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1 US: Canada Banker Is Pot's Money ManMon, 23 Dec 2019
Source:Wall Street Journal (US) Author:Monga, Vipal Area:United States Lines:251 Added:12/27/2019

Graham Saunders is a man in high demand.

When U.S. cannabis companies need financing they can't find elsewhere, they turn to this Toronto banker who operates far from Wall Street. Since the spring of 2016, Mr. Saunders's team at Canadian boutique firm Canaccord Genuity Group Inc. has helped finance more than half of all pot deals in the global equity markets, raising more than $5 billion from investors, according to Dealogic.

The king of pot financing presents himself in business meetings as a banker from another era, sporting pinstripe suits, monogrammed cuff links and slicked-back hair. He drives a Bentley, has a collection of expensive watches, and answers to his high-school nickname, "Sudsy." Mr. Saunders, 51, has become so identified with cannabis that he has a jacket with marijuana leaves printed on it.

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2 US: Editorial: The Vaping-Marijuana NexusThu, 26 Dec 2019
Source:Wall Street Journal (US)          Area:United States Lines:96 Added:12/26/2019

A surge in vaping related lung illnesses this year caught the medical community by surprise, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reporting more than 2,500 lung illnesses and 54 deaths. Politicians are targeting e-cigarettes, but the CDC reported last week that marijuana is so far the greatest common denominator.

This is another reminder that America is undertaking a risky social experiment by legalizing and especially destigmatizing cannabis, and the potential effects are hard to foresee or control. The same political culture that is in a fury over legal opioids, and is trying to bankrupt drug companies as compensation, seems to have no problem celebrating a drug that may be damaging young brains for a lifetime.

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3 US: Baba Ram Dass, Proponent Of LSD Turned New Age Guru, Dies At 88Tue, 24 Dec 2019
Source:New York Times (NY) Author:Martin, Douglas Area:United States Lines:198 Added:12/24/2019

Baba Ram Dass, who epitomized the 1960s of legend by popularizing psychedelic drugs with Timothy Leary, a fellow Harvard academic, before finding spiritual inspiration in India, died on Sunday at his home on Maui, Hawaii. He was 88.

His death was announced on his official Instagram account.

Having returned from India as a bushy-bearded, barefoot, white-robed guru, Ram Dass, who was born Richard Alpert, became a peripatetic lecturer on New Age possibilities and a popular author of more than a dozen inspirational books.

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4 US CO: Denver, Colorado Springs Pot Lounges First To Apply For StateSat, 21 Dec 2019
Source:Westword (Denver, CO) Author:Petrovic, Nina Area:Colorado Lines:67 Added:12/21/2019

The Coffee Joint, the first establishment to hold a cannabis consumption license in Denver, is now the second pot lounge business to apply for a state social consumption license.

Colorado Springs social lounge Studio A64 successfully applied for a social consumption license at the state Marijuana Enforcement Division office three hours before Coffee Joint owners Rita Tsalyuk and Kirill Merkulov could beat them to it.

Studio A64 could not be reached for comment, but Tsalyuk and Merkulov say the opportunity to apply for a state license is a big step for all cannabis businesses. "This is bigger than us. It's just a bigger step in the industry," Tsalyuk explains. "It opens the door to do something different and plan ahead for the next year."

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5US: Pot, Psychosis Link Real, Doctors WarnMon, 16 Dec 2019
Source:USA Today (US) Author:Hughes, Trevor Area:United States Lines:Excerpt Added:12/20/2019

Early one morning in March, Madison McIntosh showed up on his day off at the Scottsdale, Arizona, driving range and restaurant where he worked. The 24-year-old sat in his car until the place opened, then wandered around all day, alternating between gibberish and talk of suicide as co-workers tried to keep him away from customers.

When he was still there 12 hours later, the manager contacted McIntosh's father in Las Vegas, who called police and rallied other family members states away to converge at the young man's side.

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6US GA: Mayor Wants To Restrict Access To Pot RecordsTue, 17 Dec 2019
Source:Atlanta Journal-Constitution (GA) Author:Kass, Arielle Area:Georgia Lines:Excerpt Added:12/20/2019

Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms wants to restrict public access to people's criminal records for convictions of less than an ounce of marijuana - an executive action announced Monday that she said was "in keeping with our commitment to meaningful criminal justice reform."

The administrative order requires city officials - specifically the chief operating officer, city attorney, solicitor and chief judge of the Municipal Court - to establish a standard process by which people can apply to have those court records made off-limits to everyone except law enforcement by Feb. 1.

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7 US OK: A Call To Action As Deaths Rise From Meth UseWed, 18 Dec 2019
Source:New York Times (NY) Author:Goodnough, Abby Area:Oklahoma Lines:204 Added:12/18/2019

TULSA, Okla. - The teenager had pink cheeks from the cold and a matter-of-fact tone as she explained why she had started using methamphetamine after becoming homeless last year.

"Having nowhere to sleep, nothing to eat - that's where meth comes into play," said the girl, 17, who asked to be identified by her nickname, Rose. "Those things aren't a problem if you're using."

She stopped two months ago, she said, after smoking so much meth over a 24-hour period that she hallucinated and nearly jumped off a bridge. Deaths associated with meth use are climbing here in Oklahoma and in many other states, an alarming trend for a nation battered by the opioid epidemic, and one that public health officials are struggling to fully explain.

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8 US TN: Drug Crisis Ravages Rural America And Fills Its JailsSat, 14 Dec 2019
Source:New York Times (NY) Author:Oppel, Richard A. Area:Tennessee Lines:197 Added:12/14/2019

MORRISTOWN, Tenn. - The Hamblen County Jail has been described as a dangerously overcrowded "cesspool of a dungeon," with inmates sleeping on mats in the hallways, lawyers forced to meet their clients in a supply closet and the people inside subjected to "horrible conditions" every day.

And that's the county sheriff talking.

Jail populations used to be concentrated in big cities. But since 2013, the number of people locked up in rural, conservative counties such as Hamblen has skyrocketed, driven by the nation's drug crisis.

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9US: Crack vs Heroin: 2 Races, 2 ResultsFri, 13 Dec 2019
Source:USA Today (US) Author:Mullen, Shannon Area:United States Lines:Excerpt Added:12/13/2019

Dannis Billups' addiction nightmare began with an actual nightmare when he was about 4 years old. His daddy sat him on his knee and gave him a half-can of Pabst Blue Ribbon beer to soothe him.

In the 1980s, he joined the "family trade," a young black man peddling crack cocaine on the streets of Newark, New Jersey, profiting from other people's addiction and pain.

Within a few years, he became his best customer. His life became a never-ending ride on the criminal justice carousel: arrests, jail, probation and then back in the system for another spin, some two dozen times, on and off the ride he went.

"They would never offer you treatment," said Billups, now 53. "They would just lock you away and forget about you."

[end]

10US: Kratom Is Widely Available In Gas Stations, Despite Experts'Sat, 07 Dec 2019
Source:USA Today (US) Author:Robinson, Kevin Area:United States Lines:Excerpt Added:12/07/2019

There's not much solid data about how widespread the use of a psychoactive plant called kratom is in the U.S.

But if what Dr. Marvin Seppala is seeing in addiction treatment centers all over the country is any indication, use of kratom isn't just on the rise; it's becoming normalized.

"What we're seeing is regular use of it, especially in adolescents and young adults," said Seppala, chief medical officer at the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation and a 2018 CivicCon speaker. "It really fits in with alcohol, marijuana and tobacco. It's legal, so it's really easy for kids to get a hold of, and they'll try it to see what it does to them."

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11US: Recreational Weed Is Taking HoldMon, 02 Dec 2019
Source:USA Today (US) Author:Hauck, Grace Area:United States Lines:Excerpt Added:12/02/2019

Two Midwestern states are breaking into the recreational marijuana market, and dispensaries are expecting huge crowds.

Legal weed sales began Sunday in Michigan, where a handful of dispensaries in Ann Arbor planned to be open for business. The landmark moment in the state's cannabis industry comes amid a temporary ban on the sale of vaping devices in Michigan as health officials investigate the causes of vaping-related lung illnesses nationwide.

In Illinois, where officials are grappling with a lack of racial equity in the cannabis industry, sales are expected to begin New Year's Day.

The states are the 10th and 11th nationwide to allow recreational marijuana sales.

Thirty-three states allow the sale of marijuana for medical use, which Michigan legalized in 2008, followed by Illinois in 2013.

[end]

12 US CA: Passing The Plate, And The PotSun, 24 Nov 2019
Source:New York Times (NY) Author:John, Arit Area:California Lines:295 Added:11/24/2019

LOS ANGELES - Every Sunday, about two dozen people gather at a green cabin along the main drag of Big Bear, Calif., a small mountain town known for its namesake lake. They go there for Jah Healing Church services, where joints are passed around.

April Mancini, a founder of the church, said she was drawn to the idea of cannabis as a religious sacrament back in 2013, after she met a Rastafarian who was running the place as an unlicensed medicinal dispensary.

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13 US OH: Ohio School To Drug Test All Its StudentsSun, 17 Nov 2019
Source:New York Times (NY) Author:Taylor, Derrick Bryson Area:Ohio Lines:100 Added:11/17/2019

In an effort to discourage drug use and vaping, a Catholic high school in Ohio has announced plans to begin testing its students for drugs and nicotine, joining what education professionals are calling a growing trend.

Administrators at Stephen T. Badin High School in Hamilton, Ohio, said in a letter to parents this week that the drug-testing program, which they said had been shaped over the course of two years with help from the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, would go into effect in January.

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14 US: Drug Arrests Are Increasing, Even As Opinion Shifts In Favor OfFri, 08 Nov 2019
Source:New York Times (NY) Author:Stellin, Susan Area:United States Lines:146 Added:11/08/2019

Despite bipartisan calls to treat drug addiction as a public health issue rather than as a crime - and despite the legalization of marijuana in more states - arrests for drugs increased again last year.

According to estimated crime statistics released by the F.B.I. in September, there were 1,654,282 arrests for drugs in 2018, a number that has increased every year since 2015, after declining over the previous decade. Meanwhile, arrests for violent crime and property crime have continued to trend downward.

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15 US: OPED: Why The U.K. Isn't Having Problems With VapingSat, 26 Oct 2019
Source:Wall Street Journal (US) Author:Ridley, Matt Area:United States Lines:156 Added:10/26/2019

The Volstead Act prohibiting intoxicating beverages became law on October 28, 1919-a century ago this week-and came into force a few months later. Most people now agree that Prohibition was a failure, driving the alcohol industry underground, where its products became unsafe, its profits lucrative and tax-free, and its methods violent. Most countries have since taken the view that it is better to legalize, regulate and tax drink than to ban it.

Today, there is a similar debate over vaping, a popular new practice prohibited or heavily restricted in many countries. Electronic cigarettes, which use heating elements to vaporize liquids usually containing nicotine, were invented in China in the early 2000s by Hon Lik, a chemist looking for a way to satisfy his nicotine addiction without dying of lung cancer as his father had. Nicotine itself is far less harmful to smokers than the other chemicals created during combustion. Heavyweight studies confirm that there are much lower levels of dangerous chemicals in e-cigarette vapor than in smoke and fewer biomarkers of harm in the bodies of vapers than smokers.

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16 US MI: When Can We Finally Buy Recreational Marijuana In Michigan?Tue, 22 Oct 2019
Source:Metro Times (Detroit, MI) Author:Gabriel, Larry Area:Michigan Lines:119 Added:10/23/2019

Last year, after the vote to legalize adult-use recreational marijuana in Michigan was certified, people lined up outside provisioning centers with the expectation that they would be allowed to buy some in those locations - - only to find that a state medical certification was still required.

Nearly a year later, folks are still wondering when they'll be able to walk into a store and buy some weed.

The conventional answer to that question is probably sometime early in 2020. That's based on the Marijuana Regulatory Agency's stated plan to start taking applications from businesses that already have medical marijuana business licenses this fall. MRA people have said that they will process these applications with dispatch. And since these already medically licensed businesses have already gone through the rigorous licensing process, it should be quicker and easier than the first time around.

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17 US: U.S. Governing Body Embraces Cannabis Products ThroughMon, 21 Oct 2019
Source:New York Times (NY) Author:Futterman, Matthew Area:United States Lines:134 Added:10/23/2019

The sports industry's embrace of cannabis products is continuing to evolve as U.S.A. Triathlon has become the first national governing body of an American sport to make a sponsorship deal with a company that sells products containing cannabidiol, or CBD.

CBD is a nonintoxicating compound that, like the intoxicating compound THC, is found in varying amounts in hemp, a legal cannabis plant. In 2018, the World Anti-Doping Agency removed CBD from its list of banned substances. THC and scores of other cannabinoids remain on the banned list, but by removing CBD, WADA opened the door for elite athletes to use and endorse CBD products.

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18 US FL: Miami Beach Officially Bans Public Smoking Of Marijuana AndTue, 22 Oct 2019
Source:Miami New Times (FL) Author:Lipscomb, Jessica Area:Florida Lines:54 Added:10/23/2019

For the past three and a half months, marijuana has essentially been decriminalized in Miami. After Florida legalized hemp July 1, the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office announced it would no longer prosecute most minor marijuana charges because the substance is virtually indistinguishable from hemp.

Nevertheless, the City of Miami Beach has passed a municipal ordinance to discourage people from smoking weed in public. At a meeting last week, city commissioners unanimously voted to outlaw public smoking of marijuana and hemp.

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19 US CA: After Governor Bans Pot Use In Limos, And For HospitalSun, 20 Oct 2019
Source:Los Angeles Times (CA) Author:McCreevy, Patrick Area:California Lines:139 Added:10/23/2019

SACRAMENTO - Gov. Gavin Newsom led the campaign to legalize marijuana in California three years ago but has since angered some in the industry by refusing to allow pot in hospitals and outlawing its use on tour buses and in limousines.

Newsom took the action on tour buses and hospitals as he signed several other bills in the last few weeks that will ease pot restrictions, including measures waiving taxes on cannabis provided for free by charities to people with serious health problems and allowing parents to provide medical marijuana products such as oils, creams and pills to their sick children on K-12 school campuses.

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20 US: Cannabis oil and Vaping: Hazy HazardsMon, 21 Oct 2019
Source:New York Times (NY) Author:Richtel, Matt Area:United States Lines:261 Added:10/23/2019

SAN FRANCISCO - For years, a divisive debate has raged in the United States over the health consequences of nicotine e-cigarettes. During the same time, vaping of a more contentious substance has been swiftly growing, with scant notice from public health officials.

Millions of people now inhale marijuana not from joints or pipes filled with burning leaves but through sleek devices and cartridges filled with flavored cannabis oils. People in the legalized marijuana industry say vaping products now account for 30 percent or more of their business. Teenagers, millennials and baby boomers alike have been drawn to the technology - no ash, a faint smell, easy to hide - and the potentially dangerous consequences are only now becoming evident.

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21 US IL: Medical Marijuana Popularity Surging In Illinois As RevisionsSat, 19 Oct 2019
Source:Chicago Tribune (IL) Author:McCoppin, Rober Area:Illinois Lines:149 Added:10/23/2019

The medical marijuana program in Illinois is seeing record growth since changes in the law greatly expanded the program and made it easier for patients to participate.

More than 87,000 patients have qualified for the program since stores opened in November 2015 - including a spike of almost 37,000 in the fiscal year ending June 30, a 93% increase, according to state records. The surge of new patients exceeds the number signed up in any previous fiscal year, based on the latest annual report on medical cannabis by the Illinois Department of Public Health.

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22 US: Psychedelics In The Golden YearsThu, 17 Oct 2019
Source:New York Times (NY) Author:Schwartz, Casey Area:United States Lines:234 Added:10/22/2019

At 74, the venture capitalist George Sarlo might not have seemed an obvious candidate for an ayahuasca experience. Mr. Sarlo, a Hungarian Jewish immigrant who arrived in the United States in 1956, has had great professional success as the co-founder of Walden Venture Capital. He lives in an upscale San Francisco neighborhood, in a large house with an unobstructed view of the Golden Gate Bridge.

And yet something was always lacking. Mr. Sarlo's father had disappeared from their Budapest home in 1942. He had been drafted in a forced labor battalion, an experience he did not survive. At age 4, George had told himself that it was because he was "a bad boy" that his father had left that day, early in the morning, without saying goodbye. He believes that he never recovered from that early loss.

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23 US: PUB LTE: Legal, Regulated Pot Is The Answer To Vaping DeathsTue, 15 Oct 2019
Source:Wall Street Journal (US) Author:Stewart, Harv Area:United States Lines:23 Added:10/15/2019

I'm sorry to say that Dr. Scott Gottlieb has it completely backward ("Pot Legalization Makes Vaping Deadly," op-ed, Oct. 11). The correct way to fix the problem of poisonous THC vaping is to legalize and regulate it.

His article goes on and on citing the consequences of not doing so. I'm sure he doesn't realize it, but he is simply underscoring the reasons why some states have stepped forward to protect their citizens by bringing marijuana into the legal and regulated arena.

Harv Stewart

[end]

24US: Vaping Crisis Hits Juul's Pot CompanyMon, 14 Oct 2019
Source:USA Today (US) Author:Bomey, Nathan Area:United States Lines:Excerpt Added:10/14/2019

When Juul Labs and Pax Labs split from one company into two in 2017, they seemed destined to reach new heights.

Juul would conquer the e-cigarette industry. Pax would dominate the marijuana vaping business.

Their fortunes, however, quickly diverged. Juul found itself under fire for its alleged role in getting kids hooked on nicotine after pitching itself as a safe alternative to cigarettes; Pax largely escaped scrutiny as the burgeoning cannabis market made the company irresistible to investors.

But that honeymoon period might be ending for Pax.

[end]

25US GA: Lower Penalties For Pot A Growing MovementSun, 13 Oct 2019
Source:Atlanta Journal-Constitution (GA) Author:Capelouto, J. D. Area:Georgia Lines:Excerpt Added:10/13/2019

A shot glass emblazoned with a marijuana leaf is up for sale. Jackpot prizes include pure hemp rolling paper. Nearby, groups of people enjoy drinks and dinner while chatting about why weed should be decriminalized and legalized in Georgia.

Thaddeus Willis, a Gwinnett County resident and Air Force veteran, has heard about the push to lessen the penalty for possessing small amounts of weed in Georgia.

"That's the first step," said Willis, enjoying chicken Parmesan and a soda at the monthly meeting for Peachtree NORML, a pro-marijuana advocacy group. Eventually, he said, "It needs to be made legal here."

[end]

26US GA: Charging Dealers In OD's FeasibleSun, 13 Oct 2019
Source:Atlanta Journal-Constitution (GA) Author:Capelouto, J. D. Area:Georgia Lines:Excerpt Added:10/13/2019

There may be some hurdles, but there is legal standing for the murder prosecution of a DeKalb County man who allegedly sold drugs to a 22-year-old who later fatally overdosed, local experts said.

The case against Antoin Thornton, 28, is believed to be the first of its kind for DeKalb. Thornton allegedly sold heroin to Alexander Whitehead, who was found dead at a Dunwoody apartment complex in March. Police said the drugs, laced with the potent opioid fentanyl, caused the overdose.

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27 US: OPED: Pot Legalization Makes Vaping DeadlyFri, 11 Oct 2019
Source:Wall Street Journal (US) Author:Gottlieb, Scott Area:United States Lines:121 Added:10/11/2019

Doctors have linked a tragic wave of lung injuries and deaths to the vaping of tainted marijuana concentrates. The episode reveals the dangers created by the federal government's decadelong refusal to challenge state laws legalizing pot and promoting risky uses of its derivatives.

The Obama administration announced in 2013 that it wouldn't enforce federal drug laws in states that had legalized pot use. The following year, Congress started attaching legislative riders to budget bills to prevent the Justice Department and other agencies from enforcing federal laws banning marijuana use in the 33 states that have made weed legal. The Trump administration has tried to reverse some of these policies. In 2018, then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions rescinded Obama administration guidance giving U.S. attorneys discretion not to enforce federal drug law in states that have legalized marijuana. But the White House has been reluctant to challenge popular state policies directly. As a result a large pot industry has bloomed in recent years, and a dangerous market in cannabis concentrates, such as the ones responsible for the vaping deaths, has proliferated.

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28 US CA: Most Californians Want Marijuana Stores In Their CommunitiesTue, 01 Oct 2019
Source:Los Angeles Times (CA) Author:McGreevy, Patrick Area:California Lines:147 Added:10/01/2019

SACRAMENTO - Three years after California legalized the sale of recreational marijuana, most voters want municipalities to permit pot shops in their communities even though the vast majority of cities have outlawed them, according to a UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll conducted for the Los Angeles Times.

According to the poll, 68% of Californians say legalization has been a good thing for the state, an increase in support since 2016, when 57% of voters approved Proposition 64, which legalized growing, selling and possessing cannabis for recreational use. The poll results come as city and state leaders are battling in court and the Legislature over control of California's pot market, including a dispute over efforts by California lawmakers to force cities to open their doors to cannabis shops.

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29 US: Fitness Devotees Are Getting Stoned To Stay TonedMon, 30 Sep 2019
Source:Wall Street Journal (US) Author:Copeland, Rob Area:United States Lines:119 Added:09/30/2019

Pauline Nordin is a trainer, model and licensed nutritionist. Earlier this year, she replaced the frozen peas in her freezer with 2,000 cookies.

The shortbread treats are laden with cannabis-the equivalent of about 1,500 joints. Ms. Nordin, 37 years old, says she can't recover from her punishing workouts without them. She eats two each night before turning in.

"My lifestyle is a Ferrari and my body is a well-tuned machine," she says. "I would never do something destructive."

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30 US CA: What You Can And Cant Do At The New Cannabis Cafe In WestMon, 30 Sep 2019
Source:Los Angeles Times (CA) Author:Harris, Jenn Area:California Lines:95 Added:09/30/2019

The Lowell Cafe is a new restaurant and bar in West Hollywood that will allow diners to smoke marijuana inside and out thanks to a new license issued by the city. It's slated to open Oct. 1 and when it does, it will be the first of its kind.

If you're imagining a giant smoky room filled with bowls of weed, couches and lots of pizza, think again. Imagine instead a functional restaurant with servers, plus a special air-filtration system that sucks up and filters the smoke from people smoking weed, everywhere.

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31US WI: Billions At Stake As Wisconsin Discusses Legalizing MarijuanaSun, 29 Sep 2019
Source:Minneapolis Star-Tribune (MN)          Area:Wisconsin Lines:Excerpt Added:09/29/2019

CHICAGO - The historic hub of black culture on the south side of Chicago called Bronzeville bears the marks of disinvestment common to many of the city's black-majority neighborhoods.

Along the expansive South Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, lines of greystones alternate in and out of disrepair, and many of the district's blocks that were once home to vibrant institutions - earning it the name "Black Metropolis" - are now mottled with overgrown, vacant lots. A census tract within the area is one of the poorest in the city.

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32 US: Thc Products Tied To IllnessesSat, 28 Sep 2019
Source:Wall Street Journal (US) Author:Ansari, Talal Area:United States Lines:80 Added:09/28/2019

More than three-quarters of people who have developed severe lung illness after vaping reported using THC-containing products, a new report found, as officials continue to piece together a picture of the mysterious disease.

The new report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said 76.9% of the 514 patients studied used products containing THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, in the month preceding the onset of symptoms. More than half of the patients reported using nicotine-containing products, while 36% said they only used of products with THC and 16% reported exclusive use of nicotine-containing products.

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33 US: Several Vaping Brands Tied To Illnesses, C.D.C ReportsSat, 28 Sep 2019
Source:New York Times (NY) Author:Grady, Denise Area:United States Lines:150 Added:09/28/2019

Several marijuana products have been identified as possible culprits in the mysterious epidemic of serious lung illnesses that has sickened more than 800 people who use vaping devices and e-cigarettes to inhale THC or nicotine, or both.

Health officials said on Friday that the products include THC-filled vaping cartridges labeled "Dank Vapes," as well as some other illicit brands that people bought from friends or family or on the street.

But officials said Dank Vapes appeared to be a label that THC sellers can slap on any product and is not a specific formulation or a single product. THC is the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana.

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34 US: PUB LTE: Candidates Need To Address Drug WarSun, 22 Sep 2019
Source:New York Times (NY) Author:Williams, Bill Area:United States Lines:25 Added:09/27/2019

Having lost a son to heroin use, I want to ask the following of the candidates: Our "war on drugs," declared by President Nixon in 1971, is a dismal failure. The historian Alfred McCoy wrote recently in The Nation that "instead of reducing the traffic, the drug war has actually helped stimulate that ninefold increase in global opium production and a parallel surge in U.S. heroin users, from just 68,000 in 1970 to 886,000 in 2017." Drug deaths reached 192 a day in 2017, with many of them between the ages of 12 and 25. That is a silent Parkland =85 every day. What is your solution to this catastrophe?

Bill Williams

New York

[end]

35US GA: City To Decriminalize Pot PossessionThu, 19 Sep 2019
Source:Atlanta Journal-Constitution (GA) Author:Capelouto, J. D. Area:Georgia Lines:Excerpt Added:09/19/2019

The city of Chamblee is the 11th local government in Georgia to decriminalize the possession of marijuana.

The City Council unanimously passed an ordinance Tuesday night eliminating the possibility of jail time and severely reducing the fine for possessing one ounce or less of weed. An adult caught with marijuana by a Chamblee police officer will be cited and fined $75 for their first offense, according to the ordinance. That charge can be paid online and a court date isn't required.

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36 US: PUB LTE: Treatment Courts Should Be IncludedSun, 08 Sep 2019
Source:New York Times (NY)          Area:United States Lines:37 Added:09/13/2019

In highlighting Seattle's new approach to drug possession, Nicholas Kristof makes a compelling case that it is past time to adopt a public health approach to addiction, but he is too narrow in his conclusions. When we view the war on drugs strictly though the lens of drug possession, we fail to include people who need help the most: those who have committed crimes driven by their addiction and/or mental health disorder and who face incarceration as a result (crimes including D.U.I., theft, property crimes). These individuals desperately need treatment but are not eligible for diversion via programs like LEAD, which typically only address drug possession.

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37 US: PUB LTE: A Public Health Approach Is NeededSun, 08 Sep 2019
Source:New York Times (NY) Author:Jonas, Steven Area:United States Lines:33 Added:09/13/2019

Tobacco products, which kill almost 500,000 people per year, are legal, and still advertised to a limited extent. Alcoholic beverages, which kill about 88,000 people annually, are not only legal but also widely advertised. Many of the opioid deaths are a result of accidental overdoses because users are unaware of just how much drug is in a particular dosage they consume.

Why not legalize opioids but: sell them only from government operated "package stores" (as alcohol still is in certain jurisdictions) so that doses are known; have no advertising; have a massive public health program? Accidental overdose deaths would be virtually eliminated; the criminal drug trade would be eliminated; and, if the tobacco-use cessation program model were followed, use would go down.

Steven Jonas Port Jefferson, N.Y.

The writer, professor emeritus of preventive medicine at Stony Brook Medicine, is the author of "Ending the 'Drug War'; Solving the Drug Problem: The Public Health Approach."

[end]

38 US: PUB LTE: No Progress In Heroin EpidemicSun, 08 Sep 2019
Source:New York Times (NY) Author:Gruner, Bryan Area:United States Lines:30 Added:09/13/2019

Wow! Are you kidding me? This is the most fantasized assessment of Seattle's drug epidemic I've ever seen. In actuality, we are spiraling toward complete social meltdown here, and Nicholas Kristof thinks we've figured out how to end the war on drugs?

As a three-decade resident of Seattle, I can tell you that from the sprawling homeless camps ringing the city, to the bedraggled hordes of dead-eyed addicts on Second Avenue, to the piles of human feces in Pioneer Square, there is no progress being made to end the heroin epidemic in this city. Whatever actions local governments are taking only make things worse.

Seattle is becoming a wasteland of crime, refuse, excrement and addiction. It's disgusting to watch and it gets worse every year.

Bryan Gruner Bellevue, Wash.

[end]

39 US: PUB LTE: Addicts Need HelpSun, 08 Sep 2019
Source:New York Times (NY) Author:Kier, Kathy Area:United States Lines:37 Added:09/13/2019

Re "Ending the War on Drugs," by Nicholas Kristof (Sunday Review, Aug. 25):

This article gives me hope that Seattle is finally doing something about the devastation of drug use on its streets.

My son is a struggling heroin addict, and thank God is now a part of the Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion, or LEAD, program. He completed treatment in jail through drug court, finished work release, is now in drug court housing and meets with his counselor at LEAD.

I know firsthand how difficult it is for families. I've walked the streets of downtown Seattle looking for my son where drug users and dealers hang out. I've seen them passed out with a needle hanging out of an arm or leg. I'd ask myself, What is Seattle doing to fix this problem?

Addicts need support. The LEAD program is good, but what about those addicts who haven't been arrested and directed to LEAD?

Kathy Kier

Seattle

[end]

40 US NY: Officers Said They Smelled Pot. A Judge Called Them Liars.Fri, 13 Sep 2019
Source:New York Times (NY) Author:Goldstein, Joseph Area:New York Lines:176 Added:09/13/2019

Police officers can often justify a search with six words: "I smelled an odor of marijuana."

Courts in New York have long ruled if a car smells like marijuana smoke, the police can search it - and, according to some judges, even the occupants - without a warrant.

But in late July, a judge in the Bronx said in a scathing opinion that officers claim to smell marijuana so often that it strains credulity, and she called on judges across the state to stop letting police officers get away with lying about it.

[continues 1256 words]

41 US CA: Fights Over Growing Marijuana Cause StinkFri, 13 Sep 2019
Source:Wall Street Journal (US) Author:Elinson, Zusha Area:California Lines:101 Added:09/13/2019

CARPINTERIA, Calif.-On a recent sunny morning in this beach town near Santa Barbara, realtor Gary Goldberg ran into Das Williams on the street and raised a concern: A persistent skunky aroma had required him to knock $18,000 off the sale price of a condo.

"It smelled like marijuana," said Mr. Goldberg, adding that buyers threatened to pull out because of the odor.

Mr. Williams, a Santa Barbara County supervisor who helped craft regulations for large cannabis farms here, assured the realtor that he was doing everything he could to tamp down the smell. The argument over odor is part of an acrimonious debate over how to regulate the region's growing marijuana industry, pitting farmers against some residents.

[continues 595 words]

42 US: PUB LTE: Pregnancy And MarijuanaFri, 06 Sep 2019
Source:New York Times (NY) Author:Paltrow, Lynn M. Area:United States Lines:40 Added:09/10/2019

"New Warning Against Use of Marijuana for 2 Groups" (news article, Aug. 30) is reminiscent of coverage of pregnant women and cocaine use that reported damage theories that were alarmist.

Critical examination would reveal that the surgeon general's advisory focuses on associations and unspecified "risks." There's an enormous difference between things that pose potential risks, which are virtually everything a woman does, ingests or is exposed to during the course of pregnancy, and actual harm to the pregnant woman and fetus.

[continues 96 words]

43 US: Center To Explore Psychedelics For Mental HealthTue, 10 Sep 2019
Source:New York Times (NY) Author:Carey, Benedict Area:United States Lines:166 Added:09/10/2019

Since childhood, Rachael Petersen had lived with an unexplainable sense of grief that no drug or talk therapy could entirely ease. So in 2017 she volunteered for a small clinical trial at Johns Hopkins University that was testing psilocybin, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms, for chronic depression.

"I was so depressed," Ms. Petersen, 29, said recently. "I felt that the world had abandoned me, that I'd lost the right to exist on this planet. Really, it was like my thoughts were so stuck, I felt isolated."

[continues 1258 words]

44 US: Money Behind The MissionTue, 10 Sep 2019
Source:New York Times (NY) Author:Carey, Benedict Area:United States Lines:149 Added:09/10/2019

The announcement on Wednesday that Johns Hopkins Medicine was starting a new center to study psychedelic drugs for mental disorders was the latest chapter in a decades-long push by health nonprofits and wealthy donors to shake up psychiatry from the outside, bypassing the usual channels.

"Psychiatry is one of the most conservative specialties in medicine," said David Nichols, a medicinal chemist who founded the Heffter Research Institute in 1993 to fund psychedelic research. "We haven't really had new drugs for years, and the drug industry has quit the field because they don't have new targets" in the brain. "The field was basically stagnant, and we needed to try something different."

[continues 1127 words]

45US: Pot Makes Its Mark On Presidential BallotTue, 10 Sep 2019
Source:USA Today (US) Author:Hughes, Trevor Area:United States Lines:Excerpt Added:09/10/2019

DENVER - Once a politically dangerous subject, legal marijuana has become something of a de facto platform plank for the 2020 Democratic candidates: All support either legalizing or decriminalizing its use, and the differences lie in how far the candidates are willing to take it.

Those differences - particularly former Vice President Joe Biden's reluctance to embrace full federal legalization and the lack of enthusiasm that increasingly organized young marijuana activists have for him - may play a role in determining who faces President Donald Trump next fall, experts said.

"People from both parties are just thinking, 'Duh, we should be legalizing this at the federal level,' " said Rachel Gillette, a Denver-based cannabis activist and attorney. "It would be great if they could focus on this. It's time."

[end]

46 US: PUB LTE: Prohibition Never WorkedSun, 08 Sep 2019
Source:New York Times (NY) Author:Brautigam, Michael G. Area:United States Lines:31 Added:09/08/2019

Believing that I could never agree with Nicholas Kristof about anything, I found myself gobsmacked that I agreed, writ large, with his profile of Seattle attempting to end the war on drugs.

I don't agree with his emphasis on race and privilege, but it's about time to completely end the war on drugs - and I say this as a former narcotics prosecutor in Brooklyn during the golden age of crack. Only total legalization will work. But saying drugs should be legal is not saying that drugs are good.

We, as a nation, need to approach this as adults, and stop doing something that hasn't ever worked well but has been doubled down on every decade.

Michael G. Brautigam

Cincinnati

[end]

47 US: PUB LTE: Recovering Addicts Could Be Useful In This FightSun, 08 Sep 2019
Source:New York Times (NY) Author:Josepher, Howard Area:United States Lines:34 Added:09/08/2019

I want to thank Nicholas Kristof for bringing our attention to the successful way Seattle's Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion program is addressing the interplay of drug addiction and the law. I support his call for more "evidence-based public health interventions." At Exponents, we also invest in evidence-based practices that employ recovering individuals and those with the lived experience of addiction.

Recovering addicts, especially those who have benefited from a particular treatment or process, have great value in engaging and helping an active addict. Medication-assisted treatments are effective, but the recovering community is an underutilized asset in our efforts to bring this opiate epidemic under control.

Howard Josepher

New York

The writer is co-founder and chief clinical officer of Exponents, an organization dedicated to improving the quality of life of people affected by drug addiction, incarceration and H.I.V./AIDS.

[end]

48 US: PUB LTE: The Media And Government Exaggerated Drug AbuseSun, 08 Sep 2019
Source:New York Times (NY) Author:Kuzmarov, Jerey Area:United States Lines:34 Added:09/08/2019

I thought that Nicholas Kristof's article was very good in showing the efforts of Seattle's prosecuting attorney, Dan Satterberg, to scale back on drug prosecutions and promote treatment alternatives.

My one objection is his statement that "the war on drugs began in 1971 out of a legitimate alarm about narcotics both in the United States and among U.S. troops in Vietnam." My book "The Myth of the Addicted Army: Vietnam and the Modern War on Drugs" detailed how the media and politicians exaggerated the scope of drug abuse in Vietnam and created a false moral panic about drugs that drove forward the war on drugs.

[continues 58 words]

49US: America's Unjust War On WeedFri, 06 Sep 2019
Source:USA Today (US) Author:Rivers, Eileen Area:United States Lines:Excerpt Added:09/06/2019

It was 2012, and Ferrell Scott was watching television inside Pennsylvania's Allenwood federal penitentiary when he learned that the sale of marijuana, something he was given a life sentence for just four years earlier, was becoming legal in two states.

Colorado had approved its recreational use, the inmate learned from the broadcast, and so had Washington.

Scott had been struggling with depression since he was incarcerated in March 2008. But he felt a bit of hope as he watched the framework that had put people like him away without parole begin to crumble.

[end]

50 US: PUB LTE: It's Really A War On Certain GroupsFri, 06 Sep 2019
Source:New York Times (NY) Author:Carasso, Roger Area:United States Lines:37 Added:09/06/2019

Portugal's decriminalization of drugs reduced the number of heroin users from 100,000 to 25,000. Its drug mortality rate became the lowest in Western Europe.

What's badly needed is to look at the real reason for criminalizing drugs. The first anti-cocaine laws in the early 1900s were aimed at black men in the South. The first anti-marijuana laws in the early 20th century targeted Mexican migrants and Mexican-Americans.

The "war on drugs" was coined by President Richard Nixon. A top Nixon aide, John Ehrlichman, later admitted that it was aimed at Mr. Nixon's two major enemies, the antiwar left and black people: Criminalization meant that "we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did."

The war on drugs had little or nothing to do with health or safety. It was about political persecution.

Roger Carasso

Santa Fe, N.M.

[end]


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