Despite this amazing era of increased cannabis awareness and acceptability in America, there are still strong pockets of political resistance. One of the most important states that needs to exit the era of Reefer Madness post haste is the political bellwether Florida. Of America’s political behemoths–CA, IL, OH, TX, PA and NY–Florida is the state that has least embraced cannabis law reforms, defers way too much to law enforcement’s self-interests and it’s political leadership–Democrat and Republican–are lockstep prohibitionists.
To reform cannabis laws in America means reforming the laws in a politically important and diverse state like Florida.
However, when concerned citizens in Florida, like South Florida NORML’s Karen Goldstein, contact her elected officials like Governor Crist seeking parity with about one-third of the United States’ citizens who currently reside in states that have either decriminalized cannabis, or have ‘medicalized’ it, they instead receive disingenuous Reefer Madness-soaked replies from unelected, self-interested prohibition apologists.
To wit…
April 16, 2010
Dear Mrs. Goldstein:
Governor Crist received your email and forwarded it to me for a response. I am the Director of the Florida Office of Drug Control. First, thank you for expressing your opinion to our Governor.
It is important to understand that our federal and state drug control policies have one overarching goal: to reduce and, if possible, eliminate the use of illicit drugs like marijuana. Establishing a taxed and regulated legal market for adult marijuana users would not advance the goal of our drug policies. First, legal access to marijuana would likely result in steep usage rate increases. Our experience with alcohol and tobacco has taught us that commercial interests weaken sensible regulatory efforts.
A legal marijuana industry would employ promotion, advertising, and lobbying to increase demand while maintaining prices well below their current black market levels. Stimulating demand while lowering prices would undoubtedly lead to both increases in the number of Americans that use marijuana as well as the intensity with which they use it.
I am very concerned about the health and wellbeing of Florida citizens. The deaths caused each year by alcohol and tobacco represent a major cost to society that is in no way offset by the tax revenue generated by the sales of these substances. Furthermore, I do not believe that the adverse consequences of marijuana use (respiratory diseases, traffic fatalities, poor school performance, dependence, etc.) could ever offset the potential tax revenue it might generate.
Any policy change that results in an increase in marijuana use, particularly among youth, is unacceptable. Cannabis use has acute effects on attention and memory, something that constitutes a particular problem for adolescents still in school and perhaps contemplating a collegiate future. Furthermore, marijuana use impairs judgment and motor skills, posing a serious risk of automobile accidents. It is also estimated that about 10% of marijuana users eventually become dependent on it. By enforcing policies that suppress the use of addictive drugs like marijuana, we are affirming our ultimate respect for freedom and liberty by ensuring that fewer Americans get trapped into a life of addiction.
Finally, please be aware that federal and Florida laws prohibit “medical marijuana” because an expert review of the evidence conducted by the Institute of Medicine concluded that “Smoked marijuana…is a crude THC delivery system that also delivers harmful substances…[and] cannot be expected to provide a precisely defined drug effect. For those reasons there is little future in smoked marijuana as a medically approved medication.” Safer and scientifically proven drugs exist for all of the medical conditions that marijuana is erroneously thought to treat.
Again, thank you for your correspondence to Governor Crist.
Sincerely,
Bruce D. Grant
Director
Florida Office of Drug Control
“By enforcing policies that suppress the use of addictive drugs like marijuana, we are affirming our ultimate respect for freedom and liberty by ensuring that fewer Americans get trapped into a life of addiction.”
Seriously?!?!??? They expect us to believe this tripe??!?! This whole “thought” is a contradiction in it self. Here’s how it should read…
“By enforcing policies that suppress…we are affirming our ultimate respect for freedom and liberty…”
“It is also estimated that about 10% of marijuana users eventually become dependent on it.”
I’d love to know where they got this stat from, because as far as I know, it’s completely false.
that’s why it’s called FLOOR I DUHHH.heck show me a so called drug with a lower so called addiction rate,as a 25yr plus smoker when i run out,very very rare i don’t curl up crapping and puking everywhere like when a dr.prescribed pill is missed.so keep up the lies, but to bad america knows the truth….DUUUHHHHH
Yes, this is a politically redneck state.
It amazes me that he continually refers to kids and education. This is state has one of the worst education systems in the country.
He is of the same ilk of politicians who try and create truth through pushing the same lies over and over until people believe they are true.
Govenor Crist, you lied to your republican supporters, once you took office. You won’t win the Senate Seat. You are just getting in the way on the next election.
I wish there was a way to have a debate with a prohibitionist where all citations and study reports were to be made available on demand. Everyone could finally see how shaky the prohibitionists arguments really are.
I prefer to make decisions myself, thats what liberty and the pursuit of happiness mean to me…
Anyone who imposes their own will of views into action against anyone is in crime, because no-one has the right to decide how you live your PEACEFUL lyfe!
Is this guy serious? Its this type of backward thinking that will always hold us back. He talks about if legalized prices would be lower and use would be higher… not seeing a problem. Then this guy goes on to say that to protect our freedoms it needs to be illegal… Anyone else see that as ass backwards? Freedom means having the choice, and here our choice is taken away, I don’t call that freedom. This type of thinking is what holds America back in all facets, and until people begin using common sense and relying on accurate testing and reports for whatever they are debating on instead of religion and close minded ideals (Reefer madness), we can not progress in a positive direction as a country. There are plenty of reports out that show alcohol and tobacco are far more dangerous than marijuana, yet people like this guy seem to have never heard of them. However, in one Google search any person can pull up hundreds of test results and scientific findings on just this issue. Only to find out that just about every point this man made was bull. As a FL resident it makes me upset that such an important state in our country could be so repressed and behind on an issue as big as this one. I guess when you think about it private prisons and their lobbyists make far too much money and pay way too many bribes for legalization to occur.
I wonder what Bruce Grant thinks of the pill epidemic in Florida. Half the people, including late teens are living on oxy or some other opiate. Good call Bruce.
I guess his job is more important than millions of retired Florida citizens that could bennefit from the use of cannabis. Typical.
horseshit
Fellow Floridian here.. Member of both NORML and PUFMM. I’ve written my officials time and time again regarding these issues, and never even received a response!
They claim that if there was enough public backing, they would support it. Then when there IS proper backing, they ignore us.
Something must be done.
wow! this guy really has his head up his ass!
Fuck the government..making us limit our freedom
It is very frustrating to live in a state that is backwards on so many topics including medical and legalized marijuana. I can tell you I have started hearing a rumble from people in this state that DO WANT TO SEE CHANGE. Florida will get there, it will just take longer then others. Thank you NORML for recognizing the importance of this state in the battle. Please dont give up on us.
Karen- There is a growing support for this issue from Floridians. Please keep up the good fight.
THANK YOU.
Hes right, yet he is wrong. In a world of opposites and balances you cannot argue the case presented by the director of drug control. Why? I bet he has never smoked cannabis. You cannot give statistics the correct meaning if you are not one.
As an interesting point raised above about Florida’s rank in education. Florida is ranked 49th…
http://www.worsttofirst.org/News-Events/Blog/(month)/12/(year)/2009
Now that’s something to be proud of. I hope that there is at least one sensible pro MJ candidate for governor.
After 9 months of battling lung and brain cancer, my wife underwent dangerous brain surgery on Wednesday at the UF’s renowned Shands Hospital. I hold Charlie Crist completely responsible for depriving her of the pain relief and medicinal support which Medical Marijuana could provide her. By appointing the neanderthal Grant-Anslinger as the malevolent director of Florida’s Drug Control office, Gov Crist assures that I can not in any way condone supporting his so-called “Independant” political aspirations.
I live in Florida and now they are trying to make it illegal for shops that do not make 75% of their profits from the sale of tobacco unable to sell bongs,water pipes, Glass pipes, ect….. After seeing this one on the news i decided to start looking for a new state to live in.
As most of the Country knows we in Florida have an important election for Senator coming up. I have contacted both canidates offices asking their opinion/stance on MJ, both Crist and Rubio, due to the fact I will use the response to help decide my Vote. The response I have gotten from each follows…
Notice the blank space above.. That’s exactly what I got.. Nothing.. As far as I am concerned, thats exactly the support each will get from me…
Atlanta Georgia Resident here…
Apparently Bruce D. Grant is being manipulated, or just sharing opinion. With the comment to the failing education and attention span issue I can give a self issued test I recently did. My son who is 14 and my daughter who is 16. Yes I allow them to smoke a little cannabis on the weekends. Their grades were falling a bit and were under a lot of stress. I let them smoke some cannabis on their off days. Not a lot where they were getting stoned. But Id give them a “pinner” Now without any coaching from me, they are back to making straight A’s. My sons Girlfriend whom is a honors student and in gifted programs also was smoking cannabis with them and said she is doing much better in school since consuming. So… the “Reefer Madness Propaganda” BS hes is chirping needs to end. Perhaps he needs to watch Jorge Cerventas’s videos on how to grow sensi cannabis. Watching the science of “reaping what you sew” would be the best education he could get in his career. END PROHIBITION!
The federal government’s goal of eliminating or reducing drug use has failed and not an attainable goal.
We need to bring some pro pot officialls in the running for offices and that will shake things up and make these out of touch anti pot politicians realize they are in the minority.
Tax and regulate or keep borrowing billions every year from China to lock up our brothers and sisters?
Marijuana prohibtion is not a viable option.
@Sean U Idaho:
I think it’s pretty telling that no prohibitionist will agree to such a debate. Most of them know that when faced with the facts, they have no valid arguments to support their position.
Mr Grant,
The facts that YOU presented in the letter makes YOU, along with your colegues, look like a bunch of uneducated ididots. The “reefer madness” propoganda are lies of the past and Americans know the truth about cannabis!! Florida needs to get rid of these hicks in office!! LEGALIZE CANNABIS
Hey everyone,
This guy is a friggin’ joke. I just went on his website (http://www.flgov.com/drugcontrol/odc_prevention.html) and it is complete fecal matter all over the page. He has a link to suicide prevention, which if you ask me, you smoke a spliff , and those primitive thoughts go away. South Florida is only booming in indoor marijuana cultivation, so Mr. Grant’s battle is surely to be lost, because the Cuban-American and Colombian-American coalition have completely gripped the system within by winning over the very same bureaucrats who impose these regulations which only cost us more money. They own from electricians, to real-estate brokers, county commissioners, mayors, freight-forwarders, police officers(Sweetwater and Hialeah), etc… It’s funny because the argument for relinquishing all the federal funds from the war on alcohol in the 1920’s was to reduce the crime rates created by the Calpone’s and Bootleggers. And it is exactly what the war on drugs has brought in Florida, we have mini-mafia’s of different ethnicities, and have created a black market for most drugs in the process, cocaine being the largest by market capitalization. Again, this is why in the 1980’s we had a decade of corruption and drug-ringing. Ironically, the Colombians and Cubans started the campaign for black-marketing the drugs because of the lack of productivity and economic expansion during the recessions of 1982, 1987, and 1989. So, commercial and local banks began thriving on the new deposit accounts they were creating for the drug cartels, and a location to clean-it-out in the process. So, when Ronald Reagan began sending military personnel and advanced weaponry, to the Homestead Air Force Base, that is when the government finally began cracking down on the Drug War. Unfortunately, for them, politicians are mainly a product of cronyism and nepotism, or inheritance, or just plain douche’s like Bruce D. Grant. For that very reason, they lack any intellect or any skill based of merit, they make it solely based on connections, and cannot really think all that much. Case in point, Mr. Grant is a 1974 graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, he also holds a Master’s degree in Public Administration from the University of Puget Sound. He served a 27 year career in the United States Army as an Infantry Officer before retiring in March 2001. Basically, he is a soldier who is only skilled in taking orders, and never able to play the field and make his own decisions, especially if the “aseres” and “parceros” are watching his back, and trust me when I say they are. In saying so, this was precisely what brought the S&L crisis in Florida during the early 90’s, because all of a sudden big deposit accounts (drug dealers) we’re all simultaneously closing around the same time. Of course, we just sell more Municipal Bonds (debt) to pay off our senseless acts of the present, in the very not to distant future. Sounding a little familiar today? In the 2010 mid-term elections, please vote for JOHN WAYNE SMITH FOR GOVERNOR(LP) AND ALEX SNITKER FOR SENATE (LP), candidates who are devoutly pledging to rid us of any fiscal anomalies which produce inefficient results, and lower the overall quality of life. We need to break the two-party system, it doesn’t work, and we need to bring back freedom of choice for every individual!
Regards,
Andre
MAKE YOUR VOTES COUNT IN NOVEMBER FLORIDA!!!
Here is the revised AMA statement regarding Cannabis:
http://www.ama-assn.org/ama1/pub/upload/mm/443/csaph-report3-i09.pdf
Our AMA urges that marijuana’s status as a federal Schedule I controlled substance be reviewed with the goal of facilitating the conduct of clinical research and development of cannabinoid-based medicines, and alternate delivery methods. This should not be viewed as an endorsement of state-based medical cannabis programs, the legalization of marijuana, or that scientific evidence on the therapeutic use of cannabis meets the current standards for a prescription drug product. (New HOD Policy)
I do believe ive read a study that showed that people who smoke just marijuana, nothing else, had a higher lung capacity than people who dont smoke anything at all, this guy must have jus read anslingers notes from back in the day and decided that retro was in.
These type people and their thinking must be removed from office!
the local government could care less about any other state or federal law. they will trow you in jail and some just assume give one the death penalty for large amounts. old white hairs old rich white republicans are the root of ALL evil.
So we vote out the bad weeds and let ourselves be heard. It angers me that they feed us this crap and act as if they expect us to believe it. How stupid do they think we are? Send e-mails! The Squeeky Wheel Gets The Grease !
I hate to say this but i guess he said what he needed to.
Do any of these people who “think” they are protecting us have any clue why marijuana was made illegal in the first place?? It makes me sick every time I read an article that has no scientific evidence to back it up. Like the bumper sticker I saw “God must have liked stupid people cause he sure made a lot of them. ” Oh and it seems there are several who have been elected or appointed to office. Maybe they should learn to read!
My problem with Florida’s government is that it really feels like they are not truly representing the people in this state. It’s like they assume we’re all either senior citizens coming to the state to spend our final years, or that we all hold conservative ideals. Their policies are so backwards and contrary to research or public opinion that I honestly doubt we will see marijuana law reform in the next 10 years. Hell, the Legislature just passed a bill making it illegal to sell pipes, waterpipes, and vaporizers unless 75% of the store’s profit is made in tobacco. Are you kidding me? Not only are they putting headshop owners and their employees out of business, adding to an already overstressed unemployment system, they are denying the state valuable tax dollars and pushing a much more harmful and toxic substance onto the people of this state.
The sad part? Most of us believe there is little we can do, because as the article stated, almost every candidate for public office, Republican or Democrat (and in the case of Crist, independent), is a lockstep prohibitionist. We can write petitions, protest our laws, show them that Floridians aren’t going to take being treated as criminals just because we feel the need to self-medicate with cannabis instead of prescription drugs, and our elected officials will just close their eyes, cover their ears, and started spouting some Reefer Madness at us. It’s not a uphill battle, we’re fighting up a 90 degree slope. But we keep fighting, because in the end, we’re the ones trying to do right by this state.
my new business here in cali should make of like…. bandits..why the still relatively sky high prices for cannabis. im done bitchin about the law of this corrupt land.. just shut up and profit. one day the laws will change but no any time in the next 4-8years.. maybe if BO get re elected but even he has said legalization is not in his vocab and luahged at the notion even though it is apparently one of the most important issues to americans..
From cradle to grave they will enslave.It can also be injested. But that rimrod could never be convinced. I like how he promotes PHARMIE PILLS. Those are sooooo good for you not!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
…..Well then I guess Florida legilators need to immediately introduce a bill to make alcohol and tobacco ILLEGAL too…why aren’t they doing that?..because prohibition DOES NOT WORK!!! AND $$$$$$$$…. are they for real? Just because we smoke, it doesn’t make us stupid.
It sounds as though this person needs to be educated about the realities of marijuana vs alcohol. It’s hard to make a decision without knowlege.
My biggest concern is when “school performance” was mentioned. Firstly, the kids are acccessing any drug they want very easily. Controlling distribution legally will make it harder to get.
I am optomistic that we will see change. I don’t want my grandchildren to have to go through what I and my children have had to live with, being criminals in the very communities we love and support.
He’s “very concerned about the health and wellbeing of Florida citizens”…?
I have eplilepsy and medicine alone has not worked for me. A friend of mine helped me out and told me of something recently and I haven’t had a seizure for the past 2 months since I started smoking marijuana.
We’re not really about freedom in this country- it’s just the way we attempt to justify our foreign policy.
At least it is not Kansas, where we are still making drugs illegal in the name of protecting children. Why can’t anyone turn to the parents and say, “It is not the place of the state to raise your kids.” We are making laws for adults that are meant for children. Why are we not reiterating the fact that legalization means no one under 21 can have it. this needs to be a cornerstone of our argument.
Obviously this man is ignorant and has not done his homework. What a shame. I know elderly people in this state who are literally dying for the relief that medical cannabis can provide. His so called “facts” are complete fiction.
Obviously this man is ignorant and has not done his homework. What a shame. I know elderly people in this state who are literally dying for the relief that medical cannabis can provide. His so called “facts” are complete fiction.
I also live in Florida and write my elected offcials regularly and have never received a response from anyone other then Senator Nelson in D.C.
I want to know how Bruce Grant can state with a straight face that policies restricting the use of marijuana enhance our freedom and liberty. He probably came up with that one over cocktails.
Florida reminds me of a police state more everyday, I’ve noticed something interesting, once a week at about 3am you can hear a helicopter flying a grid pattern over my neighborhood, and it’s to high to be mesquito control so I imagine they’re using thermo imaging to look for grow houses.
Maybe it’s time for Norml to invest some real effort in Florida, we’re working on changing the laws thru PUFMM but we shouldn’t have to do it alone.
“Cannabis use has acute effects on attention and memory, something that constitutes a particular problem for adolescents still in school and perhaps contemplating a collegiate future.”
This man is a nut case.
He would rather give them a criminal record and destroy their chances for the rest of their life.
Apparently, commercial interests are also very good at keeping politicians in line, especially when profits are at stake. In the end, it will not matter what the Director of Drug Control thinks- it matters what the people think. Those over 65 are the group that is most against cannabis reform, and surprise, Florida has the second most of them per capita. It might take 15 to 20 more years in Florida (for the elderly anti-cannabis to die off), but eventually, we will be the majority there, too. California will be the first of many this November to legalize, this process will be slow, but worth it.
spoken like a true republican such b.s.pot doesnt impair your driving what so ever and what do adolescence have to do with making it legal for adults nothing
As a florida resident i am disgusted to see them act like this im out of here asap
Use most likely will go up when non-users realize how safe it is, but health costs will obviously not go up. This is just dumb.
You know that make a lot of sense……NOT!
out of touch isn’t he? freedom of choice! what a dumba%&. everybody just wait till cali. legalizes then it will cascade across the country cause you know each state will not let cali.reap all the benifits of sales (taxes) can’t wait cause i got a relative in a state near by how they going to stop it? total legalization by 2011!!!!
“By enforcing policies that suppress…we are affirming our ultimate respect for freedom and liberty…”
What the fuck does this dipshit know about freedom??? If we HAD freedom we should be able to use marijuana medically, but this STUPID paper pusher, doesnt know jack shit about respect, FREEDOM, or liberty. I fought for my freedom, I feel that I should be able to smoke if I need to!!!!
in other words we are protecting our profitts we make arresting and jailing inocent people who smoke marijuana .do not try and stop us or we will send swat team out and kill your pets and you if you resist .dont fuck with us or at least you will lose freedom
i think i am 50% more stupid after reading that letter o my god. I especially like this one about how freedom means regulating drugs, ive been addicted to opiates, but never once did i feel trapped, maybe that is the case with drug users who enter the criminal justice system but its not how i felt.
I dont get it
“we are affirming our ultimate respect for freedom and liberty by ensuring that fewer Americans get trapped into a life of addiction.”
Vote Governor Crist out. He is not listening to the peoples voice. We have a democracy, how in the world is Marijuana not legal. Its because spineless politicians like Governor Crist are too afraid to push the envelope and step outside of his conservative fantasy. It pains me that so many in Florida are for the legalization of marijuana (not just Medical) and yet our politicians are still able to carry out this prohibition. When the voices of Americans go unheard, democracy has failed.
Back by popular demand !
You liked Anslinger I ?
Dont miss the much awaited continuation Anslinger II !!
Playing In a Florida near you, Now !
Don’t miss it
For one, this response should not surprise anyone. It’s his JOB to spread lies, shoot down the truth, and suppress all legitimate facts that don’t serve the prohibition cause.
What I want to know, is how do these idiots who clearly know absolutely nothing about drugs keep getting put in charge of drug policy?! I’m halfway tempted to write this moron a response correcting him on everyone of his points (which are ALL wrong)… But, I’ve got many better things to do, and this jack-ass is obviously living in his own reality.
The trouble with Florida as a political entity is they have a massive old-people population. A very high percentage of the older generations were not thinkers, and took their government at it’s word for damn near everything. They STILL don’t realize they’ve been lied to, and at this point, probably don’t care.
Add the (legal!!) pharmaceutical cocktails they’re all on to the mix, and you get some damn strange results. It’s sad really, but ultimately their ignorance makes it criminal. They are directly responsible for the mess we’re in now with failed prohibition policy’s, no real education or awareness, misinformed, misguided do-gooders run-amok.
Personally, I hope global warming hurries it’s ass up, so we can be rid of the continuous problem that is Florida… We only need a few more inches!!
Prescription drugs kill six Floridians a day, and the number of deaths is increasing at five times the rate of illegal drugs. Wake up America! Legalize or die! Red state = Dead state. Knowledge is power.. flex your power! Bruce D. Grant is getting fat Pharma checks and his pockets are lined with black market drug money. No wonder he isn’t in favor of legalizing the worlds most therapeutic plant.
so if it’s legalized they are afraid the 3 peole in america who havent tried marijauna will? thus justifying the”increased use of mary jane?” and the taxes from it wouldnt offset the imense kickbacs from dealers to political officials and law enforcement while depleteing said agencys budgets… i mean uhm uhh… that mike was off right?
its all good to let a man made product like all the Oxycontin’s (hillbilly heroin) out there with no state regulation causing a state epidemic. On the otherhand a natural plant will set you in a downward spiral causing mass chaos.
its all good to let a man made product like all the Oxycontin’s (hillbilly heroin) out there with no state regulation causing a state epidemic killing people. On the other hand a natural plant will set you in a downward spiral causing mass chaos. OK genius.
Florida is even worse than you may imagine by reading this article. It is one of the most draconian states in the nation as far as simple marijuana possession is concerned. If you are caught in Florida with “any useable amount”, you can have your life completely destroyed. If you are a nurse or in any profession which requires a public license, that license can be revoked for this offense. So, if you were lets say, a single mother and a registed nurse, you could lose your job, consequently your ability to
support your children, resulting perhaps in also losing them, as well as your home. If anyone knows a state as as backwards as Florida on this issue, I wouild enjoy hearing about it.
Gov. Crist & Bruce D. Grant are idiots,that can’t see the forest,because of the trees. Plus they have no idea what their talking about! Summary: END PROHIBTION / FREE AMERICA
These prohibitionists are evil. They’ll tell you they want to save users from Marijuana by throwing them in prison where they will be exposed to sodomy, assault, murders, and violent street gangs! We need to weigh the two here and decides what’s more hazardous to ones health- Marijuana? Or a stay in prison for smoking it. Lets ask former inmates who still scream in the night remembering the first time they got raped in jail. All because they decided to smoke a joint. The prohibitionists have obviously proven themselves to be inhumane. It’s time they were driven out of of existence before they do more harm to this society.
I find it sad that drug czars such as this dufus, Bruce D. Grant, use tobacco and Alcohol as a reason why cannabis should not be legal. There is hardly any comparison between the two. The Mexican Mafia and all the drug cartels below the US make between 40-60% of their money off of cannabis. I find it horribly short sighted and naive to say that keeping cannabis illegal is actually helping the US public.
Unless ofc our federal gov is making money off of all of this…Then I can easily understand how these jokers can say that cannabis harms society.
This guy is a fucking moron and there are ZERO deaths caused by marijuana yet he talks about the fatalities caused by it. Why don’t the terrosists drop a bomb on his house and do us all a favor 😛
This is pathetic that people can still think this way.
As Florida said. The support is growing in Georgia as well. I have found one person in the last few years that is really against it. I talk a lot,so that means lots of people are ready to take up the fight. I unfortunately think I will need to stand up in public for it before they join on board and I must wait until my daughters get out of school which is not long, but I am fighting from behind a screen that will soon be pulled away. Keep up the fight, this is not a partisan issue. Stop allowing the Government to divide and conquer us. We must all join together to get this done. Some one please tell me any thing the government may have tried to do in the last 40 years that has as much as 80% of citizens agreeing on? Like the medical marijuana polls? Listen up Washington “Times they are a changin”
That is the most ill-informed piece of literature I have ever read. Thank you Bruce D. Grant for not having a clue about what you are talking about and preaching it anyway. Get the facts before you make yourself look uneducated.
Florida is backwards. The director Bruce Grant says they wish to, “eliminate the use of illicit drugs like marijuana” … yeah haven’t they been trying to do that for the past 50 years and that plan hasn’t worked out so well has it? I wish to move out of this state but that really isn’t an option currently. Now they just passed some law to curtail head-shops and the paraphernalia business. As if you can’t smoke cannabis without a fancy bong. You can smoke cannabis with a roll of toilet paper and some tinfoil if you really wanted. But these idiots do nothing but give harsh sentences to non-violent cannabis offenders, yet on almost every street corner you see pain clinics selling much more harmful opiates. The Rich kids out in wellington and other well to do upper-class neighborhoods are all hocked on “OXY” or so I’ve heard. Quite sad really.
This guy should clean the shit out of his ears,he’s had his head up his ass too long.
Florida has one of the largest concentrations of supporters of reefer madness in the country and the policy framework to go with it. This respondent’s job is very much like the US Drug Czar’s in many ways from what I can ascertain. Scary part is I think he really believes this, regardless of his propagandist agenda.
Florida is full of older people who want a false sense of security and safety. These same people who could benefit greatly from alternatives to their current medical provisions unfortunately vote as they always have and in much greater numbers than the rest of the state. They feel just and right in locking up any and all who interfere with their cocoons of well being they think they have.
Even among those younger than the nearly dead, the corruption and influence of the early 80’s cocaine wars from the keys all the way up to Disney’s backyard is still a fresh memory. They are justified, in some ways, in being fearful of “come one, come all” legalization concepts. But again, they lack the ability to see the tree amidst the forest.
While I doubt Florida would be considered the absolute last state to see reason on the issue of medical usage in the long run, I think it will be many years before you see a shift in the policy makers there. Unless something truly radical were to happen from the Federal level at least forcing their hand.
Like all of these debates with the legislators, change only comes from the younger, more informed, less indoctrinated voters. Exit polling indicates the younger voter is needed to break free of these draconian ways and upset the status quo. What is disheartening for Florida is that their election systems seem to be plagued with corruption and “incidents” that make even a youth presence a gamble at the polls.
The response is boiler plate for the most part though with even a few hangman items in it for this czar. I just hope they keep hammering home that there are “proven” equivalents and use of language like “erroneously thought” over and over in their message. As more people are willing to not only testify that medical cannabis works or works better, but gain supporting testimonial evidence in the state’s where it has been authorized, these will be the stones that bring them down. Drug companies have not halted their R&D budgets into new equivalents in many areas. Funny that.
how can the say that legalizing it will increase use of marijuana, it seems the opposite since the prohibition started it has only increased the amount of marijuana usage. Now instead of putting billions of tax money in the pockets of the government we instead give it to the criminal empires that are killing close to 26000 people ever…y year in the power vaccums created when large suppliers are killed or arrested. Not to mention the thousands of people that are injured or killed in drug deals, or the thousands of young adults that are spending time in prison for this simple plant, Some of those young lives are now wasted do to the fact of just getting arrested. Im sickened on how our government fills the peoples of americas minds with lies, and falseified information. How can the say that marijuana is a dangerious drug when people have been useing marijuana for thousands of reasons including industrial useage, recreational use, medical, and many religions have use it. People have used aand wanted to use weed since before they even could write, we have used at as medications, many religons use cannabis such as hindu has a yearly festival for the plant, Buddhism is anouther religion that has used cannabis since 1000bc as a meditation tool and is regarded as a holy plant. How is it that the government trie to control this “holy … See Moreplant” that grows on 6 of the 7 continents. This whole prohabition is because of racisim, yellow journalism, protection of coporate profits, and corrupt officials like Harry J. Anslinger . It seems that the only real reason that the government has is that its unhealthy to your health, but this seems like bullshit since there has been no reported deaths due to marijuana usage in the history of man, especially when compared to alcohol which kills 85000 people every YEAR, or how tobacco kills 435000 people EVERY YEAR, hell y dont we just make eating fast food illegal and make not working out punishible by law since roughly 365000 people die every year from poor diet and physical inactivity. I think its redicilous that the safest drug is the one thats illegal, the Ld-50 level of marijuana is roughly at 1:20000 to 1:40000 which means that to have a high enough dose to die from marijuana u would need to smoke 1500 pounds in the matter of 15 minutes. This is only a estimate given by the scientific study do too the fact that they could not introduce enough marijuana into the animal’s systems to induce a lethal amount. Why is it that the government still wants to just stick there heads in the sand and think that pilling our hard earned tax money into this non effective “war on drugs”? I find this more a war on marijuana for a reason that none really knows, i ask u to send a letter to ur governor or local politician and ask why weed isnt legal and what u can do to change it!! Why is it that our government that seems soooo worried for our health allow us to use drugs like alcohol and tobacco but when we see a safer alternative to use it is outlawed with no scientific data backing the prohabition in any way…. what has this world come too????????????
and wanted to use weed since before they even could write, we have used at as medications, many religons use cannabis such as hindu has a yearly festival for the plant, Buddhism is anouther religion that has used cannabis since 1000bc as a meditation tool and is regarded as a holy plant. How is it that the government trie to control this “holy … See Moreplant” that grows on 6 of the 7 continents. It seems that this government is extrememly corrupt, asked to the director of government relations of the marijuana policy project, Why is marijuana legal? as quoted ” The REASON marijuana is illegal, are uhh many and complicated” WTF kind of answer is that. It seems that the only reason that the government has is that its unhealthy to your health, but this seems like bullshit since there has been no reported deaths due to marijuana usage in the history of man, especially when compared to alcohol which kills 85000 people every YEAR, or how tobacco kills 435000 people EVERY YEAR, hell y dont we just make eating fast food illegal and make not working out punishible by law since roughly 365000 people die every year from poor diet and physical inactivity. I think its redicilous that the safest drug is the one thats illegal, the Ld-50 level of marijuana is roughly at 1:20000 to 1:40000 which means that to have a high enough dose to die from marijuana u would need to smoke 1500 pounds in the matter of 15 minutes. This is only a estimate given by the scientific study do too the fact that they could not introduce enough marijuana into the animal’s systems to induce a lethal amount. Why is it that the government still wants to just stick there heads in the sand and think that pilling our hard earned tax money into this non effective “war on drugs”? I find this more a war on marijuana for a reason that none really knows, i ask u to send a letter to ur governor or local politician and u ask why weed isnt legal and what u can do to change it!! Why is it that our government that seems soooo worried for our health allow us to use drugs like alcohol and tobacco but when we see a safer alternative to use it is outlawed with no scientific data backing the prohabition in any way…. what has this world come too????????????
Our experience with alcohol and tobacco has taught us that “commercial interests weaken sensible regulatory efforts.” You think? Stop protecting the prison lobby,
INSANE!!
epic fail.
florida is the new Toilet usa.
With policies and philosophies described above, the State is pushing its constituents to intensify the exact issues for concern that The Man highlights in his statement. Notice how he associates death with alcohol use, and then associates ‘bad health’ with marijuana use. The State is pushing us to use AND abuse a substance that is FAR more deadly than marijuana. It is obvious he understands this notion simply in the way he compares the two substances and their consequences.
What we know to be fact is that many Americans (especially young, college-aged males) will abuse one substance or another. The abuse of alcohol can lead to death. The abuse of marijuana is far, far less likely to do the same. Why is the State (borrowing a term from NORML’s deputy director) pushing Americans to drink?
It’s been 40 years of the State espousing the philosophies, attitudes and policies stated above. Regardless of teen marijuana use, teen education has dropped dramatically. No Child Left Behind made things worse, especially in schools that are most threatened by teen substance abuse.
Attempting a new approach to the problem is now warranted. Slamming our children with State mandated tests does not solve the problem. Teaching young, poor minority students that a mid-level management position is the best he can achieve is evidence that the past 40 years have made this situation worse. A new approach is warranted out of respect and remembrance of those chewed up, spit out by the State’s system, then locked up for choosing a substance that is far less harmful to abuse.
federal and state drug control policies have one overarching goal: to reduce and, if possible, eliminate the use of illicit drugs like marijuana.
How’s that working out for ya?
This is the first time i see some efforts for Florida, or it even being mentioned on NORML and it is truly enlightening. They can keep struggling but eventually it will be decriminalized and/or legalized. I become livid when i think of all the other drugs ive been offered when simply trying to score some pot… i love my sharing friends who help me out but we all know the black market must be cut off!
When it is a man’s job to lie, he will never tell the truth. If this “drug expert” told the truth, it would be that 75% of ALL Americans are on some PRESCRIBED drug or another. I’ll bet that in Florida it’s FAR higher. And yet, he wants to hurt people who are NOT hurting society because they smoke a plant? How completely hypocritical.
I think, as a result of his hypocrisy, that he should get about a million emails with studies, facts, figures, and as much information as possible that even HE can’t ignore. It’s time for this BS to be done away with. If he is going to keep bringing up this lying crap, he should be shown the truth.
But of course, his JOB is to lie, and keep his group of minions going. They need to suck up as much money as possible, or they have to go out and get REAL jobs, and Lord knows, there aren’t any of those around, anymore.
I want his list of two things:
1) Names of people who have died PURELY because they have smoked cannabis. I can get a list of people who have died from prescription drugs (about 200,000 PER YEAR). I want to see his list of the dead. AND
2) I want him to tell me what behavior it is that people DO when high that makes it SO necessary to lock up hundreds of thousands per year over it. Do we beat our wives or children? Do we rob banks? Do we lie the country into illegal wars? Out CIA Agents? Wiretap people illegally? Trounce the constitution in any way? Sell out our country to the highest corporate bidder/ What do we DO that makes us such dangers to society?
Until he can show me those two things, I will just continue to consider him a useless piece of used gum on the shoe of the country.
What?! paragraph 4, hellooooooo …….. there are more cigarette and alcohol deaths than marijuana bc you cannot overdose and kill urself on marijuana like u can with alcohol plus u cant get addicted like u could with cigarettes. i dont care who wrote that letter, but they dont know anything and apparently they have not done their homework, AT ALL! anytime government talks about the negatives of marijuana from a medical,medicinal, and a economical level, then both sides must show the facts through calculation and in writting and tests.
bc so far after reading medical and economical articles on marijuana, its good for you and it creates money . legalize, America!
Just a thought but can be argued. They are always saying “smoked marijuana” Well I for one will quit smoking cigarettes if I could smoke weed which has never been proven to cause any deaths. The only reason I smoke cigarettes is to cover the smell of my weed.
I am a Floridian!!! And the only thing to beat them is get it on the ballot. I am a felon and still not allowed to vote because of 23 grams of marijuana in 1999.
I say do a survey of current cigarette smokers who would quit if marijuana became legal. Then present your findings to the durg zar.
I already sent my email to his office. Calm, respectful, lotsa big words, but the essence was he ought to join the rest of us in this new century and step down from his position until he gets caught up on info NOT supplied by Focus on the Family or Brent Bozell…damn glad I live in Oregon…
Fuck ’em , Florida still has the chronic
Its quite a shame that politicians do not know what goes on in society and especially the reality of the streets.all they do is sit in an office and recieve a wealthy paycheck every week,while they decide what goes on for “everyones” well being.Well mr grant,i must say you are as thick as a lead brick the size of Manhattan.You dont seem to realize that the youth can access cannabis at ease with a simple connection with a drug dealer just a phone call away.while alcohol and tobbacco are stictly regulated,there are several ways a young teenager can still access those vices as well,but with more of a challenge.they cant just go to the store and buy it;the dealer of the store has to see proof that they are of age and the sale cannot happen.but are these things illegal?NO,because the government likes to think they are doing a great job keeping everyone safe,while people die in drunken vehicles each day,and its REGULATED.theres something called resposibilty and mr grant,you certainly do no have ANY,considering that you are not telling everyone the real truth of the matter.If my sister gets into cannabis use young,im going to burn your mind with images of young children getting caught into drug wars and peddling it on the streets by force,ONLY because you get to scratch your ass in a nice leather chair until 5pm each day.
Tommy Chong has it right, give a toker a bud and no pipe and just watch the MacGyver in him come out.
Easy there #4. Most rednecks I know have a better grasp of the issue than this idiot. Even the ones who don’t smoke would like to see it taxed and regulated.
Did anyone catch this? “Our experience…has taught us that commercial interests weaken sensible regulatory efforts.”
I live in Florida smoke Pot on a regular basis and just finished a 2 year course to become an electrician in 6 months. Pot did not affect my memory, I’d say it enhanced it. It did not affect my performancein school, and if this jagoff wants to help me, he needs to focus on getting jobs to the people who need them.
#5 I get the same sort of response from our lawmakers here in Idaho. I sent letters back to Jim Risch and Mike Simpson refuting them. Legislator Tom Trail had a very restrictive medical marijuana bill in the legislature but I think it failed. We need to bring Idaho into the fight.
*sigh*
Same old bureaucratic BS. I wish more public officials had the F*CKING BALLS to stand up for the logical/rational/moral/constitutional/economical choice of legalization
I am not represented by ANY congressman in my state with their unanimously supported “bong law”.
YOU’RE ALL REAL HEROES ASSHOLES!
You certainly wouldn’t want children to think about making logical decisions! That would send the wrong message for sure.
SUPPORT THE DRUG WAR, LOSE MY VOTE!
“Furthermore, I do not believe that the adverse consequences of marijuana use (respiratory diseases, traffic fatalities, poor school performance, dependence, etc.) …”
I use marijuana medically, and go to college; it has no adverse effect on my performance. I have really good grades.
“constitutes a particular problem for adolescents still in school and perhaps contemplating a collegiate future. ”
Where did they get this info from. There are so many different variables in why some adolescents don’t go to college. I like school, but maybe it’s just fun for me because I’m high.
I’m glad I don’t live in a Blind State like Florida. I’ll take my right to Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness over failed drug laws over a substance that is not EVEN A DRUG! Marijuana a.k.a, Cannabis is far safer than either tobacco and alcohol. I say either legalize Marijuana or ban alcohol and tobacco.
http://www.pufmm.org
This is a (largely) coherent and (largely) reasonable argument for marijuana to be prohibited…. along with alcohol and tobacco. Of course, this argument is far stronger with respect to prohibiting alcohol and tobacco, but still, at least basically coherent. I think the correct response to letters like these is to demand the prohibition of alcohol and tobacco.
Freedom?!?! What freedom? This is America, we don’t have any freedom anymore.
The cannibus argument is the same argument that was used against booze. Of course, their are health concerns if abused. Corn syrup and processed food are dangerous too. Of course, their are possible addiction issues just like booze. We are likely to face some similar effects that we face with drinking too much. But, criminalizing cannibus has been worse. We have people in over crowded prisons. We still have addicts and we have trafficing and crime. Legalizing cannibus coupled with education is far less damaging and also potentially profitable for governments.
The cannibus argument is the same argument that was used against booze. Of course, there are health concerns if abused. Corn syrup and processed food are dangerous too. Of course, there are possible addiction issues just like booze. We are likely to face some similar effects that we face with drinking too much. But, criminalizing cannibus has been worse. We have people in over crowded prisons. We still have addicts and we have trafficing and crime. Legalizing cannibus coupled with education is far less damaging and also potentially profitable for governments.
Another Floridian here. I have recieved the exact same reply from the governors office. I don’t understand it. This is supposed to be a republican state. Republicans, as far as I know, are for less government and less spending, yet here they go restricting our freedom and spending billions to fight a war they cannot win. WE, THE PEOPLE OF fLORIDA, DO NOT WANT THIS WAR. We are sick of seeing our young arrested and incarcerated for possessing a weed. We are sick of seeing our students refused a proper education in the name of fighting a failed war. We are sick of seeing dangerous criminals set free while harmless pot smokers get sent to jail. Idiots like this need to be voted out of office! REGISTER TO VOTE! Then….VOTE!! let’s get them out!
Stupidity from Florida? Who would have thought?
Each of the more than 800,000 annual arrests for marijuana possession nationwide is based on the demonstrably false claim that cannabis and cannabinoids are lawfully listed in Schedule I, having “no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States and a lack of accepted safety for use under medical supervision”.
On October 7, 2003, the United States Patent and Trademark Office awarded patent #6630507* to the Department of Health and Human Services, acknowledging an accepted medical use in treatment for cannabinoids, and detailing a wide variety of safe, acceptable uses under medical supervision for which their “inventions” applied.
Got reparations?
* http://tinyurl.com/classactionlawsuit
re; Any policy change that results in an increase in marijuana use, particularly among youth, is unacceptable.
–but our current policy, that DOES result in an increase in marijuana use, particularly among youth, is completely acceptable.
his head is so far up his ass, his hair is tickling the back of his throat.
by (locking up kind, decent people) we are affirming our ultimate respect for freedom and liberty…
someone should lock HIM up, to affirm our ultimate respect for freedom and liberty.
if he is in jail, he will not be tempted by drugs, because we all know there are NO ILLEGAL DRUGS IN JAIL. HA !!
a lot of illegal substances flow thru fla and too much moolah is being made at the top of the red-neck food chain.
the laws are fake and the shuffling noises are made to distract.
This BS from the same officails in florida who make it legal to show 1000s of dangerous pharma ads for drugs that DO KILL and have REAL LOUSY consequences.
Have realized as a sick person in Florida, using MMJ.
Its in my best interest to leave the state.
i am from west virginia and i am sadly reporting that ALOT of people from my state make the trip to florida ONLY to get some doctor to give them prescription pills by the hundreds and getting pills is a very easy score. pills here are called hillbilly heroine. Drs. are passing out these killer pills like candy and THOSE DRS ARE KILLING MY FRIENDS!!! marijuana FOR FACT IS NOT killing my friends if anything cannbis saved my life. “the love of money is the root of all evil” says it right in the bible. thank you!!!
I’m going to take a wild guess and say Ms. Goldstein probably addressed every one of those bogus points in her original letter (can’t be sure without seeing it, but the information is freely available) and Mr. Douche totally ignored all of it and sent a pre-printed DARE pamphlet in reply. Nobody could actually say that stuff with any knowledge of the actual argument for drug legalization, could they?
Oh my god, my head just exploded from prohibition rhetoric overload!
“Furthermore, I do not believe that the adverse consequences of marijuana use (respiratory diseases, traffic fatalities, poor school performance, dependence, etc.) could ever offset the potential tax revenue it might generate.”
Hey, he inadvertently said something I agree with. The adverse effects wouldn’t offset the potential tax revenue, as in the revenue would be greater.
lol, good luck eliminating marijuana use
I am a Florida resident and have been busted for possession of about a dub of mids……
yeah our drug laws suck and the cops…. well one time they harassed my friends and I while we were on the beach, claiming they saw shake of bud in my car and one pulled a gun on my friend; after asking if we had weapons, my friend replied “I have a pocket knife in my jacket pocket. would you like me to reach it out slow for you officer?”
Not to mention our economy is one of the worst in the nation and i’m sure the oil spill will help us out with that. w00t.
“Through clever and constant application of propaganda, people can be made to see paradise as hell, and also the other way around, to consider the most wretched sort of life as paradise.”
From Benito Mussolini
“London Sunday Express,” December 8, 1935
Keep up the lies you control freaks. Truth stands on its own, they have to keep appying lies to prop them up. Freedom mean freedom of choice, no amount of lies will ever convince me freedom means the loss of choice.
This is ridiculous. I also take issue with the statement that Florida has embraced reforms less than Texas. Possession of under an ounce is still a Class B Misdemeanor here, punishable by a fine and up to 6 months of jail time (although first-time offenders often get probation, which I am currently on for 2 more weeks). We need to reform the whole country, and Texas and Florida are two huge, populous states that need to put the FREEDOM back in their CONSERVATIVE philosophies.
SO typical, guess the upcoming elections scared the Gov. so bad he had to pass the blunt on to this clueless Oxygen Thief. He is either, uneducated on the subject matter, or is lying to protect his salary. Either way he needs to go. Gov.Crisp guess when you smoked, your opinion was your own not some appointee. Educate,Regulate, Legalize, & Tax
Cannabis and Hemp are in our future keep on putting the word out, urge any supporters you know to contact their Reps, call Tallahasse and raise hell.
i’m voting EVERYONE out of office. senate members, this bruce idiot, judges, etc.
i feel sorry for my cousin who has replaced 20 deadly sets of pills with cannabis. he lives in one of the most oppressive states when it comes to cannabis laws. his only saving grace is a VERY good lawyer, something that the poor have no access to.
I have a message for Bruce D. Grant.
You can go die.
if you want to know why maryjane is REALLY illegal follow the money trail-pay offs, bribes,kick backs, the cotton industry,the paper industry,the prison industry and billions of dollars in funding LOST !!! All so people can smoke a harmless herb! it would be insanity to legalize maryjane! the entire world economy would collapse! the unemployment rate amoung drug cartel and street gang employees alone would cause havoc! not to mention the loss in revenue to doctors and pharmaceutical corporations! law enforcement officials at every level would lose huge amounts of untaxable bribe dollars! hemp textiles would flood the market with cheap renewable sources for cloth paper and fiber board! we are talking insanity here people! how can you seriously contemplate such a totally whacked out concept as the legalization of maryjane?
man, they will fucking hire anyone in the government… geez…
how you could even compare a an extremely dangerous, highly addictive narcotic like alcohol to cannabis… what a fucking moron…
guy, i hope you read this, cause you are a fucking MORON
Respond in Kind
Sent this morning:
From: xxx@xxx.xxx
Subject: Attention Governor Crist: Personal Letter Request
Date: May 3, 2010 7:53:38 AM EDT
To: Charlie.Crist@MyFlorida.com
(snip)
As the founder of perhaps the nation’s smallest advocacy group, I write to suggest that you publicly announce and initiate a review of cannabis ‘ legal status before signing the new “bong bill “.
Each of the more than 800,000 annual arrests for marijuana possession nationwide is based on the demonstrably false claim that cannabis and cannabinoids are lawfully listed in Schedule I, having “no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States and a lack of accepted safety for use under medical supervision”.
Here’s the truth for those who can handle it:
Marinol is a Schedule III synthetic chemical that works like THC, a psychoactive ingredient in marijuana. It is administered at 100 percent strength, that’s up to five times more powerful than the strongest pot strains on the black market and twice as strong as hashish. Generically named Dronabinol, warning labels specifically PERMIT driving and using machinery when users know how the medicine affects them.
On October 7, 2003, the United States Patent and Trademark Office awarded patent #6630507* to the Department of Health and Human Services, acknowledging an accepted medical use in treatment for cannabinoids, and detailing a wide variety of safe , acceptable uses under medical supervision for which their “inventions” applied.
My group is prepared to advertise the fact of your signature on the recently passed “bong ban ” to highlight these and other facts that are routinely suppressed in Florida marijuana possession cases. Note that perjury, the suppression of exculpatory evidence at trial and the disbursement of federal funds based on a false claim are all felony crimes.
With respect, I request you personally answer this letter in writing for my records.
Jose Melendez
MOMP – Mutually Opposing Marijuana Prohibition
* http://tinyurl.com/classactionlawsuit
– – –
Any attorneys care to comment?
I live in Florida, became a 2008 marijuana arrest stat in Florida, and am currently smoking a bowl. I however am NOT getting a kick out of Bruce’s reply. Read’s like the DEA handbook for “dealing with hippies”.
You are kidding me. Florida is in the woods and on the take, has to be…You lost my vote Governor Crist and respect to think your educated to do a good job and look out for our best interest. You took the chicken shit way out and had someone else post a reply to the American people and the residents of Florida. I have been smoking for 35 years and have beautiful kids and a wife, a home a dog and a cat. I work everyday and smoke every day. If I would start drinking I would loose everything I have due to the booze. I hate drinking it make me sick and ruins my next day of production. I want to have a choice and safer choice. Are you going to make a family have to move to another state and take our business with us? That is what you doing. Sad very sad… Looks like Co, or Mich is in the future for us to live…
Yes Florida sucks. Let’s take all of these southern wackos and dump them into the oil-filled Gulf of Mexico and be done with it. This is just one of the recent
unbelievable current events.
This is precisely why I want to move out of this backwards state! How can the government truly turn a blind eye to all the positives that outweigh any BS negetives? For him to say there is no medical use for the drug, I want to know why then is marinol prescribed HEAVILY in the state? His reasoning is full of holes. It’s disturbing and makes the entire state look bad. Maybe, and hopefully, the 3rd party candidate for governor will have a better understanding of how important it is to regulate and tax the herb.
Move out of Florida! Just say NO to bad marijuana laws! Boycott them, do not visit the state. Instead vacation in California. Buy California. Move to California.
We should all write this idiot a letter thanking him for supporting laws that murder and destroy the lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans each year not to mention makes cannabis readily available for our children.
Marijuana doesn”t kill people Marijuana prohibition does. Which side do you support ?
I don’t think cannabis is the problem, i think Meth, crank, cocaine is the problem.Florida is not going to be run over my cannabis smokers if they are allowed to use cannabis.In fact ,in place that have legalized cannabis, the smoking rate went down for the younger kids and they did not all run out to smoke cannabis.
The long and short of it is this individual has his head up his ass an’ his mind in neutral…
I will toke n grow ’til my last drawn breath…
Puff…Puff…
I had a job offer in , Miami , Florida . Trip , free housing and accomodations all paid for so i went to Florida to start a new career . I disliked every minute of every day of all 3 months of being there .
Jerry
Santa Barbara , California
regarding old f@rts like me:
count me, my many acquaintances and friends FLOWER CHILDREN forever IN. millions of us waking up and sensing a wonderful future, then seeing our dreams destroyed as the fascists turned up the heat (assassinations and so forth). many of us are still here watching, kinda patiently waiting and helping when we can.
fla people in their sixties know a lot about mj and have either toked plenty or some good brother did back when. med mj u bet.
Floridan here and I do not use any kind drugs besides the occasionally cold medication and heart burn pills when needed. I do not believe we need more people here on more drugs. We already have problems with pain clinics on every other corner here. I understand that their are people that must have medication for what they are suffering. However, people are abusing these clinics.
When you drive by you see a line of people that look and act like zombies. If the police can not regulate pain pills that kids and adults are getting addicted to there is no way they could regulate Marijuana from Children and healthy Floridians that would take Marijuana for no other reason but to get “high”.
Marijuana slows down the reaction time of users also and is not as easy to detect as Alcohol for the Police in the field to determine if someone is driving under the influence.It is already a law that we must have auto Insurance in this state to drive. It is not cheap and the basic you need does not even cover yourself only the other driver and their insurance if they have it covers you.I already pay $700 a year for insurance that does nothing to pay for my vehicle repairs or my hospital bills and I do not want to have to pay more because we allow more people behind the wheel that are under the influence of marijuana.
I am sorry that the people it might help that are sick can not have access to marijuana but until the police and Government can prove they could regulate it’s use to people that it might help we need to keep laws that detour the usage and carries the full weight of the law.
What Florida needs is harsher laws on Marijuana and all other illegal drugs that clearly makes it not worth the practice of using it. This drug being smuggled through our State is a matter of our States security and we must focus on stopping all trafficking of it no matter of the amount is in a criminals possession.
If we can stop criminals from purchasing and possessing it by long jail sentences or/and heavy fines than sellers would be forced to go elsewhere because we would have stopped the market and demand.
If we could do this also on a Federal level including Cocaine we could bankrupt the cartels on our boarders as well bring safety and security to the states on the Boarder.
States legalizing marijuana should be condemned and the politicians that allowed these laws to be created should be impeached from their Office they hold.
NORML!!!!!! WE NEED HELP IN FL!!!!
Thanks for recognizing that we have increasing penalties on Medical Marijuana and culture here. Our elections are coming up and we dont have even a descent candidate that is running to help Medical Marijuana.
My wife was diagnosed with MS, My Uncle has cancer, my father in law has cancer, my brother has diabetes, my grandfather passed away from cancer, and I am sick of them being sold these pills that completely CHANGE THEM AND HAVE HORRIBLE SIDE EFFECTS!!!
We all know what Medical Marijuana could do for them, but we need serious help here in FL. We have a grass roots campaign, but the media doesn’t even pay attention. On top of that, the FOX news channel makes smart ass comments at the evidence provided when people are trying to make a difference.
WE NEED HELP!!!!
Bruce.Grant@myflorida.com
Tell him what you think. Courtesy please!! Inform him on his misinformation and cite everything with the most recent up to date data, nothing before 2001. Make sure he knows about the money that will come in(because that’s what drives the world) and the new jobs that will be created (because that shows they care about us).
Also if you want our Government representatives to make a major push for harsher drug laws Attorney General Bill McCollum for Governor and Marco Rubio for the Senate have vowed to keep the fight on drugs a major issue and will help raise more funds to equip our Law Enforcement with the best technology to rid our streets of drugs and gang violence. The Liberal Dems that support criminals will be voted out this November with your hopes of legalizing this poison.
i live in florida and i am a convicted drug felon. wich means i have no voice, someone please help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I wrote this in response when Karen sent me this, but I have not gotten a response
Mr. Grant,
I am writing to you regarding a recent response you sent to Karen Goldstein. I wanted to address a few points that you referred to in you letter. I know Karen because of the work I have been doing on Drug Policy reform over the past year and a half. Last summer I was given a scholarship to look into medical cannabis and drug policy as a whole. I flew out to many conferences, and met many doctors, lawyers, patients, and government officials. I really believe that at the end of the day both sides of this argument have the right goal in mind and that is to reduce the harms associated with many of the substances that are currently illegal, and especially to keep them out of the hands of children. Mr Grant I think we can all agree that we don’t want children using drugs, but I feel that I have a different approach that would be more effective than those that are currently being used. I cite a 2009 study from the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University here which shows it is easier for kids to access marijuana than beer, wine, and liquor and even as easy as cigarettes. The study found that they found that 40 percent of teens could get marijuana within a day; another quarter said they could get it within an hour. These statistics are alarming and result because owners of bars and liquor stores have a reason not to sell to kids because then they will lose everything they have. By creating a moralistic law that while right in its intentions fails to reduce the harms associated with drug abuse. This is a matter that needs to not be treated as a criminal justice issue but as a public health issue. I don’t know how much more available we could actually make it to children than it already is. We would not be introducing a new substance to society; it is currently widely available and has been for years, we are trying to regulate it.
I also hear statistics that it has the largest amount of our children in treatment and what an epidemic it is. But when you speak to the treatment centers and look at the statistics, “ 70 percent of all Americans enrolled in drug “treatment” for cannabis were ordered there by the criminal justice system. (BMC Public Health, 2007)
By trying to prohibit these things we have created a black market, filled with violence and terrorists. The violence in Mexico has erupted and now they currently employ gangs in over 230 US cities. They have even been coming into Florida to take advantage our down housing market and buying up properties to grow in. And though we continue to send our agents every day to enforce these laws we have not been able to reduce the supply or availability especially to children. A UN study found that at least 75% of international drug shipments would need to be intercepted to substantially reduce the profitability of drug trafficking. Compare that with Florida’s statistics and realize that this is a problem that is not going away. The drug dealers have also found all types of ways to conceal themselves and their activities and it is too widespread to be eradicated. Drug use estimates have held basically unchanged over the past ten years but have been slightly rising recently. We are fighting a battle that cannot be won, and if you are honestly concerned about the health and well being of our citizens than we need to do something about the violence and crime that goes on when bad people are given control of these substances, and given no way to work out any differences through a judicial system, and they take the law into their own hands. There is so much crime and destruction that goes on. When we see our urban areas in Florida they are filled with crime and violence due to drugs and gangs and we need to stop funding these people and there other criminal operations such as human trafficking. So many government positions could be reallocated to actually improving our schools and communities.
There is also a huge correlation between drug treatment and reducing demand for these substances. It is a simple supply and demand reality in which as long as a demand exists there will be a supply to satisfy that, especially with high profits existing, so we need to reduce demand, and in affect usage. If we help the users on the demand side we further reduce the demand, currently 64% of our drug budget is focused on the supply side. Most people who go through treatment are actually less likely to commit a crime afterwards, meaning it saves taxpayer’s money, whereas our flawed system continues to cost more and solve nothing.
Now to the issue of driving under the influence. While I agree that marijuana use may cause some side affects that could impair driving, and am in no way advocating that people drive while under the influence, I believe it should be treated like any other medication. “Don’t drive or operate machinery” is listed on the sides of many over the counter and prescription medications. This should be the same way as cannabis. Also, studies have shown that driver’s who are under the influence of cannabis, tend to drive slower and follow further behind the cars in front of them, which is opposite of the wreck less risk taking behavior we see with alcohol.
You also talked about marijuana’s risk of dependency, and while there is a less than 10% chance of becoming dependent on this substance, this is much lower than tobacco, alcohol, and even caffeine. Alcohol has double the percentage of people who become dependent, and nicotine is more addictive also according to the NIDA in 1994. It is also not a physical dependence as many of the more harmful drugs are and the affects of withdrawal are usually mild. It has even been used to treat people and get them off of their addictions. According to the IOM’s 267-page report, “fewer than 10 percent of those who try cannabis ever meet the clinical criteria for a diagnosis of “drug dependence” (based on DSM-III-R criteria). By contrast, investigators reported that 32 percent of tobacco users, 23 percent of heroin users, 17 percent of cocaine users, and 15 percent of alcohol users meet the criteria for drug dependence,” Would you suggest we revert to the failed prohibition of alcohol that we tried in the thirties? I think we need to look at our history to see what works and what doesn’t. Our jails cannot afford this type of law enforcement anymore either and the violent offenders being set free is disturbing.
While the IOM report did state that “smoked” cannabis was a harsh delivery system, there are many other ways to use cannabis it can be vaporized, used topically, used as a tincture, or baked into food. The IOM report also addressed whether the use of medical marijuana would increase usage among the general public but found this is something that shouldn’t make a difference in their choice and found, “At this point there is no consistent data to support this concern…this issue is beyond the issues normally considered for medical uses of drugs, and should not be a factor in evaluating the therapeutic potential of marijuana or cannabinoids. The report later stated, “except with the harms associated with smoking, the adverse affects of marijuana usage are within the range of affects tolerated for other medications.” The DEA has blocked FDA approved studies from occurring in regards to vaporized or other alternative delivery methods as they will lose their funding if these go through as well as having the pharmaceutical lobbyists not wanting it either because they couldn’t patent this medicine either. We need more research and I intend to get more done, but until then we need to stop incarcerating our fellow citizens who are trying to follow their doctor’s orders, so that they can continue their lives. The American Medical Association, American Public Health Association, American Society of Addiction Medicine, National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine , National Association of Public Health Policy, American Cancer Society, British Medical Association, Florida Medical Association, Kaiser Permanente, American Academy of Family Physicians, and many many other AIDS, MS, ALS, Cancer, and related disease societies all support allowing this medicine to be used. This is an issue between doctors and their patients, it is a public health issue, and not a criminal justice one.
There have also been 3 court cases in Florida in which “medical necessity” defense has been passed because the science is there, and there is another one currently pending for a disabled man. Also the federal government supplies patients with this medicine as well.
Thank you,
Eric Stevens
TO THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES:
I am pleased to transmit the 2010 National Drug Control Strategy, a blueprint for reducing illicit drug use and its harmful consequences in America. I am committed to restoring balance in our efforts to combat the drug problems that plague our communities. While I remain steadfast in my commitment to continuing our strong enforcement efforts, especially along the southwest border, I directed the Office of National Drug Control Policy to reengage in efforts to prevent drug use and addiction and to make treatment available for those who seek recovery. This new, balanced approach will expand efforts for the three critical ways that we can address the drug problem: prevention, treatment, and law enforcement.
Drug use endangers the health and safety of every American, depletes financial and human resources, and
deadens the spirit of many of our communities. Whether struggling with an addiction, worrying about a
loved one’s substance abuse, or being a victim of drug-related crime, millions of people in this country live with the devastating impact of illicit drug use every day. This stark reality demands a new direction in drug policy: one based on common sense, sound science, and practical experience. That is why my new strategy includes efforts to educate young people who are the most at-risk about the dangers of substance abuse, allocates unprecedented funding for treatment efforts in federally qualified health centers, reinvigorates drug courts and other criminal justice innovations, and strengthens our enforcement efforts to rid our streets of the drug dealers who infect our communities.
I am confident that if we take these needed steps, we will make our country stronger, our people healthier,
and our streets safer. If we boost community-based prevention efforts, expand treatment opportunities,
strengthen law enforcement capabilities, and work collaboratively with our global partners, we will reduce drug use and its resulting damage.
While I am proud of the new direction described here, a well-crafted strategy is only as successful as its
implementation. To succeed, we will need to rely on the hard work, dedication, and perseverance of every we will make our country stronger, our people healthier, and our streets safer. If we boost community-based prevention efforts, expand treatment opportunities, strengthen law enforcement capabilities, and work collaboratively with our global partners, we will reduce drug use and its resulting damage.
While I am proud of the new direction described here, a well-crafted strategy is only as successful as its
implementation. To succeed, we will need to rely on the hard work, dedication, and perseverance of every
concerned American. I look forward to working with Congress, Federal, state and local officials, tribal
leaders, and citizens across the country as we implement this Strategy and make our communities better
places to live, work, and raise our families.
BARACK H. OBAMA
THE WHITE HOUSE
March 2010
——-
Well why the fuck should they bust up their lucrative anti mj racket ! sheeesh they set up phony mj buys on the street so they can confiscate your ride ,jail you, fine you, & run you through their plantation system ! fuck these pollytricksters! Who’s the real criminal here ? Remember this is a war & we are winning ! That moron Christ & his ilk are soon to be history ! I know that I ‘m a one issue voter this time around ! Free the flower !
Bruce come on up here and get your Idiot button you have work hard for this.
This jack-ass ruffled a lot of feathers, real nice to see all these posts. VOTE VOTE VOTE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hey Bruce, 1937 called and want you back real bad. Gosh Beav. sounds like a real swell place to be from, the further from the better. Think they’ll let people of color and women vote any time soon?
what a joke.
dependence my ass, i smoked for 10 years and quit cold turkey without so much as an irritable disposition,
traffic fatalities? everyone who smokes weed already does so while driving, the percentage of fatalities where people had it in their system also were above the legal limited alcohol concentration,
poor school performance? maybe its because the school system is flawed
the only time i ever got pulled over while i was high was because my head light was burned out,
alcohol is another story.
fucking bureaucratic bullshit.
Hilarious the FL “Drug Czar” refers to their stated goals as “over-reaching.” I couldn’t agree more. It’s right in line with our over-reaching federal government.
Im a Floridian. I was born here, live here, and love it. And I always thought Florida got a bad rap…now I know why. To my “elected” officials, Reefer Madness was a failed attempt at propaganda, the world is getting smarter about weed everyday, and f you want Florida to thrive…then stop fucking acting like a bunch of paranoid assholes.
“A legal marijuana industry would employ promotion, advertising, and lobbying to increase demand while maintaining prices well below their current black market levels. Stimulating demand while lowering prices would undoubtedly lead to both increases in the number of Americans that use marijuana as well as the intensity with which they use it.”
In the Netherlands coffeeshops are not allowed to promote or advertise their cannabis products. Currently in the US, cigarettes are not allowed to advertise through certain medium such as television. The same rules can be applied to legal cannabis usage.
People create so many issues to try and apply them against legalization, but in the end it only shows that there are much more reasons FOR it than against it.
Even the BIBLE states and I quote Genesis 1:29 “Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it.”
the last poll i saw showed 72% OF AMERICANS FAVORED THE LEGALIZATION OF MARYJANE ALONG WITH A TAX AND CONTOL PROGRAM JUST LIKE BOOZE AND TABACKY-AND THAT WAS BEFORE THE ECONOMY WENT INTO THE CRAPPER! HOW MUCH MORE SENSE DOES IT MAKE TODAY? JOB CREATION,TAXES TO PAY FOR HEALTHCARE, LESS LOAD ON PRISONS AND LAW ENFORCEMENT YOU COULD FILL A BOOK WITH THE PROS AND MAYBE A PARAGRAPH WITH THE CONS!
I am glad , Goofy and I did not get caught behind the tea cups last summer hittin that blunt. Ariel had the best Dank and that Yellow Bear, winnie, he had a killer bong!! After a little smoke session, the family vacation turned out OK. I think my kids had fun as well.
ilive in florida. It’s ran by dumbasses like this who have no clue what they’re talking about they’d rather make up lies then look up facts. If urb was legal it may improve the shitty economy here by opening more factories which would hire plenty of people. I can’t wait until these people are out of office
Ah, yes. Ignorance for marijuana. But then again, it seems like our side was maybe ‘over’pushing it a little bit too. It seems that the Director of Florida’s Office For Drug Control, Bruce, was more focused on the recreational use of the drug. He is not at the least bit intrigued by the medical possibilities that marijuana may or may not provide, (political standpoint, here). The future of cannabis law reform in Florida is very grim. All the Florida politicians probably have the idea of Columbians and Cubans smuggling cocaine & marijuana through South Florida cities like Miami, or Key West, and now as far as more modern marijuana policies go, Florida will be the last of the states to be made legal for pot, if it’s made at all!
I have also been somewhat intrigued by the new government healthcare law that will take effect in the next couple years, and with the individual states, individually taking care of their own healthcare regulations. For example what do you think that will do to the marijuana regulations in the *individual* states..?
This is all very interesting the day and age we live in, but facts are facts, and if they’re worried about addiction, and crude preparations, for one they should of thought about that when they let more harsher, medical and non-medical drugs slide through the regulators. They should of thought about the rehabilitation clinics, for opiates and alcohol. But you don’t see them accepting marijuana users. They’re not gonna give up methadone for marijuana. They would for methamphetamine, an non-opioid. But not marijuana, an non-opioid. If marijuana is worse, going the DEA scheduling, (meth-2; marijuana-1). As for the preparations, why not go for vapors. Why not go for more, non-synthetic cannabinoid pills, and not just THC. I think if this was sent to him, I could rest my case, but as for now it has insomnia.
I rest This case.. Corey Cannabis
Holy Smokes. Bruce is a moron. It’s about the money he and his agency receive to perpetuate the myth and deny patients and citizens the use of marijuana. The piglets suckling at the sweet milk flowing from the teats of the DOJ, DEA, and local LE agencies. Bruce is a liar! It’s the money. Always follow the money. There is corruption on the highest floor. Insanity- Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. 70 years of prohibition, with the same results. More supply, to meet the demand. There already is people using marijuana and most likely people inside his agency. Moron.
The Rev.sLeezy
The Universal Life Church of the Holy Smokes
“we are affirming our ultimate respect for freedom and liberty”
How Orwellian is that?! We’re all in prison because of the Government’s “ultimate respect for freedom”.
This once again demonstrates the cozy relationship between the prison lobby, law enforcement and prohibitionists in florida. i am part of the prison system here and i see how this affects floridians everyday. We have a large private prison lobby that makes too much money off of non-violent drug offenders to make herb legal. NORML needs to have a list of true conservative / libertarian politicians who are herb friendly that we can use a referance for voting this november. 141 people plus myself have taken the time to write a comment, now we have to get off of our asses and VOTE. Get ALexander and the other morons out of office who are only hoping for an election win to the “big show” whilst stomping on liberty and freedom of choice. VOTE VOTE VOTE!!!! NORML please take my suggestion to heart, get us a list of politicians who are for true change and we will get the ball rolling, too much is at stake. THis is the south god-damnit, our heritage is kicking DC in the nuts, lets do it again.
[Editor’s note: As it has done in the past, NORML will be releasing a cannabis consumer’s voting guide for the US Congress this fall. But suffice of to say there are only a handful of members of congress and the senate who could at all be considered ‘herb friendly’–maybe a dozen Democrats and a half dozen Republicans could be considered ‘legalizers’, which is why pro-reform bills don’t get voted out of even subcommittees, to larger committees, to the floor…]
JBM said: “States legalizing marijuana should be condemned and the politicians that allowed these laws to be created should be impeached from their Office they hold.”
JBM, you are delusional. And you obviously hate marijuana and marijuana users. Did it ever occur to you that marijuana is not as bad as you think it is? What if you were told by a reliable source that marijuana is safer and more beneficial then broccoli? Would you still want to fight marijuana?
Please sir, you are vengeful and ‘out of touch;’ please get help…
Marijuana! Marijuana! Lsd! Lsd! Teachers all take it why can’t we. I remember this from my cild-hood, age 10 1966. Let’s face it we are this nations whiping boy and I am so tired of it, mention drug law reform and you get the same thing that I have been hearing all my life BO-HO you are a dope pusher here to get our childern hooked on drugs, BO-HO all our boys in Vietnam are on dope. Oh and those dirty hippies let’s not forget them. I smoked weed for the first time in 1975 and no one pushed it on me, I have worked hard all my life and am as sick of of our law makers and leaders in Washington D.C. now as I was back then.
Does anyone have the contact information for this guy? I am planning on writing him myself. Heavily regulating access to mind-altering substances such as marijuana only increases the use of easily obtained prescription medicines, which are in no way safer than marijuana. These law especially targets teenagers, who have an easy time raiding parent’s & other family member’s medicine cabinets. To believe that oxycontin and methamphetamine are safer than marijuana (both are available through prescription) is not only laughable, it’s downright unsafe. There is no possible way that the government will EVER “eliminate marijuana use”, it’s a pointless battle they are waging on their people with no rhyme or reason other than controlling and keeping the people down so the rich white man can stay in power and keep the silver spoons in their mouths.
Plant illegality is basically….retarded. I can’t believe fools still exist that think somehow they will be able to eliminate drug use by oppressing other humans. People naturally seek out mind altering substances, especially teenagers who are searching for truth and to find out who they are. I think Marijuana can be an essential part of fully developing a person’s mind and soul. If we outlaw it, it will only be done behind closed doors, where misinformation and unsafe practices run high (like people smoking while driving since they have no other place to do it).
I smoke plenty of weed and I have an IQ of 145. I just got a scholarship to a great university because I have such a high GPA–so where is this “poor academic performance” he is talking about? I am clearly smarter than this man. Does it disturb anyone else when “pothead” teenage girls are smarter and more clear headed than the men in power?
LAND OF THE FREE MY ASS
That’s absolutely ridiculous, you can pick his arguments apart so precisely it’s crazy. It angers me that there are people who think like that out there… he cares nothing for the people who use cannabis and have their lives destroyed by legal penalties. It’s pure evil, but covered in the guise of public safety, or as Governor Crist would say, “saving people from lives of addiction.”
Video of Gestapo drug raid ends in dogs shot one killed,
http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2010/may/03/drug-raid-inquiry-is-ongoing/
Opions are like ASSHOLES everybody has one. Please vote this asshole out of office and ship him to the u.s.s.r. with the rest of the commies
“Safer and scientifically proven drugs exist for all of the medical conditions that marijuana is erroneously thought to treat.”
And to get off of those drugs, you have to take more “proven” drugs, and so on. You wanna quit smokin, you just quit. Any “addiction” caused by marijuana is solely psycological, unlike many prescription medications which cause both physical and mental addiction. As far as marijuana being attributed to respiratory problems, if marijuana were legalized you would be able to purchase foods containing cannabis on a regular basis, reducing the number of people with respiratory problems.
What about the relief on the justice system? Has he taken a look at the amount of taxpayer money is spent in catching, jailing and prosecuting otherwise law abbiding citizens?
“States legalizing marijuana should be condemned and the politicians that allowed these laws to be created should be impeached from their Office they hold.”
#130 JBM: They should be impreached for doing what the voters want them to do?
I have Multiple Sclerosis, my neurologist will prescribe 2 pain killers including vicodin before marinol due to the scrutiny in this state. I live in Lakeland, FL., Polk Co., one of the worst. I am on probation for a non drug charge, and still get piss tested and violated for thc in my urine.
Hello fellow activists, this is a letter I received from Gary Miller, my representative in the state of California for the 42nd district.
Dear Mr. Yang:
Thank you for contacting me regarding legalization of marijuana. I appreciate hearing from you on this issue. I believe the United States government must do everything in its power to ensure the health and safety of the American public.
As you may know, the Controlled Substances Act of 1970 classified marijuana as a Schedule I drug with a high potential for abuse and no acceptable medical uses. In the 1980s and 1990s, with the passage of strict federal anti-drug laws and mandatory sentences for possession of marijuana, use declined. Recently, though, the number of new marijuana smokers has increased, going from 1.6 million in 1990 to 2.6 million in 2004. Today, marijuana is the most commonly used drug, with 25.8 million Americans using the drug within the last year. It is also one of the most addictive, with 60.3 percent of all drug addicts dependent on marijuana.
I firmly believe that it is a tremendous threat to our nation’s public health. Several studies have found that marijuana is not a benign substance, but a powerful drug with a variety of side affects. When smoked, the drug delivers many harmful chemicals to the blood stream that can cause a variety of potentially destructive reactions, including bouts of depression, short-term memory damage, and a loss of coordination. In addition, marijuana has been shown to promote the incidence of lung cancer, induce severe respiratory problems, and increase the risk of a heart attack. Marijuana use has also been linked to tardiness, absences, and a negative attitude toward both school and work environments.
Most alarming to me, however, is the negative impact of marijuana use on our nation’s youth. A recent study found that an alarming 42 percent of all high school students have reported trying marijuana in their lifetime, and 24 percent within the last thirty days. Today, the average age of a new marijuana user is 17.1 years old, and half of all new users are under 18 years of age. Not only does marijuana use at a young age increase the likelihood of drug-related health problems, it also provides a gateway for the use of other illicit drugs. In fact, adults who used marijuana before age 15 are six times more likely to be dependent on an illicit drug, such as cocaine or heroin, than adults who first used marijuana at age 21 or older. I believe that Congress must work to reverse this trend and stop the growing epidemic of marijuana use among our nation’s youth.
Again, thank you for contacting me. I hope that you will remain in touch in the future on other issues of importance to you.
Sincerely,
GARY G. MILLER
Member of Congress
“Safer and scientifically proven drugs exist for all of the medical conditions that marijuana is erroneously thought to treat.”
Bruce, and I’m saying this with complete disrespect, is a moron.
Lets do a breakdown:
“Furthermore, I do not believe that the adverse consequences of marijuana use (respiratory diseases, traffic fatalities, poor school performance, dependence, etc.) could ever offset the potential tax revenue it might generate.”
Respiratory diseases; Why the fuck are cigarettes legal?
Traffic Fatalities; Roughly every 30 seconds, someone dies from a drunken related traffic incident.
Poor school performance; Plain and simple, if you try your best, chances are you will not fail… that is just a horrible bullshit conspiracy statistic.
Dependence; Do I really have to bring up all the deaths from alcohol, tobacco, and prescription medications?
I mean I understand that he is trying to do his job by enforcing the federal laws, but it sounds a bit conformist to me.
Some of these comments are very cogent replies to Mr. Grant, but guess who will never see them? And if we all write his office, he is unlikely to read every letter – not that any facts would change his mind.
Posting comments here is basically preaching to the choir. Write your local paper. Join NORML or one of the other organizations dedicated to reforming these ridiculous prohibition laws, and take action in the greater community. Table at public events. Spread literature. Talk to your friends. To fix the government, you must first educate the populace.
Way to go Crist. Maybe you can fool the public for another year and distract them with this same old argument (since 1937) and waste all the political money for yet another year on the same old subject (controling your people). We would’nt want to move on and spend all that money on education and technology advancement. Who needs that in this country right now, or ever. Makes your job easier just doing nothing now doesn’t it.
I wish I could have said I read every post here to ensure nothing similar was said, but at 164 posts before me it’s proven difficult. Excuse me if I’m repeating another.
I’m 22 years old and have lived in the Miami/South Florida area since my birth. Incase anyone was wondering just how much of the population smokes/smoked marijuana, it has to be a vast number. Growing up and even more so now, I’ve been amazed by the amount of people that smoke cannabis. Stand in a decent sized line at any corner store in South Florida, and 2-3 fellow line-dwellers will ask the cashier for Cherry Blunt Wraps or a pack of Dutch Masters. This will happen in any gas station or convience store that sells these products. Finding a dealer is the simplest of tasks. Chances are there’s someone on your block that deals.
Amongst the citizens of South Florida, there is a very apparent acceptance of marijuana in our culture. And I can tell you that even with the extreme diversity of nationalities and cultures that we harbor there is no racial boundary that decides who does and doesn’t smoke. You can get high with Democrats and Republicans, with Cubans and Dominicans, Guatemalans and Arabs, and blacks and whites. There’s always marijuana at whatever social gathering you attend, with the occassion not mattering one bit at all.
There is a lot of backing for the legalization of marijuana amongst Florida residents (at least in the south). There has to be a reason for no progress to have been made though, and I believe the reasons include an “old country” and old fashioned mentality. There is a large 50+ base of citizens that hold true to anti-marijuana and propoganda, whether they were exposed to this in the United States or their respective countries of birth. The influence on younger generations makes it easier for people with the age to make changes to stay quiet and do their illegal bidding behind closed doors. You don’t want your parents finding out you smoke pot, even if you’re in your 40s.
It’s also extremely easy to keep marijuana under cover here. Your neighbors don’t care that you’re smoking pot. Cops don’t care that you’re smoking pot. The neighbors will just be disappointed you didn’t invite them over, and the cops will turn their face the other way (but don’t get caught by a brain-washed, crime-fighting rookie).
With as much die hard, anti-marijuana legislation and propoganda you see on the local news, there’s a great deal of marijuana freedom amongst Florida citizens. We’ve come to live comfortably in a world we know we can interact with marijuana whether medically or recreationally, with little actual real world consequence. Just don’t get caught by the wrong cop and you’re safe as mentioned earlier.
The average person doesn’t have the motivation to care to do anything about marijuana prohibition in Florida. Everyone is smoking just fine. Maybe Florida smokers are just too high.
That whole state is infested with corruption and organized crime. The reply from Director Florida Office of Drug Control, Bruce D Grant expressing his puritan rhetoric, is not fooling anybody.
Of course they have the law on their side; it’s all paid for with dirty money from cocaine.
I think the Florida government has an excellent point. We can’t have some young black kid experiment with cannabis and then believe he could someday become President of the United States.
I love the part where it says we have drugs that are “safer” and “scientifically proven” to help out sick people. All those synthetic pharmacuetical drugs have way more negative effects than all natural marijuana. It cost more to produce, its more expensive, and usually your insurance doesn’t cover the cost. Any ways, we are now in 2010 we don’t smoke, we vaporize producing a minimum of 92% THC.
please tell me about this so call “safer, less addictive” drug then marijuana. As far as i know you cant over dose on weed like you can on all other medications.
demonizing cannabis users, flower children in particular, got us to this point in time.
consider …
levitating the dea — literally and/or spiritually.
make love not war yo
Something of note… Florida is a HUGE distribution point for illegal substances (as has been repeatedly documented in the news). My concern is that there might be some “bias” in the form of campaign contributions or some other in-between party. I see 2 possible conflicts:
1. If Marijuana was completely legalized in Florida, to the extent that tobacco is, my guess would be that millions of dollars would stop flowing to growers in other countries because we would be producing everything we need and exporting the rest (possibly). Which would definitely be against their interests, hence, they use their influences to prevent this politically.
2. If Marijuana was only legalized for medical patients (Like me in California), it would still have a major impact on the black-market prices. I say this because as a grower, I usually produce more than what I need and I do give back to the community through my local co-op and personal friends. That having been said, the same thing would probably happen in Florida. The overall effect being a decrease in price in the black-market probably do to the availability of cheaper, superior grade, “home-grown” medicine.
In effect, knowing the amount and variety of political scandals that have concerned Florida’s Political leadership since even before I was born, I am highly concerned with several phrases this man gives in his response:
1. “Smoked marijuana…is a crude THC delivery system that also delivers harmful substances…[and] cannot be expected to provide a precisely defined drug effect. For those reasons there is little future in smoked marijuana as a medically approved medication.” Safer and scientifically proven drugs exist for all of the medical conditions that marijuana is erroneously thought to treat.”
-My personal opinion on this is that “Safer and scientifically proven” is all in the eye of the beholder. Experiment results, and so called “Experts”, can be bought just as easily as politicians (NoFreeLunch.org). I need to see published documentation and research citations from as many sources as possible before I believe that. Second thought, if marijuana is so bad and delivers harmful substances, what does that make cigarettes which contain toxic chemicals and are PROVEN to cause cancer/death?
2. “Our experience with alcohol and tobacco has taught us that commercial interests weaken sensible regulatory efforts. ”
3. “A legal marijuana industry would employ promotion, advertising, and lobbying to increase demand while maintaining prices well below their current black market levels.”
-My main concerns with these I stated at the beginning, but All industries employ promotion, advertising, and lobbying to increase demand. Driving the industry into a black-market state causes just causes it to become morally bankrupt and only concerned with cash flow. A second thought concerns diminishing demand for tobacco/pharmaceuticals as a result… and eventual loss of money and power to tobacco, pharmaceutical companies, and any industries based on them.
4. “Any policy change that results in an increase in marijuana use, particularly among youth, is unacceptable.”
-Kids will ALWAYS be able to get anything. Kids get alcohol and cigarettes like air in some areas of the country, I speak from personal experience because I began experimenting at the age of 15 with both. The best defense is to be a good parent and help your kids understand why they SHOULDN’T do some things. Knowledge is power.
please tell me he isnt related to that prick harry j
# Jim Buchhofer Says:
May 2nd, 2010 at 9:15 am
After 9 months of battling lung and brain cancer, my wife underwent dangerous brain surgery on Wednesday at the UF’s renowned Shands Hospital. I hold Charlie Crist completely responsible for depriving her of the pain relief and medicinal support which Medical Marijuana could provide her. By appointing the neanderthal Grant-Anslinger as the malevolent director of Florida’s Drug Control office, Gov Crist assures that I can not in any way condone supporting his so-called “Independant” political aspirations.
lol Rick you are an idiot, are u a commie
# 126 – Jeanne: Any “drug” that is placed under Prohibition is wrong. Prohibition is the problem. ALL “drugs” should fall under the regulate, tax, and control. NOT arrest, imprison, and punish.
Abuse is the problem in the meth, crank and coke you mentioned. Educating people, like you referenced with cigarettes is what works. NOT treating people, who want a little buzz here and there, like they are second class, non productive, non thinking individuals.
#130 – JBM: You are stupid, hands down, you are no more than an effect of lies wrapped around propaganda.
#118 – Jose Melendez and #135 – Eric S: Right on letters.
Your letters bring up a valid point of why “we the people” who want Prohibition ended need to keep hammering away at anyone in the g’ment that supports this glaringly failed policy.
Keep talking Floridians, let them know you’re not going to settle for their lies any longer.
You did read #136 right? That’s what Obama said recently. That’s your rough draft of the National Control Drug Strategy, compliments of the drug czar, Obama, and the rest of the rats.
We have to stay strong, realize it isn’t going to be easy because it’s their frakking cash cow, but we need to keep hammering away. Tell the prohibitionist to Listen to you Loudly because you’re not going to shut up.
JBM, you are delusional. And you obviously hate marijuana and marijuana users. Did it ever occur to you that marijuana is not as bad as you think it is? What if you were told by a reliable source that marijuana is safer and more beneficial then broccoli? Would you still want to fight marijuana?
Please sir, you are vengeful and ‘out of touch;’ please get help…
I am sorry if i want criminals and those that support by making it available should be put in jail. There are drug stores in states that are corrupting our laws and security. Drugs bring higher crime rates to the areas they inflect. That fact is obvious. And these stores will sell it to anyone with a card that you can get for having a headache, it is ridicules.
I beg of you to vote for politicians that will take the toughest stand we have ever seen in Florida like Attorney General Bill McCollum for Governor and Marco Rubio for the Senate. And for you people whining your on probation for being caught you should be thanking liberals for keeping these useless punishments around you belong behind bars.
Florida is so backwards; I live here and I cannot believe this state is still so southern KKK redneck; it’s unacceptable. What the fuck is wrong with Floridians…….don’t come here; fuck Disneyland and Orlando, don’t come here as tourists anymore please; don’t prop up our economy anymore, and when we have no choice but to go the way of California because of a defect then perhaps the fucking idiots in power of this state will finally take their thumbs out of their ears and put them back in their asses.
I just wanted to input my opinion on Bruce Grant – clearly, the guy is an a-hole and a moron. He is completely out of touch with his constituents and should not be taken seriously by anyone with at least half a brain!!!
I am a Florida resident, and I am also pissed off. Fuck these oppressive assholes. Fuck them hard. I am definitely going to lead, rally, and organize as many protests as I can next year (and the four years after it, should I decide to continue my college education in this backwards state), as well as spread as much awareness about this as I can.
“I hope that time isn’t too distant; the illegality of cannabis is outrageous, an impediment to full utilization of a drug which helps produce the serenity and insight, sensitivity and fellowship so desperately needed in this increasingly mad and dangerous world.”
-Carl Sagan
I have many things to say about this person and none of which are good. The statements are completely retarded, if we legalize marijuana then adolescents would become surrounded by marijauna and it would effect their school performance. How about if marijuana was legal we would have less kids having drugs available to sell drugs, more people would be able to apply for jobs that paid a substantial pay because they can pass a piss test, and finally since every marijuana activist seems to be set on a stander age of 21 for consumers to even be able to purchase like alcohol how would they ascertain the substance. Poor political awareness in Florida. And to be replied by the drug czar of Fla. and not the actual gov. really gay and really spineless
Florida is more interested in prescription drug money and, make no mistake, Florida is the center of the prescription drug trade. I have seen it first hand and it is terrifying. Florida is a cesspool and there is no reason to visit or live there.
Holy Smokes. Remember that the Pres. was only one arrest away from being a statistic of the drug war. “The whole idea was to inhale.” – BO, President of the US.
Rev.sLeezy
The Universal Life Church of the Holy Smokes.
RAMP
CAMP
It gets better. Just google “Florida State Senator Mike Bennett”.
Republican. Florida. Surfing pornography during session caught on camera.
Who is going to protect us from those who take power without responsibility, Mr. Grant?
I do not think they understand, the internet is a source of actual information, not a bottleneck for propaganda.
We’re the ones watching what you do, not the other way around.
Sadly, I still have some very good friends that probably believe the same nonsense that this guy is spewing. It’s still amazing to me how so many people can be overwhelmed by fear and misinformation when there is so much evidence out there to the contrary.
I’m working on a book idea based on my own personal experiences with this holy plant that I hope will help to open the eyes of the critics and help to get us on the road to the 2nd repeal of prohibition.
Legalize Freedom!
Love seeing trolls like JBM mention politicians who are interested in bankrupting a State. Rubio especially. He is pushing for some severe DUI law changes that will cost the state more than an additional $25 plus million a year and can potentially reach beyond that. Nobody likes DUI but his ideas are draconian and fiscally irresponsible. Especially during a depression/recession.
I shouldn’t feed the trolls but I had to comment on Rubio as he is an example of the throw the baby out with the bath water type of politician that has created the police state mess we seem to live in now.
I also warn those supporters of his ilk that eventually you’ll have no one left but illegal immigrants to run the basic services you hold so dearly. Or not, as I’m sure you are all for having them deported or locked up as well.
The costs of a free society are many facetted. But cut too much and too deeply and you no longer have a shining gem.
Bruce D. Grant should re-read the Constitution of the United States. It is God’s will for people to live in freedom and liberty, as cited and acknowledged in that inspired document. I doubt Mr. Grant is as wise, and definitely not as intelligent.
Even IF there were no medical benefits, WHERE IN THE CONSTITUTION DOES IT GIVE THE GOVERNMENT (FEDERAL OR STATE) THE POWER TO TELL ME WHAT I CAN OR CANNOT PUT INTO MY OWN BODY?!?!
JBM, you sir, are an ignorant “conservative” hypocrite.
That goes without saying, really.
I get spupid letters from my reps. all the time that say the same thing. I think these people get together so they can make up shit to scare the public.
What’s even more alarming is that Crist is supposed to be a progressive. Vote all these backward thinking idiots out of office when ever you can. It’s just shameful that they can’t get past the stigma while people are suffering.
Your right I am a troll for wanting the Laws upheld and drugs kept Illegal. Sorry that “people are already driving around High” is not a conferring enough reason to allow more to. Or at least if they would make it legal for medical and than they could do what I do get extra and sell it to those who don’t have a medical issue.
I am stupid and full of propaganda unlike the message your spewing.If we could just make the punishment so harsh on drugs that it wouldn’t be worth trying to get them it would allow the police to save billions but instead we hand out slaps on the wrist. Without drugs the crime rate would plummet. That is a racist, stupid idea alright. We need decent Politicians that are above handouts to stand up for the citizens in Florida well being. Lets get to the poles this November and give the tea Party a chance!! Spread the word.
JBM,
“If we could just make the punishment so harsh on drugs that it wouldn’t be worth trying to get them it would allow the police to save billions but instead we hand out slaps on the wrist”
…. so you advocate what? the death penalty for smoking a doobie? Besides that question I have this from your earlier post:
“And for you people whining your on probation for being caught you should be thanking liberals for keeping these useless punishments around you belong behind bars.”
Conservatives are the ones keeping those laws around. Conservatives like the folks in the Tea party. You need to research and give evidence; not just “spew”, as you so elegantly put it, propaganda. You do not get sir, that Al Capone, Machine-Gun Kelly, Baby-Face Nelson, all these bank-robbers, gun-men, and crooks became prevalent in society solely because the failing economy and prohibition of alcohol in the 1920s created a highly lucrative niche market for them to exploit through power and fear.
One final thought is, how are you going to stop the drugs sir? Politicians have vested interests and the position to influence policy, as do corporations, foreign governments, hell, the whole world runs on pharmaceuticals and illegal substances these days. Can you name someone, ANYONE, who has never taken any form of drug illegal or otherwise? Who makes the decision that it is ‘illegal’ anyways? We know that part of the reason why Hemp was illegal is lobbyists from other industries fearing the competition. Who is to say that these pharmaceutical companies, that have billions at stake, are not spending some on the side to control the information YOU and I are absorbing from the media every day.
The “war on drugs” as Nixon put it is a hole we keep dumping money into and that will not stop the problem any time soon. The only approach that will do more than just cover it from the public’s eyes is regulation and overwatch, not arresting almost half of Americans for having smoked marijuana and sending them all to the Gulag.
In regards to post 194: I dont believe I have ever seen someone here shoot themselves in the foot that badly.
It seems to me his attitude is misplaced on marijuana. It seems more appropriate for nicotine – a physically addictive carcinogen. A PHYSICALLY ADDICTIVE CARCINOGEN!
And that’s only one of its curses.
There is no excuse to continue the ONDCP experience with policies based on spite and ignorance.
On the other hand, I am very loathe to support any prohibition.
Why do these people insist that they need to protect us from ourselves. It’s MY BODY to do with as I will!! NOT YOURS TO DICTATE TOO.. slavery was supposed to have ended.. controlling my body is slavery..
Regarding post 195; it’s not just conservatives that are keeping the drug laws around; it’s both sides (google Joe Biden and Drug Czar; HE is the one that created this cabinet level position!).
The War on Drugs that Nixon launched was really his way of going after groups of people that he just didn’t like; specifically the counterculter, hippies, drug users, etc.
Also, regarding the “Tea Party” contingency; I would argue that the majority of those folks are probably PRO legalization, regulation and taxation of drugs (or at least Cannabis).
REgarding post 194: JBM, I can appreciate that you want “the drug problem” to go away, but the fact of the matter is that there is no amount of law enforcement or penalty that will prevent someone who seeks a particular drug from obtaining it. If anything, by making it taboo, it only makes it MORE ATTRACTIVE!!
Honestly, if your neighbor wants to sit in his living room and smoke pot (or cigarettes, or drink alcohol, or pop pain pills) while he watches TV, what difference does it make to you? For that matter, if the same neighbor wants to eat a whole pizza by himself while his veins slowly fill with cholesterol, does it really concern you?
Of coursre not!
I’ll agree that driving while intoxicated on alcohol or any other drug is a crime (DUI/DWI) and should be dealt with, but to say that you simply cannot do something “because it is the law” is absurd. We’re already starting to see regulations creep in regarding the health-content of the food we eat, the salt content of food in restaurants. It’s a slippery slope; before you know it you won’t be able to have the haircut you want because it’s not legal. . .or that tattoo or piercing you had thought about will suddenly be off the list.
I would be willing to bet that the majority of politicians on BOTH SIDES of the political spectrum agree that the drug war is a ridiculous waste of money and has done nothing to fix the problem; however, you will never hear any existing politician say this, for 2 reasons:
1. They view this as “political suicide” in that, its not what their constituents want to hear.
and
2. By admitting that the existing drug laws are a failure, they are also (by proxy) admitting that the majority of bureacratic government functions and corresponding laws on the books are also a failure and that they should be eliminated. . .which is something that politicians will never give up: POWER and CONTROL; to your point, the above 2 “drugs” are far more dangerous to our freedom and liberty than a stoner blazing up and eating a bag of Doritos.
Something to think about. . .I realize that you may never think drugs are okay, and that’s fine, but knowledge is power, and I would encourage you to at least research it further . . .you just might learn something:)
Peace,
Matt
Here’s what happens when you let people marginalize marijuana consumers:
http://blogs.alternet.org/speakeasy/2010/05/05/cops-shoot-childs-dog-7-times-after-finding-marijuana-in-family-home/
Summary: SWAT team breaks into home, fires seven rounds at family’s pit bull and corgi (?!) as a seven-year-old looks on.
They found a “small amount” of marijuana, enough for a misdemeanor charge. The parents were then charged with child endangerment.
So smoking pot = “child endangerment.” Storming a home with guns, then firing bullets into the family pets as a child looks on = necessary police procedures to ensure everyone’s safety.
Warning: May encourage schadenfraude in those with habitual prohibitionist tendencies, or low reasoning skills.
hey JBM
are you man enough to take the acid test?
get yourself a phatty from one of your many closet toker acquaintances …..
find yourself a relaxing comfortable place ……
let r rip get a g rip eat a cookie.
I love how every point in that cookie cutter letter posted above has been dis proven time and again throughout history. Why don’t they just wake up and realize that THE CRIMINALS WANT MARIJUANA TO STAY ILLEGAL!!!!!!!
The longer it stays illegal the longer our TAX MONEY and LIVES are in danger of being taken in the name of ‘the war on drugs’ — which has also been proven to fail time and again throughout history.
The amount of disinformation spread by our government is astonishing. Not just about drugs, but about EVERYTHING!
“They want nothing less than to create a world system of financial control in private hands, able to dominate the political system of each country and the economy of the world as a whole.” – Carroll Quigley
If they cannot control the ‘drug trade’ then they have no other option than to create a counter culture surrounding the issue and try to make the general public view the people who use drugs as criminals, crazies, etc.
It makes me sick.
exactly the same formatted response i got from a different person.their all told to respond the same way….im bout ready to get the hell out of “sunny florida” anyway but ill not give up the fight for personal rights…
Unbelievable.
wow just think in florida if you had a few plants going for your own medical needs. could get like up to 5 years or even more hard time .Around the same amount of jail time or more or less ,that a strong arm hard criminal could get for a violent crime of say rape , armed robbery,Somethings wrong with that. These unconstitutional made up weed laws ,made up by some corrupted elitist of the past and handed down to the present corrupted elitist , when the usa was founded by hemp in the early days.Illegal draconian marijuana laws.
I sent Crist the following email:
I recently came across the following e-mail:
April 16, 2010
Dear Mrs. Goldstein:
Governor Crist received your email and forwarded it to me for a response. I am the Director of the Florida Office of Drug Control. First, thank you for expressing your opinion to our Governor.
It is important to understand that our federal and state drug control policies have one overarching goal: to reduce and, if possible, eliminate the use of illicit drugs like marijuana. Establishing a taxed and regulated legal market for adult marijuana users would not advance the goal of our drug policies. First, legal access to marijuana would likely result in steep usage rate increases. Our experience with alcohol and tobacco has taught us that commercial interests weaken sensible regulatory efforts.
A legal marijuana industry would employ promotion, advertising, and lobbying to increase demand while maintaining prices well below their current black market levels. Stimulating demand while lowering prices would undoubtedly lead to both increases in the number of Americans that use marijuana as well as the intensity with which they use it.
I am very concerned about the health and wellbeing of Florida citizens. The deaths caused each year by alcohol and tobacco represent a major cost to society that is in no way offset by the tax revenue generated by the sales of these substances. Furthermore, I do not believe that the adverse consequences of marijuana use (respiratory diseases, traffic fatalities, poor school performance, dependence, etc.) could ever offset the potential tax revenue it might generate.
Any policy change that results in an increase in marijuana use, particularly among youth, is unacceptable. Cannabis use has acute effects on attention and memory, something that constitutes a particular problem for adolescents still in school and perhaps contemplating a collegiate future. Furthermore, marijuana use impairs judgment and motor skills, posing a serious risk of automobile accidents. It is also estimated that about 10% of marijuana users eventually become dependent on it. By enforcing policies that suppress the use of addictive drugs like marijuana, we are affirming our ultimate respect for freedom and liberty by ensuring that fewer Americans get trapped into a life of addiction.
Finally, please be aware that federal and Florida laws prohibit “medical marijuana” because an expert review of the evidence conducted by the Institute of Medicine concluded that “Smoked marijuana…is a crude THC delivery system that also delivers harmful substances…[and] cannot be expected to provide a precisely defined drug effect. For those reasons there is little future in smoked marijuana as a medically approved medication.” Safer and scientifically proven drugs exist for all of the medical conditions that marijuana is erroneously thought to treat.
Again, thank you for your correspondence to Governor Crist.
Sincerely,
Bruce D. Grant
Director
Florida Office of Drug Control
I have some things to say about it. To keep things simple I will break it down into “bite-sized” chunks for you.
The first part:
“Governor Crist received your email and forwarded it to me for a response. I am the Director of the Florida Office of Drug Control. First, thank you for expressing your opinion to our Governor.”
I can imagine that you are a busy man, being the governor of the state, I imagine that the difficulties of your job often keep you awake all hours of the night, I can also deduce that you have quite a bit of paperwork to deal with, however I don’t think if the letter was addressed to you, that it was ACTUALLY addressed for Bruce D. Grant. I believe that if the people of the state spent their time typing you a letter, they would at least anticipate hearing from you or one of the secretaries that work under you, not for you to push the responsibility to someone else (even if you believe they are more qualified to answer the question). A better idea would be to suggest the person contact someone with more expertise on the subject, not just “scrape the veggies into the dogs bowl”.
This next part sounds good:
“It is important to understand that our federal and state drug control policies have one overarching goal: to reduce and, if possible, eliminate the use of illicit drugs like marijuana.”
It’s a good goal, but lets be realistic here, if we as a country can’t eliminate a man who is last known to be living in Pakistan, up in the mountains, hooked up to a kidney dialysis machine, how do you plan to eliminate something that has as much backing by both popular culture and underground culture as marijuana (blockbuster movies like “Harold and Kumar go to White Castle” and it’s derivatives, television shows such as My Name is Earl, Weeds, Family Guy, etc.)? Wouldn’t these same resources have been better used streamed into the monitoring of sex offenders (whose numbers are up to 52,639 as of December 2009[http://www.missingkids.com/en_US/documents/sex-offender-map.pdf page 2]) and the prevention of crimes that affect children? Maybe if we had a “war on sexual abuse” such recent incidents as the Sommer Thompson rape and murder could have been solved sooner, if not prevented all together. Then again it may be just as “successful” as the “war on drugs”.
“Establishing a taxed and regulated legal market for adult marijuana users would not advance the goal of our drug policies.”
Actually, it would advance the goal of your drug policies.
Main Entry: il·lic·it
Pronunciation: \(?)i(l)-?li-s?t\
Function: adjective
Etymology: Latin illicitus, from in- + licitus lawful — more at licit
Date: 1506
: not permitted : unlawful
If marijuana were to be legalized and regulated for adult use it would no longer be considered illicit and therefore would advance your goals CONSIDERABLY. In 2006 of all the drug arrests, 44% of them were for marijuana [http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/cius2006/index.html]. So to legalize marijuana would be to eliminate illicit drug use by at least 44%, which , might I remind you, is a MAJOR decrease unprecedented by the current “war on drugs” as-is.
“First, legal access to marijuana would likely result in steep usage rate increases.”
Site your sources, because the sources I find are all the same(in regards to previous legalization efforts carried out in the Netherlands, home to Amsterdam):
“The figures for cannabis use among the general population reveal the same pictures. The Netherlands does not differ greatly from other European countries. In contrast, a comparison with the US shows a striking difference in this area: 32.9% of Americans aged 12 and above have experience with cannabis and 5.1% have used in the past month. These figures are twice as high as those in the Netherlands.”
Source: Netherlands Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport, Drug Policy in the Netherlands: Progress Report September 1997-September 1999, (The Hague: Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport, November 1999), pp. 7-8.
“Our experience with alcohol and tobacco has taught us that commercial interests weaken sensible regulatory efforts.”
Commercial interests also affect who has enough money for the “better” campaign as such institutions as Bank of America, Citi bank, and others have shown us time and time again. Are you suggesting we get rid of all the commercial interests for every cause? If so you would completely throw out our economy as we know it, seeing how we are a consumer society there will ALWAYS be commercial interest for something. The biggest commercial interests would be from movies and other media held in high regards by the populous and as I see it, there is already millions of dollars legally being invested in marijuana by the above mentioned movies and television shows earlier in the letter, so your regulatory efforts are already being weakened by what us, as the consumers, have said we want. It isn’t just a trend, Cheech and Chong movies from the 60’s-70’s up to the marijuana hits of today, these messages aren’t going anywhere and are in fact growing more and more every year. To pretend that it isn’t a hot topic on the lips of Americans is to outright close your eyes to what the people want, just as president Obama did after the most popular questions on his change.gov website regarding marijuana were shrugged off and laughed at.
“A legal marijuana industry would employ promotion, advertising, and lobbying to increase demand while maintaining prices well below their current black market levels. Stimulating demand while lowering prices would undoubtedly lead to both increases in the number of Americans that use marijuana as well as the intensity with which they use it.”
All I see here is the potential for jobs, which considering the unemployment rates for Florida (12% [http://www.bls.gov/bls/unemployment.htm]) wouldn’t be a bad thing, now would it? As for an increase in marijuana use if it were made legal let me refer you to this chart:
Comparing Important Drug and Violence Indicators
Social Indicator Comparison Year USA Netherlands
Lifetime prevalence of marijuana use (ages 12+) 2001 36.9% 1 17.0% 2
Past month prevalence of marijuana use (ages 12+) 2001 5.4% 1 3.0% 2
Lifetime prevalence of heroin use (ages 12+) 2001 1.4% 1 0.4% 2
Incarceration Rate per 100,000 population 2002 701 3 100 4
Per capita spending on criminal justice system (in Euros) 1998 €379 5 €223 5
Homicide rate per 100,000 population Average 1999-2001 5.56 6 1.51 6
Source: 1: US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, National Household Survey on Drug Abuse: Volume I. Summary of National Findings (Washington, DC: HHS, August 2002), p. 109, Table H.1.
2: Trimbos Institute, “Report to the EMCDDA by the Reitox National Focal Point, The Netherlands Drug Situation 2002” (Lisboa, Portugal: European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, Nov. 2002), p. 28, Table 2.1.
3: Walmsley, Roy, “World Prison Population List (fifth edition) (London, England: Research, Development and Statistics Directorate of the Home Office), Dec. 2003, p. 3, Table 2.
4: Walmsley, Roy, “World Prison Population List (fifth edition) (London, England: Research, Development and Statistics Directorate of the Home Office), Dec. 2003, p. 5, Table 4.
5: van Dijk, Frans & Jaap de Waard, “Legal infrastructure of the Netherlands in international perspective: Crime control” (Netherlands: Ministry of Justice, June 2000), p. 9, Table S.13.
6: Barclay, Gordon, Cynthia Tavares, Sally Kenny, Arsalaan Siddique & Emma Wilby, “International comparisons of criminal justice statistics 2001,” Issue 12/03 (London, England: Home Office Research, Development & Statistics Directorate, October 2003), p. 10, Table 1.1.
If you do have any sources baking your statement I would love to see them.
“I am very concerned about the health and wellbeing of Florida citizens. The deaths caused each year by alcohol and tobacco represent a major cost to society that is in no way offset by the tax revenue generated by the sales of these substances.”
Need I remind you that there are 0 deaths attributed to marijuana use, therefore rendering this statement unnecessary rhetoric.
“Furthermore, I do not believe that the adverse consequences of marijuana use (respiratory diseases, traffic fatalities, poor school performance, dependence, etc.) could ever offset the potential tax revenue it might generate.”
There are so many things wrong with this statement I can’t fathom where to start so I will address them in the order presented.
1. Respiratory diseases are only viable if the user smokes the cannabis. As of right now there are a multitude of ways to consume marijuana, smoking being the oldest of them. They have machines that heat the marijuana to just under combustion yet are hot enough to “vaporize” the active cannibanoids thus creating a “mist” that is purely the “active ingredients” and not any of the harmful by-products of combustion. I have heard the experience is very similar to a nebulizer. There is also the ingestion of marijuana via mouth in food products.
2. Traffic fatalities will always be a present and important issue, while marijuana does impair reaction time and motor abilities it is nowhere near as impairing as alcohol and if desired (as is currently done) can be considered a DUI by an officer of the law and ticketed and handled as such.
3. Poor school performance would be out of the question. If it is regulated for adult use there would be much LESS marijuana in schools than there is now. In fact, many students smoke marijuana BECAUSE it is easier to get than alcohol (a legal substance for adult use).
4. Dependence is a funny issue. Think for a second about your day without caffeine. No coffee, no cola, no tea, nothing, not a single drop of it. If you are like 80-90%(estimated usage percentages) of Americans it’d be a pretty hard thing to imagine. If you don’t think so, try it for a month. Can’t handle a month? Try a week. People can become dependant on anything. The need to go a certain route to work, the necessity of going to church, the unprecedented desire to have sexual intercourse. Anyone could argue dependence issues with any of these things.
“Any policy change that results in an increase in marijuana use, particularly among youth, is unacceptable. Cannabis use has acute effects on attention and memory, something that constitutes a particular problem for adolescents still in school and perhaps contemplating a collegiate future.”
Before we get on the “our children are our future” and “no child left behind” take a look at your education as-is. Being a student in Florida through the vast majority of my education I can tell you a thing or two. I myself, being asked by Duke University to take the SAT test in seventh grade, find your concern for education to be appalling. This is one of the singularly WORST states to try to pursue an education in. Go up to Minnesota or other states and they are learning our curriculum as much as two years BEFORE students here. I remember instances where kids were placed in classes they had already taken for the sake of having all of their credits because the schools didn’t offer anything higher. Besides, if marijuana were on the same grounds legally as alcohol, where would this vast flux of marijuana to students come from, Parents? I myself would rather the students get it from a source such as their parents every once in a while then someone off the street also selling black market pharmaceuticals, crack, meth, speed, lsd, opium, etc. .
“Furthermore, marijuana use impairs judgment and motor skills, posing a serious risk of automobile accidents.”
They are going to drive under the influence of marijuana, legal or not, if they really want to. Bust them for DUI’s and get some more money into the justice department.
“It is also estimated that about 10% of marijuana users eventually become dependent on it. By enforcing policies that suppress the use of addictive drugs like marijuana, we are affirming our ultimate respect for freedom and liberty by ensuring that fewer Americans get trapped into a life of addiction.”
33% to 50% of people who experiment with nicotine become regular users, of those 70%-90% become addicted (dependant). [http://www.aadac.com/87_451.asp] If I was betting money, I’d throw it all on tobacco. Let’s face it, if I would stand to profit, the payout would be less for tobacco but the odds of winning are stellar.
The last part is a paradox and should be read as: “By suppressing the freedoms of responsible adults to enjoy marijuana as an alternative to tobacco or alcohol we are affirming the status quo to ensure we don’t look like we have been imprisoning people, breaking up families, and ruining their lives with felony charges thus stripping them of all of their freedoms such as the freedom to vote for little to no reason”.
“Finally, please be aware that federal and Florida laws prohibit “medical marijuana” because an expert review of the evidence conducted by the Institute of Medicine concluded that “Smoked marijuana…is a crude THC delivery system that also delivers harmful substances…[and] cannot be expected to provide a precisely defined drug effect. For those reasons there is little future in smoked marijuana as a medically approved medication.” Safer and scientifically proven drugs exist for all of the medical conditions that marijuana is erroneously thought to treat.”
First off, remember earlier when I said that marijuana doesn’t have to be smoked to be ingested? That fact STILL hasn’t changed.
Also a quote that has been so butchered can say anything you want. For instance, I will now quote Bruce D. Grant “It is important to understand that… A legal marijuana industry would employ… [hundreds] of Americans… as well as [increase]… the health and wellbeing of Florida citizens.”
Finally, I find the fact that in the ENTIRE letter there wasn’t a single source (not even the person being quoted in the last paragraph) to be extremely alarming. I am assuming that to be in any political position one must have some type of a secondary education out of the way and if you were to write anything in college (or even high school for that matter) it is required to have sources and/or a bibliography.
I’m looking forward to YOUR response on these matters, and I am also looking forward to some source material on your rebuttals.
wow this lady is dumb. she does not know anything about marijuana, and it is obvious.
yeah there are other legal madications out there that can treat the same things as marijuana, but they’re all more dangerous than pot. They all have shitty side affects and i am sure one can overdose on them all… you can’t overdose on pot. OR die from it for that matter; soo she can stop worrying about the increase of deaths from pot too… and hey maybe it would reduce the amount of people dying from alcohol poisioning because they will switch to smoking pot instead when it becomes legal.. =)…..
think about it.
If you cannot keep drugs out of jails, how can they keep them out of our homes?
it’s time to end the ”war on drugs” in it’s present form-legalize-tax control pot! take the profit out of the hands of criminals. end the power base of the drug cartels NOW!
This guy is clearly an idiot. its easier for a child to get their hands on marijuana due to the fact that it is not regulated. Not to say that the government should regulate it but they sure as hell could use the tax revenue from taxing people who grow,sell and buy it. Its time for people who do not have this country’s best interested at heart to be removed from office and people who do to be elected into office. No longer can the american people stand by and watch our fellow citizens lives ruined by these selfish and thoughtless morons such as bruce grant. It’s also evident that bruce has not done any research on the matter of marijuana. He states that marijuana has harmful effects and drugs manufactured by lab rats are the answer for our medical problems. I wonder how much xanax this idiot takes daily. Its time for all Americans that have a brain and can think logically on the matter to DEMAND reform from out elected officials. They do not fear us and its about time the people of this great country remind them who is really in charge. Vote, not only at the ballot boxes but with your wallets and your minds. Stop supporting the things these people try to pass along on all of us. Find out what companies these idiots support and boycott them. Most importantly elect these morons out of office. We need to stand strong on the issues that most greatly affect our everyday lives. Cutting jobs, pay and benefits of hardworking people is an abomination and legalizing cannabis would create not only tax revenues for the state but it will reduce the billions of dollars spent of enforcing cannabis prohibition. And you are worried about use going up well that would only be a good thing if you look at it from a tax revenue standpoint. The elections are coming in november and we need people to push these issues into the open forums and debates that will take place up until election day. Make sure we vote competent, mentally sound and good hearted people into office. And they damn well better be cannabis reform supporters!!!!!
he doesn’t want to have to look for a new job…
my god, what twisted *logic*…
I was a kid of the 60’s & 70’s, did marijuana & other drugs for a bit & just stopped, didn’t really care for pot (then) but my point is I had choice & I made that choice (but maybe in my later days I may choose to go back). I don’t use it today but I agree with most up top, it should be legal, period, not just for medicinal use. When I’m “older” & in some kind of arthric pain (or worse)insomnia and so on, I can tell you this, beer isn’t gonna help & all those pharmacutical drugs they have out there now, well the side effects are horendice & in more ways then one can kill you and anyone else should you be in a car accident. Just listen to those drug adds & their side effects, there leathal & you know most politicians have stock in drug companies. I say just legalize it, Florida is a prime growing area & the job market would explode. Booze causes people to get violent, never experienced it & never saw it on marijuana though. Question: Where do I go to vote in november, I’m sure it’s not going to be broadcast in this backwards state of Floria.
Thanks for letting me speak my piece/(pipe).
I love how no prohibitionist ever admits that marijuana has never killed a single person in history, compared to thousands of deaths caused by alcohol alone. Hell you have a better chance overdosing on water than overdosing on marijuana.
And what exactly is so bad about marijuana addiction? Tobacco addiction gives you cancer and other health problems. Alcohol addiction destroys your liver and causes you to go home and beat your wife. Marijuana addiction? I’m not going to deny it, I get my respiratory problems from time to time. But it sure beats acting like a drunk fool everyday. And marijuana chills you out. You’re not going to start a fight when you’re high simply because weed makes you too lazy to get out of your seat.
If they’re going to keep marijuana illegal, then they should at least stop being hypocrites and make alcohol, tobacco, and all those pharma drugs that have insane side effects illegal. I mean come on. You take a pharma medication for herpes and you right back to the doctor a month later for heart problems. This system is unbalanced.
Oh and saying marijuana interferes with education? This man must have never went to college because there are a lot of weed smokers in college who go on to live successful lives. Look at Obama.
Btw I hope this guy knows that because of the CSA, I can get an ounce of marijuana a lot easier than a can of beer.
why do we never see ”progressive”candidates come out in favor of legal, taxable ,pot? norml + teaparty = natural allies for legal herb! BOTH beleive the govt. needs to stay out of peoples lives to the greatest extent possible! WE all need to unite people! LIBERTARIANS,TEAPARTY ACTIVISTS,NORML ACTIVIST-we are all sick of the SOCIALIST ”GOVT. SHOULD WIPE YOUR BUTT AND BLOW YOUR NOSE” DIMS AND THE ” IF YOU DONT HAVE AT LEAST 10 MILL IN THE BANK THEN YOU DON’T COUNT” REPUBLICANS TELLING US THAT ”WE KNOW WHAT IS BEST FOR YOU”! Everybody who want’s a change should get off their collective asses and vote,vote, vote! MAKE the existing power structure of good ol boys and good ol girls fear not only for the govt. position they hold, but fear for the very existense of the PARTY whose good they revere above the good of the american people! SHAKE the tree! rip out the roots and rock their WORLD!
Here’s your sign
Florida isn’t gonna change until all the bible thumping, holy rollers in office die or we send all these old ppl back to the states they came from, we need a law that makes it illegal for you to move to FL after your 65th birthday! Lets get some young blood in office FL!!!
there are a lot of chritians,elderly ect that agree pot should be legal! you would be amazed at the things i’ve overheard at my motherinlaw’s bridge club! reach out to each other to form a unified cohesive force,by dividing the people along race or age or culture lines we allow the govt. to control us! WE THE PEOPLE are in control! YOU just have to realize it!
How many episodes of Intervention have we seen with marijuana addictions? Now how many have we seen with people with insane additions to the very legal and lucrative doctor prescribed pain killers. I am a T-12 paraplegic after an on the job accident 3 years ago. I deal with pain daily and the doctors are happy to pass me a bottle of Lortabs. But if I decide to grow a plant that can provide pain relief without the side effects and horribly additive qualities of opiates I will be considered a “criminal”. I hope we catch up one day, it is just common sense.
Lifelong Floridian. Both political parties here pride themselves on being anti-cannabis. To the point that they brag about having created the harshest cannabis laws in the USA. But, this is typical mistaken thinking. The harsher the penalties the higher the profits for cannabis traffickers. The more they make cannabis the ‘forbidden fruit’, the greater the demand. Cannabis is readily available to anyone who wants it here in just a very short time. Florida’s prohibitionists hate to admit that criminalization means only drug dealers sell cannabis, which means the readily sell pot to minors. Remember, criminals don’t card for age. Plud, we have the highest elderly population & they could greatly benefit from treating their infirmities with cannabis. But, they’ve been brainwashed into believing cannabis is the devils weed. Wrong, cannabis was created by God & for man’s use. It’s going to take a lot to deprogram the voters of this state.
Maybe sucessful legalization programs in other states would go a long way toward changing minds. Once people see massive drops in crime and a large influx of tax dollars accompanied by job creation in the private sector I think minds might be changed remarkably fast!
I’m a resident of Escambia County, Florida and this is what I just sent my governor. I just hope it even gets read by them.
“Mr. Crist,
I am sincerely disappointed in you, and the backwards government going on in Florida. I recently was informed about what you allowed your polive to do to Rachel Hoffman of Tallahassee. This woman was arrested for “possession of marijuana” and then forced to wear a wire and buy nasty, illicit drugs that she herself would never use, such as cocaine and heroine. She was MURDERED, Mr. Crist, murdered for such an ignorant reason.
Are you aware that half of your residents are strung out on cocaine, meth, amphetamines, and opiates? Meanwhile, you’re still worried about marijuana users??! Do you realize how rediculous that is?!
In the letter that you employed Mr. Grant to send to south Floridian Karen Goldstein, there are numerous false statements given that I would like to address and correct. I will of course BACK UP my work with where I got my information, something your Mr. Grant didn’t do. I’ll make sure to put EVERYTHING he said, so as not to be taken out of context.
Bruce Grant:
“It is important to understand that our federal and state drug control policies have one overarching goal: to reduce and, if possible, eliminate the use of illicit drugs like marijuana. Establishing a taxed and regulated legal market for adult marijuana users would not advance the goal of our drug policies. First, legal access to marijuana would likely result in steep usage rate increases. Our experience with alcohol and tobacco has taught us that commercial interests weaken sensible regulatory efforts. ”
First off, when the Netherlands decriminalized marijuana, usage actually DROPPED. Alcohol and tobacco are NOT on the same scale as marijuana, they are in fact FAR more dangerous. They are both severely addictive and end up with the highest reason for deaths out of anything in the world when combined. Name one single death that you can blame on marijuana, OTHER than because of the useless violence police officers have enforced on the citizens of the United States. I promise you, EVERY death related to marijuana was caused by a misuse of power. This is why no one trusts law officials anymore.
Mr. Grant:
“I am very concerned about the health and wellbeing of Florida citizens. The deaths caused each year by alcohol and tobacco represent a major cost to society that is in no way offset by the tax revenue generated by the sales of these substances. Furthermore, I do not believe that the adverse consequences of marijuana use (respiratory diseases, traffic fatalities, poor school performance, dependence, etc.) could ever offset the potential tax revenue it might generate.”
Fact: In 1972, after reviewing the scientific evidence, the National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse concluded that while marijuana was not entirely safe, its dangers had been grossly overstated. Since then, researchers have conducted thousands of studies of humans, animals, and cell cultures. None reveal any findings dramatically different from those described by the National Commission in 1972. In 1995, based on thirty years of scientific research editors of the British medical journal Lancet concluded that “the smoking of cannabis, even long term, is not harmful to health.”
United States. National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse. Marihuana: A signal of misunderstanding. Shafer Commission Report. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1972.
“Deglamorising Cannabis.” Editorial. The Lancet 356:11(1995): 1241.
Mr. Grant:
“Any policy change that results in an increase in marijuana use, particularly among youth, is unacceptable. Cannabis use has acute effects on attention and memory, something that constitutes a particular problem for adolescents still in school and perhaps contemplating a collegiate future.”
Fact: For twenty-five years, researchers have searched for a marijuana-induced amotivational syndrome and have failed to find it. People who are intoxicated constantly, regardless of the drug, are unlikely to be productive members of society. There is nothing about marijuana specifically that causes people to lose their drive and ambition. In laboratory studies, subjects given high doses of marijuana for several days or even several weeks exhibit no decrease in work motivation or productivity. Among working adults, marijuana users tend to earn higher wages than non-users. College students who use marijuana have the same grades as nonusers. Among high school students, heavy use is associated with school failure, but school failure usually comes first.
Himmelstein, J.L. The Strange Career of Marihuana: Politics and Ideology of Drug Control in America. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1983.
Mellinger, G.D. et al. “Drug Use, Academic Performance, and Career Indecision: Longitudinal Data in Search of a Model.” Longitudinal Research on Drug Use: Empirical Findings and Methodological Issues. Ed. D.B. Kandel. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, 1978. 157-177.
Pope, H.G. et al., “Drug Use and Life Style Among College Undergraduates in 1989: A Comparison With 1969 and 1978,” American Journal of Psychiatry 147 (1990): 998-1001.
Mr. Grant:
“Furthermore, marijuana use impairs judgment and motor skills, posing a serious risk of automobile accidents. It is also estimated that about 10% of marijuana users eventually become dependent on it. By enforcing policies that suppress the use of addictive drugs like marijuana, we are affirming our ultimate respect for freedom and liberty by ensuring that fewer Americans get trapped into a life of addiction.”
Fact: There is no compelling evidence that marijuana contributes substantially to traffic accidents and fatalities. At some doses, marijuana affects perception and psychomotor performances- changes which could impair driving ability. However, in driving studies, marijuana produces little or no car-handling impairment- consistently less than produced by low moderate doses of alcohol and many legal medications. In contrast to alcohol, which tends to increase risky driving practices, marijuana tends to make subjects more cautious. Surveys of fatally injured drivers show that when THC is detected in the blood, alcohol is almost always detected as well. For some individuals, marijuana may play a role in bad driving. The overall rate of highway accidents appears not to be significantly affected by marijuana’s widespread use in society.
Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse. “Legalization: Panacea or Pandora’s Box”. New York. (1995):36.
Swan, Neil. “A Look at Marijuana’s Harmful Effects.” NIDA Notes. 9.2 (1994): 14.
Moskowitz, Herbert and Robert Petersen. Marijuana and Driving: A Review. Rockville: American Council for Drug Education, 1982. 7.
Mann, Peggy. Marijuana Alert. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1985. 265.
Fact: Marijuana produces immediate, temporary changes in thoughts, perceptions, and information processing. The cognitive process most clearly affected by marijuana is short-term memory. In laboratory studies, subjects under the influence of marijuana have no trouble remembering things they learned previously. However, they display diminished capacity to learn and recall new information. This diminishment only lasts for the duration of the intoxication. There is no convincing evidence that heavy long-term marijuana use permanently impairs memory or other cognitive functions.
Wetzel, C.D. et al., “Remote Memory During Marijuana Intoxication,” Psychopharmacology 76 (1982): 278-81.
Deadwyler, S.A. et al., “The Effects of Delta-9-THC on Mechanisms of Learning and Memory.” Neurobiology of Drug Abuse: Learning and Memory. Ed. L. Erinoff. Rockville, MD: National Institute on Drug Abuse 1990. 79-83.
Block, R.I. et al., “Acute Effects of Marijuana on Cognition: Relationships to Chronic Effects and Smoking Techniques.” Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior 43 (1992): 907-917.
Fact: Most people who smoke marijuana smoke it only occasionally. A small minority of Americans – less than 1 percent – smoke marijuana on a daily basis. An even smaller minority develop a dependence on marijuana. Some people who smoke marijuana heavily and frequently stop without difficulty. Others seek help from drug treatment professionals. Marijuana does not cause physical dependence. If people experience withdrawal symptoms at all, they are remarkably mild.
United States. Dept. of Health and Human Services. DASIS Report Series, Differences in Marijuana Admissions Based on Source of Referral. 2002. June 24 2005.
Johnson, L.D., et al. “National Survey Results on Drug Use from the Monitoring the Future Study, 1975-1994, Volume II: College Students and Young Adults.” Rockville, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1996.
Kandel, D.B., et al. “Prevalence and demographic correlates of symptoms of dependence on cigarettes, alcohol, marijuana and cocaine in the U.S. population.” Drug and Alcohol Dependence 44 (1997):11-29.
Stephens, R.S., et al. “Adult marijuana users seeking treatment.” Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 61 (1993): 1100-1104.
and finally, Mr. Grant:
“Finally, please be aware that federal and Florida laws prohibit “medical marijuana” because an expert review of the evidence conducted by the Institute of Medicine concluded that “Smoked marijuana…is a crude THC delivery system that also delivers harmful substances…[and] cannot be expected to provide a precisely defined drug effect. For those reasons there is little future in smoked marijuana as a medically approved medication.” Safer and scientifically proven drugs exist for all of the medical conditions that marijuana is erroneously thought to treat.”
Fact: Marijuana has been shown to be effective in reducing the nausea induced by cancer chemotherapy, stimulating appetite in AIDS patients, and reducing intraocular pressure in people with glaucoma. There is also appreciable evidence that marijuana reduces muscle spasticity in patients with neurological disorders. A synthetic capsule is available by prescription, but it is not as effective as smoked marijuana for many patients. Pure THC may also produce more unpleasant psychoactive side effects than smoked marijuana. Many people use marijuana as a medicine today, despite its illegality. In doing so, they risk arrest and imprisonment.
Vinciguerra, Vincent; Moore, Terry and Eileen Brennan. “Inhalation marijuana as an antiemetic for cancer chemotherapy.” New York State Journal of Medicine 85 (1988): 525-27.
McCabe M, Smith FP, Macdonald JS. “Efficacy of tetrahydrocannabinol in patients refractory to standard antiemetic therapy.” Investigational New Drugs 6.3 (1988): 243-46.
Gorter, R., et al. “Dronabionol effects on weight in patients with HIV infection.” 1992. AIDS 6 (1992):127-38.
Foltin, R.W., et al. “Behavioral analysis of marijuana effects on food intake in humans.” Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior 25 (1986): 577-82.
Crawford, W.J. and Merritt, J.C. “Effect of tetrahydrocannabinol on Arterial and Intraocular Hypertension.” International Journal of Clinical of Pharmacology and Biopharmaceuticals 17 (1979):191-96.
Merritt, J.C., et al. “Effects of marijuana on intraocular and blood pressure on glaucoma.” Ophthamology 87 (1980):222-28.
Baker, D., Gareth Pryce and J. Ludovic Croxford. “Cannabinoids control spasticity and tremor in a multiple sclerosis model.” Nature 404.6773 (2000): 84-7.
Hanigan, W.C., et al. “The Effect of Delta-9-THC on Human Spasticity.” Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics 39 (1986):198.
I can only pray that you took the time to read this. Realizing that your home government is THAT uninformed is a sickening feeling. Something has GOT to change. You say that you’re protecting our freedom by keeping this plant illegal, but in doing so you send millions to jail and/or prison every single year. Eliminating the chances of them getting a good job and doing well for themselves is NOT protecting our freedom. Shouldn’t it be OUR choice anyway?? Isn’t it “We the People” that are supposed to be heard and acknowledged? Are you aware that this plant has only been illegal 1% of the entire time it’s been in use? Are you aware that the founding fathers of this great country, including one Abraham Lincoln, smoked “the sweet herb” on the steps of the White House? Are you aware that when our country was founded, it was illegal NOT to grow “the Indian hemp plant?” Are you aware that the only reason it was made illegal in the first place was based on racism against African Americans and Mexicans? You are supporting hate and inprisonment as opposed to love and peace.
Soooo many contradictions here. Our founding fathers would be ashamed.”
why are tabaco&alchohol legal killing thousands of people every year but marijuana is illegal and hasn’t killed anyone.I know there’s probably sum dumbass who got high and did something real stupid and got hurt.Not everyone(stupid ppl) should smoke.IF THERE TRYN TO PROTECT OUR FREEDOM WHY ARE THEY ARRESTING MILLIONS OF PPL,IT’S BECAUSE THEY MAKE MILLIONS MAYBE BILLIONS.THROUGH PROBATION AND JAIL TIME.THEY’RE NOT PROTECTING US BUT THERE MONEY.THE PUNISHMENT SHOULD NOT EXCEED THE CRIME.ALSO FREE LEONARD PELTIER!!!!
Hillary went before world goverments talking about how freedom activist were being run over by steel goverments or something to that effect.
Don’t one think that she should be looking first in her own back yard.
there’s a LOT of money in keeping pot illegal for a few people, there’s A lot MORE in making pot legal for EVERYONE!
I have been an avid smoker for 15 of my 30 years. During this time I have quit smoking tobacco and stopped drinking alcohol. Never in those 15 years have I once smoked pot and felt encouraged to try another, stronger drug such as opiates. However, getting drunk has impaired my judgment enough to the point of trying cocaine, prescription drugs and even reverting back to smoking tobacco. I’m also a Florida resident as well as a college student. I must say that I was displeased to learn that medicinal marijuana act was not place on the ballot yet again for the upcoming November ballot. Plus not to mention that less than 10,000 signatures were validated for the ridiculous amount of 700,000 signatures required for the initiative to even make the ballot. Governor Crist has been a complete waste of public resources and should have never made office in the first place. I think NORML should start promoting state legislation on their website to help inform voters of when these initiatives are up for petition or on the ballot.
[Editor’s note: NORML has been promoting and reporting on state legislation and initiatives online since 1994….federal and state legislation, as well as the means to communicate with one’s elected policymaker is found here.]
OMG! Too funny, well not really at all but OMG!
I wrote an email to the govenor and got the same email back!In fact it ticked me off so much I just sent this entire page to the govenor and Bruce Grant. Hope they like hearing what the public thinks.
July 15th, 2010 I submitted a request to reschedule cannabis on the Controlled Substance Schedule to the DEA, FDA, Dept of HHS and the Attorney General. I then posted it online. It is very different from anything I have found submitted to date. Instead of the same request so many have done, I backed it up with documentation, explanation, insight, and history. Please read it online at ;
http://requesttoreschedulecannabis.blog.com/
I honestly believe enough research has been done and it is time to
accept the fact cannabis has medicinal value as my request and
so much more proves.
As someone who suffers from
Celiac – Autoimmune Disease and Rare Disease
Rheumatory Arthritis – Autoimmune Disease
Osteoperosis – Rare Disease and Autoimmune Disease
Hypokalemia – Rare Disease
Peripherial Neuropathy – Rare Disease related/induced (Hypokalemia)
Duendonitis – Autoimmune related/induced (Celiac)
Hiatal Hernia – Autoimmune related/induced (Celiac)
Gerd – Autoimmune related/induce (Celiac)
Persistent Low Grade Fever – Autoimmune and Rare Disease related/induced
I am begging all to please change the state and federal laws and schedule.
My body can not tolerate the chemical pharmaceuticals.
It is a criminal offense for officials or executives of the U.S. government to direct orconspire to wage a deliberate campaign of misinformation, omission of fact, and outright lies with our tax dollars.
As soon as citizens start holding the politicians responsible for their crimes and reminding them of this fact the better off we will all be. I wish Norml would start pursueing that!
Sincerely – it is the best medicine for many!
Read the request – the documented science proves it.
Ask thosed cured of cancer by cannabis who were dying on chemo.
Fighting for my life!
hard working americans have been smoking it for years along with our judges, politicians teachers and scientists, athelets, coaches and yes even the police i don’t see the problem if your an adult and smoke it RESPONSIBLY. adults should have an option ….our nation is going broke and ironiclly the tax money will be needed to support social security and the pensions many of our police officers are expecting to recieve when they retire. we can’t just make money out of the air, lock innocent people up in jail or prison and start wars by fake terrorism and shove phoney man made chemicals down our citizens throat, pollute the enviorment to save money for the rich industries in the name of making the rich richer at the average americans expense. it appears the sins of our polliticians have found them and it’s the average americans who suffer initially….
Hello i think its kinda stupid that they said that they have prescription drugs for every health issue marijuana fixes well on my opinion that’s really interesting because i don’t think you are helping your self by “popping pills” because i know one true fact about pills no offense to those who take pills pills ruin your liver and if you are against marijuana and say it ruins your lungs don’t forget now that marijuana cannot be only inhaled or smoked as you may say it can also be eaten and as far as research shows marijuana DOES NOT do any harmful things to your liver as pills and there has been lots of improvement over the years on smoking like filters,bongs,and finally vaporizers and etc. thank you i hope my comment WILL make a difference on making Florida a proud medical and possible in the future a legal for anyone state. thank you hello from Ukraine.
this is absolutely crazzy… the american people are going to do what they want no matter what wether its legal or not… the government needs to relise that they are fighting a losing battle and need to let the people decide if marijuana should be legaal or not. i cant wait for the day to be able to light up and blow the smoke in a cops face
haha this whole letter is a bunch of Lies, and MisInformation.
First off:” It is also estimated that about 10% of marijuana users eventually become dependent on it”,we are affirming our ultimate respect for freedom and liberty by ensuring that fewer Americans get trapped into a life of addiction.
Ohhh Yeaa such bullshit..How about all the RX meds that are so over prescribed to sink in the “Legal Drug Addiction”..Oxy’s Roxy’s all the Pain meds, not to mention your mood elevators..
Cannabis does not in any case form a Chemical Dependency, Which carry Extreme sypmtoms from withdrawls.
Cannabis may be some what Habbit forming but that is a FAR CRY from creating “a life of addiction”.
This all Pisses me off so much!!!
Second Dumb statement:
“I am very concerned about the health and wellbeing of Florida citizens. The deaths caused each year by alcohol and tobacco represent a major cost to society that is in no way offset by the tax revenue generated by the sales of these substances. Furthermore, I do not believe that the adverse consequences of marijuana use (respiratory diseases, traffic fatalities, poor school performance, dependence, etc.) could ever offset the potential tax revenue it might generate.”
Well there aren’t any Laws on alcohol and tobacco, yet its a Proven fact that alcahol is the WORST//Most Dangerous, unhealty intoxicant around. Worse than Herion, Crack, Meth, PcP, MDMA, Cocaine, And Marijuana. Not to mention the number of people that get cancer from any form of tabacco use…
I will finish by commenting on this one Quote:
“we are affirming our ultimate respect for freedom and liberty”
If this were the land of the free, a plant wouldnt be Illegal also qualify as a schedule 1 drug…
So that means that Cocaine (schedule 2)is a safer drug?
Our government is so fucked up…they wont legalize bud because we can grow it.
MeanWhile Doctors are getting patients hooked on shit that they can O.D. on, or become addicted to..
Stuff only they can make, get you hooked and keep you coming back, milking every dime on “Rx Medication”.
Then they Become Junkies that will do ANYTHING for that next fix..which is when they end up in jail, Which we pay for. All their meds in jail to keep them of dying from withdrawls..
Shits a Shame..Just let us enjoy gods green earth.
The state Florida gives roxycets away like skittles and there worried about marijuana.
I’m pretty sure post #227 from J-blaze was referring to NORML’s need to spread the word on active ballot initiatives in the different states instead of waiting to know that its going to get on there and pass. It’s a way to help unite citizens in a state around a cause.
Legalize Medical Marijuana in Florida – PUFMM.org
I was diagnosed with MS 10 years ago. About every 3 months or so, I would have a relapse and be confined to my bed without any mobility for 2 months. The only medication that helped me was steroids, which in turn made me balloon up like a hippo. Along with the steroids, I was told to use injections ever 2 days, which cost about $1500 a month! My doctor said the weight wasn’t good for the MS and I still had to take a muscle relaxer for my muscle spasms. I gave birth to a child almost 6 years ago and I had to stop using the injections. A few months after I had her I had another relapse from the MS. Someone I knew suggested that I smoke marijuana. So I tried it, and guess what…I haven’t had a relapse since! I’ve been free and clear of any relapses for the past 5 years and counting. I still have the muscle spasms, but a few puffs from a small joint aleviate it. Unfortunately, I recently stopped smoking because my job is enforcing random drug tests. So for fear of being fired, I had no choice. Now, i’m beginning to feel the effects from the MS again, and if FL does not medicinally legalize cannibus soon, I’ll be forced to move myself and my whole family to a different state. It’s either that, or suffer for the rest of my life!
I am a disabled veteran of Iraq, I have severe PTSD, from the things i experienced while on active duty. I have nightmares wich only allow me to sleep for 4 hours a day if i’m lucky. Most of the time my mind wont let me sleep until i’m drained to the point of exaustion and my body shuts down on it own. Severe depression which makes my family worry about me constantly, chronic pain in my back, knee’s and elbows, I have tremors in my right hand as well as constant headaches from a land mine blast injury. I was put on numerous different meds from the VA. Most which made me have severe withdrawl symptoms within a few days of missing a dose. The Meds would temporarily work or not work at all. Not to mention cause extreme weight gain. I decided to try smoking cannibus and it helped me alot. It helps me alot. My headaches became more tolerable, my tremors went away,the pain in my knees and back went away. And my depression wasn’t there any more, i was getting goodnight rest, I didn’t have a single negative though go through my mind, In fact my family notices a huge difference when i use cannibus for my ailments. And have told me many times they would prefer me using cannibus over The perscriptions. But unfortunatly cannibus is illegal in the state of florida and i am afraid to use it illegaly, because of this, my family is falling apart and i am back to square one with all my problems coming back. I wish there was away to speed up the process of legalizing it for medical use. my family cannot stand to be around me unless i smoke and is currently now in a seperation process with my wife. What can we do? because what we are dong now isn’t enough to get it legalized. who do we have to vote out of power in florida to get it passed? i’m afraid of loosing my family and kids because of of not having a medacine that works as well as cannibus.
I have been smoking cannabis for over 30 year everyday. I have a home that is current on the mortgage in Florida, one kid in college and one in high school. I am a successful business man and family provider. I pay all my bills on time and have a good credit score. I have never not paid my bills missed work passed out driving due to using cannabis for medical or recreational use. I have seen may concerts smoking cannabis and hove not missed a note or passed out.
When I used to drink I missed work all the time, never made it past the end of a show and was sick days after drinking with hangovers. Never had that problem with cannabis and thatis why I choose to use cannabis over drinking or pills made by the FDA.
I support medical cannabis in Florida and the idea that prices will go down is not true. Look at the prices in California avg oz is 400 plus in the medical dispensaries. That is more than the street prices.
Peace and happiness to all. I hope our state wakes up soon before we are forced to move to a cannabis is friendly state.
I am 64 years old and I think Cannabis is a poisen,
a poisen to the powers that be because they do not fully know the consequences of legalization.
The powers that be are afraid of it and so are the their corporate masters.
Richard Lee of Oaksterdam University in Oakland Ca., the man resonsible for getting Cannabis on the ballot to full legalization is in a wheelchair and his Republican mother who is a federal goverment official did not like him using Pot.However, when she saw the good it was doing him she was somewhat amazed and became pro-Cannibis. That is the answer people, educate the goverment and Congress first because the good people at DEA supression central will not agree to losing their tenure. We all know how deluded these officials are and that is I believe the path to enlightenment and change. God bless us all and God enlighten the knucleheads in Goverment.
It is so sad the type of people we elect to govern or state. Since being in office for a year, Charlie Crist has reapproved offshore drilling, cut education founds and put thousands of teachers out of job, and just recently with the rise of unemployment across the country, and he has cut unemployment benefits. Florida economy is worst then it has been in years. It’s sad the kind of people we elect to office just because our neighbor is voting for that person without doing their own research on the candidate. I feel with this type of thinking in office, Florida will become one of the last if not the last state to pass medical use cannabis (That’s with is being passed on a federal level first).
“Smoked marijuana…is a crude THC delivery system that also delivers harmful substances…[and] cannot be expected to provide a precisely defined drug effect” …….. THEN LEGALIZE IT SO WE CAN LEGALLY USE OUR VAPORIZERS AND MAKE BROWNIES AND COOKIES! THAT’S SMOKELESS.
This guy is such an asshole!
What I find funny is that they can never admit the goods of marijuana. Everyone always thinks of marijuana as a way to get high. How about the fact that hemp is one of the strongest materials and that it also produces a very good fuel source and not to mention the fact that it can solve problems for CHILDREN medically. Anything else need to be said? I think not, just wish people would wake up and realize that we adapt and change due to the knowledge that we learn. we have learned the goods of marijuana and yet we still want to deny and ignore possible future gains from accepting this and try and learn more from it.
Its a private property issue.. We trade freedoms for securitys everyday.. WAKE UP PEOPLE
people like to party..i know i did…i rather like the approach of just looking the other way if users wish to smoke in the privacy of their own homes. the war on drugs will never be won, much like the war on piracy. just adapt to your environment and listen to this nations voice. lastly, i don’t see an increase in usage upon it becoming legalized. maybe slightly over hyped at the beginning but things will simmer down in time. good luck america
This is bull. All these politicians are a bunch of jokers.
IF it is good for OBAMA,then it’s good for me!!
Prison labor exchange! Prison labor exchange! Nonviolent drug offenders provide the highest work output and lowest behavioral risk among prison temporary workers. Filling prisons with legitimate criminals cuts WAY back on the pool of trustees, without selling inmate labor today’s prisons could not operate. In turn, prisons and probation offices are invested in ‘making’ (not rehabilitating) criminals. If you don’t believe that, these moronic policy makers suspend drivers licenses for misdemeanors. How much more obvious can you make it that you want it to be impossible to escape the system?