith said.

    LSD violent psychotic breakdown, and how it was handled safely.

  31. jean valjean says:

    Shape of things to come:
    “Outcry after Republicans vote to dismantle independent ethics body….”

    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jan/03/outcry-after-republicans-vote-to-dismantle-independent-ethics-body

  32. DdC says:

    Dan Herer: ‘Dad would be proud, horrified’
    http://www.occnewspaper.com/dan-herer-dad-would-be-proud-horrified/

    Chronicle AM: LA Times Warns Trump on MJ
    MA Pols Sneak Through MJ Shop Delay
    http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2016/dec/28/chronicle_am_la_times_warns_trum

    MA MJ Shop Delay Protested
    Prison Population Still Dropping
    http://www.stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2016/dec/30/chronicle_am_ma_mj_shop_delay_pr

  33. jean valjean says:

    Former president of Portugal takes over from Ban Ki Moon as head of the UN.
    “In 1995, the Socialist Party won Portugal’s national election; Guterres, the party’s leader, became prime minister. At the time, Portugal was facing a fairly alarming rise in the rate of heroin addiction. Guterres’s response was to push through an unprecedented law decriminalizing the use of all drugs.

    It turned out to be fairly successful. Portugal’s drug addiction rate is five times lower than the EU average, per Vice; the number of new HIV infections per year has fallen by 95 percent since decriminalization came into effect. It’s hard to say, for reasons my colleague German Lopez explains, that decriminalization was responsible for all of these benefits. But at the very least, it shows that decriminalizing drugs didn’t have any major negative effects on Portugal.”

    http://www.vox.com/world/2016/10/5/13174694/antonio-guterres-un-secretary-general-new

  34. Servetus says:

    New research from the University of British Columbia shows that the behavioral gambling addiction epitomized by former drug czar William John Bennett is centered in that part of the brain called the insula, thus promising new options for treatment:

    3-JAN-2017 — “This mysterious and poorly understood part of the brain has been identified as a key hub for craving in past research. For example, smokers who have sustained brain injuries affecting their insula have been found to be more likely to quit smoking,” said lead author Eve Limbrick-Oldfield, postdoctoral research fellow at the UBC department of psychology and Centre for Gambling Research. “Our study builds on those findings, showing that the insula is also involved in behavioural addictions like problem gambling.”

    Researchers had 19 people with gambling disorder, a psychiatric term for serious gambling problems, undergo an MRI brain scan while looking at a series of gambling-related photos and neutral photos. A control group of 19 healthy volunteers were shown the same photos.

    After participants rated their craving level, researchers compared the problem gamblers’ brain responses to the gambling photos with their brain responses to the neutral photos. They found the gamblers reported a higher level of craving after seeing the gambling photos.

    For problem gamblers, the gambling cues also increased brain activity in parts of the frontal cortex and insula, areas linked to craving and self-control in drug addiction. The level of craving was closely linked to brain activity in the insula, suggesting neurobiological similarities between problem gambling and drug addiction.[…]

    AAAS Public Release: UBC discovery opens up new treatments for problem gamblers

    Bill Bennett can be assured that the science he rejected as drug czar has come back to bite him in his insula. With a chemical resolution for addiction imminent, perhaps mandatory-minimum Bill and his kind will lighten up on other addicts.

  35. DdC says:

    Big Pharma Gets Green Light
    https://cannabisnow.com/big-pharma-gets-green-light/
    The reasons why, given by Acting DEA Administrator Chuck Rosenberg, is a continuation of the circular logic that’s fueled the U.S. war on weed for more than four decades. And the DEA’s own language now seems to suggest that Big Pharma – not the cannabis industry – will have the inside track to a better supply.

    Is The DEA Legalizing THC?
    http://endingcannabisprohibition.yuku.com/topic/1680

    GOP Legislator Crossed State Lines for Medical Marijuana
    https://cannabisnow.com/gop-legislator-crossed-state-lines-medical-marijuana/

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