heres a good story..

the last bit is pretty darned interesting too thanks DEB!!! you are now famous
people are watching and listening to us..

we are being heard. GODD WORK GP!!!


USA: The battle over medical marijuana


Wednesday, May 27th, 2009 @ 17:13 UTC

by Hoa Quach





Countries:U.S.A.Topics: Governance, Health, Law, ScienceLanguages: English Full Category List

• Americas
• English
• Governance
• Health
• Law
• Science
• U.S.A.
• Weblog

Excerpt

In the United States, 13 states currently allow citizens to use marijuana for medicinal purposes, but even these limited rights are under threat. In response, many Americans have created blogs to support and extend the legalization of marijuana. Post-Thumbnail

http://globalvoicesonline.org/wp-con...17_m-75x75.jpg
copy this link


Photo by Neeta Lind on Flickr



In the United States, 13 states currently allow citizens to use marijuana for medicinal purposes, but even these limited rights are under threat. In response, many Americans have created blogs to support and extend the legalization of marijuana.
The American debate over legalizing marijuana (cannabis) can be traced back to the early 1900s when people began using it for recreational purposes. More than one hundred years have passed and the debate hasn't loss one ounce of heat.
State vs. federal law in courts
In February, Attorney General Eric Holder announced that the federal government would no longer raid medical marijuana clubs that abide by state laws. Despite this announcement, those opposing the drug are still fighting the battle. Most recently, a Republican Senator in Oklahoma, Tom Coburn, introduced an amendment to a bill that would force states to abide by the federal government, which has not yet passed a bill to legalize marijuana nationwide. The amendment failed to pass by a narrow vote on May 21.
A blogger for NORML Daily Stash, Dudemaster, quoted from an article on Opposing Views by Americans for Safe Access about the foiled attempt to stop medical marijuana:

“At present, the only way for medical marijuana to be properly evaluated by the FDA is for privately-funded sponsors to conduct FDA-approved clinical trials (like any other drug evaluation). If Senator Coburn’s intentions with regard to the medical efficacy of marijuana were genuine, he would consider first removing the monopoly imposed by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) on licenses for the cultivation of medical-grade cannabis for research purposes. Currently, the DEA exclusively licenses the cultivation of medical-grade cannabis to the National Institute for Drug Abuse (NIDA), which primarily investigates only the negative effects of cannabis. This monopoly obstructs any investigation and research in the U.S. into the medical properties of cannabis and thwarts the normal drug approval process.

In California, a longtime legal battle also came to an end earlier this month. Two counties, San Diego and San Bernardino, attempted to overturn a 1996 state law that allows the medical usage of marijuana by bringing the case to the U.S. Supreme Court. They lost the case on May 18. Scott Morgan of the Stop the Drug War Organization blogged about the counties' court loss:

“For the hundredth time, conflict with federal law is not an obstacle to passing and implementing state laws that permit medical marijuana. Federal law enforcement can come in and cause trouble, but that doesn’t make state laws invalid. Those laws still apply and provide valuable protection against state police, who patients are more likely to come in contact with.
The very idea that federal law somehow cancels out state policies is just some made-up nonsense that enemies of medical marijuana have been spewing in desperation for several years now. Nice try, but you're wrong. Case closed.”

Medical marijuana club in San Francisco, by Thomas Hawk on Flickr

Joe Elford from Americans for Safe Access blogged at Medical Cannabis: Voices from the frontlines about his experience in a court room in California on May 26 where he presented an oral argument in favor of medical marijuana. The case concerns a group of cannabis patients who claim to have been harassed by the sheriff's department.

I had an oral argument before the Court of Appeal for the Third Appellate District, which is a state court in Sacramento. The case is Williams v. Butte County , which involves a small patient collective, which was harassed by the Butte County Sheriff’s Office. Specifically, Williams and six other patients pooled their labor and resources to maintain a 41-plant garden on Williams’ property. During one of the notorious Butte County sweeps several years ago, Deputy Sheriff Jacob Han**** came to Williams’ property without a warrant and required him to tear down all but twelve of the plants upon threat of arrest…

Blogging for marijuana rights
Although medical marijuana is legal in California, only 12 other states have adopted the same policy. This leaves many advocates constantly campaigning to legalize the drug nationwide. Advocates have taken their protest to the blogosphere, often listing the many reasons why marijuana is beneficial.
On the blog of the Marijuana Policy Project, MPP Blog, Bruce Mirken presents a study that shows cannabis can help against colorectal cancer, and insists that medical marijuana “is not just about getting high”.
The Stimulist gives five reasons why he think marijuana will be legalized - including the fact that baby boomers are growing older; the decline in the popularity of the drug war; and the economic benefits:

“California’s economy is hurting, and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is looking for any way he can to make some money. San Quentin and the L.A. Coliseum are for sale, but the most drastic measure he’s taken is calling for a study on legalizing dope. “Creating extra revenues, I’m always for an open debate on it,” he said earlier this month.”

Entire online news communities about marijuana have been created, including maps that show users where to find the nearest cannabis clubs, photo sharing communities and forums.
Despite, its many supporters - opposition is still strong and therefore, a federal law legalizing marijuana may be far down the road. Deb-HAS-grn write a forum post at Green Passion about a conversation she had recently with her son.

“I was talking to my son a few months ago about my love of growing and my new place on the internet, Green Passion, I also was saying to him, As I get older my desire to need to see pot legalized grows stronger and stronger. His words responding to that should not of surprised me as I have thought the same myself, but at the time when he said to me, Mom I am sorry to say this but I honestly don't think they will legalize marijuana for many many years to come. It kind of hit me hard hearing those words and thinking I may never see the day that I would be legal to grow and smoke as I please. And I am not talking about the first much needed legalization of medical marijuana in all countries, I am talking about the freedom to do as I please when I please when it comes to weed.”

__________________

Way ta go Deb! Good for you!

Now we are cooking with GRASS!

Peace

__________________
Life,
j-angel

aka GP purrie kittie attack cat!


My Little Grow LST'ing w/Hardware

My Outdoor Odyssey 2008 BONSAI MUMS

My Little Grow Indoor To Outdoor 2009

way to go deb. by chance did anyone notice the song underneath this article on the page? it was kinda catchy.

__________________
they call me ishmael, and mobys music sucks. smile if you get it.

Wonder if that is our Bozo? LOL!

peace

Well all I can say is Way to Go Deb,good job.Look out poeple we are on the move,GP has been in the light now and has been in two magzines and we have a add in high times too.This shows you the quailty of the member at GP and the quailty of the site.Way to go GP and members. Peace

__________________


Anything I may say or do is stickly for entertainment only.This is all make believe and is not To believe by me or anyonehttp:\\www.greenpassion.org/f73/over-grow-government-ogg-2009-what-8722/

Jangel wrote me a few minutes ago and asked if I had seen this thread, It seems that this morning I was the first one to come here, I was in such shock that I left for a while till I could catch a grip and then come back to say Thank you everyone, Thank you GP and Thanks to the magazine Global Voices, My story in a magazine, it's crazy lol I may feel pretty proud right now but the real story is Green Passion is expanding it's wings with the help of all of you, With GP and other sites the word to legalize will spread even more quickly, who knows, maybe this old Hippy here you'll one day be seeing me proudly and out in the open picking buds from the garden. I think it is time for me to take more of a stand, Like Jangel and others keep trying to say here is... If we all work together it will happen..It's that simple!!!!! Thank you

__________________

....you make me feel like crying, Deb. I am so very proud of Our GreenPassion, and all we are accomplishing together. Sure, sometimes there is sadness, sometimes it is happiness, but no matter what, there IS PROGRESS!!!

And when it comes right down to it, that is what it is about, standing shoulder to shoulder and without a break in stride, winning this war.

Just keep on going, and bit by bit, we will win.

...like the ant that moves mountains....

Peace

__________________
Life,
j-angel

aka GP purrie kittie attack cat!


My Little Grow LST'ing w/Hardware

My Outdoor Odyssey 2008 BONSAI MUMS

My Little Grow Indoor To Outdoor 2009

For he's got Hiiiigh Hopes, Yes He's got Hiiigh Hopes, He's got higher then the skyyyy Hopes, So when your feeling down la la la la la la, Wooooops there goes another rubber tree, Woooooops there goes another rubber tree, Woooops there goes another rubber tree plant, THAT ANT...

I couldn't help it,,lol The ant that could move a mountain, remember this song

__________________

LOL! Good for you!

I love it!

peace

Congratulations to Deb, my bff and to Green Passion. Very exciting stuff. :-) I'm SURE it won't be the last time this place is mentioned in the press, in very good ways. :-)

__________________