By Ishaan Tharoor, TIME

The global war against drugs is fought seemingly every day in the jungles of Colombia and the mountains of the Hindu Kush, the inner cities of the U.S. and the trafficking corridors of Central America. But, according to a new report, it’s an abject disaster

Click to read entire article.

It is time to TRULY organize, put differences aside, and work together to bring this entire farce to an end. So EVERY Org relating to our cause, please get in contact. By no means am I suggesting I take the lead; I simply want to emphasize the importance of working together. The Cannabis Reform issue has a myriad of facets; just too many variables for ANY ONE organization to accomplish. Let us combine our orgs. Let us all stand as one, not one standing as all. I hope this message reaches rational, and more importantly, logical peoples’ eyes.

Thank you for those who have supported and are open to sharing and integrating strategic and tactical directions (Strategic and Tactical by definition, no radicalism.).

Regards,

Alexander Young

Founder/Chair-MMAG

Email if interested in rebuilding MMAG

This was very Inspirational! Click to see YouTube Vid.

http://www.aransaspassprogress.com/news/article_04672342-2960-11e0-a224-001cc4c002e0.html

THIS is a CRIME!??

Click to enlarge

Regards,
Alexander Young

Although Cannabis is very accessible here, it is very low grade, high volume product. The methods used for transporting these mass quantities of Cannabis, contaminates the product.

Such methods include, but are not limited to:

• Hollowed Tires
• Empty Gas Tanks
• Used Boat Traps (Mainly Shrimp Boats)

Even if these methods are not used, the finalized product has pesticides and other contaminates that come from the soil or nutrients it was grown with. But this was the norm for us. Now, peoples who grew up in an environment where there were relaxed conditions surrounding Cannabis, may not know what Texas’s patients most common option is.

The same can be said about States like Texas, just visa-verse. Many Texans do not know the difference between a Medicinal Grade product from the bricked Cannabis that floods this state. So here is the difference between the two.(See the images below)

Bricked Cannabis

href=”http://www.cannabisrxnow.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Brick.jpg”>[/caption]

After being exposed to the Medicinal world of Cannabis, I knew how drastic the situation had become for states without patient protection or medicinal privileges. MMAG is now in the process of filming a documentary about the cultural divide between small town Texas and the West Coast. This project will become a universal teaching tool as well.

If you are in or around the Portland, OR area and wish to be interviewed, please contact us at hr@cannabisrxnow.org to schedule an appropriate time.

Regards.
Alexander Richard Young
Founder/Chair-MMAG

Hey, do you want to get high? This seems to be the question that more and more people are asking as the issue of medicinal marijuana gains more national awareness. While the federal government has gone to extreme measures to bastardize and over exaggerate the effects of marijuana, more professionals are stepping forward to negate the fallacies spread by the federal government.

In the past decade, 11 states have amended their laws to allow the medicinal use of marijuana. The recent research shows very safe and legitimate uses for marijuana, but the federal government seems to be afraid of the facts. Their opinion on the subject has remained “There is no such thing as medical marijuana.” Science, medicine, and the general public have made it apparent they feel differently. More and more people believe that research could lead to great things. Many people are displeased with all the government spending designed to give the topic a negative aura and an inherent doubt.

The evidence implies that the legalization of medicinal marijuana would open up research, provide medicine for many illnesses, and not only eradicate needless government spending but boost the economy. So is there enough proof to over throw a Supreme Court ruling? We have to answer several questions first. What are the benefits of marijuana? What are the drawbacks? What are the facts? Let us explore these questions and find some answers. Then you can decide for yourself whether this is a cause worth fighting for.

We are all, for the most part, familiar with marijuana, but most people only know it to be a recreational drug used by kids and irresponsible adults, until now. Marijuana has quite a history with civilization. According to Professors Whitebread and Bonnie in their article, “The Marihuana Consensus: A History of American Marihuana Prohibition,” marijuana has been used for centuries in eastern cultures for its intoxicant properties. The University of Virginia Law professors went on to write that the United States actually cultivated marijuana for a source of fiber in the seventeenth century. However, marijuana was not widely used for its intoxicant properties in the United States until the late nineteenth century. We can see that throughout history, marijuana has been utilized for centuries. So why is marijuana causing such a ruckus in the United States?

Marijuana first gained this negative label in the 1920s primarily due to political propaganda. However unfounded this view might have been, it remained dominant for almost fifty years. In the 1960s, there was a cultural shift in the United States. Like a spark causing an explosion, this liberal state of mind, swept the nation. In the late 1960s, 11 states passed legislation legalizing the use of marijuana. It seemed as though marijuana had made its way into American culture, but things are not always as they seem. On June 6th of 2005, the United States Supreme Court submitted their ruling in regards to the ground breaking case “Gonzales v. Raich” (previously Ashcroft v. Raich) and changed marijuana policy again. The Court ruled that state statutes had no bearing on federal drug enforcement. Put simply, this meant that all the citizens in federal marijuana cases could no longer use their state laws for protection. The argument continues today, and is an obvious breach of the 10th Amendment. This issue is consistently debated in the courts, but federal policy has caused a stalemate, for now.

So can marijuana really give you brain damage? Can it cause you to forget everything? We have all seen the anti-drug commercials in which a teenage kid smokes some marijuana and then backs over his sister with an SUV. Are these side-effects real? Let us explore some of the known pros and cons regarding marijuana. We will find out what the real black and white print looks like.

There are numerous benefits to marijuana that have been recognized by several qualified professionals. For example, Dr. Donald Abrams, professor of medicine at UCSF, is considered by the community to be a global expert on marijuana. Dr. Abrams did a recent study on the medical benefits of marijuana and had positive results in many different areas. However, it has been difficult for Dr. Abrams to get his latest work published. Dr. Abrams recognizes how helpful marijuana can be to fight nausea in AIDS patients, in an article by Erin Allday called “Doctors Face Dearth of Data on Effects.” This is not an uncommon opinion among health professionals.

C. Brownlee focuses on Dr. Zhang, a professor at the University of Saskatchewan. According to Brownlee, Dr. Zhang and his team did extensive research on the effects of marijuana on brain cells and found shocking results. Dr. Zhang’s team actually found cell regeneration in the sample brain tissue. The other samples, the ones not given the marijuana extract, showed no cell growth or regeneration. This is a ground breaking find, and the majority of the scientific and medical communities agree that it merits further research. The answer to many medical conundrums could be found if the federal government would legalize research on marijuana.

Joan Bellow, author of “The Benefits of Marijuana: Physical, Psychological & Spiritual,” focuses on the level of toxicity in today’s practice of medicine. Think about it. How many different medications can think of right now? There are, essentially, four lab manufactured drugs for every one ailment. Marijuana has been proven to combat nausea, lack of appetite, and all kinds of mild aches and pains. Bellow concludes that marijuana is just a safer method to combating ailments such as migraines and stomach aches. Instead of swallowing a pill that contains hundreds of lab mixtures, Bellow suggests we use a more organic method for treating such minor illnesses. What would you do? Would you ingest marijuana if you knew it was safer than pharmaceutical drugs? I think most people would take the safer route.

Now that we have summarized some of the conditions that marijuana could treat, let us turn our focus to what social effects of the legalization of marijuana would result in. If marijuana were to be legalized for public medical use, the social effects would be felt almost immediately. So what are these social effects?

A study done in the United Kingdom concluded that one in ten people suffer from stomach problems due to stress at work. One in ten is quite a shocking figure if you look at the numbers. Another study published in PRNewswire, a global source of business and government news, uncovered that an alarming 96% of men suffer stress from work. Even more disturbing is that 1 in 3 of the 96% turn to alcohol to relieve that stress. This is an accurate result for most civilized cultures. I think an illustration serves the point more efficiently.

So needless to say, we live in a very stressful environment. One of marijuana’s many uses is relieving small to mild stress. This is certainly a safer option than alcohol, and cheaper as well. If people were prescribed marijuana for stress, the United States would relax a bit. I think we can all agree that the pace needs to slow down a little.

Another upside to the legalization of medicinal marijuana is that there would be one less thing to worry about. How much good news do we hear these days? Every day there is a new crisis involving hostages or a suicide bomber. There are more and more corporate scandals that leave tens of thousands out of work and without their pensions. The weather has become extremely unpredictable, and quite a bit more hostile. The list of concerns goes on and on. The point is that there are so many issues these days that dominate our thoughts. One less thing to worry about can only help.

There are many more major benefits to the legalization of medicinal marijuana. The economic side effects of such an action would drastic and felt immediately. Martha Rosenbaum, author of “Understanding Marijuana: A New Look at the Scientific Evidence,” says that the United States spends 13 billion dollars annually on the prohibition. Rosenbaum goes further by stating that if the United States were to federalize marijuana and tax it, it would be a 15 billion dollar a year industry. Marijuana is, after all, the fourth most valuable crop in the United States. If it is widely available, we should think about utilizing it.

We also have a problem with jail population being overcrowded with people charged with marijuana related crimes. Dave Peyton writes that “786,545 people are arrested in the United States for marijuana related crimes annually.” This costs the American tax payers a substantial amount in tax dollars every year. Most people arrested for marijuana related crimes in the United States are charged with trafficking, which carries a five year prison term and a ten, thousand dollar fine. This kind of overreaction by the federal government is costing United States citizens boat loads of money. This leads me to ask, how much long can we keep this wasteful policy in affect?

We have covered several benefits of marijuana, but we have not discussed any drawbacks yet. Although I am a zealot regarding legalization of marijuana, I cannot claim that there are no negative side effects. As with everything else in life, marijuana has its ups and its downs, but is it as bad as the propaganda says it is? After searching for solid evidence by credited sources, I realized how hard it is to separate fact from fiction on this topic. For example, the NIDA (National Institute on Drug Abuse) published an article called “Marijuana Facts,” in which they claim that the short term effects of marijuana include such things as memory loss, loss of motor skills, and trouble with problem solving and learning. Almost all publications on the negative side effects with hold any statistical facts or research methods. I could continue on exploring evidence with no real foundation, but since I have such extensive experience with marijuana, I will discuss the side effects I know to be true.

The worst short term side effect to ingesting marijuana is the feeling of fatigue. However, this side-effect is normally felt by chronic users (those who smoke once a week or more). There is a huge spotlight on this effect right now. The FDA launched a new ad campaign that included two new commercials. They start out with a group of teens sitting in a car or on a couch. Only one of each group speaks, and he is, of course, the drug free one. To sum it all up, the FDA is implying that if you smoke marijuana, you will sit around and do nothing all the time. Furthermore, they strongly imply you will have no opinion of your own and that others will decide for you if you smoke marijuana. I can say, from personal experience, that this is a complete fallacy. Yes, there is slight fatigue; the kind of fatigue that makes you want to stay in bed for another hour. I can still form my own opinions on a plethora of subjects. Marijuana has not hindered my ability to learn or function in everyday life. The fatigue is merely a small inconvenience to using this medicine.

Another negative aspect of marijuana is the mental effects that can follow ingestion. The ADA (Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse) published a website with miscellaneous information on marijuana use. The ADA claims that several people feel extreme anxiety and “lose it” because the loss of control. I have been around thousands of smokers, and of those smokers at least one hundred were first time users. I never observed a reaction as extreme as someone “losing it.” The most extreme reaction I have ever seen was hyper activity in a first time smoker. The marijuana caused this 19 year old to bounce off the walls. The studies are inconclusive, but the evidence suggests that extreme anxiety is not a common side effect of marijuana.

A very real side effect to marijuana is paranoia. The clinical definition of paranoia according to Meriam-Webster.com is “a psychosis characterized by systematized delusions of persecution or grandeur usually without hallucinations.” This side effect makes perfect sense when you consider the policies in place regarding marijuana use. The penalties for possession often get trumped up to trafficking, which is a much more severe crime. It would seem as though the federal government directly associates marijuana use with crime and recklessness. If you smoke marijuana, you know that this is blatantly false. Although the paranoia does not cause drastic events, it is still a side effect that affects your mood. I suppose there is a good reason for someone to look over their shoulder if they use marijuana these days.

Now, there is the issue of addiction. Most professionals agree that there is no physical addiction to marijuana; however, there is a chance of psychological addiction. Physical addiction is a person whose physical state depends on the source of addiction. Psychological addiction is the dependency of the feeling that the source of the addiction gives you. Psychological addiction is common in chronic users (once a week or more), but sometimes can be felt in new users. Psychological addiction, except in very rare cases, is not nearly as severe as physical addiction. It is much easier to break a mental addiction than it is to break a physical addiction. This is something everyone should take into consideration before using marijuana.

So why is marijuana still illegal? Well, there are many variables that hinder this process. First of all, in order for marijuana policy to change, the politicians have to approve it. This leaves marijuana reform between a rock and a hard place right now. Politicians have so many different agendas, and more and more of them do not have the interest of the public in mind. Politics these days are fueled by money, business, and personal opinion. In this case, the minority (Federal Government) is speaking for the majority (General Public). That would be ok if the two corresponded, but the general public disagrees with the federal government regarding marijuana reform. If your Congressman has Congressmen friends who all hate the idea of marijuana reform because it would negatively affect the tobacco industry, it would be very hard to convince him otherwise.

There is also a lot of tradition that has been slowing marijuana reform. Like I stated earlier the First Prohibition in the 1920s was based almost exclusively on propaganda. However, unfounded it was, the policy stood firm until the 1960s. Marijuana was briefly legalized in several states, but then made illegal again in the 1970s. There is a lot of tradition and history behind the bastardization of marijuana. Think about all the money dumped into the prohibition. The people who promote the prohibition would look awful if it turns out that marijuana was actually an asset.

The most hindering entity to the progression of marijuana reform is the General Public. The General Public is the backbone of this ongoing fight. The biggest problem is that most people are ignorant (literally, not derogatory) on the science behind marijuana. If the public would educate themselves on the topic, I am fully confident that they would make their position known. How is a person supposed to decide whether marijuana is a toxic drug or a helpful medicine if they do not know the facts? Also, Americans have become comfortable with “riding the fence” on several issues. It is almost as if Americans expect results but refuse to vote. According to the United States Census Bureau 63.8% of voters voted. That still leaves a third unaccounted for.

Finding solutions to these problems is easy, but acting on them as a group is hard. We should provide aid to further research marijuana so we can find out the true extent of these negative mental and physical effects. I am able to accept the possibility that marijuana harbors some unknown negative side effects, but how will we ever know unless we research? In order to get that far, we need to get the information out there. Most people do not know about this issue due to the lack of media coverage. If we were able to increase the amount of media coverage, more people would be inclined to speak up on the issue.

Finally, America needs to educate itself on the topic of marijuana. Find the facts surrounding this issue, which is pretty difficult given the current situation. Although there is a very thin line between fact and fiction regarding marijuana, some things I know not to be true from personal experience. For example, “losing it” does not happen. So do not let the propaganda influence you. After collecting the facts, form your own educated opinion, and do something with your new found knowledge! Go out and vote! We should fully utilize our right to influence the laws in place.

So what conclusions can we draw as we near the end of our journey? There is certainly something good about marijuana. The evidence shows us that much. The federal government does not want marijuana reform. The federal government has gone as far as fully breaching the Tenth Amendment by allowing the federal government to overthrow state statute regarding the health care of their citizens. We can also conclude that the amount of pharmaceuticals out there to treat one illness is too high. There is a mixture of lab chemicals for almost any ailment. Do we really need to be ingesting so many chemicals?

Although this is the end of this brief overview regarding marijuana, it does not have to stop here. Just imagine the possibilities that would be discovered through extensive research! We could provide less toxic drugs to cure, contain, and help prevent many illnesses. At the end of the day, what does it really come down to? The answer is as simple as it is obvious; to provide a safer and more fulfilling life for you and the ones you love. Take what you have learned and use that power to help make a safer tomorrow.