According to The Journal of the American Medical Association, the number of babies born addicted to opiates has nearly tripled in the last decade. Overdose death rates for the elderly increased twofold from 1999 to 2006. In 2009, drug-induced deaths exceeded deaths from motor vehicle accidents. The culprit: legal prescription painkillers.

In many people, it starts innocently: A fall, an accident or a surgery begets unbearable pain, treated with an opiate painkiller. As useful as these drugs are, they can also be deadly. Their tragedy ripples through a network of family and friends whose lives are also torn apart and forever altered. We can do better.

What if there was a medication that acted on its own endogenous bodily system to relieve pain, as documented in clinical studies, while never resulting in one overdose death? There is. It’s called cannabis.

The real drug problem in this country lies in the war we have waged on this medicinal plant, while ever increasing numbers of young and old suffer and die from legal prescription drugs. It shouldn’t be. It needn’t be. People should have a choice.

We can do better for our families.

Theresa Daniello Auburn Township

(read more here) Check out the comments too.

01/18/2012 Introduced In House – Assigned to Local Government
02/13/2012 House Committee on Local Government Refer Unamended to Appropriations
Vote of 11-0 a unanimous approval

04/10/2012 House Committee on Appropriations Refer Amended to House Committee of the Whole
Vote of 10-3 in favor of the bill

04/12/2012 House Second Reading Laid Over Daily
04/17/2012 House Second Reading Passed with Amendments
04/18/2012 House Third Reading Laid Over Daily
04/24/2012 House Third Reading Passed
Vote of 56-8-1 in favor of the bill (for-against-absent)

04/25/2012 Introduced In Senate – Assigned to Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Energy
05/02/2012 Senate Committee on Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Energy Refer Unamended to Legislative Council
Vote of 6-0-1 a unanimous approval (for-against-absent)

05/04/2012 Senate Committee on Legislative Council Refer Unamended to Finance
05/04/2012 Senate Committee on Finance Refer Unamended to Appropriations
05/04/2012 Senate Committee on Finance Re-Refer Unamended to Appropriations
05/07/2012 Senate Committee on Appropriations Refer Unamended to Senate Committee of the Whole
Vote of 8-1 in favor of the bill

05/08/2012 Senate Second Reading Special Order – Passed
05/09/2012 Senate Third Reading Reconsidered
05/09/2012 Senate Third Reading Passed
05/09/2012 Senate Third Reading Passed
Vote of 32-2 in favor of the bill

Final Votes by Party for Bill: HB12-1099

Lobbyists for HB12-1099

In 1762, “Virginia awarded bounties for hempculture and manufacture, and imposed penalties upon those who did not produce it.”

Three years later, from George Washington’s Diary…

May 12-13 1765: “Sowed Hemp at Muddy hole by Swamp.”
August 7, 1765: “–began to separate (sic) the Male from the Female Hemp at Do-rather too late.”

That’s what 23-year-old Daniel Chong told reporters after he was abandoned in his cell for 5 days after a 4/20 Drug Enforcement Agency raid at UC San Diego.¹ Handcuffed, alone and forgotten in a windowless, 5×10′ room without food or water, (Read More and DO Something about this)

A few examples of the usefulness of industrial hemp are in order. Because of its resistance to degrading, American hemp was the best product for ship’s ropes and rigging during our American Revolution and financed a large part of it. The oil from pressed hemp seeds is both nutritious (highest plant source of omega-3 fatty acids) and can be used as a diesel biofuel. The resultant seed cake rivals soy as a protein source and has essential amino acids. The long fibers from the plant make an excellent source for fabric and high-grade paper (the original drafts of our Constitution were made from hemp paper). The rest of the biomass can be used as a nutritious animal feedstock. It has a thick root system with a taproot over three feet long, markedly lessening desertification (soil loss/runoff). Finally, since the biochemistry of the plant kingdom differs, the hemp plant does better with increasing ultraviolet radiation (think ozone hole), the rice plant does not, making hemp seed cakes a much more valuable nutrition source as we advance into the 21st century.

However, Kerelikowske also said ”America’s farmers deserve our nation’s help and support to ensure rural America’s prosperity and vitality.”

Every other industrial nation allows hemp farming. In a time of economic recession, we should be promoting industrial hemp for its economic potential, especially since the American climate is very suitable for producing high quality hemp and the world market is growing.

The simplest and most effective way to start this economic progress is to completely remove hemp from the federal Drug Enforcement Administration drug Schedule I, which prohibits it. This change could be made immediately by a presidential order to the DEA drug czar.

I remember President Obama campaigning on effective change. The time to start is now.

Gene Tinelli
Jamesville

In response to an online petition sponsored by the White House, which I signed seven months ago, I’ve finally received a response from Obama’s Drug Czar, Gil Kerlikowske, explaining why we can’t let American farmers grow industrial hemp. It’s written in rather plain language, but nonetheless betrays either appalling ignorance or rank dishonesty on the part of our nation’s top drug policy official.

Unfortunately, while President Obama’s misleading claims about medical marijuana policy have generated considerable attention, the drug czar’s recent comments about hemp have gone almost entirely unnoticed and unreported. This is his entire response right here (which apparently took many months to prepare):

OFFICIAL WHITE HOUSE RESPONSE TO Allow Industrial Hemp to be Grown in the U.S. Once AgainWhat We Have to Say About Marijuana and Hemp Production
By Gil Kerlikowske

America’s farmers deserve our Nation’s help and support to ensure rural America’s prosperity and vitality. Federal law prohibits human consumption, distribution, and possession of Schedule I controlled substances. Hemp and marijuana are part of the same species of cannabis plant. While most of the THC in cannabis plants is concentrated in the marijuana, all parts of the plant, including hemp, can contain THC, a Schedule I controlled substance. The Administration will continue looking for innovative ways to support farmers across the country while balancing the need to protect public health and safety. [WhiteHouse.gov]

The drug czar oddly begins by declaring that, “federal law prohibits human consumption, distribution, and possession of Schedule I controlled substances,” which is simply irrelevant in the context of hemp. Hemp isn’t a Schedule I controlled substance and it can legally be consumed, distributed and possessed in a variety of forms. The soap I use every day is made of it, and you can buy hemp foods at any grocery store without fear of arrest. The drug czar’s failure to even acknowledge this basic fact makes his statement terribly confusing in its entirety, but it actually gets worse.

The central issue here, and the whole point of the petition, is that the DEA won’t let American farmers grow hemp for the purpose of manufacturing the various legal products that are made from it. As a result, all hemp products in the U.S. are made from imported hemp, eliminating a lucrative economic opportunity for American farmers. Instead of explaining why that is, the drug czar persists in blurring the distinction between hemp and pot, even implying that hemp can get you high:

While most of the THC in cannabis plants is concentrated in the marijuana, all parts of the plant, including hemp, can contain THC, a Schedule I controlled substance.

Here, the drug czar implies that hemp and marijuana are separate parts of the same individual plant, as if to suggest that allowing hemp cultivation would require that psychoactive marijuana be produced as a byproduct. This is false. Though both are types of cannabis, the hemp plant is genetically different from marijuana plants that produce the drug. In other words, the plant that’s used to make soap won’t get you high, and the plant that gets you high isn’t used to make soap. This is basic stuff, but the drug czar’s statement mischaracterizes it to the point of complete incoherence.

READ MORE HERE

Follow Scott Morgan on Twitter: www.twitter.com/drugblogger

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/scott-morgan/the-drug-czars-false-stat_b_1463271.html

Prosecutor: NJWeedman is a “charlatan … a wolf in hemp clothing”
(want to guess the Burlington County Assistant Prosecutor Michael Luciano is a racist.)

(Read more here)