Colorado Prepares To Fight AG Sessions & Trump Feds Over Marijuana

AG  Jeff Sessions comes across like a character out of the 1936 farce "Reefer Madness".

The recent remarks of AG and proto-Confederate leftover Jeff Sessions against states with recreational marijuana laws, now has Colorado lawmakers ready to defend the state's $1 billion market and thousands of jobs dependent on that market.  Sessions' antagonistic remarks in a number of venues, some of which I highlight below, set Colorado lawmakers' on edge from their first utterance two weeks ago. Now, they are ready to do whatever necessary to defend the CO economy (faltering because of fracking pullbacks owing to a glut of shale oil)  and that includes revision of existing laws spawned by Colorado's Amendment 64 - passed by a clear majority of the state's voters in 2012.

Sessions' recent aggressive and outdated remarks meanwhile harken back to an era where virtually nothing was understood about marijuana and hence, it  served as a vehicle for government propaganda and control.  Who can forget the 1936 government -produced farce entitled "Reefer madness"?   This was an obvious propaganda exploitation effort revolving around the melodramatic events that ensue when high school students are lured by pushers to try marijuana. Their travails extend from a hit and run accident, to manslaughter, suicide, attempted rape, and descent into madness.  At least one voice over insinuates that "these are bad people" doing the business of spreading demon weed.    This farce could have been produced by Jeff Sessions, given its cornpone, low brow cheap messaging, especially after Sessions was recently heard  to bloviate "good people don't smoke marijuana". Uh, yes they do, especially if they have physical infirmities and diseases which the weed ameliorates. Or, they're on cancer treatments (like chemo) and it helps them stop barfing enough to eat.

Originally it had been financed by a church group under the title "Tell Your Children". Its primary mandate was circulation and screening to parents as a  putative morality tale, attempting to teach them about the dangers of any cannabis use by their kiddies. Perhaps two decades later any viewing of this dreck became so laughable that it emerged as a cult film - shown to audiences primarily as joke material. Which is rightly the niche to which it belongs..

Enter now Sessions, ardent segregationist and putative top "lawman",  who plans a new "war on pot", despite the fact any such crusade will directly affect millions of Trump voters - which may well cost the GOP the 2020 presidential election. Let's also process, factoring into this, that MJ has helped propel billions of dollars into states' tax coffers that otherwise wouldn't have been available. Not to mention thousands of jobs - especially for returned vets-  who otherwise might be unemployed - or only able to be Walmart workers.  In Colorado, these vets are putting their service skills to use by acting as guards for transport of MJ retail sales money. As one Iraq vet said, "if I lost this job I don't know what the hell I'd do, especially at the pay rate".  Is Sessions and his DOJ bunch prepared to live with this if they mount an attack on all MJ states?

Sessions said in Arizona last Tuesday, “you would have thought the biggest issue in America was when I said, ‘I don’t think America’s going to be a better place if they sell marijuana at every corner grocery store.’ (People) didn’t like that; I’m surprised they didn’t like that.”

But like most of Sessions’ blurtations on cannabis, he was dead wrong, and showed his take was more fit for fake news hysteria. Consider that marijuana is non-deadly, and barely 9 percent of those who try it develop an addiction.  By contrast, heroin is an opioid that killed more than 12,000 Americans in 2015, and 23 percent of heroin users become addicted. (Worth noting: Prescription opioids such as OxyContin, morphine and Vicodin accounted for an additional 16,000 American deaths in 2015.)  If Sessions were really serious about combating a drug epidemic and not merely posturing, he'd go into coal country where opioids are now proliferating.

Sessions recently said, “I think one of (Obama’s) great failures … is his lax treatment in comments on marijuana.” It’s true that Obama told The New Yorker in 2014, “I don’t think (marijuana) is more dangerous than alcohol.” In 2016 Obama told Rolling Stone he believed cannabis should be treated like “cigarettes and alcohol.” Sessions blasted such remarks as lax, but they were actually fact-based. A straightforward research effort, including stats from the National Institutes of Health would have disclosed to Sessions that excessive alcohol use kills nearly 90,000 people each year in the U.S., while cannabis use alone is responsible for zero deaths in recorded history.

Alcohol and opioids combined kill more than 100,000 Americans each year, cannabis kills none. That is, there are no existing statistics to show cannabis has been singularly connected to any traffic deaths or other deaths.  There have been claims by assorted exploitative agents of misinformation to link MJ either to murders they themselves committed or the suicides of others, but not to the extent of isolating MJ as any unique, proven culprit. For example, Richard Kirk of Denver has claimed he should be found not guilty of first-degree murder because he was having "edible marijuana-induced hallucinations" when he shot his wife.  But most sober people put this in the same category as mass killer Ted Bundy's blaming his exposure to porn for his serial killing of women in the 1970s-80s

Journalists have also easily tracked down megabytes of anti-cannabis propaganda from Sessions’ recent interviews on the subject, and his “corner grocery store” opinion was far from the most egregious.  Sessions’ supposed surprise on the subject  is also unfathomable and discloses his brain may be trapped in a 1950s time warp. Or, possibly even the 1936 era of "Reefer Madness".  Why should Sessions be surprised that Americans “didn’t like” his anti-legalization stance in an era when 60 percent of Americans want legal cannabis, one in eight U.S. adults say they currently consume marijuana and state legalization initiatives are going eight for nine on Election Day?   Let alone his baseless campaign against a non-lethal plant-based drug that has, by every available metric, proven itself to be significantly safer than many of the other substances we vend recreationally?

In this light and with good ol' Johnny Reb Jeff on the warpath, Colorado is now taking defensive steps to protect itself against fed assault on Sessions' watch. That includes state lawmakers (including GOP) signing a "in case of crackdown" bill to allow cannabis recreational cultivators to transfer their plants to the medical arena to avoid federal confiscation. As we know, the medical MJ side has been around much longer than the recreational and will be much harder for good ol' boy Sessions and his crew to undermine. (The major downside is that the state would collect a lot less in taxes because medical MJ is taxed at a significantly lower rate).

Even Gov. John Hickenlooper is now getting involved and has advised lawmakers on the optimal defensive approaches as a possible Trumpie fed crackdown looms. Once an Amendment 64- MJ skeptic "Hick" said in a recent Denver Post interview:

"I'd say that the (marijuana) experiment - as it continues to move forward- has gone certainly better than I anticipated and I think better than many people have anticipated."

This was not long after having, earlier this month, joined other governors of states that have legalized cannabis consumption in sending a letter to Sessions. In that missive, the governors requested the Trump cabinet members to "engage with us before embarking on any changes to the regulatory and enforcement system". 

Hick himself has held out no hope for any reversal of existing policies without great mishap. This in turn has driven him to cooperate with state legislators to toughen defenses.  One of these is to scrap the implementation of recreational MJ clubs, at least for now, until Sessions casts his jaundiced eyes on some other hot topic (porn?) . Recall "Initiative 300" passed in CO last November.  This extends Amendment 64 and allows MJ users to use it publicly, e.g. in bars, cafes and even Yoga studios. Hitherto, those who purchased MJ had to return to their own homes and be out of public view.

The good aspect is Colorado is prepared to go to the mat against any potential Sessions' MJ crusade, to protect jobs and economic interests. As one lawmaker wryly commented: "Funny how these guys come down on the 'nanny state' - unless it's a nanny state they advocate."

Indeed.  So, it really appears the invocation of "nanny state" depends on which citizen actions require a state "nanny".

D.E.A. Totally Wrong To Lump Marijuana With Heroin As 'Schedule 1' Drug

Everyone needs to see this film  (left) to see the extent government has tried to demonize pot using cheap propaganda. Right, workers trim and cut product in Garden City, CO.

The recent Obama administration D.E.A.  ruling, keeping marijuana a Schedule 1 drug, is now coming under fire from nearly all quarters. This includes no fewer than eight Democratic senators  who had urged the DEA to reclassify it to a Schedule 2 drug, according to The New York Times (Aug. 12, p. A9)  Sen. Elizabeth Warren, no shrinking violet, blasted the decision on Twitter while Sen. Kirsten Gillebrand of New York  said in a statement: "It shouldn't take an act of congress for the DEA to get past antiquated ideology and make this change."  Indeed, but it may have to! (Unless we get a President with enough cojones to overrule the D.E.A. under his or her authority).


Such reclassification, according to the Times, "would have made it easier to get federal approval for studies of its uses and paved the way for doctors to eventually write prescriptions for marijuana derived products that could be filled at pharmacies - like other Schedule 2 drugs such as Adderall".

But in the absence of reclassifying MJ, we see it remains lumped together with cocaine and heroin, as well as being fully prosecutable under federal law.  A somewhat incredible ruling from an administration whose standard bearer and leader was part of a group in Hawaii called the "choom gang" and engaged regularly in pot smoking, see e.g. http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/05/obama-and-his-pot-smoking-choom-gang/

And in fact, despite doing all that weed Obama and his Choom comrades turned out pretty well, never mind Obama's efforts (in one biography)  to paint the experience as negative ("club of disaffection" etc.) . As the linked ABC News piece notes:

Although Obama himself wrote that he and his pot smoking buddies were a "club of disaffection," Maraniss says that's not really true.

"In fact, most members of the Choom Gang were decent students and athletes who went on to successful and productive lawyers, writers and businessmen," Maraniss writes. One notable exception was Ray, the group's pot dealer who, known for his ability "to score quality bud," would years later be killed by a scorned gay lover armed with a ball-peen hammer.

Obama himself managed to be a pretty good student despite all the pot smoking and unconventional study habits.


So much for all the balderdash of  " inescapable" deleterious effects which also was apparent in the 1936 government -produced farce entitled "Reefer madness".  This was an obvious propaganda exploitation effort revolving around the melodramatic events that ensue when high school students are lured by pushers to try marijuana.  Their travails extend from a hit and run accident, to manslaughter, suicide, attempted rape, and descent into madness.

The obvious purpose was to scare the living bejeezus out of any kid to not even think of trying "demon weed". The message was it would wreck young lives leaving them broken husks - much like the current DEA ruling seems to suggest which is why they lump it with heroin in the Schedule 1 class.

Originally it had been financed by a church group under the title "Tell Your Children". Its primary mandate was circulation and screening to parents as a  putative morality tale, attempting to teach them about the dangers of any cannabis use by their kiddies. Perhaps two decades later any viewing of this dreck became so laughable that it emerged as a cult film - shown to audiences primarily as joke material. Which is rightly the niche to which it belongs..

Where it should belong! But evidently Obama's DEA didn't get the message. According to DEA head Chuck Rosenberg, MJ would remain a Schedule 1 drug because "it has no currently acceptable medical use in treatment in the United States, a lack of accepted safety for use under medical supervision and a high potential for abuse."

Most of which is bunkum.  In terms of demonstrated medical benefit, the DEA head would do well to come here to Colorado and ask the thousands of vets - I am talking of vets from the Iraq and Afghan misadventures - who have found medical MJ the sole means to control their pain and vastly better than the DEA-permitted opioids like hydrocodone-oxycontin. Medical MJ has also been crucial for many cancer patients in being able to endure chemotherapy without vomiting every ten minutes if they try to ingest food.

As far as proven beneficial use,  that would be most likely to appear in published medical research. But see, the very failure to reclassify it as Schedule 2 prohibits that.   The ironic aspect of all this is that the ruling's objection to the lack of "proof"  of medical benefit is being used to keep such research from being conducted!

Commenting on this contradiction and ruling, Michael Collins, deputy director of national affairs at the Drug Policy Alliance said (ibid.):

"They are placing researchers in a Catch 22 by saying 'We are not lifting this research barrier because there is not enough evidence'  But then say, 'We can't do research because of this barrier.'".

As for the claim of a "high probability for abuse" - not really, no where near as much as alcohol which is permitted, and which engenders thousands of deaths each year including from drunken driving. Is the DEA blind to that?

The most deplorable aspect is that it sets even more states and American citizens against the federal government, the last thing we need in this era of anti-government paranoia and rage - which helped create the likes of Trump and his Trumpies. According to recent surveys more than 60 percent of Americans now approve of marijuana use for medical and recreational purposes. According to the Times (ibid.):

"The District of Columbia and 25 states now allow the use of marijuana for a wide variety of medical conditions "

The Times article also observed "others were thrilled with the ruling that the D.E.A. didn't budge". Well, I suppose to be consistent they will also be "thrilled" as the over prescription of opioids continues with its own addictions, not to mention leading to REAL Schedule 1 drugs like heroin.

Will things change with a new administration? Don't hold your breath!

See also:

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/13/opinion/a-small-victory-for-more-sensible-marijuana-policies.html?_r=0

Reefer Madness Redux: Exploding Mike's Delusions About Amendment 64

Many readers may recall, or perhaps have seen,  the film "Reefer Madness" - a 1936  propaganda exploitation effort revolving around the melodramatic events that ensue when high school students are lured by pushers to try marijuana.  Their travails extend from a hit and run accident, to manslaughter, suicide, attempted rape, and descent into madness.

The obvious purpose was to scare the living bejeezus out of any kid to not even think of trying "demon weed". The message was it would wreck young lives leaving them broken husks - much like modern Xtian fundamentalism has wrought on too many minds these days.


Anyway, the film was directed by Louis Gasnier and starred a cast composed of mostly unknown bit actors.

Originally it had been financed by a church group (Wouldn't ya know?) under the title "Tell Your Children". Its primary mandate was circulation and screening to parents as a  putative morality tale, attempting to teach them about the dangers of any cannabis use by their kiddies. Perhaps two decades later, any viewing of this dreck became so laughable that it emerged as a cult film - shown to audiences primarily as joke material. Which is rightly the niche to which it belongs.

Flash forward to today, and we still behold would-be propagandizing clowns - like a certain under-educated goober- who don't even bother to do minimal reearch before shooting from the hip concerning another state's MJ laws.   In this case, it seems like my dumb turd wannabe Rebel bro didn’t take long to take umbrage at my post about his MJ bloviations 3 days ago. True to his bellicose nature he came out firing…..but alas…..all scattershot, ending up hitting himself in his own fat ass.

I am not about to reference all his assorted BS, but focus in particular on two aspects:   1) His citation of lengthy recycled bollocks from a known anti-MJ crusader link about the “ill effects” of MJ on youth,  and (2) His claim that (in yesterday's blog post) I was "comparing apples and oranges" in highlighting the ill-effects, fatalities for DUI in FLA, over MJ -induced auto fatalities in Colorado.


Regarding (1), it doesn't take much Google searching even by a lamebrain to dredge up multiple anti-MJ sites (e.g. 'Smart Colorado'), then recycling their hogwash into a blog. That was essentially how Mikey consumed over two thirds of his last blog, by parroting one site and its "warnings" and  how MJ will  "tarnish" Colorado in multiple ways. All of these are exaggerated  fear- mongering Agitprop -much like "Reefer Madness"- and all have been shot down by MJ legalization backers and groups. Multiple times.  In Colo. we know such anti-MJ groups existed even before Amendment 64 became law, and I even referenced the efforts of Patrick Kennedy to form one of his own for a national campaign to halt any further state legislation to allow MJ, see: http://brane-space.blogspot.com/2013/01/patrick-kennedy-useful-idiot-for-big.html  


I further noted that in taking this route Kennedy effectively became a useful idiot for Big PhrMA- much like Mike has become (albeit unconsciously) with his laughable anti-MJ, anti-Amendment 64 blogs. As far as the “risks” to teens, young people I cited a letter in the Denver Post which nailed such a red herring:  


“There are many freedoms adults often enjoy that are illegal for kids, including gambling, drinking, smoking, investing, driving, getting piercings and tattoos, getting married, staying out all night, going to many concerts, working a double shift, etc. Granted, many of these freedoms could be considered bad for adults, too, but the “bad for kids” trope is nothing more than a cudgel designed to stifle honest debate. An unregulated black market is most assuredly more harmful to kids than a regulated honest market, and Colorado enjoys many economic advantages from the tax revenue these freedoms bring when adults enjoy them responsibly”    


Of course, such points are way too subtle for a hammerhead like Mike! This stubborn tool- or more like a half tool and half fool, will always twist semantics to what suits his specious fundie agenda,  and bring in irrelevancies and red herrings since he lacks any argumentative ballast.


This brings up his second issue for which I insert here his nutso response from his blog, for reference:

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"The FACT is that any would-be traveler is much more likely to be killed by a drunk in Florida than even sideswiped by an MJ user here in Colorado."

Hey, DUMBASS! That statement is true in any state! Why? DUHHHH....you idiot! Because alcohol has been legalized where MJ has NOT! When prohibition was in effect, deaths via drunk drivers were miniscule! Once it was repealed and made "legal," as time went by, alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes and deaths SOARED! As did overall crime (e.g., domestic violence, robberies, murders, etc!). Y'all wanna see MORE of something negative from an abusive substance? JUST LEGALIZE IT!


Hence, if your Libtard Guv and other politicians in CO decide to keep MJ "legal," keep an eye on your state's impaired driving deaths and injury stats THEN! Okay? Then let me know what ya find! (oh yeah, toss in the stats on the overall crime rate as well)


----------------

Well, leave it to a brain damaged (at Parris Island) fucktard to restate the point I’d already made! I.e.


“Yes, the basis analog for the argument is different, but then he brought it on himself by harping on all the “ills” of pot use in Colorado – while neatly overlooking that marijuana is not the culprit in ANY state, rather alcohol is. “

But missing the boat as to the reason why! At the risk of getting even more subtle beyond his comprehension level, let me make this finer point: The WHOLE basis for Amendment 64 was the regulation of marijuana LIKE alcohol. The reason that the amendment surpassed (by a long way) the requisite number of petition signatures to get on last November's ballot -  was because intelligent people, prospective voters saw the value in this equivalent regulation, despite the fact MJ has not caused one CO fatality (all Mike’s speculations aside or taking biased factoids from his anti-MJ sites). Indeed, the virtues of pot, in NOT creating analogous DUI-type havoc on the roads, or other crimes, were largely what drove young voter turnout in the state and 2 to 1 votes for the Amendment!  In other words, DOH!!! - So long as alcohol consumption is legal in Colorado (and other states), criminalizing marijuana is fucking absurd!

In addition, people saw the economic benefits! If MJ is indeed regulated like alcohol then taxes would provide additional revenues! In a state drowning in debt because of too low state taxes, this is a godsend. In the case of Colorado Springs, for example, our medical marijuana businesses brought in nearly $1m in extra local tax revenues last year – enough to keep assorted gov’t functions going, including upkeep of parks and trails cleaned, street lights on and a few more schools open- as well as maintained. Does this matter? Ask the people who live here! One thing we DO know is that bringing in more military - as based at Ft. Carson- hasn't made a significant difference to state coffers! The drain on our schools, highways, hospitals has more than countered any tax revenue largesse.


Thus, the point this terminal idiot doesn’t grasp is that OF COURSE one is more likely to be killed in any state via DUI from excess alcohol BUT THAT IS EXACTLY WHY EQUIVALENT REGULATION OF BOTH – AS DRUGS- SHOWS THERE IS LESS REASON TO BAN MJ THAN ALCOHOL! In other words, when both (legal) alcohol and MJ are forced under the same regulatory standards, then MJ wins the benefits column by a mile! (And I won't even belabor the proven benefits of cannabis for cancer patients, i.e. in finding their appetities after chemotherapy!)


But trying to explain this to a dumb, Bars 'n stars- toting wannabe Confederate (he was actually born in Milwaukee- a fact he can never change)  is like trying to explain differential calculus to ‘Sparky’ – wifey's and my  favorite backyard squirrel.


He also commits the logical fallacy of "slippery slope" when he claims if MJ is legalized across the nation, like alcohol  after prohibition – then we will all be on the highway to Hell with even more "evils", "abuses" etc.. We will have crazy MJ dopers running amuck just like drunks. But the stats again don’t support his fear mongering. We have had medical MJ for over five years now and no one is going nuts on the streets, despite the fact many more citizens likely avail themselves of it than really need it, i.e. for cancer or severe pain. But so WHAT?

As for the federal war on drugs and their prohibitions of a ‘schedule 1 substance’ even the most avid right wingers agree that all it has done is filled our prisons and at great cost, which we can no longer afford. This is also why a consistent majority of Americans support legalization for the nation. (By almost 55% to 45%)


The last irksome element of his endless gibberish is the nonsensical one that I am not entitled to be taken seriously if I cite links or info from state DMV urls to do with drunk driving stats, crimes, arrests! The reason? I never worked in law enforcement, or was a cop (like he was- though he spent most of his time beating in the heads of poor black sugar cane cutters in South Bay). But what does that have to do with the price of tea?

 In fact, the argument is as fucking stupid and deranged  as arguing that I have no right to blog on the Vietnam War, the wrongful way it was started or the atrocities committed, because I never served in the military. In like manner- though Mike is too dumb and blind to see it- his own pseudo-logic and arguments militate against him citing links to MJ from Colorado despite the fact he's: a) never been a lobbyist in the state, or b) has never been a legislator and doesn't know beans about the basis of Amendment 64. (Though again, he could learn and justify his blogs! But as in the case of evolution, the Big Bang, etc. he never does.)


In the end it's useless to try to argue or debate this character because he is totally ignorant of the basic parameters  that apply to the content of any worthwhile argument. In this case, it's the Amendment 64 basis and legalization framework - to regulate MJ like alcohol has been.  This being the case, there'll be no further engagements until he can show he can pass a basic test in logic, for which I provide a link here:

http://www.brane-space.blogspot.com/2010/08/basic-logic-test-can-fundies-even-get.html

My bet is that, like the biblical exegesis test, he will punk out. It's much easier, after all, to spout endless rubbish, ignorance and bullshit than it is to show he can truly engage on the same intellectual "battle field". Perhaps he ought to stick to the battlefields to which he's accustomed, i.e. bat and bottle fights in bars and .....with rogue gators in Lake Panosoffkee, FL.