Monday, July 12, 2010
Daily Roundup: Oakland Pot Farm Regulations Ready; Weed as a Wedge Issue
Regulation & Legislation David Downs — Mon, Jul 12, 2010 at 10:01 AM
Today's must-reads: 1. Oakland's unprecedented medical cannabis cultivation regulations go before the city council tomorrow. Some in the community like them; others, not so much. ...
2. Can weed be a wedge issue driving Democratic voters to ballot? The Atlantic analyzes. "Political scientists disagree about whether gay-marriage bans helped Republicans, though a growing body of scholarship suggests that they probably did. So far, nobody has measured marijuana's effect at the polls. But Stephen Nicholson, a leading expert on ballot initiatives at the University of California at Merced, told me that he plans to. What's more, he sees an intriguing precedent in the nuclear freeze initiatives of 28 years ago, which he has studied. 'In the 1982 midterms, 10 states had ballot initiatives on the nuclear freeze,' Nicholson told me. 'This had a significant positive effect on Democratic candidates.' In states without them, candidates saw little to no effect.'"
3. OC Register op-ed says that ending the drug war is "limited government," so why is GOP attacking? [via MAP]
3. This coming weekend the Executive Board of the California Democratic Party will vote on whether to endorse Proposition 19, aka the Tax Cannabis 2010 initiative.
4. The journal Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior concludes chronic chronic users show no cognitive impairment. "Scientists found that participants' overall performance accuracy on episodic memory and working memory tasks 'was not significantly altered by marijuana. ... The present findings show that smoked marijuana produced minimal effects on episodic and spatial working memory of near-daily smokers, the researchers concluded.'" However, keep it away from kids, as it may exacerbate genetic predispositions to schizophrenia in 10 to 15 percent of youths.
5. Lab-made "synthetic marijuana" drug K2 is now banned in eight states, NYTimes reports. "First developed in the lab of a Clemson University chemist, John W. Huffman, K2’s active ingredients are synthetic cannabinoids — research-grade chemicals that were created for therapeutic purposes but can also mimic the narcotic effects of tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the active ingredient in marijuana. In a statement, Mr. Huffman said the chemicals were not intended for human use. He added that his lab had developed them for research purposes only, and that 'their effects in humans have not been studied and they could very well have toxic effects.'''
Comments (2)
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DoctorK,
Prop 19 serves nobody except the 4 main club owners of Oakland. Their "campaign team" (Lee's puppets) could care less about public safety - they could care less if cannabis has medicinal value. They simply want to make as much profit off this Prop's passing as possible. Why else would the city already have regulatory guidelines "all set to go?"
Prop 19 gives too much power to the county; not by what it says, but by what the language of the proposition DOESN'T say.
Legality needs to happen, but Prop 19 is nothing more than a profiteering scam being fueled by Lee, Wilcox, and DeAnagelo's desire to monopolize the market in Alameda county.
So while your rhetoric is correct and valid for a pro-legalization action, you're not examining the logistics of the Prop and how it effects the county where it was created in versus the rest of the state's needs.
Doesn't matter...Prop 19 will not pass. Enough voters are waking up to the reality of what this Prop is about.
Peace.
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It is interesting that the opponents of Prop. 19 call themselves "Public safety first". And this is when it has been conclusively shown by experts that Cannabis use suppresses violent behavior (as opposed to alcohol), and that Cannabis can even be potentially useful in addiction treatment, that is in helping people stay off booze and dangerous hard drugs or prescription drugs. Mexican drug cartels also oppose Legalization because if Cannabis is legalized all their illegal distribution networks are no longer needed. Recent scientific Conference in LA also stressed that current situation is unacceptable and unsustainable, and that it is supported by "prison-industrial complex" in this country because those are the people who benefit financially from more prisons and more prisoners. The so-called "public safety first" campaign against Proposition 19 is simply not entitled to use this name for their lies and distortions, because if we talk about "public safety", it is the supporters of Prop. 19 and not its opponents who really care about it. Public safety will be much better served if the Proposition passes, rather than if it fails!
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