drug war

(RPI) The Texas state House of Representatives is scheduled to consider Thursday HB 81, legislation that would decriminalize marijuana in the state.

(MPN) When the U.S. overthrew the Taliban in the wake of 9/11 as part of its newly launched “war on terror,” it set the stage for the explosive growth of Afghanistan’s dying opium industry.

(ANTIMEDIA) The opioid epidemic is a real tragedy. It has been devastating states like West Virginia, Vermont, and Maine — among others — and it’s been the number one factor in a major incarceration shift that is still seldom discussed by the media.

Daniel Louis Crumpton joins me today to talk about his work with the non-profit CannaSense. Daniel explains how CannaSense provides medical grade cannabis and related products to anyone in need through out the 50 states. We talk about the legal framework that CannaSense uses in order to provide the medicine. Daniel breaks down what they call the trifecta (Compassionate Use act, Affordable Care Act, and the Article 4 Section 1 of the Constitution) which sets up a legal framework to prescribe cannabis and distribute it no matter where you happen to live.

(ANTIMEDIA) California could soon codify resistance to federal marijuana prohibition if state lawmakers pass a recently introduced bill. Assembly Bill 1578 seeks to bar law enforcement in California from cooperating with federal authorities in ways that violate the state’s cannabis laws.

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte is currently leading a Time Magazine Poll of the most influential men and women of 2017. How it is even possible to conduct such a poll at the end of March seems rather counter-intuitive, but nevertheless Duterte is a solid choice.

(ANTIMEDIA) Both anecdotal evidence and clinical research are beginning to show the promise of cannabis in treating a variety of health issues. According to one family in the U.K., cannabis helped a dying teenage boy recover fully from complications from leukemia. The family recently appeared on the British talk show, This Morning, to discuss their experience.

(ANTIMEDIA) Lobbying in the nation’s capitol is a billion dollar industry, but sometimes, companies dip their toes into state and local politics, as well. When giant corporations want to influence bills and national elections, they generally spread their money around, cozying up to a number of politicians and shaking hands with numerous government officials. However, at the local level, high-dollar financing is a bit more transparent.

(ANTIMEDIA) Attorney General Jeff Sessions is terribly confused and wildly uninformed. That, or he’s a liar.
Trump’s pick to head the Department of Justice has long opposed cannabis and enthusiastically supported the war on drugs. Though he reportedly recently assured congressional lawmakers he would not be instituting a crackdown on weed in states where it’s legal, his rhetoric against the increasingly accepted plant is concerning.

An addict prepares shoot up heroin after receiving a kit including a spoon, a rubber tube, cotton, sterilized water and clean syringes distributed by a program sponsored by the Open Society Foundation and government agencies in Dosquebradas, Colombia. (AP/Fernando Vergara)