Chilling video of police officers claiming that the smell of marijuana gave them the right to sexually assault an innocent man and then carry out that assault in broad daylight has just been released.
The post WATCH: Cops Sexually Assault Innocent Man in Broad Daylight Because They “Smell Weed” appeared first on The Free Thought Project.
The U.S. Health Secretary has left little hope that the federal government will reclassify cannabis and acknowledge its medicinal value anytime soon.
The post Health Secretary Who Gave Cialis to Children Says There Is ‘No Such Thing As Medical Marijuana’ appeared first on The Free Thought Project.
A 36-year-old man will face no jail time for brutally raping a 13-year-old girl after his status as "legally blind" apparently set him apart from the dozens of nonviolent offenders who are serving life sentences without parole.
The post State Gives Confessed Child Rapist ZERO Jail as They Imprison Dozens Over Drugs—FOR LIFE appeared first on The Free Thought Project.
A 72-year-old woman was gunned down by police in her own home as they raided it in the night to arrest her son for selling a plant.
The U.S. Attorney General is reportedly rescinding a policy that keeps federal prosecutors from interfering with states that have legalized cannabis.
An elderly couple is facing years in prison after police found cannabis in their car that they claimed was meant to be used as Christmas presents for family.
Nearly half a million people who have been labeled as felons for possessing a plant, could see their cannabis convictions cleared in California.
The state demanded this little girl be administered a harmful pharma drug, even though her seizures were virtually cured using a legal CBD prescription.
As the era of “alternative facts” takes hold across the political spectrum and federal government buries its head in ignorance, lawmakers are increasingly challenging facets of the insanity. Medical cannabis is receiving particular attention, with supporters becoming even more passionate after the appointment of drug warrior Jeff Sessions to Attorney General.
According to Marijuana Moment, Congressman Matt Gaetz (R-FL) testified in a House Judiciary Committee that medical cannabis has great potential to treat mental health issues and should be made available to everyone – including cops. Many lawmakers are trying to change VA policies to allow medical cannabis for veterans with PTSD, but Gaetz is taking this logic a step further with law enforcement.
The legislation being considered, titled “Law Enforcement Mental Health and Wellness Act of 2017,” would delve into the mental health practices and services of LEO agencies across the country, and direct the attorney general to consult with the DoD and VA on how they treat soldiers.
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Gaetz proposed an amendment which would have required agencies to examine, “Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs mental health practices and services, including medical cannabis treatment on mental health, that could be adopted by Federal, State, local, or tribal law enforcement agencies.“
As we know, drugs such as SSRIs–with harmful effects on health and public safety–are the method of choice for treating military veterans who suffer trauma after fighting in America’s wars of aggression. If patients can use a plant and its extracts for healing, which can’t be patented, this is a serious threat to the profits of Big Pharma.
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After blowback from several lawmakers who felt law enforcement wasn’t the place to pursue cannabis reform, Gaetz withdrew his amendment. But the point was made – there is mounting resistance to the inhumane, logically bankrupt War on Drugs.
“The federal government has lied to the American people for a generation about cannabis,” said Gaetz as his amendment was discussed for about 30 minutes. “There is substantial evidence that indicates that there is a case to be made for the medical efficacy of cannabis in the treatment of mental health and particularly PTSD.”
The Florida Congressman noted for the record, the “idiotic, indefensible policy in this country where we list cannabis as a Schedule I drug.”
The thought of cops using medical cannabis is interesting, considering the violent U.S. police state and its assault on the populace through the war on drugs. Perhaps those cops who actually believe a person should be arrested for a plant would have second thoughts if they actually experienced the benefits of said plant. More importantly, could the extraordinary rate of police-initiated violence go down if cops could toke up after work?
Even though fellow lawmakers assured Gaetz they supported his efforts at cannabis reform, they must have been shocked by the truth bombs he dropped during the hearing. There is no contesting the statements Gaetz made about the lies and the disregard of scientific fact that dominate U.S. drug policy.
These moments of clarity in Congress are refreshing indeed. A day before Gaetz made his statements, Rep. Earl Blumenauer testified before a House Subcommittee on Health that medical cannabis can solve the opioid crisis. He provided strong scientific evidence to make his point and lambasted the “stranglehold” federal government has on cannabis research.
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Hugh Hefner died at the age of 91 on Wednesday, and while he is most popularly known as the founder of Playboy Magazine, he was also a strong advocate for cannabis legalization, and his charitable organization provided the first funding grant for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.
The nonprofit organization, commonly referred to by the acronym NORML, was founded by Keith Stroup in 1970. At the time, he said he had reached out to a number of foundations asking for funding, only to be turned down because the concept of legalizing cannabis was not mainstream. However, Stroup said he got the idea to reach out to the Playboy Foundation when he was smoking cannabis with a group of lawyers who worked for Ralph Nader in Washington D.C.
“One of [Nader’s] young lawyers named John Esposito said to me, ‘Keith, have you checked with the Playboy Foundation?’ We were in the process at that point of sending funding proposals out to any foundation we could identify where we thought it might be possible that they would give us some funding. And frankly, on the first 8 or 10 we sent out, I didn’t get anything back but standard rejection letters. I hadn’t even been allowed to come and interview personally. So clearly, it was still considered by most foundations too hot to handle.”
Stroup said he figured there was no harm in reaching out to the Playboy Foundation, and when he did, he received a phone call from a representative saying they were interested. That phone call led to a meeting in D.C., which led to a meeting in Chicago with Hugh Hefner and the board of directors.
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READ MORE: Woman, Arrested for Small Amount of Pot, Dies in Jail After Being Denied Prescriptions by Cops
“It was kind of a historic moment for NORML,” Stroup said. “Hefner almost immediately embraced the idea and certainly, although he was technically just chairman of the foundation board, you can imagine that since he owned 90 percent of the stock in the company that funded the foundation, he basically could do pretty much what he wanted.”
Stroup noted that Hefner was a cannabis user who began smoking as an alternative to alcohol. “Hefner had been someone who used to have been an alcohol drinker, but had given up alcohol some time ago, and had become a marijuana smoker,” Stroup said. “He had a personal interest in the issue that it should be legal, it’s better for people than alcohol.”
After the business meeting, Hefner and the Playboy Foundation offered Stroup a $5,000 grant for NORML—the first one he had been offered. Stroup said he was conflicted on whether he should accept the money at first, because he had received so many rejection letters that he pursued a traditional job, and had just been hired.
“I wasn’t quite sure I wanted to pass up this job opportunity for what was a $5,000 grant, and after the first couple of months we would have used that money up, and I wasn’t sure there would be any other money to follow, but the more I thought about it, I realized this is either something I believed in and wanted to take a risk with, or it wasn’t and the fact that someone was willing to put up some money suggested that maybe it was a risk worth taking, so I accepted their grant, I passed up the chance to take a traditional job again, and I never looked back.”
Nearly 50 years after its inception, NORML is now a thriving organization that is actively working towards its mission to “move public opinion sufficiently to legalize the responsible use of marijuana by adults, and to serve as an advocate for consumers to assure they have access to high quality marijuana that is safe, convenient and affordable.”
In a statement on Hefner’s death, Stroup described the original Playboy as a pioneer who helped awaken millions of Americans to the reality that cannabis prohibition is “a misguided and destructive public policy.”
“Hugh Hefner, or “Hef” as he preferred to be called, played a crucial role in the early days of NORML. At a time when most Americans were accepting the government’s “reefer madness” propaganda, Hef, through the Playboy Foundation, provided NORML with our initial funding in early 1971, and became our primary funder all during the 1970s. And by focusing attention in Playboy magazine on some of the most egregious victims of the war against marijuana smokers, he helped us convince millions of Americans that marijuana prohibition was a misguided and destructive public policy. Hefner was a fearless cultural crusader who believed deeply not just in the right to sexual freedom, but also in civil rights and the right to privacy. May he rest in peace.”
If there’s one refrain we hear from politicians more than anything else, it’s “I support the troops.” However, their definition of “support” changes with the political wind, and more often than not is a farce.
One example is the ongoing denial of medical cannabis to war veterans suffering from a range of conditions, from chronic pain to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Despite plenty of evidence—both scientific and real-world—that cannabis effectively treats these conditions, those who purportedly fought for freedom come home only to lose freedom under the War on Drugs.
The Veterans Administration (VA) still prohibits doctors from recommending cannabis or its extracts—including cannabidiol (CBD) which does not produce a high—even though most U.S. states acknowledge the science and have legalized medical cannabis.
The VA, perhaps emboldened by the Trump administration which is populated by 20th century prohibitionists, is digging in its heels. It funded two dubious studies questioning the effectiveness of medical cannabis—one finding “insufficient evidence to draw conclusions about benefits” for PTSD, and another concluding “limited evidence suggests that cannabis may alleviate neuropathic pain in some patients.”
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This contrasts with a much larger review of literature carried out by the National Academies of Science, which concluded “patients who were treated with cannabis or cannabinoids were more likely to experience a significant reduction in pain symptoms.”
The VA doesn’t appear to care what the nation’s leading science body has to say, and it has no interest in finding out if cannabis works for PTSD. A major study on medical cannabis and PTSD in veterans being carried out by Dr. Sue Sisley is in danger of shutdown due to lack of participation by the VA.
READ MORE: Woman, Arrested for Small Amount of Pot, Dies in Jail After Being Denied Prescriptions by Cops
It seems that every time there is hope for veterans to gain legal access to medical cannabis, those hopes are dashed by a minority of lawmakers. The latest letdown was the Veterans Equal Access amendment, which would have allowed access in states with medical cannabis laws, but the amendment was stripped out in committee.
Facing this betrayal by lawmakers and the VA, veterans must become criminals if they want to try medical cannabis where prescription drugs have failed.
While federal government keeps cannabis as a Schedule 1 drug with “no medical use,” the same government has just granted “breakthrough therapy designation” to another drug in the Schedule 1 category—MDMA or ecstasy.
The ‘party drug’ was used in Phase 2 trials on roughly 200-300 patients with severe PTSD. Results showed a remarkable improvement in most patients, with 61 percent reporting no PTSD symptoms after 2 months and 68 percent being PTSD-free after a year.
With the “breakthrough” status granted by FDA, Phase 3 trials can proceed much more quickly, and with input on “design, primary endpoint, and statistical approach” from FDA. Pharmaceutical companies will surely be looking to cash in on this development with patented versions of ecstasy.
“For the first time ever, psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy will be evaluated in Phase 3 trials for possible prescription use, with MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD leading the way,” said Rick Doblin, Executive Director of the Multidisciplinary Association of Psychedelic Studies.
Government appears completely willing to set aside the drug war for manufactured compounds in their “controlled substances” roster, but when it comes to medicine that people can grow themselves, no such freedom is allowed.
READ MORE: 2 Young Adults and a Toddler Killed in Crash After Police Initiate 100mph Chase Over Drugs
Cannabis and psilocybin both show promise for treating PTSD, perhaps even more so than MDMA. Psilocybin has demonstrated incredible ability to heal mental illness in clinical trials, but it hasn’t received any “breakthrough status,” just as medical cannabis remains mired in federal prohibition.
These natural substances cannot be monopolized by Big Pharma like manufactured chemical drugs, so they get no help from federal government. Meanwhile, veterans continue paying the price.
When the vast majority of voters in Florida came together in 2016 and voted to legalize medical marijuana, they had no idea that even though the measure passed, lawmakers would begin pushing against it and banning marijuana dispensaries without the public’s consent.
The Florida Sun Sentinel Editorial Board rebuked local lawmakers in a recent op-ed, and called them out for working against the 72 percent of voters who supported the legalization of marijuana for medicinal purposes:
“It is hard enough to get people to actually vote, as simple as that task may be. It is even harder when elected officials tell people essentially, that your vote means absolutely nothing. But that’s the message voters are getting in South Florida, after the state voted overwhelmingly to allow dispensaries for medical marijuana. When the medical marijuana amendment was on the ballot last November, 72 percent of Florida voters—an overwhelming majority—supported it. Those voters understood that the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes would be a real source of pain relief for many folks who were suffering with various diseases.”
The board noted that so far, at least six cities in south Florida have banned, or plan to ban, marijuana dispensaries, making it even harder for their sick residents to have access to the natural medicine that can provide treatment.
Dispensaries have now been banned in Sea Ranch Lakes, where 63 percent of voters supported medical marijuana; in Southwest Ranches, where was 70 percent of voters supported it; in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, where support was at 73 percent; and in Royal Palm Beach, where 74 percent of voters supports medical marijuana. Other cities considering bans on dispensaries are Boca Raton and Coral Springs, both of which saw support for medical marijuana at 76 percent.
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READ MORE: 1 Cop Issued 80 Percent of All Marijuana Citations in Seattle
Not only are medical marijuana dispensaries being prohibited in cities where the overwhelming majority of residents supported their existence, but the excuses lawmakers are giving for the bans are questionable at best.
“Some cities say they are concerned because dispensaries are a cash-only business, and there is a great potential for pot shops to be targeted by thieves,” the Sun Sentinel Editorial Board wrote. “If that’s the case, then they should probably ban all ATMs. Last we saw, ATMs were cash-only.”
The city council in Southwest Ranches used safety to justify its ban, claiming that the town’s “fiscal inability to provide additional public safety personnel” made it impossible for the town to properly protect businesses and the public from the terrifying possibility of things that could occur around this new form of a plant shop. It concluded that banning the dispensaries altogether would be in the best interest of the “health, safety and welfare” of the town’s residents.
The reason given for the possibility of a ban in Boca Raton was that residents could simply go to the dispensaries in neighboring cities such as Boynton Beach and Lake Worth. However, the Sun Sentinel Editorial Board questioned why, when Boca Raton residents approved the measure by a 3-1 margin, their city wouldn’t give them what they voted for. “Public officials very rarely get approved by a 3-1 margin, but medical marijuana did,” the board noted.
“These cities are hurting their own citizens and their own economy,” Orlando attorney John Morgan told the Sun Sentinel. “It’s the arrogance of politicians, and it’s why they are universally despised at the local, state and national level. Those [politicians] are placing themselves at risk in the next election. If I was running against those people, I would use that [attempt to ban dispensaries] as a rallying cry.”
The new trend of banning medical marijuana dispensaries is just another example of the ways lawmakers in Florida have pushed for cracking down on the plant. In fact, they have tighter restrictions than most states on who qualifies for medical marijuana.
READ MORE: Powerful New Study Blows the "Smoking Pot Makes You Stupid" Myth Out of the Water
Justin Strekal, political director for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws told Sarasota Magazine that he believes Florida lawmakers just “wanted to pat themselves on the back” over how restrictive they could be.
“Florida is near the bottom of giving people what they actually voted for,” Strekal said.
While other lawmakers reportedly pushed for bans on medical marijuana dispensaries based on the fact that they were concerned individuals would abuse the law in order to obtain marijuana for recreational purposes, the fact is that this already occurs on a regular basis.
If the failed War on Drugs has taught us anything, it is that if people want marijuana for recreational use, they will find it, no matter what the law says. At the very least, cities in Florida can choose to honor the wishes of the majority of their residents by allowing the plant to be used for medicinal purposes. Otherwise, they might as well be holding up a large sign that says, “Your vote doesn’t matter.”
Police in Ohio are blaming a lack of resources for the fact that unsolved homicide cases greatly outnumber the cases that are solved, yet they seem to have the resources to arrest thousands of suspected cannabis users.
The failed War on Drugs is alive and well in the state of Ohio where an average of over 20,000 people are arrested on charges of cannabis possession each year. While the Drug Policy Alliance reported that around 30,494 people are arrested for drug-related offenses annually, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws noted that the majority, or around an average of 20,453 arrests, are for cannabis possession and sales.
While Ohio legalized cannabis for medicinal use in 2016, it has taken over one year for regulators to finally start “to formalize how and where pot will be grown and available to medical patients,” which means that patients will just now start to see a difference.
However, despite the fact that they seem to have plenty of resources when it comes to arresting and detaining nonviolent offenders, police in Ohio are blaming a lack of resources for the fact that the number of homicide cases they solve continues to decline.
According to a report from The Columbus Dispatch, while over 80 people have been murdered in Columbus, Ohio, in 2017, police have made arrests in just 22 cases, with five cases being solved through “exceptional clearance” which occurs when the killing was self-defense, or the suspect dies. This puts the city at a 34 percent clearance rate for the year.
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“It does appear homicide clearances are becoming rarer,” Thomas Hargrove, chairman of the Murder Accountability Project, told the Dispatch. “I’m afraid Columbus is joining a number of cities where most murders go unsolved.”
The homicide clearance rate is calculated by dividing the number of homicides that are cleared—or have suspects that are charged—by the number of homicides that are recorded. While the national average for homicide clearance rate was over 90 percent in the 1960s, it declined to around 64 percent in 2015.
Detectives cited in the report from the Dispatch listed “a lack of cooperation from witnesses in communities, a double-digit spike in homicides, which has only taxed limited resources, and the turnaround time at the lab” as reasons from the declining clearance rate.
Hargrove insisted that “more homicides will be solved when there are more resources, mainly detectives,” and said that cities such as Columbus has struggled financially, and the detectives they do have, are spread too thin as it is.
While there has been a recent increase in the murder rate in Ohio, the overall question remains: How did police in the United States go from solving over 90 percent of homicides in the 1960s to around 60 percent today, with cities like Columbus solving as little as 30 percent of homicides? It was not a change in resources—it was the introduction of the Drug War.
Former President Richard Nixon declared the official start of the “War on Drugs” in June 1971:
“America’s public enemy number one in the United States is drug abuse. In order to fight and defeat this enemy, it is necessary to wage a new, all-out offensive. I have asked the Congress to provide the legislative authority and the funds to fuel this kind of an offensive. This will be a worldwide offensive dealing with the problems of sources of supply, as well as Americans who may be stationed abroad, wherever they are in the world. It will be government wide, pulling together the nine different fragmented areas within the government in which this problem is now being handled, and it will be nationwide in terms of a new educational program that we trust will result from the discussions that we have had.”
However, the trend in Ohio has been a trend reflected in many states across the country—the war on drugs has turned into a war on cannabis. The majority of the individuals arrested on drug charges have been arrested for possessing a plant that at least 86 percent of Americans support legalizing in some form.
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“Around the country, police make more arrests for drug possession than for any other crime,” an ACLU and Human Rights Watch report found last year. “More than one of every nine arrests by state law enforcement is for drug possession, amounting to more than 1.25 million arrests each year.”
In fact, police make more arrests for marijuana possession alone than for all violent crimes combined.
Aside from caring more about arresting people for a plant than catching a murderer, cops also make arrests disproportionately among race. According to the report, in spite of whites and blacks using drugs at the same rates, black adults are arrested 250% more than their white counterpart for drug posession.
As people literally take to the streets to oppose systemic racism, unfortunately, most of them aren’t pushing for the one solution that would have the biggest effect on stifling it—end the drug war.
The Free Thought Project has provided in-depth coverage of stories that show the true power of cannabis, such as a groundbreaking study published last month, which found that cannabis can stop HIV from becoming AIDS; a study that confirmed that the majority of cannabis users give up prescription opiate medications; and a study that confirmed that cannabis has a “significant” effect on killing cancer cells.
As states like Ohio find that the number of unsolved homicide cases greatly outnumber the cases that are solved, it makes you wonder—what more could they accomplish if they were able to use their resources to track down violent murder suspects, instead of wasting them on nonviolent individuals who are found in possession of a plant?
READ MORE: Teen Boy had Objects Shoved in His Mouth, Ribs Broken, Choked and Died While in Police Custody
As the opioid epidemic rages on, those professing to seek “solutions” are willfully ignoring one of the most promising treatments – medical cannabis. When the Comprehensive Addiction & Recovery Act (CARA) was being debated in 2016, amendments to study medical cannabis were stripped out.
This happened despite studies showing that medical cannabis eases neuropathic pain, and the government’s own National Institutes of Health stating, “Medical marijuana products may have a role in reducing the use of opioids needed to control pain.”
There were also studies showing that deaths from opioids plummet in states with legal cannabis, and that 80 percent of cannabis users give up prescription pills. A Feb. 2017 study confirmed that opioid dependence and overdoses dropped significantly in medical cannabis states.
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In January 2017, the National Academies of Science published an exhaustive review of the scientific literature and found that one of the most promising areas in medical cannabis is for the treatment of chronic pain.
But all of this falls on deaf ears to those in the pockets of Big Pharma, which is largely to blame for getting America hooked on opioids, as described in a Harvard analysis.
Now, a new experimental study has shown exactly how cannabis works to treat opioid addiction – by actually blocking the opioid reward in the brain.
“This study sought to determine whether the cannabis constituent cannabidiol attenuates the development of morphine reward in the conditioned place preference paradigm. Separate groups of mice received either saline or morphine in combination with one of four doses of cannabidiol using three sets of drug/no-drug conditioning trials. After drug-place conditioning, morphine mice displayed robust place preference that was attenuated by 10 mg/kg cannabidiol. Further, when administered alone, this dose of cannabidiol was void of rewarding and aversive properties. The finding that cannabidiol blocks opioid reward suggests that this compound may be useful in addiction treatment settings.”
The use of cannabidiol (CBD), one of two major active ingredients in cannabis, is even more promising for legalization effiorts because it does not produce the high that THC does. So prohibitionists who demonize cannabis’ intoxicating effect have no ammo when it comes to CBD. CBD can even be extracted from hemp, which is grown for its fiber used in thousands of manufacturing applications.
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Because it can’t get anyone high, CBD extracts are even being permitted for medical use in staunchly prohibitionist states such as Oklahoma and Utah, to treat children with intractable epilepsy.
States have been reluctant to approve opioid addiction as a valid condition for prescribing medical cannabis. Big Pharma, having already secured their grip on federal government, has undoubtedly been working over state governments to prevent cannabis from threatening their profits. They had a measure of success in Arizona, which failed vote for legalization after pharma companies donated heavily to anti-pot propaganda campaigns.
The new study showing how CBD blocks the opioid reward will certainly prompt more research. This, coupled with statistical evidence from medical cannabis states, should finally prove fatal to the irrationality of blocking cannabis for opioid addiction treatment.
Corporate media are once again creating scary headlines about the supposed dangers of cannabis — and, as usual, their hype amounts to the proverbial ‘nothingburger.’
CNN recently blared the headline: “133% leap in children admitted to ER for marijuana, study finds.” The article referred to a study in France of children under six being admitted to the ER for cannabis ingestion over an 11-year period, as well as the number of calls to poison control centers.
“From 2004 to 2014, 235 children were admitted to ERs with cannabis intoxication, and there was a 133% increase in the admissions rate for it. The number of calls to poison control centers related to cannabis exposure in children increased by 312% in the same period.”
This represents an average of 21 children every year going to the ER, in a country with a population of 66 million people. This is not to downplay the danger of a child becoming temporarily comatose after eating a piece of hash. However, the rate of occurrence is so low that it does not warrant fear-mongering. Nor does it justify halting the progress toward freedom to use a plant people have known for thousands of years.
France’s population was about 61 million in 2004 at the beginning of the study timeline, growing to 65 million in 2014 — meaning that we would expect more ER visits and poison control center calls with more population growth. But CNN makes no mention of a statistical correction for population growth.
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Parents should do all they can to keep any kind of psychoactive substance or drug out of the hands of children, but the actual numbers relating to cannabis do not justify being trumpeted as fodder for prohibitionist paranoia.
READ MORE: As Rapes & Murders Go Unsolved, Cops Make Arrests Every 51 Seconds for Marijuana Possession
Cannabis remains illegal in France, so any uptick in ER visits there – regardless of degree – have no relevance to legalization efforts in the U.S. and elsewhere.
In a legal framework, cannabis products are more likely to be packaged to deter accidental ingestion, and manufacturers are putting more effort into this. Unsafe, nondescript packaging is another dangerous product of the black market, caused by prohibition.
The ominous tone of CNN’s article is even more absurd when we consider that other common household items pose a far greater threat to children – including crayons, diaper paste, toothpaste and energy drinks.
If the MSM wants to make people aware of real dangers, it should focus on that fact that 160 children go to the ER every day after accidentally overdosing on prescription drugs, pain relievers or vitamins. That’s 60,000 kids every year.
Last week, media seized on a study linking cannabis use to an increased risk of death from hypertension. One site even suggested “Marijuana ‘may be worse than cigarettes for cardiovascular health’” in its headline.
The study, published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, did not rely on any clinical or experimental research. It was simply a comparison of data from the 2005 U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, and mortality data from 2011 for the same group of people.
Authors looked at who said they had “ever used” cannabis from the 2005 study, then compared their mortality to those who said they had never used cannabis. They controlled for high blood pressure but did not take into account diet and exercise. They also assumed “that those who said they had used marijuana in 2005 continued to do so,” and that most of the pot was smoked.
READ MORE: National Report Hoax
Hardly a model of scientific rigor.
As Paul Armentano of NORML wrote:
“Those participants who fessed up to having engaged in past pot use were then automatically classified by the study’s researchers as current users of the drug, despite the fact that no evidence exists to corroborate this claim.
Even more problematically, to calculate the estimated duration of each subject’s marijuana use, researchers simply subtracted the age participants first reported trying pot from their current age.”
Armentano goes on to reference other, more comprehensive longitudinal studies contradicting the alleged link between cannabis use and declined cardiovascular health. Somehow these studies didn’t bear mentioning in other media articles.
Corporate media may claim they are doing their due diligence in reporting on studies such as the two described above, but they fail to provide context or proper analysis. In doing so, MSM allows those with vested interests in prohibition to keep on spouting disinformation.
The latest survey on support for cannabis legalization found that a clear majority of Americans are in favor legalizing the plant that the federal government claims is among one of the deadliest drugs in the country.
According to a survey from Harvard-Harris Poll, 86 percent of Americans now support some form of cannabis legalization—with 49 percent of respondents saying it should be legalized for both recreational and medicinal use, and 37 percent saying it should be legalized for medicinal use only.
Heartening enough is that only 14 percent of Americans are stuck in the dark ages and want to keep it illegal, according to the poll.
The poll, which surveyed 2,051 registered voters online from July 19-24, found that only 14 percent of respondents said that they think cannabis should remain illegal. In contrast, 57 percent of respondents said legalizing cannabis would make society better, and 69 percent said it would not bother them if cannabis was legalized in their state.
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In addition to the growing support for legalization, the survey also found that 72 percent of Americans support no jail time for individuals who are found possessing small amounts of cannabis—even if the plant is illegal.
Harvard-Harris Co-Director Mark Penn told The Hill that while the survey showed that voters are concerned about a rise in drug-related crimes, they appear to view cannabis as separate from other drugs that are currently illegal at the federal level.
“Voters point to drugs as the major source of crime and support tough sentences for drug dealers but view marijuana in a wholly different light,” Penn said. “Most think legalization of marijuana would probably be helpful in reducing crime and almost half support legalization.”
In fact, as the Free Thought Project has reported on multiple occasions, legal weed does reduce crime.
READ MORE: Govt"s Own Research Shows Legalization NOT Prohibition Dramatically Reduces Drug Use
In the days following the survey, lawmakers ignored public opinion and adhered to the standard set by federal law, by blocking an amendment from the debate that sought to let Veterans Affairs hospitals prescribe cannabis to patients in need.
As The Free Thought Project has reported, “even though therapeutic cannabis is legal in 29 states, many veterans face significant hurdles to lawfully obtain it, and instead, end up on addictive and deadly opiates and other big pharma solutions.”
Attorney General Jeff Sessions has also ignored growing support for legalization, and he has instead pushed for the federal government punishing states that legalize cannabis. In a memo to the U.S. Attorney’s Offices and Department of Justice component heads, Sessions discussed the mission of President Trump’s Task Force on Crime Reduction and Public Safety.
“Task Force subcommittees will also undertake a review of existing policies in the areas of charging, sentencing, and marijuana to ensure consistency with the Department’s overall strategy on reducing violent crime and with Administration goals and priorities,” Sessions wrote.
While cannabis is listed as a “Schedule I” drug in the United States—which means that it should have no medicinal value—it should be noted that the U.S. government actually holds the patent to cannabis as medicine, affirming its value.
The Free Thought Project has provided in-depth coverage of stories that show the true power of cannabis, such as a groundbreaking study published last month, which found that cannabis can stop HIV from becoming AIDS; a study that confirmed that the majority of cannabis users give up prescription opiate medications; and a study that confirmed that cannabis has a “significant” effect on killing cancer cells.
READ MORE: Absurd Anti-Marijuana Video is Going Viral, Not Because it"s Working - Because it"s Hilarious
It is quite amazing and equally disheartening to see people advocate for kidnaping and caging people for possessing a plant that saves the lives of countless children, helps people recover from serious disease, and is far safer recreationally than alcohol. The good news is, according to this survey, is that we only have a few people left to convince.
The NFL is finally acknowledging that cannabis has the potential to treat acute and chronic pain. A report out today says that the NFL has sent a letter to the Player’s Association (NFLPA) indicating it is willing to study the use of medical cannabis for pain management.
The NFLPA, apparently quicker to grasp the conclusions of science, is already studying the issue. In Jan. 2017, the National Academies of Science (NAS) released an exhaustive study on the therapeutic benefits of cannabis, with chronic pain treatment being one of the most significant.
Players in America’s favorite sport are plagued by pain, often for the rest of their lives, and many have already turned to medical cannabis whether the league allows it or not. Soon after the NAS study, retired football players were telling their stories of lives virtually ruined by pain and the standard drugs given to them such as opioid pills – only to find relief with cannabis.
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Now, former NFL players are trying to open medical cannabis dispensaries and extolling the benefits of this medicinal plant. They are on the right side of history, and the NFL may finally be catching up.
Cannabis use remains banned by the league, with players regularly tested and penalized if THC is detected. At the moment, the NFL is still stuck in the Reefer Madness mentality, thinking that because federal government prohibits the plant, then they should as well. But the letter to the NFLPA is an encouraging sign.
“We look forward to working with the Players Association on all issues involving the health and safety of our players,” said Joe Lockhart, the NFL’s executive vice president of communications…
The NFL, according to one person with knowledge of the matter, wrote a letter to the union asking if, given the NFLPA’s public comments on the issue this year, it is interested in working together on research. The league’s letter outlined a few areas for potential research that included pain management for both acute and chronic conditions.”
The NFLPA is also seeking to reduce punitive measures for the use of cannabis, which is especially needed now that recreational cannabis is legal in eight states and 26 other states have legalized medical use only.
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“I do think that issues of addressing it more in a treatment and less punitive measure is appropriate,” said DeMaurice Smith, NFLPA’s executive director. “I think it’s important to look at whether there are addiction issues. And I think it’s important to not simply assume recreation is the reason it’s being used.”
The issue of opioid abuse is another reason why the NFL should adopt a more reasonable approach to medical cannabis. Opiates are routinely handed out to players for acute and chronic pain, making them prone to join the ever-growing ranks of those addicted to these dangerous legal drugs. We know from multiple studies that people are giving up deadly, addictive opioids in favor of cannabis in states where it is legal.
In addition to a safer method of pain management, medical cannabis can help prevent brain damage, which is also pervasive in NFL players. A recent major study found that “a vast majority of the brains of deceased players that were studied showed signs of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a degenerative condition linked to head trauma.”
In response to this, Doctors for Cannabis Regulation is lobbying the NFL to change its irrational rules on cannabis. It should be noted that medical cannabis can be administered with no psychoactive effects.
“There is some early data that cannabis does play a role in neuroprotection. This is the kind of science we’ve put in front of the NFL, hoping they would reconsider their antiquated policies,” Dr. Suzanne Sisley told The Chronicle. “The bottom line is that cannabinoids are clearly neuroprotective. We have preclinical data at the receptor level that cannabinoids and cannabis are not only involved with brain repair but neurogenesis, the development of new neural tissue. It’s one of the most exciting discoveries of modern neuroscience.”
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The NFL appears to have taken the first step in embracing factual evidence and science. Hopefully this will continue, as other entities such as Big Pharma and the alcohol industry will surely lobby against relaxing the NFL’s current prohibitionist stance.
Oakland, CA – Oakland is beginning an experiment that can be considered both laudable and questionable. As cannabis businesses are set to spring up across the city, following California’s legalization of recreational cannabis, Oakland is providing reparations to victims of the drug war.
They’re not doling out money, though. They’ll be doing it through the normally mundane permitting process, in accordance with ordinances passed in March.
“The ordinances require the city to give at least half of all available cannabis permits to individuals who were convicted of a marijuana-related offense in Oakland and earn an income less than 80 percent of the city average. “Equity applicants” can also qualify if they lived in an Oakland neighborhood for 10 of the last 20 years that saw a disproportionately high number of cannabis arrests.”
Since permitting began in May, 72 applications have been received, and, somewhat surprisingly, almost half of them (31) are equity applicants.
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There was plenty of doubt and controversy about the program, with many saying it wouldn’t work and others calling it unfair government overreach. And now, some would-be equity applicants are finding it impossible to sign up due to what they call unrealistic qualification requirements.
Another part of this strategy involves incentivizing “general applicants” to help out “equity applicants,” which is certainly strange in that a business owner would be providing a large benefit to his or her competitor.
“Someone who doesn’t qualify under either definition — a “general applicant” — can move up in line by giving an equity applicant at least 1,000 square feet of free rent through an “incubator” relationship.”
The motives of Oakland lawmakers and their constituents who supported the move are certainly noble, and a welcome sign that governments can recognize the injustice of the drug war.
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For decades, individuals and families have suffered under government’s senseless prohibition crusade. The drug war was not started to aid humanity, but was spawned of racism, suppression of dissent, and political corruption.
Only the police state and corporate entities such as the prison-industrial complex, the alcohol industry and Big Pharma benefit from locking people in cages for using “illicit” substances. Cannabis prohibition is particularly cruel and unjust, as it denies people the miraculous healing power of this medicinal plant.
The brunt of prohibition’s injustice has fallen on minority communities. Even though cannabis use is about the same among white and black ethnicities, blacks are almost four times more likely to be arrested for possession.
Recognizing this, Oakland intends to give an advantage to those who’ve been victimized for decades. But even with its noble motivations, do drug war reparations amount to government overreach? Is it rationing, or unfair denial of business opportunity to “general applicants”?
The plan will surely be tested, including when applicants must apply for state licenses.
“The city permit is only the first step in legally operating a pot business in California. Starting next year, pot businesses that have local permits must apply annually for state licensing. It’s unclear whether equity applicants with criminal backgrounds will be approved for state licenses. State law authorizes agencies to deny licenses to some applicants with criminal backgrounds.”
Equity program or not, there is a “labyrinth of regulations” in Oakland for those seeking to get into the cannabis business in Oakland. However, the city is very appealing because “it’s one of the few places in California that allow every type of operation — from laboratory testing and cultivation to delivery and dispensary.”
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Even though Oakland’s foray into drug war reparations could amount to overreach, it is a symbol of the dramatic turnaround that has taken root with respect to the war on drugs.
Wichita, KS – In a “huge and significant victory for the Fourth Amendment,” the federal 10th Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated a lawsuit brought by a Kansas City couple who endured a SWAT raid over their tomato plants. Robert and Adlynn Harte — and their two young children — were caught up in a county-wide sweep of suspected cannabis growers, in a prohibitionist state which still has not even legalized any form of medical cannabis.
The judges not only reinstated the Harte’s lawsuit against the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office, which was dismissed by a federal judge in 2015, but went on to castigate the law enforcement agencies involved. They described the 2012 raid as an “unjustified government intrusion based on nothing more than junk science, an incompetent investigation and a publicity stunt.”
In the realm of unlawful police raids, this one may take the cake. It began with a Missouri State Highway Patrolman staking out a garden store every day in Kansas City in hopes of catching some pot growers. Robert Harte visited the store with his two children to buy supplies for an educational vegetable garden project in his basement.
The sergeant shared Harte’s information with a counterpart in the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office (JCSO), which was planning to raid several suspected cannabis growers on 4/20. JCSO went through the Harte’s trash on three occasions, eventually finding what officers believed was cannabis clippings soaked in THC extract.
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But the “marijuana” was actually discarded tea leaves.
Despite a lab technician saying the tea leaves looked nothing like cannabis leaves or stems, deputies Edward Blake and Mark Burns used notoriously faulty field drug test kits which showed the presence of THC. These supposed field drug tests were the basis for planning the raid, but the deputies never photographed or documented the tests — leading Judge Carlos Lucero to note that these circumstances gave the deputies strong motive to lie.
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They had to find something on the Hartes, because the JCSO had already scheduled the raid on the Harte’s home. Several routine investigatory steps were ignored, making their search warrant “based on nothing more than gardening supplies in a bag and wet tea leaves in the garbage.”
The list of sheer incompetence goes on. In his written decision, Lucero used extraordinary language to characterize just how reckless these drug warriors were.
During the two and a half hour raid – where heavily armed SWAT team broke in during early morning hours while the children were home – officers frantically searched for anything to justify their debacle, but found only tomato plants and gardening supplies. Knowing the history of no-knock SWAT raids, someone could have easily gotten killed.
The cops had picked the wrong target this time, as both Mr. and Mrs. Harte are former CIA employees and knew a thing or two about research. After the traumatic experience, the Hartes set out to find out why this happened to them. Spending thousands of dollars in legal costs, they were able to procure a probable-cause affidavit.
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It was easy to see that the “probable cause” was full of holes, and thankfully the 10th Circuit court actually studied the facts. The reinstated lawsuit includes unlawful search-and-seizure claims against 10 deputies, the sheriff who started the fiasco and the Johnson County Board of Commissioners.
The Hartes can also move forward with trying to prove that the cops lied about the field tests, and other claims under state law including trespass, assault and false imprisonment.
“There was no probable cause at any step of the investigation,” wrote Lucero. “Not at the garden shop, not at the gathering of the tea leaves, and certainly not at the analytical stage when the officers willfully ignored directions to submit any presumed results to a laboratory for analysis.”
We will certainly be monitoring the outcome of this lawsuit. It exposes the ludicrous nature of the war on cannabis still being carried out in prohibitionist states controlled by Reefer Madness politicians. If there is any “justice” left in the justice system, the Hartes will succeed in holding these deplorable cops accountable.
Toledo, OH – Over the past couple of years, we have seen more and more videos showing the miraculous ability of cannabis to stop seizures in their tracks. From oil extracts to nasal sprays, the proof is now undeniable that cannabis is medicinal and offers a real solution for those suffering from debilitating seizures.
And it’s not just for humans. Man’s best friend can have seizures, too, and they can also be stopped with cannabis extracts.
A recent video uploaded to Facebook shows CBD oil stop a dog’s seizure in under a minute. Kevin Spitler of the Toledo Hemp Center in Toledo, Ohio posted the video, which has more than 440,000 views at the time of this writing.
As the video begins, the dog is in the midst of what appears to be a seizure, head shaking uncontrollably. The owner shows the bottle of CBD oil to the camera just before administering to his dog.
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“I just gave him two shots of it, in his mouth,” says the owner.
The dog is licking his chops, and in about 30 seconds the effects are clear. His head stops shaking and he appears content.
“Yeah, you’re good now, ain’t ya?” says the owner happily. And now it’s time for a treat, which the dog can enjoy thanks to cannabis.
To millions of people, pets are part of the family, loved like sons and daughters. Witnessing them suffer from disorders like seizures can be heartbreaking and disruptive to everyday life. For the dog in this video, the cannabis extract cannabidiol (CBD) provides a cure.
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The CBD oil was procured from Toledo Hemp Center, which “specializes in hemp based products and promoted a better quality of life.”
CBD can be derived solely from hemp, which is the Cannabis sativa plant with only trace amounts of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the ingredient that produces a “high.” Industrial hemp production and hemp-based products are now legal in Ohio, along with medical cannabis.
CBD can be derived from any cannabis plant, including those bred for THC content. Both CBD and THC have many medicinal applications, and both can treat seizures. For some people, CBD extracts work, while others need a CBD-THC blend or even pure THC with no CBD.
Research into using cannabis for canine ailments is growing, with veterinarians at Colorado State University spearheading clinical studies on the effectiveness of CBD.
As The Cannabis report notes, the biggest obstacle to moving forward is federal prohibition of cannabis as a Schedule 1 drug with “no accepted medical use.” The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), abandoning all sense of reason, has moved to further restrict “marijuana extracts” including hemp-derived CBD.
Fortunately, states like Ohio are ignoring federal government’s ludicrous prohibition and acknowledging the miraculous healing power of cannabis.
