Oregon US Representative Earl Blumenauer Introduces Blueprint to Legalize Marijuana

PREDICTION:

Cannabis WILL be legalized within the next 6 – 8 months at the Federal level.

As state after state, and nation after nation is legalizing or decriminalizing cannabis in one form, or another, the United States is facing a decision which was made nearly 100 years ago to make illegal a practically harmless substance, which itself has shown, and continues to show significant promise for the amelioration of serious disease, malady, and human suffering.

According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, in their 2017 “Drugs of Abuse” report,

“No deaths from overdose of marijuana have been reported.”

The National Cancer Institute has written that it’s impossible to overdose on cannabis, because our body’s cannabinoid receptors — the chemicals that bind to THC — are not located in areas of the brainstem that control respiration. For that reason, a “lethal dose” of cannabis is like the flying spaghetti monster: It DOES NOT EXIST.

In stark contrast, the CDC has stated in January 2018 that

“excessive alcohol use led to approximately 88,000 deaths.“

Significantly greater lethality comes from tobacco use, and in April 2018, the CDC stated that

“cigarette smoking kills more than 480,000 Americans each year.“

In 1972, the Schaffer Commission, officially, the National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse, issued a report entitled Marihuana: A signal of misunderstanding which was the first report by the United States Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse, was largely dismissive of specious claims that there was danger in its use, and recommended ending marijuana prohibition and adopting other methods to discourage use.

Specifically, it debunked false claims made about cannabis, and found that, contrary to earlier assertions made about during efforts to keep it illegal,

“marihuana was usually found to inhibit the expression of aggressive impulses by pacifying the user.”

It stated further that,

“neither informed current professional opinion nor empirical research, ranging from the 1930’s to the present, has produced systematic evidence to support the thesis that marihuana use, by itself, either invariably or generally leads to or causes crime, including acts of violence, juvenile delinquency or aggressive behavior.”

Another infamously false claim that marijuana use caused “insanity,” was similarly debunked, and the Commission wrote that

“previous estimates of marihuana’s role in causing crime and insanity were based on quite erroneous information.”

They even warned that
maintaining cannabis’ illegal status
“carries heavy social costs”
and that
“the better method {to discourage its use}
is persuasion
rather than prosecution.”

And in fact, they wrote that “we reject the total prohibition approach and its variations” and instead recommended “a decriminalization of possession of marihuana for personal use on both the state and federal levels.”

A portion of their recommendation was regulation, and wrote in part that “by establishing a legitimate channel of supply and distribution, society can theoretically control the quality and potency of the product.”

Of course, none of the recommendations were followed, and instead, Nixon, the paranoid president who maintained an “enemies list” (and recorded conversations, and narrowly missed criminal indictment, for which reason he resigned the Presidency), initiated his now-infamously-failed “War on Drugs,” and kept marijuana listed on Schedule I.

Nixon’s Domestic Policy Advisor, John Erlichman (1925-1999), was quoted by Dan Baum in Harper’s Magazine April 2016, and said the following of Nixon’s War on Drugs:

“The Nixon campaign in 1968,
and the Nixon White House after that,
had two enemies:
The antiwar left and Black people.
You understand what I’m saying?
We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be
either against the war or Black,
but by getting the public to
associate the hippies with marijuana
and Blacks with heroin,
and then criminalizing both heavily,
we could disrupt those communities.
We could arrest their leaders,
raid their homes,
break up their meetings,
and vilify them night after night on the evening news.
Did we know we were lying about the drugs?
Of course we did.”

Such statements seem to very clearly suggest that laws prohibiting cannabis consumption were left in place for one purpose alone, and that is to use the instrument of law to keep under foot those who might be socially undesirable – most notably, the poor, and ethnic minorities – and that is an egregious abuse of law, and contradicts almost every idea of equality under law in our Constitution.

Our Federal government, along with State and Local governments, regulates and taxes beverage Alcohol and Tobacco (which is 2/3 of the ATF’s name), and does so successfully, and in the process, generates significant revenue for all three levels of governments. Along with that, entrepreneurial enterprises in those two industries hire almost countless numbers of people, and generate significant revenue nationally, and globally through export.

The Libertarian think-tank Cato Institute, in their statement which decries that which they call the “nanny state,” quotes late, former POTUS Ronald Reagan in former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan’s book “The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World,” as having said, “Government exists to protect us from each other. Where government has gone beyond its limits is in deciding to protect us from ourselves.” (Penguin Press, Chapter 4, (p. 87), 2007.)

In keeping with the overall sentiment expressed in the Shafer Commission report,

Why I Advocate 100% Marijuana Legalization

Let there be NO MISTAKE: Based upon a preponderance of scientific evidence, logic, reason, and numerous substantiating rationales, I openly advocate for, and am a proponent of the 100% full and total legalization of marijuana (aka cannabis) for adult recreational, and medical use.

And as a triple-degree, BSN-prepared Registered Nurse, Nationally Certified EMT, State Certified Volunteer Firefighter, and First Responder, I am a long-time Licensed Healthcare Professional, and presently possess, and have possessed unblemished active licenses to practice in numerous states, and internationally.

While I have “worn other hats” in Nursing, the bulk of my professional healthcare career has been in Critical Care. Working in Critical Care is the type of stressful job in which one keeps the Grim Reaper at bay by the hour. And I have been fortunate to have worked at some of the nation’s, and world’s premiere, and leading healthcare research institutions. It is research that drives much of such care, to ensure the best possible outcomes for the individuals for whom we care. Thus, keeping abreast of current research findings on many topics within, and without Critical Care, healthcare, and public policy related to healthcare in general, is a special interest and forté of mine.

As well, I am also a United States

Yes, it’s true: Possessing a single #marijuana cigarette is a #felony in #ALpolitics.

At the stoke of midnight tonight, 1 January 2018, at 0000 hours, California will become the 8th state (11, including the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and Guam) in the union to legalize, tax, and regulate the sale of cannabis for recreational purposes to adults over age 21. Presently, 73,213,005, or 22.39% of Americans have legal access to recreational cannabis.

California voters approved Proposition 64 November 2016 by 57.13% with 7,979,041 votes, which allows adults 21 and older to possess up to one ounce of marijuana and grow up to six plants in their homes. In 1996, California was the first state to permit medical marijuana when voters passed Proposition 215.

In addition to legalizing adult recreational use of marijuana, the new law also provides for the levying of two taxes upon the sale of cannabis – a 15% tax on the retail price of marijuana, and a tax

Q: How is #ALpolitics similar to Portland, OR?

Portland, Oregon and Birmingham, Alabama couldn’t be further apart in many ways – geographically, and politically, particularly. However, recent research show that one attitude in particular is very similar.

And that is, resident’s thoughts about

134,971,077 Reasons So Far This Year For #ALpolitics To #LegalizeIt & #Tax #Cannabis

If one were to look at Colorado as an example of reasons to legalize cannabis, there would be at least 134,971,077 reasons this year so far to FULLY legalize it not only in Alabama, but nationwide.

You see, $134,971,077 is the “Total All Marijuana Taxes, Licenses, Calendar Year-to-Date” Colorado has collected.

ref: State of Colorado Marijuana Taxes, Licenses, and Fees Transfers and Distribution Tax Revenue from July 2017
https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/revenue/colorado-marijuana-tax-data

But if one were to completely ignore the increased voluntary revenue, there are other topics raised.

And of course, opponents of cannabis legalization make assertions like DUI rates will increase. But, there’s nothing like the truth to dispel such specious claims. Remember: Specious means “superficially plausible, but actually wrong.”

So here are some facts on that very matter from Oregon, which has also legalized cannabis for recreational purposes.

“Five to ten times more drivers who were involved in fatal accidents in Oregon between 2004 and 2014 had alcohol in their system than THC. As with THC intoxication, the overall trend of alcohol intoxication in fatal accidents has been an increase since 2010, although alcohol-related fatalities spiked significantly in 2015 while THC-related fatalities decreased slightly.”

ref: 2015 House Bill 3400 DUII Legislative Report
http://www.oregon.gov/olcc/marijuana/Documents/HB3400_2015_DUIILegislativeReport.pdf

“Overall traffic fatalities increased substantially in all three states [CO, OR, WA] between 2014 and 2015 and cannot be explained by THC-related fatalities. This data illustrates that traffic fatalities overall remain a significant problem, independent of THC-related crashes.”

Logically, and rationally, legalizing Cannabis is common sense, for the following two simple reasons:

Big Beer Still Bets on Lager

If you’re a beer drinker, if you enjoy quaffing the suds, a cold one after work, or on a summer day, you may be interested to know that Anheuser-Busch (now Anheuser-Busch InBev), Molson, Coors (now MolsonCoors), Miller (now SABMiller) are NOT American-owned companies.

That’s right.

They’re foreign-owned, multinational corporations – every one.

The Craft Brew Beer industry in America is the antithesis of Big Beer, which in large part, developed as a result of consistently poor quality products made by Big Beer, and their inattention to customers. The emergence of me-too wanna’ be ‘craft brewed beers’ made by Big Beer is a sure sign that they’ve noticed what’s happening – a reduction in beer consumption, i.e., their sales.

Those sales have gone to micro & craft brewed beer, and their American-made, locally-sourced mom & pop competitors.

More power to locally sourced craft brewed beers!

Cheers!

***

Why Lager Is the Future of Craft Beer

BY Jason Notte | 06/19/14 – 10:00 AM EDT

PORTLAND, Ore. (TheStreet) — Small craft brewers and the craft divisions of huge international breweries can talk about wheat beers, shandies and even IPA all they’d like: This is still lager country.

Despite recent gains by craft beer and recent shifts by Anheuser-Busch InBev, MolsonCoors and SABMiller toward brands including Blue Moon, Shock Top, Goose Island and Leinenkugel’s, the overwhelming majority of beer sold in this country is lager or some derivative thereof. It’s been so relentless and pervasive that even hard-line craft beer advocates have begun embracing it in its light, familiar form.

Consider that MolsonCoors/SABMiller’s MillerCoors and Anheuser-Busch InBev still sell about 74% of the beer this nation drinks. Consider further that Corona and Heineken make up roughly another 10% of that market. Throw Pabst, Modelo and newly “craft” brewer Yuengling into the equation and 18 of the 20 best-selling beers in the U.S. are some form of either lager or pilsner.

You can argue that most are losing sales — and many including Budweiser, Bud Light, Miller Lite and Busch are. But import brands including Heinkeken, Corona and Modelo saw sales rise even during the recession. The same holds true for Coors Light, Pabst Blue Ribbon and Yuengling, with each posting double-digit percentage point gains in 2012 alone, according to Beer Marketer’s Insights.

The problem isn’t lager, but the overall beer market. The Treasury Department’s Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau reported a 1.5% decrease in overall beer sales and a 2.6-million barrel loss in beer production. That’s basically akin to shutting down Boston Beer’s Samuel Adams brand (which produced 2.7 million barrels in 2012) for an entire year. Beer consumption overall has fallen in four of the past five years, with many of the slumping mainstream brands responsible for the damage. That has reduced reduced beer’s share of the overall alcohol market from 55% in 2000 to 49% in 2012. Meanwhile, craft beer volume increased by an estimated 15% last year, with imports putting up roughly 5% growth.

The Beer Institute, a beer industry organization based in Washington, points out that

#DontDoubleMyRate: How a Passive Aggressive GOP Congress Damages Our Nation

The Twitter hashtag #DontDoubleMyRate has been trending, off and on, for the past several weeks.

Naturally, the GOP faction, led by Speaker of the House, John Boehner, claims they “appreciate” college students, and “sympathize” with their predicament – which is a crippling blow to our nation, to students, and to universities, public and private, throughout the union.

However, their inaction – more accurately described as passive aggressive behavior – their actions are neither stalwart nor honorable, for they steadfastly refuse to collaborate to do the Good and Right Thing by the people. By claiming they desire to help, and then through their inaction, they actually damage the entire nation.

That type behavior, formerly formally diagnosed by the mental health professionals as “Passive Aggressive Personality Disorder,” is a chronic, long-term condition in which a person seems to actively comply with the desires and needs of others, but actually passively resists them.

People with this disorder resent responsibility and show it through their behaviors, rather than by openly expressing their feelings. They often use procrastination, inefficiency, and forgetfulness to avoid doing what they need to do or have been requested by others to do.

Common characteristics of Passive-Aggressive personality disorder include:

• Acting sullen
• Avoiding responsibility by claiming forgetfulness
• Being inefficient on purpose
• Blaming others
• Complaining
• Feeling resentment
• Having a fear of authority
• Having unexpressed anger or hostility
• Procrastinating
• Resisting other people’s suggestions

A person with this disorder may appear to comply with another’s wishes and may even demonstrate enthusiasm for those wishes. However, they:

• Perform the requested action too late to be helpful
• Perform it in a way that is useless
• Sabotage the action to show anger that they cannot express in words

The nut of the whole ordeal is that people who exhibit such behavior are inherently selfish, non-communicative, manipulative, and greedy.

And there you have it, Passive Aggressive Behavior.

It’s the perfect definition of the Republican Congress.

—

Oregon Explores Novel Way to Fund College

By DOUGLAS BELKIN Updated July 3, 2013, 12:25 a.m. ET

As lawmakers in Washington remain at loggerheads over the student-debt crisis, Oregon’s legislature is moving ahead with a plan to enable students to attend state schools with no money down. In return, under one proposal, the students would

Should Wal-Mart Workers be Thankful for a Non-Living Wage?

In this season of giving thanks, we are again reminded that our neighbors, our friends, our family are abused by corporate overlords who treat their employees as chattel, mere serfs, by the world’s largest retailer, which is headquartered in Arkansas, in the United States of America – land of the free, and home of the brave, land where our fathers died, land of the Pilgrims’ pride.

That is abuse and injustice.

Plain and simple.

From every mountainside, let freedom ring!

—

Wal-Mart’s 6 biggest blunders

Haven’t we been here before? Remembering the biggest public relations crises in the company’s 50-year history.

Over the weekend, the New York Times reported that Walmart allegedly covered up an internal investigation proving its Mexican subsidiary bribed officials in the country. The retail giant’s stock fell sharply Monday following the expose. Should the market be really that surprised? Over the years, Walmart has made headlines for behaving badly even as executives work tirelessly to maintain its all-American image. Here, take a look at Walmart’s blunders.

1. Working conditions

A worker’s got a right to lunch. And get paid for overtime. That wasn’t always the case at some Walmart stores.

In 2005, a California jury awarded $172 million to thousands of workers who claimed they were illegally denied lunch breaks. The case was one of at least 40 similar suits filed nationwide at the time, alleging workplace violations.

The outcomes of the cases varied, but those that stood in court brought bad news for the company. In 2002, a federal jury in Oregon found Walmart employees were forced to work off the clock and awarded back pay to 83 workers.

And in a similar case in 2000, Walmart settled a class-action lawsuit against

New Spider found in Oregon Cave

Kewl, eh?

But only if you’re not afraid of spiders.

“I don’t like spiders and snakes
And that ain’t what it takes to love me
Like I want to be loved by you.”

SPIDERS AND SNAKES

ASCAP Work ID: 490316575
ISWC: T0701419762

By
BELLAMY, DAVID M
STAFFORD, JIM W

SONY ATV HARMONY

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NASHVILLE , TN 37203

(615)743-1735
INFO@SONYATV.COM

—

Friday, August 17, 2012 11:57 AM EDT

Beware The ‘Cave Robber’: New Spider With Velociraptor-Like Claws Found In Oregon

By Roxanne Palmer

A mysterious organism has been found lurking in the caves and forests of the Pacific Northwest. No, it’s not a sasquatch – it’s a six-eyed spider with curved, vicious-looking claws that scientists have dubbed Trogloraptor, or “cave robber.”

In a paper published in the journal Zookeys on Friday, scientists from the arachnology lab at the California Academy of Sciences described the new critter, which is about the size of a half-dollar coin and likes to hang from simple webs on the ceilings of caves. Researchers and citizen scientist have found Trogloraptor in old-growth redwood forests and in caves across Oregon and California.

It has curved claws that are

Beer & Babes… what could be more American? These babes brew!

It certainly seems as if the spirit of entrepreneurship and the conjunction of high quality foodstuffs is enjoying a revival in the United States.

For that, we remain grateful.

Cheers!

—

More women are making — and enjoying — craft beers

Associated Press, May 29, 2012

A brew and a bro — it’s the classic pairing, right? Not necessarily.

From the rise of female brew masters to the growth of women’s tasting groups, women are becoming much more than a pint-sized part of the brewing world.

The emergence of women as both beer-lovers and brewers happened as the craft beer scene grew overall by leaps and bounds, and that’s no coincidence, said Lisa Morrison, Oregon-based writer, blogger and author of “Craft Beers of the Pacific Northwest.”

“I think that women are finally discovering, thanks to craft beer, that beer has flavor,” she said.

“When we start getting into the artisan stuff you start realizing that there’s an entire rainbow of flavors that you can enjoy. And because of that

Blogging from Japan – updated 3/13/11

As many are now discovering, Japan has been rocked with an 8.9 magnitude earthquake – the largest the nation has ever experienced – and subsequent tsunami. Underwater shock waves reportedly traveled at 500mph – the speed of a jet airliner – and have reached Hawaii, and will have reached the Pacific West Coast by press time. The initial waves are always the smallest, so mandatory evacuations in Hawaii have occurred already, and evacuation warnings along Oregon and Washington have been issued, and may authorities may extend warnings into the California coastline.

A high school friend of mine is an airline pilot, and is now in Tokyo, Japan as I write. He had earlier written on Mon 12:30 PM on his FaceBook page that

Audio Post: Tiger Intruder Song

You’d better hide your eggs, hide your drakes, hide your hens, ’cause DUCK HUNTING SEASON is about to begin!

The Oregon Ducks – what kind of self-respecting team is named the “Ducks”!? What a joke! Why not name yourselves the “Fleas”? – are about to have their lunch eaten, and every one of ’em are going to go home empty-handed, hungry, with more than just their pride wounded.

The MIGHTY AUBURN TIGERS have arrived!

If you’re a regular reader of this Blog, you may

Football and Tradition Reign in Auburn, AL… not so in Eugene, OR

The Nationally-Ranked Number 1 Auburn Tigers (13-0) meet the Nationally-Ranked Number 2 Oregon Ducks (12-0) – quack! (Good grief! Ducks?!? Give me a break! Please!) – January 10th in the BCS Championship Game in Glendale, AZ. The game will be telecast on ESPN, and ESPN3D, with kickoff at 7:30PM CST.

The ol’ quackers think they’re “king of the heap.” They’re fixin’ to learn an extremely valuable lesson… the HARD way. The SEC plays SMASH MOUTH FOOTBALL, and the Tigers are comin’ to getcha’! So, say your prayers, and ask for God’s mercy, ’cause the Tigers will have NONE on you!

WAR EAGLE, baby!!

Here’s what one columnist from Eugene, OR found out about the differences between Eugene, OR and Auburn, AL (and portender of things to come) in a brief, and very interesting piece!