by Russ Belville

Los Angeles Ramsquarterback

Nevertheless, his group, Project SAM (Smart Approaches to Marijuana), believes it can turn the tide of 60 percent public supportNational Drug Abuse & Heroin Summit being held April 17-20.

The

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A day in the life of a patient

It begins innocently enough, a doctors appointment. Since it’s a new doctor in a new state, I feel the need to explain my MMJ use, and looking at surgery, ask that I not be tested. Luckily, my doctor is well educated and was impressed with my decision to forgo pills when possible. So it’s going pretty well now, but I have to find said medicine, since my local pharmacy doesn’t carry my preferred naturals. It’s not an easy search either; no one will openly speak of cannabis, so when in a new area finding new contacts, you don’t have a lot of choices in medicines.

A girlfriend and I went searching, with our golden ticket, a contact!!! Five minutes into the ride, we are already complaining of pain, adjusting pillows, and wishing for a Valium for the anxiety; Only 1 more hour… one way. We start discussing how silly this all is, to get our hands on a natural plant. Worth more than gold, I believe, but impossible to locate! There’s planning discussion going on, planning for the case where we get pulled over. We have a joint, since it’s such a long trip, but we can’t smoke it for fear of being seen, so we wait. The tension is thick and we are are angry at the hypocriscy . When we finally reach our destination, our contact isn’t home, we take the break to smoke our joint, sit on the porch, drink in the southern charm dripping like the wisteria from the trees around us. Even a little hummingbird visited, enchanted by our skunky perfume. Side note: we happened to run into a young woman we knew. It’s that small a world! Now, you have to understand, to reach the oasis you have to climb more than 20 old rickety metal steps. If you happen to be handicapped, sorry, this isn’t your place. Our “dispensaries” are not up to any code, as usually being homes, most can’t be easily modified to suit clients. It’s common sense that the ones who need this the most are going to also have the most difficulty accessing it. But I digress. Our contact did not have what we were looking for this time. Not wasted, since now we all know each other and expectations have been established, but not the outcome I had hoped for. Now to make the trip home, which due to the hour will be even longer and spent in traffic, but there’s a hot tub waiting!

About 15 minutes into this drive, we received a frantic text from a fellow patient here in Georgia who was in the process of being raided. Talk about increasing the stress levels! We have to begin locating contacts who can offer any hope or help, spreading the word to other local activists, and continue to offer any support or advice we can in this dire situation. We did realize that one overlooked option we have as activists is that we can contact the judges responsible for allowing this to continue and end the warrants on cannabis patients. They are the only ones who can quickly end this war on people. They wield the sword, in it’s most powerful form, a pen, and could refuse to sign cannabis warrants. These judges have the authority to JUST SAY NO.

(Do you have a story to tell, testimony to give, a poem to share?  Please send all submissions to us at contactus@peachtreenorml.org)

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See the media below:

Full Video of January 20, 2016 Press Conference on Senate Bill 254

Fox 5 Atlanta- Georgia Bill Would Make Read more

As a country is this really want we want?  To spend 50 Billion a year on fueling an enormous Law Enforcement bureaucracy, the militarization of police departments as they seize the rational for well this is why we need an armored personal carrier to enforce the drug warrant on a non violent marijuana offenders; and the civil asset forfeiture that comes along with it.

And for a conservative concerned about the size and growth of government, this is something you should absolutely be for.  It is one of the most effective ways of reducing the size scope influence and hypocrisy of government.- Steve Schmidt, Republican Strategist

Peachtree NORML Executive Director Sharon Ravert couldn’t agree more.  She has been encouraging Republican strategists for years, and they are finally getting on board.  “We can’t arrest our way out of marijuana use and we shouldn’t want to.  The last 80+ years have proven Prohibition doesn’t work and most kids can get it easier than their parents can. It is time to stop arresting all of our young people and educate them on the harms of youth use while allowing their adult parent to have something far safer than alcohol if they choose so.”

Bill Maher says:  ”I said that years ago.  This is an issue that Republicans could have stolen from  the Democrats.”

Watch the video below:

Another study that has been used as evidence against marijuana reform has been debunked. The study used and quoted by Kevin Sabet and Patrick Kennedy of SAM (smart approach to marijuana) often in interviews said, ” that early marijuana use lowers the users I.Q. by several points”.  Opponents to marijuana reform are seriously running out of angles but not out of money.  The battle for freedom and justice continues.

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This needs to be passed on and discussed but it seems the committee on the study of medical marijuana has already reached a conclusion. I’ve never been a fan of Peake or any politician that uses a serious issue Read more