FREE THE WEED 03 By Jon Sinclair

Cinco de Mayo, the 5th of May, is Liberation Day in Holland. It marks the end of the brutal German occupation of The Netherlands during World War II, and the Dutch people celebrate their deliverance from the evil Nazi regime with festivals and gatherings throughout the country.

Liberation Day is a jubilant affirmation of the inalienable human right to freedom and  liberty and self-determination. And it keeps alive in the national consciousness the triumph of humanism and democracy over the insanely cruel system of oppression and exploitation imposed and enforced by Adolph Hitler and his psychotic Nazi regime. Liberation Day has big meaning for the Dutch people because they know what it was to be occupied and ruled by the Nazis. They know what freedom means because they were not free and then they were liberated. In turn, the Netherlands has helped pioneer the emergent European Union—now 27 member states including former bitter enemies in both World Wars and the Cold War as well—to try to prevent any further wars among themselves and secure enduring continental peace.

The tiny nation’s experience with occupation and liberation seems also to have engendered an extraordinary spirit of tolerance and personal freedom amongst the populace. Dutch people tend to enjoy their freedom as individual citizens to live and comport themselves as they may wish as long as they are not harming others.

Professional sex activity is tolerated and even licensed and allowed to thrive in its own

district. Recreational drug users of every sort are not regarded as criminals, and possession of small amounts of one’s drug of choice is not regarded as a crime.

Most spectacularly, the Dutch allow free use of cannabis and provide for its retail sale over the counters of hundreds of licensed coffee shops around the country. There are nearly 250 operative coffeeshops in Amsterdam itself, warmly and efficiently serving the cannabis-smoking community with top-quality Dutch-grown marijuana and imported hashish which may be smoked and enjoyed on the premises.

For an American, the situation in the Netherlands is as close to a condition of social freedom as one can imagine. In the United States, cannabis users are legally defined as criminals and hounded and persecuted by the police all their lives as smokers. Citizens are subject to drug testing as a condition of steady employment or for the successful completion of a probationary sentence, and they live in constant fear of police raids on their homes and businesses and the incessant stops, searches and seizures of their personal stashes—even prescribed medical marijuana—when arrested in their cars or public places.

The burgeoning American police state has been built on the framework of the government’s 40-year War on Drugs, in which the preponderance of victims of the drug warriors are marijuana smokers. Hundreds of thousands of American pot smokers are incarcerated in federal and state prisons as we speak, but they represent only a mere fraction of the citizenry victimized by the police and courts simply for smoking marijuana.

A vast industry of punishment and social pain has been erected on the backs of American marijuana smokers. Legions of special narcotics police stalk the streets of our communities seeking to harass and arrest every marijuana user or supplier they can find. The arrestees are dragged before special drug courts and tried by special drug prosecutors in front of special drug judges armed with the most draconian set of drug laws imaginable.

Once convicted, usually following a guilty plea arranged by one of the thousands of lawyers who specialize in representinging drug law offenders, the smoker is fined, sentenced to a probationary term and ordered into a drug treatment. Their urine is assessed in drug testing labs and their conduct scrutinized by drug treatment professionals, drug probation officers and the ever-present drug police.

That’s a whole lot of people and facilities lined up against marijuana smokers and dedicated to our capture and punishment. Thousands and thousands and thousands of Americans are employed at taxpayers’ expense by the insane mechanism created by the War on Drugs, and this vast force of drug law enforcers prospers by delivering severe punishment to an entire national community of recreational—and even medicinal— marijuana smokers.

Since my release from prison as a marijuana law offender 40 years ago—and now as a licensed Medical Marijuana Patient in the State of Michigan—I’ve managed to avoid arrest while smoking quietly each day, but the shadow of the drug Gestapo is always hovering overhead no matter where you are. Carrying a small smoking stash in public or even toking in your home can bring serious grief if you’re apprehended, and the pothead lives in a continuous state of terror even if the police remain at bay.

Liberation for the marijuana smoker in America, sad to say, is not on the near horizon. The mammoth drug law enforcement industry built up around the War on Drugs channels billions of dollars each year to the worst segments of our society, and I’m afraid they’re so deeply entrenched that their overthrow will be particularly problematic.

But liberation for the weedhead is real when one arrives in Amsterdam. Purchasing and smoking cannabis is perfectly okay, and the police have no interest whatsoever in the individual smoker. All of a sudden one is no longer a criminal, and the veil of fear and trembling rises and floats away in the breeze. Life begins a new in liberated territory, and we are free to live our lives as marijuana smokers without fear at last.

Liberation from the Nazi oppressors, liberation from drug police terror—these are good things, and we will continue to celebrate them as long as we may live.

Jon Sinclair

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Macc The Knife By JC Trout!

The Isabella County Case is epic. It is a perfect storm that will resolve some of the most controversial issues created by the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act (2008); patient-to-patient transfers, for-profit medical marijuana clubs (dispensaries), as well as a the right to assemble. This new “friend of the court” (amicus curiae) brief submitted by Attorney Matthew Newburg to the Michigan State Court of Appeals, will silencethe A.G. Bill Schuette’s discrimination and lay his legal arguments to rest.

We, as in the “Royal WE,” have been waiting for what seems an eternity for some closure to the legal controversy that surrounds the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act since its passing. Adding insult to injury, Bill Schuette, the anti-medical marijuana leader who had been defeated with the passing of our bill, now darkens the Attorney General’s desk, and has been eager to use that power not to uphold the laws of the state of Michigan, but to destroy a program directly passed by its citizens. Well folks, that time is now! The final battle between light and dark side shall collide in the State of Michigan v. McQueen. On December 16, 2010, Larry Burdick, Isabella’s Prosecutor was unable to convince the court that the actions of the Apothecary Compassion owners Brandon McQueen and Matthew Taylor were in anyway unlawful; the nuisance charges dropped, and the case closed. One would think the Compassion Apothecary would be allowed to return to their lives unabated.

Instead Burdick, with the support of AG Schuette, took the case to the Michigan Court of Appeals to seek a retrial. Schuette, then submitted an amicus curiae to carry his personal vendetta against the program in the higher courts. In his brief, Schuette cleverly rehashed Burdick's original contention citing that the MMMA did not allow for-profit clubs, but only payment for caregiver expenses. Then through a skewed reading of the act’s caregiver system, patients are not to transfer between one another, and that the club owners “exceeded established limits for qualified patients and caregivers.” With this brief, Schuette hopes to reverse the lower courts previous ruling. Then the “journey towards the dark side [would] be complete.”

In plain language, a patient-topatient transfer could be anything from one patient passing a doob to another patient, to an actual transfer of medication for compensation. The amount the club was allowed to have on the premises largely depended on the interpretation of the MMMA’s caregiver system. And lastly, the club owners, in an attempt to run a viable business, charged caregivers 20% commission for vending space; akin to a farmers’ market scenario.

Fortunately, on May 11, Matthew Newburg, Amicus Attorney representing the Michigan Association Compassion Centers (MACC), filed amicus curiae on behalf of the club owners. In the brief, Newburg squarely put Schuette and Burdick against the ropes with logical haymakers and legal jabs citing statutory ignorance and misuse of power. However, Newburg’s elegance is not found in the assertions of Schuette’s clouded actions, but in the bulldog style used to convey the rights of the medical marijuana patients and caregivers. His address focused, among a myriad of other issues, on patient-to-patient transfers, as well as the “sale” of marijuana in the state.

Unlike the actual rules set forth by the MMMA (2008) or the administrative rules of 2009, Newburg addresses Patients and caregivers separately, and using the act itself coupled with current law regarding agent-principle relationships, creates a legal scaffolding to address incongruencies. In the brief he argues that patient-to-patient transfers are legal because the control of “usable marijuana,” is actually the property of the patient. The caregiver is contractually charged with obtaining medication for their patient either through cultivation or using the caregiver system to relieve patient suffering. And the liberal language of the MMMA, gives credit to his claims. Ultimately, the relief of suffering is the main goal of the act and the primary caregiver of the patient. Patient’s that are bed-ridden or shutins are dependent on their caregiver to provide a service they cannot provide themselves. He argues that caregivers ought to be allowed to do their job within the confines of current MMMA regulations.

The most ingenious and advantageous of Newburg’s argument considers the “sale” of marijuana legal! Yes, you can check it out yourself. This does not mean we can all jump up and down quite yet. However, technically, while the “trafficking, manufacture, delivery, or possession” is still considered illegal, because the “sale” of marijuana had never been specifically addressed, there is no prosecution for those who are legally allowed to possess or transfer it. In other words, any patient or caregiver has the legal right to sell, not transfer their marijuana.

As Third Coast owner Jamie Lowell stated, “At stake is the ability for the patients to consistently get their medication as needed; at stake the ability for people to carry out this law and to fully realize its intent!” It is up to the Court of Appeals Judge to choose between the light or dark side of the legal force. Hopefully, the Michigan Court of Appeals Judge will choose wisely and stay the powerful hand of the people.

JC Trout

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Patient Robbed By Thugs!

Imagine taking your dog out for a walk and having an AK-47 shoved in your face.  Three local growers went through this very nightmare in the last month.  “Big Mike” found himself zip-tied, duct-taped and gagged to his basement post, while three masked gunmen not only ransacked his house, but took his entire stock.  They destroyed the entire grow room; busted the bulbs, ripped up the tents, knocked over the cloner, and ruined the ballasts – all gone.  “Big Mike” had just harvested a new crop and had five ounces worth already cured.  Based on that, he believes that the “rippers” scoped his pad ahead of time, and came when he was fully stocked. 

He tried reporting the incident to the police, but they simply laughed at him.  One officer told “Big Mike,” that the robbery was not their concern because he shouldn’t have been involved in the business.  They offered no help.

He then filed a claim with his State Farm home insurance. The insurance agency attempted to deny his claim because they say the equipment in his house was used for illegal activities.  Under contract law, an insurance company does not have to replace stolen items used for illegal enterprises.  “Big Mike” did not let the issue go.  Currently, he has filed a suit against the agency and is expected to receive some compensation, but it will take several months to resolve.

These incidents ought to remind us to be very wary that we are not followed or stalked.  “Big Mike” believes he was targeted at his favorite grow shop.  He remembered purchasing a large amount soil and equipment and filling his truck.  He has since altered all of his previous habits.  First, he no longer shops at his grow shop.  He now makes several smaller purchases and buys from a number of local stores.  He advised that growers pay for all equipment in cash; give no one your name, address, or email.  He now takes the long way home; changes roads, drives a different route, and always check the rearview mirror for familiar cars.   Above all, he says, secure your home.  Investing in surveillance cameras, motion lighting, as well as, an alarm system will go along way to keep “rippers” at bay.  However, a couple of bats and a handgun work wonders too. Remember, just because your paranoid doesn’t mean no one is after you.

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FREE THE WEED! By John Sinclair

Hello, fellow vipers and registered marijuana patients and welcome to the 40th annual Hash Bash in Ann Arbor and the 41st consecutive gathering of jubilant smokers on the Diag to celebrate and advance the cause of marijuana legalization.

The first Hash Bash was called on the Diag for April 1, 1972 and there’s a good story to go with that. But the first smoke-in materialized a year earlier as an unorganized incursion into the very heart of the University of Michigan campus, where a boisterous contingent of local hippies met up on April Fools Day to get down and smoke some weed together.

Although I wouldn’t have missed it for the world, this writer was denied the opportunity to participate in the first celebration on the Diag due to my incarceration at the State Prison of Southern Michigan at Jackson, just 40 miles to the west but a whole different world altogether, where I was serving the second year of a 9-1/2 to 10-year sentence for possession of two marijuana cigarettes and working with my extensive collective of lawyers and fellow radicals to perfect my appeal in the Michigan Supreme Court.

At the time Michigan still callously misclassified marijuana as a narcotic— against all scientific evidence to the contrary—and punished convicted smokers with up to 10 years in prison. My actual crime had been giving the two joints as a gift to an undercover policewoman from the Detroit Narcotics Bureau three days before Christmas in 1966, and I was charged under the Sales of Narcotics statutes which mandated a minimum sentence of 20 years and a maximum of life imprisonment for marijuana transactions of any sort.

I was determined to challenge the constitutionality of the Michigan narcotics statutes from the moment of my arrest on January 24, 1967, about two years after I had founded DETROIT LEMAR as an attempt to challenge the marijuana laws in the court of public opinion. By the date of my arrest I had been blessed with legal representation by the great Detroit attorney Sheldon Otis and his associate, Justin “Chuck” Ravitz, then just out of law school. They agreed not only to defend me in Detroit Recorders Court against this scurrilous charge but also to take up my cause in general.

Over the next five years, many progressive lawyers and legal workers contributed to my defense and post-conviction appeals, with special thanks to a young Kenny Mogill who wrote the appellate brief that conquered the Supreme Court in March 1972. But we challenged the state’s definition of marijuana as a narcotic and the severity of the prescribed sentences for possession and sale in

Recorders Court

, the Michigan Court of Appeals, and the Michigan Supreme Court for two and a half years

even before I went to trial in July 1969. After the Supremes refused to rule on the issue absent an actual conviction, we went to trial and quickly secured a guilty verdict by waiving our defense in order to keep the focus on the constitutional challenge, but the late judge Robert J. Colombo denied my petition for appeal bond and I was remanded to the custody of the State of Michigan, soon to be shipped to the maximum-security Marquette Branch Prison in the U.P. for the first year of my sentence. The Michigan Court of Appeals upheld Colombo’s denial of appeal bond on the grounds that I was a “danger to society”—that ruling makes another story for another time—and I spent a total of 29 months in prison before bond was finally granted and I was released from Jackson

on December 13, 1971.

During this period my comrades in the White Panther Party—later called the Rainbow People’s Party—spearheaded a campaign to gain my freedom that included almost weekly benefit concerts and dances to raise funds for my legal defense and keep my case before the public. The April Fools gathering on the Diag in 1971 had its part in this process, which culminated on December 10 when John Lennon & Yoko Ono, Stevie Wonder, Bobby Seale, Phil Ochs, Archie Shepp, Commander Cody, Bob Seger and a host of others congregated at Chrysler Arena for the John Sinclair Freedom Rally. We also pursued my appeal in the courts and lobbied intensively in the state legislature for a new marijuana law. In fact, the Freedom Rally was scheduled in December to try to bring pressure on the legislature to pass a bill removing marijuana from the narcotics statutes and establish greatly reduced penalties for its sale and use. To make a long story short, the bill was passed on December 9, the Freedom Rally was staged December 10, and I was released three days later.

The new marijuana law stipulated that marijuana was to be considered a “controlled substance” with a maximum sentence upon conviction of one year for use and four years for sale. The existing law was to remain in effect until April 1, 1972, but on March 9 the Supreme Court overturned my conviction and declared the existing law unconstitutional, thus creating a beautiful period in Michigan when weed was completely without legal proscription for the next three weeks.

On April 1st the first Hash Bash took place as an act of defiance against the reinstatement of any laws against marijuana—as a declaration that we wouldn’t accept any form of interference with this important component of our way of life. It was a tremendous celebration, and three days later Ann Arbor elected two members of the Human Rights Party to City Council and took the first step toward enacting the infamous $5.00 fine for all marijuana violations in the city.

I always wondered who came up with the name for the Hash Bash, but it wasn’t until five or six years ago when I ran into my old comrade Walden Simper at the Berkeley Patients Collective and she told me she was designing the poster for the gathering on the Diag when the name HASH BASH appeared on her mental screen and she penciled it into the design. It’s been there ever since.

In closing, I’d like to dedicate this first column to the memory of two great Americans who have recently passed on: the heroic attorney for the people, Leonard Weinglass, and the prophet and pioneering mass producer of LSD, Augustus Owsley Stanley III whose products were surely present on that day in 1971 when the Hash Bash came into being. Thank you, gentlemen, for all the good you have done.

John Sinclair

 

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Up In Smoke! By JC Trout

Patients, caregivers, citizens, stand and unite! We are under attack! Senator Rick Jones aims to destroy our state’s Compassion Clubs (CC). Earlier this year, Jones wrote and presented Senate Bill 17 (SB17), which seeks to outlaw all compassion clubs that accept membership fees, from allowing their members to medicate on site. This bill was presented under the guise of public safety, suggesting that medicated individuals are leaving these clubs intoxicated and driving home. The MMMR has been following SB17, and Jones has already managed to get his bill passed by the Committee on Health Policy as of March 8th. It is now up for consideration by the Michigan Senate.

Alarmingly, there has been no statistical or factual information offered by Jones as proof that CCs are a safety hazard. It would also seem if Jones were truly considering the public’s safety, then his bill would also seek to keep people from drinking at “alcohol” bars. Heck, he didn’t even have evidence that proved marijuana negatively affects driving ability; and if he had, the data that is available would toss out his entire claim. Of course, when it comes to discrimination, fact and truth are not necessary.

Many bloggers claim Mr.Jones is playing a procedural game with Senate rules. In order to change an existing act requires a 75% majority. To avoid that super-majority requirement, Jones has focused on section 7 (Scope of Act, Limitations) under the claim that SB17 will only narrow the scope of acceptable medical use. Since the legislature can narrow any law with only a simple majority (51%), Jones hopes to pass SB17 under the Senate’s nose.

However, the MMMA provides protections outside section 7 that have the potential to quash SB17 as well. Section 4 (Protections…), for instance, protects patients and caregivers from “…arrest, prosecution, or penalty in any manner, or denied any right or privilege...;” which would include the constitutional right to assemble and the privileges provided by the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act of 2008.

From a bird’s eye view, conservative law makers have been attempting to destroy the only growth market in this economy – medical marijuana businesses. Earlier this year, a rash of busts were pasted all over the newspapers, claiming that dispensaries were illegal businesses because they did not follow the Caregiver Patient system set forth in the act. Now the tables are turning on the Compassion Clubs (CC), who under the guise of “compassion”, have thus far enjoyed a positive face with the public. With SB17 under consideration, it would seem that CC doors will be under threat to close much faster than their dispensary counter-parts. If CC’s do not address these issues more proactively, it is a safe bet that the word “audit” might be in their future as well.

Surely, most CC’s will simply prohibit patrons from smoking on the premises, but this legislative attack signals the multi-pronged strategy our law-makers will employ to keep our market from blossoming. More importantly, if this bill is going to be stopped, the movement is going to have to quit quibbling over this very debate and protect our interests. WE ARE the ones who are going to have to write the letters, make the phones calls, send the emails, and protest in Lansing. WE ARE under attack!

 

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Ann Arbor Health Spearheading Cannabis Education

Ann Arbor Health is dedicated to educating the public about the previously suppressed information of medical marijuana. You will be astounded as you read the following! The medical benefits are truly unbelievable. "If the public knew the medicinal benefits of Marijuana they would not be so close minded about its use. There has been a long standing governmental smear campaign about marijuana that kept Americans in the dark as to the help it provides," reveals Senior Director RJ from A2 Health. "Wouldn't it be nice if our family and friends could find relief from the pain and suffering that ailments like cancer will cause. A close friend of mine was diagnosed with terminal cancer. To help with loss of appetite and nausea, she was prescribed the cannabis pills (Marinol) the doctors have available today.  Unfortunately she experienced no noticeable effects.   At the onset of her illness, she lost a considerable amount of weight, withering down to a mere 90 pounds.  In an effort to help, we offered her our medical grade medical cannabis.  Not only has she out-lived the doctors estimate of her remaining lifespan, by over a year now but at the time of this article is still fighting for her life.  Her appetite has increased, she gained over 15 pounds!  She feels better and has a sense of overall well being."

Cancer, the second leading cause of death in the United States, will claim 560,000 lives this year alone, and 1 million new cases will be diagnosed. 
The following studies speak for themselves, we are just starting to understand the profound benefits and possibilities. We must ask, is marijuana the ‘wonder drug’ of herbal remedies?
Harvard University researchers found that THC shrinks lung cancer tumors in size and weight by 50%, and THC lead to a 60% decrease in the number of cancer lesions present, in mice studies.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/...

Heavy smokers of marijuana show no increase in lung cancer rates compared to nonsmokers, due to the anti-cancer properties of THC.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/...

Cannabidiol, found in marijuana, has been found to stop aggressive breast cancer from spreading. It's actually the first ever nontoxic substance that stops the cancer from metastasizing.
http://mct.aacrjournals.org/...

[note by the diarist: cannabidol is also known as CBD, and has promising medical potential]
The University of Madrid discovered that cannabis kills human brain cancer cells, while leaving normal, healthy brain cells unharmed. A 30 day regimen of cannabis outright killed aggressive brain cancer, while protecting healthy cells.
http://www.usnews.com/...

THC prevents Alzheimer's disease. The Scripps Research Institute in California has found that THC stops the formation "Alzheimer plaques" in the brain BETTER than modern anti-Alzheimer's drugs, "considerably superior" in the words of the published study.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/...

A study sponsored by several Italian universities and health agencies tested cannabis on a panel of several different cancer types, including prostate and colorectal cancer. They found that cannabis is a "potent inhibitor of cancer cell growth" but noted "its use in chemotherapy is limited by its psychotropic activity." In other words, cancer patients aren't getting cannabis out of fear that they may get high.
http://jpet.aspetjournals.org/...

The really sad thing is that the US government funded a study that showed cannabis fights cancer back 1974, but ignored it. "Researchers at the Medical College of Virginia, who had been funded by the National Institutes of Health to find evidence that marijuana damages the immune system, found instead that THC slowed the growth of three kinds of cancer in mice -- lung and breast cancer, and a virus-induced leukemia....and prolonged their lives by as much as 36 percent."
The actual study they refer to is here:
http://www.ukcia.org/...
 
Ann Arbor Health is spearheading the movement to educate the public and end the needless suffering medical marijuana can remedy. We are offering free classes to the public on these questions: 
1. Is medical marijuana right for me?
2. Am I safe using medical marijuana?
3. Is my privacy/job protected?

We will help guide you thru the process of becoming safe, secure and help you live a long happy, pain free life. Call today for seminar scheduling and location. Space is very limited, call now!

Ann Arbor Health
2350 E. Stadium Suite 12
Ann Arbor, MI 48104
734-929-5645
peace@a2hc.com
http://www.annarborhealthcollective.org/

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Welcome to the Official Blog of the Michigan Medical Marijuana Report.

This is where we will be posting news, information about new laws, disccusions and much more.

Please check with us weekly to see updates...

Thank you.

Michigan Medical Marijuana Report