Tag: war on drugs

Marijuana Posted on

5 Nobel Prize Economists Call for End to Failed War on Drugs

London School of Economics released a report calling for experimentation in drug policy. The war on drugs is a global disaster, ranging from mass incarceration to violent, billion-dollar cartels. It is a public health nightmare, and a social justice embarrassment that targets communities of color and locks them up for profit. When the UN General Assembly convenes its special session on drugs in 2016, it should take heed of a groundbreaking report released May 7, which exposes the injustices of the drug war. Five Nobel Prize economists have weighed in on the repercussions of the global war on drugs, outlining “the effects of prohibition on security, drug prices, rule of law and public health,” according to a press release. It concludes that governments would make better use […] Read More

Marijuana Posted on

2014: Marijuana Treats on the Go

Just step up to the window and buy a marijuana-laced sandwich or cup of soup. A food truck out of Seattle is giving new meaning to the foodie phrase “classics with a twist.” The truck is dishing up items like grilled three-cheese sandwiches, tomato soup and truffle popcorn. The twist? They’re made with marijuana. MagicalButter.com is the purveyor of a nifty gadget for cannabis edibles lovers—the MB2, a fully automated extractor that transfers the active ingredients from the plant into butter, cooking oils, alcohol (for tinctures) or lotions. With the 2012 legalization of marijuana in their company’s home state of Washington and in Colorado (where they debuted their food truck at the Cannabis Cup in Denver on April 19 and 20), MagicalButter.com saw an opportunity […] Read More

Drug's Posted on

2014: How the Corporate Media and Journalists Perpetuate Lies and Misinformation About Drugs

Drug panics have real and damaging consequences. The following article first appeared on Substance.com:  Journalists are no less likely to take drugs than anyone else—indeed, in my admittedly anecdotal experience, they’re more likely to use. You’d think that this would make us especially skeptical both about federal policies that failed to prevent our own drug-taking and about extreme claims about drug users. But the press may actually be one of the biggest obstacles to reform. Instead of asking tough questions, reporters tend to simply parrot conventional wisdom—and reinforce the idea that the drug war is the only way, even when drug warriors’ claims contradict the evidence of the writers’ own lives. In the last month alone, we’ve seen several particularly egregious examples of mindless reporting—including one that […] Read More

Drug's Posted on

The Latest Pot Myth, Smacked Down By Science

Why do prohibitionists keep pushing lies about legal weed? Those opposed to the legalization and regulation of marijuana for any purpose, including the plant’s therapeutic use when authorized by a physician, often allege that the adoption of such laws will result in a significant increase in pot use by young people. “The damage of marijuana—and these laws—is clear,” claims David Evans, executive director of the Drug Free Schools Coalition, in a recent open letter to US Attorney General Eric Holder and DEA Administrator Michele Leonhart. “Legalization of marijuana for ‘medical’ use and recreational use in those states has resulted in more marijuana use, particularly among young people.” Adds Kevin Sabet, co-founder of Project SAM and a former senior policy advisor at the White House Office of National Drug […] Read More

Marijuana Posted on

Here’s Why Advertisers Should Embrace Marijuana

Google, Facebook and Twitter have all recently come out against pot ads. But they should rethink their decision. The following article first appeared in Cannabis Now:  With the majority of Americans in favor of marijuana legalization and the recent legalization of marijuana in Washington and Colorado, Obama’s decision to allow such business models to operate legally within their states and his recent concession that the substance is no more harmful than alcohol and tobacco, it’s safe to expect these newly legal enterprises will eventually have a need for advertising and marketing efforts. Attorney General Eric Holder is even positing that the administration is about to allow banking reforms for these legal businesses and has come forward saying that he would work on the rescheduling of cannabis should congress decide to move in that direction. Recently, […] Read More

Marijuana Posted on

The Drug War Fuels Mass Deportation of Nonviolent Migrants

250,000 people have been deported for drug offenses in the last 6 years. The drug war has increasingly become a war against migrant communities. It fuels racial profiling, border militarization, violence against immigrants, intrusive government surveillance and, especially, widespread detentions and deportations. Media and politicians have tried to convince us that everyone who gets deported is a violent criminal, a terrorist or a drug kingpin. But a newly released, first-of-its-kind report shatters that notion, showing instead that the majority (some two-thirds) of those deported last year were guilty of minor, nonviolent offenses – including thousands deported for nothing more than possessing small quantities of drugs, typically marijuana. The report, an analysis of federal immigration data conducted by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University, […] Read More

Marijuana Posted on

The Most Unbelievably Absurd Argument Against Legal Pot, Yet

Legal marijuana opponents are getting increasingly desperate in their efforts to thwart legalization. Maryland is going green. Last week, the State Senate passed by a margin of 34 to 8 a bill that would decriminalize marijuana in the Old Line State. Governor Martin O’Malley – a potential frontrunner for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination – said in a statement that he would sign the bill. He said:  “As a young prosecutor, I once thought that decriminalizing the possession of marijuana might undermine the public will necessary to combat drug violence… I now think that [it] is an acknowledgment of the low priority that our courts, our prosecutors, our police and the vast majority of citizens already attach to this transgression of public order and public […] Read More

Marijuana Posted on

2014: Obama Administration Doesn’t Need Congress to Loosen Marijuana Restrictions

Polls find up to 81% U.S. support for medical pot–it’s time we at least allow studies. Attorney General Eric Holder is trying to walk an increasingly fraught middle ground on cannabis policy. Attention has turned to the federal government on the issue of marijuana’s classification as a Schedule I drug, alongside heroin and LSD, among many others. Schedule I drugs are deemed to be harmful and have no medical benefit. With 20 states plus Washington D.C. having a medical marijuana law on the books, and Maryland set to be the 17th state to decriminalize pot, it’s clear that many state legislatures disagree. Polls have found up to 81% national support for medical cannabis. Holder said he’d be “more than glad to work with Congress,” on […] Read More

Drug's Posted on

2014: 10 Songs With Hidden Drug References

Some are subtle. Others…not so much. The following article first appeared on Substance.com:  Music and drugs: They’re so enmeshed that you might well call them co-dependent. Drugs have been used both as subject matter—whether it’s Neil Young lamenting “The Needle and the Damage Done“ or Pete Tosh imploring the powers-that-be to “Legalize It“—and as tools to unlock hitherto unexplored sonic landscapes. Without LSD’s mind-twisting influence we probably wouldn’t have the freaked-out beauty of The Beatles’ “A Day in the Life,” and it’s doubtful whether the jittery aggression of The Sex Pistols’ “Anarchy in the UK“ would have been quite so frantic without copious amounts of amphetamine. And as for MDMA’s relationship with dance music, or the cloud of ganja smoke that hangs over the history of reggae, it’s fair […] Read More

Marijuana Posted on

2014: Majority of Law Enforcement Officers Support Marijuana Policy Reform

Former cop: the war on drugs changed the very nature of policing for the worse. Though not conducted with the methodological rigor of the Pew poll that came out yesterday showing 54% of Americans support the legalization of marijuana and two-thirds believe drug policy should focus on treatment rather than prosecuting drug users, Law Officer magazine has provided LEAP a poll of its own showing an even more surprising finding: a majority of law enforcement officers also support marijuana policy reform. Though some of the provided answers seemed to overlap, the overall effect is one indicating broad support for change among the readership of the publication, 97% of whom indicated they are or had been in law enforcement.  Some of the most surprising results include 66% saying marijuana possession should […] Read More