Teens May Be Charged For Pot Brownie Prank

A trio of teenagers in downstate Illinois are looking at a possible criminal record after police say they baked a batch of marijuana brownies and handed them out to unknowing victims.

The O’Fallow Township High School students were attending summer band camp where the incident allegedly took place. Besides facing criminal charges, the school may also take disciplinary action, according to STLtoday.com.

O’Fallon police Sgt. Rob Schmidtke told the site, “Anytime anybody is given drugs or something else without their knowledge that can obviously be a health hazard. We won’t let this slide. It could have been a very big deal.”

Police were tipped off via a fellow student who had learned about the prank and alerted a school administrator.

Schmidtke says the three teens confessed to lacing the brownies, adding, “It could have been an interesting band practice.”

O’Fallon Police Chief John Betten told the Belleville News Democrat, “No charges have been filed at this point and the case is still under investigation,” and that fortunately there were no “reports of problems” for any of the band members that ingested the pot-laced baked goods.

“Maybe [the teens] didn’t do a very good job of making them,” he added.

(Source) http://www.imperfectparent.com

read more: http://www.thcfinder.com/marijuana-blog/culture/2011/08/teens-may-be-charged-for-pot-brownie-prank#ixzz1VQiCfM5r

Why Synthetic Cannabis Is Stupid

Breaking news out of Australia, specifically Joondalup, reports that five  people were hospitalized after inhaling a new form of Kronic, the most popular synthetic marijuana available (or not available–depending on the country). We’ve warned you about this before, but now I have to tell you again with more of an emphasis on just how idiotic these synthetic compounds are. STOP SMOKING IT! There’s more chastising to come after the break because if five random people in Australia had been HMJ readers or had friends that read it, they would have avoided a miserable trip to the hospital.

If you’re unfamiliar with my obvious disdain for these cheap (AND LEGAL!) offshoots of our beloved marijuana, then you can read these posts. Or read this, and bang your head against the wall for being a sycophantic tool vulnerable to the whims and fancies of the most diabolical of species: the ad-copy writer:

The Auckland-based manufacturing company believed to be importing the product into Australia describes the product on its website as ‘the height of innovation’ and that the new Kronic was developed ‘in response to demand.’

‘Containing no banned substances, the latest in our line of premium home-grown smoking blends will deliver you a smooth, haze-filled blaze,’ it reads.

Which is utter horseshit. The same type of horseshit that all manufacturers of synthetic products espouse so you’ll buy their product and they can make money off your lemmings-based consumerism. Conspicuous idiocy more than showing off the hip, new drug available. FourLoko is one thing, but this shit just isn’t right.

If you’re smoking this hooey because real marijuana is illegal, then you need to start thinking a little bit about synthetic vs. organic. Marijuana buds come from the ground. If you’re religious, you could say God created marijuana. If you’re a vegan or a tree-hugger, you could say Mother Nature created herb. If you’re a secular anarchist, you could say fuck “the man” and smoke REAL marijuana to do just that (it’s still prohibited on a federal level).  Regardless, don’t mess with the crappy man-made shit. Man made war, and strife and all the shit. We’ve fucked our planet up, but our abused world still grows delicious herb without our prodding. Man-made idrugs always lose.

Smoke marijuana instead of its followers. No one is going to the hospital for that. If you get sick or die from synthetic marijuana you’ve lost all my sympathy. I’ve warned you enough. Now call all your buddies in Australia and tell them the same.

I’d rather go blind then smoke that crap.

– http://www.hailmaryjane.com

Video of the Day: Family Guy – Meg Gets High

is your grandma packing??

Last week a 76 year old Del Rio resident was arrested after she shot at the cops for taking her neighbors buds. Zeanne Speyrer, of 1225 Cougar Trail, was charged with six counts of reckless endangerment after she shot at two agents with the Governor’s Marijuana Eradication Task Force.

“We could hear the rounds pass by and hit,” Fontes said.

Here’s what the report states happened next:

“Why do I have to get on the ground,” the senior asked.

“You shot at us,” two officers responded.

“Damn Right I shot at you,” she replied.

This is exactly the type of neighbor everybody needs. She stood up for what was obviously right, and that was leaving the plants exactly where they belong, everywhere in the ground. Thanks Mrs. Speyrer!

Four More Bullsh*t Marijuana Myths Busted Using the Fed’s Own Numbers

My apologies for getting this little nugget out to you guys late but you know how it is when you’re trying to pay attention and…well, you know how it is. Nevertheless, guess what I’ve got!?!

The Federal government’s annual report highlighting substance abuse. Now that may not sound interesting when I put it like that but if you look through the 300+ pages like Paul Armentano of NORML did right here. You’ll find even more myth busting information by comparing the data but in the meantime, here’s the breakdown.

Four More Bullsh*t  Mary Jane Myths BUSTED!!!

• Myth: Marijuana use is prevalent in low income and urban areas thereby justifying the “War on Drug” and aggressive treatment and surveillance of poorer (read: Black and Latino) neighborhoods.

…..combating numerous drug warrior myths and stereotypes (such as the notion that high rates of illicit drug use — yes, the New England states lead in this broader category too — are typically relegated to poorer, urban, more racially diverse areas).

• Myth: Marijuana use is neither determined nor undermined by state drug laws. People use marijuana if and when they choose to and not because states make marijuana possession laws harder.

…..it should be noted that despite the prevalence of medical marijuana states in these rankings, the authors of the report acknowledge that there is no evidence that the implementation of medi-pot laws is increasing the use of cannabis or other illicit drugs.

• Myth: Establishing medical marijuana laws do not directly affect an increase in casual marijuana use.

They also call into question the notion that marijuana use among the general population is in any way influenced by the legal status of marijuana.

• Myth: The Northeast loves them some Mary Jane. Nearly every state in the region made it’s way into the top spots for marijuana use.

The totals in the category ‘marijuana use in the past year among persons age 18 to 25‘ is even more New England-centric, with every northeast state (Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont) all included in the top percentile (along with Alaska, Colorado, New York, and Oregon). In the category, ‘marijuana use in the past month among persons age 26 or older‘ Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont top the list (along with Alaska, Colorado, Hawaii, and Oregon).

So, according this report by the United States government marijuana use is not the big bad monster that they make it out to be. With social concerns and morals aside, I wonder if a level-headed person would read this and ask themselves what the implication of this data means.

At the very least, our government has inflated the seriousness of marijuana’s affects on society. The decision to do so may have caused a  focus of limited state resources on treating a problem that may not have been a priority compared to other social issues.

At the very worst, this data shows a how an entire class of people (poor/brown) have been manufactured into a criminal class justifying the pursuit, expense and time required by the state to prosecute them when their marijuana use maybe less prevalent than in other (upper-class/white) areas. So if the real intent of the state is to pursue those that use illicit drugs the their polices effort to lock up offenders would correlate with drug use. This one theory begs the question of the states willingness to exploit their own criminal justice system to violate the rights of citizens to fund private industries that benefit from such discretion, specifically, the courts, the prisons and the legal industry.

Don’t be intimidated by false marijuana myths, educate yourself and stop the stupid with real data made by the same people that we’re fighting. Shout out to Norml for doing the hard part, now all you have to do is repeat it. Almost like cheating on a test but not. Until next time, people

– http://www.hailmaryjane.com

spin on rice crispy treats

-print this recipe

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons pot-margarine*
1 (10 ounce) bag regular marshmallows
6 cups crisp rice cereal
1 (12 ounce) package butterscotch pieces

Directions:
1) Melt the margarine in a large sauce pan over low heat.
2) Add marshmallows and mix until completely melted and then remove from heat.
3) Immediately add the cereal and stir until coated.
4) Mix in the butterscotch pieces.
5) Press the mixture into a greased 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking pan.
6) Chill. Cut into 2-inch squares when cool.
7) “Enjoy my friends…enjoy.”

Makes about 20

*Pot tip #9: Make the pot-margarine just as you would make the pot butter.

Who Is Your Marijuana Hero?

Heroes come in all shapes and sizes, from a soldier that would jump on a grenade to that person that lets you in while changing lanes. My heroes as of late are the drug war heroes. Making every smoker a criminal from occasional to daily, the war on drug has created a different type of soldier – from grower to end user, anyone can go to jail.

The war on drugs has created a violent and life threatening environment for normal people who just want to smoke (like having a cocktail after work) and be left alone. They smoke to ease pain and to gain appetites, to feel stabilized and overall okay with the world, there’s no mystery behind this. I’m not the only one that is pissed off that weed is still an issue in our American way. People in very important positions carry on life day to day, all while partaking in the weed and yet here we are.

I ‘m nobody, just a dude that talks a lot of shit by pointing fingers at our current and past political system by stating how insane it is that anybody’s life is altered by weed. There’s been a consistent hypocrisy in my America, before the War on drugs it was “get them damn hippies” but with a War we can “get ‘em all”, I just wonder why a bunch of farmers and stoners are the target for somebody’s animosity. One can get by in life by shutting the fuck up, by not stirring the pot, by not having an opinion but I think that’s more of an insult to ourselves and our children.

In Southern California I was caught with weed 3 times (less than an ounce is a misdemeanor, a.k.a just a ticket in other states it’s a felony a.k.a jail time). Two times I was cited and the third he let me go. When I was younger on the East Coast I would smoke in downtown Atlantic City, off the bus in the land of crack heads, cops had bigger things to worry about then. These days I’m less bold and casual with my smoking simply because I have more to lose now but if one of those things in the past took a worse turn I don’t know where I would be now.

These days I have more respect for a grower than a politician – farmer vs. lawyer. These days I’m more fearful around cops and my pot – smoking harmlessly vs. going to jail and being a waste of mine and other tax payers’ money.

Heroes come in all shapes and sizes; mine are the soldiers and victims of today’s ignorant drug war. Mine are normal people put into extra-ordinary positions. When I heard Rob Cantrell’s joke about smoking with a world renowned violinist and getting busted in a back alley than serving 3 days in jail, I thought it was just a joke – not a personal reality, than there is the story of Jaime Rutowski.

Jaime Rutowski recently won a lawsuit against the city of New York. She was detained against her will where she nearly died. She suffers from diabetes and as her levels rose the police did nothing for her ‘till she got to a near death situation.

The politicians live in the land of double-talk which is clearly seen here in a video (start at 1:30 but the whole thing is badass) with Congressman Charles B Rangel saying he can’t think of a single person being arrested in New York, are you fucking kidding me! I never thought there would be a time when I recognize Tennesse as more progressive thinking than New York.

Or what about the heros serving time for something I smoke in a day like Patricia Spottedcrow. A 10yr sentence for less than a quarter ounce! Somebody needs to remind the judicial system and all those against it, it’s a plant not a meth lab. Do we endanger our children with tomato plants or worse yet, jalapeno plants?

 

Lately, I agree with the mad hat tea partiers but I’m afraid some don’t know what they’re mad or even scared about. Half the shit I hear them scream and yell about doesn’t affect a guy like me, making under 40 thousand, living paycheck to paycheck ,inclined to drink and smoke excessively, after I’ve worked my ass for 8 or plus hours off that day.

What this thing in life is really about, what we should fight for or be against is the attack on our personal space. It’s the personal space we call our own to do what we want, not harming others. Whether it’s a 1500 square foot house, 10 x 10 closet, or even a mansion in the hills your rights can more than be potentially violated tomorrow, this is not the American way. Imagine your rights taken away for having a six pack in the house, what makes this different than a bong or a pound?

Take Dana Walker for example. A Washington State badass who has made a stand against the state for the equivalent of smoking a cigarette, even after having already served time in a Federal Prison for the same thing, weed. He stood up to the ass-war mongers and said I refuse to pay anymore debt to society. And why should we be paying debts to society for smoking herb.

Our country is run by fear mongering sycophants that would rather run prison systems and make revenue being a police state instead of taxes and licensing. Coming out against drugs does America one the biggest disservices the people – nobody is being rescued, we’re just handed blinders. Kind, non-threatening, people are arrested and penalized everyday from a joint to truckloads with no disregard.

I personally know of a woman who lives in Colorado and smokes pot to help her get by since she has no spleen. Somehow police got involved in her life and they called social services, now her children are taken away for something less harmful than legal shit. Having your children taken away is like living in your own personal prison, it doesn’t get much lower than that. One example of somebody losing their child’s rights that I can document for the record is that of Nicholas Pouch, proving a bitter ex can ruin your present.

When I read reports of kids dying in jails after being pulled over for an out light on their bicycle, I wonder how the other side sleeps at night. How do you call yourself good when bad shit happens because of your freaked out conservative policies?

Humans, people, Americans and everyone else on this planet have a predisposition to get away (mentally and physically). Whether you’re an American Indian on a spiritual journey eating peyote or a distinguish business man of 1839 self prescribing has always been a way of life. News flash Mr. and Mrs. America: We like to get fucked up.

Whether people want to smoke for recreational or medicinal, it should be up to them. The government recently came out and said marijuana has no medicinal value but this contradicts the fact that there have been 8 federal marijuana patients. More and more people smoke to help ease aches and pains, there’s even research showing it helps with cancer. Personally I lost my father to cancer and if I thought smoking some joints with him would give me another day with him, I would. So I think before the government puts on its blinders they should reclass marijuana and give it a chance.

Most of what I write is idealistic hippie crap but its how I feel. Life isn’t complicated for me, I work, I come home, I work at home, and I enjoy my herb – only one of these can put me in jail. Millions of people agree with me to, so I wonder why we’re still here in this position. Of all the things that could put me jail I would rather have it for something I’ve done or am willing to do, rather than for a joint or even a crop but we all take some chance just for a little piece of mind and its those people who are my marijuana heroes.

Should Marijuana Be Regulated Like Alcohol or Tobacco?

The marijuana legalization debate has gained a whole new momentum ever since the economy took a dip. Cities, counties, and states are cash strapped, and see their budgets dwindled with every revenue report. This has obviously been horrible for the job market, but it has been a big factor in converting citizen’s and politician’s opinions towards marijuana legalization. I remember when it was just consumers and sympathizers that were calling for legalization. Now, even some staunch conservatives are looking into the idea. They don’t consume marijuana at all, but are all about taxing the S out of it. I hope it doesn’t result in marijuana being taxed to death before it gets off the ground, but hopefully we can win that battle after we win legalization.

 

A question that has been popping up on TWB lately is whether or not marijuana should be regulated like the tobacco industry, or the alcohol industry. I just posted an article this week about regulating marijuana like wine, which is a revolutionary idea, but I am still waiting to see how much traction it gets. Don’t get me wrong, I love the idea, but I’m just not sure about the logistics of the campaign strategy. More will obviously be known as 2012 approaches. But for the sake of this article, we will look at the alcohol industry, and the tobacco industry.

 

When most people think about marijuana legalization, they picture the regulations being like that of the tobacco industry. After all, you smoke both tobacco and marijuana, right? Just as someone goes to the local corner market to get a pack of cigs, they would be able to get a pack of Camel greens or Marlboro danks. I have long pointed out the difficulties of such a business model. For starters, marijuana is not like the tobacco plant. Tobacco can grow from the Carolinas to the Caribbean and for the most part, the quality will only variate slightly. A tobacco farmer would argue that there is distinct differences, but let’s get serious, it’s not nearly on the same level as marijuana cultivation.

 

Cultivating and selling marijuana on the same scale as tobacco is nearly impossible, unless it was grown entirely indoors by a large company, which is unrealistic. All of the football stadiums in the country couldn’t house the amount of marijuana plants that the market would require if it were legal and sold by a big tobacco company. It would have to be cultivated outside, year round, on a very large scale if it were done by just a handful of large companies. This is also unrealistic. Marijuana can vary from room to room inside of a house, let alone outdoors.

 

Outdoor marijuana plants that grow in the State of Jefferson (Southern Oregon, Northern California) are going to be starkly different than plants that are grown in Pennsylvania. For that matter, even outdoor grow ops in the State of Jefferson are not all created equal. It would be too hard, if not impossible, to market so many kinds of marijuana the same way as cigarettes. Right now you go into a store and there are just a handful of types of cigarettes. There are different brands, but the type of actual cigarette you can buy is fairly limited. Compare that with a dispensary, that has in some cases hundreds of strains. That’s a big reason why corporate America hasn’t harnessed the cannabis market; it’s just too hard to get a consistency that it would take to launch the industry on a huge scale.

 

And with all of that being said, would we really want those blood sucking bastards in charge of the marijuana industry? Look at what they have done to society with their research and development already. Can you imagine what they would do to marijuana to make it super addictive? It wouldn’t even be marijuana anymore; the product would be some Frankenstein herb that is meant to take your dollars instead of providing comfort, recreation, and relief. Marijuana is a cottage industry, and I really hope it stays that way forever. I love going to different areas and seeing what their stuff is like. If it was just bland budget weed sold across the nation, it would really make me sad.

 

I picture some slick talking tobacco executives sitting down with members of Congress. The executives explain that they can grow marijuana on an enormous scale, that it would all be under the close watch of the government, and that they can provide tax dollars out the wazoo. They give the politicians large sums of money in exchange for marijuana becoming legal. On the surface, marijuana consumers are stoked because the marijuana plant is finally free. They don’t care how it happened, they just know that they have been waiting for this for a long time. It will only be after they see what big tobacco has done to the beloved marijuana plant that they realize the whole thing was f’d since jump street.

 

The alcohol industry is a better representation of what I think marijuana regulations will look like after legalization. There will still be large companies trying to corner the industry, much like Budweiser and Coors do today. However, there will also be a large cottage community producing marijuana, like the micro brew industry. Large companies will produce massive quantities of low grade product, much like Coors and Budweiser do with their beer. But, people that actually like flavor and quality will go for the cottage industry products, much like people go for a micro brew. Instead of making regulations to cater to the top companies, regulations will be more flexible to accommodate the small businesses. There will be more wiggle room for entrepreneurs to enter into the market as a result, and consumers will benefit from the buffet of deliciousness that will result.

I think the big debate that people run into when they get into this conversation is not necessarily the regulation structure for large and small businesses, so much as the age requirement. If marijuana is regulated like tobacco, it would have an 18 or older age requirement. Of course, if marijuana is regulated like alcohol, it would have an age requirement of 21 or older. Again, marijuana is smoked, so people naturally gravitate toward the 18 year old requirement. However, marijuana is an intoxicating substance, so this has to be considered. Marijuana doesn’t impair a person nearly as much as alcohol (unless they are a total rookie), so I personally think that an ‘in-between’ age would be sufficient. Whether that is 19 or 20, I will let the policy makers decide. Somewhere there is a recently graduated high school student praying that it is 19 instead of 20 – my prayers are will you buddy! I remember what it was like to be too young before I got too old to be hip ha ha.

What do TWB readers think? I know there will be a bunch of you that say ‘it should have NO regulations!’ That would be great in a perfect world, but politics is an incremental game, and getting a grand slam straight out the gate might be asking for two much. We are going to have to give a little in order to get what we want in return. With that in mind, what is an appropriate age to start consuming marijuana legally? Would you prefer that large companies get into the movement in order to speed up legalization? Or do we want to keep those fascists out in order to keep things pure, even though it might take an extra election or two as a result? Do you want marijuana to be regulated more like tobacco, or alcohol, or something else, like grapes!? I look forward to the discussion.

Using Marijuana To Treat Pain

Medical Uses of Cannabis: Pain

By Alan Shackelford, M.D.

According to a paper published in the Journal of Opioid Management in 2009, more than 15,000 peer-reviewed scientific and medical studies of cannabis were published world-wide between 1960 and mid-2008. A number of those studies showed that cannabis can be an effective treatment for a variety of different medical conditions such as glaucoma, muscle spasms in multiple sclerosis, neuropathic and other kinds of pain, nausea, weight loss in wasting syndrome and several psychological conditions including PTSD and Tourette syndrome. Others showed that compounds found in cannabis may prevent or treat Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and HIV-related dementia, and may limit neurological damage in strokes and trauma. This month, we will look at some of the evidence supporting the use of cannabis to treat pain.

Recent studies (the earliest documented use of cannabis as an analgesic was in China some 2,800 years BCE ) have demonstrated the efficacy of cannabis in alleviating acute pain resulting from chemical exposure, mechanical injury such as surgery, and burns. Other studies have shown that cannabinoids are very effective treatments for chronic neuropathic pain and pain caused by inflammation such as those associated with rheumatoid and osteoarthritis. Cannabis has also been found to be an effective treatment for migraine headaches and to enhance the effects of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory and opiate pain medications.

In addition to its remarkable effectiveness in relieving a variety of different kinds of pain, two other factors make cannabis a particularly good treatment option: its incredible safety and low toxicity. There has never been a verified report of a death due to a cannabis overdose in its more than 4,000 years of use as a medicine. The same cannot be said of narcotic pain medicines, nor can it be said of prescription and over-the-counter non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications. Deaths from opiate overdoses rose nearly 97 percent between 1997 and 2002, to more than 12,000 a year in American metropolitan areas. Today, some nine years later, narcotic overdoses are the second leading cause of accidental death in the United States, just behind traffic accidents, according to the CDC. Furthermore, in the late 1990s a conservatively estimated 16,500 patients with rheumatoid and osteoarthritis were thought to have died each year from the effects of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications, according to the June, 1999 New England Journal of Medicine. That number has continued to rise each year since then. Given these kinds of statistics, maybe cannabis deserves more than a just a fleeting glance as a treatment option for pain.

Please join us again next month as we continue to explore the use of cannabis as a treatment for a variety of different medical conditions.

Courtesy of Culture Magazine

Alan Shackelford, M.D., graduated from the University of Heidelberg School of Medicine and trained at major teaching hospitals of Harvard Medical School in internal medicine, nutritional medicine and hyperalimentation and behavioral medicine. He is principle physician for Intermedical Consulting, LLC and Amarimed of Colorado, LLC and can be contacted at Amarimed.com.

Most Americans Want To Legalize Marijuana: New Poll

Graphic: Misplaced In The Midwest

​Just give me the ganja. A new Angus Reid Public Opinion poll has found that a majority of Americans continue to believe that marijuana should be legalized, but don’t support the legalization of other drugs.

In the online survey of a representative sample of 1,003 American adults, 55 percent of respondents support the legalization of cannabis, while 40 percent oppose it.

Democrats are the group most supportive of legalizing cannabis in the United States, with 63 percent in favor of ending the war on marijuana. Almost as many Independents, at 61 percent, also support the move.

Republicans were out of step with the majority on the legalization issue, with just 41 percent supporting marijuana legalization and 56 percent opposed.

Marijuana legalization enjoyed big majorities among men (57 percent) and respondents aged 35 to 54 (also 57 percent).

However, when it comes to other drugs, the numbers shrink rapidly.

Graphic: Angus Reid Public Opinion

Clear majorities of Democrats and Independents support marijuana legalization, while a clear majority of Republicans opposes it.

​

Only 10 percent of Americans support legalizing MDMA, or “ecstasy.” Smaller proportions of respondents said they would approve of legalizing powder cocaine (9 percent), heroin (8 percent), methamphetamine (7 percent) and crack cocaine (7 percent).

Across the country, 64 percent of respondents said they believe America has a “serious drug abuse problem” which affects the entire United States. One in five (20 percent) believe the drug abuse problem is confined to specific areas and people (this would include the racist contingent who are blithely ignoring the facts).

Only one in twenty Americans — 5 percent — think America does not have a serious drug abuse problem.

The War On Drugs has a serious public relations problem, according to the poll.

Only nine percent of respondents believe the Drug War — the efforts of the U.S. government to stymie the illegal drug trade — has been a success. Two-thirds, 67 percent, say the Drug War has been a failure.

“The survey shows a country that is concerned about the effects of drugs, and at the same time deeply disappointed with the efforts of the U.S. government to deal with the drug trade,” Angus Reid Public Opinion offers in the “Analysis” section of their press release.

This is the third year in a row that Angus Reid Public Opinion surveys have shown majority support for marijuana legalization in the United States. The 2009 (53 percent) and 2010 surveys (52 percent) also found a majority of Americans calling for pot legalization.

“Cannabis is definitely not seen as a substance that is as harmful as other illegal drugs, as evidenced in the minuscule level of support for the legalization of cocaine or heroin,” Angus Reid Public Opinion noted.

The margin of error on the poll is plus or minus 3.1 percent, according to Angus Reid Public Opinion.

To see the full report, detailed tables and methodology of the survey, click here [PDF].

Graphic: Angus Reid Public Opinion

Marijuana legalization enjoys majority support across the board when it comes to genders and age groups.

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