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Source: Guardian Unlimited It's been coming. The news that cannabis is more dangerous than tobacco, reported by the British Lung Foundation yesterday, should not really have come as a surprise to anyone. That it has shocked quite a lot of people is just another example of how the drug policy in this country doesn't add up. According to the research, smoking three "reefers" a day does as much damage to the lungs as a whole fat pack of 20 cigarettes. This is because, on average, joint smokers mix tobacco with weed, smoke it without a filter, and inhale more deeply and for longer than cigarette smokers. Next thing you know they will be telling us that smoking drugs w…

Last week, voters in San Francisco passed an initiative prompting city officials to study the logistics of growing and dispensing medical marijuana to qualifying patients. Such a measure, approved in the birthplace of the Grateful Dead, psychedelic culture and the Summer of Love, probably isn't so surprising. In reality, though, the concept of letting certain patients obtain medical marijuana has support in all corners of the country -- including Louisiana. As we reported in last week's cover story -- "The Best Medicine?" -- six state legislatures and three Louisiana governors approved medical-marijuana laws between the years 1978 and 1991 in our state Capitol -- whi…

Source: Jamaica Observer The global concern about drugs dates back to the Shanghai Conference of 1909, and the Hague International Convention on Opium of 1911. This was the first international treaty attempting the control of drugs. History The British had been opium exporters to the Chinese population. Smokeable opium grown by the British in India was exported to China for profit. Britain profited greatly while inflicting tremendous harm on the Chinese population. This constitutes the modern start of international drug trafficking. In America, from 1920 to 1933, the Volstead Act prohibited alcohol. Joseph Kennedy, father of President John Kennedy, made a for…

Our Thoughts and Condolences should b going out todaii to hip hop verteran Jam Master Jay. Repost as Followz Jam Master Jay(Run DMC), 37, was shot in the head Wednesday night around 7:30 p.m. in a Queens recording studio, according to police. Another man, Urieco Rinco, 25, was shot in the leg and taken to a hospital, police said. The End of an ERa hey. damn u'll b missed Jay ur muzik woz amzing you'll live on forever in history and in the minds of all who listen/ed to ur muzik ResPEkT!!

Source: Las Vegas Review-Journal The man who tried to make Nevada the first state with legal marijuana said there was one overriding reason that Nevada voters rejected Question 9. Her name was Sandy Thompson. Billy Rogers, leader of Nevadans for Responsible Law Enforcement, said his organization could not explain away the tragic Aug. 9 death of Las Vegas Sun columnist and executive Sandy Thompson. She was killed when a car driven by 21-year-old John Simbrat slammed into her vehicle, which was stopped at a Las Vegas stoplight. Simbrat had been smoking marijuana and has pleaded guilty to driving under the influence of a controlled substance. He will be sentenced in…

Source: Austin Chronicle In a 36-page opinion delivered Oct. 29, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ordered a permanent injunction preventing the U.S. government from threatening doctors with a loss of prescription-writing privileges if they discuss the use of medical marijuana with their patients. The feds' appeal had sought to remove a 1997 injunction prohibiting the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration from investigating or revoking doctor licenses based solely on a doctor's discussion or recommendation of marijuana use. But, a three-member panel of the 9th Circuit ruled the DEA policy was unconstitutional and left the ban in place. "The government's policy…

Source: Tahlequah Daily Press The hopes of activists trying to soften anti-marijuana laws across the country went up in smoke Tuesday night, as drug reform measures were turned down in Nevada, Arizona and Ohio. Wealthy backers who had succeeded in easing access to marijuana for medical uses sought to go a step further and lessen the penalties for its use in general. Many voters apparently drew a distinction between the two ideas. Early polls had made advocates optimistic. The measures were heavily financed by three billionaire philanthropists - George Soros, John Sperling and Peter Lewis - as part of a broader effort to roll back the federal war on drugs. Durin…

US Mulls Pot Law Ballot Posted by CN Staff on November 04, 2002 at 16:01:41 PT By Marc Lavine in Los Angeles Source: Australian More than three decades after the start of the pot-powered hippie revolution, voters in six US states will vote Tuesday on the still-smouldering issue of whether to ease laws on marijuana use. Years after European countries such as the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Portugal decriminalised the drug, many Americans are fuming over fresh local proposals to legalise marijuana sales of under certain circumstances. "The United States looks increasingly isolated on the issue of marijuana," said Peter Reuter, a professor of law and crimino…

Got this email from a relative......interesting read of those who died in very unusual ways.... Subject: Darwin Awards Finally in.(sub title - It could only happen in America !!). Yes, the one we've all been waiting for the Darwin Awards 2002.The candidates have finally been released! For those not familiar with the "Darwin Award," it's an annual honor given to the person who provided the Universal human gene pool the biggest service by getting KILLED in the most extraordinarily stupid way. As always, competition this year has been keen again. Some candidates appear to have trained their whole lives for this event! DARWIN AWARD CANDIDATES 1. In September …