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While tourists who travel to Amsterdam, The Netherlands, have coffeeshop access to top-shelf cannabis for about $12.50 per gram, visitors to Copenhagen, Denmark, buy their supply on Christiania’s “Dealer’s Street.” Varieties primarily consist of overpriced Moroccan hash, but there is also some home-grown herb: limp, sparse buds of Jack Herer, White Widow, and Bubble Gum selling for $22.50 per gram. The cheapest deal is seeded, outdoor-grown at $8 per gram.
That may change soon. Part of the city’s plan to legalize cannabis, presented at a March 15, 2013 conference, is to explore importing from two US states that recently legalized adult use of the herb, according to prepared documents from the council. The city proposed a three-year trial, stating, “The legal sale of cannabis will result in decreased gang criminality, more prevention and a better life for average cannabis users”.
Deputy mayor for social affairs Mikkel Warming told the Copenhagen Post, “If we get the three-year trial, it will be important to work as quickly and effectively as possible, so we are looking abroad for where we could import cannabis,” Warming said. “Yes, we are looking at Colorado and Washington, but we’re also looking at places like Great Britain, where there is state-controlled production of marijuana for medical purposes.”
“We realize of course that there are a lot of international conventions and regulations to deal with, but we think it is possible,” he said, although there had been no formal outreach to officials in Colorado or Washington about the legality or practicality of importing cannabis. More information at cphpost.dk.
December 15, 1941 – February 6, 2013
San Francisco, California Randall “Randy” Givens passed away Feb. 6, 2013 at age 73, following years of poor health. A colorful character in the San Francisco medical marijuana activist scene, he was a pool hustler, a supporter of Prop 215 – California’s 1996 medical use initiative, and a common fixture at the SF Cannabis Buyers’ Club SF-CBC until it was shut down by the state in 1998, long before SB 420 authorized patient collectives.
He was one of five children born and raised in Springfield. He moved to San Mateo, CA in the 1960s but returned to San Francisco in the early 1970s and worked as a custom cabinet maker and woodworker into the 1980s. He sold marquetry artwork as a San Francisco street artist during that time. He was a columnist for several years with “Pool and Billiard” magazine, a national publication, and he also wrote the book Eight Ball Bible, a comprehensive and definitive book on Tavern Bar Table Eight Ball (seven-foot table).
A regular contributor to the DPFCA drug policy discussion group through its statewide email listserve, Givens engaged other reform activists in energetic discussions of provocative political and legal strategies, such as the one below on how to treat the topics of “marijuana DUI” and “drugged driving.” Likewise he was a talented and successful writer of pointed letters to the editor, most frequently the San Francisco Chronicle. He gave a passionate presentation at the 2011 California NORML Next Steps conference in Berkeley.
Givens was opinionated, thought provoking, enthusiastic, optimistic and a fighter to the end. He wrote several hundred articles and letters that were printed in newspapers across the country going back to the early 80s, advocating for the complete legalization of marijuana. In personal conversations with in the months before his death, Givens insisted that the only way to unite the movement is by focusing on its common enemy of prohibition and demanding that marijuana reformers should give no quarter to their political foes but needs to hammer the opposition with a one-two punch of strong facts and strong rhetoric. He believed that if he could just get into the room with George Soros for one hour, it would open the floodgates of his wealth to make marijuana legal for adults, but he never got the chance. Others have to carry on his spirit from here.
He leaves his daughter Cara Givens and her mother his Life partner and friend Janice Antrillo from San Francisco. He is also survived by his mother Francis Transnik in Springfield, Ill.
— George Michaels, with Chris Conrad
Below is a posting by Randy Givens dated October 17, 2012:
Drug testing drivers for marijuana hurts public safety
Legislators should have done some basic research before assuming that
marijuana use automatically disables a driver. Assuming that
marijuana presents a danger on the highway is a mistake because the
facts prove that marijuana smokers are the safest drivers. US
Department of Transportation surveys universally show that marijuana
drivers have the lowest fatal accident rate of any category. All
available evidence indicates that cannabis using drivers are safer
than teetotalers.
D. Mark Anderson’s recent study showing a 9 percent decrease in
traffic fatalities in states with medical marijuana laws further
demonstrates that marijuana has a beneficial effect on stoned
drivers. Instead of increasing the death toll on the roadways,
marijuana lowers the accident rate. This decline was linked directly
to a drop in the practice of drunk driving. Persons living in states
that had legalized medical marijuana were less likely to drive under
the influence of alcohol, and more likely to use marijuana instead.
The idea of punishing pot smokers who drive safely is
counterproductive.
“Are California’s Medical Marijuana Laws Responsible for Fewer Fatal Traffic Accidents?”
The Drugs and Accident Risk in Fatally-Injured Drivers survey
concluded that marijuana has a “negative risk factor” for fatal
highway accidents. A “negative risk factor” means that pot smokers
have a lower accident rate than teetotalers. It is a scientifically
verified fact that marijuana users are safer drivers than sober
drivers.
“Drivers in whom only opiates were detected had an odd’s ratio of
2.4, whilst marijuana cases provided a relative risk of 0.6. Drivers
in whom stimulants were detected gave an odd’s ratio of 1.4 whilst
benzodiazepines gave an odd’s ratio of 1.0. By contrast the odd’s
ratio for alcohol was 6.8.”
“It was of some interest that cannabis tended to show a negative
effect on relative risk when other drug groups showed an increase.
This phenomenon has also been seen elsewhere [Terhune et al, 1992;
Williams et al, 1985]. The most likely reason probably relates to the
over compensation of marijuana-using drivers on their driving skills.
Over compensation may be caused simply by slowing down and avoiding
adverse driving situations. These observations do not seem to be
related to whether delta-9-THC or 11-carboxy-THC are measured in
blood [Terhune et al, 1992; Williams et al, 1985].”
See: NIH Report, NORML, Drug War Chronicle, DUI report, article, druglibrary.org
This is not theory or guesswork. The numbers are based on actual
highway fatalities, actual drug tests and a determination of who was
at fault. After accident fault was assigned to each driver it was
found that marijuana users had the lowest accident responsibility
rate of any category.
Drug crusaders who claim that marijuana poses a danger on the
highway need to tell us exactly how many deadly collisions are caused
by stoned drivers. According to all previous research most stoned
drivers are not responsible for the accidents that kill them. They
are killed by drunks and distracted drivers.
Rather than zeroing in on stoned drivers who have proved to be the
safest category, people should focus on impaired drivers which can be
found using the standard roadside impairment test. If a driver is
impaired he/she should not be driving. However, merely being stoned
does not indicate impairment.
Putting a bad policy into effect is not progress.
– Randy Givens
By Chris Conrad
In a pivotal election Nov. 6, 2012, voters in the states of Colorado and Washington passed the first marijuana legalization initiatives in US history. Massachusetts became the 18th state to legalize medical use of cannabis, and voters in that state approved six resolutions calling on the federal government to legalize adult use of cannabis. Michigan voters approved five local reform measures, as well.
Meanwhile, voters in Oregon rejected personal adult legalization, voters in Arkansas narrowly defeated medical use, California voters removed marijuana offenses from the onerous “Three Strikes” life imprisonment penalty, and a spattering of local votes in that state have made it more difficult for collectives and individual patients to cultivate, obtain or provide medical marijuana.
The results were: Colorado Amendment 64 passed 54 to 46%; Washington Initiative 502 won 55 to 45%; Massachusetts medical use act passed 63 to 37%; Oregon Measure 80 lost 45 to 55%; and Arkansas medical use act lost 48 to 52%.
This seismic shift in the political landscape comes just two years after California voters narrowly defeated adult legalization via Prop. 19. Whereas in that election, to undercut that ballot measure’s majority support among voters just weeks before the vote, the California governor signed a law that decriminalized marijuana to the level of a traffic infraction, no such changes in state law occurred in the 2012 campaign.
Another key difference was that, unlike in 2010, the federal government did not send in high-ranking officials to make sweeping threats to prosecute citizens, news media, state lawmakers and local officials if the initiative passed. Many jaded observers felt this was because Colorado, unlike California, was an essential ‘swing state’ for President Barack Obama’s 2012 re-election ambitions, so pro-marijuana voters were needed to carry him to victory. Another possible reason is that since the US Department of Justice is now deeply embroiled in the “Fast and Furious” scandal involving sales of assault weapons and other firearms to Mexican drug gangs, the Feds did not care to engage in a debate as to how it should be conducting the Drug War, the longest war in US history.
Whatever the reason, cannabis reform legislation got more favorable votes than Obama in three of the five initiative states, and more votes than Romney in four out of five races.
The legalization laws that were approved by voters are significantly more restrictive than California’s Prop 19 had intended, as campaign activists had warned the so called ‘dopers against legalization’ — spearheaded by provocateurs, illicit growers, dealers and medical marijuana storefronts — would be a consequence if the bill did not pass.
For example, Washington’s I-502 was drafted with the support of law enforcement and parents groups, and drew opposition from the medical marijuana and adult legalization communities because it does not authorize cultivation, it sets a completely un-scientific “per-se” limit of 5 nanograms per milliliter in the blood for driving under the influence, and it increases penalty for marijuana offenses involving minors.
Michelle Obama is a loving mother, a concerned parent and an intelligent woman, and we wonder how she would answer these three questions:
1) How would you and your husband, family and country have benefited if Barack as a young man had gotten a marijuana arrest, destroying his chance to go to college, his job prospects and, if charged with sales, maybe spent a few years behind bars?
2) How will anyone be better off if that happens to one of your daughters?
3) Can you know this happens to 800,000 Americans a year — even seriously ill patients with a physician’s approval who live in states where doctors, families, voters and legislators have recognized the medical use of cannabis — and not do anything?
All pretense to the contrary notwithstanding, your husband is the one person on Earth who can order the DEA to deschedule marijuana, desist in its raids against dispensaries and patients and end the NIDA research monopoly roadblock. Congress gave him that power. He won’t listen to us. You are the one person on Earth who might reach him.
We urge our readers and especially mothers to join the West Coast Leaf and the NORML Women’s Alliance to “Tell Michelle.” Write or call to let her know that marijuana prohibition is harmful and how it has affected your family. Michelle needs to hear from you so Barack will hear from her. Information online at TellMichelle.us.
One unusual victim of the federal raids is the world famous Oaksterdam Cannabis Museum, which had been sponsored by Richard Lee. The museum needs to find new sponsors and a new location as soon as possible, to reopen its doors. Can you help?
To help or donate, visit OaksterdamCannabisMuseum.com or email museum@oaksterdamuniversity.com
Look back 50 years to the US Civil Rights struggle. Southern states twisted States Rights into
a legal device to craft the Jim Crow laws used to deny Americans of color their fundamental rights through segregation, prohibiting mixed-race marriage, denial of education and vot- ing rights, etc. The US Fifth Circuit Court June 25, 1962 ordered that a man named James Meredith be admitted to integrate the University of Mississippi. A courageous young President John F. Kennedy dispatched the Mississippi national guard to hold back a mob of more than 2,000 segregationists who repeatedly attacked federal marshals, allowing Meredith to register for college and ultimately paving the way for US voters to elect a mixed-race African-American president.
Five decades later, 17 states have asserted States Rights to restore their citizens’ right to use cannabis therapeutics as allowed by international treaty. Congress refused to cut off funding to DEA raids, even after heavily armed federal agents were dispatched to California April 2, 2012 to raid Oaksterdam University, Oaksterdam Cannabis Museum, and a licensed medical marijuana dispensary operating under state law by a man named Richard Lee. Hundreds took to the street to bear witness, curse and shame the federal agents. Lee had funded and guided Prop 19, California’s 2010 voter initiative that came within 4% to legalizing adult marijuana use and regulating sales in the state.
The 2011 NAACP convention issued a resolution that begins, “A Call to End the War on Drugs.” It is sad how fully former marijuana smoker President Barack Obama, Congress, and the US Courts have put themselves on the wrong side of one of the most important Civil Rights issues of our era. How long until they realize this mistake?
 Kristin Peskuski addressed a Medical Cannabis Conference held at the senior community Laguna Woods City Auditorium on Jan. 22. The image behind her depicts super-magnified and colorized trichomes, or resin glands of the cannabis plant, which contain cannabinoids. More about the conference and more photos by Michael Guerrini inside.
By Paul Armentano, NORML
Levels of the cannabinoid CBD (cannabidiol) are declining in marijuana, according to a review* of over 5,000 samples seized by law enforcement in California. The review appears on the website of the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence.
Investigators at the RAND Corporation in Santa Monica assessed changes in the median THC and CBD levels of cannabis seized between 1996 and 2008 and found that THC levels rose during this time peri- od while CBD levels fell.
“[M]edian THC potency has increased from 4.56% in 1996 to 11.75% in 2008,” they reported. “The increase in THC was far more dramatic in non-border areas (from 4.18% to 13.95%) than in border areas (from 4.52% to 6.84%). … The median level of CBD dropped from 0.24% in 1996 to 0.08% in 2008.”
The authors speculated that the shift was because “growers are making greater use of plant strains that favor THC production over CBD production.”
Cannabidiol is a non-psychotropic cannabinoid that is believed to temper the psychoactive effects of THC. In preclinical trials, CBD has demonstrated the ability to both treat symptoms and modify the course of various diseases. A recent review in the journal Trends in Pharmacological Sciences reported that CBD has over a dozen separate therapeutic properties — including anti-cancer, anti-diabetic, anti- epileptic, and anti-bacterial.
A small number of growers has recently begun breeding ‘CBD-rich’ strains of
cannabis (defined as 4% CBD or higher) for the medical market. Information on these strains, CBD content, and availability is posted online at projectcbd.com.
* “Heterogeneity in the composition of marijuana seized in California” appears in Drug and Alcohol Dependence.
California Norml hosts two conferences
By Chris Conrad West Coast Leaf
An overflow crowd came from around the state to Berkeley Jan. 29, 2011 for a California NORML conference to assess ‘Marijuana Reform: Next Steps for California.’ Another conference is set for March 19 in Los Angeles (see canorml.org).
At the Jan. 29 event, State Senator Mark Leno and Assemblyman Tom Ammiano agreed that with Jerry Brown as state governor the prospect of getting meaningful reform passed and signed into law is enhanced. Leno said he is introducing SB129 to protect the jobs of qualified patients who use cannabis medicinally.
Oakland City Councilwoman Desley Brooks and Mendocino Supervisor John McCowen spoke of devising workable solutions at the local level in the face of erratic federal intervention. Surprise guest speaker Ethan Nadelmann of Drug Policy
Alliance pointed to a global debate that Prop 19 initiated in 2010 and the more favorable voter turnout expected in 2012.
Cal NORML Director Dale Gieringer guided the conferees through a series of panels and presentations.
A second room was opened to handle the overflow crowd. During the last panel of the day, that room became an open- microphone forum so everyone had a chance to speak on the future of reform.
All agreed that legalization reached new levels of acceptance in 2010. Dale Sky Jones of the Yes on 19 campaign said this was a major goal of the campaign and that a new initiative committee is in its develop- mental stages. “The question isn’t whether cannabis will be legalized, it is determining what form of legalization will take place.”
Throughout the day, a plethora of ini- tiative ideas was discussed by the panels and privately among the 300 attendees, who included many of the state’s top activists, as well as people who came from across the nation to participate.
Mikki Norris spoke to “who we are,” by listing the diverse players and opinions with a stake in cannabis reform. The call for unity was repeated many times.
One division was made apparent in the two-track path taken by the conference in concurrent afternoon breakout sessions — medical marijuana and full legalization.
On medical use, Steve De Angelo of Harborside Health Center talked about working with local government, while Steph Sherer of Americans for Safe Access discussed the delicacies of working for the rights of patients across the country who are affected by what happens here. Berkeley family doctor Frank Lucido, M.D. and others expressed physician view- points. Attorneys dissected legal aspects of crafting legalization laws.
Nate Bradley of LEAP, Michael Jolson with the CCHHI or ‘Jack Herer’ initiative, Jeff Jones of Yes on 19, Debby Goldsberry of the Cannabis Action Network, Bruce Margolin of LA NORML, Lindsay Robinson of Marijuana Policy Project, Deborah Small of Break the Chains and others were on a crowded activist panel.
Video of the event is posted online at canorml.org.
If you smoke cannabis or know someone who does and you live in California, this may be the vote you most remember in your life. It is pivotal to the future legal and social status of cannabis consumers everywhere — a mark of where we stand in society, communities, workplaces, and our families. Will we continue to be subject to arrest, incarceration, asset forfeiture, discriminatory drug testing, loss of jobs, benefits and custody rights, the dangers of the illicit market, and the stigma that marijuana prohibition perpetuates? Is this the next positive step towards exercising our rights as equal partners in society with a growing acceptance and tolerance that common sense cannabis policy holds in store?
This is our historic opportunity to shift a paradigm that has been operating since at least 1937, when the US outlawed marijuana. Prohibition is a scourge wreaking havoc on our lives, devastating our Constitution, and wasting billions of dollars and resources criminalizing a plant and good people who use it. It clogs our courts and our prisons. It has crippled our hemp industries and devastated family farms and forests alike.
The enormity of this moment should not be understated. It has been 38 years since non-medical marijuana legalization was last on the California ballot – which, coincidentally also was numbered Prop 19. It’s been 14 years since voters passed the Compassionate Use Act, Prop 215. No one knows how long it will be until we have another chance, but we do know that every day people are arrested for marijuana in California.
We are therefore surprised to hear some ‘legalizers’ oppose Prop 19 to wait for ‘something better.’ There is only one marijuana legalization initiative on the ballot this year, and there is no guarantee this opportunity will come again anytime soon. So the choice is clear. We urge an enthusiastic vote: “Yes’ on Prop 19.
When personal use and cultivation are “lawful activities,” it changes everything. No longer will an odor of cannabis be automatic probable cause to search your home or person. No longer will you be labeled a ‘criminal,’ ticketed and fined over a small bag in your trunk or purse. No longer will you face the inflated prices that prohibition and the illicit market command for cannabis, as prices drop and adults grow their own and share.
If it passes, Prop 19 will make it easier to protect patients’ rights and the gains we’ve made with medical marijuana. Doctors will still need to approve patients’ larger dosages and patient collectives will continue to play their unique role in providing access. But no longer will cannabis be an illegal medicine, so both stigma and skepticism will soon fall away. Passing Prop. 19 will send a message to law enforcement and to the cities and counties currently banning and clamping down on medical cannabis dispensaries that voters want legal outlets. Prop 19 will allow for profit as well as non-profit activity, which makes it clear that cities can permit retail sales of medical marijuana as well.
Change of this magnitude cannot always be smooth. The challenge for many of our readers will be to start planning now for how to engage with a safe, legal, regulated, and commercial market in California localities. That may be as consumer, producer, product development, employee, business operator, or entrepreneur in an emerging industry that will bring jobs and new revenue streams to our cash-strapped state. It’s not too early to start organizing and lobbying for regulations that benefit and sustain your communities.
We may stand on the dawn of a new era, where all adults 21 and over can use, possess, grow, and share small amounts of cannabis with other adults if they just follow a few simple rules. The whole world is watching and waiting for California to make the first move towards legalization.
Tell your friends and family. Register to vote, volunteer, donate and phone bank for the campaign to help get-out-the-vote. Go to YesOn19.com to see what you can do to get involved. Make this the vote you remember for advancing the rights of cannabis consumers the world over.
This is our time. This is our moment. On Nov. 2, please vote Yes on Prop. 19.
Posted below are the County contact phone number and filing fees to get CA state cannabis ID cards. If your county is not on this list, contact MPP at 202-462-5747 or info@mpp.org.
Alameda 510-444-6111 $103 • Alpine 530-694-2146 $116 • Amador 209-223-6407 $113 • Butte 530-538-7700 $111.15 • Calaveras 209-754-6460 $45 • Contra Costa 925-313-6740 $128 • Del Norte 707-464-3191 $68/123** • El Dorado 530-621-6500 $114 • Fresno 559-445-3200 $107.00 • Glenn 530-934-6588 $174 • Humboldt 866-597-1574 $141 • Imperial 760-482-4438 $111 • Inyo 760-872-4245 $100 • Kern 661-868-1220 $153 • Kings 559-582-3211 $225 • Lake 707-263-1090 $123 • Lassen 530-251-8183 $150 • Los Angeles 866-621-2204 $153 • Marin 415-499-3288 $113 • Mendocino 707-472-2784 $123 • Merced 209-381-1015 $225 • Monterey 831-755-5013 x 24 $116 • Napa 707-253-4506 $116.74 • Nevada 530- 265-1450 $130 • Orange 714-480-6717 $150 • Placer 530-886-1870 $125 • Plumas 530-283-6330 $110 • Riverside 888-358-7932 $153 • Sacramento 916-875-5345 $166 • San Benito 831-636-4011 $93 • San Bernardino 800-782-4264 $166 • San Diego 619-692-5723 $166 • San Francisco 415-206-5555 $103 • San Joaquin 209-468-3404 $141 • San Luis Obispo 808-781-4811 $131 • San Mateo 650-573-2371 $98 • Santa Barbara 805-681-5150 $161 • Santa Clara 408-423-0745 $113 • Santa Cruz 831-454-4000 • Shasta 530-245-6426 $106 • Sierra 530-993-6701 $106 • Siskiyou 530-841-2134 $156 • Sonoma 707-565-4442 $133 • Stanislaus 209-558-7000 $184 • Tehama 530-527-8491 $125.75 • Trinity 530-623-8209 $110 • Tuolumne 209-533-7401 $126 • Tulare 559-733-6123 x217 $344 • Ventura 805-981-5301 $191 • Yolo 530-666-8645 $134 • Yuba 530-749-6366 $126
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It’s Time to Tell Michelle
Michelle Obama is a loving mother, a concerned parent and an intelligent woman, and we wonder how she would answer these three questions:
1) How would you and your husband, family and country have benefited if Barack as a young man had gotten a marijuana arrest, destroying his chance to go to college, his job prospects and, if charged with sales, maybe spent a few years behind bars?
2) How will anyone be better off if that happens to one of your daughters?
3) Can you know this happens to 800,000 Americans a year — even seriously ill patients with a physician’s approval who live in states where doctors, families, voters and legislators have recognized the medical use of cannabis — and not do anything?
All pretense to the contrary notwithstanding, your husband is the one person on Earth who can order the DEA to deschedule marijuana, desist in its raids against dispensaries and patients and end the NIDA research monopoly roadblock. Congress gave him that power. He won’t listen to us. You are the one person on Earth who might reach him.
We urge our readers and especially mothers to join the West Coast Leaf and the NORML Women’s Alliance to “Tell Michelle.” Write or call to let her know that marijuana prohibition is harmful and how it has affected your family. Michelle needs to hear from you so Barack will hear from her. Information online at TellMichelle.us.