Here’s a news site from New Orleans that is doing live tracking of the various marijuana-related votes.
Track marijuana referendum results: 9 states vote on legalizing pot
Update:
Recreational marijuana: California, Maine, Massachusetts and Nevada won! Arizona lost.
Medical marijuana initiatives: Arkansas, Florida, Montana, and North Dakota won.
That’s a pretty incredible record.
Now we just have to hold the political leaders’ feet to the fire and make them follow the people’s wishes.
on Catholic bishops fear marijuana and freethinking: “An ancient Egyptian mug was found by a USF professor to have once contained hallucinogens: 15-Nov-2024–A University of South Florida…” Nov 17, 20:11
on Catholic bishops fear marijuana and freethinking: “Let us not forget that Joe Biden, the Landrieu Family, the late Dianne Feinstein, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Connick, Sr.*, Leon…” Nov 17, 18:01 on Catholic bishops fear marijuana and freethinking: “Endocannabinoid receptors on interneurons limit stress-induced bad memory generalization to the specific, appropriate memory: 15-Nov-2024 — Researchers at The Hospital…” Nov 16, 10:55
on Marijuana potencies and transitioning to Schedule III: ““smoke rope instead of dope,” Is this a hemp revival?” Nov 15, 05:13
on Catholic bishops fear marijuana and freethinking: ““Falsehoods are dangerous. People who believe absurdities can go on to commit atrocities. Catholicism and other sects and cults that…” Nov 15, 05:00
on Marijuana potencies and transitioning to Schedule III: “https://www.cornbreadhemp.com/pages/how-are-thc-gummies-legal sire behoove a go-to owing me, offering a within easy reach, tasty manner to charge out of CBD’s benefits.…” Nov 13, 13:44
on Marijuana potencies and transitioning to Schedule III: “Worrisome same day cannabis delivery has been somewhat the journey. As someone fervent on spontaneous remedies, delving into the in…” Nov 11, 14:58 on Marijuana potencies and transitioning to Schedule III: “NIDA Director Dr Nora Volkow charts the future of addiction research: 7-Nov-2024″ — I was struck early on by how…” Nov 10, 09:50
Will any of this matter if Trump gets elected?
The thought scares me.
Newt as Secretary of State, Christie as Attorney General?
I’m hoping it will help. As it’s 11pm here in Washington and it looks like we will be looking forward to a Trump presidency.
California should really help
Marijuana wins big on election night – WP
http://tinyurl.com/o3wvys4
Voters in California and Massachusetts approved recreational marijuana initiatives today. Nevada and Maine — are currently leading in preliminary vote totals.
On the medical side, voters in Florida, North Dakota and Arkansas have approved medical marijuana initiatives.
The cannabis vote is the silver lining at an otherwise worrying time. We should be grateful to see paragraphs like this:
‘Opponents of legalization said they were disappointed by the outcomes. “We were outspent greatly in both California and Massachusetts, so this loss is disappointing, but not wholly unexpected,” said Kevin Sabet of the anti-legalization group Smart Approaches to Marijuana in a statement. “Despite having gained considerable ground in the last few weeks, the out-of-state interests determined to make money off of legalization put in too much money to overcome.”‘
Meanwhile Ethan Nadelman had this to say about Trump:
‘Nadelman pointed to the success of marijuana measures in the midst of an evident Republican wave as a sign that support for legalization now cuts deeply across party lines. And citing Trump’s often contradictory statements on marijuana and drug use in the past, Nadelmann added that “Donald Trump personally could probably go any which way on this.”‘
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/11/08/medical-marijuana-sails-to-victory-in-florida/?hpid=hp_hp-bignews6_marijuana-1220pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory
“We were outspent greatly in both California and Massachusetts”, said the Florida dissembler. “The out-of-state interests put in too much money to overcome”, said the hypocrite who founded SAM’s political arm, SAM Action, which proudly claims to be the single biggest financial contributor to anti-legalization initiatives on the ballot in 2016.
.
.
Oh come now Freeman, have you forgotten about The Prohibitionist’s Motto?
The problem with casting your opposition as idiots is that it gets mighty tedious when they kick your ass to the curb on Election Day. Poor Kev-Kev is just way, way out of his league.
Indulge me in a moment of “If Only,” but I can’t help thinking Bernie Sanders would have made a better fist of saving us from Trump than Hillary. How did she manage to lose to someone like that? Dumbfounded.
You distanced a major chunk of Democratic voters with your heavy-handedness. You had Sarah Silverman go on stage during the convention and call Bernie’s supporters “ridiculous†for having a spine. You patronized us time and again, and then asked us to vote for Hillary.
You tore into millennials for backing Bernie. You never understood the reasons why they did so. You deliberately ignored their voices. You somehow assumed that all of them will come to vote for Hillary to stop Trump taking over. Well, I suppose a chunk of them listened to CK Louis’ advice and just thought it was better to “get it over with†than rally behind a status quoist, war-mongering career politician.
>>
Now it is too late, but we hope you have learned your lesson. We hope you understand that if you stiff your voters, your voters will stiff you. We hope you don’t ignore the million voices who tell you to elect a candidate who they trust in. We hope you understand that democracy is not oligarchy.
http://www.inquisitr.com/3697038/dear-dnc-we-told-you-so/
“We hope you don’t ignore the million voices who tell you to elect a candidate who they trust in.”
Exactly. That was Bernie.
The less a leader does and says
The happier his people,
The more a leader struts and brags
The sorrier his people.
Often what appears to be unhappiness is happiness
And what appears to be happiness is unhappiness
Who can say what leads to what
When happiness appears and yet is not,
When what should be is nothing but a mask
Disguising what should not be? Who can but ask
And end to such a stupid plot!
Therefore a sound man shall so square the circle
And circle the square as not to injure, not to impede:
The glow of his life shall not daze,
It shall lead.
-Lao Tzu
I’m not feeling so wise or serene today but y’know how it is…
FBI coup
On this day in history, November 8 through 9, 1923, Adolf Hitler staged his beer hall putsch in Munich, Germany.
Victor Serge noted how Hitler neglected to bring a new government to his beer party. After all the hassle of a putch, how does someone dispose of a government if not to replace it with one better? As a consequence, Hitler failed to take power. Activists should keep Germany’s political history in mind when they go for their own marijuana lounge putsch.
Michigan got robbed out of a chance to legalize. We had enough valid signatures to make the ballot, yet this was denied arbitrarily. Next time, it will happen.
Here we go:
Private Prison Stocks Are Surging After Trump’s Win http://bloom.bg/2eDip13
Arizona voters oust “America’s toughest sheriff” amid legal woes https://t.co/R8k7Fd5sgt
Three drug prosecutor races in Arizona, Texas and Florida resulted in defeat for incumbents in Texas and Florida. Arizona retained its fascist state status regarding cannabis. Arizonans did oust Joe Arpaio as sheriff, although Arpaio is now likely to receive a pardon from der Drumpf. Here are the prosecutor race results:
Bill Montgomery survives in Arizona’s Maricopa County prosecutor’s race:
Kim Ogg ousts Devon Anderson in Harris County DA’s race, Texas:
Andrew Warren narrowly defeats Mark Ober, Hillsborough State Attorney, Florida:
I don’t know how they’re saying Maine’s initiative has passed. The most current info I can find says it’s still too close to call, with 95.8% of the votes counted, it’s 50.3 YES and 49.7 NO.
Word is there will be a recount no matter what…entirely too close for my liking….
A few hours later, with 98% of the vote in in Maine, it’s even closer, 50.2% YES and 49.8% NO. That’s a difference of less than 7000 votes, so it does indeed look like a recount is coming.
The “Yes†vote leads by less than 1 point with 98 percent of precincts reporting.9:18pm EST
Apparently it has passed by some 2500 votes..no word on recount
If this site is to be believed, there will be an automatic recount:
Recount laws in Maine
As of right now, 99.7% of the votes have been counted, and YES is still winning 50.2% to 49.8%, a difference of about 5800 votes.
2016 Ballot Measures Election Results
There are 4000 or so absentee and military votes that are being certified…results announced today or Monday..
I just read a local story that a recount must be requested by Wednesday, no mention of automatic, so perhaps rules are different for initiatives…
It was a good night for my friend cannabis.
Eight for Nine? Awesome.
I’m wondering what’s going to happen in MT. Is there anything to prevent their legislature from overturning this initiative like they did the first mmj initiative? Are they going to have to pass a new initiative every few years just to keep up with the legislature’s repeals?
From an article by Rika Christensen, this is our new Vice President, Mike Pence, speaking on drugs and condoms:
If Trump gets impeached and is forced to resign like Nixon did, VP Mike Pence will become our new drug hysteric-in-chief.
Anybody else been watching this?
http://finance.yahoo.com/quote/CGC.TO/?p=CGC.TO
Hit the 6M button above that graph!
Am I missing something here? Is this related to drug policy/law? Or are you by any chance a Viking?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycKNt0MhTkk
It may already be too late to jump on board but I thought you fine people would be interested in seeing what you helped to bring about.
Anyway, thanks for all your help!
Bruce
http://seekingalpha.com/article/4021974-post-election-marijuana-stock-developments
.
.
Canopy Growth Corporation is a Licensed Producer and vendor of medicinal cannabis under The Marihuana for Medical Purposes Regulations in Canada.
http://www.laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/SOR-2013-119
CGC been berry berry good to me for the last few months and nowadays it’s my favorite name. Gee whiz Wally, I expected it traders to be puking the stock when President Trump was declared the winner early Wednesday morning. If anything Mr. Trump’s election intensified the feeding frenzy. NorthernDream is probably excited because the market cap went over $1 billion this week. For where the company is in its development that’s way up in nosebleed territory. Not a good time to be getting married to this particular name, but that’s just because of it being overpriced. The CEO is an ambitious fellow. His goal is to dominate the cannabis market world wide. In addition to Canada the company has interests in Israel, Australia, Brazil and Uruguay. I expect they’ll add the United States to that list in the very near future.
There are a number of people who think of Seagram’s in 1925 when they think of CGC. Canada repealed the stupidity of drinking alcohol prohibition in 1925. Seagram’s was one of the few drinking alcohol producers to make it through. Aside from product that made it across the borders from 1925-1933 and boosted profits the company was ready to export high quality booze as soon as it was legal to do so. It made the Bronfman family and a lot of other people silly rich just for being in the right place at the right time.
I can only imagine the torment happening in Calvina’s cave. Hah! take that you damned Harpie!
(and if you click on my name I have Appleseed Xmas cards!) (adult content)
Aw. You warned her.
I did indeed. Or perhaps that should be WE, seeing how many here sang in that choir.
Lol! I meant about the adult content.
Lucky, lucky snowman.
I know this is a place for hard driving activists but I gotta say that ok, CA passed 64… BUT Prop 64 sucks. I live here, I’ve been involved not only as a user but in the trade since 1979; also I was a casualty in this war. Sorry but it is a shitty cramped bare minimum legalization. Actually it is more of a graduated decriminalization. You can still be arrested for possession of over 28 grams. That is not Legalization.
It was absolutely imperative to move forward and legalize and this is absolutely an utterly inadequate crappy form of it. It’s too complicated to fully explain why here but please trust me when I say that. People are saying, oh we’ll fix it! Maybe, but I’m not very optimistic. CA is not CO. We have had a very established entrenched industry here for 40 years. Now they expect to drop 16 tons of regulation on it that radically reshapes what was already largely very functional albeit problematic in some respects. Silicon Valley reveres disruption. Disrupting prohibition was essential, disrupting everyone who dedicated their lives to disobeying it is a kind of win for the prohibs.
.
.
So you prefer prohibition. Duly noted and quickly forgotten. Only an idiot would prefer more prohibition to less prohibition.
Toodles!
Only an idiot would get that meaning from my comments. This law may seem like “less Prohibition” to you but in certain ways it’s more Prohibition than we had under the medical rules. And it’s going to be messy. It did not NEED to be that way.
.
.
Oh my word, I apologize Ned. I didn’t realize that you’re an adherent to the Humpty Dumpty school of sophistry. My bad.
Prop 64 didn’t change the Compassionate Use Act. Actually, it improved it. Specifically section 11362.84:
Monky is a troll who doesn’t understand the significance of ditching the collective model in SB 420 to this hostile market takeover.
.
.
/yawn/
Of course I’m a troll. Only a troll could possibly disagree with your opinion because you’re a flipin’ genius.
Unlike some people, I know how to read the English language, including the legalese variant. Do you know what “Nothing in this section shall be construed or interpreted to amend, repeal, affect, restrict, or preempt laws pertaining to the Compassionate Use Act of 1996.” means Mickey? Obviously not. You’re just another adherent to the Humpty Dumpty school of sophistry.
Sheesh, as if SB 420 wasn’t hijacked by AG Jerry Brown in 2008 when he decided that medicinal cannabis vendors had to be non-profit, despite the specific objections of his goofball interpretation by Sen. John Vasconcello. Who cares that Sen. Vasconcello actually wrote the damn thing when determining the legislative intent of the law they passed? Obviously no one except Sen. Vasconcellos (RIP).
I reiterate: Only an idiot would prefer more prohibition to less prohibition. I’ve got more respect for Kev-Kev and The Professor than I do for people who are nominally on my side of the debate but refuse to accept progress unless it results in immediately achieving perfection.
Prop 215 rights are not changed by Prop 64
Toodles!
Alright Duncan, obviously you know the history of SB420.
You don’t seem to know, however, or to care that thousands of people who could legally cultivate under 215/SB420 will now be subject to increased prohibition in their areas.
For consumers in So Cal and the Bay Area, this situation looks a lot different than the way it looks to small growers in the Ban Wagon counties of far northern California.
For people up here, it’s more prohibition than what we’ve lived with for years, not less.
Sorry I called you a troll.
We must remain positive in these times of darkness. Think of Prop 64 as a diamond in the rough, with gem cutters from Amsterdam arriving soon to fashion it into a stone of unequaled brilliance and quality. Policy makers like Mark Kleiman need not apply for this delicate artistic work, as Kleiman’s skills are strictly limited to polishing turds:
Probably any idea is bad that threatens Kleiman’s longstanding job as a tool for prohibitionists.
To the um, Monky or is it Duncan,
My mistake, as a person who’s lived right in the thick of all this for 40 years, I forget plenty of folks don’t actually know the difference between words on pages and real life when it comes to this particular subject. The bottom line is that where I live, Prop 64 gives new life to the Sheriff Dept. Now they’re armed with plenty rules to get technical about. They had been successfully cowed by years of bad publicity and wasted effort on trying to be tough but losing over and over again. So what arguably is “less” Prohibition on paper is in many respects more, on the ground, as they say. So fine, smear me as a sophist, ’cause then you can preen. Maybe you’ll attract a mate.
Prop 64 didn’t change the Compassionate Use Act.
Bernie won the popular vote while Gerrymandering won the electoral vote. I’m more concerned with Trumps posse than him. Gouliani and Sessions or Bolton. Looks like Crispie shot himself in the foot with Bridgegate. Hopefully they won’t let him near the Justice Department to carry out his threat on sick people. Rudy would no doubt try to resurrect stop and frisk. Beauregard Sessions has been trying to resurrect the South back into slavery including Stoners, Gays, Muslims and Mexicans.
SB420 is a recommendation by the CA Senate. It can not over ride prop 215. 64 doesn’t change 215 due to 215 having nothing about selling it. It does give CA cops jurisdiction they don’t have with 215. By adding limits previously excluded for state law enforcement and put onto the Feds who usually won’t budget for less than a 100 plant eradication. So it was left blank as to amounts for state LEO’s. Who can now get into it again with anything over 6 plants. Lack of LEO’s enforcing the law when cities ban people will be more of a problum no doubt in uncivilized places.
64 gives a 5 year head start for small growers before corporations can get into it. I don’t see the threat of Monsanto GMO crap as others have noted. Ganja doesn’t require a lot if any pesticides to genetically add to the seeds. We banned non organic Ganja in 1993, years before we passed 215.
Sure corporations want it sold commercially if they can’t stop it. But fat pharma is still one of the biggest oppositions. Booze may be on its own but they can get into it with infusions. Ganja Vodka and Beer are being sold. I bought a tasty Ganja soda from the dispensary. Food items for Ganja restaurants lets many straight people get into the act. Until the truth and Science of cannabis gets taken seriously and it is removed from the CSA. 64 is another band aid. Especially with a fascist party claiming they believe in states rights. Even if reality says the SCotUS says its Commerce subject to Fed jurisdiction as a controlled substance under Reich. So until reality reaches DC, state initiatives are the only thing stopping the hemorrhages from the prohibitionist slashers. The cool thing to do is for Obama to act all grown up and remove it as from the CSA.
Prop 64 passing has opened the door for people with marijuana charges to be part of the rapidly developing cannabis industry.
MJ-Initiative Blunder Could Cost CA Millions
http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread28983.shtml
California’s marijuana legalization initiative is designed to raise significant tax revenue for the state. When legal recreational marijuana sales commence on Jan. 1, 2018, the initiative applies a 15 percent excise tax on recreational and medical marijuana, as well as some taxes on marijuana producers based on the weight of each plant grown. The state’s 7.5 percent sales tax is tacked on top of that for recreational marijuana, but the ballot proposition repeals that tax for medical marijuana.
Fuck Hillary and the [Un-] Democratic establishment (Wasserface and the rest)…
“Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) would have beaten Donald Trump by a historic margin if he had been the Democratic nominee, according to a private pre-election poll provided to The Huffington Post.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/2016-election-poll-bernie-sanders-trump_us_58260f7ee4b0c4b63b0c6928
Well, if it’s from the Huffington Post…
Don’t trust Hufpo? Here’s Glenn Greenwald:
http://www.democracynow.org/2016/11/10/glenn_greenwald_bernie_sanders_would_have
Well of course, if Glenn Greenwald says so…
Daniel: If you have an issue with the way the liberal media has covered the possibility that Hillary was a weak candidate resulting in a win for Trump, you might like to articulate that in words, rather than the vague suggestions you have contributed so far to this discussion. Put up or shut up.
Trump’s opposition to the drug war:
Trump’s approval of the drug war:
http://2016election.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=006327#war-on-drugs
The Narcotics Commission Bill, which has already passed the Second Reading stage in the Ghanaian Parliament, will be voted on in December when parliamentarians reconvene. Civil society groups are confident that the bill will pass without resistance or significant amendments.
Under the prospective legislation, people will not face criminal sanctions for possessing drugs for personal use; however, civil penalties, such as a fine, will still be imposed. If police find that someone is using drugs and is also exhibiting traits of problematic use, they will be referred for a medical assessment, and subsequently may be required to undergo mandatory “treatmentâ€.
http://www.talkingdrugs.org/ghana-on-the-verge-of-decriminalising-all-illegal-drug-use
If the new bill passes, Ghana will become the first country in Africa – and the first outside Europe and the Americas – to decriminalise the use of all drugs.
The region has been a focal point of discussion around drug policy reform in recent years. In 2013, former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, who is Ghanaian, convened the West Africa Commission on Drugs. The following year, this commission published a report – Not Just in Transit: Drugs, the State and Society in West Africa – which analysed the failings of contemporary drug laws in the region, and highlighted the need for progressive change.
Speaking to TalkingDrugs, Kofi Annan lauded the prospect of Ghanaian drug decriminalisation:
.
.
Scott Gagnon is SAM’s Maine man. I’d like to take this opportunity to hold him up as an object of ridicule. Not because he’s an idiot. Not because he’s demanding a recount. That’s the right of the losing side and I expected that it would happen the moment I saw that Question 1 had won by 5,240 of the 1,507,902 votes cast in favor or against. This one is destined to be filed in the “by hook or by crook using every dirty trick in the book” category:
Now isn’t that just plain special? Wasn’t it just last week that Mr. Gagnon was asserting that there’s no such thing as “medical” merrywanna? There’s no doubt that the truth is not a welcome visitor in the Gagnon household. Why I’d wager dollars to dirt that if the poor little truth were to politely knock on his front door that he would call the police and demand that it be arrested for criminal trespass.
“Gagnon says the campaign is considering filing for a recount because of potential harm to Maine children and the state’s medical marijuana program.”
You file for a recount because the vote has a narrow margin, not because you want to restate your original, failed “Chilluns!” message.
Secondly, Gagnon’s maintains that they are calling for a recount to prevent potential harm to the state’s mmj program. I’m sure he and Sabet sit up at night wringing their hands at the thought of that.
All I know is if 4-5000 votes get flipped, many election officials, starting with the Sec of State, throughout Maine have some explaining to do..
So on the recount petition, under “Reason for Recount” he’d check “Save the Children”? Seems like he should be checking “My Side Lost, WAaaaaa.”
.
.
While it’s unusual it isn’t unheard of for a recount for an election with a difference of a few thousand votes to end up with a flip flop of the result. It’s not likely but is reasonably within the realm of the possible. I’ve never seen the process of a Maine recount so it’s possible but again not likely that representatives from both sides will be offered the opportunity to observe the process in person. Gosh I sure hope there aren’t any hanging chads in Maine.
In 2010 the Arizona Medical Marijuana Question or Prop. 203 was approved by voters on Election Day but suffered a mandatory recount. Prop. 203 prevailed by 4,340 votes out of 1,678,356 votes cast either in favor or against the measure.
I expect the recount to happen. I don’t expect that the result will change.
.
.
erratum:
Well that didn’t take very long. Not long at all. Especially since Mr. Mattiello is unlikely to ever have been mistaken for a friend of cannabis law reform.
A bit OT but this has potential to be big:
“This ex-Treasury Department employee has a solution to bank the marijuana industry: How it works”
https://t.co/qMEJMjcDEA
A “solution” to an artificially created problem. The real solution is for the federal government to get out of the way and allow normal banking for the cannabis industry.
PROPAGANDA ALERT: Researchers are linking marijuana use in younger people to “developing stress cardiomyopathy compared to non-users, even after taking other cardiovascular risk factors into consideration. Active marijuana use was identified either by information provided by the patient in their medical history, or by a marker in the patient’s urine.”
The authors admit the study has numerous limitations:
The researchers might want to check on a few more things before speculating about health related effects for marijuana consumption, especially when dealing with people who might be unconsciously self-medicating with cannabis for multiple, undocumented, health-related problems, or a stressful life situation.
One reason this is a propaganda alert is that prohibitionists and journalists will often spin the information in their heads to make marijuana look bad while reading the press release, paying attention to the scary headline about weakened heart muscle while dismissing or ignoring the researchers’ disclaimers at the end.
And so it goes. As if on cue, the website for Science News Magazine just entertained my prediction of journalistic malfeasance in a write-up by discussing the heart muscle research paper while including none of the researchers’ disclaimers:
I forwarded a complaint to the Managing Editor at Science News, ripping their writer Laura Beil for lacking editorial and scientific integrity by allowing distorted prohibitionist propaganda to appear as fact in their magazine and on their website.
.
.
Now this is just plain funny:
It could be worse sweet cheeks. You could have ended up in Hootersville.
Backers declare victory after Denver’s social marijuana use measure shows wider lead in updated results
http://tinyurl.com/hbyzjru
“Not all votes are in yet — but it would take a major shift in the tide to change the result. Support for Initiative 300 was leading 53 percent to 47 percent in updated results released at 6 p.m., prompting its backers to declare victory soon after. An opposition group was not yet ready to concede defeat.”
So far, the margin of support for 300 has increased with each day’s updated results. Although more ballots remain outstanding than the current margin — which stands at 17,173 votes — it would take a supermajority of opposition in the remaining votes to change the result.
.
.
Let me get this straight…cannabis legalization has led to neonatal ICUs filled with crack baby equivalents, higher crime rates, carnage and mayhem on the highways, dogs having sex with cats and/or dying from an accidental overdose because they can’t tell an infused gummy bear from a standard issue gummy bear, an incessant fingernails on chalkboards style of whining from the sycophants of prohibition, a waffling Governor who can’t make up his mind and only god knows what else yet the people of Pueblo County and Denver tell the prohibitionist whiners to pound sand? Gosh, it must really suck to be a sycophant of prohibition nowadays.
Speaking of infused gummy bears, just look at what gummy bears can make innocent children do:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seUzASB8sxU
Sheesh, and that’s not even the infused kind. Just imagine what those poor children would do with the real thing!! Where the heck is CPS???
wish i hadn’t seen that….
My local Actionnewsteam is doing its “Cannabis and the sex trade” sizzlepalooza tonight. Expect no sex, just local red state appeasement for the retired/dementia voters…
Drug decriminalization would lead to fewer overdoses, addiction: federal study (Canadian)
By Jim Bronskill – The Canadian Press
http://tinyurl.com/z28m9fh
“
“OTTAWA—Alternatives to criminalizing a variety of illicit drugs in Canada could result in lower rates of use and fewer harms such as addiction, overdoses and infectious diseases, says an internal federal study.”
“The Justice Department research paper stresses there are healthier and less costly ways of addressing the problem of illegal drug use, and that the biggest hurdles might be political — not practical — ones.”
“It is becoming more challenging to justify the criminalization of drug users,†the study says.”
The British Medical Journal has called for the legalisation of illicit drugs for the first time.
Prohibition laws have failed to curb either supply or demand, reduce addiction, cut violence or reduce profits for organised crime, the journal argued, saying the so-called ‘War on Drugs’ had been a failure.
The editors called for doctors to be at the centre of the debate on alternative policies to promote health and respect people’s dignity.
“Health should be at the centre of this debate, and so, therefore, should healthcare professionals,†they argued.
“Change is coming, and doctors should use their authority to lead calls for pragmatic reform informed by science and ethics.â€
http://tinyurl.com/BMJcallForLegalization
A study at the University of British Columbia says marijuana can help people break opioid habits:
So much for cannabis leading to harder stuff.
Very interesting. I shared this at Cannabis News. Thanks.