Matt Ferner
 
On the legalization side we have Robert Corry, a Colorado-based attorney specializing in criminal defense and civil rights. He has defended more medical marijuana criminal cases than any other attorney in Colorado and is the only attorney to win multiple acquittals for defendants facing medical marijuana charges.
On the anti-legalization side we have Bob Enyart, a talk radio host on Colorado-based KGOV radio and a pastor at Denver Bible Church who is outspoken about his belief that marijuana should remain illegal with exception for prescription-based medical use.
Vote on how you feel about the issue below. Read Corry and Enyart’s statements and then vote on who makes a better argument about the topic. And as always, let us know your thoughts in the comments section.
Let the great debate begin!
 
Read complete article and vote here:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/19/should-marijuana-be-legal_n_1365036.html?ref=politics&ir=Politics
 

Simon Johanson

TWO eco-friendly houses are rising from the ground in suburban Melbourne built from a plant normally associated with 1960s hippie heaven: hemp.
In an Australian-mainland first, the walls of the semi-detached homes in trendy inner-city Northcote will be made from the cannabis-based building product Hempcrete, pioneered by a Queensland company for its carbon-neutral properties.
The eight-star green rated homes are the inspiration of two medical practitioners, a father and daughter team who will live side by side with their three generations in the one construction.

Michelle Leadston and her father, Bill, bought the large block in Northcote three years ago intent on building two sustainable homes for their families to live in.
”I’ve always said I’m going to look after my parents when they get old,” she said. ”This was the most convenient option. The babysitter’s next door. And it’s not too close. There’s a big wall in between.”
 
Read complete article here:
http://www.businessday.com.au/business/property/housing-on-a-new-green-high-20120318-1vdr0.html

Sir Richard Branson went to the White House this week to attend a state dinner. It’s reported that when he got a chance to speak to President Obama he asked him if he could have a spliff (joint).
He was only joking but it was a gentle way of reminding Obama that the issue of marijuana — which the president has avoided — is an important one.
Branson told this story at the offices of The Atlanticmagazine, where he recently joined Drug Policy Alliance Executive Director Ethan Nadelmann and spoke about the need for greater momentum and political debate to end the failed drug war on Thursday at a forum organized by The Atlantic.
In the past year, Branson has stepped out as a prominent supporter of drug policy reform. His involvement with the Global Commission on Drug Policy electrified the international media and brought a new level of attention to the growing movement to end the 40-year-old war on drugs. The Global Commission is comprised of Branson, former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, former U.S. Secretary of State George Shultz, former Chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve Paul Volcker, the former heads of state of Brazil, Colombia, Greece, Mexico and Switzerland, and several other distinguished world leaders.
 
Read complete article here:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/anthony-papa/richard-branson-white-house_b_1354446.html

 
Robert Jackson is a native Arkansan, and he’s one of the many people whose life would be made liveable with medical marijuana. Born in 1975, he grew up in Jacksonville and served with the Navy Seebees for 8 years. His tour of service ended in 2002 with the construction of a fleet hospital on Guantanamo Bay.
A year later, while doing landscaping work with a tree crew, an entire 10,000 pound storage shed collapsed on top of him; OSHA later declared the structure unsound. After a Bobcat removed the debris pinning him down he was in the hospital for two months recovering from a destroyed L1 vertebrae.
With his broken back, Robert is now 100% disabled, wheelchair bound, and engulfed in neuropathic pain 24 hours a day. The traditional narcotics prescribed to him caused painful constipation and stole his appetite. In desperation Robert turned to something that he remembered had calmed him in his youth—marijuana.
The effect was profound. The marijuana eased Robert’s cramps, helped him to keep food down, and allowed him to stop taking the drugs that were causing him so much discomfort on top of his chronic pain.
http://arcompassion.org/patient-stories/marijuana-could-help-us-navy-veteran

Posted by Ezekiel Edwards, Criminal Law Reform Project & Emma Andersson, Criminal Law Reform Project
 
In 2000, Colorado voters approved an amendment  to their state constitution that allows patients suffering from conditions like cancer, glaucoma and HIV/AIDS to use medical marijuana when a doctor has advised them to do so. The amendment to the Colorado constitution provides that these patients “may engage in the medical use of marijuana” and that they will have an affirmative defense against state criminal charges relating to their use of medical marijuana.
Nonetheless, the Colorado Court of Appeals held recently that patients with debilitating medical conditions cannot use the medicine they need if they are on probation. The rule applies no matter how sick a patient is or what type of offense led to the sentence of probation. For example, the decision will prevent a cancer patient from using marijuana as medicine if she is on probation for forging a check. Punishing probationers by uniformly denying them access tothe medicine they need is irrational as a matter of policy and undermines the goal of Colorado’s medical marijuana law to provide relief for Coloradans with debilitating health problems.
 
Read complete article here:
http://www.aclu.org/blog/criminal-law-reform/should-we-deny-ill-people-probation-access-medicine

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSrN2zIRwN8

By John Ingold
The Denver Post

 
Supporters of looser marijuana laws in Colorado have filed two more proposed initiatives aiming for the November ballot.
The two new initiatives — one that would legalize marijuana possession for any purpose and one that would expand the types of conditions for which a person can receive medical marijuana — add to a list of three initiatives already filed. One of those previously filed initiatives would legalize limited marijuana possession and has already qualified for the ballot. The other two are still seeking the needed language-approvals or signatures.
Ofthe newly filed initiatives , one — now known asProposed Initiative No. 70 — would make it a constitutional right to possess up to four ounces of marijuana for people 21 and older. The initiative would also allow for marijuana to be sold in stores that are regulated like tobacco businesses.
The other new initiative,Proposed Initiative No. 65 , would give doctors discretion to recommend marijuana for any medical condition. Currently, a doctor must diagnose a patient with one of eight medical conditions in order for the patient to qualify for medical marijuana. A valid doctor’s recommendation is all that is needed under state law to be able to use medical marijuana legally.
Those new initiatives join an already crowded field of marijuana measures vying for attention.
Read complete article here:
http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_20165213/two-more-marijuana-initiatives-filed

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozJ-ccVrPkI&feature=share

POMPANO, FL — On Tuesday at 3pm Medical Marijuana literally hits the road in South Florida. Two 48 foot billboards urging passage of medical marijuana for Floridians will be unveiled. Strategically placed on Pompano’s busiest thoroughfare Sample Rd between Powerline Rd and Military Trail, just across from Costco, these signs carry a potent message.
 

 
The giant billboards are sponsored by The Silver Tour, a non-profit organization dedicated to educating senior voters about medical marijuana. The Silver Tour’s founder, and Director of NORML of Florida, Robert Platshorn is the man who convinced Lake Worth Representative Jeff Clemens to file Florida’s first bill for medical marijuana in Tallahassee. The billboards are part of a three prong plan to push for the passage of medical marijuana in Florida.
 
Read complete article here:
http://www.opposingviews.com/i/society/drug-law/silver-tour-promotes-medical-marijuana-florida-billboards

by Scott Morgan
Christian Science Monitor has a bit of a reputation for launching rabid attacks  against the marijuana legalization movement, so you can imagine my surprise to find them advertising the high-end Volcano Vaporization System™ right next to an anti-legalization editorial.
 

 
What fun. Thanks to the targeted marketing geniuses at Google, Christian Science Monitor can collect revenue by promoting sleek vaporizers to the marijuana enthusiasts who stop by to laugh at the pathetic anti-pot propaganda they’re constantly publishing.
Now to be fair, it’s very possible that they never even had a clue this was happening. If you let them, Google will sell stuff in your sidebar that relates to the subject of the article on the page, and your site gets a cut according to the number of clicks. We do the same thing here at StoptheDrugWar.org, and we’ve occasionally noticed some really sleazy anti-drug propaganda and other questionable crap popping up in our ad space from time to time. We can reject specific ads, but it’s not an easy thing to monitor 24/7, and frankly I think it’s hilarious when I write an editorial trashing the idiotic drug policy ideas of some prohibitionist politician, only to have an ad for his presidential campaign pop up on the side of the page. It’s like these people are paying me to make fun of them.
 
Read complete article here:
http://stopthedrugwar.org/speakeasy/2012/mar/12/irony_alert_antimarijuana_newspa