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Tied these two stories together and trust you guys will notice why. Personally don't condone the use of cannabis or ssri's for kids at all, unless topical for infants with thc tincture. Have to wonder how many parents would feel a little nervous if made face 8 years jail for dipping their childs dummy in some cherry, rum, or beer tho.. http://www.news.com.au/story/0,,24744237-1702,00.html Texas man Vanswan Polty pleads guilty to giving children cannabis A MAN who was videotaped coaxing two young children to smoke pot has been sentenced to seven years in prison. Texas man Vanswan Polty, 20, made a plea deal at the beginning of his trial in Fort Worth yeste…

reason.com Repeal Day drives home the folly of the Drug War Radley Balko | December 3, 2008 This Friday, Dec. 5, is the 75th anniversary of Repeal Day, the day America repealed its disastrous alcohol prohibition. Prohibition was the pièce de résistance of the early 20th-century progressives' grand social engineering agenda. It failed, of course. Miserably. It did reduce overall consumption of alcohol in the U.S., but that reduction came largely among those who consumed alcohol responsibly. The actual harm caused by alcohol abuse was made worse, thanks to the economics of prohibitions. Black market alcohol was of dubious origin, unregulated by market forces. The …

ASA December 1st, 2008 U.S. Supreme Court: State Medical Marijuana Laws Not Preempted by Federal Law Medical marijuana case appealed by the City of Garden Grove was denied review today Washington, DC -- The U.S. Supreme Court refused to review a landmark decision today in which California state courts found that its medical marijuana law was not preempted by federal law. The state appellate court decision from November 28, 2007, ruled that "it is not the job of the local police to enforce the federal drug laws." The case, involving Felix Kha, a medical marijuana patient from Garden Grove, was the result of a wrongful seizure of medical marijuana by local police in…

Monday, December 01, 2008 01:02 IST http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1210629 © 2005-2008 Diligent Media Corporation Ltd JODHPUR: In Rajasthan, use of opium-based narcotics to welcome guests on special occasions like marriage and child birth is part of local tradition. However, with the campaigning for assembly polls in full swing, use of narcotics has become indispensable for politicians and their campaign managers to lure voters. While the choice of drugs offered by political parties may vary from region to region, the aim is one — to solicit their support. Campaigners of a national party candidate in Sekhawat region were seen handing out marijuana-fi…

Narcotic Drugs Act 1967 Part I—Preliminary 6 Ministers etc. to have regard to Convention The Minister for Health, the Minister for Industry, Technology and Commerce, the Secretary or the CEO shall, in exercising any power or performing any function conferred on him by this Act, have regard to the obligations of the Commonwealth under the Convention and to no other matter SA Legislative Council – Thursday, 27th November, 2008 – page 1052 The Hon. SANDRA KANCK MP: "The message is absolutely and abundantly clear that the signatories to this convention, despite problems that might be associated with narcotics, have an obligation to ensure availability of narcotic…

UK scientists decry moves to toughen cannabis laws 25 November 2008 International Herald Tribune http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/11/25/...in-Cannabis.php LONDON: A group of senior British scientists has condemned the government's push to toughen the penalties for possessing marijuana, saying in a letter published Tuesday the move ignores scientific evidence. Britain's House of Lords voted to reclassifying the drug Tuesday, and the House of Commons, Britain's powerful lower house, already approved the measure earlier this month and the Lords' vote is seen as a formality. The Home Office said it expected the change to come into effect in January. In Britain, dru…

California Supreme Court Unanimously Limits Medical Marijuana Defense 25 November 2008 Drug Policy News http://www.drugpolicy.org/news/112508mentch.cfm Roger Mentch, a medical marijuana patient who provided medical marijuana and advice to several other medical marijuana patients was arrested in 2003 for distribution of marijuana. During his trial, he was not allowed to put forth a defense that his actions were protected as a primary caregiver under California’s Compassionate Use Act. Mentch was convicted and given three years of probation. He later appealed his case, but this Monday the California Supreme Court upheld the trial court’s original ruling in a 7-0 decisio…

Slavery on Britain's cannabis farms Samira Shackle 26 November 2008 New Statesman http://www.newstatesman.com/law-and-reform...-farms-children Cannabis farms are being run in suburban houses by organised crime gangs, and staffed by illegally smuggled children, generally aged between 14 and 16 Children - particularly from Vietnam and China - are being trafficked to the UK to work as slaves in illegal cannabis farms. These 'farms', run by organised crime gangs, are often situated in suburban houses. The children, generally aged between 14 and 16, are smuggled into the country before being locked in the houses to water cannabis plants. They have been found sleeping in…

Council adopts cannabis standards – 25 November 2008 The Arcata http://www.arcataeye.com/index.php?module=...amp;format=full ARCATA – When the new medical marijuana land use standards go into effect Dec. 19, Arcata’s many cannabis patients will have simple, legal options for meeting their medicine needs. And neighborhoods blighted by grow houses will have options, too. With a doctor’s recommendation, patients with a green thumb – or a caregiver with the knack – will be able to set up a home grow in up to 50 square feet. This might yield an ounce of cannabis per week – more than enough for most patients. Those with special needs may request more grow space. Or, the …

Secret police files expose schools' shame with children selling drugs Karen Collier and Jane Metlikovec November 21, 2008 12:00am Herald Sun http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,2...189-661,00.html CHILDREN as young as 11 are being caught dealing, using or hiding drugs at schools, with marijuana and ecstasy being sold for as little as $5. Marijuana, ecstasy and prescription pills are being swapped for as little as $5 in secret meetings on school ovals, in corridors and behind buildings. One student a week on average is quizzed by police over drugs found in government and private schools. Secret police records reveal 87 students were nabbed from July 2005 to …

West Coast Doctors Square Off Over PTSD Therapy Tim King Salem-News.com Salem News http://www.salem-news.com/articles/novembe...cs_11-12-08.php A combat veteran-turned-physician who treated PTSD victims for years, trades verbal blows with the psychologist pioneering virtual reality therapy for PTSD. American soldiers patrol a village in Iraq. Soldiers and Marines are increasingly developing PTSD from exposure to combat, and two experts strongly disagree over treatment methods involving virtual reality therapy. Photo by Tim King Salem-News.com (SALEM, Ore.) - Two west coast doctors, a psychiatrist and a retired osteopath, are lobbing shots at one another over how to…

Creeping Jackboots, part two Marc Emery 1 December 2008 WesternStandard.ca http://westernstandard.ca/website/article....928&start=3 In part two of his continuing series on the ominous expansion of state power through the war against the peaceful pot culture, libertarian publisher Marc Emery looks at the use of seizure and confiscation laws that seek to financially wipe out marijuana producers. Marc Emery - December 1, 2008 “We’re really right now at the cusp of the exponential growth in the use of civil forfeiture as police services begin to use it in the way that precedents have set, now that Ontario’s highest court has ruled that it is constitutional.” – Ontario…

New Painkilling Chemical Pathway Discovery could lead to new pain treatments 26 Nov 2008 - Marijuana kills pain by activating a set of proteins known as cannabinoid receptors, which can also regulate appetite, inflammation, and memory. The body also has chemicals known as endocannabinoids that naturally activate these same receptors, namely N-arachidonoyl ethanolamine (AEA) and 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG). These natural components of the cannabinoid system remain the focus of intense efforts to develop new treatments not only for chronic pain, but also for obesity, anxiety, and depression. However, until the new paper, specific methods to study 2-AG signaling have bee…

Swiss stub out cannabis decriminalisation bid 1 December 2008 AFP http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/artic...vJzsDfqE4AJRlvg GENEVA (AFP) — Swiss voters on Sunday rejected a proposal to decriminalise cannabis by a clear majority in a nationwide referendum, Swiss news agency ATS reported. Switzerland is the heaviest user of cannabis in Europe according to a recent study but the proposal to decriminalise the drug failed to win popular support in the majority of cantons, ATS said. While national figures were not yet available, ATS reported that the strongest opposition to the proposal was in the canton of Neuchatel where 71.5 of voters said "no," while in Fribourg it…

'Eli Stone' wrongly paints pot as potential cure for multiple sclerosis The show also errs in its portrayal of one type of the disease as disabling and likely fatal. Marc Siegel December 1, 2008 Los Angeles Times http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-...,5721240.column "The Humanitarian" episode, ABC, Nov. 18 The premise: Attorney Eli Stone (Jonny Lee Miller) has a rich client, Jim Cooper, whose teenage son J.J. has an illness the show characterizes as multiple sclerosis. J.J.'s supposed multiple sclerosis manifested itself with an attack when he was a young teen. The attack lasted several weeks, during which he couldn't feel anything in his arms. Since then,…