Canvassing for Opinion - Blairs Brain on Cannabis

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Teen Dies After Taser Shot
2008-04-01 05:21:00
Teen Who Died After Taser Shot Had Marijuana  A 17-year-old who died after a police officer shocked him with a stun gun last week had marijuana hidden in his socks. And according to a search warrant, he'd been asked to leave the Food Lion where he worked before police arrived. Charlotte-Mecklenburg (Virginia, USA / Blair) police Officer Jerry Dawson Jr. used his Taser after police received a disturbance call about 1:15 p.m. Thursday from the grocery store on Prosperity Church Road. Darryl Turner had worked in the University City store for about a year as a cashier and bagger. It's unclear why, but the warrant said a customer service manager had asked Turner to leave and he refused. Last week, Turner's mother, Tammy Fontenot, told the Observer that she didn't know of any problems her son had with drugs or alcohol. On Monday night she declined to comment about the search warrant that said officers found three small bags of marijuana in one of Turne...
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Morocco no longer top cannabis growers ?UN
2008-03-30 13:24:00
"Morocco has lost its position as the world?s top cannabis grower to Afghanistan", the head of the UN anti-drugs agency said Thursday.The Tide Online: ? Saturday, Mar 29, 2008 Entirely predictable... no accounting the mess and mayhem [see:farmers in the world's top hashish producer say they face destitution.] and as assuredly as Morocco's anti-cannabis policy professes not to, the obscene profits from the Afghan illicit drug crop is funding terrorism. The policy is the logical equivalent of bombing our own cities!Blair Andersonhttp://mildgreens.blogspot.com
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UK govt muddle headed on pot, delusions contagious!
2008-03-29 22:24:00
UK government to warn about cannabis mental illness danger (predicated on a flawed interpretation, but lets not allow facts to get in the way of a good story/Blair)   Posted By StatGuy On 28 March 2008 @ 7:07 pm In Health & Medical, Life issues, UK politics & government, United Kingdom The British Home Office has unexpectedly reversed itself and [1] agreed to toughen its message regarding cannabis.  The move follows an accumulation of scientific evidence suggesting a causal link between cannabis use and such mental problems as depression, schizophrenia, and suicide. Youngsters are to be given a stronger warning on the dangers of cannabis following a U-turn in the Home Office. It is to scrap guidance that cannabis should be avoided by those who already suffer mental health problems. Instead, young people will be warned that "anyone who uses cannabis could be doing so at a risk to their mental health". According to [2] recent studies, regular cannabi...
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Drug tests make no sense - The Age
2008-03-28 01:06:00
"Importing a school-based, drug-testing policy that is not backed up by any evidence that it works, and may even be harmful, defies common sense." - Gino Vumbaca is executive director of the Australian National Council on Drug s.Drug tests make no sense - Opinion - theage.com.au:Blair Andersonhttp://mildgreens.blogspot.com
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To Pot or Not is a choice.
2008-03-27 23:46:00
To Pot or Not is a choice.When they banned cannabis it could not have become more prevalent, they may as well have made it compulsory.The question of ?to pot or not? is not about the harm subjective or otherwise from its consumption, rather the net harm that its prohibition has done that is the ?crime? rendered on all of us, imbibers or not. Media is complicit in the avoidance of what is at the heart of the matter.see http://cannabis-hm.net/2008/03/27/should- i-smoke-dope/#comment-239The entire drug war is predicated on a narc culture that has its roots manifest in pot 'possession' prohibition. How bad does it get is the subject of an excellent 104 minute documentary.Trailer:Blair Andersonhttp://mildgreens.blogspot.com
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Drug Classification "Hot Topic"
2008-03-26 06:10:00
TX goes to the Ashburton Guardian for at least getting the story pretty much straight.Blair Andersonhttp://mildgreens.blogspot.com
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Flip-side to ban outlined
2008-03-25 03:28:00
Flip-side to ban outlinedDrug law crusader Blair Anderson's approach to lessening the harm of drugs, runs contrary to the mainstream.Local News - The Timaru Herald - PrintableOn Thursday afternoon a brief soap-box sermon in Stafford Street espoused less focus on drug prohibition and more on education and harm minimisation.Putting benzylpiperazine (BZP) party pills in the same category as marijuana was the way to create a drug problem, he said.The former Christchurch mayoral candidate is on a soap-box tour of the South Island, but Timaru citizens did not linger to get his message; they went heads-down about their business.Mr Anderson's campaign arose after party pill laws were to be in a new Class D, a controlled and legally regulated drug, this option was not taken.He said this R18 approach was the best way to minimise harm.Banning BZP would create more problems with fewer safety controls, greater illicit profits, more health issues and markets for dangerous alternatives.He said c...
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American Drug War: The Last White Hope (C&I / SKY TV)
2008-03-25 01:51:00
Managed to catch "American Drug War: The Last White Hope " on SKY. I had just returned from attending the world premier of "Brigadier", the story behind the honouring of his name in James Hargest High School for which I was attending the fiftieth jubilee. Southland's Prohibition of alcohol featured in 'Brigadier', so to did Invercargill Licencing Trust's Community 'post prohibition' investment in sport and cultural facilities, a prime example of 'drug related harm reduction' in action.The American Drug War is a documentary that deserves to be on mainstream TV. One cannot study modern contemporary politics without seeing understanding policy and drug politics changed human history.NZ's Drug War has not been documented, though much can be drawn from New Zealand's adoption of the UN Conventions and Protocols. Fortunately, NZ doesn't have a cocaine or heroin problem. The absence of 'drug trafficking spillage into our markets' gave us the cannabis methamphetamine enigma we ha...

Lawmakers consider marijuana legalization
2008-03-19 01:48:00
BOSTON ? The Legislature's Joint Committee on the Judiciary, which includes three members of the Lynn delegation, meets today for a hearing on whether to decriminalize marijuana.(and all this is occuring while the Federal Law Court confronts constitutional issues surrounding gun law... hasnt anyone told them IT's the drug policy stupid! - see Boston Economics Professor Jeff Miron on Violence Guns and Drugs)The Legislature is constitutionally required to conduct a hearing on the Committee for Sensible Marijuana Policy (CSMP) initiative that creates a civil penalty and fine system for individuals possessing up to an ounce of marijuana.The initiative, House bill No. 4468, is titled "An Act Establishing a Sensible Marijuana Policy for the Commonwealth."According to Whitney A. Taylor, the CSMP campaign manager, "by creating a civil penalty system for possession of up to an ounce of marijuana, the initiative will greatly reduce the human and financial costs of current laws. Massachusett...

Most Scouts favour sex before marriage.
2008-03-17 13:59:00
"More than 80 per cent of those questioned said they were happy to get drunk and almost half said they would smoke marijuana if offered.""The problem is their everyday lives. At school and in their free time, they behave just like their friends, and not just sexually. A significant part has little confidence in politicians, and does not respect the rules of society." - Nine in 10 Scouts favour sex before marriage - TelegraphIs it unsurprising then that we live in a collective if deluded perception of drugs, boy racers and sensible sentencing.? / Blair
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BZP'ing into the wind
2008-03-16 02:17:00
    BZP had been usefully classified as Class D, an innovation in and of itself. It is a 'controlled and legally regulated' extension to the worldwide concept of ABC 'criminal classification'.  When Jim Anderton announced this Class-D initiative on "Good Friday" 2004  it was seen as a pragmatic response and while United Future subsequently regaled at the notion that it would be perfect place to 're-regulate' Cannabis (as heard at select committee) its principle purpose when proposed was to provide a 'better solution' to the vexing question of where Alcohol and Tobacco should fit in the National Drug Policy framework.    For a nation, indeed the only western democracy in the world  behoving to "thou shalt not talk about cannabis in this term of parliament" - United Future broke its own rules and moved to ensure that drugs could only be put UP in class, not down. So much for evidence, a ...
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Psst! Wanna volunteer for some cannabis research? Real vacancies.
2008-03-14 04:26:00
Due to such research being 'officially frowned upon' and of no medical use, you need to Click Here    Note the covert nature of lead research participants. This is just a partial list of trials in progress. Much more is known about the interdiciplinary 'cannabinoids'.  We can expect ' a continuing need for more research'  to be conducted. Bring it on!   -- Blair Anderson  ?(?¿?)? 
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Public Health Update for Drug Industry II
2008-03-14 02:15:00
IN THE [MAXIM INSTITUTE] NEWS Public health update The Health Committee has begun to hear oral submissions on the Public Health Bill, with the opportunity for written submissions closing last week. The Bill seeks to update the existing health law, and in its current form will allow regulations to be made to place controls on certain activities, including "activities relating to goods and services with the potential to pose risks to public health." The Bill would extend such provisions to non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and obesity, with some fearing that it would allow regulations to be created that might limit the sale or advertising of unhealthy foods or where they can be placed within supermarkets.The Health Committee is expected to report back to Parliament on the Bill by 10 June 2008.Hat tip to MAXIM for warning the homegrower, the tinny houses, the head shops and mobile p-labs.But where is Rothmans and Seagrams?Is Burger King going to support BMI size doors, and wil...
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Curing Addiction With Cannabis Medicines
2008-03-13 02:40:00
Curing Addiction With Cannabis Medicines Smokers trying to quit in the future could do it with the help of cannabis based medicines, according to research from The University of Nottingham.Teams of pharmacologists, studying the cannabis-like compounds which exist naturally in our bodies (endocannabinoids), are exploring the potential for medical treatment. This includes treating conditions as diverse as obesity, diabetes, depression and addiction to substances like nicotine.Scientists have known about endocannabinoids since the mid-1990s. This led to an explosion in the number of researchers looking into the future medical uses of cannabinoids and cannabis compounds.Dr Steve Alexander, Associate Professor in the School of Biomedical Sciences, focused on a number of these projects in editing the first themed podcast for the British Journal of Pharmacology.Dr Alexander said: "It is clear that there is very realistic potential for cannabinoids as medicines. Scientists are looking at a r...

What makes abdominal fat so lethal? What system in the body ?encourages? fa
2008-03-13 02:31:00
"What makes abdominal fat so lethal? What system in the body ?encourages? fat deposits in the abdominal area?By Dr BERNARD NG KEE HUAT"(snip) Endocannabinoid System : Its role in cardiometabolic risks The recent discovery of the Endocannabinoid (EC) System, a physiological system of cannabinoid receptors and corresponding chemical messengers or endocannabinoids, has accelerated research to uncover their physiological roles in regulating body weight, glucose and lipid metabolism. The modern history of cannabinoid pharmacology began in 1964, when tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) was isolated. Tetrahydrocannabinol is an exogenous cannabinoid and the active component in marijuana. It is the compound responsible for the effects of marijuana. The finding paved way to our understanding of the endocannabinoid system. In 1991, the first human cannabinoid receptor was cloned and this led to further interesting discoveries of the endocannabinoid system. In general, the endocannabinoid system...
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Prohibition is deviancy amplifying behavior. LTE, Scotland on Sunday
2008-03-09 16:43:00
The Editor, Scotland on Sunday ,108 Holyrood Road,Edinburgh, EH8 8AS, mailto:letters_sos@scotlandonsunday.com.I t is policy irony that zero tollerance of a consensual 'sin' delivers exactly what it set out to prevent and its stakeholders call this the triumph of good over evil. Wherever the rules are the same, the outcomes (or insert expletive of choice) are the same. Prohibition is just deviancy amplifying behavior.I have observed this deficiency for thirty years or more. The imperfection of prohibition and its health, security, economic, racial, sexist and ageist failings disgrace us all.All the more so that this is mostly about pot, a herb which the 'harms are largely overstated' and called 'the safest therapeutic known to man'. I, as a friend of the court have been witness to and aggrieved by Police 'testilying' to judges about the hazards of small time bonafide medical users grow ops. Police then lie to the public - linking pot to violence, organised crime and guns. They ...
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Commentary on the 2008 drug strategy
2008-03-07 12:20:00
Commentary on the 2008 drug strategy - Drug s: protecting families and communities The current political climate on drugs is moralistic, at least partly because the Conservatives have adopted a stern stance in favour of abstinence and the reclassification of cannabis. This has conditioned the government's response in the new drug strategy to the extent of influencing its style. There are occasional whiffs of moral judgement, and the gestures to show that this government is tough on crime are given a more prominent position at the outset of the strategy than the proportion of resources allocated to them would warrant. You could almost be forgiven for thinking that this was New Zealand. It was a UK drug policy review -- Blair Anderson  ?(?¿?)?Social Ecologist 'at large'http://mildgreens.blogspot.comh ttp://blairformayor.blogspot.com http://blair4mayor.comph (643) 389 4065   cell 027 265 7219
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Supreme Court rules in favour of cannabis grower
2008-03-06 12:57:00
We were waiting for this ruling for a long time. As it is now, many Czechs are using cannabis for medicinal purposes and they have to grow it illegally. It is a very bad thing if law doesn't respect this reality and if people can't use something that is good for their health."/ Blair Anderson ?(?¿?)?
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Cannabis dealer can keep farm
2008-03-06 04:12:00
An Orinoco man convicted of drug dealing and money laundering has won his fight to keep his farm, which is potentially worth $1.5 million, but has been ordered to pay $200,000 to the Crown instead.The Crown had applied for the 107ha property in Thorpe-Orinoco Rd to be forfeited after wood merchant Graham Donald Sturgeon, 50, was found guilty by a jury in July 2005 of 13 charges. These involved cultivating cannabis at the property between 1997 and 2002, selling cannabis to people over 18, possessing cannabis for supply, money laundering and possessing offensive weapons.Sturgeon, a former Nelson Bays representative rugby player, was sentenced to five years' imprisonment in September 2005, and is now out of jail.In a written decision, Judge David McKegg dismissed the solicitor-general's application, saying forfeiting Sturgeon's property would cause undue hardship to him, his partner, and to Sturgeon's father, who planned to eventually move to the farm with his wife so they could ha...
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Deadline In Merck Vioxx Settlement (CNNMoney.com)
2008-03-03 04:41:00
A key deadline in Merck & Co.'s (MRK) proposed $4.85 billion settlement of Vioxx product liability litigation comes Saturday, Mar. 8. If at least 85% of certain groups of plaintiffs - such as those who alleged Vioxx caused heart attacks - enroll in the settlement by then, Merck is expected to begin the process of making payments. Nearly 60,000 claims have been filed against Merck over Vioxx, the pain drug it pulled from the market in 2004 after a study linked it to higher risk of heart attack and stroke. The proposed settlement was announced in November. (CNNMoney.com) see also Killer VIOXX's Restorative Justice and  Big Pharma and Grannies Special Tea  http://pages.quicksilver.net.nz/bla ir/media/vioxx1.htm -- Blair Anderson  ?(?¿?)?Social Ecologist 'at large'http://mildgreens.blogspot.comh ttp://blairformayor.blogspot.com http://blair4mayor.comph (643) 389 4065   cell 027 265 7219
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Prenatal Marijuana Exposure
2008-03-01 15:13:00
Marijuana: Harmless? The Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry has just published a new study on the effects of prenatal exposure to marijuana. According to the study: "There was a significant nonlinear relationship between marijuana exposure and child intelligence. Heavy marijuana use (one or more cigarettes per day) during the first trimester was associated with lower verbal reasoning scores on the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale. Heavy use during the second trimester predicted deficits in the composite, short-term memory, and quantitative scores. Third-trimester heavy use was negatively associated with the quantitative score. Other significant predictors of intelligence included maternal IQ, home environment, and social support. These findings indicate that prenatal marijuana exposure has a significant effect on school-age intellectual development." [Goldschmidt L, Richardson GA, Willford J, Day NL.]Click here to read the abstract, which include...
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Cliff Thornton will tour four countries while in Europe
2008-03-01 14:45:00
DRUG PEACE DAYS IN VIENNAThe new version of the programme of the Drug Peace Days that are organised by ENCOD on 7, 8 and 9 March in Vienna is now available on http://www.encod.org/info/VIENNA-2008-TEN -YEARS-AFTER.htmlThe days will include a Drug Peace March on 7 March to the Vienna International Centre, seat of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, where from Monday 10 March onwards, the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs will have its 51. annual meeting. In this meeting, the CND will start its "year of reflection" on the results of the 10 global strategy to "significantly reduce the supply and demand for illicit drugs", agreed upon in 1998 in New York. We intend to give them something to reflect about.In the Conference that will be held in Vienna University on 8 & 9 March prominent US drug policy reformers such as Cliff ord Thornton, and Peter Webster will intervene, next to drug policy experts and activists from Europe and South America.. Cliff Thornton will also journey to Germany, ...
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Marijuana vs SSRI's, Which is Safer?
2008-02-27 06:59:00
This item by Cynthia A. Janak is particularly relevant to New Zealand's drug policy consultation where SSRI's are under scrutiny and cannabis prohibition "Murders" are the order of the day.Murder accused Daniel Moore awaits the outcome of summing up and jury deliberations regarding the hand less body case of his Dad's best friend, Tony Stanlake.This one murder is one too many. I knew Daniels Dad. Daniel is the same age as my son.New Zealand has the highest per capita consumption rate in the OECD alongside the highest arrest rate per/k in the world. Is is no small wonder that the 200 tonnes of cannabis consumed by some 500,000 NZ'ers every year is grown by someone. What Mr Moore Jr appears to have been addicted too is the unique product of prohibition, the money, greed, power, status AND thrill.We, by our silence that resembles stupidity are architects of this dysfunction.What I am going to do today is give you a comparison of different news reports that deal with the murder of ...
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Cannabis, SSRI's and Depression
2008-02-27 02:37:00
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/20 05-12/mu-nad121305.phpContact: Ian Poppleian.popple@muhc.mcgill.ca 514-843-1560 McGill UniversityNew antidepressant drug increases 'brain's own cannabis'Researchers have discovered a new drug that raises the level of endocannabinoids--the 'brain's own cannabis'--providing anti-depressant effects. The new research published in this week's Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), suggests the new drug, called URB597, could represent a safer alternative to cannabis for the treatment of pain and depression, and open the door to new and improved treatments for clinical depression--a condition that affects around 20% of Canadians.In preclinical laboratory tests researchers found that URB597 increased the production of endocannabinoids by blocking their degradation, resulting in measurable antidepressant effects. "This is the first time it has been shown that a drug that increases endocannabinoids in the brain can improve your...
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Cannabis and ADHD Impaired Driving.
2008-02-27 02:02:00
Cannabis normalized impaired psychomotor performance and mood in a patient with hyperactivity disorderScientists at the Department for Forensic and Traffic Medicine of the University of Heidelberg, Germany, investigated the effects of cannabis on driving related functions in a 28 year old man with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). He had violated traffic regulations several times in recent years and his driving licence was revoked due to driving under the influence of cannabis. He showed abnormal behaviour, seemed to be significantly maladjusted and his concentration was heavily impaired while sober during the first meeting with a psychologist. He was allowed to perform driving related tests under the influence of the cannabis compound dronabinol (THC), which his doctor had prescribed him to treat his symptoms. The examiner expected that he was not able to drive a car under the acute influence of THC.But at the second visit his behaviour was markedly improved and he p...
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$8Billion Dollars of American Bullshite
2008-02-26 11:05:00
The argument [American Pot Smokers Providing Over $8 Billion of Revenue to Drug Cartels] that cannabis and other drug violence and mayhem in Mexico and other jurisdictions is caused by demand side consumption by Americans is utterly implausible. It is prohibition itself that causes the very problems it sets out to solve. It is "spin doctoring" by a flawed and capricious 'moral' enforcement regime determined maintain the current policy and damn the costs and consequences mentality. The USA has been fostering violence and death via UN conventions for far too long. The 'estimated revenue' graphs identify why it is so important to address our collective selves to the injustice of global cannabis prohibition urgently.Blair Andersonhttp://mildgreens.blogspot.com
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Record drug haul (West Coast helicopter recovery)
2008-02-22 11:23:00
West Coast police have netted a record cannabis haul in a week-long drug recovery operation.An Air Force-piloted Iroquois helicopter -- nicknamed the Grasshopper by locals -- has hauled away a total of nearly 8740 plants. The haul was up 16 per cent, or around 1200 plants, on last summer largely because of the good growing conditions.Sergeant Russell Glue, of Hokitika police, said the largest plot was in Buller, at the northern West Coast, where between 500 and 1000 plants were found. ....Glue said police could not disclose the street value of the cannabis recovered. ....Nationally last growing season, police recovered and destroyed more than 100,000 plants and arrested more than 700 people Well wipty dooooo..... and this taxpayer funded grift,  er, I mean initiaitve has made what difference ? May be this is why the Police were too busy to attend this weeks BEYOND 2008 drug policy consultation!/Blair Anderson  ?(?¿?)? 
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VIENNA 2008: TEN YEARS AFTER
2008-02-21 07:11:00
6 MARCHPublic Meeting on the Evaluation of the implementation of the 1998 UN Plan "Towards a drug-free world by 2008 - we can do it", organised by the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in Europe From 9 to 12.30, room ASP 3 G 3, European Parliament, Brussels 7-9 MARCH, DRUG PEACE MARCH Upon the initiative of ENCOD (European Coalition for Just and Effective Drug Policies) a counterevent to the UN Summit takes place from 7 to 9 March 2008. The purpose of this event is to raise awareness on the need to end the "war on drugs" and start new approaches in drug policy. Current prohibition of drugs creates more problems than it solves. This is a reality that most governments are not willing to face. (featuring fellow MildGreenie Clifford Thornton USA)10 -14 MARCH UN COMMISSION ON NARCOTIC DRUGSpublished Friday 15 February 2008 13:47, by encod . In June 1998, the United Nations announced a 10-year strategy to achieve ?measurable results? in the fight against drugs, including a ?significant r...
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Jim says... reclassification noted
2008-02-20 06:20:00
?They expressed admiration for our evidence-based policies and for our reclassification processes." - Jim Anderton commenting on his meetings with two of the distinguished keynote (2008 Parliamentary Drug Policy Roundtable) speakers: Professor David Nutt, [and] Associate Professor Alison Ritter.Every one reports to Czar Jim 'or else'.No wonder Jim was uncomfortable knowing I might be there!(caution: links to Anderton's Progressive's Press Release may cause temporary insanity)Blair Andersonhttp://mildgreens.blogspot.com

World Class, Class D?
2008-02-20 02:01:00
Behind the mask of Chatham House Rules at the historical "Beyond 2008 / International UN drug policy forum" in Wellington this week - the Mild Green Initiative ?restricted with controlled availability? Class D received first in the world recognition.The MildGreen Initiative was described variously along with NEPS and Diversion as as an "major landmark" in New Zealand's leadership in drug control strategies to visiting experts, local MP's, customs, law and health officials, policy makers and NGO's. !With 'the whole world is watching' overtones and our having to reconcile BZP already in "D" classification - these are surely, interesting times. NZ is having a say in international drug policy!It will be curious as to how drug czar Jim Anderton (with a 't') interprets his "Good Friday" D-classified Mild Green initiative.Anderton re-invented Harm Reduction to mean Criminal Sanctions under the aegis of the Expert Advisory Committee on Drugs (EACD) but he wasn't the first to use and...
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