<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1" ?>
<rss version="2.0">
<channel>
	<title>Notîcias Growroom</title>
	<description>Noticias do mundo canábico Growroom</description>
	<link>http://www.growroom.net/board</link>
	<pubDate>Wed, 19 Jun 2013 11:48:38 +0000</pubDate>
	<ttl>15</ttl>
	<item>
		<title>Veterinário É Preso Em Curitiba Por Plantar Maconha</title>
		<link>http://www.growroom.net/board/topic/51152-veterinario-e-preso-em-curitiba-por-plantar-maconha/</link>
		<description><![CDATA[Voc&#234;s viram que um veterin&#225;rio acabou detido hoje na Regi&#227;o Metropolitana de Curitiba sob a acusa&#231;&#227;o de cultivar uma planta&#231;&#227;o de maconha em uma ch&#225;cara de Almirante Tamandar&#233;?&nbsp;&nbsp;Rog&#233;rio Strada, de 43 anos, acabou preso no s&#225;bado, dia quinze de junho, por policiais do N&#250;cleo Metropolitano da Divis&#227;o Estadual de Narc&#243;ticos (Denarc). <br><br><br><br>
Al&#233;m da droga toda, tamb&#233;m foram encontrados tr&#234;s livros sobre cultivo da planta e equipamentos que s&#227;o usados para o cultivo da planta.&nbsp;&nbsp;Na hora H da pris&#227;o, o veterin&#225;rio estava com quatro p&#233;s de maconha&nbsp;&nbsp;e a suspeita da pol&#237;cia &#233; de que o veterin&#225;rio&nbsp;&nbsp;pode ser respons&#225;vel n&#227;o s&#243; pela planta&#231;&#227;o, mas tamb&#233;m pelo cultivo da planta geneticamente modificada. A maconha geneticamente modificada tem princ&#237;pio ativo mais forte do que a comum, para fazer o chamado skunk, ou supermaconha,&nbsp;&nbsp;com 17,5% de Tetrahidrocarbinol (THC) contra 2,5%de THC da maconha normal.<br><br>
Com informa&#231;&#245;es do Bonde<br><br><br>
<a href='http://jornaldopovoparana.com/veterinario-e-preso-por-cultivar-maconha-rmc/' class='bbc_url' title='External link' rel='nofollow external'>http://jornaldopovoparana.com/veterinario-e-preso-por-cultivar-maconha-rmc/</a>]]></description>
		<pubDate>Wed, 19 Jun 2013 11:48:38 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid>http://www.growroom.net/board/topic/51152-veterinario-e-preso-em-curitiba-por-plantar-maconha/</guid>
	</item>
	<item>
		<title>Teimosia Empedernida</title>
		<link>http://www.growroom.net/board/topic/51149-teimosia-empedernida/</link>
		<description><![CDATA[<p style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:verdana, helvetica, sans-serif;text-align:center;"><strong>Teimosia empedernida</strong></p>
<p style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:verdana, helvetica, sans-serif;">&#160;</p>
<p style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:verdana, helvetica, sans-serif;">A falta de no&#231;&#227;o &#224;s vezes vem disfar&#231;ada de boas inten&#231;&#245;es. &#201; o caso da lei que prev&#234; penas maiores para traficantes, que acaba de ser aprovada pela C&#226;mara e vai &#224; vota&#231;&#227;o no Senado.</p>
<p style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:verdana, helvetica, sans-serif;">A proposta do projeto original era ampliar a pena m&#237;nima at&#233; para o contingente formado pelos que trabalham com quantidades pequenas ou vendem droga para custear a parcela que consomem.</p>
<p style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:verdana, helvetica, sans-serif;">Por sorte, o bom senso da parte do governo rejeitou a ideia de trancafiar essa legi&#227;o de pequenos contraventores. Nem que transform&#225;ssemos todas as escolas p&#250;blicas em pres&#237;dios haveria vaga para tanta gente.</p>
<p style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:verdana, helvetica, sans-serif;">Voc&#234;, leitor, que, como eu, morre de medo de ter um filho escravo da depend&#234;ncia qu&#237;mica, gostaria de ver os vendedores na cadeia. Provavelmente, imagina que, se aprision&#225;ssemos todos, o adolescente n&#227;o teria de quem comprar.</p>
<p style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:verdana, helvetica, sans-serif;">N&#227;o menosprezo nem condeno esse pensamento m&#225;gico; j&#225; fui v&#237;tima dele. Depois de 24 anos em contato com traficantes e cadeias, minha vis&#227;o mudou.</p>
<p style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:verdana, helvetica, sans-serif;">Mandar para tr&#225;s das grades quem vende quantidades pequenas &#233; medida insensata, pela mais singela das raz&#245;es: quem usa, trafica. Seu filho que fuma um baseado de vez em quando sem voc&#234; saber sai para comprar, e traz um pouco para o amigo. Por uma besteira dessas, mereceria passar anos enjaulado num pres&#237;dio brasileiro?</p>
<p style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:verdana, helvetica, sans-serif;">Agora, vamos &#224; quest&#227;o daqueles que comandam grupos criminosos. Segundo o novo projeto, devem ser condenados &#224; pena m&#237;nima de oito anos, em vez dos cinco anos previstos na lei atual.</p>
<p style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:verdana, helvetica, sans-serif;">Todos concordam que dever&#237;amos prender os chefes. &#201; voz corrente que a repress&#227;o n&#227;o funciona, porque s&#243; vai presa a raia mi&#250;da.</p>
<p style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:verdana, helvetica, sans-serif;">Por que ser&#225;, n&#227;o?</p>
<p style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:verdana, helvetica, sans-serif;">A compet&#234;ncia corruptora do traficante endinheirado est&#225; longe de ficar restrita ao suborno do policial corrupto. Seus tent&#225;culos chegam aos tr&#234;s Poderes da Rep&#250;blica. Os milh&#245;es de reais movimentados pelo tr&#225;fico s&#227;o lavados nos mesmos bancos em que voc&#234; e eu depositamos o sal&#225;rio ganho com o suor de nossos rostos.</p>
<p style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:verdana, helvetica, sans-serif;">Aumentar as penas para combater o tr&#225;fico &#233; uma fal&#225;cia. Pode ter apelo eleitoral, mas serve apenas para dar &#224;s fam&#237;lias a ilus&#227;o de que ser&#227;o protegidas.</p>
<p style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:verdana, helvetica, sans-serif;">Como bem lembrou o professor Andr&#233; Mendes, nesta&#160;<b>Folha</b>&#160;(em 29/5/13), a pena m&#237;nima estabelecida em 1976, que punia os traficantes com tr&#234;s anos de cadeia, foi aumentada para cinco anos, em 2006. De l&#225; para c&#225;, caiu o consumo de drogas no pa&#237;s?</p>
<p style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:verdana, helvetica, sans-serif;">Voc&#234; poderia argumentar que se prend&#234;ssemos os grandes, pelo menos a criminalidade diminuiria. N&#227;o &#233; o que os estudos mostram, caro leitor.</p>
<p style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:verdana, helvetica, sans-serif;">Como em outros ramos da atividade econ&#244;mica, o grande traficante come&#231;a pequeno. Salvo exce&#231;&#245;es, costuma chegar &#224;s posi&#231;&#245;es de mando perto dos 40 anos, quando a maturidade j&#225; lhe ensinou que resolver os problemas &#224; bala &#233; menos lucrativo do que tentar solucion&#225;-los por meio da negocia&#231;&#227;o.</p>
<p style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:verdana, helvetica, sans-serif;">Quando um chefe &#233; preso ou morre, seus subordinados se matam para assumir o posto. Por ocasi&#227;o dessas lutas pelo poder, muitos inocentes perdem a vida.</p>
<p style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:verdana, helvetica, sans-serif;">Qual a solu&#231;&#227;o?</p>
<p style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:verdana, helvetica, sans-serif;">Nas transa&#231;&#245;es comerciais, enquanto existir um mercado consumidor em expans&#227;o, disposto a pagar qualquer pre&#231;o por uma mercadoria que custa barato nos centros de produ&#231;&#227;o, o impacto do aprisionamento de comerciantes ser&#225; p&#237;fio. Oferta e procura &#233; uma lei universal. &#201; ingenuidade irrespons&#225;vel supor que ser&#225; revogada com medidas repressivas, por mais l&#243;gicas e bem-intencionadas que pare&#231;am.</p>
<p style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:verdana, helvetica, sans-serif;">Sem diminuir a procura, aumentar as penas dos traficantes s&#243; servir&#225; para agravar o drama da superlota&#231;&#227;o das cadeias. Se no Estado de S&#227;o Paulo h&#225; que se construir quase cem penitenci&#225;rias apenas para cobrir o atual deficit de vagas --al&#233;m de mais duas a cada tr&#234;s meses para trancafiar os que ser&#227;o presos pela pol&#237;cia--, imaginem a calamidade enfrentada pelos Estados mais pobres.</p>
<p style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:verdana, helvetica, sans-serif;">Quantos anos ser&#227;o necess&#225;rios para nos convencermos de que a guerra &#224;s drogas foi um equ&#237;voco com consequ&#234;ncias desastrosas para a sociedade?</p>
<p style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:verdana, helvetica, sans-serif;">Quantos precisar&#227;o morrer at&#233; entendermos que depend&#234;ncia qu&#237;mica &#233; um problema de sa&#250;de p&#250;blica que jamais ser&#225; resolvido na base da repress&#227;o policial?</p>
<p style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:verdana, helvetica, sans-serif;">Nos &#250;ltimos 30 anos, os americanos investiram mais de US$1 trilh&#227;o nessa guerra. Tanto dinheiro, para criar o maior mercado consumidor do mundo.</p>
<p style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:verdana, helvetica, sans-serif;">&#160;</p>
<p style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:verdana, helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Drauzio Varella &#233; m&#233;dico cancerologista. Por 20 anos dirigiu o servi&#231;o de Imunologia do Hospital do C&#226;ncer. Foi um dos pioneiros no tratamento da Aids no Brasil e do trabalho em pres&#237;dios, ao qual se dedica ainda hoje. &#201; autor do livro "Esta&#231;&#227;o Carandiru" (Companhia das Letras). Escreve aos s&#225;bados, a cada duas semanas, na vers&#227;o impressa de "Ilustrada".</strong><br><br><a href='http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/colunas/drauziovarella/2013/06/1295163-teimosia-empedernida.shtml#Drauzio' class='bbc_url' title='External link' rel='nofollow external'>http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/colunas/drauziovarella/2013/06/1295163-teimosia-empedernida.shtml#Drauzio</a></p>
]]></description>
		<pubDate>Tue, 18 Jun 2013 19:26:54 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid>http://www.growroom.net/board/topic/51149-teimosia-empedernida/</guid>
	</item>
	<item>
		<title>Mais Um Idiota Que Irá À Tv-Sbt-Gabi E Que Vai Mentir Sobre A Cânnabis, Assista E Proteste, Amanhã, 19/06</title>
		<link>http://www.growroom.net/board/topic/51148-mais-um-idiota-que-ira-a-tv-sbt-gabi-e-que-vai-mentir-sobre-a-cannabis-assista-e-proteste-amanha-1906/</link>
		<description><![CDATA[<p><strong><span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;font-size:12.727272033691406px;text-align:left;">"Maconha, em poucas palavras, emburrece", diz Dr. S&#233;rgio de Paula Ramos no De Frente Com Gabi</span></strong></p>
<p><br><span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;font-size:12.727272033691406px;text-align:left;">No &#8220;De Frente Com Gabi&#8221; desta quarta-feira, 19 de junho, Mar&#237;lia Gabriela vai entrevistar o m&#233;dico e psiquiatra Dr. S&#233;rgio de Paula Ramos. Especialista em depend&#234;ncia qu&#237;mica h&#225; mais de 20 anos, ele afirma que o consumo de drogas come&#231;a no primeiro gole, e n&#227;o na primeira tragada. Dr. S&#233;rgio fala ainda sobre a epidemia do crack, revelando causas e consequ&#234;ncias devastadoras dessa e de outras drogas.&#160;</span><br><span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;font-size:12.727272033691406px;text-align:left;">Confira as melhores frases da entrevista:</span><br><span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;font-size:12.727272033691406px;text-align:left;">Todo o trabalho midi&#225;tico contra o crack tem ajudado.</span><br><span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;font-size:12.727272033691406px;text-align:left;">Se essa ajuda estiver condicionada &#224; perman&#234;ncia no tratamento, &#233; uma ideia interessante. (sobre o Bolsa Crack)</span><br><span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;font-size:12.727272033691406px;text-align:left;">Em m&#233;dia, o adolescente est&#225; come&#231;ando a beber aos 12 anos.<br>
Voc&#234; n&#227;o v&#234; adolescente bebendo em lugares p&#250;blicos nos EUA e na Europa. No Brasil &#233; uma irresponsabilidade.<br>
Os resultados de quem chega ao hospital involunt&#225;ria ou voluntariamente s&#227;o praticamente os mesmos.<br>
H&#225; recupera&#231;&#227;o no crack, mas estamos diante da depend&#234;ncia mais forte do pa&#237;s.<br>
Maconha, em poucas palavras, emburrece.<br>
Quando voc&#234; aumenta a libera&#231;&#227;o da droga, voc&#234; aumenta o consumo e as consequ&#234;ncias dela.<br><br>
O</span><span style="color:#ff0000;"><span style="font-family:'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;font-size:12.727272033691406px;text-align:left;"><strong> "De frente com Gabi" vai ao ar nessa quarta-feira 19/06 , &#224; meia-noite.</strong></span></span></p>
]]></description>
		<pubDate>Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:59:17 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid>http://www.growroom.net/board/topic/51148-mais-um-idiota-que-ira-a-tv-sbt-gabi-e-que-vai-mentir-sobre-a-cannabis-assista-e-proteste-amanha-1906/</guid>
	</item>
	<item>
		<title>Traficante De 54 Anos É Flagrado Cultivando Fazenda De Maconha</title>
		<link>http://www.growroom.net/board/topic/51146-traficante-de-54-anos-e-flagrado-cultivando-fazenda-de-maconha/</link>
		<description><![CDATA[
	<span style="font-size:14px;">Traficante de 54 anos &#233; flagrado cultivando fazenda de maconha</span>
<div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>Publicada em 17/06/2013 15:42:55</div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div><a href='http://www.tribunadabahia.com.br/2013/06/17/traficante-de-54-anos-flagrado-cultivando-fazenda-de-maconha' class='bbc_url' title='External link' rel='nofollow external'>Fonte</a></div>
</div>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<div>Foto: Depin/9&#170; Coorpin</div>
<div><span rel='lightbox'><img class='bbc_img' src="http://www.tribunadabahia.com.br/upload/images/20130617034623_01.jpg" title="Fazenda de maconha &#233; localizada em Ipia&#250;" alt="20130617034623_01.jpg"></span>&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;</div>
<div>Fazenda de maconha &#233; localizada em Ipia&#250;</div>
<div>
<div>
<p>Investigadores da Delegacia Territorial de Ipia&#250; (DT) e policiais da 55&#170; CIPM (Companhia Independente de Pol&#237;cia Militar) localizaram, no fim de semana, uma &#225;rea para cultivo de maconha dentro da Fazenda Coqueiro Verde, na zona rural do munic&#237;pio, explorada pelo traficante Jasson Ribeiro da Silva, 54 anos.<br><br>
Durante a opera&#231;&#227;o foram apreendidas no local sementes e p&#233;s de maconha, balan&#231;as de precis&#227;o, al&#233;m de um rev&#243;lver calibre 38 e uma pequena quantidade de coca&#237;na.<br><br>
Segundo apurou o titular da DT/Ipia&#250;, delegado Cristiano Mangueira, que comandou a opera&#231;&#227;o ao lado do capit&#227;o Lima J&#250;nior, da 55&#170; CIPM, a maconha cultivada por Jasson abastecia outros traficantes da regi&#227;o.</p>
<p>Os mandados de pris&#227;o preventiva e de busca e apreens&#227;o foram cumpridos no in&#237;cio da manh&#227; de sexta-feira (14/6), quando Jasson tentou furar o cerco policial, atirando. Ele havia se escondido em uma estufa para secagem de cacau, sendo alvejado por uma guarni&#231;&#227;o da PM, e morreu no Hospital Geral de Ipia&#250;.<br><br>
Considerado um dos maiores traficantes da regi&#227;o, Jasson Ribeiro da Silva &#233; acusado de um homic&#237;dio, ocorrido em (12/3), de 2012. Ele assassinou a tiros Carlos Anderson Santos da Cruz, 27 anos. A droga, a arma e o restante do material apreendido na Fazenda Coqueiro Verde, situada na localidade do Bur&#237;, foram encaminhados para per&#237;cia.</p>
</div>
</div>
<p>&#160;</p>
]]></description>
		<pubDate>Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:52:58 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid>http://www.growroom.net/board/topic/51146-traficante-de-54-anos-e-flagrado-cultivando-fazenda-de-maconha/</guid>
	</item>
	<item>
		<title>Liberaçao Da Maconha Muda Treinamento De Caes Farejadores Nos Eua</title>
		<link>http://www.growroom.net/board/topic/51145-liberacao-da-maconha-muda-treinamento-de-caes-farejadores-nos-eua/</link>
		<description><![CDATA[Os policiais americanos estao retreinando seus caes para as drogas realmente ilegais como heroina , metanfetamina e cocaina e nao mais para maconha !!<br><br><br>Libera&#231;&#227;o da maconha muda treinamento de c&#227;es farejadores<br><br>Os c&#227;es farejadores est&#227;o tendo que passar por um "curso de atualiza&#231;&#227;o" que estados americanos liberaram o uso da maconha. &#201; o que est&#225; acontecendo em Washington, na Costa Oeste dos EUA. A cadela abaixo, a f&#234;mea de labrador Dusty, j&#225; foi treinada para n&#227;o acusar a presen&#231;a de maconha, contou a ag&#234;ncia Associated Press. Outros c&#227;es mais antigos est&#227;o tendo que passar por reeduca&#231;&#227;o ou ent&#227;o serem transferidos para outros estados.<br><br>Dusty identifica hero&#237;na / Foto: AP<br><br>A pol&#237;cia de Seattle, Bremerton e Bellevue est&#225; submetendo os seus animais a um processo de "anula&#231;&#227;o de sensibilidade" &#224; maconha.<br><br>"Queremos treinar nossos c&#227;es para as drogas que s&#227;o realmente ilegais, como hero&#237;na, metanfetamina e coca&#237;na", afirmou Duke Roessel, policial que cuida de Dusty.<br><br>A lei de Washington descriminalizou a posse de at&#233; 28 gramas de maconha para maiores de 21 anos.<br><br>Fonte:<br><a href='http://oglobo.globo.com/blogs/pagenotfound/posts/2013/06/17/liberacao-da-maconha-muda-treinamento-de-caes-farejadores-500335.asp' class='bbc_url' title='External link' rel='nofollow external'>http://oglobo.globo.com/blogs/pagenotfound/posts/2013/06/17/liberacao-da-maconha-muda-treinamento-de-caes-farejadores-500335.asp</a>]]></description>
		<pubDate>Mon, 17 Jun 2013 23:28:26 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid>http://www.growroom.net/board/topic/51145-liberacao-da-maconha-muda-treinamento-de-caes-farejadores-nos-eua/</guid>
	</item>
	<item>
		<title>Everything Americans Think They Know About Drugs Is Wrong: A Scientist Explodes The Myths</title>
		<link>http://www.growroom.net/board/topic/51138-everything-americans-think-they-know-about-drugs-is-wrong-a-scientist-explodes-the-myths/</link>
		<description><![CDATA[<div><a href='http://www.alternet.org/drugs-addiction?paging=off' class='bbc_url' title='External link' rel='nofollow external'>http://www.alternet.org/drugs-addiction?paging=off</a>	Everything<br>	Americans Think They Know About Drugs Is Wrong: A Scientist Explodes<br>	the Myths</div><p><br><br><br><span rel='lightbox'><img class='bbc_img' src="http://www.alternet.org/files/styles/story_image/public/story_images/o-carl-hart-interview-facebook.jpg" alt="o-carl-hart-interview-facebook.jpg"></span><br><br><br></p><div><br><br><br><br><div><em><span><span><span><span>June 13, 2013</span></span></span></span></em><br>&#160;| &#160;</div><br>&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;<br><br><br><br><p>What many Americans, including many<br>scientists, think they know about drugs is turning out to be totally<br>wrong. For decades, drug war propaganda has brainwashed Americans into<br>blaming drugs for problems ranging from crime to economic deprivation.<br>In his new book <em>High Price: A Neuroscientist's Journey of<br>Self-Discovery That Challenges Everything You Know About Drugs and<br>Society</em>, Carl Hart blows apart the most common myths about drugs<br>and their impact on society, drawing in part on his personal experience<br>growing up in an impoverished Miami neighborhood. Hart has used<br>marijuana and cocaine, carried guns, sold drugs, and participated in<br>other petty crime, like shoplifting. A combination of what he calls<br>choice and chance brought him to the AIr Force and college, and finally<br>made him the first black, tenured professor of sciences at Columbia<br>University.</p><p>Intertwined with his story about the<br>struggles of families and communities stressed by lack of capital and<br>power over their surroundings is striking new research on substance use.<br>Hart uses his life and work to reveal that drugs are not nearly as<br>harmful as many think. For example, most people who use the most<br>&#8220;addicting&#8221; drugs do not develop a problem. Rather, Hart says, drugs are<br>scapegoated for problems related to poverty. The policies that result<br>from this misconception are catastrophically misguided. AlterNet spoke<br>with Hart about his life and research.</p><p><strong>Kristen<br>Gynne: What are some of the false conclusions about drugs you are<br>challenging?</strong></p><p>Carl Hart: There are multiple<br>false conclusions. There is a belief, for example, that crack cocaine is<br>so addictive it only took one hit to get hooked, and that it is<br>impossible to use heroin without becoming addicted. There was another<br>belief that methamphetamine users are cognitively impaired. All of these<br>are myths that have have been perpetuated primarily by law enforcement,<br>and law enforcement deals with a limited, select group of people&#8212;people<br>who are, in many cases, behaving badly. But to generalize that to all<br>drug users is not only shortsighted and naive, it&#8217;s also irresponsible.<br>The impact of that irresponsible behavior has been borne primarily by<br>black communities. Nobody really cares about black communities, and<br>that's why this irresponsible behavior has been allowed to continue.</p><p>It's also true that we've missed critical opportunities to<br>challenge our basic assumptions about drugs. If drugs really were as<br>damaging as we are led to believe, a respectable society should do<br>something to address that problem. But the thing is, the very<br>assumptions driving our drug policy are wrong, and must be questioned.&#160;<span style="font-size:12px;">&#160;&#160;</span></p><p><strong>KG:</strong><strong>How does the lack of people of color in<br>academia or research affect our understanding of drugs?</strong></p><p>CH: I'd just like to be clear, I don't say people of color, I<br>say black people, because people of color can mean a number of other<br>[races]. I'm talking about black people who, like me, when we go back to<br>our communities and we ask about people who we grew up with, the<br>response is, "Well, they got caught up with a drug charge, they're<br>upstate. They're doing some time&#8221; or, &#8220;Oh, he's doing better now that he<br>got out of jail. He can't really find a good job, but he's doing his<br>best.&#8221; &#160;&#160;</p><p>It would be nice if we had black scientists,<br>more black people in science, to incorporate these kinds of experiences<br>as they think about the questions they investigate. The problem is it&#8217;s<br>so homogenous that critical questions about our community are ignored<br>because they're not seen as being important.</p><p><strong>KG:</strong><strong>And<br>the result is that they don't comprehend environment, or the other<br>variables that are affecting someone's decisions or behavior, and miss<br>the mark?</strong></p><p>CH: That's exactly right. It's that<br>if you don't contextualize what is happening with drugs in the country<br>you might get the impression that drugs are so bad they're causing all<br>these people to go to jail: &#8220;Let's find out how drugs are exerting these<br>awful effects.&#8221; Now, you have just completely disregarded context in<br>which all of these things occur, and that is what has happened in<br>science. If you don't fully appreciate the context, and you think that<br>drug users are awful, then you don't think about how a person takes care<br>of their kid, takes care of their family, goes to work, but they also<br>use drugs. If you don't think about all of those contextual factors, you<br>limit the picture and that's what we've done.</p><p>It's not<br>that science lies. Science doesn't lie. But when you look at your<br>research with a limited view, you may erroneously draw conclusions about<br>drugs, when in fact other variables you might not understand are what's<br>really at play.</p><p><strong>KG:</strong><strong>You talk<br>about how people are always blaming problems on drugs, when those issues<br>really spring from the stress of poverty. What are some examples?</strong></p><p>CH: I think crack cocaine is the easiest example&#160; In the<br>1980s, as I was coming of age in my teens and my early 20s, people&#8212;black<br>people, white folks, a number of people in the country&#8212;said crack was<br>so awful it was causing women to give up their babies and neglect their<br>children such that grandmothers had to raise another generation of<br>children.</p><p>Now, if you look at the history in poor<br>communities&#8212;my community, my family&#8212;long before crack ever hit the<br>scene, that sort of thing happened in my house. We were raised by my<br>grandmother. My mother went away because she and my father split up. She<br>went away in search of better jobs and left the state, but it wasn't<br>just her. This sort of thing, this pathology that is attributed to<br>drugs, happened to immigrant communities like the Eastern European Jews<br>when they came to the Lower East SIde, but people simply blamed crack in<br>the 1980s and the 1990s. &#160;</p><p>Another example is that,<br>since the crack era, multiple studies have found that the effects of<br>crack cocaine use during pregnancy do not create an epidemic of doomed<br>black "crack babies." Instead, crack-exposed children are growing up to<br>lead normal lives, and studies have repeatedly found that the diferences<br>between them and babies who were not exposed cannot be isolated from<br>the health effects of growing up poor, without a stable, safe<br>environment or access to healthcare.&#160;</p><p><strong>KG:</strong><span style="font-size:12px;"><b>What about the idea that drugs can turn<br>people into criminals?</b></span></p><p>CH: <span style="font-size:12px;">The pharmalogical effects of drugs rarely lead<br>to crime, but the public conflates these issues regardless. If we were<br>going to look at how pharmalogical drugs influence crime, we should<br>probably look at alcohol. We know sometimes people get unruly when they<br>drink, but the vast majority of people don't. Certainly, we have given<br>thousands of doses of crack cocaine and methamphetamine to people in our<br>lab, and never had any problems with violence or anything like that.<br>That tells you it's not the pharmacology of the drug, but some<br>interaction with the environment or environmental conditions, that would<br>probably happen without the drug. Sure, new markets of illegal activity<br>are often or sometimes associated with increased violence, or some<br>other illegal activity, but it is not specific to drugs like people try<br>to make it out to be.</span></p><p>Other than crime, you have myths that<br>drugs cause cognitive impairment, make people unable to be productive<br>members of society, or tear families apart. If the vast majority of<br>people are using these drugs without problems&#8212;and a smaller proportion<br>of users do have problems&#8212;what that tells you if you're thinking<br>critically is it can't be only the drug, or mainly the drug. It tells<br>you it is something about the individual situations, environmental<br>conditions, a wide range of factors.</p><p><strong>KG:</strong><strong>What<br>about addiction? Won't some people who use drugs inevitably become<br>dependent on drugs?</strong></p><p>CH: Given the large percentage of<br>people who are not addicted and try these drugs, it's something other<br>than the pharmacology of the drugs that's causing addiction. We find<br>that 85% of the people, for example, who use cocaine are not addicted,<br>even though they use the same cosmetological substance as those who are.<br>Somebody could say there may be something biologically predisposing<br>people who get addicted, but there is no evidence to support that<br>position. Certainly, that idea should be investigated, but there is far<br>more evidence to support the view that there are other things going in<br>the lives of people who are predisposed to addiction, that can predict<br>their addiction as well as other problems.</p><p><strong>KG:</strong><strong>What<br>kinds of environmental factors matter?</strong></p><p>CH:<br>Well, let's think about drug use. Drug effects are predictable, and some<br>drugs are really good at increasing euphoria and feelings of positive<br>reinforcement. Now, if you don't have anything competing with drugs for<br>pleasure and happiness, all you have is deprivation. Why wouldn't you<br>get high?</p><p>If you have competing reinforcers or<br>alternatives, like the ability to earn income, learn a skill, or receive<br>some respect based on your performance in some sort of way, those<br>things compete with potentially destructive behavior. And so as a<br>psychologist, you just want to make sure people have a variety of<br>potential reinforcers. If you don't have that, you increase the<br>likelihood of people engaging in behaviors that society does not<br>condone. &#160;</p><p>Skills that are employable or marketable,<br>education, having a stake or meaningful role in society, not being<br>marginalized&#8212;all of those things are very important. Instead of ensuring<br>that all of our members have these things, our society has blamed<br>drugs, said drugs are the reasons that people don't have a stake in<br>society, and that's simply not true.</p><p><strong>KG:</strong><strong>So<br>if drugs aren't the problem, why do we say they are?</strong></p><p>CH: They&#8217;re just an easy scapegoat. You can imagine if so few<br>people have engaged in an activity, you can make up some incredible<br>stories about that activity, and be believed. And that's what's happened<br>with drugs. Note that you can't make up those incredible stories about<br>marijuana today, but there was a time when we could: the 1930s. That has<br>passed because more people have tried marijuana, but you can make up<br>those incredible stories about methamphetamine because so few people<br>have used methamphetamine. &#160;</p><p>Well, I should say so few<br>people actually know that they use methamphetamine. All those people who<br>use Adderall and those kinds of drugs, they are using methamphetamine,<br>basically. It is the amphetamine, not the "D" [like Adderall] or "meth"<br>in front of it, that creates the effects.</p><p><strong>KG:</strong><strong>What<br>is actually responsible for problems often linked to drugs?&#160;</strong></p><p>CH: Poverty.&#160;And there are policies that have played a role,<br>too. Policies like placing a large percentage of our law enforcment<br>resources in those communities, so that when people get charged with<br>some petty crime, they have a blemish on their record that further<br>decreases their ability to join mainstream, get a job that's meaningful,<br>and that sort of thing.</p><p>The policy decisions that we<br>make play a far bigger role than the drugs themselves. When I turned 14,<br>for example, there was a federal government program that, in order to<br>keep kids like me out of the streets, gave us jobs. Under these federal<br>government programs, we had money for the summer, for clothing&#8212;it was<br>great. When we cut these types of programs and kids have nowhere to go<br>what do you expect to happen? It doesn't take rocket scientists to<br>figure this out. &#160;</p><p>Now, I have an 18-year-old who, this<br>summer, won't have anything to do. I'm trying to find him some sort of<br>work. Having a federal government program for underpriveleged children,<br>that was great. That let kids know that the society might care about<br>you. We teach them work skills, we teach them something about<br>responsibility, we make sure they have money in their pockets. Now, you<br>take away all of this, and you miss the chance to teach them about<br>responsibility. You miss the opportunity to help them put food on the<br>table, to put clothes on their backs.</p><p><strong>KG:</strong><strong>In<br>your acknowledgements, you thank Aid to Families with Dependent<br>Children, which you call "welfare as we once knew it."&#160;</strong></p><p>CH: All of my childhood, we were on welfare. My mom received<br>aid for families with dependent children&#8212;welfare. Without that, we<br>wouldn't have had subsidized housing. Most of my childhood we had a<br>two-bedroom apartment, but eventually we got into the projects, where we<br>had four bedrooms. That was great.</p><p>We got food stamps<br>that helped make sure we had something to eat, even though it was<br>little. Without that program, I wouldn't have developed physically.<br>There would have been a lot more stress in the household.&#160;</p><p>Now, the interesting thing about it is that all of my sibling<br>were all on that program because of my mom, and all of my siblings now<br>have jobs and they're responsible, taxpaying citizens. That's the<br>typical story on that program, but the conservatives, under Reagan, they<br>began to perpetuate this narrative of the welfare queen, when in fact,<br>we know who the biggest welfare kings are: the people on Wall Street.<br>The federal government gives far money to them than to poor families,<br>but welfare became so villified that we essentially got rid of it.</p><p><strong>KG:</strong><strong>How does institutional racism<br>affect policy? In your book, you talk about how crack, which is<br>pharmacologically almost identical to cocaine, is punished with an 18-1<br>(and once 100-1) sentencing disparity because of racially coded language<br>linking the "crack scourge" to bad behavior in poor, black communities.<br>There was also a recent ACLU report, which found that blacks are an<br>average of four times more likely to be arrested for pot than whites.</strong></p><p>CH: I often testify as an expert witness to help women who<br>have used marijuana while pregnant to keep their children. Case after<br>case is a black woman. Security in the court is all black; the judges<br>are all white; and the lawyers are young and white, building careers.<br>It's just slavery all over again. &#160;</p><p>When you have a<br>group that&#8217;s already identified as an &#8220;other,&#8221; or a villified group that<br>is a minority, it's easier to associate a behavior with them. But<br>people don't see black people as being fully human. That&#8217;s what happens<br>in the US, although people won't tell you that.</p><p>Because<br>when we think about Trayvon Martin, when we think about Ramarley Graham,<br>Sean Bell, these black kids who were killed at the hands of some<br>security or law&#160;<span style="font-size:12px;">enforcement person&#8212;that<br>almost never happens with white kids. If it did, it would be a national<br>crises. But it's not a national crises because we really don't value<br>black men and boys in the same way we value white boys and men. We don't<br>see them as being equal. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:12px;">I look at how people behave, and it's clear. As<br>long as you view this group that way, you can continue to put large<br>percentage of law enforcement resources in those communities, but not so<br>much to make them better. If you want to make it better, you give<br>people jobs. Instead, we put police in those communities to pretend that<br>they care, to pretend that you're doing something. But that's not<br>helping.&#160;</span></p><p>Whereas drug reactions are predictable,<br>interactions with police are not and too often become deadly. As a<br>parent of a black youth, I'd much rather my kids interact with drugs<br>than law enforcement. White people don't need to think about that.<br>Police officers too often see young, black boys as less than human. It<br>creates a mentality where black kids are supposed to "know your place,"<br>and it affects your psyche. Indignities become part of who you are.</p><p><strong>KG:</strong><strong>How is meth changing this<br>conversation?</strong></p><p>CH: Meth is the new crack. It is<br>the same thing as Adderall, but we are told it causes people's faces and<br>teeth to decay. There is no evidence to suggest meth alone, versus poor<br>hygiene, makes people look ugly. At the same time, because most people<br>who use or arrested for meth are white people&#8212;poor of course, people we<br>don't like&#8212;it creates an opportunity to say the drug war is not racist.</p><p>In Montana, they have invested in sentencing alternatives,<br>like a maximum one-year sentence and treatment, for meth users. Could<br>you imagine that happening with crack cocaine? Hell no. It's interesting<br>because, with meth, we are doing our job, trying to seek alternatives<br>to help people. Still, in some places, like Oklahoma, they're still<br>locking white people up.</p><p><strong>KG:</strong><strong>In<br>your book, it seems as though you feel some guilt for being successful,<br>as if you have abandoned your community. How has your life changed?</strong></p><p>CH: In terms of where I'm at now, I have money and I don't<br>have to worry about where my next meal is coming from, so that's a<br>really good thing. Whereas, when I was an adolescent, it was a good day<br>if I ate two meals. Now, I expect to eat three meals, and that sort of<br>thing. But, on the other hand, when I think about family, friends and<em>that</em><br>sort of thing, it was a lot better where I was previously because you<br>knew where everyone stood, you knew everyone had your back, you didn't<br>have to worry about people backstabbing you or trying to go after you<br>for a variety of reasons. Mainly, you were just being who you are&#8212;that's<br>one of the things I bring with me from the past. &#160;</p><p>Whether<br>I am there or here, I have this sense of community&#160;responsibility&#160;and I<br>hope that will always be with with me. When it's no longer with me,<br>perhaps it's time to die. &#160;</p><p><strong>KG:</strong><strong>How<br>do you navigate two different cultures?</strong></p><p>CH:<br>That's very difficult, because I deal in mainstream and my family, they<br>don't as much. Not only do I deal in mainstream society, I deal in<br>mainstream as a fucking professor at Columbia. Now, when I take that<br>mask off to go home, and it takes me a few days to acclimate, to be like<br>OK, I'm no longer in the shark pit, I can relax, and relax my<br>vernacular. And then I have to leave again.</p><p>So, my<br>family might see this Columbia personality, and they may take it as a<br>personal affront. I feel like a fraud, oftentimes, at home, but it has<br>nothing to do with how I feel about my family. It's just that I'm<br>catching hell in the mainstream. In the mainstream, I&#8217;m suspect because<br>I&#8217;m black, I have dreadlocks, I have a goatee. I mean, I'm just suspect.<br>In my classroom and at Columbia, I'm not as suspect because it's clear I<br>know what I'm doing, but I am still suspect. And people are curious;<br>they don&#8217;t know that I have the same dreams and aspirations as they do.<br>They think that I may be different somehow.</p><p><span style="font-family:Helvetica;">This sort of issue would be a fascinating topic for<br>research, particularly when we think about physical health or mental<br>health, and how it manifests. But that will never be approved by<br>National Institute of Health, because it's not of interest to white<br>researchers. These are just things that I have to live my life with. &#160;</span></p><p><strong>KG:</strong><strong>How does this book adress your<br>experience in academia and black America?</strong></p><p>CH: I<br>speak the language of both. And as a result, I think it speaks to both.<br>And I&#8217;m hoping in the process, maybe along the way, the people who are<br>back home, whose stories I'm trying to share, will see themselves in my<br>story. And the people in my mainstream&#8212;I'm trying to help them see<br>themselves in my story.</p><p>At some point, I just hope that<br>it merges, that they see we're not that different. We have the same<br>hopes and dreams and aspirations. The expression of those hopes and<br>dreams may be slightly different but we are very similar. That's what<br>I'm hoping.&#160;</p><p><strong>KG:</strong><strong>What wouldpolicy that reflects reality look like, and how do we get there?</strong></p><p>CH: That is complex, but quite simple to start. The first<br>thing is we decriminalize all drugs. More than 80% of people arrested<br>for drugs are arrested for simple possession. Wen you decriminalize, now<br>you have that huge number of people&#8212;we're talking 1.5 million people<br>arrested every year&#8212;that no longer have that blemish on their record.<br>That increases the likelihood that they can get jobs, participate in the<br>mainstream.</p><p>Number two is dramatically increase realistic education about drugs</p><p>&#8212;none of this "this is your brain on drugs" stuff, but real education,</p><p>hich looks like making sure people<br>understand effects of drugs they're using, particularly potentially<br>medical affects. Don't use heroin with another sedative because it<br>increases the likelihood of respiratory depression. Realistic education,<br>telling people what to do, how to prevent negative effects associated<br>with drugs. We do it with alcohol&#8212;you shouldn't binge drink, don't drink<br>on an empty stomach&#8212;and could do it with other drugs.</p></div><blockquote class="ipsBlockquote"><p></p><div>&#160;<span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:arial, sans-serif;">Carl Hart&#160;is an<br>Associate Professor in the Departments of Psychology and Psychiatry at<br>Columbia University. He is also a Research Scientist in the Division of<br>Substance Abuse at the New York State Psychiatric Institute.&#160;Hart&#160;is a<br>member of the National Advisory Council on Drug Abuse and on the board<br>of directors of the College on Problems of Drug Dependence and the Drug<br>Policy Alliance. A native of Miami, Florida, Dr. Hart received his B.S.<br>in psychology at the University of Maryland, and received his M.S. and<br>Ph.D. in experimental psychology and neuroscience at the University of<br>Wyoming. He lives in New York City.</span>&#160;&#160;</div><div>&#160;</div><div><a href='http://www.highpricethebook.com/HIGHPRICETHEBOOK.html' class='bbc_url' title='External link' rel='nofollow external'>http://www.highpricethebook.com/HIGHPRICETHEBOOK.html</a></div></blockquote><div>&#160;</div><div>&#160;</div><p>&#160;</p>]]></description>
		<pubDate>Mon, 17 Jun 2013 13:32:21 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid>http://www.growroom.net/board/topic/51138-everything-americans-think-they-know-about-drugs-is-wrong-a-scientist-explodes-the-myths/</guid>
	</item>
	<item>
		<title>Política De Drogas “Business Oriented”</title>
		<link>http://www.growroom.net/board/topic/51072-politica-de-drogas-business-oriented/</link>
		<description><![CDATA[
	Pol&#237;tica de drogas &#8220;business oriented&#8221;
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p>

	Projeto de lei 7663, de autoria do deputado Osmar Terra, do PMDB/RS, aprovado em maio na C&#226;mara, segue dire&#231;&#227;o oposta &#224; onda liberalizante que tem influenciado novas iniciativas no campo da pol&#237;tica de drogas nos quatro cantos do globo.
<p style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:9pt;font-weight:bold;color:rgb(136,136,136);text-align:left;">Cristiano Avila Maronna</p>
<p style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:9pt;font-weight:bold;color:rgb(136,136,136);text-align:left;">&#160;</p>
<p style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:9pt;font-weight:bold;color:rgb(136,136,136);text-align:left;">&#160;</p>
<p style="font-family:Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);">A sess&#227;o deliberativa da C&#226;mara dos Deputados realizada no &#250;ltimo dia 21 de maio, na qual foi aprovado o projeto de lei 7663, de autoria do deputado Osmar Terra, do PMDB/RS, que altera a lei de drogas, assemelhou-se a uma missa negra. Em seu ponto culminante, o autor do projeto brandiu um saco pl&#225;stico contendo algumas dezenas de pedras, como quem exibe a prova incontest&#225;vel de um crime.<br><br>
Segundo o aterrorizante discurso do deputado Terra, que se baseia em uma epidemia de depend&#234;ncia n&#227;o demonstrada em bases cient&#237;ficas, o consumo de um usu&#225;rio de crack no per&#237;odo de uma semana estaria representado pelas pedras dentro do saco. O exorcismo para liquidar esse dem&#244;nio, na vis&#227;o do parlamentar, passa pela massifica&#231;&#227;o da interna&#231;&#227;o for&#231;ada em institui&#231;&#245;es manicomiais e pelo aumento da pena cominada para o tr&#225;fico de drogas, entre outras medidas retr&#243;gradas e p&#225;leo-repressivas.<br><br>
A mencionada propositura segue dire&#231;&#227;o oposta &#224; onda liberalizante que tem influenciado novas iniciativas no campo da pol&#237;tica de drogas nos quatro cantos do globo. Na Espanha, h&#225; d&#233;cadas, os clubes sociais de&#160;<i>cannabis</i>&#160;comprovam ser poss&#237;vel aos consumidores evitar o delet&#233;rio contato com o tr&#225;fico. Nos EUA, o uso medicinal de&#160;<i>cannabis</i>&#160;&#233; autorizado em quase duas dezenas de estados. Washington e Colorado aprovaram em novembro &#250;ltimo, por meio de plebiscitos, a legaliza&#231;&#227;o do consumo recreativo de&#160;<i>cannabis</i>.<br><br>
Na Am&#233;rica Latina surgem manifesta&#231;&#245;es emancipadoras no que diz com a formula&#231;&#227;o de uma pol&#237;tica de drogas verdadeiramente afinada com os interesses da regi&#227;o. O recent&#237;ssimo relat&#243;rio da Organiza&#231;&#227;o dos Estados Americanos conclama os pa&#237;ses membros a refletir a respeito do modelo proibicionista e a cogitar cen&#225;rios n&#227;o alinhados com a premissa da guerra &#224;s drogas. O Uruguai discute um projeto de lei que prev&#234; a legaliza&#231;&#227;o da produ&#231;&#227;o, do com&#233;rcio e do cultivo da maconha. Na Argentina e na Col&#244;mbia, as Cortes Supremas reconheceram a ilegitimidade da incrimina&#231;&#227;o do porte de drogas para consumo pessoal. No Brasil, o STF est&#225; prestes a julgar id&#234;ntica mat&#233;ria, talvez a &#250;nica chance real de avan&#231;o, tendo em vista o conservadorismo do Poder Legislativo e a hesita&#231;&#227;o do Executivo em lidar com um tema t&#227;o pol&#234;mico.<br><br>
No projeto Osmar Terra, o porte para consumo continua sendo crime. Al&#233;m disso, o usu&#225;rio flagrado com drogas ser&#225; obrigado a submeter-se a testes a fim de comprovar a abstin&#234;ncia. Testes estes que dever&#227;o ser adquiridos pelo estado e que certamente dar&#227;o grande impulso &#224; ind&#250;stria que produz e comercializa esse tipo de exame. Em breve devem surgir iniciativas tendentes a implanta&#231;&#227;o desses testes em escolas e empresas privadas e mesmo em concursos p&#250;blicos. Tudo em nome de um mundo livre de drogas ilegais. E a favor da livre iniciativa.<br><br>
A proposta contempla ainda a massifica&#231;&#227;o da interna&#231;&#227;o for&#231;ada, medida comparada &#224; tortura pela ONU, que possui uma baix&#237;ssima taxa de &#234;xito e um elevado custo. Aqui tamb&#233;m se percebe o favorecimento a interesses econ&#244;micos: ao consagrar a interna&#231;&#227;o for&#231;ada como pilar central da pol&#237;tica de drogas, permitindo o repasse de verbas do SUS para comunidades terap&#234;uticas e religiosas, o projeto Osmar Terra permite que os parcos recursos p&#250;blicos da &#225;rea da sa&#250;de sejam usados para financiar a terceiriza&#231;&#227;o do atendimento &#224; demanda por interna&#231;&#245;es, que deve crescer em consequ&#234;ncia da mudan&#231;a legislativa em comento.<br><br>
A realidade das comunidades terap&#234;uticas e religiosas hoje &#233; a de aus&#234;ncia de fiscaliza&#231;&#227;o pelo poder p&#250;blico, sem falar nas den&#250;ncias envolvendo abusos, maus tratos e falta de cuidados adequados.<br><br>
Nada obstante, o deputado Terra e seus seguidores tentam nos convencer de que esse &#8220;<i>business</i>&#8221; manicomial &#233; a &#250;nica forma de enfrentar a quest&#227;o da depend&#234;ncia de drogas. Os alienistas est&#227;o chegando, est&#227;o chegando os alienistas.<br><br>
O projeto prev&#234; ainda o aumento de pena para o tr&#225;fico de drogas. Na negocia&#231;&#227;o travada com o governo, esse aumento restringiu-se aos agentes que exercem comando &#8220;individual ou coletivo&#8221; de organiza&#231;&#227;o criminosa dedicada ao tr&#225;fico.<br><br>
A julgar pela pr&#225;tica judicial que admite a condena&#231;&#227;o de usu&#225;rios como traficantes com base em presun&#231;&#227;o, podemos esperar pela piora no quadro de encarceramento em massa existente hoje. O Brasil &#233;, na atualidade, o quarto pa&#237;s do mundo que mais aprisiona. Temos quase 550 mil presos, um ter&#231;o dos quais implicados com crimes relacionados a drogas.<br><br>
Nossas pris&#245;es est&#227;o entre as piores do mundo, nas quais as viola&#231;&#245;es de direitos humanos ocorrem diuturnamente.<br><br>
Diante desse quadro e da perspectiva de acentua&#231;&#227;o do superencarceramento, o projeto Osmar Terra impulsionar&#225; a ideia de privatizar pres&#237;dios. A l&#243;gica da pris&#227;o como neg&#243;cio deve estimular o aprisionamento a fim de garantir o lucro do neg&#243;cio prisional. N&#227;o &#233; preciso ir muito longe para perceber que o &#8220;<i>business</i>&#8221; penitenci&#225;rio contraria o modelo constitucional de Estado Democr&#225;tico de Direito, al&#233;m de representar uma inaceit&#225;vel interfer&#234;ncia do poder econ&#244;mico na formula&#231;&#227;o de pol&#237;ticas p&#250;blicas.<br><br>
Nada disso foi levado em conta pelos deputados, que aprovaram o projeto Osmar Terra por larga maioria. A proposta segue agora para o Senado.<br><br>
O &#250;nico momento de verdadeiro debate na sess&#227;o do dia 21 de maio deu-se em raz&#227;o de um dispositivo do projeto que prev&#234; a obrigatoriedade de advert&#234;ncia sobre os malef&#237;cios decorrentes do consumo de &#225;lcool em r&#243;tulos e embalagens de bebidas. O poderoso lobby da ind&#250;stria de bebidas, que financia o n&#250;cleo duro do Parlamento brasileiro, nos lembrou que, afinal de contas, a liberdade do indiv&#237;duo &#233; um valor sagrado e que &#233; preciso evitar uma interfer&#234;ncia estatal excessiva na vida das pessoas e empresas. Pena que nesse momento n&#227;o se tenha brandido um saco pl&#225;stico com as garrafas de u&#237;sque consumidas pelos nobres deputados na laboriosa e &#225;rdua semana de trabalho de apenas tr&#234;s dias de que eles desfrutam na capital da Rep&#250;blica.&#160;<br><br>
Resumo da &#243;pera: o projeto Osmar Terra aponta como solu&#231;&#227;o para a quest&#227;o das drogas a segrega&#231;&#227;o da liberdade de dependentes e traficantes em institui&#231;&#245;es totais e abre os cofres p&#250;blicos para a iniciativa privada esbaldar-se, sangrando os insuficientes recursos estatais.<br><br>
Com rela&#231;&#227;o ao &#225;lcool, nada muda. Nenhuma restri&#231;&#227;o &#224; propaganda, que encoraja e incentiva o consumo, nenhuma advert&#234;ncia sobre os danos individuais e sociais &#224; sa&#250;de. Pudera: bebidas alco&#243;licas ser&#227;o vendidas nos est&#225;dios da Copa, os quais j&#225; est&#227;o sendo batizados com nomes de cervejas.<br><br>
Se o debate sobre pol&#237;tica de drogas no Brasil pudesse ser comparado a uma campanha publicit&#225;ria, seu&#160;<i>slogan</i>&#160;seria: &#8220;aos cervejeiros, tudo; aos craqueiros, a lei&#8221;. Ou melhor: &#8220;&#233; tudo&#160;<i>business</i>&#8221;.<br>
&#160;</p>
<br><p style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:9px;">Cristiano Avila Maronna &#233; advogado, mestre e doutor em direito penal pela USP, diretor do Instituto Brasileiro de Ci&#234;ncias Criminais (IBCCRIM), membro da Rede Pense Livre: por uma pol&#237;tica de drogas que funcione, e pesquisador do N&#250;cleo de Estudos Interdisciplinares sobre Psicoativos (NEIP).</p>
<p style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:9px;">&#160;</p>
<p style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:9px;">&#160;</p>
<p style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:9px;"><a href='http://www.cartamaior.com.br/templates/colunaMostrar.cfm?coluna_id=6125' class='bbc_url' title='External link' rel='nofollow external'>http://www.cartamaior.com.br/templates/colunaMostrar.cfm?coluna_id=6125</a></p>]]></description>
		<pubDate>Wed, 12 Jun 2013 14:57:07 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid>http://www.growroom.net/board/topic/51072-politica-de-drogas-business-oriented/</guid>
	</item>
	<item>
		<title>O Pior Caso De Censura Desde Quando A Igreja Catolica Baniu Trabalhos De Galileu</title>
		<link>http://www.growroom.net/board/topic/51070-o-pior-caso-de-censura-desde-quando-a-igreja-catolica-baniu-trabalhos-de-galileu/</link>
		<description><![CDATA[<div><a href='http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/the-worst-case-of-scientific-censorship-since-the-catholic-church-banned-the-works-of-galileo-scientists-call-for-drugs-to-be-legalised-to-allow-proper-study-of-their-properties-8654514.html#' class='bbc_url' title='External link' rel='nofollow external'>http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/the-worst-case-of-scientific-censorship-since-the-catholic-church-banned-the-works-of-galileo-scientists-call-for-drugs-to-be-legalised-to-allow-proper-study-of-their-properties-8654514.html#</a><br><a href='http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/the-worst-case-of-scientific-censorship-since-the-catholic-church-banned-the-works-of-galileo-scientists-call-for-drugs-to-be-legalised-to-allow-proper-study-of-their-properties-8654514.html' class='bbc_url' title='External link' rel='nofollow external'><img class='bbc_img' height="58" src="http://www.independent.co.uk/skins/ind/gfx/logo.png" width="463" alt="logo.png"></a></div>
<br><div><br>
'The worst case of scientific censorship since the Catholic Church<br>
banned the works of Galileo': Scientists call for drugs to be legalised<br>
to allow proper study of their properties</div>
<br><div><br><p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<br>
&#160;</div>
<br><div><br><p><br>
Charlie Cooper</p>
</div>
<br><div><br>
Wednesday, 12 June 2013</div>
<br><div><br>
&#160;
<p>The outlawing of drugs such as cannabis, MDMA and LSD amounts to<br>
the &#8220;the worst case of scientific censorship since the Catholic Church<br>
banned the works of Copernicus and Galileo&#8221;, the former Government drugs<br>
advisor Professor David Nutt has claimed.</p>
</div>
<br><div><br><div style="text-align:justify;"><br><p>Professor Nutt, who was dismissed from the Home Office&#8217;s advisory<br>
council on drugs in 2009 after clashing with ministers, said that UN<br>
conventions on drugs in the 1960s and 1970s have delayed the development<br>
of &#8220;innovative treatments&#8221; for PTSD and depression by 30 years and also<br>
set back research into areas of neuroscience such as consciousness.</p>
<p>In<br>
a paper published today with two other scientists in the journal Nature<br>
Reviews Neuroscience, he said that drugs policy is being driven by<br>
&#8220;politics, not science&#8221;.</p>
<p>Professor Nutt left the Home Officer in<br>
2009 after suggesting that taking MDMA ecstasy was no more dangerous<br>
than horse-riding and that alcohol and tobacco were more dangerous than<br>
many illegal drugs.</p>
<p>The possession of psychoactive drugs such<br>
cannabis, MDMA (ecstasy) and LSD for scientific purposes is stringently<br>
regulated in the UK and most other countries, in accordance with UN<br>
conventions that were agreed in response to the emergence of drug<br>
culture in the 1960s and 1970s.</p>
<p>Applying for a Government licence<br>
can be costly and time-consuming and many scientists are put off by a<br>
culture of &#8220;repression&#8221; surrounding drug science, Professor Nutt said.</p>
<p>&#8220;The<br>
laws scare off funders and most scientists are scared because they<br>
think if they break the law, they might get arrested,&#8221; he told The<br>
Independent. &#8220;I&#8217;m sure at some point someone&#8217;s going to arrest me. There<br>
is a sense of repression to the point that most people won&#8217;t do it.&#8221;</p>
<p>The<br>
paper, which is published to coincide with a conference on scientific<br>
research with psychedelics at Imperial College London, points to<br>
evidence that cannabis, MDMA and psychedelics such as LSD and psilocybin<br>
(the compound found in magic mushrooms) have unexplored medicinal<br>
benefits and argues that laws should be updated.</p>
<p>Small clinical<br>
studies of MDMA, which was originally used in the USA in the 1970s to<br>
improve communication in psychotherapy sessions, suggested that it could<br>
play a highly beneficial role in the treatment of PTSD patients. The<br>
paper&#8217;s authors said the drug could also help with &#8220;end of life anxiety&#8221;<br>
and couples therapy&#8221;.</p>
<p>Medical use of marijuana is already legal<br>
in 17 US states, and the drug has been shown to have benefits such as<br>
anxiety reduction and pain relief. However, Professor Nutt said that UK<br>
restrictions had blocked development of therapeutic applications for any<br>
of cannabis&#8217; 16 active ingredients.</p>
<p>LSD, meanwhile, was widely<br>
researched in the 1950s and 1960s, with more than 1,000 papers<br>
investigating outcomes for more than 40,000 patients, with evidence<br>
suggesting that the drug might be an effective treatment for alcoholism,<br>
before bans on the drug around the world ended further research.</p>
</div>
</div>
<p>&#160;</p>
<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote"><p><span><span>'O pior caso de censura cient&#237;fica desde a Igreja Cat&#243;lica </span><span>proibiu as obras de Galileu: Os cientistas chamam de drogas para ser legalizado </span><span>para permitir o estudo das suas propriedades de adequada</span><br><br><br><span>Charlie Cooper</span><br><br><br><span>Quarta-feira junho 12, 2013<br><br>
&#160;</span></span><span><span>A proibi&#231;&#227;o de drogas como a cannabis, MDMA e quantidades de LSD para </span><span>o "o pior caso de censura cient&#237;fica desde a Igreja Cat&#243;lica </span><span>proibidas as obras de Cop&#233;rnico e Galileu ", o ex-drogas do governo </span><span>Professor consultor David Nutt afirmou.</span><br><br><span rel='lightbox'><img class='bbc_img' src="http://www.independent.co.uk/incoming/article8654658.ece/ALTERNATES/w460/v2-web-drugs-getty.jpg" alt="v2-web-drugs-getty.jpg"></span><br><br><span>Professor Nutt, que foi demitido da assessoria da casa de escrit&#243;rio </span><span>conselho de drogas em 2009, depois de colidir com os ministros, disse que ONU </span><span>conven&#231;&#245;es sobre drogas em 1960 e 1970 ter atrasado o desenvolvimento </span><span>de "tratamentos inovadores" para PTSD e depress&#227;o por 30 anos, e tamb&#233;m </span><span>recuada pesquisa em &#225;reas de neuroci&#234;ncia, como consci&#234;ncia.</span></span><span><span>&#160;<br><br>
Num artigo publicado hoje, com outros dois cientistas na revista Nature </span><span>Reviews Neuroscience, disse que a pol&#237;tica de drogas est&#225; sendo impulsionada por </span><span>"A pol&#237;tica, e n&#227;o ci&#234;ncia".</span><br><br><span>Professor Nutt deixou a casa oficial </span><span>2009, ap&#243;s o que sugere que tomar MDMA ecstasy n&#227;o era mais perigoso </span><span>de equita&#231;&#227;o e que o &#225;lcool eo tabaco s&#227;o mais perigosos do que </span><span>muitas drogas ilegais.</span><br><br><span>A posse de drogas psicoativas, tais </span><span>cannabis, MDMA (ecstasy) e LSD para fins cient&#237;ficos &#233; rigorosamente </span><span>regulada no Reino Unido e na maioria nos outros pa&#237;ses, de acordo com a ONU </span><span>conven&#231;&#245;es que foram acordados em resposta ao surgimento de droga </span><span>cultura na d&#233;cada de 1960 e 1970.</span><br><br><span>Candidatar-se a uma licen&#231;a do governo </span><span>pode ser caro e demorado e muitos cientistas s&#227;o adiadas por um </span><span>cultura de "repress&#227;o" em torno da ci&#234;ncia da droga, o professor Nutt disse.</span><br><br><span>"As </span><span>leis assustam os financiadores e a maioria dos cientistas est&#227;o com medo, porque eles </span><span>acho que se eles quebram a lei, eles podem ficar presos ", disse ele ao The </span><span>Independente. </span><span>"Tenho certeza que em algum momento algu&#233;m vai me prender. </span><span>L&#225; </span><span>&#233; um sentimento de repress&#227;o a tal ponto que a maioria das pessoas n&#227;o vai fazer isso. "</span><br><br><span>O </span><span>papel, que &#233; publicado para coincidir com uma confer&#234;ncia sobre cient&#237;fica </span><span>pesquisa com psicod&#233;licos do Imperial College London, aponta para </span><span>evid&#234;ncias de que a cannabis, MDMA e psicod&#233;licos como o LSD e psilocibina </span><span>(O composto encontrado em cogumelos m&#225;gicos) t&#234;m explorado medicinal </span><span>benef&#237;cios e argumenta que as leis devem ser atualizadas.</span><br><br><span>Pequena cl&#237;nica </span><span>estudos de MDMA, que foi originalmente usado nos EUA na d&#233;cada de 1970 para </span><span>melhorar a comunica&#231;&#227;o em sess&#245;es de psicoterapia, sugeriu que ele poderia </span><span>desempenham um papel extremamente ben&#233;fico no tratamento de pacientes de PTSD. </span><span>O </span><span>autores do jornal disse que a droga tamb&#233;m poderia ajudar com o "fim da ansiedade da vida" </span><span>e terapia de casais. "</span><br><br><span>Uso medicinal da maconha j&#225; &#233; legal </span><span>em 17 estados dos EUA, e que a droga tem sido demonstrado que t&#234;m benef&#237;cios como </span><span>redu&#231;&#227;o da ansiedade e al&#237;vio da dor. </span><span>No entanto, o professor Nutt, disse que o Reino Unido </span><span>restri&#231;&#245;es haviam bloqueado o desenvolvimento de aplica&#231;&#245;es terap&#234;uticas para qualquer </span><span>de 16 ingredientes ativos de maconha.</span><br><br><span>LSD, entretanto, foi amplamente </span><span>pesquisado na d&#233;cada de 1950 e 1960, com mais de 1.000 trabalhos </span><span>investigar os resultados para mais de 40.000 pacientes, com<br>
evid&#234;ncia </span><span>sugerindo que a droga pode ser um tratamento eficaz para o alcoolismo, </span><span>antes da proibi&#231;&#227;o da droga em todo o mundo terminou mais pesquisas</span></span><br><span>&#160;</span></p></blockquote>
<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote"><p>&#160;</p></blockquote>
<p><br>
&#160;</p>
]]></description>
		<pubDate>Wed, 12 Jun 2013 13:29:17 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid>http://www.growroom.net/board/topic/51070-o-pior-caso-de-censura-desde-quando-a-igreja-catolica-baniu-trabalhos-de-galileu/</guid>
	</item>
	<item>
		<title>Ottawa Unveils Final Medical Marijuana Rules</title>
		<link>http://www.growroom.net/board/topic/51060-ottawa-unveils-final-medical-marijuana-rules/</link>
		<description><![CDATA[<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote"><p></p><p><a href='http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ottawa-tables-final-rules-for-medical-marijuana-removes-pharmacists-from-equation/article12446149/' class='bbc_url' title='External link' rel='nofollow external'>http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ottawa-tables-final-rules-for-medical-marijuana-removes-pharmacists-from-equation/article12446149/</a></p>
<div>
<p><strong>Ottawa unveils final medical marijuana rules</strong></p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>Advertisement&#160; After two years of back and forth, the federal government has finalized its new rules for medical marijuana and has granted a last-minute reprieve to pharmacists who opposed the rules in their draft form.&#160; Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq rolls out the regulations this morning for final publication in the Canada Gazette on Wednesday.</p>
<p>Under the new regime, the government will no longer produce or distribute medical pot and medical marijuana users will <strong><u>no longer be allowed to grow the product at home</u></strong>.&#160; Instead, the government will allow patients to buy prescribed amounts only from licensed growers under strict conditions.&#160; In previous versions of the regulations, pharmacies were to distribute the product just like other medications, provoking the anger of pharmacists who feared being robbed.&#160; But the final version removes the pharmacists from the loop, forcing patients to rely on mail order for their medical marijuana.&#160; &#8220;While the courts have said that there must be reasonable access to a legal source of marijuana for medical purposes, we believe that this must be done in a controlled fashion in order to protect public safety,&#8221; Aglukkaq said in a news release.&#160; &#8220;These changes will strengthen the safety of Canadian communities while making sure patients can access what they need to treat serious illnesses.&#8221;&#160; She used similar reasoning last week when she introduced new hurdles for the creation of supervised drug-injection sites in response to a court ruling.&#160; While the pharmacists were placated in the final version of the marijuana regulations, doctors were not. They have objected to being told to prescribe a product that has not been rigorously tested.</p>
</div></blockquote>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>VTNC....</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>olha a cara da vaca... mas na boa, quem toma a decis&#227;o no partido &#233; o PM... ela s&#243; &#233; um porta v&#243;z, msm sendo ministra</p>
<p><span rel='lightbox'><img class='bbc_img' src="http://topnews.net.nz/data/Leona-Aglukkaq.jpg" alt="Leona-Aglukkaq.jpg"></span></p>
]]></description>
		<pubDate>Tue, 11 Jun 2013 03:00:48 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid>http://www.growroom.net/board/topic/51060-ottawa-unveils-final-medical-marijuana-rules/</guid>
	</item>
	<item>
		<title>Five Myths About Legalizing Marijuana</title>
		<link>http://www.growroom.net/board/topic/51029-five-myths-about-legalizing-marijuana/</link>
		<description><![CDATA[
	<span style="font-size:18px;"><span style="font-family:georgia, serif;"><strong>Five myths about</strong></span></span>
<br><p><span style="font-size:18px;"><span style="font-family:georgia, serif;"><strong>legalizing marijuana</strong></span></span></p>
<br><br><p>&#160;</p>
<br><br><p>&#160;</p>
<br><br><p><span style="font-size:18px;"><span style="font-family:georgia, serif;">By&#160;Doug Fine,&#160;Published: June&#160;7</span></span></p>
<br><br><p><span style="font-size:18px;"><span style="font-family:georgia, serif;"><em>Doug Fine is the author<br>
of &#8220;<a href='http://www.amazon.com/dp/1592407099/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_til?tag=washpost-opinions-20&camp=0&creative=0&linkCode=as1&creativeASIN=1592407099&adid=065JRRN6GWTYMW12GRZC' class='bbc_url' title='External link' rel='nofollow external'>Too High to Fail: Cannabis and the New Green Economic<br>
Revolution</a>,&#8221; in which he followed one legal medicinal cannabis plant<br>
from farm to patient.</em></span></span></p>
<br><br><p><span style="font-size:18px;"><span style="font-family:georgia, serif;">With&#160;<a href='http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/06/vermont-marijuana-decriminalization_n_3397266.html' class='bbc_url' title='External link' rel='nofollow external'>16 states</a>&#160;having decriminalized or<br>
legalized cannabis for non-medical use and eight more heading toward some kind<br>
of legalization, federal prohibition&#8217;s days seem numbered. You might wonder<br>
what America will look like when marijuana is in the corner store and at the<br>
farmers market. In three years spent researching that question, I found some<br>
ideas about the plant that just don&#8217;t hold up.</span></span></p>
<br><br><p><span style="font-size:18px;"><span style="font-family:georgia, serif;"><strong>1.&#160;If pot is legal,<br>
more people will use it.</strong></span></span></p>
<br><br><p><span style="font-size:18px;"><span style="font-family:georgia, serif;">As drug policy undergoes big changes, I&#8217;ve<br>
been watching rates of youth cannabis use with interest. As it is for most<br>
fathers, the well-being of my family is the most important thing in my life.<br>
Whether you like the plant or not, as with alcohol, only adults should be<br>
allowed to partake of intoxicating substances. But&#160;<a href='http://www.nih.gov/news/health/dec2012/nida-19.htm' class='bbc_url' title='External link' rel='nofollow external'>youth cannabis use</a>&#160;is near its highest<br>
level ever in the United States. When I spoke at a California high school<br>
recently and asked, &#8220;Who thinks cannabis is easier to obtain than alcohol?,&#8221;<br>
nearly every hand shot up.</span></span></p>
<br><br><p><span style="font-size:18px;"><span style="font-family:georgia, serif;">In Portugal, by contrast,&#160;<a href='http://www.academia.edu/1925564/Portugal_and_Sweden_A_Tale_of_Two_Drug_Policies' class='bbc_url' title='External link' rel='nofollow external'>youth rates fell</a>from 2002 to 2006, after<br>
all drugs were legalized there in 2001. Similarly, a 2011 Brown University-led<br>
study of middle and high school students in Rhode Island found no increases in<br>
adolescent use after the state legalized medical marijuana in 2006.</span></span></p>
<br><br><p><span style="font-size:18px;"><span style="font-family:georgia, serif;">As for adult use, the numbers are mixed. A<br>
2011 University of California at Berkeley study, for example, showed a slight<br>
increase in adult use with de facto legalization in the Netherlands (though the<br>
rate was still lower than in the United States). Yet that study and one in 2009<br>
found Dutch rates to be slightly lower than the European average. When the<br>
United States&#8217; 40-year-long war on marijuana ends, the country is not going to<br>
turn into a Cheech and Chong movie. It is, however, going to see the transfer<br>
of as much as 50 percent of cartel profits to the taxable economy.</span></span></p>
<br><br><p><span style="font-size:18px;"><span style="font-family:georgia, serif;"><strong>2.&#160;Law enforcement<br>
officials oppose legalization.</strong></span></span></p>
<br><br><p><span style="font-size:18px;"><span style="font-family:georgia, serif;">It is true that many law enforcement lobby<br>
groups don&#8217;t want to end America&#8217;s most expensive war (which has cost $1<br>
trillion and counting), but that&#8217;s because they&#8217;re the reason it&#8217;s so<br>
expensive. In 2010,&#160;<a href='http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/05/13/ap-impact-years-trillion-war-drugs-failed-meet-goals/' class='bbc_url' title='External link' rel='nofollow external'>two-thirds</a>of federal spending on the drug<br>
war, $10 billion, went toward law enforcement and interdiction.</span></span></p>
<br><br><p><span style="font-size:18px;"><span style="font-family:georgia, serif;">But law enforcement rank and file know the<br>
truth about the drug war&#8217;s profligate and ineffective spending, says former Los<br>
Angeles deputy police chief Stephen Downing, one of 5,000 public safety<br>
professionals who make up the group Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. &#8220;Most<br>
law enforcers find it difficult not to recognize the many harms caused by our<br>
current drug laws,&#8221; he wrote to me in an e-mail. Those harms include, according<br>
to&#160;<a href='http://apps.washingtonpost.com/g/documents/local/aclu-report-on-marijuana-arrests/461/' class='bbc_url' title='External link' rel='nofollow external'>a new ACLU report</a>, marijuana-possession<br>
arrests that are&#160;<a href='http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-marijuana-study-blacks-far-more-likely-to-be-arrested-than-whites-aclu-says/2013/06/04/fa0d83d2-cd40-11e2-8f6b-67f40e176f03_story.html' class='bbc_url' title='External link' rel='nofollow external'>skewed heavily toward minorities</a>.</span></span></p>
<br><br><p><span style="font-size:18px;"><span style="font-family:georgia, serif;">Since marijuana prohibition drives the drug<br>
war, these huge costs would end when federal cannabis law changes. Sheriff Tom<br>
Allman in Mendocino County, Calif., helped<a href='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-i79S13YPA' class='bbc_url' title='External link' rel='nofollow external'>permit,<br>
inspect and protect</a>&#160;local cannabis farmers in 2010 and 2011.<br>
When I asked him why, he said: &#8220;This county has problems: domestic violence,<br>
meth, poverty. Marijuana isn&#8217;t even in the top 10. I want it off the front<br>
pages so I can deal with the real issues.&#8221;</span></span></p>
<br><br><p><span style="font-size:18px;"><span style="font-family:georgia, serif;"><strong>3.&#160;Getting high<br>
would be the top revenue generator for the cannabis plant.</strong></span></span></p>
<br><br><p><span style="font-size:18px;"><span style="font-family:georgia, serif;">I called both of my U.S. senators&#8217; offices to<br>
support inserting a provision into this year&#8217;s farm bill to legalize hemp for<br>
domestic cultivation. Based on my research on industrial cannabis, commonly<br>
called hemp, I&#8217;m staggered by the potential of this plant, which is not the<br>
variety you smoke.</span></span></p>
<br><br><p><span style="font-size:18px;"><span style="font-family:georgia, serif;">In Canada, where 90 percent of the crop is<br>
bought by U.S. consumers, the government researches the best varieties for its<br>
hemp farmers, rather than refusing to issue them permits, as the United States<br>
tends to do. In a research facility in Manitoba, I saw a tractor whose body was<br>
made entirely of hemp fiber and binding. BMW and Dodgeuse hemp fibers in their<br>
door panels, and homes whose insulation and wall paneling are made partially of<br>
hemp represent a fast-growing trend in the European construction industry.</span></span></p>
<br><br><p>&#160;</p>
<br><br><p><span style="font-size:18px;"><span style="font-family:georgia, serif;">Jack Noel, who co-authored a 2012 industrial<br>
hemp task force report for the New Mexico Department of Agriculture, says that<br>
&#8220;within 10 years of the end of the war on drugs, we&#8217;ll see a $50 billion<br>
domestic hemp industry.&#8221; That&#8217;s bigger than the $40&#160;billion some<br>
economists predict smoked cannabis would bring in.</span></span></p>
<br><br><p>&#160;</p>
<br><br><p><span style="font-size:18px;"><span style="font-family:georgia, serif;">Foods such as cereal and salad dressing are<br>
the biggest U.S. markets for hemp today, but industrial cannabis has the<br>
brightest future in the energy sector, where a Kentucky utility is planning to<br>
grow hemp for biomass energy.</span></span></p>
<br><br><p>&#160;</p>
<br><br><p><span style="font-size:18px;"><span style="font-family:georgia, serif;"><strong>4.&#160;Big Tobacco and<br>
Big Alcohol would control the legal cannabis industry.</strong></span></span></p>
<br><br><p><span style="font-size:18px;"><span style="font-family:georgia, serif;">In 1978, the Carter administration changed<br>
alcohol regulations to allow for microbreweries. Today the craft-beer market is<br>
worth&#160;<a href='http://www.brewersassociation.org/pages/business-tools/craft-brewing-statistics/facts' class='bbc_url' title='External link' rel='nofollow external'>$10.2 billion annually</a>. The top-shelf<br>
cannabis farmers in California&#8217;s Emerald Triangle realize this potential.<br>
&#8220;We&#8217;re creating an international brand, like champagne and Parmigiano cheese,&#8221;<br>
says Tomas Balogh, co-founder of the Emerald Growers Association in Humboldt,<br>
Calif. Get ready for the bud and breakfast.</span></span></p>
<br><br><p><span style="font-size:18px;"><span style="font-family:georgia, serif;">When America&#8217;s 100 million cannabis<br>
aficionados (17 million regular partakers) are freed from dealers, some are<br>
going to pick up a six-pack of joints at the corner store before heading to a<br>
barbecue, and others are going to seek out organically grown heirloom strains<br>
for their vegetable dip.</span></span></p>
<br><br><p><span style="font-size:18px;"><span style="font-family:georgia, serif;">As Balogh puts it: &#8220;When people ask me if the<br>
small farmer or the big corporation will benefit from the end of prohibition, I<br>
say, &#8216;Both.&#8217; The cannabis industry is already decentralized and farmer-owned.<br>
It&#8217;s up to consumers to keep it that way.&#8221; So Big Alcohol might control the<br>
corner store, but not the fine-wine shop or the farmers&#8217; market.</span></span></p>
<br><br><p>&#160;</p>
<br><br><p><span style="font-size:18px;"><span style="font-family:georgia, serif;"><strong>5.&#160;In the heartland,<br>
legalization is a political nonstarter.</strong></span></span></p>
<br><br><p><span style="font-size:18px;"><span style="font-family:georgia, serif;">President Obama, in an interview last<br>
December, for the first time took seriously a question about the legalization<br>
of cannabis. He said that he didn&#8217;t yet support it but that he had&#160;<a href='http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2012/12/14/obama-ive-got-bigger-fish-to-fry-than-pot-smokers/' class='bbc_url' title='External link' rel='nofollow external'>&#8220;bigger fish to fry&#8221;</a>&#160;than harassing<br>
Colorado and Washington.</span></span></p>
<br><br><p><span style="font-size:18px;"><span style="font-family:georgia, serif;">In Colorado in 2012, 40 percent of Republican<br>
voters chose to legalize cannabis, and a greater share of Coloradans voted for<br>
legalization than voted for Obama.</span></span></p>
<br><br><p><span style="font-size:18px;"><span style="font-family:georgia, serif;">In Arizona, a pretty conservative and silver<br>
state, 56 percent of those in a poll last month supported regulating cannabis<br>
for personal use. Maybe fiscal conservatives know about the $35&#160;billion in<br>
annual nationwide tax savings that ending prohibition would bring. In Illinois,<br>
63 percent of voters support medicinal marijuana, and they&#8217;re likely to get it.<br>
Even 60 percent of Kentuckians favor medical cannabis.</span></span></p>
<br><br><p><span style="font-size:18px;"><span style="font-family:georgia, serif;">I&#8217;m not surprised. I live in a conservative<br>
valley in New Mexico. Yet as a woman in line at the post office recently told<br>
me: &#8220;It&#8217;s pills that killed my cousin. Fightin&#8217; pot just keeps those dang<br>
cartels in business.&#8221;</span></span></p>
<p><br>
&#160;</p>
<p><a href='http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/five-myths-about-legalizing-marijuana/2013/06/07/9727eac4-c871-11e2-9f1a-1a7cdee20287_story_1.html' class='bbc_url' title='External link' rel='nofollow external'>http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/five-myths-about-legalizing-marijuana/2013/06/07/9727eac4-c871-11e2-9f1a-1a7cdee20287_story_1.html</a></p>]]></description>
		<pubDate>Sat, 08 Jun 2013 19:06:55 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid>http://www.growroom.net/board/topic/51029-five-myths-about-legalizing-marijuana/</guid>
	</item>
</channel>
</rss>