Medical marijuana for ADD and it's good for kids!

MSNBC's Keith Olbermann interviews a bold and honest physician/pediatrician from the University of Southern California who explains how medical cannabis can be used to treat ADD in children.

Media Ignored Expert's Shocking Findings That Marijuana Helps Prevent Lung Cancer: Now It's Med-School Material

UCLA professor Donald Tashkin will share his research discoveries to medical students this week.

You'd think it would have been very big news in the spring of 2005 when Donald Tashkin, a professor of pulmonology at UCLA's David Geffin School of Medicine, revealed at a conference that components of marijuana smoke, although they damage cells in respiratory tissue, somehow prevent them from becoming malignant. But headlines announcing "Pot Doesn't Cause Cancer" did not ensue. 

Tashkin will review his findings and discuss current research this Thursday in Santa Monica, California as part of a course for doctors accredited by the University of California San Francisco. (It is open to the public; pre-registration is $95.)  

Tashkin has special credibility. He was the lead investigator on studies dating back to the 1970s that identified the compounds in marijuana smoke that are toxic. It was Tashkin who published photomicrographs showing that marijuana smoke damages cells lining the upper airways. It was the Tashkin lab reporting that benzpyrene -- a component of tobacco smoke that plays a role in most lung cancers -- is especially prevalent in marijuana smoke. It was Tashkin's data documenting that marijuana smokers are more likely than non-smokers to cough, wheeze and produce sputum. 

The National Institute on Drug Abuse supported Tashkin's marijuana-related research over the decades and gave him a grant to conduct a large, population-based, case-controlled study that would prove definitively that heavy, long-term marijuana use increases the risk of lung and upper-airways cancers. What Tashkin and his colleagues found, however, disproved their hypothesis.

Tashkin's team interviewed 1,212 cancer patients from the Los Angeles County Cancer Surveillance program, matched for age, gender, and neighborhood with 1,040 cancer-free controls. Marijuana use was measured in "joint years" (number of years smoked times number of joints per day). It turned out that increased marijuana use did not result in higher rates of lung and pharyngeal cancer (whereas tobacco smokers were at greater risk the more they smoked). Tobacco smokers who also smoked marijuana were at slightly lower risk of getting lung cancer than tobacco-only smokers.

The Tashkin scoop was still there for the taking in April 2009 when Tashkin reviewed his findings at a conference at Asilomar organized by "Patients Out of Time." Investigators from New Zealand had recently gotten widespread media attention for a study contradicting Tashkin's results. "Heavy cannabis users may be at greater risk of chronic lung disease --including cancer-- compared to tobacco smokers," is how BBC News summed up the New Zealanders' findings. The very small size of the study --79 smokers took part, 21 of whom smoked cannabis only-- was not held against the authors. As conveyed in the corporate media, the New Zealand study represented the latest word on this important subject.

Tashkin criticized the New Zealanders' methodology in his talk at Asilomar: "There's some cognitive dissonance associated with the interpretation of their findings. I think this has to do with the belief model among the investigators and --I wish they were here to defend themselves -- the integrity of the investigators... They actually published another paper in which they mimicked the design that we used for looking at lung function."

Tashkin, who is 70ish and wears wire-rimmed spectacles, spoke from the stage of an airy redwood chapel designed by Julia Morgan: "For tobacco they found what you'd expect: a higher risk for lung cancer and a clear dose-response relationship. A 24-fold increase in the people who smoked the most... What about marijuana? If they smoked a small or moderate amount there was no increased risk, in fact slightly less than one. But if they were in the upper third of the group, then their risk was six-fold... A rather surprising finding, and one has to be cautious about interpreting the results because of the very small number of cases (14) and controls (4)."

- alternet

Mexico's new gov to review POT fight after US vote

MEXICO CITY (AP) — The legalization of recreational marijuana in the U.S. states of Washington and Colorado will force Mexico to rethink its efforts to halt marijuana smuggling across the border, the main adviser to Mexico’s president-elect said Wednesday.

Luis Videgaray, head of incoming President Enrique Pena Nieto’s transition team, told Radio Formula that the Mexican administration taking power in three weeks remains opposed to drug legalization. But he said the votes in the two states complicate his country’s commitment to quashing the growing and smuggling of a plant now seen by many as legal in part of the U.S.

“Obviously we can’t handle a product that is illegal in Mexico, trying to stop its transfer to the United States, when in the United States, at least in part of the United States, it now has a different status,” Videgaray said. “I believe this obliges us to think the relationship in regards to security … This is an unforeseen element.”

- Beckleyfoundation

Colorado, Washington first states to legalise recreational weed

Colorado and Washington became the first US states to legalise the possession and sale of marijuana for recreational use on Tuesday in defiance of federal law, setting the stage for a possible showdown with the Obama administration.

But another ballot measure to remove criminal penalties for personal possession and cultivation of recreational cannabis was defeated in Oregon, where significantly less money and campaign organisation was devoted to the cause.

Supporters of a Colorado constitutional amendment legalising marijuana were the first to declare victory, and opponents conceded defeat, after returns showed the measure garnering nearly 53% of the vote versus 47% against.

“Colorado will no longer have laws that steer people toward using alcohol, and adults will be free to use marijuana instead if that is what they prefer. And we will be better off as a society because of it,” said Mason Tvert, co-director of the Colorado pro-legalization campaign.

The Drug Policy Alliance, a national advocacy group that backed the initiatives, said the outcome in Washington and Colorado reflected growing national support for liberalised pot laws, citing a Gallup poll last year that found 50% of Americans favoured making it legal, versus 46 opposed. 

Supporters of Washington state’s pot legalisation initiative declared victory after the Seattle Times and other media projected a win for marijuana proponents.

Early returns showed pro-legalization votes led with 55% versus to 44% opposed with about 60% of ballots tallied in the state’s all-mail-in election system.

The outcomes in Colorado and Washington, which already have laws on the books legalising marijuana for medical purposes, put both states in further conflict with the federal government, which classifies cannabis as an illegal narcotic.

The US Department of Justice reacted to the measure’s passage in Colorado by saying its enforcement policies remain unchanged, adding: “We are reviewing the ballot initiative and have no additional comment at this time.”

Separately, medical marijuana measures were on the ballot in three other states, including Massachusetts, where CNN reported that voters approved an initiative to allow cannabis for medicinal reasons. 

Supporters there issued a statement declaring victory for what they described as “the safest medical marijuana law in the country.” Seventeen other states, plus the District of Columbia, already have medical marijuana laws on their books.

A measure that would have made Arkansas the first state in the South to legalise marijuana for medical purposes appeared headed for defeat by 51% to 49% with about 80% of the vote tallied.

Marijuana rules

Under the recreational marijuana measures in Colorado and Washington, personal possession of up to 28.5 grams of marijuana would be legal for anyone at least 21 years of age.

They also will permit cannabis to be legally sold and taxed at state-licensed stores in a system modeled after a regime many states have in place for alcohol sales.

Oregon’s initiative would have legalized state-licensed sales, as well as possession and cultivation of unlimited amounts of pot for personal recreational use.

The Colorado measure will limit cultivation to six marijuana plants per person, but “grow-your-own” pot would be still be banned altogether in Washington state.

Tvert said provisions legalizing simple possession in Colorado would take effect after 30 days, once the election results are certified. Colorado’s amendment also mandates establishing rules for sales and excise tax collections once the state legislature reconvenes in January.

“The voters have spoken and we have to respect their will,” Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper, a Democrat who opposed the measure, said in a statement. “This will be a complicated process, but we intend to follow through.”

He added: “Federal law still says marijuana is an illegal drug, so don’t break out the Cheetos or gold fish too quickly.”

The Obama administration has recently pressed an enforcement crackdown against pot dispensaries and greenhouses deemed to be engaged in large-scale drug trade under the pretense of supplying medical cannabis patients in California and elsewhere.

Before Tuesday’s election, the administration had been largely silent on latest state ballot initiatives seeking to legalize recreational pot for adults.

Several former US Drug Enforcement Administration directors had urged Obama officials to come out forcefully against the measures, as US Attorney General Eric Holder did when he criticized a 2010 California pot legalisation referendum that was soundly defeated by voters.

Critics say the social harms of legalising pot — from anticipated declines in economic productivity to a rise in traffic and workplace accidents — would trump any benefits.

Backers point to potential tax revenues to be gained and say anti-pot enforcement has accomplished little but to penalize otherwise law-abiding citizens, especially minorities.

They also argue that ending pot possession prosecutions would free up strained law enforcement resources and strike a blow against drug cartels, much as repealing alcohol prohibition in the 1930s crushed bootlegging by organized crime.

“It’s no worse than alcohol, and it’s widely used in Colorado anyway,” said Jean Henderson, 73, a retired resident of Broomfield, explaining her vote in favour of legalisation. “The state can benefit from the taxes rather than put people in jail.”

- timeslive

Marijuana: Two US states vote to legalise it

Colorado has become the first US state to approve a proposal to legalise marijuana, including for recreational use, along with Washington state.

The western state, one of three voting on the measure, voted by 52.7% in favour to 47.3% against, according to the Denver Post, with over 50% of votes counted. CNN gave 53% for with 47% against.

A number of US states have legalised the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes, but Colorado, Oregon and Washington state all voted on Tuesday on legalising recreational use as well.

In Washington state 55% of voters backed the move, with 45% against, according to CNN and NBC, citing figures with 50% of votes counted.

In Oregon voters appeared set to reject the proposal, with 55% against and 45% in favour, according to CNN, with 47% of votes counted. – Sapa

Presidential Candidates Slam the Drug War

At Tuesday night's third-party debate on C-SPAN, Larry King asked the four candidates a question that neither Romney nor Obama has been willing to address: "How does the war on drugs affect Americans?"

Three out of the four candidates agreed the drug war does more harm than good -- calling for not just a public health approach to drug policy but also legal regulation of currently-illicit drugs like marijuana.

Former Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson of the Justice Party, former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson of the Libertarian Party and Green Party candidate Jill Stein spent more than ten minutes discussing the failures of drug prohibition and the urgent need for reforms. It's rare to see such truth and honesty from politicians talking about the failed drug war. All three candidates received rousing applause -- so you might be wondering, why don't more politicians speak out against the failed war on drugs?

"We don't just need to legalize marijuana," said Anderson. "We need to end drug prohibition just like we ended alcohol prohibition and treat drug use and abuse as a public health and education issue, and get it entirely out of the criminal justice system."

Johnson added, "Ninety percent of the drug problem is prohibition-related, not use-related... that should be the focus. So let's legalize marijuana now. Right now in this country, we are at a tipping point on this issue." He later went on to say, "Look, this is not about advocating drug use. Fifty percent of kids graduating from high school have smoked marijuana -- that's an issue that belongs with families, not in the criminal justice system."

Stein, a physician and internist who graduated from Harvard Medical School, said "the most important thing we can do to get rid of the health problems associated with marijuana is to legalize it."

In the final debate for President Obama and Mitt Romney, moderator Bob Schieffer referred to the war in Afghanistan as America's longest war. But America's longest war is actually the war on drugs, which turned 40 last year. We've spent more than one trillion dollars fighting this unwinnable war, thousands have lost their lives for it, and the madness will only continue until the public leaves elected officials no choice but to pull their heads out of the sand.

Some mainstream politicians like Obama and Romney still feel the need to distance themselves from drug policy reform. But that dynamic is rapidly shifting, as local, state and national politicians who support drug policy reform win elections while those who support the drug war pay an increasingly steep price at the polls for their narrow-mindedness.

Fifty-one percent of Americans support taxing and regulating marijuana and well over seventy percent support legalizing marijuana for medical purposes. By excluding third party candidates from the presidential debates, not only are Americans limited to the two parties, but urgent issues that the two main parties refuse to address -- like the war on drugs -- are silenced. It's time to join courageous leaders like Gary Johnson, Rocky Anderson and Jill Stein in calling for a different approach.

- huffingtonpost

Drugs no worse than junk food - report

London - Taking drugs is just like eating junk food, a controversial report has claimed.

The UK Drug Policy Commission says drug-taking is simply another “moderately selfish” or “risky” behaviour, similar to gambling or a diet of burger and chips.

It also says it should not be a criminal offence to grow cannabis for personal use.

And rather than trying to ban drugs completely, the British government should concentrate on ensuring that addicts take substances “responsibly”, the report’s authors say.

The commission’s findings were condemned by campaign groups.

Mary Brett, of Cannabis, Skunk, Sense, which aims to prevent the use of drugs, said: “They just haven’t thought it out. Drugs are illegal because they are dangerous. Cannabis is getting stronger each year.

“People haven’t grasped how cannabis affects the brain. It contains chemicals within the plant that stick in the brain cells. This impairs the transmission of all the other chemicals that carry out functions in the brain.”

According to the commission, the Government’s efforts to ban drugs have not reduced their availability – and may have even worsened the situation. So rather than trying to prevent their use “entirely”, ministers should focus on limiting the damage.

The report states: “Just like with gambling or eating junk food, there are some moderately selfish or risky behaviours that free societies accept will occur and seek to limit to the least damaging manifestations, rather than to prevent entirely.

“Seeing all drug use as invariably problematic can reduce the cost-effectiveness of policy.

“Taking drugs does not always cause problems, but this is rarely acknowledged by policy makers.

“We do not believe that pursuing the goal of encouraging responsible behaviour requires the prevention of all drug use in every circumstance.”

Controversially, it also recommends changing the law to allow people to grow small amounts of cannabis in their homes. This would help “undermine” the mass production of the drug illegally.

Professor Colin Blakemore, who helped write the report, said: “The overwhelming consensus now is that it is unethical, inefficient and dangerous to use untested and unvalidated methods of treatment and prevention. It is time that policy on illicit drug use starts taking evidence seriously as well.”

The commission is an independent charity set up in 2007 to analyse drug policy in the UK. It is not funded by the government and claims not to have any particular “standpoint”.

This is the final report from the charity, which will shut-down in December.

Although drug use in Britain has fallen in recent years, it is still higher than most other countries. About one in ten adults has taken an illegal substance in the past year compared to a global average of one in 20, the report states.

A Home Office spokesman said: “We remain confident that our ambitious approach to tackling drugs – outlined in our Drugs Strategy – is the right one.

“Drug usage is at its lowest level since records began.’”- Daily Mail

Murder mostly due to drinking - Mthethwa

About 65 percent of the country's murders resulted from arguments fuelled by substance abuse, Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa announced on Thursday.

Unveiling the 2011/12 crime statistics, Mthethwa said the country's murder rate had dropped by 3.1 percent since the previous reporting period.

"Murder is one of the most reliable trends of crime statistics," Mthethwa said.

In 2004/5 more than 18,000 people were murdered. Less than 16,000 murders were reported in 2011/12.

"This translates to a 27.6 percent reduction in murders over an eight year period," said Mthethwa.

He said research had shown that most murders were committed after an interpersonal argument, stimulated by heavy drinking and drug abuse.

Murder is one of seven categories grouped together as contact crimes.

The other categories are attempted murder, sexual offences, assault with the intent to do grievous bodily harm, common assault, aggravated robbery and common robbery.

"The crimes in question account for 29,9 percent of South Africa's serious crimes; such crimes involve physical contact (usually violent and coercive in nature) between perpetrators and their victims."

All provinces except the Free State, Limpopo and the Western Cape experienced a decrease in contact crimes.

"In the 2010/11 financial year, contact crime decreased by 6.9 percent and for the financial year under review, we recorded a decrease in 3.5 percent." - Sapa

Government commission recommends semi-legalisation of cannabis

A Government commission has recommended that Rastafarians be allowed to carry on them at least 100g of cannabis for spiritual reasons without prosecution.

The Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities, says the Ministry of Police also needs to reclassify the 1911 ban on dagga in South Africa.

The recommendations have been submitted to various government departments including education, justice and constitutional development and communications.

The Commission says they aim to engage Government departments in order to change the perception that society has on the religion and to build tolerance for Rastafarians.

The Rasta community says they feel ignored and that their religion is disregarded because some people do not understand them. They claim to be harassed daily because of their spiritual path.
 
Some of the recommendations made is that the Ministry of Police allows the Rastafarians to carry, on them, at least 100g of cannabis. They are also calling on the media to change the way they portray their religion.
 
They have also called on Police to end alleged harassment and prejudice against Rastas. (from SABCNews)

Grandmas Grow Gold in Swaziland

PIGGS PEAK, Swaziland — After her daughters died, Khathazile took in her 11 orphaned grandchildren without hesitation. It is what a gogo, or grandmother, does in a country where the world’s highest H.I.V. infection rate has left a sea of motherless children.

“God will help us,” she said.

Perhaps. But Khathazile has some insurance in case divine intervention fails: Swazi Gold, a highly potent and valuable strain of marijuana that is sought after in the thriving drug market of next-door South Africa. In a field deep in the forest, atop a distant hill in this arid corner of tiny Swaziland, Khathazile grows Swazi Gold to keep her growing brood of grandchildren fed, clothed and in school.

“Without weed, we would be starving,” explained Khathazile, who asked that only her middle name be used.

Khathazile is one of thousands of peasants eking out a meager living in the rural areas of this kingdom at Africa’s southern tip by growing marijuana, according to relief workers, embracing it as a much-needed income boost that is relatively hardy and easy to grow.

She does not think of herself as part of a vast global chain of drug cultivation that includes poppy farmers in Afghanistan or coca growers in Latin America. She simply has her grandchildren to consider and says she started growing it when her attempts at other crops failed.

“If you grow corn or cabbages, the baboons steal them,” Khathazile said.

Swaziland, Africa’s last absolute monarchy, is officially a middle-income country. But deep poverty remains the rule here in the rural hinterlands around Piggs Peak, a dusty town in the country’s mountainous northwest. Not much grows in its rocky soil, and jobs are tough to find. Many young people flee to Swaziland’s two big cities, Mbabane and Manzini, or to neighboring South Africa to look for work.

That leaves behind a lot of old women and children. Aggressive rollout of antiretroviral therapy has helped curb the country’s AIDS death rate, but the disease has hollowed out virtually every family in one way or another, leaving older siblings caring for younger ones and frail grandparents struggling to raise small children once again.

It is the story of Khathazile’s family. In 2007, her daughter Tensile died at the age of 24, she said, leaving behind four orphaned children to take in. A couple of years later another daughter, Spiwe, died, leaving three more mouths to feed. They, too, came to live with their gogo. Then in July, her daughter Nomsa died, leaving behind four more children. There was nothing to be done but move them into her one-room hut as well.

“I cannot abandon these kids,” Khathazile said.

Such families struggle to make ends meet. “Most people are farming in a way that depends on rain,” said Tshepiso Mthimkhulu, an official at Swaziland’s Red Cross, based in Piggs Peak. “There are many orphans and widows who have difficulty surviving.”

There is certainly a market for their alternative source of income. According to the United Nations, South Africa has reported rising marijuana use, and Swaziland appears to be an eager supplier. The country, a tiny nation of about 1.4 million people, was reported to have more acreage under marijuana cultivation in 2010 than India, a nation more than 180 times its geographic size.

Sibongile Nkosi, 70, said she started growing marijuana even before her daughter died and left her with two orphans to feed. She had heard from other women in her village, which sits on a hilltop on the outskirts of Piggs Peak, that the plant could earn a decent return.

“I put the seeds in the ground, watered them, and it grew,” she said of her first crop. “I was able to feed my children.”

Marijuana cultivation may provide a safety net, but the grandmothers of Piggs Peak are hardly drug kingpins. They must find a secret field to plant, often one deep in the forest, which they reach by walking for hours. Clearing a patch is tough work, even for women long accustomed to hard labor. They have to buy seeds, if they are new at planting, as well as manure. Not enough manure and the crop fetches a lower price. It must be carefully pruned to produce the right kind of flowers. And they have to watch out for weeds.

“Weeds are very bad for weed,” Ms. Nkosi said.

Then there are the police. They often search for marijuana fields in March and April, just before the harvest, and burn them to the ground, leaving the women with nothing to show for their hard work.

A good harvest can yield as much as 25 pounds of marijuana. But they sell to middlemen who come through the villages at harvest time, and have little bargaining power. Most make less than $400 per crop.

“The men come from South Africa to buy, but they cheat us,” Ms. Nkosi said. “What can we do? If you sit with it the police can come and arrest you.”

Enterprising growers bury part of their harvest in watertight barrels deep in the woods, saving them until December when the supply dries up and prices rise. But most of the grandmothers need the money last week, not six months from now.

Ms. Nkosi said she had never been tempted to sample her crop.

“It makes you drunk,” she exclaimed when asked if she had ever smoked marijuana. “If I try it I will fall on the ground!”

Marijuana had provided her family with enough to survive, but she wondered if it was really worth it.

“I don’t want to grow it anymore,” Ms. Nkosi said. “The money is too little.”

But as this year’s planting season began, she was gearing up for another crop. School fees for her two remaining grandchildren at home would be nearly $400 next school year, she said, and she had no other way to earn the money.

“When you are in poverty you must do whatever you can to live,” she said. “If I earn a little something my heart will be content.”

- NY Times

The Scheduling of Marijuana

Via: Rehab International

Dagga for Sale in Cape Town, Swellendam & Robertson

Once upon a time it was legal to advertise, buy and sell Dagga in Cape Town. Advert from Cape Argus, 2 January 1896.

In 1923 dagga was made illegal in that year's Customs and Excise Act. Ever since then there have been thousands of arrests with no justification for why.

The health "excuse" used by the government just doesn't wash. There have been no deaths from cannabis. There is some mental illness and adverse reaction for less than 1% of people, but this is no reason to lock up people who aren't affected. The war on drugs is both  puritanical madness and politically attractive which makes it a true recipe for disaster.

An increase in arrests each year is symptomatic of a failing policy. Whatever "they" are doing it is making things worse. If the drugs are habit forming then those with a habit should be punished? Madness!

Also for sale was Dop Brandy.... Dop Brandy for the Dop System... the enslavement of the workers through alcohol. Alcohol is so much more dangerous and is far more freely availble today than it has ever been. A wave of violence, death and misery has accompanied the doubling of the average alcohol consumption in the 8 years from 1998 to 2006.

Uruguay aims to legalize, oversee dagga market

Uruguay's government unveiled a proposal to legalize and monitor the marijuana market, arguing that the drug is less harmful than the black market where it is trafficked.

President Jose Mujica's leftist government will send a bill to Congress shortly on this as part of a package of measures to fight crime in the South American country.

The government will also urge that marijuana sales be legalized worldwide, Defense Minister Eleuterio Fernandez Huidobro said, adding the measure could discourage the use of so-called hard drugs.

Marijuana consumption is already legal in Uruguay.

"We want to fight against two different things: one is drug consumption and the other is drug trafficking. We think the ban on certain drugs is creating more problems in society than the drug itself," the minister told a news conference.

"Homicides related to settling scores have increased and that's a clear sign that certain phenomena are appearing in Uruguay that didn't exist before," he said.

The bill would legalize and set rules for the production and sale of marijuana but would not allow people to grow the plant for their own personal use. The government did not give details on how the new system would work.

In Uruguay about $75 million changes hands each year in the illegal marijuana trade, according to official estimates.

As of last year, 20 percent of people between 15 and 65 years old reported they had smoked marijuana at least once and about 5 percent of respondents were habitual users.

The proposal to legalize the marijuana market is one of 15 crime-fighting measures that include tougher penalties for police corruption, crack-cocaine trafficking and juvenile offenders.

- Reuters

Auto Insurance Site Says Marijuana Users Are Safer Drivers

4autoinsurancequote.org

There's yet another study now that concludes marijuana users are better drivers, especially when compared with those who use alcohol behind the wheel. Twenty years of study has concluded that marijuana smokers may actually be getting a bad rap and that they may actually have fewer accidents than other drivers.

The website 4AutoinsuranceQuote.org put a press releaseon the study, which "looks at statistics regarding accidents, traffic violations, and insurance prices," and "seeks to dispel the though that 'driving while stoned' is dangerous."

Research studies in the Netherlands at the Dutch Institute for Road Safety Research showed that drivers with blood alcohol rates of .5 percent up to .8 percent had accidents five times more than other drivers, and with higher amounts of alcohol, accidents happening up to 15 times more often. But, the marijuana smokers actually showed these drivers posed no risk at all!

4autoinsurancequote.org

Reasons cited for stoned drivings not being much of a threat to public highway safety include their tendency to drive slower, and their propensity to stay home rather than go out partying.

In addition, one study by the U.S. National Highway Transportation Safety Administration shows that drivers with THC in their systems have accident responsibility rates lower than those of drug-free drivers.

"What law enforcement agencies and insurers do not understand is that driving while high is actually a safe activity," CEO James Shaffer said. "I guess the key to safer driving is to use marijuana, but to do it under wraps."

One recent study indicated that traffic related fatalities fell by up to nine percent in states that have legalized medical marijuana. Entitled "Medical Marijuana Laws, Traffic Fatalities, and Alcohol Consumption," the study, conducted in November 2011, found increased cannabis use by adults decreased alcohol related traffic deaths in those states.

The study provides evidence that marijuana is a safer substitute for alcohol when it comes to health and also makes for safer drivers.

"Marijuana users often say that when they are high, they feel like they are driving 60 miles per hour but actually are only going 30 miles per hour," Shaffer said. "When somebody is drunk driving, on the other hand, they often feel like they are driving 30 miles per hour but they are actually driving 80 miles per hour. This is what makes alcohol dangerous behind the wheel, and marijuana safe."

As an auto insurance provider, 4autoinsurancequote.org said that marijuana use can also have an indirect effect on insurance rates. Because of the correlation between marijuana use and lower rates of accident responsibility, they said marijuana users, as a group, can expect in the future to see lower insurance rates than non-marijuana users.

"The hypocrisy of it all is that if you get caught driving under the influence of marijuana, you will be fined and perhaps thrown into jail," Shaffer said. "What's worse is that your insurance rates will definitely increase due to the traffic violation."

According to 4autoinsurance.org, the Top 10 reasons marijuana users are safer drivers are as follows:

1. Drivers who had been using marijuana were found to drive slower, according to a 1983 NHTSA study.

2. Marijuana users were able to drive straight and didn't have trouble staying in their own lanes, according to a 1993 NHTSA study done in the Netherlands. The same study concluded that marijuana had very little effect on overall driving ability.

3. Drivers who had smoked marijuana were less likely to try to pass other cars and were more likely to drive at a steady speed, according to a University of Adelaide study done in Australia. The study showed no danger from marijuana and driving unless the drivers had also been using alcohol.

4. Drivers high on marijuana are less likely to drive recklessly, according to a study done in the United Kingdom in 2000 by the UK Transport Research Lab. The study was actually undertaken to prove that pot impairs driving, but instead it showed the opposite -- that stoned drivers were actually safer than many other drivers on the road.

5. States that allow medical marijuana see a reduction in highway fatalities; for instance, Colorado and Montana have had a nine percent drop in traffic deaths and a five percent drop in beer sales.

6. Low doses of marijuana were found to have little affect on the ability to drive a car in a Canadian study in 2002. These drivers were found to be in much fewer car crashes than alcohol users.

7. Most marijuana smokers have fewer crashes because they tend to stay home instead of driving.

8. Marijuana smokers are thought to be more sober drivers; traffic information from 13 of the states where medical cannabis is legal showed that these drivers are actually safer and more careful than many other drivers on the road. These studies were conducted by the University of Colorado and Montana State University, exploring the relationship between legal medical marijuana and deaths in traffic accidents.

9. Multiple studies show that marijuana smokers are less likely to be risk takers than those who use alcohol; the studies showed that marijuana use calmed them down and made them pay more attention.

10. Cannabis smoking drivers were shown to follow other vehicles at safer distances, which made they less likely to cause or have crashes.

"Every test seemed to come up with these same results in all of the countries they were done in," 4autoinsurance.org concludes. "Even so, insurance companies will still penalize any driver in an accident that has been shown to have been smoking pot, so this doesn't give drivers free reign to smoke pot and drive."

- TOTT

Cape Town Global Marijuana March - 2012

Dagga the Truth

'War on drugs' has failed, say Latin American leaders

Watershed summit will admit that prohibition has failed, and call for more nuanced and liberalised tactics

A historic meeting of Latin America's leaders, to be attended by Barack Obama, will hear serving heads of state admit that the war on drugs has been a failure and that alternatives to prohibition must now be found.

The Summit of the Americas, to be held in Cartagena, Colombia is being seen by foreign policy experts as a watershed moment in the redrafting of global drugs policy in favour of a more nuanced and liberalised approach.

Otto Pérez Molina, the president of Guatemala, who as former head of his country's military intelligence service experienced the power of drug cartels at close hand, is pushing his fellow Latin American leaders to use the summit to endorse a new regional security plan that would see an end to prohibition. In the Observer, Pérez Molina writes: "The prohibition paradigm that inspires mainstream global drug policy today is based on a false premise: that global drug markets can be eradicated."

Pérez Molina concedes that moving beyond prohibition is problematic. "To suggest liberalisation – allowing consumption, production and trafficking of drugs without any restriction whatsoever – would be, in my opinion, profoundly irresponsible. Even more, it is an absurd proposition. If we accept regulations for alcoholic drinks and tobacco consumption and production, why should we allow drugs to be consumed and produced without any restrictions?"

He insists, however, that prohibition has failed and an alternative system must be found. "Our proposal as the Guatemalan government is to abandon any ideological consideration regarding drug policy (whether prohibition or liberalisation) and to foster a global intergovernmental dialogue based on a realistic approach to drug regulation. Drug consumption, production and trafficking should be subject to global regulations, which means that drug consumption and production should be legalised, but within certain limits and conditions."

The decision by Pérez Molina to speak out is seen as highly significant and not without political risk. Polls suggest the vast majority of Guatemalans oppose decriminalisation, but Pérez Molina's comments are seen by many as helping to usher in a new era of debate. They will be studied closely by foreign policy experts who detect that Latin American leaders are shifting their stance on prohibition following decades of drugs wars that have left hundreds of thousands dead.

Mexico's president, Felipe Calderón, has called for a national debate on the issue. Last year Juan Manuel Santos, Colombia's president, told the Observer that if legalising drugs curtailed the power of organised criminal gangs who had thrived during prohibition, "and the world thinks that's the solution, I will welcome it".

One diplomat closely involved with the summit described the event as historic, saying it would be the first time for 40 years that leaders had met to have an open discussion on drugs. "This is the chance to look at this matter with new eyes," he said.

Latin America's increasing hostility towards prohibition makes Obama's attendance at the summit potentially difficult. The Obama administration, keen not to hand ammunition to its opponents during an election year, will not want to be seen as softening its support for prohibition. However, it is seen as significant that the US vice-president, Joe Biden, has acknowledged that the debate about legalising drugs is now legitimate.

Fernando Henrique Cardoso, former president of Brazil and chairman of the global commission on drug policy, has said it is time for "an open debate on more humane and efficient drug policies", a view shared by George Shultz, the former US secretary of state, and former president Jimmy Carter.

- Guardian