The Real “Air Bud”
June 15th, 2009 by ErinIn high school, my friend’s dog ate a sack of weed at a party (by accident) and we all gazed with laughter as we watched it scarf down food and pass out shortly after. It appears he wasn’t the only puppy with a taste for greenery.
People in Seward Park, Seattle need to keep a better eye on their personal stash. Jen Nestor Waddell’s dog stumbled back to her with a glazed-over look in its eyes like it was high. Unknowingly why, she brought him to the vet where they determined that it consumed a large amount of dried and harvested cannabis. After some induced vomiting, a good night’s sleep and a $1,500 vet bill, Jack, the 11-year old black Lab mix, was all clear-eyed, sober and fine.
So make your vote: Air Bud, Spuds McKenzie or Jack — who’s the biggest party animal?
Warning: Cocaine, Crack Being Cut with Levamisole
June 9th, 2009 by Rick
A reported three drug users required hospitalization in Seattle stemming from close to fatal poisoning from the drug Levamisole, a deworming medication for animals, that was used to cut the crack and cocaine they consumed.
Public Health of Seattle & King County claimed that one patient alone had a medical bill of $100,000 and another needed surgery. Apparently, Levamisole can wipe out a human’s white blood cell count and create other serious health problems:
- high fever
- chills
- swollen glands
- painful sores on the mouth and anus
They issued an alert last Thursday to rehab centers in an effort to reach the users about Levamisole. Director of the public-health department, David Fleming, said:
You can’t tell if the cocaine or crack is contaminated with Levamisole by looking at it. [...] Don’t take a chance and risk your life.
According to Bob Wood, AIDS-control officer with Public Health, until last fall, little was known about Levamisole, because it was “obscurely reported” in the medicinal field despite it being discovered in the 1960’s.
Wood noted:
It’s a good time to remind people that cocaine is a dangerous drug. [...] Now, it’s dangerous for another reason.
Cases in a couple of states as well as areas in Canada and England have appeared within the past two years — so apparently it’s a growing epidemic. Cocaine and crack users are essentially playing Russian roulette while chasing their next high.
Joint Smoking Teen Faces Stern Consequences
June 9th, 2009 by RickWhen Ian Barry, a 17-year old junior from Peninsula High School in Gig Harbor, WA, lit up a marijuana joint and smoked it during his presentation of his essay on the legalization of marijuana last Tuesday, he wasn’t “pulling a stunt” or trying to become a martyr for the cause. He just wanted to show that pot doesn’t warrant the negative taboo and should be legalized.
The end of Barry’s essay:
I have provided you with information, facts and statistical evidence that all point towards the legalization of marijuana. [...] But the truth is it doesn’t matter what I say until you, the people, stand up and besiege the government to re-address the litigation of marijuana.
Barry said:
I see myself as someone who holds himself to a high moral value. [...] As Sir Isaac Newton said, ‘Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. [...] I don’t think there would have been another way I could have gotten this reaction.
After the incident, he was arrested, whisked away to Tacoma and taken to the Remann Hall juvenile detention center. He was also expelled and must meet with administrators from his school to determine if he would be allowed to finish his classes. As well as academic punishment, Barry still faces misdemeanor charges of “unlawful drug possession” and he realizes this would go on his record.
WSU Professor Receives Marijuana Grant
June 3rd, 2009 by Rick
An upcoming (and recently funded) two year pot study out of Washington state plans to compare the medicinal mysteries of marijuana — working alone as an anti-pain agent — against its success at alleviating pain when combined with synthetic anti-pain medications (such as morphine).
Professor of psychology, Michael Morgan, at Washington State University (WSU), qualified to receive a $148,438 grant from the National Institutes of Health, who in turn received their funding from the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 — the economic stimulus package signed in February.
Morgan talked about the proposed study at a press conference:
This research is innovative in the field. [...] Currently there are no other projects that are studying this chemical relationship using these parameters.
Ironically enough, the project is funded by stimulus dollars and was selected because of ”its potential to stimulate the economy and create or retain jobs within the community.” Another merit was the chance of making documented scientific progress within a short time span. Remember, two years is the blink of an eye to most research scientists (especially those on 15 year double-blind medication trials.)
Student Lights up in Front of Class, Awesome
June 3rd, 2009 by Erin
I remember giving a presentation on legalizing marijuana when I was in college… mine consisted of some “persuasive facts” and a pretty lousy PowerPoint.
Maybe if I had bigger balls (or any for that matter,) I would have done what a student at Peninsula High School in Purdy, Washington did Tuesday morning: Spark up in front of my audience.
According to Pierce County Sheriff’s Detective Ed Troyer, in an attempt to support the notion that use of marijuana has no definitive correlation with intelligence, the 17-year old junior (with a 3.7 GPA no less) smoked a joint while giving his presentation supporting pot legalization.
Once his class exhibition ended, he walked back to his seat, casually sat down, finished the joint, and ate the last remaining evidence, the roach. I bet it tasted like sweet, sweet victory until of course, he was later arrested for possession of marijuana.
Dude in Washington, forget the possession charge. You get today’s “Awesome Award.” A+
Medical Marijuana Patient Robbed Twice
May 29th, 2009 by RickMark Spohn, a medical marijuana patient in Seattle had his home invaded by some men, pretending to be FBI agents. After they told him to get down on the floor, the proceeded to rob him of his medical marijuana.
To make matters worse, when the Seattle police arrived there they learned that there were entirely too many plants at the residence, so they robbed confiscated dozens of the plants. Under the Washington medical marijuana law, patients are allowed to have 15 plants and 24 ounces.
Spohn informed the police that several patients were growing their medical marijuana there as well, but the police merely stated that they were enforcing the law. Detectives declined to speak on camera, but neighbors had said that the home had been subjected to attempted break-ins before.
As the Seattle police carried out the medical marijuana, the actual FBI arrived on the scene and began looking into the home invasion and a possible impersonation of a federal officer.
Under the terms of the Washington law, patients that qualify for medical marijuana have either a terminal illness or a debilitating condition. Spohn is devastated and from this point on, doesn’t know what he will do.
Some Washington Reps Favor Pot Legalization
April 24th, 2009 by Rick
Despite the Obama Administration telling the public that they are against the legalization of marijuana, four Congress representatives are endorsing it. Loretta Sanchez (D-CA), Jim McDermott (D-WA), Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), and Ron Paul (R-TX) have come forward and suggested that by legalizing pot, the violence that goes along with the illegal distribution of it would be curbed.
Rep. Rohrabacher said:
I think that there has been an honest, very honest, sincere attempt to win the drug war, and that it is not a winnable war. [...] I don’t think there is anything more they can do to try to make the drug war work.
Rep. McDermott said:
Clearly, people all over the country are using marijuana. We have filled our prisons at enormous costs…and we have no money for education. [...] We spend more, and more, more money in [the Drug Enforcement Administration], and rounding up people, and spraying fields, and all this stuff. And, from a social policy, I don’t see any reason not to legalize it, control it, sell it, [and] tax it.
Calvina Fay, executive director of Drug Free America Foundation, said:
I can’t understand how anyone thinks that legalizing drugs is going to stop the violence. [...] To think that drug traffickers in Mexico are going to fall in line and pay their taxes if marijuana is legalized is just flawed thinking.
Rep. Rohrabacher said:
There are a lot of people who understand that [the current war on drugs has been a failure], but they are afraid to politically say so. [...] If it was a vote – a blind vote where nobody knew who was voting – you would have overwhelming support for legalizing marijuana out there, but they will never vote for it because they are afraid of taking on a controversial issue.
Hemp — Don’t Call It a Comeback
April 3rd, 2009 by Rick
The farming of industrial hemp may be returning to the United States, thanks to the effort of two Washington lawmakers, Reps. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) and Ron Paul (R-Texas), who are reintroducing legislation to legalize the black sheep family member of Cannabis. Many hemp advocates believe legalizing it will stimulate our current sinking economy.
Eric Steenstra, president of Vermont-based Vote Hemp, said in a statement:
Hemp is a versatile, environmentally-friendly crop that has not been grown here for over 50 years because of a politicized interpretation of the nation’s drug laws by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Jobs would be created overnight, as there are numerous U.S. companies that now have no choice but to import hemp materials valued at $360 million in annual retail sales and growing.
$360 million a year is a drop in the bucket compared to what hemp can truly net. Hemp has numerous uses including paper, textiles, biodegradable plastics, construction, health food, and fuel. The Chinese have been using it for over a millennia, finding over 5,000 uses for it. Henry Ford grew industrial hemp on his estate after 1937. He made plastic cars with wheat straw, hemp and sisal… but Rockefeller bought and destroyed them. Soon thereafter, hemp was banned.
Major producers include Canada, France, and China but nearly every industrialized country in the world produces hemp. More hemp is exported to the United States than to any other country.
[img via Dan Koeck for The New York Times]
