Cannabis Freedom

This insightful and comprehensive post, A guide to debunking Drug Warrior Talking Points from The Maple ThreeCanada thoroughly disarms the drug war propagandists' major arguments for cannabis prohibition. On the "gateway drug" theory:

"...it is not marijuana’s pharmacological properties that serve as a gateway, but rather marijuana’s illegal status. Specifically in the process of illegally procuring marijuana, users are introduced to the criminal elements with access to other illicit drugs and hence it is the forged blackmarket relationship between dealer and buyer that serves as gateway. Ironically the gateway drug theory has been turned on its head and used as reason for legalizing the drug."

Particularly fascinating is the debunking of the cannabis/schizophrenia "link."

Specifically, should there be a causal link between marijuana and schizophrenia, there should be a positive correlation between marijuana consumption and schizophrenia, but such a correlation is conspicuous by its absence. Despite a massive increase in the number of Australians consuming the drug since the 1960s, Wayne Hall of the University of Queensland found no increase in the number of cases of schizophrenia in Australia.

In related news Paul Armento of NORML has an opportunistic but enlightening article on Ted Kennedy's Glioma cancer and cannabanoid therapy. Armento reminds us that cannabis doesn't cause cancer, it fights cancer. Youtube video here.

...cannabinoids can halt the spread of numerous cancer cells -- including prostate cancer, breast cancer, lung cancer, pancreatic cancer, and in one human clinical trial, brain cancer.

Congrats to Texas NORML for a fantastic job in organizing this event. It got some great media coverage locally in Austin. The story below from KEYE TV has two news telecasts included if you click the link.

Austin, TX - Hundreds protested for pot on the steps of the capitol today. A "cannabis crusade" came calling on Texas lawmakers Saturday, calling for the legalization of marijuana.

So maybe there's hope for Texas after all.

Update! I just realized I could embed video from the KEYE TV web site.

My propaganda alarm went off this morning when I saw this provocative headline:

Oral sex, marijuana use linked to throat cancer

Wow, that's quite a claim. I had to read more, especially since this story comes out of Nashville. Turns out, the cannabis use was only a "behavior associated with..." not a causality of the cancer. In fact the specific type of cancer that this report covered was HPV positive upper throat cancer. HPV, or the Human Papilloma Virus, is a sexually transmitted disease. So whoring around is still risky, imagine that.

There was absolutely no attempt to isolate cannabis use variable as a causality of the throat cancer because it isn't the cause. HPV caused the cancer. Cannabis use is often considered to be a risky behavior in clinical studies because it is illegal, not cause any significant health malady. I will concede that cannabis smokers have an elevated risk of bronchitis, but that's what I recommend a vaporizer for.

This paragraph set off another alarm for me:

"It's possible that other behaviors linked with marijuana use could be the real culprit, and our results will need to be confirmed," she [ Dr. Maura L. Gillison] said. Chemicals in marijuana called cannabinoids could affect the immune system's ability to fight a virus.

Was Dr. Gillison's quote spurred by direct questioning by the reporter, i.e. "Is 'marijuana' the contributing factor here?" If so, the doctor's response could actually be a dismissal of the proposition.

Then the reporter follows the speculation with a dubious claim of immunosuppression. The truth is, there's no evidence that cannabinoids suppress the human immune system. In fact, quite the opposite has been shown. Cannabanoids have been shown in the use of autoimmune disease patients to regulate the body's immune responses. I'm not challenging Dr. Gillison's expertise, she's not the one making the grandious claims. BTW, I actually have the courage to research and link to my health claims of cannabis.

This story is the product of a reporter with an vendetta against cannabis. In fact the original news release from John Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center doesn't even mention cannabis use. ( The updated one does. ) In fact, when I first heard about this study I couldn't find any mention of "marijuana" or cannabis on their entire website. I'm so sick of propaganda pieces like this. Believe me, my wife and I aren't going to loose any sleep over this "link", and we would have a good reason to worry. ;-)

I'm thrilled with Barney Frank's social Libertarian leanings. Maybe Ron Paul can persuade him to the light side of the force. There is still good in him, I feel it.

For Immediate Release: April 18th, 2008

Medical Marijuana Patient Protection Act Introduced Yesterday in Congress

HR 5842 would reschedule marijuana for medical use, end federal interference in state laws

Washington, D.C. Congressional Representative Barney Frank (D-MA) introduced the "Medical Marijuana Patient Protection Act," HR 5842, yesterday, a bill co-sponsored by Representatives Maurice Hinchey (D-NY), Sam Farr (D-CA), Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), and Ron Paul (R-TX). The act would change federal policy on medical marijuana in a number of ways. Specifically, HR 5842 would reclassify marijuana from a Schedule I drug, which cannot be prescribed, to a Schedule II drug, which would recognize the medical value of marijuana and create a regulatory framework for the FDA to begin a drug approval process for marijuana. The act would also prevent interference by the federal government in any local or state run medical marijuana program.
Full text of the release.

Its about damn time! People should have a right to medicine. It is the right to life. The most fundamental of all rights.