Catching up…

I’ve been (and still am) under the weather and having a hard time keeping up with posting, but here’s a few things worth checking out:
“bullet” On the local front, it looks like Ed Rosenthal’s visit to University of Illinois was a success (unfortunately I was busy here and we had our hempfest the next day). A good article on the student organizations in the Daily Illini.
“bullet”The New York Times brings back Brandeis’ views on states’ rights in this interesting article. I have always been a fan of his statement on the value of states’ rights:

…to stay experimentation in things social æand economic is a grave responsibility.æ Denial of the æright to experiment may be fraught with serious æconsequences to the nation.æ It is one of the happy æincidents of the federal system that a single courageous æstate may, if its citizens choose, serve as a ælaboratory, and try novel social and economic æexperiments without risk to the rest of the country.

While the Times article doesn’t talk about the drug war, it is particularly in regard to the drug war that I think this viewpoint has relevance (Medical marijuana is a prime example, as is the development of industrial hemp).
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Canada loosened some of the rules regarding use of medical marijuana as required by the courts, but patients are upset, claiming that the government is ignoring court orders. Some are planning lawsuits, and the decisions led one group to proclaim:

Ontario Consumers for Safe Access to Recreational Cannabis is happy to
inform consumers that, because of Health Canada’s failure to implement
constitutional Medical Marijuana Access Regulations, wide-open marijuana
legalization is back in Ontario!

And Ottawa stays pot charges in 4,000 cases.
At the same time, we have the U.S. still threatening Canada’s borders for being lax on marijuana. (Am I crazy for worrying that someone in the U.S. administration watched “Canadian Bacon” or the South Park movie and didn’t realize they were fiction?)
“bullet” Steve Kubby’s application for asylum in Canada was unfortunately denied. An appeal will be coming. If he is sent to the United States, he will die. Help him out by writing a letter.
“bullet” Also be sure to check out my Daily Reads on the left for other good news and perspectives.