CNN- Mexican Drug War "Not a Failure"

CNN did a report and update on the Mexican drug war we are currently involved in, this is interesting news for anyone involved with the chemical dependency counseling community. More on the story...

"(CNN) -- U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano said Monday that the war on drugs in Mexico "is not a failure."

 

At a press conference in Mexico City after meeting Mexican Interior Minister Alejandro Poire, Napolitano called the drug policies of both Mexico and the United States "a continuing effort to keep our peoples from becoming addicted to dangerous drugs."

 

Napolitano also said that among the things discussed at the meeting with Poire was how to have a more regional approach to a number of security issues threatening the United States, Mexico and Central America.

 

Asked why, in spite of efforts by both Mexico and the United States, the leader Mexico's most powerful criminal organization -- the Sinaloa drug cartel -- remains at large, Napolitano implied it's only a matter of time before Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman falls.

 

"It took us 10 years to find Osama bin Laden and we found him," Napolitano said. "And you know what happened there. I'm not suggesting the same thing would happen with Guzman but I am suggesting that we are persistent when it comes to wrongdoers and those who do harm in both of our countries."

 

Guzman escaped from a Mexican prison in 2001, and both Mexican and U.S. authorities are offering multi-million-dollar rewards for information leading to his capture.

 

Mexican reporters also asked whether the U.S. Homeland Security secretary still considers Mexico a safe destination. Twenty-two Carnival Cruise Lines passengers were robbed of valuables and their passports Saturday while they were traveling by bus in the middle of a shore excursion near the beach resort of Puerto Vallarta.

 

Napolitano didn't specifically address that incident, but suggested she doesn't believe there is a generalized security problem.

 

"I think Americans come and go freely to Mexico all the time and I expect that to continue. It's a wonderful country. There are many, many places to go and to see. And obviously we also do a tremendous amount of commerce," Napolitano said.

 

The meeting with Minister Poire was Napolitano's first stop of a five-day regional tour that will also take her to Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica and Panama.

 

Napoliticano was specifically asked whether the U.S. government is as concerned about the power of criminal organizations in Latin America as it is about terrorism. She called both terrorism and drug trafficking a global scourge, but pointed out there are important distinctions between the two.

 

"(Drug trafficking) has to be handled in a somewhat different way. It's a different type of crime and it's a different type of plague, but that's also why it is so important that we act not only bi-nationally, but in a regional way, to go after the supply of illegal narcotics," Napolitano said."

 

Copyright CNN 2012

Source: http://www.channel3000.com/politics/30553855/detail.html

If you are interested in getting your counselor degree extremely fast to become a chemical dependency counselor, then feel FREE to visit CentaurUniversity.com!

Social Media and Drugs.

This is just another step forward for drug use and one step back for the chemical dependency counseling community. Though this is not a surprise, social media is becoming a prime source for drugs, more on the story..

"VIENNA — Illegal Internet pharmacies are selling illicit drugs and prescription medicines online and are increasingly targeting young people, a U.N. drug agency warned today.

The International Narcotics Control Board also described North America as continuing to be “the world's largest illicit drug market” in 2010; parts of Europe as the homes of industrial scale cannabis factories; and growing poppy cultivation in West Asia.

Focusing on Internet pharmacies as a growing threat, a summary of the agency's 2011 report cited the agency's head, Hamid Ghodse, as saying such use of social media “can put large, and especially young, audiences at risk of dangerous products.”

The Vienna-based board urged governments to close down illegal Internet pharmacies. It also called on them to seize substances that have been illicitly ordered on the Internet and smuggled through the mail.

The organization noted “high levels of illicit drug production manufacture, trade and consumption,” with “vast amounts produced in all three countries” in North America — the United States, Canada and Mexico.

About 90 percent of the cocaine reaching the United States is transited through Mexico, even as an increasingly harsh crackdown by Mexican authorities is forcing some drug cartels to move their operations to Central America, the agency said.

It identified Honduras, Costa Rica and Nicaragua as achieving the status of “major transit countries for smuggling drugs primarily destined for the United States” in 2010.

Cannabis was a major problem in Western and Central Europe, with plants “increasingly cultivated on an industrial scale, mainly indoors, and with the involvement of organized criminal groups,” the agency said.

“Europe accounts for the largest proportion of the global opiate market, and the abuse of heroin is the biggest drug problem in Europe in terms of morbidity and mortality,” according to the summary.

The agency noted “significant increases in opium production” in West Asia last year and warned that higher prices for crop growers in Afghanistan and planned cutbacks in international troops in the country “could lead to even further increases in production beyond 2011.”

It identified parts of Africa as representing a growing problem, both in terms of drug transit routes and of opiate consumption.

Cocaine trafficking from South America through Africa and into Europe “has emerged as a major threat in recent years,” the agency said, with criminals increasingly shipping the drugs in containers and commercial aircraft.

“Heroin enters the continent through East Africa and is smuggled, either directly or via West Africa, into Europe and other regions,” said the summary noting that authorities made “record seizures” of heroin in Kenya and Tanzania last year."

Source: http://www2.timesdispatch.com/news/2012/feb/28/un-says-illegal-drugs-sold-soc...

If you are interested in getting your counselor degree extremely fast to become a chemical dependency counselor, then feel FREE to visit CentaurUniversity.com!

Another State Passes a Ban

Straight from the Denver Channel website, it seems another "legal high" ban has been passed. This is good news for the chemical dependency counseling because legal highs have been the death of over 4,000 people last year. 

 

"DENVER -- Selling or manufacturing synthetic drugs known as "bath salts" would be illegal in Colorado under a bill in consideration at the state Legislature.

Lawmakers will hear a proposal Tuesday that would make it a felony with a civil penalty of up to $500,000 for distributing or manufacturing cathinones. The chemicals mimic the effects of powerful drugs such as cocaine.Several states nationwide are taking up the issue. Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer signed legislation last week to ban bath salts.

Last year, Colorado lawmakers passed a bill to ban chemicals used to produce synthetic marijuana, often called Spice or K2.

Read Senate Bill 116."

Source: http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/30506383/detail.html

If you are interested in getting your counselor degree extremely fast to become a chemical dependency counselor, then feel FREE to visit CentaurUniversity.com!

Addiction to Social Networks

Many of the people involved in chemical dependency counseling or those who want to become chemical dependency counselors may not be addicted to a substance, but rather to a network. Sober Livings has published this article recently and I wanted to take the time to share it with you.

"When people refer to being "addicted" to social network sites like Facebook and Twitter, they may be more accurate than they think.

When people refer to being "addicted" to social network sites like Facebook and Twitter, they may be more accurate than they think. Two recent studies have found that online social networks can induce chemical responses in the brain that make them just as addictive as alcohol or cigarettes. 

Tests completed by researchers from MIT and the University of Milan have found that the pleasurable chemical responses that are triggered during social network interaction are similar to those that occur when playing a musical instrument, creating a piece of art or engaging in other creative pursuits. Scientists have a name for the state of mind that social networking can induce – the "Core Flow State." In this state, the subject feels high arousal and positive emotions. Time seems to stand still as the subject becomes energized and focused on the task at hand. Besides keeping up with family and friends, people may keep returning to check their social network status in order to satisfy a craving for this pleasurable response.

For the test, 30 healthy volunteer aged 19 to 25 were given three-minute exposure to different stimuli, including looking at relaxing photographs, interacting on Facebook and solving math problems. The test subjects' physical and psychological responses were measured and recorded, including brainwave patterns, muscle activity, breathing and pupil dilation. The test subjects consistently showed a more positive response to Facebook than to either the photographs (which triggered a relaxed state) or the math problems (which triggered a stressful state).  

The findings supported the researchers' hypothesis that the successful spread of social networks like Facebook and Twitter is associated with a positive chemical state experienced by users of these networks.

In another study conducted at the University of Chicago, 205 volunteers aged 18 to 25 were each given a Blackberry mobile device and asked to respond to questions about their desire to use Facebook and Twitter at different times over a 14-hour period. The volunteers responded that they had a strong urge to use the social networking sites more than 70% of the time. The study concluded that people are willing to forgo many cravings in order to satisfy their need to check their status on Facebook or Twitter.

Lead researcher Wilhelm Hofmann points out that unlike addictions like cigarettes and alcohol that have some cost associated with their use, the free access to social networking may make it harder to resist. Hofmann admits that social networking is less consequential than cigarettes and alcohol, but points out that it frequently steals time that could be spent on other things. 

The addiction risk posed by social networks may seem harmless when compared to other substances. Although social networks don't pose the same health threats as these substances, any type of addictive behavior can disrupt relationships and cause a host of other personal problems."

Source: http://www.soberliving.com/blog/2012/02/17/facebook-addiction-and-twitter-add...

If you are interested in getting your counselor degree extremely fast to become a chemical dependency counselor, then feel FREE to visit CentaurUniversity.com!

 

New"Legal Highs" are Altering Brain Chemistry. Serious Health Concerns.

This week in chemical dependency counseling news we have a report brought to us by Reuters.com and they are telling us about the new "Legal Highs" that are, not surprisingly, very dangerous.   

"New Synthetic Drugs Circumvent DEA Scheduled Chemicals Found in Synthetic Cannabinoids

In an alarming development, new chemicals are actually altering brain chemistry, raising serious health concerns

There is no sign of a slowdown in the appearance of new drugs in the illicit designer drug pipeline, according to data just released from NMS Labs, the nation’s leader in designer drug testing innovation. Among synthetic cannabinoids, the latest trends point toward an increase in the use of drugs not explicitly covered under the latest Federal drug laws (JWH-210, JWH-122, and AM-2201). 

This increase is subsequent to a decline in positive results for the compounds JWH-018 and JWH-073 scheduled by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency in 2011. “However, simply making the new drugs illegal is not likely to make them go away. Although there is a decline in the use of JWH-018 and JWH-073, recent data from research groups in Florida, Michigan and Baltimore shows that the ‘traditional’ synthetic cannabinoids are still being used in spite of being scheduled on the state and federal level, and that there is now an established market for these products alongside traditional recreational drugs,” said Dr. Barry Logan, Director of NMS Labs Designer Drug Initiative. 

Logan goes on to state, “In my opinion, JWH-210, JWH-122, and AM-2201 are substantially chemically similar to JWH-018 and JWH-073 and have been demonstrated to have marijuana-like effects in impaired drivers. This means they should meet the Federal standard for an analog and should be considered illegal.” 

“The latest trend we are seeing is the appearance of completely new drugs. These new drugs are different in design from the current synthetic drugs and alter the brain’s chemistry by amplifying the effects of normal brain chemicals, producing the same marijuana-like effects,” said Logan. “These drugs, which are FAAH inhibitors, also modulate many other biochemical processes raising concerns about unanticipated side effects and drug interactions. The fact that these substances are altering the chemistry of the brain is alarming and we have no way to predict the short-term and long-term health impacts associated with the use of these substances.” 

NMS Labs plans to release current statistics showing the most frequently detected drugs in products purchased online and the positive results in its toxicology tests conducted in at-risk populations, post-accident, impaired driving and postmortem. "

...

Tue Feb 14, 2012 1:55pm EST 
PR by NMS Labs, Pam Lipschutz 

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...012+BW20120214 

If you are interested in getting certified extremely fast for Chemical Dependency Counseling and becoming a Counseling Graduate feel FREE to visit CentaurUniversity.com!

States Are Reforming Marijuana Laws

This is an interesting article for those in the chemical dependency counseling community because it goes over all the different reformations that the Marijuana Laws are going through.

"State legislatures have convened or are convening all around the country, and once again this year, marijuana decriminalization or legalization are hot topics at the statehouse. Legalization bills are pending in three states (as well as on the ballot as initiatives in Washington and almost certainly Colorado), decriminalization bills are alive in nine states, and bills that would improve existing decriminalization laws have been filed in two states.

And this is still early in the legislative season. Bills can still be introduced in many states, and bills that have already been introduced can advance or be killed. By around the beginning of May, a clearer picture should emerge, but 2012 is already looking to be even more active than last year when it comes to decriminalization and legalization bills.

There's a reason for that, said leading reformers.

"We're seeing more bills introduced, and they're having stronger and more sponsors," said Karen O'Keefe, state policy director for the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP). "We're also seeing more and more public support for decriminalization and legalization. We're approaching critical mass as more and more people see marijuana prohibition as a failed public policy, and in legislatures because of fiscal constraints and changing public sentiment."

"Each year, these bills are easier to introduce, there is less controversy, and the media reaction is generally neutral to positive," said Allen St. Pierre, executive director of NORML. "Baby boomers, medical marijuana, the Internet, and the state of the economy have all had an impact, even, finally, on legislators and their staffs," he explained.

"Before 1996, nobody invited NORML; now our staff is regularly going to meetings requested by legislators around the country," St. Pierre recalled. "First, we couldn't get them to return our phone calls; now they're calling us. Everything is in play because of activists around the country doing years of work."

That contact with legislators has led to results, St. Pierre said. "We've been involved in almost all of this legislation. Either we helped write it or legislators contacted us for deep background and we're testifying at public hearings on these bills."

MPP has been busy, too, O'Keefe said. "We have paid lobbyists in Rhode Island and Vermont, and one of our legislative analysts, Matt Simon, is from New Hampshire and has been working on bills up there," she said.

Perhaps not surprisingly, O'Keefe thought the prospects of passage were best in Rhode Island and Vermont. "In Rhode Island, more than half of both chambers are cosponsors of the decriminalization bill, while in Vermont, Gov. Shumlin has been very supportive, and for the first time we have a Republican sponsor in the Senate -- we already had one in the House," she said.

Getting a marijuana bill through a state legislature is a frustrating, time-consuming process, and there is a chance that none of these bills will pass this year. But there is also a chance some will, and some will pass eventually, if not this year, next year, or the year after.

Here is what is currently going on around marijuana law reform at the state house (compiled from our Legislative Center, with additional information from MPP's list of bills and from cantaxreg.com):

Legalization Bills

Massachusetts

Thirteen months ago, Rep. Ellen Story introduced House Bill 1371, which would allow the legal and regulated sale of marijuana to adults. It was referred to the Joint Committee on Judiciary then, and it is still pending. A hearing is scheduled on March 6.

New Hampshire

Last month, Rep. Calvin Pratt (R) introduced HB 1705, which would allow people 21 and over to possess up to an ounce and allow for regulated retail and wholesale sales. Marijuana would be taxed at a rate of $45 an ounce at wholesale and at 19% of the wholesale price at retail. The bill is now before the House Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee.

Washington

Last year, Rep. Mary Lou Dickerson (D) and 13 cosponsors introduced House Bill 1550, which would replace prohibition with regulation. It and a companion bill, Senate Bill 5598, are still both alive. Dickerson's bill is pending in the House Committee on Public Safety & Emergency Preparedness.

Decriminalization Bills

Arizona

On January 9, Rep. John Fillmore (R) filed House Bill 2044, which would make possession of up to an ounce of marijuana a petty offense punishable by up to a $400 fine. Simple possession is currently a Class 6 felony in Arizona.

Hawaii

In March 2011, the Hawaii Senate passed Senate Bill 1460, which would reduce the penalty for possession of less than an ounce to a civil fine capped at $100. The current law specifies a jail stay of up to 30 days and a $1,000 fine. That bill was carried over and is now before the House Health, Public and Military Affairs, and Judiciary committees. Also carried over is House Bill 544, which would make possession of less than an ounce a violation instead of a misdemeanor and impose a maximum $500 fine. That bill is before the House Judiciary Committee.

Illinois

In January 2011, Rep. LaShawn Ford introduced House Bill 100, which would reduce the penalty for possession of up to 28.35 grams of marijuana to a $500 fine for a first offense, $750 for the second, and $1,000 for a subsequent offense. It would also reduce the charge from a misdemeanor to a petty offense. Under current law, possession of up to an ounce can be penalized with up to six months in jail and a $2,500 fine. The bill has been referred to House Rules Committee, and is still alive in Illinois' two-year session.

Indiana

Last month, Sen. Karen Tallian introduced Senate Bill 347, which would reduce several marijuana-related penalties, including by making possession of up to three ounces of marijuana a civil infraction, punishable by up to a $500 fine and court costs. SB 347 was referred to the Committee on Corrections, Criminal, and Civil Matters.

New Hampshire

Last week, House Bill 1526, which would decriminalize possession of up to an ounce, got a hearing in the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee. Sponsored by Rep. William Panek (R),the bill would mandate a maximum $100 fine. It also provides for notification of parents of minor offenders, who could be ordered to attend a drug awareness program.

New Jersey

Last month, Assemblyman Reed Gusciora (D) introduced Assembly Bill 1465, which would reduce the penalty for 15 grams or less of marijuana to a civil penalty. The first violation would be punishable by a $150 fine, $200 fine for a second offense, and $500 after that. Any adult caught three times would be ordered to undertake a drug education program, as would any minor regardless of prior offenses. The bill is currently before the Assembly Judiciary Committee.

Rhode Island

Last month, more than half of the Rhode Island House of Representatives cosponsored Rep. John Edwards' bill to fine adults for simple possession of marijuana and to sentence minors to drug awareness classes. The bill, House Bill 7092, was referred to the House Judiciary Committee. Current law provides for up to a year in jail and $500 fine; the bill would make it a civil offense with a maximum $150 fine.

Tennessee

In February 2011, Rep. Mike Kernell introduced House Bill 1737, which would reduce the penalty for less than 1/8 of an ounce of marijuana to a fine between $250 and $2,500. Possession would remain a Class A misdemeanor, but the bill would remove the possibility of a year-long jail sentence. Fines would remain the same. A companion bill, Senate Bill 1597, has been referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee. Both bills remain alive in the state's two-year legislative session.

Vermont

Last year, a tri-partisan group of legislators led by Rep. Jason Lorber filed House Bill 427, which would reduce the penalty for adults' possession of up to an ounce of marijuana to civil fine of up to $150. Minors would be sent to drug education and community service for a first offense, as would adults under 21 convicted of a second or subsequent offense. The current penalty for first offense possession of marijuana is a fine of up to $500 and/or up to six months in jail. Second offense possession is currently punishable by up to two years in prison and/or up to a $1,000 fine. The bill is still alive in the state's two-year legislative session. Last month, Sen. Joe Benning (R) and Sen. Philip Baruth (D) filed Senate Bill 134, which would reduce marijuana penalties, including by reducing the penalty for possession of up to two ounces of marijuana to a civil fine of up to $100. It has been referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Decriminalization Improvement Bills

New York

Last year, legislators filed bills aimed at removing New York City's reputation as the world's marijuana arrest capital. The state's current decriminalization law creates an exception for marijuana possessed in a public place and which is burning or open to the public view. The NYPD has used that exception to arrest more than 50,000 people a year on misdemeanor charges instead of issuing them tickets. In May, Sen. Mark Grisanti (R) filed Senate Bill 5187, while Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries introduced a companion bill, A 7620. Both bills were referred to their chambers’ Codes Committees and are still alive.

North Carolina

A bill that would reclassify possession of an ounce as an infraction instead of a misdemeanor has been filed in North Carolina. HB 324 increases the decrim amount from a half-ounce, but removes the automatic suspended sentence for a first offense.

Twelve states have decriminalized marijuana possession so far (and possession in small amounts at home is legal under the Alaska constitution), but between an initial burst of reform activity in the 1970s and Nevada's decriminalization in 2002, there were three decades of stagnation. Since then, three more states- -- California, Connecticut, and Massachusetts -- have come on board, and chances are more will follow shortly, Legalization remains a tougher nut to crack, but so far, there are opportunities in five states this year."

By Phillip Smith
Drug War Chronicle
February 13, 2012

Source: http://www.alternet.org/story/154127/13

If you are interested in getting your counselor degree extremely fast to become a chemical dependency counselor, then feel FREE to visit CentaurUniversity.com!

Cannabis Can Double The Risk of a Collision

We've all heard a thousands times how Marijuana is only beneficial with zero bad effects, but that is just untrue. CNN has brought to you research conducted by those involved in the chemical dependeny counseling community to show you that cannabis can double the risk of a collision. 

"(CNN) -- We hear a lot about the hazards of drunk driving, but here's something else to put on your radar: A study in the British Medical Journal found that marijuana nearly doubles the risk of vehicle collisions.

 

Researchers conducted a systematic review of nine studies on the subject of marijuana and driving accidents, which incorporated almost 50,000 participants.

 

Alcohol impairs drivers' speed and reaction time, while cannabis affects spatial location, said Mark Asbridge, associate professor in the Department of Community Health and Epidemiology at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

 

Among impaired drivers, fatally injured drivers, and motor vehicle crash victims, marijuana is the most prevalent illegal drug that has been detected, according to the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse.

 

Drivers who have recently smoked marijuana may follow cars too closely, and swerve in and out of lanes, Asbridge said.

 

People who are impaired by alcohol often recognize that they're impaired by alcohol, but "people under the influence of cannabis often deny feeling impaired in any way," Asbridge noted.

 

It's not unusual for young people to go to a party and give the "designated driver" responsibility to the person who uses marijuana, Asbridge said.

 

"There clearly is a lot of misconception about the extent to which cannabis impairs performance," he said. "People just don't believe it."

 

As with alcohol, cannabis has different effects on different people. People metabolize cannabis in different ways. Some inhale more than others.

 

The effects of cannabis tend to wear off within three to four hours, whereas alcohol can mess your thinking up longer. Depending on how much you drank, you may not be able to drive for up to 12 hours after you finish drinking.

 

If the driver is 35 or younger, there's a higher likelihood of marijuana consumption leading to collisions, previous research has found.

 

There's not enough information known about the effects of marijuana doses on collisions - in other words, what level of cannabis in a person's system correlates most with crashes.

 

And Asbridge's conclusions are based on observational studies, meaning there were no controlled conditions imposed to look at the effects of marijuana.

 

One problem in some of the existing research is that there was no measurement of cannabis within two to three hours of driving. Inactive metabolites of THC, a chemical found in marijuana, can be present in urine for weeks or even a month after usage; marijuana usage so long ago would not affect driving performance or collisions. So Asbridge's group looked only at studies where there was a recent measurement. They also looked at studies that looked at both drivers who used marijuana and those who did not to compare the collision rate.

 

To deter marijuana usage just before driving, there is roadside testing for cannabis in Australia, western Europe and the United States, Wayne Hall of the University of Queensland in Australia said in an accompanying editorial.

 

Hall called for further research to evaluating the impact of roadside drug testing on preventing driver deaths connected to vehicle accidents and cannabis use."

Source: http://www.wyff4.com/health/30425633/detail.html#ixzz1m1D41IBa

If you are interested in getting your counselor degree extremely fast to become a chemical dependency counselor, then feel FREE to visit CentaurUniversity.com!

When is medical marijuana "usable?" (CNS NEWS)

This has always been a debate in the chemical dependency counseling community. When is medical marijuana actually "needed"? Yes, it can have some good health benefits, but the amount of people using it illegally out-weights the number of people who need it.   

"ROGUE RIVER, Ore. (AP) — When police knocked on Josh Brewer's door to check for marijuana, even one of the nation's most liberal medical marijuana laws was put to the test.

Officers were fine with the two pounds 10 ounces he and a cousin had grown, harvested, and processed. That was under the pound and a half each allowed by law. And they didn't care about the 12 plants — six each — growing in the backyard. Also legal.

But after they discovered the additional two pounds 11 ounces drying on coat hangers suspended from the ceiling in the living room, officers arrested Brewer, sparking a legal battle over what was enough — in the maximum sense — for medical use, and what crossed the line into the potential for illegal sales.

After all, even 1.5 pounds by one measure would equal 1,200 joints.

A motion to dismiss the case because the drying marijuana was not "usable" under Oregon law was turned down by a judge. Brewer served 60 days in jail and received three years of probation, putting him back on conventional pain pills for a wrist he said he injured in a construction accident.

But Brewer, 24, beat the rap and has already started a new pot garden after the state attorney general's office conceded last week that, based on a 2007 Oregon Court of Appeals ruling, the marijuana still drying on coat hangers did not qualify as ready for use.

"Without the hanging marijuana, there is no evidence that defendant possessed more than the lawful amount of 'useable marijuana,'" said the state brief on Brewer's appeal.

The case illustrates that 16 years after California became the first state in the nation to make medical marijuana legal, the legal questions over what is legal and who goes to jail and who doesn't are far from clear. The 15 states that allow marijuana use for medical reasons each have their own widely-varying approaches.

Southwestern Oregon lies at the northern tip of what is known as the Emerald Triangle, for its prime marijuana-growing climate. The region also has the highest per capita concentrations of medical marijuana growers in the state. With so much pot allowed under Oregon law, law enforcement says it's difficult to make sure that none is sold illegally.

"It's turned into a Cheech and Chong movie. 'Up In Smoke,' man," said Medford police Chief Tim George, whose officers arrested Brewer in 2009. "We are swimming in weed."

Oregon and Washington both allow users to possess 24 usable ounces, by far and away the most. California allows eight ounces, but unlike most states, only counts the buds, the most potent part of the plant. Most other states allow 2-3 ounces. Colorado allows 2 ounces, Maine 2.5 ounces, and Hawaii 3 ounces.

George said the way the law stands, medical marijuana growers can be growing — year-round indoors — disposing of, and replenishing their stock from their plants and a stockpile of drying branches.

"How dry is dry in order to make it count?" he said. "Right now you can have 1.5 pounds per day every day of the month. That is crazy."

Research done for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency found that marijuana plants can yield 1 to 5 pounds dry weight, with the prized buds making up 18 percent and leaves 16 percent. Using those figures, the six plants per patient allowed in Oregon could amount to 2-10 pounds of buds and leaves, far more than the 1.5 pounds allowed.

Marijuana clinic owner Paul Stanford said 1.5 pounds for the entire year would be enough for most people who smoke their medicine, but not for people who use it to bake cookies and the like.

Whatever the legal amount, vulnerability to arrest remains.

"As long as the police don't come into their homes, they don't have a problem," Stanford said. "If they have to interact with police for any reason, it can be a very big problem."

Brewer said he had a job building outdoor kitchens in 2006 when he cut a nerve in his wrist with a razor blade. He got a medical marijuana card for pain the next year, and started growing his own medicinal pot, using a popular handbook.

In 2009, he and a cousin rented a house in Medford so their marijuana was not around Brewer's wife and three young children. They built a 14-foot fence around the backyard and planted 12 plants — six each.

Brewer said he learned to cut off branches and hang them on coat hangers on hooks in the ceiling to dry in order to stay compliant with the law.

"Say you go out and cut all six plants down and bring them in to hang," he said. "When all that's dry you're going to be over your limit. It's setting you up for an opportunity to get busted.

"But if you go out and are taking a branch here, a branch there, you get little bits at a time 'til you have what you need. The excess medicine you've got you can donate to a clinic. You can burn it. There are multiple ways you can dispose of it."

Brewer said police from a regional drug task force knocked on the door one day and asked to look at his operation. He let them in, and they said he was within the law.

But two days later at 1:30 a.m. he heard his dogs barking and got out of bed to find Medford police at the door. They seized the processed and drying marijuana, leaving the plants in the yard.

With reversal of the conviction, Brewer said he plans to sue Medford police and the city for $15 million.

"I hope these cops realize after this they can come and try and get me as much as they want, but the more they come, the more I'm going to fight," he said."

Source: http://cnsnews.com/news/article/new-debate-when-medical-marijuana-usable

If you are interested in getting your counselor degree extremely fast to become a chemical dependency counselor, then feel FREE to visit CentaurUniversity.com!

GOP Candidates and Drug Policy

It's important, especially for those in the chemical dependency counseling field, to know where the GOP Candidates stand on Drug Policy. Here is an article that goes over the facts! 

"The battle for the Republican nomination moved to Florida this week, which also happens to be a key battleground in an entirely different fight: the $15bn federally-waged war on drugs. Passed in July of last year, a controversial law requires the state's welfare recipients to submit to drug testing – and to pay for the costs of the screening. Nearly 1,600 applicants refused to submit to the testing last year, while over 7,000 took the test and passed. Thirty-two of the applicants failed, the majority of whom tested positive for marijuana.

The law was temporarily blocked in October, but required testing for federal aid has become a hot-button issue in drug policy debates, and has received the explicit endorsement of Newt Gingrich. The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit on behalf of a 35-year-old single father who objected to the legislation, arguing the law violated his 4th amendment rights

With more than 100,000 inmates, the Sunshine State's prison system is the third largest in the country, and costs $2.1bn a year to maintain, according to Julie Ebenstein, policy and advocacy counsel with Florida's chapter of the ACLU.

Ebenstein believes that inmates serving time for drug charges would be better – and more affordably – served by treatment rather than spending time behind bars.

In addition to devastating countless families, Ebenstein argues the drug war in Florida has amounted to a massive misappropriation of taxpayer dollars – an injustice that often resonates among conservative voters.

"The tough on crime policies have neither abated crime nor abated drug use," Ebenstein argues. They have instead, "burdened the state with these huge increasing costs of prisons."

The issue of drug policy has not come up much in the debates so far, but each of the four remaining Republican candidates – Gingrich, Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum and Ron Paul – has addressed it in some form in the past. A primer on where they stand:

Newt Gingrich

As House Speaker, Gingrich introduced the Drug Importer Death Penalty Act of 1996, which would have legalized the execution of any person caught smuggling drugs into the US more than once, so long as the individual carried 100 or more doses (an ounce of high-grade marijuana could conceivably qualify). First time offenders would have faced life in prison and defendants would have a window of just 18 months to file their one and only appeal.

While the law did not pass, Gingrich expressed his support for, in his own words, "very draconian" measures as recently as last year. In an interview with Yahoo News last November, Gingrich noted how "successful" Singapore has been in its response to drug trafficking.

"They've communicated with great intention that they intend to stop drugs from coming into their countries," Gingrich explained.

Brad Adams, executive director of Human Rights Watch Asia Division, has a different take. "Singapore routinely executes people for drug trafficking. They consider themselves as having about the harshest drug laws in the world," he said. "It's not something to be emulated."

Following in Singapore's footsteps, he pointed out, would require the US to send, "thousands and thousands of people to death sentences annually."

In addition to importing authoritarian models of criminal justice, Gingrich is an outspoken advocate of making it "expensive to be a drug user" by requiring federal aid applicants to submit to drug tests.

Of last year's major drug war initiatives, drug testing is "the principle issue," said Ethan Nadlemann, the executive director of Drug Policy Action, an organization that works across party lines to advocate for alternatives to the drug war.

"It's a remarkably invasive and ugly policy," he argued, adding that, "There's lots of evidence that it's ineffective and costly."

Nadlemann called Gingrich "basically a nightmare" when it comes to issues of drug policy.

"For a guy who's supposed to be an intellectual and intelligent, the quality of the argumentation on his part is embarrassing".

Mitt Romney

While Mitt Romney has been less vocal in his views on drug policy, his record as governor of Massachusetts and his interaction with potential voters suggests a deep reluctance to reform.

In one 2007 video a medical marijuana user asks if the former Massachusetts governor would have him arrested for his choice of medication. After saying that he is opposed to medical marijuana, Romney turns his back on the wheelchair-bound young man, leaving his question unanswered.

"Even apart from the medical marijuana," Nadlemann says, "he has been just terrible on this issue."

Nadlemann refers back to 2006, when then-governor Romney vetoed a bill allowing pharmacies to provide individuals clean hypodermic needles without a prescription. The measure would have cost the state nothing, and health experts argued it would help curb the spread of infectious disease. In addition, proponents noted, it would have saved funds otherwise spent on emergency medical care.

Romney argued the program would have "unintended consequences" and encourage the use of heroin. The Massachusetts legislature ultimately overturned Romney's veto, joining 47 other states that allow access to clean needles.

Rick Santorum

Like Romney, Rick Santorum has been relatively quiet on the issue of drug policy. Also like Romney, a videotaped encounter has provided insight into what the former Pennsylvania senator knows – or chooses to ignore – about drug policy.

Earlier this month Santorum was confronted by a member of the group Students for Sensible Drug Policy. The candidate, who has framed himself as a champion of family values, was asked whether he would continue to send non-violent drug offenders to prison as president, a punishment that routinely tears families apart.

Santorum responded, "Wow … the federal government doesn't do that."

In fact, drug offenders make up nearly half of the federal prison population, almost 100,000 people. According to the US department of justice, in 2009 the most serious crime committed by over 95,000 prisoners was a drug charge.

In a second video posted by the group this year, Santorum cops to being uninformed. When asked about states' rights and the federal government's role in enforcing medical marijuana laws, the presidential hopeful says, "I don't know my medical marijuana laws very well." He then goes on to say, "they are a hazardous thing for society."

Ron Paul

An ardent libertarian, Ron Paul stands apart from his competitors. Paul has explicitly called for an end to the war on drugs, arguing the effort amounts to a colossal waste of money. He did not mince words speaking during a November presidential debate when he said flatly, "I think the federal war on drugs is a total failure."

Paul points to the disproportionate impact drug laws have had on communities of color resulting in the ballooning prison population. Running for president in 1988, he made a stop at the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. It was the same period in which a series of racist newsletters bearing his name were being circulated. Still, the congressman from Texas noted discrepancies in the persecution of ethnic groups based on the substances they were believed to enjoy.

Paul pointed out that while ethnic groups were persecuted for their association with certain substances, the abuse of alcohol, which he argued was the preferred intoxicant of congressmen, was not used as pretext for targeting people.

More recently Paul has said that the prohibition of drugs in the United States directly contributes to Mexico's soaring death toll – now estimated at least 50,000 – by bankrolling ultra-violent cartels.

Like alcoholism, Paul claims, drug abuse should be treated as a medical issue. He has co-sponsored legislation in favor of medical marijuana and believes that Drug Enforcement Agency raids on medical marijuana clinics are unconstitutional.

At its core, Paul believes the drug war represents an unjustifiable assault on individual liberty.

"Ron Paul has been excellent," Nadlemann remarks.

Nadlemann describes Paul's presence in the ongoing race as "refreshing" and says comments regarding the drug war have been spot-on. "They're strong, they're smart and it's encouraging the way they're getting substantial applause in the primary debates.""

Ryan Devereaux, 
The Guardian
January 25, 2012

Source: http://www.alternet.org/story/153897/

If you are interested in getting your chemical dependency counseling degree extremely fast to become a chemical dependency counselor, then feel FREE to visit CentaurUniversity.com!