Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Legal Weed Appears to Cause a Sharp Reduction in Suicides: Discuss
Health & Medicine David Downs — Tue, Feb 7, 2012 at 3:55 PM
At least that's what epidemiologists and psychologists are going to have to do, in light of new findings from the same researchers who found that legalization correlates with fewer road deaths:
"Using state-level data for the period 1990 through 2007, we estimate the effect of legalizing medical marijuana on suicide rates. Our results suggest that the passage of a medical marijuana law is associated with an almost 5 percent reduction in the total suicide rate, an 11 percent reduction in the suicide rate of 20- through 29-year-old males, and a 9 percent reduction in the suicide rate of 30- through 39-year-old males. Estimates of the relationship between legalization and female suicides are less precise and are sensitive to functional form."
That's from the discussion paper, entitled "High on Life? Medical Marijuana Laws and Suicide," written by D. Mark Anderson, Daniel I. Rees, and Joseph J. Sabia, and sponsored by the IZA, a private, independent research institute that conducts nationally- and internationally-oriented labor market research.
TIME Magazine: Legal Pot for Adults Not A Question of 'If,' But 'How'
Legalization David Downs — Tue, Feb 7, 2012 at 9:47 AM
"In a few years, the national discussion may well turn from whether to legalize marijuana to how to do it in the most prudent way," writes Yale Law teacher Adam Cohen on Time.com. "In strictly political terms ... fast-growing support and solid majorities among the young, who represent where the electorate is headed ... is a powerful combination. (Support for gay marriage polls similarly — which is why it is becoming law in more states.)"
Monday, February 6, 2012
The Growth of Weed Apps Is Explosive (Despite Federal Finger-Wagging)
Cannabis Culture David Downs — Mon, Feb 6, 2012 at 5:27 PM
Medical cannabis patients are increasingly turning to their smartphones to easily find deals of the day, scan dispensary menus, and even schedule some dispensary-provided yoga. A tour of the Apple App Store and the Android Market reveals a rapidly advancing world of weed apps, even amid the crackdown by the US Department of Justice. Whether it’s studying up on strains, finding a physician who specializes in the medicinal herb, staying informed, or ending prohibition, the needs of the medical cannabis industry are playing out on mobile technology. Here are some of our favorites:
Tom Ammiano: Justice Department Has Gone Rogue
David Downs — Mon, Feb 6, 2012 at 3:37 PM
Strong words from the assemblyman in yesterday's Chron, in response to the four U.S. Attorneys in California who have caused the closure of five permitted dispensaries in San Francisco, plus one in Fairfax. Ammiano also argues the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and mayor need to be more vociferous: "We cannot allow the wholesale dismantling of medical marijuana in the state by a rogue Department of Justice," he said.
Meanwhile, over in Arizona, the first state cannabis center is scheduled to open this week, and in Colorado, where a for-profit medical industry includes over 800 centers, anti-prohibition forces must gather a few more good signatures to get their adult use initiative on the ballot.
NUGGETRY Announces first Annual 'Stoner of the Year' Awards
Cannabis Culture David Downs — Mon, Feb 6, 2012 at 9:48 AM
Voting is now open for Nuggetry.com's shameless yet effective, page view-grabbing "Stoner of the Year Awards". Vote for Celebrity Stoner, ProStoner, Youtube Stoner, 4-Legged Stoner, Advocate Stoner and Athlete Stoner. The current frontrunners are, respectively: Doug Benson, Magweedo, the CCC420, Copper the ccc420 dog, Ron Paul, and Michael Phelps. We're going to go figure out what a Magweedo is. Full nominees list and requisite huge weed pic:
Friday, February 3, 2012
“Completely Ignoring Our Valid Questions Is Deeply Disrespectful”
Legalization David Downs — Fri, Feb 3, 2012 at 12:36 PM
That's from Law Enforcement Against Prohibition spokesperson Stephen Downing's “Silence Says a Lot: An Open Letter to Google About Marijuana Legalization”, after legalization-related questions were omitted from a recent YouTube- and Google Plus-enabled public chat with president Obama:
“Eighteen of the 20 top vote-getting [YouTube] questions were on drug policy; mine was the highest-ranked video question on the entire site and the second-highest vote-getter overall, trailing only a text question about online copyright infringement ...
[But] Google didn't present the president with my question. And your host, Steve Grove, didn't say one word during the entire interview about any of the other popular marijuana and drug policy questions.
Drug War Budget Cuts Might Gut Prevention
Regulation & Legislation David Downs — Fri, Feb 3, 2012 at 12:22 PM
That's the take-away from "The Federal Drug Budget Under Sequestration" by the policy wonks at Carnevale Associates, in their December Policy Brief.
The federal drug war is starving for revenue and we're printing money to feed it — but it's still losing weight. Now that the deficit supercommittee has failed to close the federal budget gap, mandatory budget cuts called "sequestration" are going to kick in, and Carnevale — headed by John Carnevale, an economics PhD and drug-war insider — can do the math on how that'll change the drug war. The answer: same battle, less treatment. Lovely.
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Watch Bill O'Reilly Fail A Basic Statistics Class Whilst Discussing Weed
Cannabis Culture David Downs — Thu, Feb 2, 2012 at 10:46 AM
The Dutch have lower levels of access to, and use of, cannabis among teens compared to Americans — and it's not because they're winning some insane War on Mind Alteration. It's because Bill O'Reilly doesn't live there and bum everyone out.
Below, O'Reilly dismisses the Dutch's lower cannabis use rates by acting like he doesn't understand how statistics work, then passing that idiocy onto his lovely viewers.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Joan Rivers Gets Baked, Eats Munchies, Tastes Water From Shoe
Cannabis Culture David Downs — Wed, Feb 1, 2012 at 9:48 AM
Last year we wrote about how hard it is for seniors to get safe access to medical marijuana, whether due to stigma or bans on dispensaries. Apparently, seventy-eight year-old actress and comedian Joan Rivers has no such problem.
Rivers doesn't care what anyone thinks, and she lives in L.A., so cue the latest episode of her reality TV show Joan & Melissa: Joan Knows Best, wherein Rivers obtains some medical marijuana, smokes pot with a friend in a parked car, gets too high to drive to some fast food, then later jumps into her jacuzzi fully clothed before acting like she's drinking some water out of her shoe.
At first we were like, "bad role model!", but then we were like, "Meh, she's 78. Go nuts, Joan."
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
San Francisco Dispensaries' Annual Sales Estimate: $41 Million
Regulation & Legislation David Downs — Tue, Jan 31, 2012 at 10:17 AM
The San Francisco controller's office has done an unprecedented analysis of the amount of sales tax revenue going to the general fund from the sale of medical cannabis at permitted city dispensaries. The results are staggering.
San Francisco has an 8.5 percent sales tax rate, coming from a combination of the state's 7.25 percent sales tax with a local one percent sales tax that goes to SF's general fund, and a .25 percent sales tax that goes into other buckets (like transportation). San Francisco's roughly two dozen permitted clubs must pay the 8.5 percent sales tax, which is then reported to the controller's office.
For the most recent reporting period which ended with the third quarter of 2011, a year's worth of general fund revenue from the sales tax on medical marijuana totals “just over $410,000,” said Curt Fuchs, senior economist in the Controller's office.
