That day has been delayed by our refusal to allow this plant to be studied sufficiently by universities, while certain government/law enforcement officials disingenuously claim that not enough research has shown medical properties.
What is coming to light, slowly but surely as we study this plant, is that Marijuana is Medicine. Just ask our friend named Science. And like any other medicine or substance, it can be harmful if abused. Since cannabis is non-toxic and non-lethal, its designation as a Schedule 1 narcotic (along with crack and meth) is even more absurd than having the Commerce Department regulate our salmon.
We as a nation are procrastinating when it comes to amending our public policy in regards to cannabis. And you are doing another Youtube Q&A, Mr. President. Like other online forums you've hosted, marijuana questions have topped the list. In fact, the most popular question routinely is about marijuana. And is again this year.
This is the man who will answer those questions.
In prior Youtube or online forums, questions about marijuana law reform were literally laughed at by our President. Not because he is mean, hateful, or condescending. There is something funny about being leader of the free world and being asked about weed. Weed is funny. Which is why we, and comedians, like it. But there's nothing sane, funny, or constructive about our current marijuana laws. They were created to inflict collateral damage on our country in the name of racism, and they exist today for no real reason at all. Most folks at this site know that.
From the link above:
Rather than being allowed to actually see the obvious popularity of marijuana law reform, visitors have to click "All Questions" and then click "Sort By Popularity" to see that all the questions with the most votes relate to cannabis prohibition in some form.
Marijuana was also by far the leading topic last year, but many feel it was swept under the rug, according to Roots at Marijuana Stocks.
"We applaud Change.org for advancing and organizing an event like this and sincerely hope they (unlike last year) take the popularity of the cannabis issue seriously this time around," Roots said. "If not, we'll certainly not applaud them when this event is over."
It's almost as if someone, somewhere, doesn't want any attention brought to the fact that marijuana law reform is one of the top issues on people's minds.
from drcnet.org:
President Obama will be doing a live interview on YouTube this Thursday and, yet again, he wants us to vote on which questions we want answered. I've lost count of how many online voting contests we've been through at this point, but it's a pretty safe bet that questions related to legalizing marijuana and ending the drug war will get the most votes. That's what always happens with these things and if you just sort the page by popularity, you'll see it's about to happen again.
Honestly, it blows me away that the White House is still putting on these sorts of forums, knowing as we all do that questions about legalizing drugs will win and that, in all likelihood, the President won't answer them. Of course, the whole thing is just a big publicity stunt, but it's premised entirely on the concept that people get to vote on what issues they want the President to talk about. That's the hook, and ignoring it makes the whole exercise seem a bit ridiculous.
And here you are, the first black President, wisely avoiding the political pitfall of the 'weed issue'. Addressing this issue would only stir up more racism and reefer madness, and we should wait until some 'other time' to take up this issue.
Or should we? NORML posted some research on brain cancer, which is getting some attention over at reddit.
http://norml.org/...
Now, that's 'hard' science. The kind full of words and concepts that Bill O'Reilly can't read or pronounce. The kind that, for decades, we've been told by right-wingers and religious nutjobs would prove that marijuana makes you stupid, dangerous, and put holes in your brain. Instead, we're seeing more and more evidence of cancer-fighting properties of cannabinoids.
The combined administration of THC and the pharmaceutical agent temozolomide (TMZ) demonstrates strong anti-cancer activity in brain tumors resistant to conventional anti-cancer treatments, according to preclinical data published online in the journal Molecular Cancer Therapeutics.
Investigators at Complutense University in Spain assessed the anti-tumor activity of the cannabinoids THC and CBD (cannabidiol) in glioma xenografts (tissue grafts).
Authors reported that the administration of THC in combination with TMZ (the benchmark agent for the management of glioblastoma) "enhanced autophagy" (programmed cell death) in malignant tissue. The combined administration of THC, CBD, and TMZ "remarkably reduce[d] the growth of glioma xenografts ... [and] produced a strong antitumoral action in both TMZ-sensitive and TMZ-resistant tumors."
They concluded, "Altogether, our findings support that the combined administration of TMZ and cannabinoids could be therapeutically exploited for the management of GBM (gliobastoma multiforme)."
A 2006 pilot study published in the British Journal of Cancer reported that the intratumoral administration of THC was associated with reduced tumor cell proliferation in two of nine human subjects with GBM, which is highly resistant to conventional anti-cancer treatments.
In the diary linked to in Intro, there are quite a few scientific studies referenced. More recently, I shared a clip from the news about medical mj and breast cancer research.
The Obama administration will not be able to re-legalize cannabis. But it can stop upholding a status quo that isn't helping the nation or the Democratic Party. Marijuana polls much better than Congress, and got more votes than Meg Whitman.
Some of us believe that it's worth taking a stand on this issue, even if it means personal sacrifice. That is the lesson that MLK taught us, and I will never forget that.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/...
The link above is about a Border Patrol guard who was fired for expressing sympathy for Mexican immigrants who risk their lives in their attempt to cross the border, as well as saying that marijuana should be legal.
I know Prop 19 is over and forgotten by some, but it was a game-changer. Thanks in part to Mr. Soros, we have Prop 215. His op-ed in the WSJ is concise and great.
http://online.wsj.com/...
Richard Branson starts commission to re-evaluate the 'war on drugs'.
http://stopthedrugwar.org/...