Yesterday sure was a fun day for this Radical. I am often a guest on the Oregon NORML show with the host, Oregon NORML Executive Director Madeleine Martinez, and Legal 411 guest, local attorney Paul Loney.
Well, this weekend, both Madeleine and Paul were out of town at the Seattle Hempfest (no doubt securing the infrastructure for the upcoming Portland Hempfest on Sep 10). so the producer, Delilah, calls me on Wednesday and asks if I’d like to do the show solo. Media whore that I am, I jumped at the opportunity.
I’ve got the episode on TiVo and will try to get a digital copy on this site. But you have to remember that this is volunteer-run public access cable. In other words, don’t expect slick production values. I brought in graphics for my stories, but they couldn’t get them transferred to the video booth, so we relied on my set-up stills on cards and a document camera, with a cut-out of me on the side. There were a few problems with the cut-out and it was funny to watch the backstage hand reach into the screen to change from one card to another.
Then there’s the couple of times we got feedback or a dial tone on our call ins, and the added bonus of my wife calling me on my cell phone, which I had forgotten to turn off, right in the middle of the live show. Nothing spells fun like live cable access TV.
Anyway, after the jump is my script from the show (another concept new to the show; Madeleine usually runs the show off the top of her head), with links and references for anyone who may have watched and is looking to win an argument or prove a point.
1) Introduction (2 min)
a) RadicalRuss.net
i) Or http://216.219.174.138/blog if my web provider is still buggy.
Good Afternoon, this is Sunday, August 21, 2005, and I am coming to you live from the campus of Mt. Hood Community College in the beautiful Greater Portland Oregon Metro Area. This the Cannabis Community Forum produced by Oregon NORML.
Your regular host, Oregon NORML Executive Director Madeleine Martinez, and regular guest Defense Attorney and Legal Consultant Paul Loney are gone to the Seattle Hempfest today.
I am “Radical” Russ Belville, today’s guest host for the Cannabis Community Forum. I’m a blogger and activist for personal freedom and liberty issues at www.radicalruss.net, and I write an opinion column for The Oregon Herald at www.oregonherald.com. I’ll be covering marijuana topics in law, politics, sports, and culture, as well as taking your calls today, live at 503-491-7434. Check you calendar; if today isn’t Sunday, August 21, 2005, don’t bother calling because we’re not here!
a) Topics we’re going to cover:
i) Marijuana in the Courts
ii) Marijuana in the Legislature
iii) Interview Segment w/Dr. Grant Higginson
iv) Fighting the Drug Warriors
v) Marijuana in Pro Sports
vi) Taking your live calls
vii) Commentary: Coming Out of the Cannabis Closet
2) Marijuana in Courts (7-min)
a) Raich v. Ashcroft
i) State’s Rights
Raich & Monson are legal California patients
Grew marijuana in California, never bought or sold it, never transported it across state lines, used all-California equipment and seeds.
Court ruled 6-3, with liberal justices supporting Ashcroft due to Interstate Commerce Clause, O’Connor, Rehnquist, and Scalia dissented
Before Raich, MMJ was federally illegal, after Raich, MMJ is federally illegal
ii) Oregon & California Pot Card fallout
States worried that their employees could be held for charges for encouraging violation of federal law. (Explanation from Dr. Grant Higginson)
Both Attorneys General issued opinions that said employees were fine and nothing has changed. Both states resumed their programs.
b) Illinois v. Caballes
i) Drug Dogs can be used without probable cause.
WASHINGTON, Jan. 24 – The Supreme Court ruled on Monday that in making a routine traffic stop, the police can permit a trained dog to sniff the car for drugs without the need for any particular reason to suspect the driver of a narcotics violation.
Justices David H. Souter and Ruth Bader Ginsburg both issued vigorous dissents on Monday, warning that the latest decision, Illinois v. Caballes, No. 03-923, opened the door to the use of drug-sniffing dogs to patrol parking lots, garages, and even pedestrians on sidewalks.
Personal experience: In my home county, the local sheriff there made a big splash by using drug-sniffing dogs to patrol the parking lots of the local shopping mall. When the dog alerted to a car, they noted which car it was, then waited for the car to leave the lot. They’d follow the car and wait for any little traffic violation — using the turn lane for more than 100 ft, switching lanes without blinking for the mandated five seconds, travelling 2 MPH over the speed limit, a burnt-out license plate light, whatever — then pull the driver over and pressure them into a search.
WASHINGTON, April – The Supreme Court on Monday declined to consider whether police can have drug dogs sniff outside people’s homes without any specific suspicion of illegal activity.
Justices let stand a lower court ruling that allowed the dog sniff, rejecting an appeal from a Houston man who said it was an improper police “search” that violated his Fourth Amendment right against arbitrary searches.
In so doing, the court declined to clarify the scope of police authority after it ruled 6-2 earlier this year that dog sniffs for drugs were OK outside a car if a motorist is lawfully stopped for a traffic violation.
ii) Debunker: Drug Dog Accuracy
Souter, in his dissent, said sniffing dogs are prone to mistakes, meaning that police often will find something other than contraband when they open a trunk after a dog alerts. He said Illinois, in defending its practice, cited a study that showed trained dogs return false positives as often as 60 percent of the time. “In practical terms, the evidence is clear that the dog that alerts hundreds of times will be wrong dozens of times,” Souter wrote.
Case law summary at http://www.k9fleck.org/reltrn.htm The dog must be trained, certified and reliable. The dog does not have to be 100% accurate or perfect. The court has recognized the fact that “false positives” occur and dogs can be as low as 62% accurate.
In other words, if a dog gets it right 3 times out of five, it’s OK to intimidate and harass the other 2 out of five who were perfectly innocent.
What are the possible chances that the dogs might make a mistake? Do you know poker? Shuffle a deck and deal five cards. Did you get a pair of anything but deuces? Congrats, the drug dogs just false alerted to your car trunk or front door.
3) Marijuana Law (7-min)
a) Oregon OMMP changes?
i) SB 1085 awaiting signature
Oregon’s legislative session has ended, but not before the legislature passed S.B. 1085
ii) Increases possession limits
S.B. 1085 will allow patients and caregivers to possess up to 24 ounces of marijuana, six mature plants, and 18 seedlings or starters, which are defined as a plant less than 12 inches tall and 12 inches in diameter.
iii) Changes to independent grow site limits
If the marijuana used by the registry identification cardholder is produced at a marijuana grow site where the cardholder or designated primary caregiver is not present, the person responsible for the marijuana grow site …may produce marijuana for up to four registry identification cardholders or designated primary caregivers per year.
iv) Changes Affirmative Defense
Removed the cardholder affirmative defense for possessing more than those amounts.
Provided an affirmative defense for non-cardholders, as long as their reason for use and the amount of marijuana they have in their possession would have been in compliance under the OMMP.
v) Killed the MMJ Drug Test provision
With less than a day to go in the session, S.B. 1085 still contained a provision that would have allowed employers to fire medical marijuana patients simply for testing positive for marijuana metabolites. No actual impairment on the job would have been required. But by contacting your legislators, you and many other activists helped send a strong message that Oregonians do not want patients to lose their jobs simply for taking their medicine. And it appears that enough key legislators heard that message. In the last hours of the session, the conference committee on S.B. 1085 had the wisdom to delete the employment portion of the bill.
b) Frank’s States’ Rights to Medical Marijuana Bill
i) Descheduling Marijuana
The drug or other substance has a high potential for abuse.
The drug or other substance has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States.
There is a lack of accepted safety for use of the drug or other substance under medical supervision.
Schedule I Drugs: heroin, acid, ecstasy, peyote, mushrooms, marijuana
11 states have passed medical marijuana laws & 37 states have resolutions testifying to the medical efficacy of marijuana.
ii) Schedule II
The drug or other substance has a high potential for abuse.
The drug or other substance has a currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States or a currently accepted medical use with severe restrictions.
Abuse of the drug or other substances may lead to severe psychological or physical dependence.
II: Cocaine, Methamphetamine, PCP, Opium, Morphine, OxyContin
iii) Schedule III drugs
The drug or other substance has a potential for abuse less than the drugs or other substances in schedules I and II.
The drug or other substance has a currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States.
Abuse of the drug or other substance may lead to moderate or low physical dependence or high psychological dependence.
III: Anabolic Steroids, Ritalin, Codeine, Sativex & Marinol
iv) Sativex / Marinol
Dr. Andrea Barthwell, former deputy director for demand reduction at the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy quotes before:
“I doubt it was in the scheme that the Great Creator would put one plant on Earth that could cure everything wrong with you,” said Barthwell as the audience laughed.
“It is not a medicine,” she said. “You don’t know what’s in it,” she said. “If there were compelling scientific and medical data supporting marijuana’s medical benefits that would be one thing,” Barthwell said. “But the data is not there. The claim of one individual who has used marijuana does not medical data make. Marijuana has not gone through the test of science because it is a botanical and it doesn’t have the same effect on every individual.”
“While there are no proven benefits to marijuana use, there are many short- and long-term risks associated with marijuana use,” said Dr. Andrea Barthwell of the Office of National Drug Control Policy. “Even if smoking marijuana makes people feel better, that’s not enough to call it a medicine.”
“As a crude plant, marijuana is so complex, unstable, and harmful that sensible physicians and researchers consider it unethical to expose individuals to the risks associated with smoking it.”
“The people that have this as an agenda are not concerned for the sick or dying,” Barthwell said.
Dr. Andrea Barthwell, deputy director for demand reduction at the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, rejects the term “medical marijuana,” instead calling it “medical excuse marijuana.” She says those who push for laws like Maryland’s are “feeding off the pain and suffering of people” in pursuit of their real goal: complete legalization of marijuana. “There’s no basis in medical [knowledge] for taking a crude plant material and providing it as medicine,” she said.
v) Andrea Barthwell & GW Pharmaceuticals
[C]ertain cannabinoids have been shown to have analgesic, anti-spasmodic, anti-convulsant, anti-tremor, anti-psychotic, anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, anti-emetic and appetite-stimulant properties and research is ongoing into neuroprotective and immunomodulatory effects. Sounds like an accepted medical use to me
Data from GW’s clinical trials confirm that its medicines are generally well tolerated. The trials have generated over 600 patient-years of safety data and adverse events have been predictable and generally well tolerated. Sounds like a low potential for abuse
The relationship between the dose required for medicine and the dose required to kill somebody is about 20-40,000 times. A standard pharmaceutical ratio might be in the order of 50 or 100, so cannabis is in relative terms very well tolerated. Sounds like a recognized level of safety when used under medical supervision.
“Having this product available will certainly slow down the dash to make the crude plant material available to patients across the country,” said Barthwell. “Comparing crude marijuana to Sativex is like comparing a raging forest fire to the fire in your home’s furnace. While both provide heat, one is out of control.”
4) Interview Segment w/Dr. Grant Higginson (10 min)
5) Fighting the Drug Warriors (7-min)
a) $14B from Legal Pot
i) Segue: You wanna fight meth? You wanna fight terrorism? Redistribute resources of manpower and money from the war on cannabis.
ii) Regulate and Tax Marijuana
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS — In a report released today, Dr. Jeffrey Miron, visiting professor of economics at Harvard University, estimates that replacing marijuana prohibition with a system of taxation and regulation similar to that used for alcoholic beverages would produce combined savings and tax revenues of between $10 billion and $14 billion per year.
In response, a group of more than 500 distinguished economists — led by Nobel Prize-winner Dr. Milton Friedman — released an open letter to President Bush and other public officials calling for “an open and honest debate about marijuana prohibition,” adding, “We believe such a debate will favor a regime in which marijuana is legal but taxed and regulated like other goods.”
Using data from a variety of federal and state government sources, Miron’s paper, “The Budgetary Implications of Marijuana Prohibition,” concludes:
Replacing marijuana prohibition with a system of legal regulation would save approximately $7.7 billion in government expenditures on prohibition enforcement-$2.4 billion at the federal level and $5.3 billion at the state and local levels
Revenue from taxation of marijuana sales would range from $2.4 billion per year if marijuana were taxed like ordinary consumer goods to $6.2 billion if it were taxed like alcohol or tobacco.
b) “Not Your 60’s Pot” Myth
i) Drug Czar John Walters said that while the pot the hippie generation knew contained on average 1 percent of psychoactive Delta-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, Canada’s high-potency marijuana contained 20 to 30 percent THC.
1% THC is damn-near hemp!
The researchers who made the claim of increased potency used as their baseline the THC content of marijuana seized by police in the early 1970s. Poor storage of this marijuana in un-air conditioned evidence rooms caused it to deteriorate and decline in potency before any chemical assay was performed.
Contemporaneous, independent assays of unseized “street” marijuana from the early 1970s showed a potency equivalent to that of modern “street” marijuana.
Actually, the most potent form of this drug that was generally available was sold legally in the 1920s and 1930s by the pharmaceutical company Smith-Klein under the name, “American Cannabis”.
Potency data from the early 1980s to the present are more reliable, and they show no increase in the average THC content of marijuana. Even if marijuana potency were to increase, it would not necessarily make the drug more dangerous.
ii) Isn’t that disingenuous? But what about the dreaded “BC Bud”?
There is a difference in strains of marijuana and grades, from Mexican Ditchweed to finely cultivated BC Bud, just like there’s a difference between Coors Light and Bacardi 151.
However, unlike alcohol, marijuana is non-toxic. More powerful alcohol has a greater chance of poisoning you.
Less-powerful weed = more smoke
More-powerful weed = less smoke
iii) “It is extremely dangerous. It is one of the reasons why we believe … we have seen a doubling of emergency room cases involving marijuana in the last several years from 60,000 to 120,000,” Walters said.
Data from Drug Abuse Awareness Network
Tracks mention of up to four drugs in a visit
Does not apply causality at all
Shows many people smoke marijuana and more are willing to admit it.
c) What about the children?
i) Kids access to marijuana greater in US than Netherlands
For most age groups, rates of marijuana use in the Netherlands are similar to those in the United States. However, for young adolescents, rates of marijuana use are lower in the Netherlands than in the United States.
ii) Kids find it very easy to get weed now.
According to government-funded researchers, high school seniors consistently report that marijuana is easily available, despite decades of a nationwide drug war. With little variation, every year about 85% consider marijuana “fairly easy” or “very easy” to obtain. Data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that as many U.S. high school students currently smoke marijuana, which is completely unregulated, than smoke cigarettes, which are sold by regulated businesses.
iii) Why is that? Drug dealers don’t ask for ID
You don’t see beer or cigarette dealers hanging out near playgrounds and parks – no profit.
Who should control marijuana? Drug gangs and criminals or the government and pharmacies?
Drug dealers need to recruit young people to keep market. Drug dealers want to move kids to more profitable, easier to move crack and meth.
iv) Scare tactic: Bill O’Reilly –
O’REILLY: No, I think you’re right there, and I’m for decriminalization, use in your own home. You take it outside. I’d fine the heck out of you.
But I think you guys overlook the danger behind the car and also the danger to children because, if it’s available in the 7-Eleven, you know some guys are going to go down there and buy a whole bunch of weed and support their weed habit by selling it to children. It’s much easier to get if every 7-Eleven sells it.
No one’s saying we should sell marijuana at the 7-Eleven! Sell it at a liquor store. Sell it at a pharmacy. Require ID or even a prescription.
6) Marijuana in Pro Sports (7-min)
a) Former Viking, Raider Randy Moss Interview on Real Sports
i) Randy’s Past
Lost scholarships at Notre Dame (battery) & Florida State (marijuana)
Had to play at Marshall
Dropped to 21st in 1998 Draft
Last year, fined $10K for Lambeau Playoff Moon
Last year, left game against Wash. w/ :02 left
Bumped traffic cop in 2002
Dissed sponsors on team bus in 2001
Squirted official in 1999
ii) Randy’s quotes:
“I have used, you know, marijuana … since I’ve been in the league,” Moss said in an interview for HBO’s “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel” scheduled to air Tuesday night. “But as far as abusing it and, you know, letting it take control over me, I don’t do that, no.”
When pressed whether he still smokes marijuana, the star receiver with the checkered past said: “I might. I might have fun. And, you know, hopefully … I won’t get into any trouble by the NFL by saying that, you know. I have had fun throughout my years and, you know, predominantly in the offseason.
“But, you know, I don’t want any kids, you know, watching this taking a lesson from me as far as ‘Well, Randy Moss used it so I’m going to use it.’ I don’t want that to get across. Like I say … I have used (marijuana) in the past. And every blue moon or every once in a while I might.”
Then as the controversy gathers steam, he says,
“A lot of people are jumping to conclusions because they really don’t know the real story or haven’t even heard the real story yet,” he said. “That was really me talking in the past tense of way back in the beginning of my career and my childhood — especially in high school and college.”
Past tense? “Every once in a while I might?” What kind of English 101 are they teaching at Marshall?
iii) Randy’s Agent, Dante DiTrapano:
“In an attempt to promote their dying network, they have maliciously couched his remarks in a manner that is confusing and leaves room for negative interpretation,” DiTrapano told The Associated Press. “Randy is not in the NFL substance abuse program and has complied with all urinalysis required by the league, the team, insurance companies, endorsers, etc.”
Dying network? Sopranos? Deadwood? Six Feet Under? Curb Your Enthusiasm? Emmy nominations? Showtime would kill to be this dying!
Maliciously couched? It’s a complete un-edited statement!
Randy has successfully beaten the NFL drug testing regimen.
iv) It’s not that he smokes, it’s that he talked about it. Sportswriter Mike Celizic:
But Moss’ ego is so big that he had to honestly answer Bryant Gumbel’s question on HBO’s “Real Sports” about smoking weed by admitting that he did and still does “once in a blue moon.”
The admission isn’t a big one. If everyone in sports – or in any profession – answered that question honestly, you’d have tens of millions of responses similar to Moss’. Yes, marijuana is illegal. But let’s be honest, it’s not Satan’s drug of choice.
The International Olympic Committee does not test for marijuana because the IOC has determined that it’s not a performance-enhancing drug. From my memories of the 1970s, when I actually did inhale — but that’s in the past, and I don’t want to discuss it further — that would be an accurate judgment, unless the sport were eating Doritos or ice cream, in which case it could help someone to a world record.
The NBA doesn’t test for marijuana, either, which is a good thing, because the occasional joint is one of the preferred methods of unwinding for players of that game. If the NBA tested for weed, there might be more guys serving suspensions than actually playing the game.
Maybe he’ll grow up some day and learn that total disclosure is neither necessary nor advisable. Honesty is a fine thing, but there’s no need to carry it to extremes.
b) Vikings’ Onterrio Smith with Whizzinator
Smith, 24, was kicked off the University of Tennessee football team in 2000 for marijuana use and finished his college career at Oregon. Scouts considered him one of the top running backs available in the 2003 draft, but questions about his past drug use and character dropped him to the fourth round.
Smith was suspended four games last season after testing positive for marijuana, his second “strike” in the league’s program. A third “strike” would result in a yearlong suspension. An attempt to substitute a urine specimen qualifies as a positive test, but NFL spokesman Greg Aiello did not immediately know Tuesday whether possession of a masking device fits that criteria.
c) Ricky Williams quits to smoke weed
Quit the NFL before last season’s training camp.
“I didn’t quit football because I failed a drug test,” he told the [Miami] Herald. “I failed a drug test because I was ready to quit football.”
He suffers from a social anxiety disorder and was prescribed Paxil for treatment. He even went on to become a paid endorser for the mood-altering drug.
Later on, Williams found that the Paxil severely disagreed with his digestion — basically the drug made his head better and his stomach worse. So he has been smoking marijuana to treat his disorder.
Williams had failed an NFL drug test before and had to go through the mandatory counseling sessions. However, he continued to smoke marijuana and passed the NFL tests through the use of common drug-test masking agents.
He spent much of his two seasons with the Dolphins in the league’s drug program, seeing a therapist weekly and taking eight to 10 random urine tests a month, the story said.
Miami’s biggest trade since 1970 looked like a steal. Williams led the NFL in 2002 with 1,853 yards rushing and broke nine team records. Last season he ran for 1,372 yards despite little offensive support.
d) Mark Stepnoski, Dallas Cowboys Lineman, now Pres. Texas NORML
i) Bill O’Reilly Interview
O’REILLY: Were you using pot while you were playing?
STEPNOSKI: Yes, I had. You know, as an adult, I fully believe in NORML’s, you know, belief in responsible use by adults.
O’REILLY: OK. SO when you were playing for the Dallas Cowboys and the Houston Oilers, you were — now, were you using it on a daily basis?
STEPNOSKI: No. No. It was just, you know, occasional responsible use.
O’REILLY: OK. Did they drug test you back then?
STEPNOSKI: Yes, drug testing’s been a policy of the NFL for several years now.
O’REILLY: How’d you beat it?
STEPNOSKI: Just by not taking the drug prior to the test.
O’REILLY: OK. So you had it in your bloodstream for like two or three days. Is that what it was?
STEPNOSKI: You know, it was just a case of not, you know, using the drug prior to getting tested. Again, you know, it all boils down to responsible use.
O’REILLY: OK. Most of the teammates using pot as well?
STEPNOSKI: I can’t really say. You know, that would be purely speculation on my part.
O’REILLY: But you knew some who were, obviously.
STEPNOSKI: In some respects, you know, sports leagues are a microcosm of society. So, certainly, there will be some drug use in the sports leagues, yes.
e) NBA & Marijuana
i) Damon Stoudamire caught in Phoenix Airport
ii) Robert Parrish, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
iii) Charles Oakley “60% of NBA”
7) Call In Portion (15-min)
8) Commentary: Coming Out of the Cannabis Closet (5-min)
a) My life with cannabis rather than alcohol
i) Get up, go to work, pay taxes, love my wife , feed pets, and like to take a chemical to relax
ii) “Life, Liberty, & Pursuit of Happiness” – but not from that plant. Happiness comes with a bar code.
iii) Seems to be a right to intoxication and mood alteration – so long as you keep it to yourself. Even death is OK (cancer, drunk drivers).
Healthier drug for me
No hangovers, no puking, no liver damage, no acting violent or out of control.
No lung cancer, no coughing, no shivering to take breaks in the cold outdoors
No dependency, no sexual side effects, doesn’t interfere with my sleep patterns
iv) But because of weed, I’m different.
Workman’s Comp
Job Discrimination by pee tests
Fear of police – report crime?
Arrests, harassment.
b) Coming out as a stoner
i) 90M have tried it, 15M regular users
ii) Largest prison population in the world
iii) Almost 800,000 marijuana arrests a year, most for possession.
iv) Success of gay rights movement by demystifying and quashing fears
v) Playing against the stereotypes – people vote against “dirty stinky hippies”
vi) Bush & Clinton & Gore & Kerry and many politicians have smoked it
c) Public perception
i) Poll – no jail for weed
60% of North Americans feel there should only be fines, not jail, for personal marijuana possession.
Up to 80% of Americans support medical marijuana.
ii) O’Reilly’s comment – fine the heck out of ya if you take it outside
iii) Bible – Genesis 1:29, Annointing oil & Christ (website)
And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.
iv) Evolution – why would the plant exist unless natural selection favored it?
d) What to do?
i) Let those you trust know you are a cannabis consumer
ii) Don’t let those who you don’t trust get away with Drug War Fallacies
iii) Call & Write Your Congressmen
iv) Learn about the issues and science
v) March, Donate, Get Involved (mpp.org, drcnet.org, ornorml.org, norml.org, drugsense.org)
