WASHINGTON -- Tennessee Rep. Steve Cohen acknowledged feeling a little lonely as he addressed a crowd of self-described pot smokers just off Capitol Hill. After all, sharing a stage with Cheech and Chong and calling for loosening drug laws isn't usually in the campaign playbook of a sitting congressman. Cohen, a two-term Democrat from Memphis, didn't seem to care Wednesday night as he headlined the pro-legalization Marijuana Policy Project's 15th annual gala, where the famed stoner comedy duo of Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong won a lifetime "trailblazer" award for helping push marijuana use into the mainstream. [continues 238 words]
He's got political backbone. That's one thing you can say about U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, a Democrat from Memphis. He's also wading into complicated territory on the topic of legalized medicinal marijuana. A report this week indicates Rep. Cohen will be a featured speaker on Wednesday at the Marijuana Policy Project's 15th anniversary gala, taking the stage with advocates of legalized cannabis including Cheech and Chong, a comedy duo known for joking about marijuana usage. In a 2007 speech before the U.S. House of Representatives, the lawmaker from Memphis talked about a Maryland man who suffered from pancreatic cancer and found relief by using medical marijuana. [continues 194 words]
WASHINGTON -- U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., will address the Marijuana Policy Project on Wednesday evening, his office confirmed this morning. An advocate of the legal use of marijuana for medical purposes, Cohen is expected to address the policy group's annual gala dinner on Capitol Hill if it doesn't conflict with a Democratic members' caucus meeting. "I think that he is one of the strongest members of Congress in general on these issues," said Marijuana Policy Project spokesman Aaron Houston. [continues 178 words]
Mary Beth Buchanan and her friends probably are all abuzz over the news. Perhaps the former local U.S. attorney's most well-known prosecution was that of stoner comedian Tommy Chong. Buchanan put Chong in prison for nine months in 2003 for selling glass water pipes in which -- gasp! -- marijuana could be smoked. Buchanan now is on the occupational sidelines, mulling a possible congressional bid. Chong, meanwhile, is getting the last laugh as a celebrity guest at the Marijuana Policy Project's 15th anniversary gala on Wednesday. [continues 86 words]
Cottleville Mayor Don Yarber is on a mission to put medical marijuana on the state ballot. "This has to be done almost undercover, but the support is there," said 70-year-old Yarber. "I think politicians would be surprised at the number of people that would approve medical marijuana use." The Cottleville Board of Aldermen in July unanimously adopted a resolution Yarber drafted supporting legalizing marijuana use for medicinal purposes. "The feedback was all positive," Yarber said. "I tried to take what I consider a daring step by bringing the topic up and getting people talking about it." [continues 1333 words]
Think the medical-marijuana movement in California and beyond is the vanguard of a broader effort to completely legalize the devil weed? You're right! These are not your run-of-the-mill potheads jammed into the long, narrow classroom at Oaksterdam University, a tiny campus with no sign to betray its location on busy San Vicente Boulevard, south of the Beverly Center. A serious vibe fills the loftlike space, where rows of desks are arranged like church pews under exposed ducts. No one clowns around or even smiles much. Instead, eyes are fixed intently on a screen at the front of the darkened room. [continues 4096 words]
It's hard to know where to even begin with my reaction to Chet Phillipe's guest commentary seeking to scare readers about the dangers of marijuana ("Your Editorial: Marijuana is not a harmless drug," Dec. 16). Just about every sentence in Phillipe's piece contains a fallacy. He makes wildly inaccurate claims about the health effects of marijuana, but he fails to cite a source for any of these so-called facts. The tirade begins by claiming, "Marijuana is addicting and more dangerous than nicotine. ..." Every year, there are over 400,000 tobacco-related deaths in this country but no recorded deaths from marijuana ingestion. That's right, zero. As for addiction, the National Institute of Medicine concluded in 1999 that marijuana was far less addictive than other drugs -- including alcohol and nicotine. [continues 166 words]
Marijuana's Steady March Toward Legalization Nationwide These are not your run-of-the-mill potheads jammed into the long, narrow classroom at Oaksterdam University, a tiny campus with no sign to betray its location on busy San Vicente Boulevard south of the Beverly Center. A serious vibe fills the loftlike space, where rows of desks are arranged like church pews under exposed ducts. No one clowns around or even smiles much. Instead, eyes fix intently on a screen at the front of the darkened room. [continues 4930 words]
Marijuana's Steady Creep Toward Legalization Nationwide. These are not your run-of-the-mill potheads jammed into the long, narrow classroom at Oaksterdam University, a tiny campus in downtown Oakland, California, with no sign to betray its location on busy San Vicente Boulevard south of the Beverly Center. A serious vibe fills the loftlike space, where rows of desks are arranged like church pews under exposed ducts. No one clowns around or even smiles much. Instead, eyes fix intently on a screen at the front of the darkened room. [continues 5313 words]
With Shifting Attitudes and a Burgeoning Medical Marijuana Movement, the Future Looks Rosy for Legalized Weed These are not your run-of-the-mill potheads jammed into the long, narrow classroom at Oaksterdam University, a tiny campus with no sign to betray its location on busy San Vicente Boulevard south of the Beverly Center in Los Angeles. A serious vibe fills the loft-like space, where rows of desks are arranged like church pews under exposed ducts. No one clowns around or even smiles much. Instead, eyes fix intently on a screen at the front of the darkened room. [continues 5335 words]
Marijuana's Steady Creep Toward Legalization Nationwide. These are not your run-of-the-mill potheads jammed into the long, narrow classroom at Oaksterdam University, a tiny campus with no sign to betray its location on busy San Vicente Boulevard in Los Angeles. A serious vibe fills the loftlike space, where rows of desks are arranged like church pews under exposed ducts. No one clowns around or even smiles much. Instead, eyes fix intently on a screen at the front of the darkened room. Projected there is a photograph of a healthy marijuana plant under an array of lights. Tonight's subject, Cannabis 101: growing the weed in indoor gardens. It's delicate alchemy, as most of these students, who range in age from their early 20s to nearly 60, already know. During the 13-week semester, many tend--and keep notes on--their own clandestine nurseries in bedrooms and garages scattered around Los Angeles. [continues 4273 words]
These are not your run-of-the-mill potheads jammed into the long, narrow classroom at Oaksterdam University, a tiny campus with no sign to betray its location on busy San Vicente Boulevard south of the Beverly Center in Los Angeles. A serious vibe fills the loftlike space, where rows of desks are arranged like church pews under exposed ducts. No one clowns around or even smiles much. Instead, eyes fix intently on a screen at the front of the darkened room. [continues 4873 words]
With Californians likely to vote in November on whether to legalize marijuana, some key swing voters - Democratic and independent women - are expressing a surprising reason why they would support the initiative. The suburban "soccer moms" who are likely voters have told pollsters that the measure, which would give local governments the authority to tax and regulate the sale of cannabis to adults 21 or older, would provide a safer way for their adult children to buy pot. "One of the scary things to some people is that their kids may be buying it from someone dangerous," said Ruth Bernstein, a pollster with EMC Research, an Oakland firm that has been doing polling and focus groups on behalf of the measure's proponents. [continues 997 words]
Lynn Erickson is horribly misinformed about medical marijuana. Erickson claims the medical marijuana debate is a ruse to end the prohibition on marijuana. It is not. Marijuana has a 5,000-year recorded history as an effective medicine. Research has shown that marijuana can relieve such debilitating symptoms as nausea, appetite loss, muscle spasms and certain types of pain. This evidence has been acknowledged by the American College of Physicians, American Nurses Association and many other health organizations. Even the American Medical Association recently urged the federal government to reconsider the classification that currently bars medical use. [continues 105 words]
If Arthur T. Dean agrees that "medical questions are best determined by science" ("Balanced media needed in medical marijuana debate," Dec. 16), he should take heed of the small mountain of peer-reviewed scientific research that has shown medical marijuana to be a safe and effective treatment for a wide range of conditions, including cancer, HIV/AIDS and multiple sclerosis. Such research has resulted in scores of esteemed health organizations - -- including the American College of Physicians, American Public Health Association, American Nurses Association, American Academy of HIV Medicine and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society -- officially recognizing that marijuana has legitimate medical value. [continues 214 words]
JPMorgan Chase & Company is coming under fire for the way it conducted an online contest to award millions of dollars to 100 charities. At least three nonprofit groups -- Students for Sensible Drug Policy, the Marijuana Policy Project and an anti-abortion group, Justice for All-- say they believe that Chase disqualified them over concerns about associating its name with their missions. The groups say that until Chase made changes to the contest, they appeared to be among the top 100 vote-getters. [continues 745 words]
DETROIT -- A decade-long decline in teens' use of pot has stalled and some teen attitudes on how harmful marijuana can be may be softening, according to a federal survey on teen drug use released Monday. The findings were based on a survey of roughly 47,000 eighth, 10th and 12th-graders conducted by the University of Michigan for the National Institute on Drug Abuse. The national debate over medical use of marijuana could be making the drugs seem safer to teenagers, researchers said. In addition to marijuana, fewer teens also view prescription drugs and Ecstasy as dangerous, which often means more could use them in the future, said White House drug czar Gil Kerlikowske. [continues 497 words]
D.C. Council Chairman Ready to Begin Crafting Policy With Lifting of Ban D.C. Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray (D) said Monday that he wants to move swiftly to establish regulations for distributing medical marijuana now that Congress has voted to lift restrictions on city drug policy. Gray said the council will use Initiative 59, which voters overwhelmingly approved in 1998, to begin crafting a policy that allows doctors to prescribe marijuana to patients with serious illnesses. "We've waited 10 years. . . . I think the opportunity to send it is now," Gray said. "There is no reason to sit on it." [continues 697 words]
The U.S. Senate passed a bill Sunday that clears the way for the District government to allow medical marijuana use and to spend local tax dollars to help low-income women pay for abortions. More than a decade ago, D.C. voters overwhelmingly approved a ballot measure that would allow for the possession, use, cultivation and distribution of marijuana if recommended by a physician for serious illnesses. Initiative 59 passed with 69 percent of the vote in 1998, but before it could take effect, Congress passed legislation banning the practice in the District. [continues 519 words]