FREE THE WEED 28

A Column by John Sinclair

If all goes well, by the time you read this column I’ll have completed my 5-month residency at the New Orleans Institute for the Imagination and be back in Amsterdam to start the summer. I’ve had a great time in the crescent City, spending many quality hours and days with my daughter Celia and my hosts Frenchy the Painter (uptown by Oak Street) and Jimmy Cass (downtown in the 9^th Ward), playing some gigs with Tom Worrell and with Carlo Ditta, sitting in with Henry Butler and Glen David Andrews, and smoking consistently excellent illegal weed provided by one of my oldest and dearest pals.

VGIP- Tim Beck on 2013 Local Initiatives and Michigan Politics

By Ben Horner

Things in the medical marijuana community are in a constant state of flux, as it seems the rules are changing constantly. Many growers in Michigan are suspicious of currant legislation to regulate dispensaries and how it could restrict grower’s rights. There is widespread concern about how cannabis should be cultivated and if caregivers will have a place in the future.

Several groups are mounting efforts to explore future legalization efforts here in Michigan, but very few understand how to successfully accomplish this task.

I asked Tim Beck to way in on some of these tough questions. Here is what he had to say.

Caregivers United

The cannabis farmers market is a phenomenon of the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act, and offers a unique way for patients and caregivers to come together to exchange information, genetics and medication. Just like at your local farmers market where you go to purchase locally grown produce, dairy, meat and other cottage industry products, the medical marijuana farmers market have local growers vend their medical marijuana. These vendors typically pay a fee to rent a table to display and transfer their wares. These places are a great alternative to dispensaries for several reasons.

MMM Presents: The 5th and 6th Michigan Medical Marijuana Conference

5th Michigan Medical Marijuana Conference
Clarion Hotel, 2900 Jackson Avenue, Ann
August 23, 24 & 25th

6th Michigan Medical Marijuana Conference
Grand Traverse Spa & Resort, 100 Grand Traverse
September 27, 28 & 29th

MEDICAL MARIJUANA CLOSES THE GATE ON INCREASED TEEN USE

The argument that legalizing medical marijuana increases use among teens has been a key point for anti-marijuana groups to manipulate, even though no evidence exists to support those claims. In January, Patrick Kennedy (son of the late Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Edward M. Kennedy) formed Project SAM (Smart Approaches to Marijuana) in an attempt to rejuvenate the fear that marijuana once endured. He travels the country speaking to groups about the dangers of marijuana even though it was his addiction to OxyContin and alcohol that led to his political demise. In 2006, he fell asleep behind the wheel and crashed his car into a barrier near the U.S. Capitol. His problems forced him to retire from the House of Representatives.  Kennedy recently stated that research now makes it clear that marijuana is a gateway drug that can induce psychosis, creating “devastating health consequences,” Unfortunately for Kennedy, this research doesn’t exist. What does exist is a new study published in the American Journal of Public Health in which researchers at the University of Florida College of Medicine in Gainseville determined that the enactment of state medical marijuana laws does not lead to an increase in teen marijuana use. 

CUTTINGS FROM CANNABIS CLASSICS

by Chuck Ream

Second in a series exploring the most important books about cannabis.

 This month we check out “The Pot Book, A Complete Guide to Cannabis, its Role in Medicine, Politics, Science, and Culture” edited by Julie Holland M.D. This 500 page treasure trove is a selection of 42 short essays about cannabis, each a crystallized gem by the expert in their subject.

Dr. Lester Grinspoon , a retired professor of Psychiatry at Harvard, argues in the “Foreward”  that medical marijuana can never be fully utilized as long as pot is illegal, since patients are constantly harassed by police. He says “the only way out is to cut the knot by giving marijuana the same status as alcohol”.

SAVE THE CHILDREN

If there is one thing that almost every citizen can agree on is that they don’t want children using marijuana. It would be safe to assume that most people also wouldn’t want children using alcohol or prescription drugs. As far as hard drugs like cocaine, heroin, meth, etc, we can assume the public would frown upon offering them to children as well. It would also be hard to argue that marijuana is the most dangerous of the aforementioned drugs.  So why is it that anti marijuana ads have been increasingly taking over the airwaves? Here are a few headlines for the NEW REEFER MADNESS.