# MJ News for 03/18/2014



## 7greeneyes (Mar 18, 2014)

h*MP*p://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/17/dea-marijuana-eradication_n_4980468.html




*The DEA Isn't Destroying As Much Weed As It Used To​*

WASHINGTON -- The Drug Enforcement Administration destroyed fewer marijuana plants in 2012 and 2013 combined than it did in 2010 alone, according to newly available statistics, although officials did not suggest this was an agency goal.

The DEA destroyed 4,395,240 plants in 2013, up slightly from the 3,933,959 plants it destroyed in 2012. Both numbers pale in comparison to the 10 million-plus plants destroyed in both 2009 and 2010.

In the DEA's fiscal year 2015 budget request to Congress, officials said that the agency's successful enforcement efforts had "forced drug traffickers to cultivate marijuana plants on private property, whereas in prior years, marijuana plants were typically grown on public land."

The private grows, DEA officials said, had made it more difficult for the agency to keep its numbers up. "earch warrants are required to pursue investigations on private land," they noted.

Another factor in the lower totals for destroyed plants, the officials suggested, was "the introduction and cultivation of a new, more robust species of marijuana plant. It is called a 'supersized' marijuana plant and it can reach heights of five feet or more and produce up to several pounds of marijuana from a single stalk."

In their budget proposal, DEA officials said the agency must "continuously modify its enforcement strategies to keep pace with the various adaptations and evolutionary techniques employed by trafficking organizations and other criminal enterprises."

The budget proposal also stated that the rising tide of marijuana legalization was a challenge for the DEA because "questions have been raised" about the conflicts between state and federal drug laws.


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## 7greeneyes (Mar 18, 2014)

hMPp://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2014/03/18/medical-marijuana-ptsd-veteran-study/6532021/





*Medical marijuana research for PTSD clears major hurdle​*


A researcher at the University of Arizona is a step closer to studying how medical marijuana affects veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Although there is a "mountain of anecdotal evidence" that marijuana helps with PTSD, there has been no controlled trial to test how marijuana suppresses the symptoms, including flashbacks, insomnia and anxiety, said Suzanne Sisley, the study's lead researcher.

Sisley's study proposal has wound its way through the federal government for three years. In 2011, she received approval by the Food and Drug Administration. On Friday, the study cleared a major hurdle when the Public Health Service, part of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, gave its approval.

Now Sisley is waiting on approval from a third and final agency  the Drug Enforcement Administration  before she can start her research. It's unclear how long the DEA will take. The DEA has not immediately responded to USA TODAY Network for comment.

Sisley's 10-week study will examine 50 veterans with moderate to severe symptoms of PTSD, using marijuana from the federal government's only marijuana farm at the University of Mississippi.

The study participants will receive marijuana with five varying amounts of the active ingredient, THC  anywhere from the placebo of no THC to 12% THC. The study will also examine the differences between smoking the drug versus vaporizing it.

"It's hopefully a great starting point to begin to uncover some innovative ways of treating PTSD," Sisley told USA TODAY Network.

The Department of Veterans Affairs estimates 11-20% of troops&#8203; who served in Iraq or Afghanistan have PTSD. About 7.7 million Americans are estimated to have the disorder, according to the National Institutes of Health.

Sisley's study could open the way to the development of a prescription drug based on the whole marijuana plant, said Brad Burge, spokesman for Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, which is funding the study.

"What that means is we have labels, lists of side effects, knowledge of different strains and how they have different effects," Burge said. The study, however, is only a first step.

Currently, six states specifically list PTSD as a qualifying condition to receive medical marijuana: New Mexico, Delaware, Oregon, Connecticut, Maine and Nevada, said Michael Krawitz, executive director of Veterans for Medical Cannabis Access.

With no federal medical marijuana law, Krawitz said, "State laws are the only way to protect veterans' access to cannabis."


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## 7greeneyes (Mar 18, 2014)

h*MP*p://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2014/03/17/marijuana-tax-breaks-irs/6367137/




*Medical marijuana stores blocked from tax breaks​*

The roughly 2,500 medical marijuana dispensaries in the USA pay taxes to local, state and federal governments.

But they can't take the same federal tax breaks that other small businesses take.

A section of the federal tax code known as 280E was meant to prevent tax write-offs for illegal drug activity. It was enacted in 1982, before medical marijuana was legalized in any state.

The Internal Revenue Service applies 280E to pot shops operating legally under state law.

The IRS says it follows the law in not allowing these deductions. Any changes to 280E would require Congress to amend either the Internal Revenue Code or the Controlled Substances Act, according to a 2010 letter from the IRS to members of Congress.

Although 20 states and D.C. have legalized medical marijuana, the Controlled Substances Act still lists marijuana as a Schedule 1 drug, the most dangerous category.

Because of 280E, the effective tax rate for many marijuana businesses is 50% or more, according to Taylor West, deputy director of the National Cannabis Industry Association, and Henry Wykowski, a lawyer representing marijuana businesses.

The majority of businesses audited by the IRS end up settling, but Canna Care, a medical marijuana dispensary in Sacramento, is fighting the IRS' charge that it owes nearly $875,000 in back taxes.

"You're paying the federal government protection money in order to operate," said Lanette Davies, who owns Canna Care with her husband, Bryan.

Davies said the IRS has offered to settle the case for $100,000, but the couple refused on the principle that 280E should not apply to them.

The IRS declined to comment or be interviewed for this article.

The inability for marijuana businesses to write off the cost of payroll, rent and other expenses creates "extremely thin profit margins," West said.

The only cost that dispensaries can write off is the marijuana itself.

NCIA lobbied members of Congress last week to change 280E and support a bill that would allow marijuana businesses to take standard business deductions.

Sponsored by Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., the bipartisan bill has an unlikely ally in Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform.

Industry members frame the bill as an economic investment issue.

"These are small businesses that are part of the local economy, but because of this tax burden, it makes it dramatically more difficult to invest in their people and in their property," West told USA TODAY Network.

The marijuana industry has received a boost in attention with Colorado's retail locations opening Jan. 1. Colorado made $3.5 million in marijuana tax revenue and fees, $2 million from recreational, in January. Washington is the only other state with legal recreational marijuana, and stores will open this summer.

Wykowski said it's a myth that this business produces quick, easy profits.

People think "it's a business that all you have to do is open up and make a million dollars. Maybe if you weren't paying taxes," said Wykowski, who represents Harborside Health Center, an Oakland dispensary that claims to be the country's largest dispensary. The IRS says Harborside owes $2.4 million in back taxes.

Marijuana businesses can write off expenses of sales and services not related to the actual marijuana product  such as pipes and T-shirts or yoga and acupuncture. That precedent is based on a marijuana tax case Wykowski argued in 2007.

The case was a victory for the industry, but Wykowski said,"If all you're doing is running a store that has cannabis, you don't have much to work with."


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## 7greeneyes (Mar 18, 2014)

h*MP*p://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/medical-marijuana-bill-advances-in-md-house/2014/03/17/c32378fc-ae10-11e3-96dc-d6ea14c099f9_story.html




*Medical marijuana bill advances in Maryland​*

The Maryland House of Delegates approved legislation Monday intended to make it possible for patients to use medical marijuana, which was legalized last year but remains unavailable in the state.

Delegates voted 127 to 9 to allow certified physicians to discuss the option of medical marijuana with patients and then recommend its use. Those patients or their caregivers could obtain a 30-day supply from a licensed grower. The legislation now heads to the Senate, where approval is expected.

The bill was one of dozens approved by the House on Monday during a marathon meeting ahead of a crossover deadline, after which legislation that has not been approved by either the House or the Senate has longer odds of being passed before the legislative session ends in early April.

Delegates also voted in favor of expanding pre-kindergarten classes to include more children, providing more oversight of the implementation of new education standards and shielding certain criminal records from the public record with the aim of making it easier for former convicts to get jobs.

The Senate convened Monday evening with its own full agenda that included bills that would boost annual tax credits given to movie and television companies that film in the state and require restaurants to urge patrons to alert their servers about any known food allergies the customers have before their orders are taken.

The Senates version of the House of Cards bill  sponsored by Sen. Edward J. Kasemeyer (D-Baltimore County)  would increase the tax credit to $18.5 million. It passed by a vote of 45 to 1.

The food allergy bill  sponsored by Sens. Jamie B. Raskin (D-Montgomery) and Christopher B. Shank (R-Washington)  would allow certain counties with limited legislative powers to pass laws requiring restaurants to urge patrons to alert servers about their food allergies. It also would require restaurants to have someone on staff who has completed a food allergen awareness training course. The measure passed 33 to 14.

Last year, Maryland lawmakers legalized the medical use of marijuana but limited distribution to a small number of approved academic medical centers. None of those centers  including the University of Maryland Medical System and Johns Hopkins University  has been willing to participate. That has frustrated some patients and their advocates who want legal access to the drug.

Del. Cheryl D. Glenn (D-Baltimore), who sponsored the legislation that passed out of the House on Monday, said that medical marijuana could improve the lives of some Marylanders. Access will be very, very tightly restricted to prevent recreational use of the drug, she said.

Maryland has a commission that oversees medical marijuana in the state. It would be up to that commission to certify physicians, license growers and issue identification cards to patients or their caregivers. The commission would encourage growers to develop and offer medical marijuana in a range of forms, and collect data that could assist doctors in prescribing the medication.

The House Judiciary Committee, meanwhile, again delayed action Monday on separate legislation that would decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana in the state. The Senate passed a similar bill last week, however, meaning the issue could still receive consideration by the House in the remaining three weeks of the session.

In a brief interview Monday, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Joseph F. Vallario Jr. (D-Prince Georges), who opposes the legislation, said it was unclear when  or whether  his committee will vote on the measure.

Under both the House and Senate versions of the decriminalization bill, individuals caught with less than 10 grams of marijuana would be subject to a civil fine of up to $100 rather than a criminal conviction that could result in jail time.

Seventeen states and the District have moved to decriminalize the use of small amounts of marijuana, according to the D.C.-based Marijuana Policy Project, which advocates legalization.

On Monday, delegates also approved legislation sponsored by the administration of Gov. Martin OMalley (D) that would begin to expand pre-K classes for more children. Maryland already offers free pre-K classes to economically disadvantaged 4-year-olds, but state leaders hope to eventually offer that to all 4-year-olds.

Their first step toward that goal is to provide grants to local school systems and pre-K providers that want to accept children from families making more money than currently allowed. The measure could help up to 1,600 children.

Delegates approved the expansion in a 103 to 33 vote. The Senate approved similar legislation last week.

Delegates also voted 127 to 8 to establish a work group to review the implementation of education standards called Common Core. The group would include state education officials, representatives from teachers unions, education experts, parents and a student representative. This bill is one of three related to the controversial standards, which are being implemented quickly in Maryland schools.

The House also approved legislation known as the Maryland Second Chance Act of 2014, which is intended to make it easier for people with minor criminal convictions to get jobs.

The bill, which passed 88 to 48, would allow a person to petition a court to remove certain convictions from a publicly available online database maintained by the state. In most cases, the person would have to wait three years after a sentence was completed.


Under amendments passed in recent days, however, police and courthouses would continue to maintain records of the shielded offenses, and employers could require an applicant to provide a full history of any criminal activity as a condition of employment.

This is not a license to lie, Vallario, the House Judiciary chairman, said during preliminary floor debate over the bill.

The Senate has not acted on similar legislation.


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## 7greeneyes (Mar 18, 2014)

h*MP*p://bostonherald.com/business/business_markets/2014/03/medical_marijuana_company_sues_mass?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+bostonherald+(Home+-+BostonHerald.com)




*Medical marijuana company sues Mass.*​

BOSTON  A company that lost out in its bid to open a medical marijuana dispensary in Lowell has sued the state, alleging its application was scored incorrectly.

Cardiac Arrhythmia Syndromes Foundation also says in its lawsuit filed Monday that the winning applicant may have made omissions and errors in its application that should have resulted in disqualification.

The state Public Health Department granted 20 provisional licenses in a process that has come under fire and resulted in three lawsuits.

CAS's suit contends that the winning applicant for a provisional license in Lowell, Patriot Care Corp., failed to mention a lawsuit alleging fraud, a judgment for failure to pay taxes, and a bankruptcy involving a member of Patriot's team.

A Patriot spokesman says the company is confident its application was filed correctly.


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## 7greeneyes (Mar 18, 2014)

h*MP*p://news.yahoo.com/a-day-in-the-life-of-a-marijuana-lobbyist-023347656.html




*A day in the life of a marijuana lobbyist*​

In the center of the crowded basement cafeteria of the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill, Big Pots mobile war room was humming.

While hundreds of congressional staffers lunched around them, a group of foot soldiers in the effort to legalize marijuana stood over a rectangular table cluttered with plates of sushi and documents, busily stuffing white folders with literature about the need for the federal government to change the nations cannabis laws. Each folder, which would be delivered to a congressional office on one of the floors above, needed a primer on bills that had been introduced to reform banking and tax laws for the cannabis industry, a letter urging co-sponsorship of the bills, a position paper from Grover Norquists Americans for Tax Reform, and a New York Times story about the burgeoning marijuana industry.

It was the final hours of a two-day Washington, D.C., blitz by the National Cannabis Industry Association, the 3-year-old lobbying arm of the countrys increasingly organized legal marijuana industry. With just a few hours remaining until the advocates scheduled flights home, there were still several offices to visit.

On a laptop at the table, NCIA events manager Brooke Gilbert scanned and updated a detailed Google spreadsheet that listed all the association members who had flown to the capital to help with the groups annual lobby day, ticking off the names of offices on Capitol Hill they had visited and those they still needed to stop by.

Other members of the association  a mixture of pot growers, marijuana dispensary owners, scientists, doctors and activists from around the country  sat at nearby tables and talked excitedly about their own meetings with lawmakers and congressional staffers. By day's end, the members would hold meetings with more than 60 offices about pot and the legal, new, booming industry of growing and selling the psychoactive plant.

The advocates have had great success at the state level. Already 20 states and the District of Columbia allow legal medical marijuana, and Washington and Colorado last year became the first states to make pot legal for recreational use. But changes in federal laws have lagged. Thats one reason that, at the end of 2010, marijuana-related business owners pooled their resources to form the NCIA.

Now the cannabis industry is solidifying its presence in the halls of Congress. Late last year, the NCIA hired Michael Correia, a former Republican congressional staffer, to lobby for the industry full time in Washington, D.C. Previously, he worked as a field representative for Tennesee Republican Rep. Diane Black and spent two years as the director of federal affairs for the conservative American Legislative Exchange Council.

The group relies on survey data from pollster Celinda Lake to update its arguments and provide data on the state of play. A 22-member board and a staff of five direct operations from the group's headquarters in Denver, Colo. The group represents more than 400 companies in 20 states that together bring in more than $2 billion in revenue annually.

If there was one feature that stood out most about the marijuana activists last week, it was that they did not stand out at all. With the exception, perhaps, of one woman dressed in a tailored pantsuit and wearing natural red dreadlocks that stretched to her waist, the cannabis industry team was indistinguishable from the routine mix of lobbyists, staffers, advocates and journalists in the Rayburn halls.

Thats intentional: The pot lobby is desperately seeking legitimacy  and taking the steps to achieve it.

Were respectable, responsible businesspeople, said Dorian Deslauriers, an NCIA member who runs a lab in Massachusetts that tests and analyzes medical marijuana. We are just like the rest of the industries in America.

While the association doesnt own an imposing building on Capitol Hill or K Street that bears its name  Correia works from a small office in downtown D.C.  the NCIAs lobbying tactics mirror those of other industries. For weeks before the groups members arrived in Washington, Correia set up meetings with legislative offices. Over two days, supporters of the cannabis cause targeted lawmakers on the Banking, Finance and Judicial committees in both chambers of Congress, and met with lawmakers who represent states with NCIA members. Most of the meetings lasted about a half-hour, attendees said, and focused on two main priorities: legislation permitting cannabis industry organizations to write off business expenses on their taxes and a measure to allow federally insured banks to work with the businesses, even though theyre engaging in activity thats still considered illegal under federal law.

Where they could, NCIA staffers let the business owners do the talking.

Were not expecting, or even wanting, our members to go in with some perfectly polished presentation. Its not the point, said Taylor West, NCIAs deputy director. We have the lobbyist who will be there when we leave who can follow up with technical questions. What we want is to communicate that these are very real struggles that responsible business owners are dealing with.

As far as federal law is concerned, much of what these companies do remains illegal. The Drug Enforcement Administration still labels their main product a Schedule 1 drug along with heroin and LSD. While the businesses that NCIA represents function legally within the states where they are based, they are at constant risk of federal prosecution, should the Department of Justice decide to strictly enforce the law.

Because of this, businesses in the industry cant write off their expenses for federal tax purposes, a benefit offered to all companies, including the legal brothels in Nevada. And banks are hesitant to lend to or allow accounts for these companies, leading some to store massive amounts of cash and place themselves at higher risk for theft.

For now, fixing these issues  not national legalization  is the advocates top priority.

Its important that were treated like any other business, said Ean Seeb, a member of the NCIA board. Thats the consistent message: Treat us like any other business.

Converting congressmen to this way of thinking is slow-going. While there are a handful of lawmakers on both sides of the aisle who actively support the cannabis industry, particularly Democratic Reps. Earl Blumenauer of Oregon and Jared Polis of Colorado and California Republican Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, many members of Congress are fearful of touching the issue. Most have opposed efforts to decriminalize marijuana for their entire careers and are unlikely to changes their positions quickly.

But compared to how lawmakers treated industry activists even just a few years ago, recent congressional interest in talking to legalization advocates is stunning.

Weve seen a lot more interest this year and, anecdotally at least, were seeing more legit senior staff that were talking to, West said. Legislative affairs people, not constituent services people.

Said Seeb after a series of meetings on Thursday: Theyre finally taking it seriously. Theyre asking the right questions."

Of course, that's not a universal position, he added: "At the same time, there are people completely dismissing us.

As part of the NCIA lobbying effort, Correia also organized a public briefing in the House Budget Committee room on Capitol Hill, open to anyone interested in the issue. The event included brief speeches from sympathetic members of Congress, a presentation about polling data on changing attitudes toward marijuana and stories from business owners in the industry.

Of all the speakers present, it was the lawmakers, many of whom have worked on the issue for decades without much progress, who appeared the most passionate.

We keep needing bigger and bigger rooms, an ecstatic Blumenauer said when he looked over the group of about 80 at the briefing. Isnt that wonderful?!

While movement on the issue has seemed staggeringly slow  Blumenauer said he cast his first vote to decriminalize marijuana in the Oregon Legislature in the early 1970s  the rapid change in public views during just the past few years has almost caught the pro-legalization lawmakers off-guard. A CNN-Opinion Research poll in January found that 55 percent of Americans believe marijuana should be legalized, a statistic that jumped by 12 percentage points from just a year before.

States around the country are preparing for votes to legalize the drug later this year, opening the possibility for billions more in revenue for those in the industry.

The public is shifting very, very dramatically, Lake, the pollster, said, citing a trove of statistics about attitudes toward marijuana. This is an issue thats absolutely at its tipping point.

The good news for pot advocates, she said, was that although many in the U.S. still oppose legalization, they wont take to the streets against it. Unlike hot-button issues like abortion or same-sex marriage, those who oppose marijuana legalization dont come out to vote just because its on the ballot.

People dont mobilize or turn out against marijuana, she said. They shrug their shoulders, they wish their grandkids didnt use it, but they dont vote to beat marijuana.

Washington, however, has been slow to catch up. With nearly $2 billion flowing legally through the economy now that several states have legalized the plant's production and use, the federal government still hasnt decided how to address it. President Barack Obamas Department of Justice has said it wont prosecute businesses in the industry that operate under state law and is allowing banks to do business with them, but pot industry activists say they need Congress to move in order to give banks and business owners further security that their investments will be protected.

Were in this Never Never Land on Capitol Hill. The administration and Congress is in denial, and were the problem," Blumenauer said. Were trying to get the administration to get real.

Accomplishing this, of course, will require support from members of both political parties.

On the right, Republicans have just recently begun to nibble at the edges of reform. Conservatives such as Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky, Mike Lee of Utah and John Cornyn of Texas have promoted an effort to re-examine sentencing laws for nonviolent drug criminals. Republican governors such as Rick Perry of Texas and Bobby Jindal of Louisiana have also moved forward in their own states to reduce mandatory minimum sentences for drug users.

Fear is one of the main drivers moving against widespread legalization, said Rohrabacher, the California Republican.

If it were a secret ballot, a majority of my Republican friends would vote for [legalization], Rohrabacher said. Theyre afraid that if they step up to the plate, their next election, they will be portrayed by their opponent as The Friend of the Drug Cartel.

The task and challenge, marijuana advocates say, is providing lawmakers evolving on the issue with the data and information that will help them explain why theyve flipped. As with any shift in position, that takes time. After years of opposing legalization, its difficult for any public figure to suddenly change course.

But the representatives of Big Pot see time, public opinion and data on their side.

Polling is through the roof, West said. The elected just have to catch up.


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## 7greeneyes (Mar 18, 2014)

h*MP*p://qz.com/188888/holi-is-indias-celebration-of-color-and-cannabis/




*Holi is India&#8217;s celebration of color&#8212;and cannabis*​

To get to Bandosingh Hazaari&#8217;s bhang shop in Hyderabad, India, you have to follow the gods.

In the maze of nameless alleys in Dhoolpet, a working-class neighborhood in the southeastern Indian city of Hyderabad, enormous fiberglass figures of Hindu gods and goddesses peek out of temple doors and between buildings. It&#8217;s a part of the city that&#8217;s known for creating and selling these 30-foot avatars, which are used in festivals and parades.

&#8220;In the haze of a bhang-laced thandai, the mundane doesn&#8217;t matter so much.&#8221;It&#8217;s also known for selling bhang&#8212;cannabis leaves that are crushed, mixed into drinks and sweets, and often served during Hindu holidays like Holi, the celebration of color and spring. During the festival, which falls on Mar. 17 this year, crowds gather in Indian cities to throw colored powder and water on friends and strangers, leaving the streets tie-dyed and the air hazy with ribbons of rainbow dust. In a country where possessing and selling cannabis is generally prohibited, and where levels of cannabis use are low relative to other countries, it&#8217;s one day of the year when consuming marijuana is socially acceptable. There are even Bollywood songs extolling bhang&#8217;s virtues:

While the observance of Holi varies by community and region, serving bhang is part of the celebration in many Indian homes. The intoxicant takes many forms&#8212;from simple pills, or golis, created by mixing the leaves with water, to sweet bhang lassis, where the cannabis is ground up and added to heavy milk with almonds, sugar, and other flavors. It can also be packed into Indian mithai, or sweets made with nuts and condensed milk, and decorated with silver and gold edible foil. In its diluted form, bhang offers a mild buzz or high. Consuming it in larger quantities is akin to smoking weed, and vendors like Hazaari claim that the substance can put you to sleep for three days straight.

On a warm spring afternoon, just a few days before Holi, the 50-year-old Hyderabad native sat on a dusty plastic chair in his dark warehouse, surrounded by divinities. Hazaari said thousands make their way to Dhoolpet during the festival to find bhang, which he sells in the form of small, cake-like sweets for 50 rupees (less than one dollar) each. He instructs customers to share each piece among six people for a mild high, or among four people for a stronger effect.

&#8220;This is our culture, something passed down from our saints,&#8221; he told me, smiling beneath his white beard and weathered skin. It is not, he added, a drug, but rather an integral part of the Holi celebration&#8212;just like the practice of people washing colors (and, symbolically, their sins) off their body.

In Hinduism, bhang is associated with Lord Shiva, a popular deity who is often regarded as the religion&#8217;s supreme god. Some passages in ancient Hindu scriptures describe a plant with spiritual properties that Shiva discovered and brought down from the heavens for humans to consume. Shiva is often depicted with a chillum, or smoking pipe.

According to Travis Smith, an expert on Hinduism at the University of Florida, cannabis is an element of the faith&#8217;s yogi or sadhu (ascetic) culture, and &#8220;part of the yogi&#8217;s toolbox.&#8221; In places like the Indian city of Varanasi, a holy spot for Hindus along the Ganges river, many sadhus smoke marijuana from chillums. The drug&#8217;s psychoactive properties make people sensitive to the energies in their body, Smith explained, and facilitate meditation. He added that bhang is not particularly dangerous or habit-forming, and that its use during Holi is similar to the tradition of drinking eggnog during Christmas. &#8220;It is still considered a vice, but because of this sacred association with Shiva, it is respectable,&#8221; he said.

Not all Hindus share Smith&#8217;s view. Kamala, a 45-year-old woman selling clothes in the Dhoolpet marketplace, told me that her family doesn&#8217;t approve of the tradition, which they view as a form of drug use. The Dhoolpet neighborhood where she grew up and still lives is &#8220;painted top to bottom&#8221; during the Holi festival. But it is only during the latter part of the day&#8212;when people re-emerge from their homes wearing fresh white clothes and greeting each other&#8212;that she and her children start to celebrate. &#8220;It&#8217;s different for everybody, but this is our way of doing Holi,&#8221; she said.

When India signed a UN drug treaty in 1961, the terms gave the country 25 years to rein in cannabis use while mandating crackdowns on harder drugs like opium in the meantime. Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi prohibited marijuana in 1985, though officials made an exception for bhang&#8212;&#8220;as it is not made from cannabis resin or from flowering tops.&#8221; Indian state governments now regulate the production and distribution of the substance, authorizing certain vendors, most famously the Bhang Shop in Jaisalmer, to sell their products on a small scale. But it isn&#8217;t difficult to find unauthorized bhang vendors in many cities and villages, especially around Holi and Maha Shivaratri, a festival dedicated to Lord Shiva.

Smith said that despite the widespread use of bhang, it remains part of a counterculture and is not always accepted in upper-caste families. But on a day like Holi, when the &#8220;upturning of general social norms&#8221; is encouraged, the substance is imbued with a more spiritual meaning. As one Times of India article noted in the run-up to Holi this year:

_"The explosion of colours is a ventilator of suppressed group or personal drives that allow temporary reversal of the rules of social engagement. Men are chased and harassed by women in villages of [Uttar Pradesh] while Brahmin elders and village heads are hounded and ridiculed, but they don&#8217;t complain.

For such liberated social behaviour, intoxicants act as catalysts and enrich the expression and experience of role reversal. In the haze of a hashish smoke or headiness of bhang-laced thandai [a cold drink], and the consequent preoccupation with a higher universe, the mundane doesn&#8217;t matter so much."_
As Hazaari, the bhang merchant, sees it, the intoxicant is something to be carefully enjoyed and generously shared. Each year during Holi, he gives out plates of free bhang-laced desserts at a nearby temple. &#8220;Each color on Holi has a meaning: red means happiness, white means peace,&#8221; he said. &#8220;And this bhang is God&#8217;s prasad&#8221;&#8212;a holy blessing.


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## 7greeneyes (Mar 18, 2014)

h*MP*p://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/03/15/cannabis-legalisation-uk_n_4969961.html




*Cannabis Legalisation In The UK Called For As Amsterdam-Style Cafe Plan Is Proposed*​

As the battle for Britain's first cannabis cafe was launched again this week, campaigners have stepped up their call for the legalisation of the Class B drug.

Ian Driver, a Green Party councillor for Thanet District Council, said this week he is looking for possible venues in Margate or Ramsgate for an Amsterdam-style cafe.

But Steve Rolles, the Senior Policy Analyst for the Transform Drug Policy Foundation, told the Huffington Post UK he is arguing for a regulated cannabis market in the UK under a strict and sensible framework.

Mr Rolles, who advised the Uruguayan government on its landmark decision to legalise the drug earlier this year, said efforts need to be focused on something more long term.

He highlighted that Mr Drivers efforts are not the first time someone has tried to open a cannabis cafe in the UK, with police in Manchester blocking the introduction of a cannabis "social club" in the city's Northern Quarter in January.

And Mr Driver has already faced opposition from Kent Police, who have refused to even discuss the issue.

Mr Rolles acknowledged the push for cannabis cafes can help raise awareness of the divisive issue, but added that, at this stage, the current law will not allow any progression.

Efforts like this can be useful for pushing the debate on legal cannabis regulation forward, as they force the authorities to at least consider the possibilities, he said.

The law is very clear though, so unless there was an agreement with police to not enforce the law, as well as the support of local authorities to license it in some way - as happens in Amsterdam, a cafe of this sort is not going to stay open for long and is mostly just a campaigning tool in the short term at least.

Similar cafes have been opened before but have been shut down very quickly, at least when they have courted media coverage. There are some that still operate under the radar with tacit approval of local police, but as soon as the media makes a fuss the police are obligated to shut it.

His comments follow recent reform victories that are arguably reshaping the landscape of the oldest debate in drug policy.

And as the US state of Colorado announced this week it had collected more than a million pounds in taxes from newly legalised recreational marijuana businesses during the first month of sales  the debate around the regulation of the drug in the UK has been thrown back into the spotlight.

In February, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said that the UK should explore alternatives to a blanket ban on drugs and Britain should be at the heart of the debate.

Mr Rolles concluded: What's really be needed is national level agreement, as the have in the Netherlands, or better still a change in the law to allow regulated production and sales from licensed premises as has happened in Washington, Colorado and Uruguay.


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## SmokinMom (Mar 18, 2014)

Thanks for the news 7.  I wish there was something positive concerning Texas.  One can dream, right.


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