Michigan’s proposed medical marijuana law, which would allow people with physician approval to possess 2.5 ounces of marijuana and to grow up to 12 plants at a time, has broad support.
Just decades ago, American teenagers were forced to watch movies like “Reefer Madness,” which warned that marijuana use would lead to insanity and deviant behavior. Tom Shields, founder of the Lansing-based Marketing Resource Group, click here points out:
Yet, last week not a single soul showed up to protest or even offer a word of caution at the State Board of Canvassers meeting where testimony was given on the potential wording of the ballot proposal to allow for medical use of marijuana in Michigan.
What a difference 40 years makes.
Not only didn’t anyone show up at the hearing, no one has even filed a committee to oppose the proposal. No PTAs. No churches. No cop organizations. Not even the anti-smoking groups.
With so much momentum, and no public opposition, it’s important to look at the potential consequences of decriminalizing medical marijuana, Shields writes. The potential fallout includes increased snack sales, more visits to doctors who prescribe marijuana and lucrative patient supply operations.
“A look at the experience of other states with loose qualifications suggests there would be little anyone could do to prevent recreational pot users from being part of the system,” he cautions.
In a recent New Yorker article — “Dr. Kush: How medical marijuana is transforming the pot industry” — David Samuels click here describes how the decriminalization of medical marijuana brought new (green) jobs to California.
Posted by Gary at 04:20 AM | Comments (0)
August 16, 2008
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Man who sold drugs out of candle shop gets 1 1/2 years prison
Posted by Gary Storck
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Here is the full length version of the Journal Sentinel report with more details. During the sentencing, the judge proclaimed that the cannabis sales had a "negative effect on efforts to develop downtown Waukesha". Unfortunately, he did not offer an opinion on whether the rampant drug dealing (alcohol being the drug) occurring daily at the many bars and liquor stores lining the streets of downtown Waukesha, has a negative effect on downtown redevelopment.
Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel click here
Pubdate: Aug. 14, 2008
Author: Jacqui Seibel
MAN WHO SOLD DRUGS OUT OF CANDLE SHOP GETS 1 1/2 YEARS PRISONWaukesha - A former downtown business owner convicted of selling marijuana from his candle shop was sentenced Wednesday to 1 1/2 years in prison.
While he was the owner of Candles for You, 744 N. Grand Ave., James W. Juhay sold marijuana to an undercover officer three times in June, according to the criminal complaint. Police searched the store June 19, and nearly 400 grams of marijuana, about 95 grams of what was possibly hashish and a digital scale were recovered.
Juhay told Waukesha County Circuit Judge Robert Mawdsley in court Wednesday that he was being used to bring pot into Waukesha, and in exchange he received free “smoke.”
He didn’t tell police about the people who were using him because he was scared, Juhay said.
Mawdsley said he wasn’t buying it.
“Your decision-making was poor. Your timing was poor. Do your time and get out and get gainful employment,” Mawdsley said.
Mawdsley also told Juhay that his drug dealing has a negative effect on efforts to develop downtown Waukesha.
Juhay’s attorney, Thomas Voss, said his client was diagnosed as paranoid schizophrenic in 1987.
Juhay, 46, had no criminal record prior to this year.
(snip)
Continues: click here
Posted by Gary at 04:20 AM | Comments (0)
August 14, 2008
Waukesha candle shop owner sentenced to prison for pot sale
Posted by Gary Storck
Thursday, August 14, 2008The recent case involving the Waukesha candle/cannabis store click here has come to a quick end with the owner being sentenced to a year and a half in prison, according to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.
From the Aug. 14, 2008 editions of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel click here.
Candle shop owner sentenced for pot sale
Waukesha — A former downtown business owner convicted of selling marijuana from his candle shop was sentenced Wednesday to 1 1/2 years in prison.
While he was the owner of Candles for You, 744 N. Grand Ave., James W. Juhay sold marijuana to an undercover officer three times in June, the criminal complaint says. Police searched the store June 19, and nearly 400 grams of marijuana, about 95 grams of something that was suspected to be hashish and a digital scale were recovered.
(snip)
Continues: click here.
Posted by Gary at 11:23 AM | Comments (0)
August 13, 2008
Letter: Broadcaster article on marijuana didn’t mention origins of its legal status
Posted by Gary Storck
Wednesday, August 13, 2008Below is a great reply to the excellent article from the Vernon County Broadcaster click here from mid-July. The author is Clifford A. Schaffer, Director of the online Schaffer Library of Drug Policy click here.
Source: Vernon County Broadcaster
Pubdate: Monday, July 28, 2008
Author: Clifford A. SchafferBROADCASTER ARTICLE ON MARIJUANA DIDN’T MENTION ORIGINS OF ITS LEGAL STATUSby Clifford A. Schaffer, letter to the editor
Your otherwise excellent article on marijuana (Broadcaster, July 17) failed to mention two important points. The first is why marijuana was outlawed in the first place.
There were two major reasons for the marijuana laws. The first was because "All Mexicans are crazy and marijuana is what makes them crazy." It was racial prejudice against Mexicans that used it.
The second reason was the fear that heroin addiction would lead to the use of marijuana — exactly the opposite of the modern gateway idea.
The second point is that every major government commission that has studied the marijuana laws in the last 100 years has concluded that the laws were based on ignorance and nonsense. They all said that the laws should have been repealed long ago because they do more harm than good.
Anyone interested in more reading on the topic can find numerous historical references and documents at http://druglibrary.org/ schaffer/History/history./htm.
The full text of the major government commission reports can be found at http:// druglibrary.org/schaffer under Major Studies of Drug and Drug Policy.
Clifford A. Schaffer
Director, Schaffer Library of Drug Policy
Agua Dulce, Calif.
Posted by Gary at 03:41 PM | Comments (0)
August 12, 2008
Eau Claire Leader Telegram: Area meth use on the decline
Posted by Gary Storck
Monday, August 11, 2008The drug war is not a war but "constant drug education," according to one Wisconsin law officer quoted in this article from the Eau Claire Leader Telegram. That's quite an analogy. Seems like a rather harsh lesson being taught when the penalty for "bad grades" is arrest and jail.
It's good to hear meth use is in decline. But heightened enforcement of cannabis prohibition is not a wise prioritization of scarce and expensive law enforcement resources. Focusing on getting drunk drivers off the road, for example, enhances public safety. Most cannabis consumers are just ordinary everyday people who only represent a threat to any delicious snacks in the near vicinity, at best. Many current and former members of the law enforcement community agree See L.E.A.P. click here. It is marijuana prohibition that is the problem. Tax and regulate -- problem solved.
Source: Eau Claire Leader Telegram click here
11 August 2008AREA METH USE ON THE DECLINE
Chris Vetter Chippewa Falls News Bureau
As Eau Claire County Sheriff Ron Cramer was leaving a restaurant Thursday night, a man approached him and proudly told the sheriff he had been clean and sober for four months. He thanked Cramer for his help."It's a good feeling that they want to share their success stories with you," Cramer said.
Several law enforcement officials from around the Chippewa Valley met last week, and they talked about which drugs are hot and which are not, Cramer said. The consensus was that methamphetamine use is down but that other drugs are taking its place.
Meth arrests have dropped significantly since 2005 in the Chippewa Valley. After a high of 28 arrests in July 2005, the numbers fell to two arrests in October, one in November and none in December, according to West Central Wisconsin Drug Task Force figures covering 2005 through 2007.
Cramer said legislative changes, which made it more difficult to accumulate large supplies of drug precursors such as Sudafed, are a reason for the drop.
"That has really worked," Cramer said. "The mom-and-pop labs have really gone down. It has slowed down immensely."
While the Chippewa Valley is seeing a drop in meth use, Cramer heard from officials in the Duluth, Minn., area that use is rampant there.
Chippewa Falls Police Chief Wayne Nehring agreed that meth arrests are down, but that doesn't mean it's gone.
"We are probably still seeing meth use, not to the degree we did two or three years ago, but it's still there," Nehring said. "The drug that has probably replaced it is cocaine. I think people are lulled into thinking meth has disappeared because you don't hear as much about it anymore, but that's not necessarily true."
The Chippewa Falls Police Department made a huge push in the spring to get area residents to clean out their medicine cabinets and get rid of old prescription medicine.
"I still think our number one drug problem is the prescription abuse," Nehring said.
Kirk Olson, an investigator with the drug task force, agrees with Nehring that legal prescription drugs like methadone and Oxycontin are a big concern.
"There seems to be a lot of that going on," Olson said. "And you get some of these people who go 'doctor shopping,' going from one doctor to another."
For instance, a person who gets a prescription filled for methadone in Altoona one day might try to get another prescription for the drug filled in Whitehall the next day, Olson said.
Olson said teens are getting their hands on prescription drugs and selling them to friends, and they might not even know the effects of the pills, such as anti-depressants and diuretics.
"We'll arrest people who have 12 pills in their pockets, and there will be three or four different types," Olson said. "(They have) no idea what they'll do to you."
Cramer said the key to reducing drug use is education about the dangers involved.
"I hate the phrase 'the drug war,' " Cramer said. "It's constant drug education."
With the drug task force, which covers six area counties, Olson has seen a continued drop in meth arrests so far this year. The task force has seized more meth this year, however, because of one large drug bust.
Heroin use nationwide is up, but that doesn't seem to be the case locally, Olson said.
"We're seeing a little bit of it," Olson said. "It is greater than it was five, 10 years ago, but it isn't as widespread as in other places, like in bigger cities."
Marty Folczyk, an investigator with the Menomonie Police Department assigned to the drug task force, said marijuana remains the most abused drug in the county. {Blogger Note: Has he not read the Gannet Media report on Alcohol in Wisconsin?} Meth use declined two years ago but gradually is rising again, she said. The majority of meth found in Dunn County comes from the Twin Cities, he said.
Folczyk estimated about a dozen meth cases have been reported in the county this year, but he has seen little or no heroin use.
Cramer said heroin use hasn't been a big issue. "We're not seeing it," Cramer said. "It's mostly out of the Twin Cities or mailed in from Thailand. It used to be used for medicinal purposes from the elders (there)."
Chippewa County Sheriff Jim Kowalczyk used to work on the drug task force.
"In the three years I was in there, we never (saw) heroin," Kowalczyk said. "I'm not saying heroin isn't available here, but it's not the drug of choice."
Marijuana use remains prevalent, Cramer said, and it's more powerful than what was being sold years ago.
"What we are dealing with is the high-grade marijuana that they call 'nuggets,' " Cramer said. "They are going out to the West Coast or from Canada (to get it)."
Vetter can be reached at 723-0303 or chris.vetter@ecpc.com.
Menomonie Bureau reporter Pamela Powers contributed to this report.
Posted by Gary at 09:50 AM | Comments (0)
August 08, 2008
UK’s New Statesman’s Best of the Politics Blogs lampoons former Brown County WI GOP chair
Posted by Gary Storck
Friday, August 08, 2008The UK’s New Statesman’s Best of the Politics Blogs reached across the Atlantic all the way to Brown County Wisconsin with an item about disgraced former Brown County Republican chair Don Fleischman. Brown County includes Green Bay, home to former congressman/Wisconsin governor candidate and anti-medical marijuana zealot, Mark Green. Fleischman was active in Green’s campaign.
Source: New Statesman (UK): Best of the Politics Blogs click here
Across the PondTitters echoed across the States as news broke that law enforcement authorities are to take a hard line against prostitution at this year’s Democrat and Republican conventions. Conservative Hot Air prides himself on hard-bitten realism, but seems to have suffered a quite profound lapse, in suggesting that:
“Put simply, political conventions keep people too busy to allow them much time for mischief.”
Mmm. At least Don Fleischman, ex-Chairman of America’s oldest GOP chapter (Brown County, Wisconsin) won’t be able to get up to any “mischief”. His trial for providing marijuana to a minor, and performing sexual acts on him, begins during Republican party Convention.
Posted by Gary at 08:27 PM | Comments (0)
August 05, 2008
Oshkosh Northwestern: Editorial: State must admit alcohol is a problem
Posted by Gary Storck
Tuesday, August 5, 2008Another Gannet Media outlet, the Oshkosh Northwestern, adds this great editorial to their series on Wisconsin's alcohol culture.
One solution to the problem is providing safer alternatives. Current pot laws are driving people who want to moderate back into the drinking culture. Special interests have secured an amazing exemption for the alcohol industry. Why not tax and regulate cannabis and see what happens? Let the people decide.
Source: Oshkosh Noerhwestern click here
AAugust 3, 2008
Editorial: State must admit alcohol is a problemIt starts with Wisconsin looking in the mirror and admitting we have a drinking problem.
For the past several weeks, we've featured our Gannett Wisconsin Media "State of Drinking" series, a comprehensive and statistical glimpse of how a culture of drinking has ravaged Wisconsin. It showed how alcohol is a part of life here. And it demonstrated that culture is out of control, dictating legislation, ruining lives and tearing families apart
So what do we do about it? Wisconsin, just like any individual facing a problem, first has to admit it has one.
We have previously commented on the ridiculous time warp our state beer tax is stuck in, still 3.6 cents a six-pack, a rate not nudged since 1969. We could argue that the legislature should increase that tax. As our colleagues at the Green Bay Press Gazette noted, "If (the tax) had grown with inflation, that 3.6 cents per six pack would be about 18 cents today. The average beer lover probably could handle that."
But then, we reasoned, Wisconsin has to admit it has a problem or legislation, not to mention the legislators sponsoring it, won't get anywhere.
We could demand it's time Wisconsin adopted a "three-strikes and you're out law." No more of these five, six, seven or even 10 DUI arrests hitting our papers, please. Three DUIs and you're a felon and going to prison for a spell.
But, first, Wisconsin would have to admit it has a problem or public support for even such a seemingly logical, public-safety-focused change won't get anywhere.
We could make a very strong case that bartenders who happily dole out shot after shot of hard liquor to that young man or woman celebrating his or her 21st birthday with friends or those mindlessly serve underage customers without checking identification should face some far more serious consequences for enabling dangerous, deadly behavior.
But first, Wisconsin has to admit it has a drinking problem. Wisconsin has to awaken and realize Number One is a ranking we don't want to have when it comes to a categories like "highest percentage of underage alcohol consumption."
We could argue that the days of allowing service groups and their volunteers to control the taps at public events – even though it raises revenue for noble causes -- should either be more carefully regulated or come to an end. And we could likewise argue that our state bartending license courses and prerequisites have become a hoop-jumping farce that few take seriously.
But, again, Wisconsin has to admit it has a drinking problem first.
There is one take-action step we and our colleagues on editorial boards throughout Gannett Wisconsin seem to wholly agree on.
Wisconsin's drinking habits won't change without Wisconsinites changing first.
Start at home. Start with your family. Start with you. Be smart, safe, healthy and a model for your impressionable children.
Posted by Gary at 07:04 PM | Comments (0)
August 04, 2008
Letter in Baraboo Republic about California medical marijuana case
Posted by Gary Storck
Monday, August 4, 2008Recently, the nationally syndicated Argus column, which apparently attempts to find humor in news clips, carried an item about the federal trial of Charles C. Lynch, former owner of the Morro Bay California Medical Marijuana Dispensary, Central Coast Compassionate Caregivers. Mr. Lynch was a member of the local Chamber of Commerce, had the blessing of the City Council, and was well-respected in the community.
Medical marijuana dealer Charlie Lynch went on trial in Los Angeles Friday. It's taking awhile to impanel a jury. As soon as potential jurors hear that the guy is on trial for selling medical marijuana, they take out their wallets and get in line. Source: click hereIn opening arguments, the defense noted Lynch had contacted DEA before opening the dispensary, in raising the issue of entrapment. Lynch is not being allowed to even mention medical marijuana in his defense. On Sunday, CNN began airing the trial on Headline News. The Reason Blog has also been covering the trial.
Source: Baraboo News Republic click here
Pubdate: 4 August 2008MEDICAL MARIJUANA SHOULD BE LEGAL EVERYWHEREI usually ignore the crude, juvenile and asinine musings of the "Argus" column that regularly appears in your publication. But trying to make a stupid joke at the expense of California medical marijuana dispensary owner Charles Lynch, on trial and facing federal mandatory minimums, was the last straw.
Argus doesn't bother to note that Mr. Lynch was in full compliance with California law. Or that county sheriff's deputies sworn to uphold California law instead obtained fake ID and lied to acquire real doctor's notes to infiltrate the dispensary and set up the federal bust.
Isn't it time federal authorities stop corrupting local authorities and subverting state medical marijuana laws? The medical utility of cannabis is fact, an overwhelming majority of the people support medical cannabis, but federal authorities still find taking medicine from the sick and dying so worthwhile, they are willing to further fatten that upcoming $482 billion federal deficit.
California's medical marijuana law has been a godsend to thousands of patients with no alternative. What is really criminal is the Bush administration's meddling and that is what should be on trial, not Charles Lynch. Mr. Lynch is a true hero. The author of the Argus column is a hack. Why not drop it and put in some real news?
Gary Storck,
director of communications,
Is My Medicine Legal YET?
www.immly.org,
Madison
----------------------------------------
Additional Resources:To watch the CNN video on the web click on the following link: click here
Reason.tv has been following the story closely also with reason.tv staff members attending the trial daily. Click the following links to visit the Reason.tv website.
For more information visit Lynch's website at:
Posted by Gary at 04:49 PM | Comments (0)
August 02, 2008
Gannett Media:: Coroner asks: Was alcohol involved
Posted by Gary Storck
Saturday, August 2, 2008Gannett Media continues it's excellent and somewhat shocking look into Wisconsin's alcohol culture.
postcrescent.com click here
August 2, 2008
Coroner asks: Was alcohol involved?
BY BEN JONES
POST-CRESCENT MADISON BUREAU CHIEFMADISON — After every fatal car crash, needle meets flesh. By law, Wisconsin coroners test the blood of every driver killed to answer one last question.State of Drinking data: The deadly toll of drunken driving click here
Was alcohol involved?
The grim procedure is all-too common in Wisconsin. Crashes occur in every corner of the state, and they kill people nearly every day. From July 6, when Gannett Wisconsin Media’s State of Drinking series began, to July 29 — near the end of the series — 43 people have died in 41 accidents on Wisconsin roads.
In order to learn more about the scope of the human toll, Gannett Wisconsin newspapers used state electronic databases, paper police records, obituaries and other sources to document the more than 200 people killed last year in drunken driving crashes.
The information includes photos and biographical information for people all over the state. It also includes details about the drivers, including how much alcohol was involved.
After crashes such as these, a somber routine begins. In Outagamie County, it starts with Coroner Ruth Wulgaert, who draws samples of vitreous fluids from eyes that can no longer see. Wulgaert also collects samples of blood and urine.
She encases the samples in tubes and sends them to a lab for alcohol and drug testing. Wulgaert awaits the results, which she will record on a form that she will send to the state.
It’s a routine task that’s part of the aftermath of every fatal drunken driving crash. It’s not the most difficult part of Wulgaert’s job.
When people die in car crashes, Wulgaert drives to the homes of their families. She tells them what happened, a job she has been doing for more than 20 years.
“Does one get easier than another?” she said. “Absolutely not.”
Wulgaert said there’s one question families always ask.
“Was alcohol involved?”
Big loss, small details
Last year, 337 people were killed in about 300 alcohol-related accidents, according to a Gannett Wisconsin analysis. At least 208 of those crashes involved drivers who were legally drunk. In those crashes, some 234 people were killed, including children, young adults, mothers, fathers, and grandparents.
Many of the victims died alone. Often the person who was killed was the drunken driver. But sometimes the victim was just in the path of someone who should not have been driving.
One such victim, Jesus Manuel Quirios-Castillo, died asleep in bed. A drunken driver crashed through his hotel room wall.
Can small details help measure a big loss?
If so, it’s worth mentioning that Joshua Peotter, 29, Rockland, counted among his passions, his family and friends, big construction equipment and muscle cars.
William K. Hill, 43, Appleton went by his middle name Keith. He liked to play practical jokes.
Danielle Meyer, 18, a nursing student from Tomah, loved to write poems. She had one published last year.
In 2007, Peotter, Hill and Meyer all died in drunken driving crashes and are among drivers and victims listed in Gannett’s online map.
‘The way it has to be’
At the state’s hygiene lab, the story of tragedies such as these reveals itself in clinical terms.
Blood samples arrive at the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene in glass vials that hold 30 milliliters, or about as much as a bar’s shot glass.
In a brick building on Madison’s far east side, analysts test each sample using a box-like machine called a gas chromatograph. They code each sample with a unique ID number. They record the test results.
The lab’s analysts know what ID numbers belong to what samples, but they don’t know who the sample came from. They don’t know what blood might have belonged to Peotter, Hill or Meyer.
“That’s the way it has to be, that’s the way you would want it to be,” said Pat Harding, supervisor of the lab’s toxicology department. “Our results have to be unimpeachable.
“It can’t be tainted by emotion.”
About 315 times a year, attorneys call on hygiene lab analysts to testify in trial about their alcohol samples.
“We see the devastation that drunk driving causes,” Harding said. “(Because) we analyze the sample from the drunk driver that killed five kids. We go to court and we see the families.
“Sure, we see that all the time.”
But for Harding and other analysts, clear-eyed science must trump emotion, because what matters in the end is the answer, the level of alcohol that the gas chromatograph identified in a small vial of fluid, extracted by a needle that once met flesh.
Posted by Gary at 10:02 AM | Comments (0)