Green Hit Shirts

Freakonomics wrote about something very much at the heart of the matter of regulating and taxing cannabis use by adults in the United States.

That’s the claim of a new paper by D. Mark Anderson and Daniel I. Rees, put out by the IZA, titled “Medical Marijuana Laws, Traffic Fatalities, and Alcohol Consumption”:

To date, 16 states have passed medical marijuana laws, yet very little is known about their effects. Using state-level data, we examine the relationship between medical marijuana laws and a variety of outcomes. Legalization of medical marijuana is associated with increased use of marijuana among adults, but not among minors. In addition, legalization is associated with a nearly 9 percent decrease in traffic fatalities, most likely to due to its impact on alcohol consumption. Our estimates provide strong evidence that marijuana and alcohol are substitutes.

As people drink less, our society will actually become more peaceful and safer. Cannabis is going to turn out to be cooler than people think. Legalize or not? Viva Sativa!

Green Hit Shirts presents marijuana art, music, cannabis culture, dope T shirts, pot videos, ganja news, and a spirit of community for all cannabis enthusiasts.

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High Minded Dope quote of the day:
“The many thousands of patients who use marijuana for the treatment of a number of symptoms and syndromes do so because they find it to be as or more effective, and generally less toxic, than the conventionally prescribed medicines it replaces, plus it is less expensive, even at prohibition-inflated prices.”
–Dr. Lester Grinspoon, Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the Harvard Medical School,

This excellent video highlights the struggle medical marijuana providers and patients face in California because of the recent attack by multiple agencies of the federal government, including the IRS, DEA, and the Department of Justice. If a local sheriff says an organic grower who delivers medicinal cannabis to home bound patients is in compliance with state law, and puts zip ties on that grower’s plants in order to attest publicly as to that compliance, what business do the federal agents have in “protecting us” by ripping those plants from the ground? Federal officials continually retreat to the schedule I status of cannabis as a federally illegal drug. My question is, on what basis does that federal law exist? If you notice the faltering voice of the federal lawyer in the video, everybody knows that the thin ice upon which the United States government once stood in claiming that marijuana is dangerous has long since melted. Demand of your politicians that federal agents immediately stop attacking medical marijuana patients in California and the other 15 states in which medicinal cannabis is legal.

Green Hit Shirts presents marijuana art, music, cannabis culture, dope T shirts, pot videos, ganja news, and a spirit of community for all cannabis enthusiasts.

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High Minded Dope quote of the day:
“Long ago, I made a promise that I would never act against the best interests or the excellence of my own people — that I would do my best to ensure that we were worthy of the stewardship of our world and that we did our best to leave a better world for generations yet to come. To make and keep such a promise is to understand that money and position are tools, not goals, and that death is not the worst thing that can happen.”
—-Catherine Austin Fitts

Obama came to San Francisco. The medical cannabis community greeted him with a press conference and with protests in the streets. These are the people who are changing the world from the marijuana sanctuary city of San Francisco. David Goldman, Stephen DeAngelo, Tom Ammiano, Dale Jones, Matt Cohen and many other leaders of the medical cannabis community, representing organizations such as Americans for Safe Access, Harborside Health Center, Northstone Organics, and Oaksterdam University. Enjoy this video of our reaction to draconian federal marijuana policies.

Green Hit Shirts presents marijuana art, music, cannabis culture, dope T shirts, pot videos, ganja news, and a spirit of community for all cannabis enthusiasts.

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High Minded Dope quote of the day:
“To my friends and colleagues in the medical cannabis industry:

I believe the time has come for us to form a state-wide trade association of cannabis collectives, and lend my voice to others calling for its formation.

The events of early October have made it clear that the Obama administration has decided to specifically target California’s medical cannabis industry, and comes on the heels of similar attacks in Montana and Michigan. With several federal government agencies—IRS, Treasury, ATF, DOJ—involved in launching coordinated attacks, our industry has never faced such challenging times. The entire amazing system of legal, regulated cannabis distribution that we have developed is under threat, along with all the jobs and tax revenue we have extracted from the illegal market. Licensed dispensaries, laboratory tested medicine, cbd-rich medicine, local and state tax revenues, family farms, and thousands and thousands of jobs are all at stake.

It is a time to come together; a time to pool our assets; to assemble our brightest minds; and to carefully develop and deploy a winning strategy. Clearly, we cannot do that on our own, one dispensary at a time. Our only hope lies in coming together.

Over the years, we have seen several previous efforts to create a broad based trade association, but none has been successful so far. In my view, the main stumbling block has been suspicion of competitors, and the existence of several smaller, more local trade associations. If we could ever afford that type of division, the time has surely passed. With our very survival at stake, we must call on our better selves, assume good intention on the part of our fellow activists and businesspeople, reach across whatever divides us, and come together now.

I stand ready to support such an organization in any way I can.”
–Stephen DeAngelo, Director Harborside Health Center, Oakland California

A watershed moment has been achieved on CNBC, or at least during Power Lunch. All of the reporters support the legalization of marijuana. In fact, they ask Asa Hutchinson, former DEA Head, straight away, “Tell us why it should be illegal.” Finally!! Finally the government is being forced to support its own position. It can’t. Asa was a bulldog spouting the righteous morality of the war on drugs. Now he is left defending “our culture”. Indeed, brother, what is it about your culture that you are protecting from us pot smokers? Our culture is one of inclusion, based in love, not in fear. Join us Asa Hutchinson. We forgive you. Oh, and so much for doctors thinking legalization is a bad idea. The LA Times says otherwise. Thank you to Rob Kampia for assisting the reporters in their effort to strip the ideas of the DEA of their thin veil of truth to expose the horrible policy of prohibition for its utter failure. Lets focus on healing people and helping them live optimally.

Green Hit Shirts presents marijuana art, music, cannabis culture, dope T shirts, pot videos, ganja news, and a spirit of community for all cannabis enthusiasts.

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High Minded Dope quote of the day:
I swear to the Lord, I still can’t see, why Democracy means, everybody but me.
–Langston Hughes

(CBS) Move over, fad diets. Scientists have identified something else that might keep off excess weight.

For the study – published online in the August 24 issue of the American Journal of Epidemiology – researchers analyzed data from two large population surveys of U.S. adults. The researchers found obesity rates in people who “just say no” were 22 percent and 25.3 percent in each survey, respectively. But study participants who puffed pot at least three times a week had obesity rates of 14.3 percent and 17.2. The study didn’t actually prove smoking pot causes weight-loss.

Yeah, all those funny pot jokes Jay Leno makes on the Tonight Show are going to have to get more nuanced. Do you hear me, Jay? Not all put users immediately reach for the cookies and popcorn. In fact, I heard Kevin Smith say that his strategy when faced with hunger cravings while stoned, is to simply smoke more weed. Kevin Smith lost weight after becoming a daily cannabis user. Yep, break out the nuance, folks. The future looks thinner than we might have thought possible with all that dank around. Viva Sativa!

Here’s what we said about the matter in our Top 10 Marijuana Myths about “Marijuana Makes You Hungry”

Green Hit Shirts presents ganja art, dope music, hash culture, marijuana T shirts, cannabis growing videos, drug war news, and a spirit of community for all hemp enthusiasts.

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High Minded Marijuana Quote of the Day:
“When you reach the top, keep climbing.”
–Zen quote

When the doctors say yes, but the politicians say no, you have to wonder about your health. Who do you trust? The money behind the politicians, or the doctors who are sworn to do no harm?

The Feds are overreaching. As activists, we can expect our a great wave of success after the public backlash for their mistaken efforts. We appreciate them helping us fast track to legalization. In the meantime, hunker down and remember that nothing could be as bad as Nixon and he’s long since buried. Good riddance.

By Anthony York, Los Angeles Times
October 15, 2011, 6:01 p.m.
Reporting from Sacramento— The state’s largest doctor group is calling for legalization of marijuana, even as it pronounces cannabis to be of questionable medical value.

“It’s an uncomfortable position for doctors,” he said. “It is an open question whether cannabis is useful or not. That question can only be answered once it is legalized and more research is done. Then, and only then, can we know what it is useful for.”

There is a battle being waged against you, me, and human development. Doctors nationwide are begging to study cannabis. They know their patients are using the plant medicinally, as a life enhancer, and yes, also recreationally. Doctors can’t study, and so ignorance prevails. Is that the best use of your tax dollars? Is the war on drugs the best use of your tax dollars? The protests in the streets of major cities around the United States, and now the world, to occupy Wall Street, occupy San Francisco and so on, are all resisting the power of money to influence our political system in ways which to not benefit you as an individual citizen. The war on drugs is a corrupting influence on our political, judicial, and human services systems. Who benefits? Not you. Not me. The time to end the drug war is yesterday.

Green Hit Shirts presents marijuana art, music, cannabis culture, dope T shirts, pot videos, ganja news, and a spirit of community for all cannabis enthusiasts.

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High Minded Dope quote of the day:
“The top 1 percent have the best houses, the best educations, the best doctors, and the best lifestyles, but there is one thing that money doesn’t seem to have bought: an understanding that their fate is bound up with how the other 99 percent live. Throughout history, this is something that the top 1 percent eventually do learn. Too late.”
–Joseph Stiglitz

Eric Sterling presents the common sense idea that cannabis laws which are harsh in their intention, tone, application, and effect, are completely and totally INeffective when compared to harm reduction approaches. Harm reduction is the law of the land in the Netherlands, Portugal, Costa Rica and Spain. Each country is experiencing drastic reductions in overdose deaths, HIV, Hepatitis-C and drug related crime. What are the goals of the war on drugs? Whatever they are, it ain’t workin’. Drug use as a percentage of population is the same today as it was the year Richard Nixon declared the War on Drugs a priority. “No matter how far we travel down the wrong road, turn around.” State governments, as evidenced by a positive cannabis vote in Washington, are starting to figure it out. Progress happens. Join the ride!

Green Hit Shirts presents marijuana art, music, cannabis culture, dope T shirts, pot videos, ganja news, and a spirit of community for all cannabis enthusiasts.

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High Minded Dope quote of the day:
“Once you’ve done the mental work, there comes a point you have to throw yourself into the action and put your heart on the line. That means not only being brave, but being compassionate towards yourself, your teammates and your opponents.”
–Phil Jackson

We don’t bleed when we don’t fight. Yet they keep bringing the fight. Why? Let it be known, we are under Federal attack. Stand up with us. Occupy Wall Street. Occupy San Francisco.

Drug Policy Alliance press release about Obama escalating the war on drugs against patients:

A series of administration actions in the past month makes it clear that they are engaged in a full scale assault on medical marijuana patients’ rights and their ability to access medicine and that they have reconsidered their willingness to allow states with medical marijuana laws to implement those policies without federal interference. The Treasury Dept. is forcing banks in Colorado to close accounts of medical marijuana businesses operating legally under state law. The IRS now says it will not recognize legitimate business expenses of dispensaries and is requiring owners to pay taxes required of no other businesses; the result will be closure of the most well regulated dispensaries and loss of millions of dollars in tax revenue for local governments. And the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives last week ruled that state-sanctioned medical marijuana patients cannot legally possess firearms.

“The Obama administration’s latest moves strongly suggest that their medical marijuana policies are now being driven by over-zealous prosecutors and the anti-marijuana ideologues who dominated policymaking in past administrations,” said Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance. “Barack Obama is betraying promises made when he ran for president and turning his back on the sensible policies announced during his first year in office. Instead of encouraging state and local authorities to regulate medical marijuana distribution in the interests of public safety and health, his administration seems determined to re-criminalize as much as possible. It all adds up to bad policy, bad politics and bad faith.”

Green Hit Shirts presents ganja art, dope music, hash culture, marijuana T shirts, cannabis growing videos, drug war news, and a spirit of community for all hemp enthusiasts.

I want to be very clear with you, Dear Reader. You won’t read cannabis news like this every day. This story is HUGE and we must all come together to fight against it. Dispensaries are already closing because of this IRS ruling.

In a potentially crushing blow to the burgeoning medical marijuana industry, the IRS has ruled that dispensaries cannot deduct standard business expenses such as payroll, security or rent.
Harborside Health Center, one of the nation’s largest medical marijuana dispensaries and considered a model for the industry, is on the hook for $2.5 million in taxes from 2007 and 2008. That is $2 million more than the Oakland, Calif.-based company paid for those tax years.
“I see only two outcomes here,” said Steve DeAngelo, director and chief executive of Harborside. “Either this IRS assessment has to change or we go out of business. There really isn’t a middle ground for us.”
DeAngelo says the ruling will likely be appealed. He has 90 days to respond to the ruling.

Dear Reader, that is the leader of the biggest dispensary in the US talking. If Harborside goes down, who else can defeat the IRS? We must stand together with Harborside. Put pressure your political leaders today!!!! Patients must be allowed safe access to their medicine, as the voters set into law with the passage of Prop 215 in California. Who is the federal government to say otherwise when they provide medical marijuana to a group of patients each month. Check out the story of federal marijuana patients like Irv Rosenfeld here.

Green Hit Shirts presents ganja art, dope music, hash culture, marijuana T shirts, cannabis growing videos, drug war news, and a spirit of community for all hemp enthusiasts.

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High Minded Marijuana Quote of the Day:
“When I was a kid I inhaled frequently. That was the point.”
–Barack Obama