Date: Sat, 14 Sep 2002 21:41:18 -0700

Subject:Canada: Licence To Grow Up TOC

Newshawk: Join CMAP (http://www.mapinc.org/cmap/lists.htm)
Pubdate: Fri, 13 Sep 2002
Source: Chilliwack Progress (CN BC)
Copyright: 2002 The Chilliwack Progress
Contact: editor@theprogress.com
Website: http://www.theprogress.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/562
Author: Robert Freeman

LICENCE TO GROW

Brian Carlisle got a licence to grow and possess marijuana for medical
purposes this week, more than a year after he first applied for an
exemption - now called a licence - more than a year ago.

An American pot activist, Steve Kubby, currently seeking refugee status in
Canada, was granted a similar medical marijuana licence last week.

Mr. Carlisle says he expects that granting the exemption to an American
citizen is going to give Canadian applicants "leverage" at Health Canada.
"I think it will encourage a lot of Canadians who have given up," he says.
He attributes his long wait for an exemption to "a lot of bad doctors who
were ignoring my very serious symptoms."

A spokesperson for the B.C. Medical Association says there are no hard and
fast rules for doctors who are asked to approve patients' applications for
exemptions in this province.

Mr. Carlisle, who opened a marijuana "compassion" club in Chilliwack last
month, says he intends to start using his licence in public at the new
courthouse cafe.

"I want the public to start becoming familiar with licenced people, become
aware that we are a reality and we're not going away, " he says. "I am
going to have my meds and a caramel macchiato ... at high noon and at 4:20
p.m.," a time he says is an "international symbol" for after-work users of
marijuana.

The compassion club, located just a block away from the new Chilliwack
courthouse, now has about 40 members, 26 of whom already possess extended
medical marijuana exemptions.

The licence issued to Mr. Carlisle allows him to grow his own marijuana,
which he says means he no longer has to break the law and risk arrest for
buying pot from illegal sources.

"I can finally say good-bye to the black market, once and for all," he
says. "My family has lived in fear and danger every day for almost nine
years. Now I can finally put that to rest."

A marijuana trafficking charge against Mr. Carlisle was stayed earlier this
year by a provincial court judge, and a cultivation charge stemming from
the same incident was stayed yesterday.
__________________________________________________________________________
Distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in
receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.
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MAP posted-by: Alex

 
 


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web:     http://www.crrh.org/

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Date: Sat, 14 Sep 2002 21:41:56 -0700

Subject:US Ignoring Marijuana Research Up TOC

Newshawk: Libertarians 1 - Drug Warriors 0 - http://www.plylar.org
Pubdate: Sat, 14 Sep 2002
Source: Sun News (SC)
Copyright: 2002 Sun Publishing Co.
Contact: opinions@thesunnews.com
Website: http://web.thesunnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/987
Author: Bruce Mirken

U.S. IGNORING MARIJUANA RESEARCH

Early in the morning of Sept. 5, dozens of armed men stormed a respected
medical facility where nearly 300 people desperately ill from cancer, AIDS
and other illnesses got their medicine. Brandishing semiautomatic weapons
in the faces of terrified patients, including a woman paralyzed from
childhood polio, they destroyed all of the medicine and took prisoner the
facility's operators.

The work of Osama bin Laden? Hamas? Some other international terrorists?

No. This particular terrorist raid was carried out by the U.S. Drug
Enforcement Administration.

The facility they attacked was the Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana
(WAMM) in Santa Cruz, Calif. A co-op run entirely by and for seriously ill
people - 80 percent of whom have terminal diagnoses - WAMM sold nothing.
All of the medical marijuana grown was given to members without charge.

The facility was supported by the community and worked closely with local
officials. According to County Supervisor Mardi Wormhoudt, WAMM operated in
an "exemplary" fashion. After the raid - which had been planned and
executed with no warning to the local government - Wormhoudt told reporters
she was "appalled" by the DEA's action.

The patients WAMM served are desperately ill. For many with AIDS or cancer,
marijuana is the only thing that allows them to tolerate the horrendous
side effects of the harsh treatments that keep them alive. Others endure
excruciating pain that conventional medicines have failed to relieve, but
which marijuana helps.

Because of this raid, many of these people will die prematurely -
agonizing, horrible deaths - because the only medicine that helped them has
been taken away.

What could possibly motivate such cruelty?

Desperation.

All around the world, governments and scientific experts are coming to
believe that marijuana shouldn't be illegal - that it is simply not
dangerous enough to warrant arresting and jailing even social or
recreational users, much less people using it to relieve symptoms of cancer
or AIDS. The British government has already moved to make marijuana
possession a nonarrestable offense.

On Sept. 4, Canada's Senate Special Committee on Illegal Drugs released the
most exhaustive investigation of marijuana data and policy options ever
conducted by any government. The 650-page report declared that
criminalizing marijuana amounted to "throwing taxpayers' money down the
drain in a crusade that is not warranted by the danger posed by the substance."

But marijuana - which accounts for the vast majority of illegal drug use
and arrests - is the engine that drives the war on drugs and keeps massive
drug-control budgets pumped up.

So even as DEA agents were shoving machine guns in the faces of sick
people, White House drug czar John Walters and Health and Human Services
Secretary Tommy Thompson stood in front of a Washington, D.C., press
conference, spouting long-discredited myths as if they were proven facts.

Marijuana, said Thompson, is "a clear and present danger to the health and
well-being of all its users" - a statement contradicted by reams of
scientific research.

Indeed, in 1995, the prestigious medical journal The Lancet stated flatly,
"The smoking of cannabis, even long term, is not harmful to health." This
year, the British government's Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs and
the Canadian Senate committee came to similar conclusions after extensive
study.

But our government's drug war ideologues don't care about science. And they
don't care how many sick people they literally torture to death in their
desperate effort to pump up a collapsing policy.
__________________________________________________________________________
Distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in
receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Alex

 
 


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web:     http://www.crrh.org/

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Date: Sun, 15 Sep 2002 10:57:14 -0700

Subject:CA: Free Bus to Sacramento Demonstration Up TOC

Attention Southern California residents:
Free Bus Trips from West Hollywood to Sacramento for Medical Cannabis
Freedom Day

The Los Angeles Cannabis Resource Center is offering free bus trips to
Sacramento for Southern Californians who want to attend the Medical Cannabis
Freedom Day.  Free food and a place to stay overnight are included. We will
gather at LACRC beginning at 9 pm Sunday, September 22. The buses will leave
near midnight and return Monday night, September 23.

Please join our strongest voice since the November 1996 election! Bring
friends.
Without our united strength, the California Supreme Court Mower victory will
fall useless under the boots of federal storm troopers!
No more DEAth squads!

Won't you please come to Sacramento? Show you care!
Call LACRC at 323-874-0811.

In Solidarity: Strength & Wisdom,
Judy Osburn
openi420@starband.net

Sent: Friday, September 13, 2002 2:11 PM
Subject: Sacramento Demonstration Moving Forward

September 13, 2002

To: Coordinating Committee and Interested Parties
From: Jay R. Cavanaugh, Ph.D.
Subject: Update on Medical Cannabis Freedom Day
Time of notice: 1:30 PM

Dear All,

On Monday, September 23rd we are going to witness the largest demonstration
of its kind on the steps of the State Capitol in Sacramento. People from all
over California and indeed the Western States are converging on the Capitol
in a show of unity and to seek help from our elected representatives to
support our Compassionate Use Act against the depredations of the DEA. We
are meeting first at 5th and I Street at 9:00 AM in support of the Americans
for Safe Access (ASA) rally in front of the Federal Courthouse in support of
medical cannabis patient Bryan Epis. We are then gathering at 11:00 AM at
the Capitol itself for a rally to run from Noon until 5:00 PM.

Invited speakers include:

Valerie Corral-WAMM
Bill Lockyer- California State Attorney General
John Vasconcellos- California State Senator
Terance Hallinan- District Attorney for San Francisco
Henry Waxman- Congressperson from Los Angeles
Surprise speakers

Additional short presentations will be made from representatives of the
sponsoring groups. There will be a first aid tent, water, amenities, an
overnight shelter, music, and handouts. Bus loads of supporters are
converging on the Capitol from Los Angeles, Ventura, Marin, Palm Springs,
Garden Valley, Eureka, San Francisco, Santa Cruz, Mendocino, Eugene,
Portland, Medford, and many more.

This peaceful demonstration is being sponsored by the American Alliance for
Medical Cannabis in conjunction with:

American for Safe Access (http://www.safeaccessnow.org)
Medical Marijuana Patients Union (http://www.mmpu.org)
Safe Access Now (http://www.medicalmarijuananow.com)
Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana (WAMM-http://www.wamm.org)
California NORML (http://www.canorml.org)
Oregon NORML (http:www.ornormal.org)
Marin Alliance for Medical Marijuana (http://www.cbcmarin.com)
Libertarian Party of Sacramento
CHAMPS
Los Angeles Cannabis Resource Center (http://www.lacbc.org)
Crescent Alliance Self Help for Sickle Cell
More added daily

Contact Information:

Steph Sherer and Hilary McQuie (ASA): (510) 486-8083
Aundre Speciale (ASA) (916) 320-1399
Dr. Jay R. Cavanaugh, PhD  (AAMC) (818) 346-4493
Ryan Landers (AAMC) (916) 972-8853
Amanda Whittemore (ASA) (916) 628-2716

Please forward this notice widely. Come to Sacramento on the 23rd in your
Sunday best and bring friends. We are united in our quest for the legitimate
rights of patients everywhere.

Yours in faith,
Jay R. Cavanaugh, Ph.D.
National Director
American Alliance for Medical Cannabis


 
 


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web:     http://www.crrh.org/

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Date: Sun, 15 Sep 2002 11:19:52 -0700

Subject:MA: Thousand Gather For Marijuana Rally Up TOC

Newshawk: http://www.masscann.org
Pubdate: Sun, 15 Sep 2002
Source: Boston Globe (MA)
Copyright: 2002 Globe Newspaper Company
Contact: letter@globe.com
Website: http://www.boston.com/globe/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/52
Author: Jessica Van Sack
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)

THOUSANDS GATHER FOR MARIJUANA RALLY

About 35,000 marijuana legalization advocates, area students, and
politicians converged on Boston Common yesterday for the 13th annual Freedom
Rally.

The six-hour gathering, which some have dubbed ''Hempday,'' featured
speakers, live band performances, appearances by Green Party and Libertarian
gubernatorial candidates, and more than 25 vendors selling anything and
everything pot-related.

The mostly youthful crowd began trickling in about 1 p.m.  By midafternoon,
droves of people were planted on the lawn and thousands crammed along paths
lined by vending booths.

MBTA stations were so clogged that the T added extra trains on the Green and
Red lines, said spokesman Joe Pesaturo.

Event organizers said they encouraged those attending to abstain from
smoking marijuana at the rally, but many appeared to ignore the advice. On
stage, band members shouted advice on keeping the drug hidden, and smoke
lingered thickly in the air. Boston Police, in uniform as well as under
cover, patrolled the mostly peaceful crowd.

"I'm just having some fun, chilling with my buddies,'' said Nick
Wilson, 20, a sophomore at Salem State College. ''Not harming anyone.''

Fifty-two people were arrested, most on drug-related charges, said Officer
John Boyle, a Boston police spokesman. Boyle said no serious disturbances
were reported during the event.

Local marijuana advocates were recently dealt a blow: Acting Governor Jane
Swift vetoed a budget rider that would have sent some small-scale marijuana
offenders to civil court instead of criminal court. The amendment had passed
through the Legislature almost unnoticed. Some at the rally said the veto
may have boosted attendance.

''The government has no authority under our Constitution to involve itself
in drugs,'' said Carla Howell, Libertarian candidate for governor, who
delivered a speech calling on the government to abandon the war on drugs.

There was a decided political slant to the afternoon, with ardent arguments
in favor of legalizing marijuana. Rick Doblin, 48, who wrote his Harvard
doctoral dissertation on ''psychedelics and medicinal use of marijuana,''
said that with the threat of terrorism, police resources should not be
targeting recreational drug use.

'      'While we're all thinking about terrorism, we have to ask ourselves
why police are focused on small-time marijuana users,'' he said.

Some complained that marijuana is harder to come by this year. But most in
the crowd seemed determined merely to enjoy the day. Che Arraj, a
32-year-old ''psychedelic artist'' from Lawrence, summed up his stance.
''We're just here to have fun and hear some music,'' he said. ''But it's
also about political muscle - if you don't exercise it, you won't have it
anymore.''
__________________________________________________________________________
Distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in
receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Josh

 
 


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web:     http://www.crrh.org/

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Date: Sun, 15 Sep 2002 14:50:26 -0700

Subject:HI: Green Harvest Nets 9,430 Marijuana Plants On Oahu Up TOC

Newshawk: The War on Drugs IS Terrorism
Pubdate: Sun, 15 Sep 2002
Source: Maui News, The (HI)
Contact: letters@mauinews.com
Copyright: 2002 The Maui News
Website: http://www.mauinews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2259
Note: For more on medical cannabis and cannabis eradication in Hawaii go to
http://www.mapinc.org/areas/Hawaii

GREEN HARVEST NETS 9,430 MARIJUANA PLANTS ON OAHU

HONOLULU (AP) -- Law enforcement officials have seized 9,430 marijuana
plants on Oahu public lands in a weeklong Green Harvest operation.

The haul was ''better than average,'' said Detective Emilio Laganse of the
Honolulu police narcotics detail.

The five-day operation ended Friday. Laganse would not reveal the specific
locations of the raids, but he said most of the marijuana was seized on
state land in mountainous areas.

''These are remote areas usually accessible only to hikers and hunters,'' he
said.

The plants ranged from seedlings to 8 feet tall, he said.

Police officers from Maui and the Big Island also participated along with
personnel from the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, Hawaii
National Guard and U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

Similar Green Harvest operations netted 12,418 marijuana plants on the Big
Island in August and 4,868 plants on Kauai in May.

The Green Harvest operations are conducted not only to eradicate the drug,
but for public safety reasons.

''There have been instances where hikers and hunters have been threatened or
scared off by growers,'' he said.

Operation Green Harvest is a state, county and federal program launched in
the 1980s to eradicate marijuana grown in Hawaii. Laganse declined to say
how often operations are conducted, but said it is done regularly around the
state because Hawaii's climate allows the plant to be grown year-round.
__________________________________________________________________________
Distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in
receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Doc-Hawk

 
 


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web:     http://www.crrh.org/

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End of Restore-Digest V2002 #193
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