Drug War Awareness Week: A Wrap-Up

The past week saw a lot of exciting events happen with Kent State SSDP.

Monday we held an original adaptation of the Marijuanalogues, performed by Brian Reimer, Dave Goldstein, and Garrett Orlandi. Their delivery was fantastic, as the crowd bursting into laughter certainly proved.

Tuesday night we held Let's Talk About Drugs: Marijuana. Held on the ever-enigmatic day of 420, Brian Reimer, Emily Haft, and Steve Larson gave an insightful talk about the history, popular culture, and chemical reality of the plant.

Wednesday night we held an open mic night at the Euro Gyro. We had a great time with a lot of great acts, including the blessings of the happy drumcircle often found in and around the bus stop in Risman Plaza.

Thursday night we held a showing of The Union: The Business Behind Getting High. If you didn't get a chance to see it, it's freely available on google video. It's full of hard-hitting facts and it's most definitely worth your time.

Thanks to everyone who made last week absolutely awesome!

The Ohio Medical Compassion Act : House Bill 478

You can read the entire bill here.

Okay folks, the Ohio Medical Compassion Act introduced by state representative Kenny Yuko is officially a bill in the house thanks to co-sponsors Representatives Hagan, Foley, Okey, Sykes, and Stewart. If you see these people anywhere, please hug them. (Or you could write a nice thank-you letter)

The bill will allow for doctors to prescribe Marijuana as a medicine for numerous symptoms, including:

Cancer; glaucoma; positive status for human immunodeficiency virus; acquired immune deficiency syndrome; hepatitis C; amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; Crohn's disease; agitation of Alzheimer's disease; nail patella; multiple sclerosis; injury or disease to the spinal cord, spinal column, or vertebra; mylomalacia; celiac disease; sickle cell anemia; or the treatment of these conditions;

(2) A chronic or debilitating disease or medical condition or its treatment that produces one or more of the following:

(a) Cachexia or wasting syndrome;

(b) Severe or chronic pain;

(c) Severe or chronic nausea;

(d) Seizures, including those characteristic of epilepsy;

(e) Severe or persistent muscle spasms.

(3) Any other medical condition or its treatment added as a debilitating medical condition pursuant to section 3728.37 of the Revised Code.

The bill also allows for the ownership of 200 grams of cannabis or 12 mature cannabis plants. It allows for registration as a primary caregiver for a medical cannabis patient provided the caregiver registers where they will begin to grow the cannabis, reports any drug related offenses they have been convicted of or pleaded guilty to (which if present will likely lead to application denial) and is at least 21 years of age.

Things explicitly not allowed are the possession of cannabis or paraphernalia in prisons or schools, transportation of cannabis across state lines, and numerous other stipulations.

Hey everybody! I'm excited to see and proud to share that my fine SSDP chapter is working hard to prepare for drug war awareness week next week. The week will be choc full of events including a Let's Talk About Drugs presentation on marijuana, a student performance of the marijuanalogues, a screening of The Union, and video chat sessions with Tonya Davis, a member of the Ohio Patients Network and Rick Doblin!

Amidst all of the excitement and planning, Anne Carey, a dedicated member of our chapter managed to stumble across an interesting article that I wanted to share with you all. Earlier this week the New York Times published an article discussing the recognition of psychedelic studies in the medical community, and presents the info in a such positive light that I was surprised to see from such a massive publication. It's truly worth reading yourself!

Hallucinogens Have Doctors Tuning in Again

After reading this I mass emailed it to everyone. I encourage you to do the same!

Modern Tragedy - Kent State SSDP's High Times article

Hey everybody,

Above is the scanned copy of the High Times article, and the picture is from our 2010 State Summit hosted here at Kent State. Go out and get a copy of the June 2010 High Times and have it for yourself!

Chris Wallis

Say Hi to the Camera

So today, we the people of Kent State SSDP, got together in Risman Plaza for the SAFER day of action. Due to the rainy weather the turnout wasn't quite as large as we had hoped, but we still had in my mind a very successful time talking to people about the disparities between marijuana and alcohol legislation.

19 action news was there to film us, and the article as well as their footage is available here.

Notably they included one of our objectives as walking into president lefton's office and presenting him with a copy of The Emerald Initiative, which we did not do. They snuck in some "stoner spin" but we definitely got airtime for all of our main points thanks to Chris, and I really feel like this was an overwhelmingly positive press experience.

But I'm intersted in how everyone else feels about this. I know we'll probably all be talking about it face to face, but if you happen to read this share your thoughts in the comments section!

Injustice on the Beat

Well, I've finally had a personal experience demonstrating the irrationality and incompetence of the drug war foot soldiers. This past week i was in my home town, an Eastern suburb of Cleveland, OH for spring break. Naturally, I spent some time visiting friends I hadn't seen in months. While driving home early Thursday morning, I was going a bit over the speed limit, so I was disappointed yet unsurprised.

The officer came to my window, white flashlight glaring. He explained that he'd pulled me over for speeding. I was quite polite with him and handed over my drivers liscence, which he thoroughly inspected under his light. He flashed the light in my face a few times and asked me to roll up my window.

"Is there something wrong?" I asked, confused by his request. He only repeated himself, as if I hadn't said anything. I supposed that there was no harm in me doing so, and knew that arguing wasn't a good idea, so I put the window up. I waited for my ticket for several minutes and then realized that the red and blue lights flashing behind me seemed to become more intense. I would eventually find that three more police vehicles had arrived to the scene.

The officer who pulled me over returned.

"We have a K-9 unit here," he said. "do you consent to a search of your vehicle for narcotics?"

I was bewildered by this, and asked him why I was being searched. He told me that because I was "close to hitting the curb (a new development)" it gave them reason to search the car.

I could tell that this wasn't quite standard procedure, but I knew that I had nothing to hide, so I stepped out of the car and was told to go stand on the curb next to another officer, a white haired gentleman with a belly and a comb over. He smiled at me.

"Is there a reason I'm being searched?" I asked. The officer sort of chuckled and threw both his arms out towards the scene of my little chevy cobalt that was being torn apart by two latex-gloved german shepherd wielding men with badges. He said something under his breath about standard procedure, and then said:

"You're sure you don't have anything on you?" I was sure, so I remained silent.

After some time, the original officer who had pulled me over joined us with his flashlight and my wallet. He questioned my Green Cross pin, rolling papers, and hemp seeds that I had in my glove compartment for snacking, and asked if I realized that marijuana's illegal.

With the utmost respect, a said that I knew marijuana was illegal, and explained that I got the button at a Students for Sensible Drug Policy conference in San Francisco, where medical marijuana is legal. Friends of mine roll their own cigarettes, so I have papers on hand. The tasty hemp seeds are high in essential proteins, which I lack as a vegetarian, and can be bought at several coffee shops in the area.

"You can try one," I offered, "they're quite delicious!"
"No thanks,"the officer scoffed "I can't be seein' funny stuff when I'm on the road."

After getting patted down by two male officers, and trying in vain to explain the lack of psychoactive product in my hemp seeds, the fuzz realized, to their chagrin, I think, that I had nothing on me. I was thoroughly upset though, to have my hemp seeds taken away. The ticket I received, a warning, claimed that I was "weaving through traffic."

My experience with the Lyndhurst police department made me confused and upset. They took my property and treated me like some sort of Johnny Potseed out to defile their jurisdiction. It seemed as though they were going out of their way to find something wrong with me. I'm sure four police cars and a canine unit were not standard procedure for apprehension of a speeder. When I called the station the next day to inquire about my hemp seeds, in hopes of getting them back, I spoke with Detective Jim Fiore, who accused me of possessing drug paraphernalia and also asked me if I knew if marijuana was illegal.

This demonstrates the hostility among some members of the law enforcement that is directed towards people who are against the drug war. The fact that they took food from me was a violation of personal freedom also exemplifies the ignorance present in some police departments regarding non psychoactive hemp.

This situation is frustrating, but it gives you all the more reason to encourage change in your local law enforcement. If you come across an opportunity to speak with an officer of the law, ask their opinions on the drug war, and share your knowledge with them. Go to town hall meetings and express interest in alternative harm reduction policies. Call your mayor and ask what they think. Most importantly, if you ever find yourself feeling wronged by officials in your area, write a letter and report it. If you know of any law enforcement officials who are in favor of sensible drug protocol, direct them to Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, or LEAP. Their website is a great resource for discussion of this sort of thing, so be sure to check it out.

Tax Cannabis 2010 Makes the Ballot in California

Oh lord, I just found out about this via facebook and I AM PUMPED!

This november could possibly be the greatest victory the drug reform movement has ...ever... had.

Go to www.taxcannabis.org to read more about it!