Beginning tomorrow, Tuesday Aug 9, the estate of reggae artist Peter Tosh is joining with Amnesty International in a campaign to draw attention to the plight of Mexican human rights defender Lydia Cacho.  Amnesty is offering a free download of Tosh’s anthem, “Get Up Stand Up,” to people taking action in her case at http://bit.ly/standupforlydia. Cacho, a Cancún-based journalist and human rights defender, has received numerous death threats by phone and email, and there are serious fears for her safety.

Tosh–the most outspoken of Jamaica’s reggae pioneers – helped popularize  “Get Up, Stand Up” (co-written with Bob Marley) which has become a standard at Amnesty International rallies and at civil and human rights fundraisers, large and small, around the world. 2011 marks the human rights organization’s 50th anniversary

In the weeks to come, Tosh’s music will also be used in campaigns from Greenpeace International, (now in its 40th year), Students for a Sensible Drug Policy and the Marijuana Policy Project.

Students for a Sensible Drug Policy will use Tosh’s “Legalize It” in efforts to support new federal legalization legislation introduced in Congress in July.

The union of Tosh’s music and  activist campaigns follows the release of the expanded Legacy Edition reissues of Tosh’s seminal solo albums Legalize It (1976) and Equal Rights (1977), both available online.

Willie Nelson’s Teapot Party was formed last November after the singer was arrested for pot possession. The goal of the party is support candidates who think the way the Teappotters to do. Which pretty much means legalizing marijuana.

Just three days ago Willie Nelson endorsed former New Mexico governor Gary Johnson as the GOP nominee; Johnson admits to smoking pot and is pro-legalization. Heck Johnson even attended a bunch of pro- hemp and pot rallies across the country! Non of this “I never inhaled,” namby-pambyism from him.

Nelson now says

I think I will wait and see where he [Johnson] stands on other things. My bad. Sorry. I still think he is a good guy but so is Dennis and if he decided to run I would personally vote for him. If it came down to either him or Gary I’m already committed to Dennis. They both have said they support legal pot…This will blow over and the world moves on. No harm done. We sound like a bunch of pot smokers, that’s all…The more I get into politics the more I realize that I am a guitar player.

The presidential election is more than just a one-issue race. And while the Teapot Party might want to take a page from corporations by backing a candidate form each party, in the end endorsing a candidate is a serious business which requires more than just a a bong’s worth of thought.

[HT: Celeb Stoner]

We have to think more about drugs as a public health problem

his comments on the new federal drug new budget show things in a different light.

But Los Angeles County Department of Public Health has a different view towards Ecstasy. They printed up a flier for distribution at raves which gave

tips such as “aim low” in both dose and frequency of the hallucinogen and to take regular breaks to let the body rest…

And ignored the legality. The fliers state that effects of Ecstasy

may include elevated mood and energy, enhanced sensations and a sense of emotional connectedness,” but also warn that it can lead to depression, anxiety and irritability.

It also says repeated Ecstasy use should be avoided. It’s a pretty wimpy attempt to tell people

Hey this stuff is BAD for you and you could go to jail!

The fliers were developed by county health officials and paid for by rave promoters after over 100 people were hospitalized at a series of huge raves at publicly owned facilities such as the Coliseum and L.A. Sports Arena which are rented by the gianormous party promoters.

L.A. city and county officials did not ban the raves, even after a 15 year-old girl died of an Ecstasy overdose in July, and the flier is the result of a task force convened to study the matter.

County Supervisor Mike Antonovich raised a ruckus and Public Health officials said they would immediately  revise the card

to further and more emphatically state that illegal drug use is dangerous.

I hope they didn’t print up a forest worth of these useless fliers.

Pot isn’t Ecstasy, and yet LA County at least recognizes the health issues of drug use. Drug use is health issue–pot and be very helpful for people who are ill, while drug addiction is a public health issue which should be addressed with treatment and harm reduction, rather than imprisonment.

Border Patrol agents stopped a tour bus carrying Willie Nelson and band members at a checkpoint in Sierra Blanca, Texas, 100 miles from the Mexico border, smelled weed, called the K-9s and found six ounces of wackybaccy on the bus. Nelson posted a $2,500 bond and was released four hours later.

The singer now faces 180 days in jail and $10,00 fine. Local county sheriff says he’d like to have Nelson cook and clean and maybe wear one of theose stripey outfits.

Rolling Stone reports

The arrest doesn’t sit well with Texas attorney Dick DeGuerin, a criminal defense lawyer who recently represented Tom Delay and country singer Billy Joe Shaver, and was lawyer to David Koresh during the 1993 FBI siege of the Branch Davidian ranch outside Waco, Texas. DeGuerin questions the lawfulness of the search, which he says occurred 100 miles from the Mexican border. “It needs to be contested,” he says.

“It’s supposed to be a checkpoint only for aliens, and [agents] overstep their authority all the time,” he says. “I’ve had several cases from that checkpoint and they just use the opportunity to check out anybody they want to. If you have long hair, if you’re driving a van or it looks like you’re from California or you look like a hippie, they do profiling.”

Nelson said in an email to CelebStoner.com:

There’s the Tea Party. How about the Teapot Party? Our motto: We lean a little to the left. Tax it, regulate it and legalize it. And stop the border wars over drugs. Why should the drug lords make all the money? Thousands of lives will be saved.

This is Nelson’s third arrest for pot. I hope he doesn’t pull a celebrity rehab redemption…Nah. Check out the stoners in this video.

With Halloween just around the corner, eldritch tales of bone chilling terror abound. Oh noes! Razors in apples, Liquid-Plumr-laced chocolate, and the worst of all: DRUGS!

Within these stories lies a warning, an ancient morality fable: Nothing is free, and with greed comes a risk. There have only been two cases nationwide from 1958 to 1988 of children dying from eating tainted trick or treats, including one kid who was murdered by his own father with a strychnine-flavored Pixie Stix. Yet the stories continue because they prey upon our fears: Our spawn will be destroyed by (choose one or more):

Well, just in time to scare people about Prop 19, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s office issued a warning about medibles, medical marijuana in candy form. The Los Angeles Times reports:

Investigators have confiscated candies and snacks containing pot from marijuana dispensaries, and they are concerned such items could wind up in children’s trick-or-treat bags, they said Friday in a statement.

Local Los Angeles TV station KTLA–owned by the LA Times parent company Tribune–showed medibles which were clearly decorated with pot leaves and had names like “Kush Candy.”

WTF!? At $10 to $20 a medible snack, who the heck is gonna be giving out those candies?

Officials say pot treats, such as candy bars and lollipops are sold in marijuana dispensaries and could be circulating around. “These lollipops, candy bars, they look pretty legitimate. The problem is if it gets in the wrong hands and a kid licks a lollipop, they get ill or intoxicated,” said Cpt. Ralph Ornelas of the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department. Some treats look like regular cookies or candy, but they don’t smell normal. Another clue, many of the products are not clearly labeled (my note: they aren’t very commercial looking compared to say Tootsie Pops or Snickers bars).

Both stories did add that the Sheriff’s Department

says it has never received a report of candy or snacks containing pot being distributed to Halloween trick-or-treaters.

This is fear mongering at its finest. Oh how I wish Lee Baca was up for re-election. I would be leading the move to get him out of office!

The warning comes days before Californians vote on Proposition 19, the marijuana legalization measure. Sheriff Lee Baca opposes the proposition and has said he will continue to arrest marijuana growers even if it is approved.

Props to KTLA’s reporter who asked if opposition to Prop 19 had anything to do with the news alert. The on-camera deputy said the sheriff’s department was just concerned about public safety. Note that in this photo, courtesy of the LASD, along wth pot leaf logos, you can clearly see the word

WARNING

on the candy. I’d file this under pot-hating propaganda.

Self-defeating propaganda photo courtesy of LASD

Okay, Snow White’s stepmom handed her a poisoned apple, giving second marriages and witches a bad name, and there was one time on record that pot was passed out to trick or treaters. But that was an accident. Snopes.com reports:

An odd act of randomness occurred in the town of Hercules, California (near San Francisco) in 2000. Some trick-or-treaters came home with little packets of marijuana done up to look like miniature Snickers bars…Police investigated and were satisfied the homeowner had no knowledge of the special contents of certain bars that were handed out that night.

The marijuana packets dressed up to look like Snickers bars had landed in the Hercules dead letter office because whoever had tried to mail a package containing them either didn’t use enough postage or had listed an incorrect address…A postal employee (the mystified homeowner) brought the “candy” home to give out on Halloween, thinking the Snickers bars were, well, Snickers bars.

Had pot been legal, this would never had happened. Maybe some news stories about the high rate of childhood diabetes and obesity would be more on the mark, or a feel good story about alternatives to candy, like pencils, disposable tattoos or maybe even used kids books bought in bulk from thrift shops?

Side note: Since 1983 I have been doing an annual experiment. On the day before Halloween, I go to the market, sometimes with a friend, sometimes alone. The set up varies, but the goal is the same, to see how awake people are. I always make sure to dress as square as possible and cover my tattoos. Glasses add an air of respectability and further the “normal” vibe. Thus costumed as a typical suburban mom and carrying a couple sacks of candy or a bag of apples, I’ll ask a clerk and/or a fellow shopper if they know what aisle the Drano is on. Then I’ll ask where the sewing needles can be found. If I’m with a friend, while standing near some people, I’ll matter of factly ask:

I’ve got the candy, could you snag the Raid and some razor blades?

Or I’ll buy a a couple of the above items along with bags of fun-sized chocolate bars–I mean you can always use single edge blades to cut out decoupage designs, and gods know buttons come loose and hems fall out…

Granted, I’m not expecting the store manager to give me the third degree or be swarmed in the parking lot by the LAPD, but maybe a raised eyebrow, a gasp…Today I was at the airport purposefully holding my arriving guest’s name card inverted, and four people stopped to tell me it was upside down. You’d think–

I may be a bit of a prankster, but what Lee Baca and the LAPD sheriff’s office did with that warning–which only served the sheriff’s own antediluvian agenda–was ridiculous and only furthers a myth which has been repeatedly debunked.

Smoking pot is the quickest way to get high and really the best way to regulate your dosage of medical marijuana (MMJ). But you’re smoking and that sucks, especially if  you are trying to keep your immune system happy. Vaporizing is an option though you have to haul the device around with you and well, you’re still kind of assaulting your lungs.

God bless you, Alice B. Toklas for your legendary brownies and to all the other innovators of cannabis cookery. Check in on Sunday when I share a couple recipes for medical marijuana foods. Granted, it can be a little challenging to know exactly a proper dose of mota munchie; and a stomach high is different from the head high. Edibles are a good way to use leaves and “larfy” buds that might not be up to dispensary standards in the 14 states which allow medical marijuana.

When I was at HempCon I came across Pineapple Express from Kushtown Sodas and now a Colorado company has just launched Dixie Elixirs, a cannabis laced soda pop in eight flavors including rootbeer, pink lemonade and grape. Dixie is only available in Colorado, where it’s made from sativa marijuana. The company claims

Dixie Elixirs refreshing carbonated beverage provides an organic alternative for patients seeking a refreshing but equally potent alternative to smoke and tinctures, or carb and calorie loaded edibles…

Carbonation delivers relief faster

Easy to enjoy with discretion

Consistently delicious, reliably potent

Relieves a wide range of symptoms

Use alone or to increase and enhance other MMJ medication

Discreet? With that big pot leaf on the recyclable bottle?

Most likely the cannabinoids are extracted with glycerin, a method I have used to make other herbal extracts for people who avoid alcohol. The reviews of Kushtown haven’t been great: At $12 a bottle, consumers claim doesn’t produce much of a buzz. No one mentioned if the soda alleviated their symptoms, though if their symptom was “not being buzzed”  then the soda was def fail!  We’ll see what Colorado connoisseurs have to say about Dixie Elixirs.

Soda as medicine is nothing new: Coca-Cola once famously contained coca leaf extract,producing a cocaine-like lift for consumers.  7-Up, with a nice dose of lithium citrate–an old school treatment for bipolar mood disorder back when it was called manic depression–was originally marketed as Bib-Label Lithiated Lemon-Lime Soda.

It’s 10/22. Do you know where your POTUS is? Today in Los Angeles the 110, 101, 2, 5, and 134 freeways  will be affected impacted by Obama appearing at USC and then taking a cruise to Glendale to tape an interview with radio personality Piolin on a Spanish-language station. Question of the day–will the President try  Glendale’s local delicacy Zankou Chicken, made famous by its Faulkern-esque family murder-suicides and redolent garlic sauce?  The rain and mist might make it non-viable for Obama to take a helicopter like Cardinal Roger Mahony used back when he had a bishop-prick to attend to, so expect freeway and street closures.

There’s also a big rally downtown outside at Pershing Square with the October 22 Coalition marching as part of a National Day of Protest

to Stop Police Brutality, Repression and the Criminalization of a Generation

which will have observers from the National Lawyers Guild present. In Los Angeles during a September marches expressing outrage at the shooting of Guatemalan day laborer Manuel Jamines (Jamines Xum) by the LAPD, four protesters were arrested–two of whom were turned over ICE–and three officers injured by rocks and bottles thrown by demonstrators.

Considering marijuana prohibition’s affect on

the criminalization of a generation,

and POTUS’ stance on pot, expect some pro-Prop 19 groups  at both events.

Thursday Prop 19 got endorsements from Danny Glover, Melissa Etheridge and Hal Sparks joined by LAPD Deputy Chief Steve Downing, former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson and activist Sarah Lovering at a news conference to show support for Prop 19 which would legalize marijuana possession for those over 21.

Currently marijuana use for 18 and older is decriminalized, and medical marijuana use is legal statewide.

If Prop 19 passes, the Feds have said they will crack down on pot in CA, making for an interesting series of legal challenges and states’ rights arguments.

Melissa Etheridge said that she had used pot to help nausea during her breast cancer chemo and says she favors legalization and while she uses marijuana medicinally she said

I don’t want to look like a criminal to my children anymore. I want them to know this is a choice that you make as a responsible adult.

We have mid-term elections coming up Tuesday November 2, and they are pretty important, so important that POTUS Obama is appearing on the Daily Show on Wednesday October 27 to remind people to go to the polls and  vote in case they didn’t do their mail-in ballots. Please vote. It’s really sexy to know someone cares about their city, county, state and country enough to make that effort. Use your voice, mark your ballot!

Obama appeared on the Daily Show during the presidential campaign and he is pretty amusing. Daily Show host John Stewart will be Washington DC prepping for the Rally to Restore Sanity on October 30 which he’s co-hosting with fellow Comedy Central pundit Stephen Colbert at the Washington Mall. Sounds super fun!

This year’s mid-terms are important–well, golly every election is important, but anyway–because the balance in Congress could tip, with the Democratic party standing to loose seats. Which could suck if you’re a liberal/progressive. And might suck if you’re Fox News, because then what would you have to complain about?

Along with Congressional races there are four states which have marijuana on the ballot: California for Prop 19 legalization; Oregon with Measure 74 to regulate the sale and distribution of medical marijuana;  and medical marijuana initiatives in Arizona (Prop 203) and South Dakota (initiated measure 13).  Pot is a big draw in the Oregon elections, and could be a defining moment in these four states’–and our nation’s–history.

Even if you don’t live in those states, please vote. Michele Bachmann is bonkers, and as amusing as it to watch her meltdowns, like would you want her in Congress?  Christine O’Donnell gives witches a bad name, and doesn’t do much for any other group with whom she is affiliated. Heck, even Karl Rove doesn’t like her.

And governorships! Those are super important! Vote! And maybe set your betamax  to catch the Prez next Wednesday night.

Untrimmed sun bud and other Humboldt bounties

I was up in Humboldt County again last week and met with county supervisor Mark Lovelace–who led opposition to an industrial logging plan and helped establish the Sunny Brae Community Forest–to talk about Prop 19. Humboldt County has led the way in environmental protection for the redwoods, in senior care and of course in cultivation of their renown outdoor sun-bud varietals and other strains of cannabis grown with less environmental care and concern.

As well explaining to me that the very nature of pot’s illegality serves as a protection for those who large scale grow on public lands in the parks and forests because of the lack of regulation, Lovelace told me that standards need to be set for commercial marijuana production, a statewide baseline

I know what my own standards would be (outdoor-organically grown only; indoor commercial grows like those in houses across the state and even larger ones proposed in Oakland are environmentally destructive, using non-renewable resources and causing irreparable damage) and now the Humboldt Growers Association in anticipation of legalization  are trying to develop a proposal for medical marijuana cultivation that I hope would become the guideline for commercial pot.

HGA board member Joey Burger told the Times-Standard that if the law changes, the board’s proposed ordinance would be easily convertible to a larger marijuana industry.

Of course with those standards comes regulation, permits and fees. Regulations fees and permits are inevitable if Prop 19 passes, but there’s no need to rape the environment for profit. Kinda runs contra to perceived ganja/weed/pot culture values, though it seems the newer generation of growers could give a flying hang. I was told by one official that the the growing kids today have a sense of entitlement bought by underground economy’s income and an overall lack of respect for the land.  What I saw in grow-jerks was the bro-tardness inherent in today’s callow youth, part of the Federlining of America, with more dollars than sense.

Outdoor-organic sun bud, mold resistant cultivar; pesticide free.

The proposed HGA ordinance would

regulate outdoor marijuana grows with canopy areas larger than 100 square feet through a permitting process that lays out requirements for both applicants and farms. According to the proposed ordinance, applicants would have to be at least 21 years old, a resident of the county for at least two years and not have any violent crime convictions on their record.

In order to get a permit under the proposed ordinance, applicants would have to submit to site inspections, estimate water usage and a water source for the garden and provide proof of land ownership. The permits would be up for renewal every year and would allow the cultivation of not more than 40,000 square feet of canopy space

.

The sum total of garden space could not exceed 40,000 square feet (an acre is 43,560 square feet). Permit holders would also be required to provide access to their cultivation sites and water resources to inspectors at all times. While a permit for a 1/4 acre would cost about $20,000, gardens under 100 square feet would not require a permit.

I am curious if the HGA’s proposed ordinance will allow 99 square feet per person per residence, as on farms there may be several people living communally, each growing their own 215 (medical) pot.

The HGA guidelines as reported in the Times-Standard do not go into regulating the organic aspect, and does not address current commercial indoor growing which hopefully can be dealt with through other means. The Humboldt Medical Marijuana Advisory Panel (HuMMAP) has also  presented its draft policy to the county supervisors — which includes graduated licensing fees for cultivation starting at $200 a year for 100 square feet of mature plant canopy, and allows for immediate outside interests to begin large scale growing, if they can afford the $300,000 for 40,00 square feet.

With regard to the HuMMAP proposal, Lovelace told the Times-Standard that the guidelines addressed the issue of growing statewide and reiterated what he had told me:

We’d all like to have some authority at the local level.  But I think we’d like to have a baseline which we can work with.

The County Supervisors who, by the very nature of the jobs seem determined to regulate, tax and control marijuana growing, will no about come up with a plan, hopefully a workable and affordable solution that will benefit farmers, the environment, consumers and California–and possibly by extension the country as more and more states open their minds to medical marijuana and eventual legalization.