The Stoner Army

The Citizens' Voice, 08 May 2010 - WILKES-BARRE - Kenny Brown understands the issue of legalizing medical marijuana might be a non-starter in Pennsylvania, but he spent Friday trying to change a few minds. Along with 70 supporters, the 21-year-old spent the afternoon rallying on Public Square to share stories, information and a petition for sanctioning the drug for medicinal use. While supporters understood residents' hesitation to the idea, they said the movement's goal isn't solely to legalize the substance outright and is grounded in giving patients another treatment option.

North County Times, 08 May 2010 - Revised Proposal Addresses Only Land Use Provisions; Other Rules to Follow The county's Planning Commission on Friday will consider a medical marijuana dispensary ordinance that is markedly stripped down from the draft released in March.

Times Leader, 08 May 2010 - State Rep. Phyllis Mundy Has a Bill Which Allows the Use of Marijuana in Treatment. WILKES-BARRE - Thomas Chewey is eager to discuss challenges of his four-year battle with cancer, bi-polar disorder and hypertension.

Denver Post, 08 May 2010 - Pro-pot activists were self-righteous, dishonest and boorish, but in the end even their antics couldn't discredit legislation to legalize medical-marijuana dispensaries in this statea tribute to lawmakers such as Sen. Chris Romer, D-Denver, and Rep. Tom Massey, R-Poncha Springs, who kept their eyes on the ball. "This has been a long, strange trip," Romer said of the nearly finished effort to offer patients in severe, chronic pain with another option for possible relief. House Bill 1284 will also drive bad actors out of the business, closely monitor the source of the plants, and preserve the right of local communities to ban dispensaries altogether.

The Republic, 08 May 2010 - CHICAGO -- In about a dozen states, you can smoke a joint if you have cancer or HIV and meet certain conditions, like having a doctor's note. In California, you can light up if you have just about anything -- headaches, anxiety, epilepsy -- and a physician's okay.

Pleasanton Weekly, 07 May 2010 - PROHIBITION IS A FAILURE, SAYS FORMER UNDERCOVER COP The war on drugs is not working, former DEA Task Force Officer Robert "Russ" Jones told Rotary North members at their meeting last Friday. Criminals are getting rich, and drug use has not gone down in the last 40 years.

Denver Daily News, 07 May 2010 - Activist Group Looks to Change Image of Marijuana Supporters On the eve of Mother's Day weekend, a group of women held a press conference at the State Capitol in hopes of changing the face of the pro-marijuana movement.

The Press Democrat, 07 May 2010 - All four candidates running for Mendocino County's 5th District supervisor seat favor a November ballot initiative that would expand marijuana legalization beyond medicinal use to include personal use for all adults in California. "I probably will vote for it," Mendocino business consultant Wendy Roberts said during a Thursday night candidates debate in Ukiah.

Abbotsford Times, 07 May 2010 - I was recently talking to a local RCMP officer who works with teenagers, and she rolled her eyes and described the stupid arguments that she hears about pot. "Hey dude," they say, with that classic glassy stoner gaze, "it's an herb, it grows in the ground, how can it be bad for you?"

Detroit News, 07 May 2010 - Advocate Behind Drive to Legalize Up to Ounce for Own Use Detroit -- Days after Michigan's no-smoking law went into effect, a Detroit resident filed a petition to make it legal for Detroiters to spark up a joint.

The Oakland Tribune, 07 May 2010 - OAKLAND -- City Attorney John Russo last week endorsed the state's ballot initiative to legalize marijuana, and the City Council seems poised to do the same soon. Californians this November will vote on a measure that would legalize adult use and personal cultivation of marijuana. Russo called it an overdue change in the state's policy on marijuana.

The Chico News & Review, 06 May 2010 - Seeing into the Future I recently attended some of "The Chico Great Debate," a series of speeches, discussions and debates on whether California should legalize marijuana. I heard speeches from five Chico State students in the morning and two debates in the evening, including a team debate with grownups.

LA Weekly, 06 May 2010 - Maybe somewhere high above L.A., on a big, wispy puff of a magic-dragon cloud, Daryl Gates found himself with Jack Herer looking down on his old, literal stomping grounds. What the heavenly odd couple, who died a day apart in mid-April, might have thought as they mulled over a gathering tribe downtown in the City of Angels is anyone's cosmic guess -- even if the former LAPD chief made no apologies for shining his shoes on hippie ass, and the earthy ganja activist's life was dedicated to legalizing the sweet leaf of cannabis.

Huffington Post, 06 May 2010 - Most Americans think of Mother's Day as a day of rest for our nation's moms. This year, however, I'm excited to be part of a new movement that is capitalizing on the holiday to encourage mothers nationwide to take a stand for ending federal marijuana prohibition and the devastating consequences it has brought to our families, our communities, and our nation. For the past several years, I've been an active voice in the pro-legalization movement. I was initially greeted with skepticism by the movement's left-leaning activists and tokenized as the "pro-pot Republican mom." Over the years, I've devoted too many column inches to lamenting the fact that more conservative women wouldn't join me in this cause. Just last July, in a column I wrote for the Colorado Daily, my lead read: "As a Republican mother committed to legalizing marijuana, political life can be lonely. But while many in my party whisper about the Drug War's insanity, we should shout it from the rooftop: the time to legalize is now."

The Chico News & Review, 06 May 2010 - Seeing into the Future I recently attended some of "The Chico Great Debate," a series of speeches, discussions and debates on whether California should legalize marijuana. I heard speeches from five Chico State students in the morning and two debates in the evening, including a team debate with grownups.

Detroit Free Press, 06 May 2010 - Proposal Heads for Spot on Nov. Ballot A Detroiter who helped lead the drive to allow medical marijuana in Michigan is pushing for something bound to be equally controversial: legalizing pot in the city of Detroit.

Arcata Eye, 05 May 2010 - HUMBOLDT - County officials have said that federal money for marijuana eradication is of value to the community and the enforcement it buys will continue to be necessary even if marijuana is legalized. At its April 20 meeting, the Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to accept a $170,000 grant from the federal Drug Enforcement Agency to help pay for the county's marijuana law enforcement efforts. The grant covers a year that will include a statewide vote on whether to legalize, regulate and tax marijuana.

Siskiyou Daily News, 05 May 2010 - Yreka, Calif. -- Days after the candidates for Siskiyou County sheriff expressed their stand against legalizing marijuana, a leading proponent of drug policy change was in Siskiyou County encouraging residents that "there has to be a better way." Retired Superior Court Judge James R. Gray spoke to about 25 representatives of legal entities, social service institutions and the general public on Tuesday about "one of the most critical issues facing the country today" drug use, abuse and law. Gray has been a judge in Orange County, Calif., since 1983 and is the author of "Why Our Drug Laws Have Failed and What We Can Do About It A Judicial Indictment of the War on Drugs." Several times throughout the talk, Gray pointed out that, just like a repeal of the prohibition of alcohol led to a decrease in crime and abuse, the repeal of drug prohibition could be beneficial.

Santa Monica Daily Press, 05 May 2010 - From week to week, there are five basic topics that a columnist covers. In ascending order of importance they are sports, pop culture and the arts, local politics, national politics, and predictions. Depending on the reader, there is some debate about whether local or national politics is number two, but there is no question that the most important skill any good columnist possesses is the ability to accurately forecast the future. Naturally, my 14-months-before-anyone-else 2007 Official Groundbreaking Prediction that Barack Obama would be elected the 44th president of the United States followed by my alone-among-my-peers 2008 Official Groundbreaking Prediction that the Obama inauguration would be the "cultural, social, and political event of a generation; like Woodstock meets the March on Washington" cemented my status as America's smartest columnist.

Washington Post, 05 May 2010 - For doctors such as Pradeep Chopra, long accustomed to prescribing carefully tested medications by the exact milligram, medical marijuana presents a particular conundrum. On Tuesday, the D.C. Council gave final approval to a bill establishing a legal medical marijuana program. If Congress signs off, District doctors -- like their counterparts in 14 states, including Rhode Island, where Chopra works -- will be allowed to add pot to the therapies they can recommend to certain patients, who will then eat it, smoke it or vaporize it until they decide they are, well, high enough.