NIMBIN WAVE

Ahead of the crest.

Now there is another joint operation that has moved all the stories from this address and making it easier to spread the word; Cannabis.

Now you can find a more versatile web site with more features and more content, so much so that, there is going to be …..(read more)

www.NIMBINWAVE.com/wordpress/

Human Rights, Racial Justice and the Drug War.

• In 1994, Ethan Nadelmann founded the Lindesmith Center, a drug policy institute created with the philanthropic support of George Soros.

• In 2000, the growing Center merged with another organization to form the Drug Policy Alliance and Drug Policy Alliance Network, which advocate for drug policies grounded in science, compassion, health and human rights. 

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• Ethan Nadelmann speaks at the 2009 annual NAACP Convention. The talk is on a panel called Smarter Strategies toward Safer Communities.

| YouTube link  | Ethan Nadelmann |

Drug Policy Alliance Network

THE ISSUE OF REFORM.

Approaching the Problem.
The onus should not be on those favouring law reform to demonstrate that cannabis is harmless and, in particular, that it has no adverse health effects.

To create such an onus is unfair and wrong in principle. All substances have some side effects, especially if used to excess. A simple illustration is soft drink which may cause tooth decay and have other ill effects, especially if consumed to excess.

But no one seriously contemplates a prohibition on the manufacture, sale and consumption of soft drink. Similarly, the consumption of alcohol, especially if used to excess, has health effects and anti social consequences. However, users of alcohol are subject to formal control only for defined public behaviour.

By contrast, the use of cannabis is subject to prohibition, irrespective of the behaviour which that drug induces. This approach misses the mark of social concern, and results in imposing control on many persons who have posed little risk to self or society and have not exhibited behaviour of the kind which normally warrants application of the criminal law.

See the full document.

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Isn't all drug use a health issue?

 BIG JOINT to N*C*P*I*C*

The BIG JOINT had an eventful outing to the Lismore Hospital when PM Rudd visited recently on his health rescue mission across the country. AAP had written a story that was printed across the nation that morning,'Lobbyists to ambush Rudd with giant joint." And the giant inflatable didn't let them down, dancing majestically in the sharp breeze until it pricked itself on the hospitals "smoke free' sign.

 "Isn't all drug use a health issue?" asked a Polite spokesperson.
"We are as determined as ever to keep cannabis law reform on the agenda. The PM needs to pull this issue out from the bottom of the too hard basket. Just this month Mexico and Argentina joined the growing list of countries allowing personal amounts of previously illegal drugs. The reasons they gave...'to counteract prison overcrowding, an increase in organised crime and rampant drug violence' are a clear warning to us. There is also a new report out about Portugal, decriminalised since 1996, having less problems and a decline in drug use! How long do we have to wait for some sanity on this issue?"

And so the BIG JOINT is again venturing off, this time to Sydney's Powerhouse Museum to attend the first National Cannabis Conference on September 7-8, hosted by NCPIC, the National Cannabis Prevention and Information Centre. The POLITE BJ crew will bring some real life experience to the conference and again be collecting HEMP Party members and putting decriminalisation on the menu.
"Stopping at a couple of beaches on the way down, we want to bring awareness to the desperate need to end prohibition and regulating medical cannabis as the obvious next step on the way to full relegalization," said Max Stone, the unofficial smokesperson for the mission.

 On  Friday September 4th, a "Cannabis Convoy" of unmarked POLITE cars and vans will be leaving Nimbin and if you are interested in joining drop in to the Polite Bureau HEMP Bar.

• Saturday BIG JOINT plans to visit Dixon Park Beach in Newcastle.
• Sunday visits Bondi Beach for a photo op and membership drive.  
• Monday, BIG JOINT visits the Power House Museum, 500 Harris Street Ultimo, assembling at 8am. 

The POLITE Service in conjunction with the Interpolite will be doing a dawn photo shoot / live web cast starting at 4.20.AM (Aussie time) so that our U.K and European supporters can watch. This venue will be somewhere in the Sydney C.B.D and will be announced 'twitterishly' at WWW.BIGJOINT.ORG and facebooked as well!
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And the POLITE are forming a choir, apparently to sing at the Festival of Dangerous Ideas at the Sydney Opera House with theBIG JOINT in early October.
 Anybody wanting to join the POLITE Choir should register at POLITE Headsquarters.

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Nimbin HEMP Embassy
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Legal POT: Kennedy's dying wish.

DEA Denies Democrat, Dignity.  
A picture of a document in circulation has revealed the last request for medical marijuana law reform from the late Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts.

The well respected leader has further legitimised the plea of many cannabis campaigners. Now the co-signed, John F. Kerry of Massachusetts, will attract the attention of many pro-marijuana activists eager to pursue the case for lawful personal and medical use. And they will further question the DEA on their refusal to grant Kennedy's last wish.



For the benefit of us who push for change, the text has been re-typed and it's up to you, the reader, to examine the authenticity of the presented material.

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United States Senate

Washington, DC 20510-2101

April 29, 2009

The Honorable David W. Ogden

Deputy Attorney General

United States Department of Justice

950 Pennsylvania Ave., NW

Washingto, D.C. 20530

Dear Deputy Attorney General Ogden,

We're writing to urge you to take immediate action before May 1st to delay a final decision on the application by Professor Lyle Craker of the University of Massachusetts Amherst to produce research-grade marijuana for use in federally approved clinical trials.

University of Massachusetts Amherst is one of the nation's destinguished research universities, and is highly qualified to manufacture marijuana for legitimate medical and research purposes. However, on January 14, 2009, in the final days of the Bush Administration, DEA Deputy Administrator Leonhart published in the Federal Register a Final Order denying Professor Craker's application to produce marijuana exclusively for use by federally approved researchers. If no action is taken by DEA, the Order will go into effect May 1, 2009. We apologize for the last minute nature of this request, but we respectfully ask that you delay a finalization of this Order until the President's DEA appointees are sworn into office and can thoroughly  review the record on Professor Craker's application.

Thank you for your consideration of our request. 

With respect and appreciation, 

Sincerely,

Edward M. Kennedy

John F. Kerry

United States Senators

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More reading at;
Telegraph.co.uk 
theage.com.au

Make All Drug Use Legal.

The war on drugs has failed. 
Despite the best efforts of the current and previous governments and the billions of dollars spent in law enforcement, today illicit drugs are cheaper, more potent, and easier to get than they were 35 years ago. Meanwhile, people continue dying in our streets while drug barons and terrorists continue to grow richer than ever before.
There is no medical, scientific, or legal justification for a war on drugs policy. With seventy-percent of cases in the criminal courts being indirectly or directly drug related, we could revolutionize criminal justice and substantially lower the tendency toward repetition of criminal or antisocial behaviour if we simply wiped out the drugs statute book.
Our panellists argue that this scenario must be the very definition of a failed public policy. They agree that all drugs should be legalized and the markets then regulated.
Dr Alex Wodak is the Director of the Alcohol and Drug Service at St Vincent's Hospital. He is also President of the Australian Drug Law Reform Foundation and author (with Timothy Moore) of 'Modernising Australia's drug policy' published by UNSW Press.

Greg Barns is a former senior advisor to the Howard Government, New South Wales Premier Nick Greiner and federal Finance Minister John Fahey.  He is the author of What’s Wrong with the Liberal Party? (2003) and Selling the Australian Government: Politics and Propaganda from Whitlam to Howard (2005).

Norm Stamper is a 34-year veteran police officer who retired as Seattle's chief of police in 2000. He is currently a speaker for Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (www.CopsSayLegalizeDrugs.com), a 10,000-member organization representing cops, judges, prosecutors, FBI/DEA agents, prison wardens and others who now want to legalize and regulate all drugs after witnessing horrors and injustices fighting on the front lines of the "war on drugs."

Duration: 60 minutes with no interval

http://www.sydneyoperahouse.com/priority/fodimakealldrugslegal.aspx

Make All Drug Use Legal

• Presented By
  Sydney Opera House & St James Ethics
• Venue
  The Studio
  
  
• Date: Sunday 4th of October
• Program
  Festival of Dangerous Ideas

Stamper introduces us to the violent, secret world of domestic abuse that cops must not only navigate, but which some also perpetrate. Stamper goes on to expose a troubling culture of racism, sexism, and homophobia that is still pervasive within the 21st century force, exploring how such prejudices can be addressed. He reveals the dangers and temptations that cops on the street face, describing in gripping detail their split second life-and-death decisions.

DR. Norm Stamper; LEAP Speaker profile
http://leap.cc/cms/index.php?name=Speakers&bio=217
Norm Stamper is the author of Breaking Rank: A Top Cop's Exposé of the Dark Side of American Policing, Nation Books, 2005 (see www.normstamper.com) and Removing Managerial Barriers to Effective Police Leadership, Police Executive Research Forum, Washington, D.C., 1992.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/norm-stamper

YouTube video link

YouTube video link

Stamper videos

YouTube Search Link


Australian Tour Dates
http://hempembassy.blogspot.com/2009/08/drug-law-reform-tour-of-australia.html
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 LEAP confirmation.

LEAP Goes Down Under: The Australian Tour
Festival for Dangerous Ideas: Make All Drugs Legal

FESTIVAL OF DANGEROUS IDEAS

http://www.sydneyoperahouse.com/about/program_priority/festival_of_dangerous_ideas.aspx

The Nimbin HEMP Embassy would like to see Dr. Norm in a POLITE hat outside the Sydney Opera House with the BIG JOINT, or is that a dangerous idea?

STATISTICS ARE IMPRESSIVE -

Marijuana...Get the facts!!
Tetrahydrocannabinol is a very safe drug.
Laboratory animals (rats, mice, dogs, monkeys) can tolerate doses of up to 1,000 mg/kg (milligrams per kilogram). This would be equivalent to a 70 kg person swallowing 70 grams of the drug -- about 5,000 times more than is required to produce a high.

Despite the widespread illicit use of cannabis there are very few if any instances of people dying from an overdose. In Britain, official government statistics listed five deaths from cannabis in the period 1993-1995 but on closer examination these proved to have been deaths due to inhalation of vomit that could not be directly attributed to cannabis. By comparison with other commonly used recreational drugs these statistics are impressive.

Marijuana appears to be readily available to almost all 12th graders; in 2005 86% reported that they think it would be 'very easy' or 'fairly easy' for them to get it -- almost twice the number who reported ever having used it (45%).

After marijuana, 12th-grade students indicated that amphetamines are among the easiest drugs to obtain (51%).

Although people may think that the Drug War targets drug smugglers and 'King Pins,' in 2007, 47.4 percent of the 1,841,182 total arrests for drug abuse violations were for marijuana -- a total of 872,720.

Of those, 775,137 people were arrested for marijuana possession alone.

By contrast in 2000 a total of 734,497 Americans were arrested for marijuana offenses, of which 646,042 were for possession alone. Drug war facts
FBI

Cops and Clergy say; Legalize Drugs!

Prohibition causes more harm than good. 
With ever growing support from law enforcement and clergy, now politicians have definitely become the odd ones out, when it comes to law reform. In this video, we hear the opinion of many respected people. The drug prohibition laws are ineffective according to many influential campaigners and ecclesiastical preachers.

 

LEAP

YouTube video link



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LEAP's Dispatches from the Front Line... August 2009

Not a Member Yet? Anyone Can Join! Forward this Message to a Friend! Dear Heathen: LEAP's speakers deliver our message to audiences all over the world through a variety of avenues, and one of the most gratifying is attending conferences. In July, LEAP Executive Director Jack Cole and retired Chief of Police Tim Datig attended the National Conference of State Legislators in Philadelphia. The NCSL is a bipartisan organization that serves all United States legislators and their staffs, and holds an annual summit which about twenty percent of the nation's state legislators attend. Speakers at the 2009 conference included Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, economist David Wyss, and our ownJack Cole, who spoke on the panel "Drug Demand and Diversion," where he emphasized the need to end prohibition. The LEAP booth, staffed by Jack, Tim, new LEAP Speakers Bureau Director Shaleen Aghi Title, and volunteer Project Coordinator EthelRowland, was one of the busiest, talking to dozens of legislators each day and signing up over one hundred new members. And, as usual, well over seventy percent of those who talked to the booth staffers stated that they agreed with LEAP's mission. A few days before the NCSL, LEAP attended DemocracyFest in Burlington, Vermont, where Department of Corrections Superintendent Richard Van Wickler and retired Deputy Chief of Police Joseph Brooks staffed the LEAP booth. Rick also gave a presentation, which was chosen as one of the sessions to be taped by CCTV Channel 17. Speaking of conferences, LEAP is co-sponsoring the 2009 International Drug Policy Reform Conference November 12-14… so save the date! Here are just a few of the issues our speakers addressed in July. We hope you'll share "Dispatches from the Front Line…" with a friend. -LEAP Staff ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Walter Cronkite Recognized the Drug War Failure and the Ending Prohibition Solution Walter Cronkite, America's trusted broadcaster and father figure to a nation for decades, died in New York at the age of 92 on July 17. To the last, Cronkite was perceptive and engaged in the well-being of his country and the world. In the final four years of his life, he publicly recognized what is perhaps America's greatest and most perverse, if as yet unclaimed, nemesis - the failed war on drugs. Cronkite on LEAP's End Prohibition Now DVD: "Anyone concerned about the failure of our $69 billion-a-year War on Drugs should watch this 12-minute program. You will meet front line, ranking police officers who give us a devastating report on why it cannot work. It is a must-see for any journalist or public official dealing with this issue." For more on Walter Cronkite, please view the complete article by James Gierach, and Jim Doherty's letter to the Seattle Times. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Tobacco Precedent Any law disobeyed by more than 100 million Americans, the number who've tried marijuana at least once, is bad public policy. As a 34-year police veteran, I've seen how marijuana prohibition breeds disrespect for the law, and contempt for those who enforce it.. Let's examine arguments against legalizing marijuana: use and abuse would skyrocket; the increased potency of today's marijuana would exacerbate social and medical problems; and legalization would send the wrong message to our children. It's reasonable to expect a certain percentage of adults, respectful or fearful of the current prohibition, would give pot a first try if it were made legal. But, given that the U.S. is already the world's leading per capita marijuana consumer (despite our relatively harsh penalties), it's hard to imagine a large and lasting surge in consumption. Further, under a system of regulated legalization and taxation, the government would be in a position to offer both prevention programs and medical treatment and counseling for those currently abusing the drug. It's even possible we'd see an actual reduction in use and abuse, just as we've halved tobacco consumption through public education - without a single arrest… To continue reading Norm Stamper's NYTimes.com "Room for Debate" blog, please click here. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ LEAP Speakers in the News Our speakers were especially busy with radio, television and print interviews in July, helping to shape the emerging national debate about drug policy. Neill Franklin was on the air in Utah, Judge Jim Gray on NBC4 in Los Angeles, Mike Gilbert spoke on the radio in El Paso, Texas and Ann Arbor, Michigan, James Anthony in Santa Cruz, California, Tony Ryan (pictured) and LEAP were the main focus of a TV story in Missouri, Peter Christ was all over the radio in Houston, Santa Fe, and Las Vegas, andJack Cole and Jerry Paradis also contributed some radio in Houston. LEAP is certainly gaining interest among talk radio hosts, due in large part to great work by Whitney Garlinghouse, a volunteer of the highest regard who pursues the producers of these shows and doggedly gets LEAP speakers on the air. With Norm Stamper now a guest columnist on "The Huffington Post", which is read by media around the world, we're getting numerous Stamper interview requests - at least 8 interviews in July alone! Norm also appeared in The Economist, the Washington Post, NYTimes.com, and CBSNews.com (with fellow LEAP speaker Carol Ruth Silver, former director of prison legal services for the San Francisco Sheriff's Department). This month we made presentations in fourteen states, two countries and were featured in at least four national stories including the Associated Press. Want to make a difference? Help book these presentations or support, financially, our efforts to do this. Contact Shaleen Title, speakers bureau director, to participate in this vital effort to book presentations. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ready to do more? Want to help LEAP while having fun? Join the LEAP Rapid Response Team to help shape the conversation around the world. It is easy, quick and can be done from home. Learn More Harm Reduction and the War on Drugs A report released on September 15, 2008 by U.N. special envoy on extra-judicial killings, Philip Alston, shows that Brazilian police carried out a significant proportion of the 48,000 murders that swept Brazil in 2007. According to the report, police murder three people a day on average in Rio de Janeiro, making them responsible for one in five killings in the city, which is plagued by drug-gang violence and roving militias of off-duty police. I live in Rio de Janeiro, and I worked here as a judge for almost twenty years. I can say that unfortunately these tragic data are not something exceptional that happened only in 2007. In fact, at least in the last ten years, 20% of all murders in Rio de Janeiro have been summary executions that happen during police operations against drug dealers in the "favelas". This is Brazil's own war on drugs… To continue reading Maria Lucia Karam's blog, please click here. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Police Officer Supports Drug Legalization Darcey McLaughlin made a strong argument in favour of legalizing marijuana in his July 1 column, but he didn't go far enough. I'm a Canadian police officer who supports gradually legalizing and regulating all drugs. This includes marijuana as well as ecstasy, heroin and other substances. The argument in favour of legalizing these drugs is not that they are beneficial or fun, but rather that drugs are so dangerous they need to be regulated and controlled by the government. Under prohibition the government has no control. It is the drug dealer who chooses price, purity, cutting agents as well as business location and operating hours. And these dealers certainly are not asking minors for ID, nor are they encouraging their customers to get addiction treatment. As a member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, I recognize that Canadian drug laws consume enormous police resources while paying few, if any, dividends… To continue reading David Bratzer's letter to the Miramichi Leader, please click here. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A special thanks to LEAP volunteer Bill Dake, organizer of the annual Freedom Road 5k and Jefferson Mile to benefit Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. Held on July 4 in San Francisco, 2009 marked the race's third year, and it was so well-organized and well-attended that it brought in $850 for LEAP. Bill is an excellent example of how valuable the contributions of our volunteers are. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ All of this work happens because of generous donations from our supporters. Your gift to LEAP is tax-deductible. Donate now to show your commitment to ending the war on drugs. 121 Mystic Ave. Suites 8&9 Medford, MA 01255 (781) 393-6985 info@leap.cc Law Enforcement Against Prohibition is an ever-expanding group of criminal justice professionals and civilian supporters calling for an end to the war on drugs. Trained criminal justice professionals are available to speak to your club or association about their experiences in the drug war and the need to create drug policies that stand the test of reason. Invite a speaker to your town today. You received this e-mail because you are a supporter of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. We need help growing our all-encompassing movement of citizens who want to end the failed "war on drugs," so please invite your family and friends to learn about LEAP. Click here if you no longer wish to receive e-mail from us.

TESTING THE LAW: THE ETHICS OF ILLEGALITY.

Breaking the law to treat patients opens an ethical can of worms.

A woman had mild polymyositis that appeared to have been exacerbated after a statin was prescribed; she became wheelchair bound and experienced chronic pain. A pain management clinic prescribed morphine, but it caused severe constipation, unsteadiness and confusion.

“She had already tried cannabis in cookies, which had provided benefit but ... she wasn’t able to smoke the herb,” Dr Katelaris says.

“I provided her with a sublingual tincture prepared from carefully selected cannabis [plants]. It led to substantial improvement and she was able to reduce her morphine dosage with its associated side effects.” (read more)

DR. Katelaris website.

Dr Katelaris - court case - YouTube

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A Wodak moment.!

The Winds of Change

are now blowing on

drug law reform.

by: Dr. Alex Wodak

The global momentum for drug law reform, slowly building for many years, has recently begun to accelerate. Drug law reform is now winning many more battles than it is losing.
The language being used in the media has started to change. Even Drug War warriors are now uncomfortable with the term ‘War on Drugs’. In March 2009, a ten year UN review of global drug policy was completed with a major meeting in Vienna. For the first time, the precarious international drug policy consensus was fractured when 26 countries (including Australia) inserted support for harm reduction in a footnote of a major document.

In April 2009, the Executive Director of UNAIDS (Mr Michel Sidibe) and the Executive Director of the Global Fund for AIDS, TB and Malaria (Professor Michel Kazatchkine) publicly noted the far greater difficulties in achieving HIV control among injecting drug users created by an international drug policy virtually reliant on drug law enforcement and with minimal room for harm reduction. Both called for drug law reform including decriminalisation.



There are several reasons why harm reduction and drug law reform are slowly gaining the ascendancy over punitive approaches to illicit drugs.

First, the scientific debate over harm reduction is now over: it is now widely accepted that harm reduction is effective, safe and cost effective.

Second, there is growing acknowledgement that not only has prohibition failed, but the collateral damage from relying on drug law enforcement results in very high health, social and economic costs.

Third, the global financial crisis is forcing governments to abandon expensive white elephant programmes and shift funds to more cost-effective interventions.

Fourth, Barack Obama is now the third US President in a row known to have consumed cannabis but the first to not only admit using and enjoying the drug but doing so ‘many times’.

Fifth, the international problems created by prohibition in countries such as Afghanistan and Mexico have highlighted the huge costs of the unintended consequences of the War on Drugs.

Sixth, the increasing availability of computers has created a more level playing field in the debate between supporters of drug law reform and War on Drugs supporters. Finally, there is increasing recognition of the need for drug policy to be based on evidence and respect the human rights of all citizens including drug users.



Momentum for drug law reform is also building in the USA.

Inevitably this is affecting the policy environment for cannabis. If the USA moves a millimetre, other countries can then move a metre. President Obama has made it clear that his Administration will not interfere with legislation passed by the states to permit medicinal use of cannabis.
Reducing the harms of cannabis will be much easier when the drug is controlled and regulated than under the present arrangements.

Dr Alex Wodak,

President,
Australian Drug Law Reform Foundation

April 2009, Nimbin HEMP Embassy.
This article is printed in the 2009 program and is currently on the web site;
www.NimbinMardiGrass.com