PA Medical Marijuana: It "Cann'tabis"

As it looks, the PA medical cannabis bill is getting strangled in red tape. Revisions have been introduced, but no clear outline is in place for more qualifying conditions based on science aside from the creation of a medical cannabis board, which in and of itself is going to delay access to medicine for at least two years, even if SB3 and its respective House bill pass, and get by Governor Wolf, who has already indicated his support for a medical bill.

What's unfortunate, is as seen in the picture above, smoking and vaporization have been excluded as medical delivery mediums, straight out of the gate. This sentence stands boldly, early in the SB3 as a clear, "No, F*** you." from the far right-leaning PA politicians, as few and disliked as they are.

In all seriousness, there have been paraphrasing of medical cannabis meetings where ignorant politicians propose that mixing decarboxylated cannabis with mashed potatoes would be fine, whereas processing cannabis into butter and creating edibles should be illegal.

Because, you know. After all, it's all about the m***erf***ing kids, isn't it?! It's always about the kids, until the sick and in-need kids are paraded in front of your hearings, pleading for an effective program because they have little time left. Politicians shake their heads, shake their hands, bow in silence and refuse to act in compassion. Well, we were all kids at one point, and to think that you're denying medicine to someone as bright, innocent and full of potential as you when you were a child should be a crime.

Stigma concerning this plant that has been seeded in racism and government sponsored propaganda against the counter-culture movements associated with jazz and cannabis has literally ruled our policy since the late days of alcohol prohibition. Prohibition has never been an effective tool against use of a substance, nor has it been fiscally responsible for the State. The fact that we are still caught in this stalemate between the public will for change, against the obstinate "Representatives" of our voice who do nothing, if not the opposite, of what we're clamoring about!

Matt Baker - R-PA: Opponent of Medical Cannabis in PA

If we continue to let the minority, elitist individuals who are privileged enough to get paid $10's of $1,000's of dollars by Pharmaceutical company's lobbyists ANY say in the development of cannabis legislation that has an impact on Pennsylvanian lives, we are going to go the way of New Jersey: stuck in a poorly laid out State program with strict and unreasonable regulations that inhibit patient access for years after a MMJ law passes.

When this doomed piece of legislation goes through and inevitably fails because it does not describe any delivery means of this medicine, aka: there is no dispensary infrastructure described, any right-winged politicians that get in control of PA in the future are going to attack its failures as a reason that it should be shut down. All this legislation describes are fees and costs associated with licensure and the strict adherences that must be made if actually operating a dispensary. It does not protect itself through establishing a system of checks and balances within the new MMJ industry, nor does it effectively allow for the qualifying conditions that science shows can be treated or cured with cannabis.

While we tout the progress of being able to get a medical bill through in a State where a conservative jerk ruled ignorantly just years prior, we need to be wary of letting things slip by just on their perceived value.

90% of the population may support MMJ in PA, but of that 90%, how many are going to READ SB3 or other legislation before it passes and voice out? Not 90% of them, I'd wager. That would be great, but the numbers just don't work. Those that are most actively involved may, but the bell curve majority will only celebrate in private revelry when the announcement is made that PA has legalized Medical Marijuana. Little will they know how limited a program it is, especially when taking into account the vast popularity of medical cannabis across the population here.

While we fight and fight to make a difference and be heard, it seems that politicians can't get anything right because regardless of testimony and true urgent need, there are still those that believe they are "righteous crusaders", protecting the future generations of children from a "gateway drug".

If you believe that kind of psycho-babble bullshit, I personally hate you and I hope we never meet.
Cannabis is medicine and I know first hand, so stop making decisions that affect others' lives, when you quite obviously know so little about the science of cannabis-based medicine, politicians.

If we pass a CBD only or limited MMJ bill, we are coming in meekly on the right side of history. We're limping onto the winning side's battle, late and warily. Pennsylvanians aren't limp or weak - we proudly have polled in strong favor of cannabis, so far as establishing a majority in favor of recreational cannabis! We should forge a strong, medically-based, patient access friendly program NOW and show New Jersey, New York, Maryland and Delaware (all medical States ahead of PA) how to effectively implement the Peoples' will!

Public Enemy #420: NJWeedman - “Boned” by Over-Reaching Judge

Public Enemy #420: NJWeedman - “Boned” by

Over-Reaching Judge

Written by,

            Jason Mueller

Contact Judge Call:

(609)-518-2716

Tell him to grant Weedman

Clemency! 

In case you’ve been living under a rock for the past ten years, it’s been definitively proven that cannabis has anti-tumor properties; not only does the application of THC have the ability to slow cancerous cell growth, it has actually been shown to shrink tumors with steady application. THC causes apoptosis (programmed cellular death) in cancer cells while leaving healthy cells alone. Studies on this phenomenon have been conducted all over the world, and the studies date back as far as the 1970’s. Given this fact, it would seem that NJWeedman’s bone cancer would be regressing and healing. For a while, that was the case.

Lately things were going well for the NJWeedman, (or at least better): he got a job writing a column for The Trentonian called “Passing the Joint”. Earlier this year he had surgery to remove a cancerous bone tumor that has been affecting his quality of life for years. NJWeedman was even recently invited to a filming on the Daily Show, which will air soon. In this episode they discuss the abuses of power that the police have been caught red-handed in lately across the country. Unfortunately, there are only ever two puffs of “good” before you have to pass.

            First Burlington County Superior Court Judge, Judge Call, has issued a new warrant for NJ Weedman’s arrest. CALL JUDGE CALL – 609-518-2716 – PLEASE ASK FOR CLEMENCY FOR ED FORCHION / NJ WEEDMAN.

        Secondly and heartbreakingly, on October 17^th 2014 NJWeedman was informed by the VA hospital in Philadelphia that a new cancerous growth had emerged, this time on his upper left femur. This new growth is in a very dangerous location, because it is in a weight bearing spot. This tumor, if left to grow, will weaken NJ’s femur, and because of the location, the bone is likely to break once weakened. In lieu of the new growth, NJWeedman’s Oncology specialist in Santa Monica, CA has scheduled him in for more tests and treatments. Forchion is now afraid to fly, as he was arrested at the airport before.

            Inadvertently, while NJWeedman battled with his first tumor back in 2001, he learned of the effects of cannabis’ anti-tumor properties firsthand.

            “I was a heavy [weed] smoker. I didn’t know this mass was there for a few years, but when I stopped smoking weed [due to my incarceration], it grew incredibly fast. The doctors were shocked. This thing had to have been there for a long time, but while I felt something, I didn’t react to it until veins popped out and the pain became excruciating while jailed for weed,” said NJWeedman.

            In regards to his experience dealing with his last tumor between 20 day stays in jail, ordered by Judge Delehey, (who said NJ “was playing his healthcare like a Stradivarius”). It was a bizarre comment: in addition to the insulting claim that NJ was using his healthcare to dodge the system during the May 2012 trial, Prosecutor Luciano called NJ a Charlatan after Weedman presented his medical condition as a defense against a marijuana possession charge!

             NJWeedman has been part of an experimental protocol, given free treatment available through the Santa Monica Oncology Center since 2011. While the treatments had appeared to be working for his previous tumor, an arrest warrant that was executed at the Philadelphia airport, on (JAN 30^th, 2013) the day that NJWeedman was scheduled to leave for a monthly treatment in California. This arrest wound up ruining a lot of progress made in reducing the size of his tumor; he was incarcerated for two months without care. Until he agreed to plead guilty to a contrived probation violation, NJ Weedman was being extorted by being left in jail without proper medical attention. This is when Judge Delehey made his infamous “Stradivarius” comment. Once NJ was successfully forced to plead guilty, Judge Delehey allowed Forchion to be released to continue his monthly treatments. Notwithstanding, NJ was ordered to return to court on Sept 10^th, 2013.

 Unexpectedly, at that Sept 10^th,2013 hearing, Judge Delehey ordered that NJ had to serve 6 more months, 20 days at a time with 10 days release to travel for his experimental treatment in California.

            On April 30^th, 2014, NJWeedman successfully underwent surgery to remove his tumor. Yet, the damage was done to his bone. On May 25^th “Memorial Day”, NJ’s right femur broke as he carried a duffel bag full of clothes into his home. Since then, NJ has been healing, almost entirely without incident. Until, of course, this new growth was found at the VA.

            NJWeedman believes that had he not been serving a sentence of 20 days in jail with 10 days out, his last tumor may have more steadily decreased in size. NJWeedman had this to say in regards to his experimental treatment:

            “I was getting the experimental high dosage of a bone hardener called Denosumab, which was developed as a treatment for those with osteoporosis, but which over the course of the past decade has also come to be regarded as helpful for other bone conditions such as legions, tumors, sarcomas, etc. In tests done on women with osteoporosis who also had bone growths, around 90% exhibited shrinkage of the mass or outright disappearance. The mass stopped growing, but the drug wasn’t developed for that application. So in order for them to market it for that, they had to have a new study to get it licensed to treat people with these conditions.

I happen to have one of those conditions so when I was asked too I volunteered to be a genuine pig for this drug protocol. I think it was working but, I also think I was helped at least as much by marijuana as by the Denosumab. When I had to stop smoking marijuana because of jail, I still got Denosumab.”

JUDGE CALL ISSUES NEW WARRANT

NJWEEDMAN: A MAN WHO BOASTS THAT HE DOESN’T HAVE A SCARY BONE IN HIM, ADMITS HE’S SCARED OF BEING PUT BACK IN THE BURLINGTON COUNTY JAIL – FOR HIS HEALTH.

            Like déjà vu all over again, the New Jersey court system has rained burden on NJWeedman’s life again, again during an extreme health crisis. Judge Call, another Burlington County Judge like Judge Delehey, had apparently sent NJWeedman a summons to appear in court concerning some back-due money owed in a domestic split. Given the constant battles with the court system that NJWeedman has endured, plus the fact that he has only held a legitimate job for a matter of months as a Columnist, NJWeedman doesn’t have any money except the small stipend afforded to him through Social Security. In a classless, despicable move, Judge Call ordered that NJ NJWeedman’s Social Security be seized to go towards repayment of his debt! Despite the fact that NJWeedman is a suffering cancer patient, despite the fact that he is a veteran of the armed forces and despite the fact that he has little, if any other income, Judge Call is illegally attempting to strip him of his Social Security benefits. (READ JUDGE CALL’s ORDER HERE:  http://www.njweedman.com/judgecall.pdf)

            Judge Call was pretty slimy - he acknowledged that he can’t take Forchion’s social security money, so he called the soon-coming check a “windfall” instead. This is a clash of definitions: SSI is by definition, a need-based, minimal, and acquired right. A windfall is an unexpected and significant financial gain. Judge Call’s mandate is absurd and should be appealed. Luckily for Forchion, the judge can’t garnish Social Security payments. Rather, he has ordered NJ to relinquish them “voluntarily.” While it is “contempt of court” to ignore the order, his SSI money is still safe.

42 U.S.C. 659, which is section 459 of the Social Security Act, details which federal programs can be garnished by a court. Not among them is SSI, aka: Title XVI benefits.  Title II benefits, which includes Social Security disability, retirement and widow’s benefits are listed, but Title XVI benefits are not able to be garnished. This is because Title XVI benefits are defined as “needs-based” for people with limited income and resources.

QUOTE FROM LAWYER: As you know, if you have any other money coming in, your Title XVI benefits would be proportionally reduced. That is because your “need” is deemed to be diminished. Your lump-sum payment [SSI] is designed, and broken into multiple payments, so that you can pay off debts accrued during your waiting period, and to procure housing. Those receiving SSI are allowed to have a home and a car which are not counted as “available assets", both of which require down payments and/or security deposits.

The judge simply has no authority to order your SSI be taken. He lacks the legal authority by statute, and he lacks a basis to order child support as SSI payments are paid on the basis of need, and the judge cannot leave you with less than you need to survive.

This decision of Judge Call’s came after NJ apparently “failed” to report to court for a Sept 3^rd, 2014 hearing on this matter of overdue payment. Forchion says he never got the notice. What the New Jersey Judicial System would try hiding from the public, is the fact that Judge Call sent the court summons to NJWeedman’s former address in California, knowing full well that he is currently residing in New Jersey. Naturally, NJWeedman never got the summons. This allowed Judge Call to make a rash decision to put a warrant out for NJWeedman’s arrest. Once again, a Burlington County Judge is playing their authority like heartless tyrants against Mr. Ed Forchion, aka: NJWeedman. Once again, a beloved fighter for freedom and common sense in legislation is between a rock of legal red tape and a hard place called cancer.

            Now NJWeedman is under order to turn himself in to the county jail for arrest, according to Judge Call’s decision. He’s stuck fighting a new cancerous growth, and just like clockwork, the judicial system is once again trying to make his life a nightmare. In hopes that his story will inspire action against injustice, NJ prepared this statement:

“Judge Call is trying to screw my healthcare up again like Judge Delehey did last year. I can’t get stuck in a county jail right now. I’m in the process of getting this new tumor evaluated. I can’t scientifically prove it, but I want to tell my anecdotal story. Last year (2013) Judge Delehey put me in jail; I was supposed to get Denosumab every month. For two months February and March, I didn’t get Denosumab and I didn’t get any THC in me. When I was out for four months March-Sept, an MRI in June showed no growth. There was no change. No growth, no movement, nothing changed. To me, that was proof that Denosumab was working, so I was happy.

I went on like that from 2011 to 2013. The mass was stable. No growth, no movement, so I thought there was no rush to get the surgery to remove it. The doctors and everyone knew that a certain percentage of these tumors that get removed through surgery end up growing back. At this point now, I’m already in that category. It’s all right though – I’m not playin’ ball anymore anyway! I’m nearly 50 years old. BUT I AM in a pissing contest with a Judge, though.

          So, in September (10^th), he [Judge Delehey] sticks me with this ‘20 days in, 10 days out’ sentence to supposedly ‘accommodate’ my cancer treatments – which was bull. There was one thing messed up here: every time I’d get out for 10 days, I’d get the Denosumab shot, but during the 20 days in jail, I had no marijuana. The truth is the Judge didn’t care about my daily intake of marijuana because he, like most of law enforcement, thinks of medical marijuana as a scam. To me, the marijuana was just as important as the Denosumab, but I was denied this natural medicine while in New Jersey’s jail.

This jailing resulted in me not having any marijuana in me for weeks at a time, for six months.  I had 2 MRI’s, one in November and one January, ’14. When I went to see the doctor in February, I was told the tumor was growing again.

 I immediately thought, ‘this is because I had no marijuana in jail.’ I can’t prove it. I do have all of the paperwork to verify that the tumor was stagnant, then suddenly grew after my jail sentence when I was forced to abstain from medical marijuana. That’s what pisses me off – the Prosecutor literally called me a “charlatan” over this and the Judge [Delehey] said I’m playing my health care like a Stradivarius.

Maybe if I were a bald-headed, cancer-ridden white dude, or a breast cancer victim they’d take my healthcare more seriously. Instead, I look like a big, angry black dude with dreads – neither [the Judge nor Prosecutor] had sympathy for me or compassion, even though the state of New Jersey passed the Compassionate Use Act in 2010.” Remember that the Compassionate Use Act’s goal was to protect medical marijuana patients from prosecution.

Ed “NJ Weedman” Forchion may be a myth and a legend, but he is also just a man. Given the consistent sting of legal action presented to him by Burlington County, NJWeedman is in need of a little help. He’s not asking for donations or pro bono defense lawyers, (though either would be graciously accepted). Instead, he’s asking for those who hear of his plight to share the word. NJWeedman wants the injustices of Burlington County Superior Court to go recorded, because too often, they don’t.

Too often, Burlington County Jail and Superior Court have been able to ruin lives of citizens and patients through vindictive abuse of power. Luckily, Ed doesn’t roll over and “take it” like many unfairly prosecuted men and women. Luckily, We the People can share his story and flood Judge Call with clemency requests, (his contact information is listed at the bottom of this article). Luckily, when activists stick together, change happens.

Contact Judge Call

DIRECTLY

(609)-518-2716

Tell the office that you disapprove of this treatment - demand clemency for Ed Forchion!

MMJ Bill SB1182 Passes PA Senate

After being delayed in the Appropriations Committee, SB1182 was finally brought to term and moved to the full Senate for a vote today, Sept. 24th. Originally, this bill included the ability for patients to grow up to six plants at home, and it clearly allowed for the smoking or vaporization of cannabis flower material or concentrates.

Well, that was until the Republicans got their hands on it.

Being able to grow six plants went WAY early. It was struck down and unchallenged. Though it certainly would have allowed access quicker than implementing a control board and dispensary system, growing plants legally still scares the bejeezus out of government shills that get lobby money to keep all drugs illegal, (police, big pharma... the lobby list goes on). So we as activists kind of bent over and took it up the tail pipe on being able to grow here in PA. (**Note - In Colorado, the legalization of cannabis came paired with the freedom to grow up to six plants**)

So here we were resting on our SB1182 - it was one pillar less strong out of the gate, but it was still strong. It had (and has) protections for patients in arenas previously untouched by States with MMJ laws: legally, employers can't fire you in PA for being a MMJ patient. You can't lose custody of your kids for being an MMJ patient according to this bill. While the stigma sticks that cannabis intoxicates an individual beyond the capacity to drive, it was pretty much expected that wording would exclude driving, flying and vehicle privileges while high. What we DIDN'T count on was the stated 10 Nanogram limit on THC in the body of the patient... It didn't stop getting worse there...

So a core group of 5-8 people, (and I use that term loosely) just HAD to amend SB1182 until it was satisfactorily "no fun" - amendments went in that literally bar patients from smoking or vaporizing their cannabis for medicinal purposes. Senator Smucker, out of Lancaster, led the charge against this bill with chiming morons, Pat Vance and Senator Mensch backing his blind attack. Smucker went so far as to actually propose ANOTHER amendment that would have limited SB1182 to CBD only - something ALL activists and Cosponsors were dead set against. Luckily, that amendment got utterly crushed, and the Senate did end up passing SB1182.

Enemy of the State of Pennsylvania (Or at least Enemy to the 85% Supporting Cannabis Law Reform)

Now it's a steady march to the House, where plenty of doubtful media outlets are staking money on this bill dying. With such fervent support from activists like Les Stark, who boldly declared on Facebook that this bill WILL be moving through the House to become law, it's hard to think about a future where this hard fought battle fizzles into a retreat on part of the MMJ warriors. Nonetheless, Gov. Corbett has vowed to veto any legislation that reaches him concerning cannabis. A super majority is needed in Congress to nullify Corbett's veto power, and what's impressive is that we just might have it. Either way, come elections in November, Corbett is largely predicted to lose to Tom Wolf, (currently trailing him in polls by nearly 30%). Tom Wolf is a forward-thinking Democrat with a mind to revise PA's archaic approach to cannabis law reform. In fact, the word "legalization" has actually come out of his mouth.

With these advances, it's clear that we're on the winning side of history. We just need to keep on pushing for legislation that takes us closer to a "Pro Full Legalization of Marijuana"  world!

NJ Weedman Going to Court Today to Fight Evesham Township

Ed Forchion, aka: NJ Weedman, has had a full plate regarding his involvement with the government over marijuana. Today, (6-27-13) he will appear in court to fight a search that was conducted under the pretense that the officer has, "never seen a person wearing a weed shirt that didn't have weed on them". He was pulled over in Evesham Township and he recorded video of the event that can be seen here:




Because of a small patch on his vest, NJ Weedman was searched, where upon the officer found a small amount of personally prescribed marijuana of Ed's. This led to an arrest and today is the day that Ed goes again before a Judge and begins a fight over the legitimacy of marijuana law.

After his arrest, Ed put out a Brief that questioned the legitimacy of criminal statutes when NJ law distinctly recognizes marijuana as a medicine. So far, several cases have been dismissed as a result of Ed's open-access Brief. This means that while these cases are not going to court to settle the question of whether the medical laws prevail, several young, innocent, non-violent smokers are free to continue about their days without worry of jail, court costs, fines and other nasty side effects of getting found guilty.

We'll be keeping up with Ed as things unfold. Since this was a very personal amount (grams), the likelihood of this being a precedent setting case is low. Nonetheless, if Ed gets this case dismissed or otherwise, he is pro full legalization of marijuana and he'll be continuing the good fight far into the future.

Rep. Steven Cohen (D-TN) Rips Eric Holder a New Bunghole on Federal Marijuana Policy

Rep. Steven Cohen (D-TN) is NOT having it anymore. He is thoroughly done being overlooked and unheard after extraneous efforts to forward the reform of marijuana laws in the US. Cohen has backed efforts to get back into step with the public opinion on marijuana and he has long been a proponent of ending the drug war. Well, Eric Holder had an open forum in form of a House oversight hearing this past Wednesday, (May 15th, 2013) and he was unprepared for the feedback that Cohen had prepared.

While most other doddering bobble heads in the halls of Congress pinned Holder on the recent scandals concerning the invasion of privacy committed against the Associated Press and also the "outrageous" unfair targeting of Tea Party groups applying for their tax-exempt statuses, Cohen quietly brooded over The Justice Department's refusal to acknowledge the public favor of medicinal marijuana programs and the States' rights to decide best practice regarding marijuana policy. When given the opportunity, Rep. Cohen had this to say,

"One of the greatest threats to liberty has been the government taking people’s liberty for things that people are in favor of. The Pew Research Group shows that 52 percent of people do not think marijuana should be illegal. And yet there are people in jail, and your Justice Department is continuing to put people in jail, for sale, and use, on occasion, of marijuana. That’s something the American public has finally caught up with. It was a cultural lag. And it’s been an injustice for 40 years in this country to take people’s liberty for something that was similar to alcohol. You have continued what is allowing the Mexican cartels power, and the power to make money, ruin Mexico, hurt our country by having a Prohibition in the late 20th and 21st century. We saw it didn’t work in this country in the 20s. We remedied it. This is the time to remedy this Prohibition, and I would hope you would do so."

Holder's response to this has not been widely documented, though if it followed suit with his previous comments regarding this issue, it would sound something along the lines of, "We're getting around to it". Despite his assurance after the votes were in from CO and WA showing that the people's voice says to legalize marijuana that a Federal response would be provided, it has been six months with no clear statement from the Administration.

Regional Federal officials, however, have started a response of their own in the form of a crackdown on established dispensaries and new businesses. They have threatened and raided hundreds of dispensaries in the past term of Obama and this term looks to be no different in their mind.

It is our RESPONSIBILITY to tell them in a loud voice that the actions performed by the DOJ and Federal Law Enforcement in Obama's first term are NOT going to fly in the second. We have the power and our voice is starting to increase in volume as we make steady gains in legalizing medicinal marijuana as well as recreational marijuana use among responsible adults in our own States.

Contact your elected officials today and tell them that you are PRO full legalization of marijuana!

  

Bill Proposed to Keep the FED's From Raiding MMJ Patients and Caregivers

Dana Rohrbacher, (R-CA) Basically Says, "Back off of the patients and dispensaries, FED's..."

Dana Rohrbacher, (R-CA) has undertaken the ongoing fight to keep the Federal government away from State legal dispensaries, patients and grow fields. His proposed bill, HR 1523, "Respect State Marijuana Laws Act" was brought before Congress by a bipartisan coalition including Rohrbacher and two other Republicans and three Democrats. In a prepared statement, Rohrbacher said,

"This bipartisan bill represents a common-sense approach that establishes federal government respect for all states' marijuana laws...It does so by keeping the federal government out of the business of criminalizing marijuana activities in states that don't want it to be criminal."

In addition to the "Respect State Marijuana Laws Act", several other bills have been proposed on this very topic. They include:

 House Resolution 499: The Ending Marijuana Prohibition Act of 2013

House Bill 689: the States' Medical Marijuana Patient Protection Act

Senate Bill 359: the Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2013

IMAGE: Wake And Bake Time

IMAGE: Fresh Budding Marijuana

Dept. of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) Informing Gun Dealers that MMJ Patients Are Exempt from 2nd Amendment

These things are not mutually exclusive and it SCARES the dickens out of the government

In a major encroachment against the 2nd Amendment rights of patients using medical marijuana, the Department of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms has apparently reached out to gun dealers informing them that it is now illegal to sell guns to registered MMJ patients. According to the Gun Control Act, because marijuana is illegal Federally, registered patients are automatically considered Federal criminals and therefore, they are exempted of their rights to purchasing a firearm, voting and sitting on a Jury of their peers, among other things.

Though this move is extremely difficult to enforce considering there is no mandate to cross check during gun registration or purchases for anything except felony conviction, this is an obvious sign of what the current administration wants to do by implementing tighter gun restrictions. By taking away the right to keep and bear arms among all dissidents of the current system and laws, the Federal government hopes to stave off drastic political change or governmental upheaval by armed revolt.

While it has long been a claim of marijuana smokers that they are exceptionally peaceable, (even Robin Williams said in one of his skits, "I ain't never met me an angry pot smoker,") the blatant efforts of the government to undermine our rights as set forth in the Bill of Rights have been raising major issues with many citizens.

 In related news, former Marine and Podcast pundit, Adam Kokesh, has proposed a July 4th protest march where participants will be marching form the Virginia border into Washington DC with loaded firearms slung around their backs. In DC, it is illegal by District code to openly bear a firearm. Kokesh has amassed thousands of willing participants and despite warnings of potential arrest from law enforcement in DC, all participants plan to make the march a success. He also has stated numerous times that this will be a peaceful protest and that anyone subject to arrest should surrender their firearms and submit to the due process without incident.

Guns and marijuana aren't mutually exclusive. In the current black market, they are often tied together, even. Unfortunately for those who would infringe on our rights, the Bill of Rights is clear: we have the duty and responsibility to keep and bear arms. Not just to hunt with, but to keep the ever expanding Federal government in check by threat of armed revolt. Kokesh gets it. Do you?

One thing you share in common either way, is that both Adam Kokesh and the majority of Americans these days are PRO full legalization of marijuana.

IMAGE: In Weed We Trust

Michigan Attorney General: Recreational Marijuana Use NOT Grounds for State Custody of Children

It may be bad journalism, but there are two rules that are going to be broken in this first sentence: 1) I am going to speak in the first person and 2) I cannot cite all of the references I have regarding this topic. First, I feel that this topic is strongly emotional and I am compelled to tell a first person narrative moreso than outline the "who, what, why, where and how". Secondly, due to the overwhelmingly emotional nature of this topic, my own heart cannot stand to review the previous cases of human rights abuses that I've seen just in the past month regarding this issue.

At least three times in the past month alone, and more when counting back another month, I have seen stories posted about parents who were not only raided through extreme force of SWAT teams, but also who've lost their children to the State over small amounts of marijuana and marijuana paraphernalia. Children as old as three years old, who've spent every waking moment with their parents, in peace, are being ripped out of the loving arms of their caretakers and being put in cold, distant facilities with strangers to whom they share no affection.

This literally disgusts me to the point of heartache.

Imagine being a father or a mother, casually drinking a few beers with friends, when all of a sudden on no particular Saturday night, your front door is busted in, you hear gunshots and your dog yelp out its last, painful yelp. All of a sudden you're being surrounded by fully armored SWAT officers that are yelling to GET DOWN and NOT TO RESIST OR THEY WILL SHOOT. Your children are crying, your friends are scared out of their minds and you are left alone as your husband is shot for making a sudden move. You are in disbelief. Everything is surreal. This CAN'T be happening. You refocus as soon as you see an officer grab your son by the arm and yank him behind the police line of guns and shields. You boil. Your infant is lifted less than gracefully from her highchair and carried away before your eyes.

Why?

Because you got intoxicated. Because you chose to celebrate life with alcohol, with friends.

This may not be the case in our society but it is EXACTLY what happens to some marijuana smokers. Despite the fact that marijuana is less addictive and less dangerous than alcohol, cannabis remains illegal according to the Federal government and they're not afraid to send Federal officers to residential homes to disrupt peaceable citizens over a marginally upsetting life choice. Looking past the stigma built up over the past seventy-five years, marijuana use is looking less and less upsetting when compared to the debt and lies that we've been hit with over punishing people for a victimless crime.

Well, thank GOD, the Attorney General in Michigan, Bill Schuette, has decided that marijuana use is NOT a valid reason for the State to take custody of our children. This decision came in response to a question posed by State Senator, Rick Jones. A huge thanks is due from across the country to Rick Jones and to Bill Schuette for leading the pack in sensible policy that doesn't do more harm than the circumstance itself.

Cannabis is proving to be a battleground between the individual rights of US citizens and the Federal government's warrant over the life choices of the same, said, citizens. While government agencies themselves recommend the integration of cannabis into our society, the administration cannot come to terms with cutting off its own perceived arm by disbanding much of the lifeblood that the DEA and other illegal government branches use to justify their expanse of power over the individual citizen. I have one thing to say about that.

300,000,000 > 300,000

Count every government employee against every citizen, and you will lose every time.

No Link Between Cannabis Use and Lung Cancer, Says American Association of Cancer Research

University of California researchers have once again concluded a study that shows that cannabis does not have the detrimental effects once thought and taught by doctors, politicians, teachers and law enforcement. Whereas at one point during D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education), I distinctly recall being told that a SINGLE JOINT was just as detrimental to the lungs and body as ONE PACK OF CIGARETTES, recent findings published in The Oncology Report show otherwise.

The study included data from six case-control studies conducted from 1999 to 2012 in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and New Zealand, with a subject pool of 2,159 lung cancer cases and 2,985 controls. All of the studies were part of the International Lung Cancer Consortium (ILCCO), an international group of lung cancer researchers with the aim of sharing comparable data from ongoing and recently completed lung cancer studies from different geographical areas and ethnicities...

When compared with cannabis smokers who also used tobacco, habitual pot smokers had no significant increase in cancer risk. In an analysis of marijuana smokers that excluded tobacco smokers, there were no significant differences in any of the comparisons, including habitual vs. nonhabitual use; number of joints smoked per day; duration of up to 20 years or duration of more than 20 years.

This obviously flies in the face of previous schools of thought claiming marijuana to be detrimental to the body in terms of carcinogenic content. Despite this conclusive research, it is almost assured that the government will continue to deny that marijuana is at very least, "neutral" to an individual's health. Consistently, the campaign to maintain validity of the DEA and countless billions of dollars that go to incarceration and propaganda that keeps the stigma of "reefer madness" alive.

It's time to contact our local officials and raise up uproariously to call that marijuana be legalized Federally. It is time to push off the old "Schedule I" mentality in favor of an integration of the cannabis plant into our medicine and our recreational scene.

Without emailing and contacting our legislators, they will never consider this issue important. Only by vastly outnumbering those with financially vested interests against cannabis can we be a serious force that is heard by our government!

See the Action / Resources Page for current petitions on Change.org.