The New York Times took a long look at the recent backlash against the nascent medicinal cannabis industry in California, admirably including sound bites from many familiar voices of the cannabis law reform community.
In addition to the issues surrounding medicinal cannabis in the workplace and in public spaces, medicinal cannabis laws are forcing states to accommodate patients in custodial relationships with the criminal justice system.
Cannabinoid research pioneer Billy R. Martin passed away last week.
]]>Surprise, surprise: as many other trials have shown before, when heroin addicts are simply prescribed the pharmaceutical grade stuff, their lives stabilize. In Montreal, Canada, the first trial of prescribed heroin in North America is coming to a close. "What was surprising was that, as their lives gained stability, many came only twice a day," noted the lead researcher. "Because the heroin was free, people thought an escalation in use would occur. But this didn't happen." Other fears proved unfounded, as well. "There was a fear we'd attract more users by giving out free heroin." Don't expect grandstanding politicians to listen; such studies are regularly ignored by government. Meanwhile, the right-wing government of Stephen Harper vowed to appeal the B.C. Supreme court ruling that allows Insite to remain operating. With over 90% of Canada's anti-drug budget going to law enforcement, a powerful law enforcement lobby keeps a stranglehold on politicians and resources.
In Scotland, media and politicians alike were aghast at the very idea: supervised injection centers should be established, and cannabis should be legalized. The idea came from a think-tank which was set up by the Scottish Parliament. Response from prohibitionists was predictable. "We believe that people should be assisted to get off drugs, not helped to take them," said member of parliament Annabel Goldie. Scotland's punitive drug prohibition laws have earned the region the distinction of having "the highest drug-related death rate in Europe."
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