Check the numbers

· 200,000 registered medical marijuana patients in California

· 150 - estimated number of medical marijuana dispensaries in California

· 20m marijuana plants cultivated in California

· $13.8bn (£7bn) - estimated street value of California's marijuana crop

· 2m cannabis plants eradicated in California by the federal Drug Enforcement Administration

· 829,625 people arrested nationally for marijuana violations in 2006

· 96.8 million Americans (40.2% of the population over 12) admit to having tried marijuana

· 14.6 million Americans admit to having used marijuana in past month

(from guardian.co.uk)

AND Here's Jerry Large's column in the Seattle Times:

Marijuana has an image problem.

That's not the only problem with it, but its image probably keeps it lurking in the shadows: People who smoke pot are unkempt, unruly, counterculture. Best just to drink scotch or pop OxyContin.

If marijuana had the ad agencies that cigarettes have had, it would be legal, too.

I'm not craving a joint. It's not my thing, but I noticed that Hempfest is coming up this weekend.

Speakers at the Seattle festival will try mightily to pull the weed from darkness.

I agree with them that it makes sense to decriminalize marijuana use.

Bring it out into the light, regulate it, tax it, put trafficking gangs out of business and let police and courts do more important work.

Rick Steves, the travel entrepreneur from Edmonds, will be one of the main speakers at Hempfest.

We had a story in our paper Friday about a television program he and the ACLU made to get people talking about marijuana laws (marijuanaconversation.org).

Some local television stations were not willing to air the TV show, though I can't think of a station that hasn't carried entertainment programs in which weed played a part.

I guess it's like sex, which you can display a bit, but not discuss seriously.

Outlawing grass doesn't seem to have the intended effect, assuming the intent is to keep people from using.

According to the 2001 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, more than 83 million Americans older than 12 have used marijuana.

Marijuana production earns billions every year.

Think of what we could do with the taxes on legal marijuana. And we'd save the $7.5 billion a year the nation spends enforcing pot laws.

One of the big raps against pot is the idea that using it leads to using more dangerous drugs.

The other day, I asked a roomful of people about marijuana. One man, an educator, said that when he was in high school in 1972, he had a drug-education class.

The kids were told marijuana was the same as heroin.

The ones who experimented with it found out it wasn't, and some went on to try heroin figuring that since marijuana hadn't done them in and heroin was the same, it wouldn't hurt either. How's that for a gateway effect?

I'm sure arresting people for using pot has a gateway effect. A little time in jail gives a person the opportunity to learn more about other drugs and bigger crimes.

But if marijuana were legal, we could institute some controls and even have serious conversations about it.

I spoke with Steves, who is in Belgium. He said his interest started with "knowing so many people who were closet smokers but couldn't talk about it. I thought, 'What if everybody agreed [it should be decriminalized] but was too afraid to speak out.' "

He figured maybe people would listen to a straight-laced businessman.

Steves is pushing democracy, not pot. It bothers him that Americans shrink from discussing drug laws.

That's a truly sorry image


Great points, great article: I was a bit surprised that Rick Steves is an advocate for the ganja! I own three of his european travel guides - I knew there was a reason I was such a big fan! (Aside from the fact that he's a cultured intellectual who shares my interests in art, wine and food)

The image of Marijuana is a tragedy: So many times I get to know people and it comes to the surface that I'm a pot head. They are so surprised, and I never understood why. That's because I don't think of people who choose to use marijuana as unkempt, or of a lower social class or level of intelligence. You shouldn't either.

Last Christmas, I smoked a joint with a cab driver and a 7th grade social studies teacher at a catholic high school. Expect the unexpected when it comes to smokers.

Winemakers turn to Marijuana

(From the Brittish Newspaper, The Independent)
By Shannon Dininny in Wapato, Washington
Sunday, 10 August 2008

The vineyards of America's Washington state do not all, it turns out, grow grapes. Increasingly, they are growing marijuana, a plant that could surpass grapes in value this year.

So far this summer, law enforcement officials in the Yakima Valley have converged on seven vineyards that had been converted to marijuana. In 2006 more than 144,000 plants were seized; the following year the total more than doubled to 296,611 plants.

Finding farmers willing to sell their property isn't difficult. In one case, drug operatives approached a farmer who didn't have his farm listed for sale. He resisted until, asked to name a price, he threw out a figure: $263,000 (£137,000) for 27 acres and no building. The buyer returned a few days later and bought the property for cash.

Great idea! What an awesome return you'd get on your investment! I always said that if my career in the art world didn't pan out, I'd start a vineyard, and this article has just entirely validated that pursuit.

I CAN BREAK THESE CUFFS!

A crazy black midget's run-in with the law. He HAS to be on crack - there is no question.

After maintaining my composure through the beginning of this altercation, I fuckin' lost it when the midget does the back handspring!

Of course, there are ample parodies of this event, one of which you can watch below:

Study shows marijuana to help those with ADHD behind the wheel

This is almost a year old, but hey, I didn't know about it so you might not have known about it either! I would just like to note that I have been both diagnosed with ADHD and have had several speeding tickets/altercations with other vehicles. From now on, I am only driving high. This article is justification for my self-medication:

Science: THC normalized impaired psychomotor performance and mood in a patient with hyperactivity disorder

BBSNews 2007-10-01 -- (IACM) Scientists at the Department for Forensic and Traffic Medicine of the University of Heidelberg, Germany, investigated the effects of cannabis on driving related functions in a 28 year old man with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). He had violated traffic regulations several times in recent years and his driving licence was revoked due to driving under the influence of cannabis. He showed abnormal behaviour, seemed to be significantly maladjusted and his concentration was heavily impaired while sober during the first meeting with a psychologist. He was allowed to perform driving related tests under the influence of the cannabis compound dronabinol (THC), which his doctor had prescribed him to treat his symptoms. The examiner expected that he was not able to drive a car under the acute influence of THC.

But at the second visit his behaviour was markedly improved and he performed average and partly above-average in all tests on reaction speed, sustained attention, visual orientation, perception speed and divided attention. A blood sample taken after the tests revealed a high THC concentration of 71 ng/ml in blood serum. He admitted later to have smoked cannabis and not taken dronabinol, because it was too expensive. Researchers noted that "people with ADHD are found to violate traffic regulations, to commit criminal offences and to be involved in traffic accidents more often than the statistical norm" and conclude from their investigation that "it has to be taken into account that in persons with ADHD THC may have atypical and even performance-enhancing effects."

(Source: Strohbeck-Kuehner P, Skopp G, Mattern R. Fahrtüchtigkeit trotz (wegen) THC. [Fitness to drive in spite (because) of THC] [Article in German] Arch Kriminol 2007;220(1-2):11-9.)

I will tell you that I don't make a habit of driving when stoned, but I'm going to starting today. It is true that when I drive stoned, I am very much aware of my speed and everything going on around me. It's a very deep, intrinsic focus on driving. There is no road rage - in fact, I'm far more likely to praise other drivers than to yell at them. Examples:

I feel the sympathy of other drivers: (gesturing for a car in the other lane to merge over in front of me) "Yeah dude, come on over here in front of me, I won't bite. Bein' in the left lane when you need to be in the right lane sucks like eight bitches in a bitch boat...yeah."

I wave a lot. Slowly.

I compliment other cars and drivers: "Dude look at this chick in the S class. She is a fuckin' baller. She's got like, big bangin' sunglasses and rollin' in her S all over town. S must stand for fuckin' swanky, because that's what she is and she totally knows it. I just wanna like, fuckin' tell her or something. You know, like, maybe wave. Fuck it, I'm high."

What do you think? If all the ADHD drivers were stoned, would that put you a little more at ease as you head for the road?

paris for president?

See more funny videos at Funny or Die

Obsession with Kappas fuels madman's anthrax vengeance!

A psycho Univ. of Cincinnati grad is bitter about getting shot down by a Kappa girl. (ps-I like my title for this article WAY better than the real one listed below):

Officials: Sorority obsession seen in anthrax case

WASHINGTON (AP) - His decades-long obsession with a college sorority may link a former Army biowarfare scientist to four anthrax-laced letters dropped off at a New Jersey mailbox in 2001, authorities said Monday in the latest twist of one of the most bizarre unsolved crimes in FBI history.
U.S. officials said Bruce Ivins' fixation with Kappa Kappa Gamma could explain one of the biggest mysteries in the case: why the anthrax was mailed from Princeton, N.J., 195 miles from the lab it's believed to have been smuggled from.

Still, authorities acknowledge they cannot place Ivins in Princeton the day the anthrax was mailed. And the curious explanation connecting the scientist and a sorority is unlikely to satisfy his friends and former co-workers who question what motive the married father of two might have had for unleashing the attack.

Ivins, 62, killed himself last week as the Justice Department prepared to indict him on capital murder charges for the deaths of five people who were poisoned by the anthrax in the weeks following 9/11. His attorney maintains he would have been proven innocent were he still alive.

The mailbox just off the campus of Princeton University where the letters were mailed sits about 100 yards away from where the college's Kappa Kappa Gamma chapter stores its rush materials, initiation robes and other property. Sorority members do not live there, and the Kappa chapter at Princeton does not provide a house for the women.

Multiple U.S. officials told The Associated Press that Ivins was obsessed with Kappa Kappa Gamma, going back as far as his own college days at the University of Cincinnati when he apparently was rebuffed by a woman in the sorority. The officials all spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case publicly.

There is nothing to indicate Ivins was focused on any one sorority member or other Princeton student, the officials said. Instead, officials said, Ivins' e-mails and other documents detail his long-standing fixation on the organization.

An adviser to the Kappa Kappa Gamma chapter at Princeton, Katherine Breckinridge Graham, said Monday she was interviewed by FBI agents "over the last couple of years" about the case. She said she could not provide any details about the interview because she signed an FBI nondisclosure form.

However, Graham said there was nothing to indicate that any of the sorority members had anything to do with Ivins.

"Nothing odd went on," said Graham, an attorney and Kappa alumna.

Kappa Kappa Gamma executive director Lauren Paitson, reached at the sorority's headquarters in Columbus, Ohio, initially told an AP reporter Monday afternoon she would provide a comment shortly. She did not answer subsequent phone messages or e-mails seeking that response.

Had he lived, authorities had planned to argue that Ivins could have made the seven-hour round trip to Princeton from the Fort Detrick lab in Frederick, Md., after work. One official said investigators were working off the theory that Ivins chose to mail the letters from outside the sorority's Princeton chapter to confuse the government if he ever were to emerge as a suspect in the case.

Kappa Kappa Gamma also has chapters at colleges in Maryland, Pennsylvania and Washington.

Princeton University referred questions about Ivins to the FBI. The university does not formally recognize sororities and fraternities, but chapters operate off campus. Local police in both Princeton Borough and Princeton Township said Ivins' name did not turn up on any incident reports or restraining orders.

Details about Ivins' alleged obsession with the sorority will be spelled out in court documents that could be made public as early as Tuesday. The Justice Department is expected to decide soon whether to end the "Amerithrax" investigation by concluding Ivins acted alone in carrying out the attacks that killed five and sickened 17.

Even the government officials acknowledged the sorority connection is a strange one, and it's not likely to ease concerns by Ivins' friends and former co-workers who are skeptical about the case against him.

Ivins' attorney, Paul F. Kemp, did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment Monday but has asserted his client's innocence and said he would have been vindicated in court.

At least some of Ivins' former colleagues, as well as others who want to see the FBI's still-secret evidence, question whether he could have created the powder form of the deadly toxin without co-workers noticing.

In August 2002, investigators announced they'd found anthrax spores inside the mailbox on Nassau Street, Princeton's main thoroughfare. FBI agents immediately began canvassing the town, showing residents a photograph of Army scientist Steven J. Hatfill, who at the time was a key "person of interest" in the case.

That theory fell flat and this June, the Justice Department exonerated Hatfill and agreed to a $5.8 million settlement with him.

In the past year, the FBI has turned its attention to Ivins, whom a therapist said had a history of homicidal and sociopathic behavior. Social worker Jean C. Duley won a protective order against Ivins on July 24 after telling a judge the scientist was a homicidal sociopath.

Duley, 45, also has a minor criminal record, according to court records. She pleaded guilty in April to driving under the influence and was fined $500 and placed on probation for nearly a year. In October 2006, she pleaded guilty to reckless driving and was fined $580. A 1992 charge of possessing drug paraphernalia was dismissed.

___

Associated Press writers Geoff Mulvihill in Mount Laurel, N.J., and David Dishneau in Hagerstown, Md., contributed to this report.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

back in the bluegrass

I still have a great story about my last day in the city (yes, waking up on canal st. AGAIN...dammit!) but I'm saving that for tomorrow. Right now, I am lazy and happy. Guess who is snoozin' at my feet? Maximus! Yeah he's all cute and furry and shit...

Mikey picked me up from the airport and somehow convinced me to go with him to the lake when I had not slept in well over 24 hours (to be explained in forthcoming post). It ended up being a pretty good idea actually. First thing I did when I (or he) got my luggage up to my condo was smoke from the Weesil. It was the single most rewarding experience I've had since the last time I smoked out of it. Then, I slept and drank an awesome UDF mint chocolate chip milkshake on the way to the lake, only to get on the boat and lay in the sun snoozing like ferret in a hammock. I even got to work on my suntan!

Today, I laid out at my parents' pool and ate food that was served to me while my parents and I told stories and made fun of each other. I also picked some tomatoes and green beens from our gardens and de-strung the beans (which we ate for dinner). Super tasty.

Sandwich envy

I covet their well-crafted sandwich and compromised cognition! There are no words to express how badly I wish I could be kickin' it with these guys:

My roommate is a blogger!

So get this: my NYC roommate just started her own blog, Never went to Confession. Click here to check it out. She wrote a story about my now-famous egg sandwiches which some of you have eaten before.

ps- my alias (which is really half the fun of blogging in the first place) on her blog is Anna. I can't wait to hear the reasoning behind this! Anna? really? Do I look like an Anna? I don't feel strongly for or against the idea, just never really thought about it. I've always been told I was more of a Meredith. Interesting!

She shines with her own kind of light

I'm still bothered by the fact that the drunk guy who traumatized me the other night kept calling me an "Ohio girl" or a "Pennsylvania girl". Seriously, fuck that. I am from Kentucky. Let us remember my previous post regarding buckeyes. And Pennsylvania, WTF?! You never hear anyone say, "Oh dude, there is this bomb Pennsylvania chick who is totally fuckin' incredible!!" or "I went to Pennsylvania and had a fucking crazy awesome time!!! Wooooo weeee!!" No. I would hate to be from those states, and other states lacking colorful reputations.

I think it's pretty cool to be a Kentucky lady: men treat you far better (as compared to say, chicks from the Northeast), there are songs about us (see list below) and we live paradoxically. By this, I mean that we are raised in a social construct that holds manners, respect and compassion in the highest regard. However, depending on the context, it is also perfectly acceptable for us to drink liquor and gamble. and fuck. I just love having this option!

So here are some Kentucky songs:

Neil Diamond - "Kentucky Woman" (The Deep Purple cover is a little more lively, and can be found here.)

Paul McCartney's cover of Bill Monroe - "Blue Moon of Kentucky"

Pure Prairie League - "Kentucky Moonshine"


Loretta Lynn - "Blue Eyed Kentucky Girl" (written about me, of course!)

I can go for the summer to London,
I can go for the winter to Rome,
But nothing will compare
with what I long to share
with my darlin', my baby at home.

Merle Haggard - "Kentucky Gambler"


And of course, Afroman LOVES him some Kentucky girls: