Odds and Ends

“bullet” Over at The Agitator read what John Tierney has to say. Go read the whole thing. Here’s some snippets…

As the baby boomers age, more and more Americans will either be enduring chronic pain or taking care of someone in pain. The Republican Party has been reaching out to them with a two-step plan:

• Do not give patients medicine to ease their pain.
• If they are in great pain and near death, do not let them put an end to their misery.

The Republicans have been so determined to become the Pain Party that they’ve brushed aside their traditional belief in states’ rights. The Bush administration wants lawyers in Washington and federal prosecutors with no medical training to tell doctors how to treat patients.
[…]
You know Republicans have lost their bearings when they need a lesson in states’ rights from Janet Reno, who considered the Oregon law when she was attorney general. For the federal government to decide what constituted legitimate medicine, she wrote, would wrongly ”displace the states as the primary regulators of the medical profession.”

“bullet” Via US Marijuana Party, check out this sophisticated marijuana grow operation. Impressive.
“bullet” Also at Us Marijuana Party, Steve Kubby has lost his last appeal ane will be deported from Canada to the U.S.
In addition to being a tragedy for the Kubby family, it seems to me that this is the last thing that the U.S. Feds should want. If they put him in jail, how will they take care of his medical needs? If anything happens to him in jail in the U.S., you can bet that a lot of people will be watching.
“bullet” Regulate Marijuana.org is gearing up for efforts to legalize marijuana in Nevada.
“bullet” Medical Marijuana gets new hope in New Mexico

In an unforeseen move, Gov. Bill Richardson on Wednesday night said he will include a medical-marijuana bill on his agenda this legislative session. […] Richardson said in a news release, “After speaking with many seriously ill New Mexicans, I have decided to include this bill on my call. This issue is too important, and there are too many New Mexicans suffering to delay this issue any further.”

“bullet” The first move is positive in Denver’s uneasy relationship with its new marijuana legalization law.

The city on Wednesday dismissed a pot possession charge against the first person arrested after Denver voters backed a measure legalizing small amounts of marijuana. […]
“Denver voters spoke loudly and clearly on this issue, and it looks like Denver officials are listening,” [Footer’s lawyer, Brian Vicente, who also is executive director for Sensible Colorado] said. “The city has recognized there is better use of resources and taxpayers’ money than prosecuting these cases. We hope this will send a message to police that the city attorney views this as futile.”
But prosecutor Greg Rawlings said the dismissal of charges against Footer means no such thing. […]
“I am prosecuting a number of marijuana cases today and will continue to prosecute them,” he said. “These cases are a large part of the docket every day.”

“bullet” In a strange, but potentially important lawsuit, San Diego county is suing in District Court to overturn California’s medical marijuana law, claiming that since federal law trumps state law and because of federal international treaties, the state law cannot stand.
Pretty crass move on the part of the county supervisors, to ignore the will of the people in the state, simply because they don’t like medical marijuana. It could bring up some tricky constitutional issues.
The ACLU is preparing to respond to the suit.