Tonight, I gave my Elevator Arguments presentation to the Illinois State University chapter of SSDP. It's always a lot of fun. The idea is to develop the skill of being able to make an argument for drug policy reform quickly (in the time you might have riding with someone on an elevator). And not only that -- but to target your argument to the interests of your audience. Whenever I give this presentation, I start by letting the audience put me on the spot. They can yell out a description of a person, and I have to immediately give a short argument for why that person should support drug policy reform. Tonight they hit me with:

• Treatment Specialist
• Conservative Parole Officer
• Mother who lost a child to drug overdose
• Tobacco Company Executive
• Restaurant Owner

There were a couple of others, I believe. Then I have the group break up into small groups and create their own 30-second arguments (they get a little more time than I do to prepare) and then have one person come up and give the presentation. If you've got a group (or just some friends), this is a fun thing to do, and it makes you better at speaking on the fly when an opportunity comes along. Here's a simple handout (pdf) that I pass out to provide some starting points. If you're interested in listening to the Elevator Arguments workshop that I helped present at the International Drug Policy Conference in December, you can listen to the entire workshop here (scroll down to Elevator Arguments). My part starts at 18:30 into it, and I do some of the on-the-spot arguments as well. (If anyone listens to it, let me know how it is -- I can't bear to listen to myself.) On a separate note, the Illinois State University SSDP will be hosting the Midwest Regional conference in April. They will hold a Hempfest on the Quad on Friday April 18, and then the conference on Saturday, April 19 (to conclude on 4/20) If you attend a school in the midwest, consider organizing a group to come. Of course, everyone is welcome to attend any of the conference sessions (and I'll have more information available here later). We have some good presenters lined up (but would love to hear suggestions for more).

Radley has the update:

Ryan Frederick was arraigned today. He was charged with first-degree murder, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, and . . . simple possession of marijuana. That's right. Though police still haven't told us how much marijuana they found, it wasn't enough to charge Frederick with anything more than a misdemeanor. For a misdemeanor, they broke down his door, a cop is dead, and a 28-year-old guy's life is ruined. Looks like the informant mistook Frederick's gardening hobby for an elaborate marijuana growing operation, and those Japanese maple trees for marijuana plants.

Radley has the update:

Ryan Frederick was arraigned today. He was charged with first-degree murder, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, and . . . simple possession of marijuana. That's right. Though police still haven't told us how much marijuana they found, it wasn't enough to charge Frederick with anything more than a misdemeanor. For a misdemeanor, they broke down his door, a cop is dead, and a 28-year-old guy's life is ruined. Looks like the informant mistook Frederick's gardening hobby for an elaborate marijuana growing operation, and those Japanese maple trees for marijuana plants.

Radley has the update:

Ryan Frederick was arraigned today. He was charged with first-degree murder, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, and . . . simple possession of marijuana. That's right. Though police still haven't told us how much marijuana they found, it wasn't enough to charge Frederick with anything more than a misdemeanor. For a misdemeanor, they broke down his door, a cop is dead, and a 28-year-old guy's life is ruined. Looks like the informant mistook Frederick's gardening hobby for an elaborate marijuana growing operation, and those Japanese maple trees for marijuana plants.

---
Heavy cannabis users may be at greater risk of chronic lung disease -
including cancer - compared to tobacco smokers, two studies suggest.

One study found a higher risk of lung cancer for those who smoked one
joint a day compared with those who smoked 20 cigarettes a day over the
same period.

Another found bullous disease - a form of emphysema - occurs 20 years
earlier in cannabis smokers.

The studies appear in Respirology and the European Respiratory Journal.

Both studies come at a time when the government is considering whether
to change the laws on the possession of cannabis.

Deep inhalation

The lung cancer study was conducted on 79 patients in New Zealand. The
risk of the disease rose 8% for each year of smoking one joint a day,
and 7% for each year of smoking a packet of cigarettes a day.

The situation is complicated in the UK as the two drugs are almost
always smoked mixed together

Researchers at the Medical Research Institute of New Zealand admitted it
was a small study, but said nonetheless "it shows clearly that long-term
cannabis smoking increases lung cancer risk".

They speculated the heightened risk may be connected to the fact that
the cannabis smoker inhales more deeply and for longer, increasing the
amount of carbon monoxide.

This was also thought to be the issue in a second, smaller study of 10
patients who were treated for chronic respiratory problems at the Alfred
Hospital in Melbourne.

All admitted intense cannabis use for at least a year. They had
developed bullous lung disease, a condition where air becomes trapped in
the lungs, at an average age of 41, compared to 65 for tobacco smoking
patients.

The campaign group Transform Drug Policy Foundation said it was very
difficult to separate cannabis from tobacco use as the two were so often
smoked together.

"Variations on the 'cannabis is more dangerous than tobacco' have been
emerging sporadically for several decades. Different research using
different methodologies has suggested very different conclusions, making
such comparisons problematic," said spokesman Steve Rolles.

He added that inhaling smoke from any burning object was intrinsically
harmful, and that policy should focus more on educating people about the
risks of taking the drug - which can be taken using other methods - in
this way.

The British Lung Foundation said the debate about cannabis's effect on
the lungs had tended to focus on the mental effects, overlooking the
impact on the lungs.

"Many people don't know that smoking a joint is more harmful to the
lungs than smoking a cigarette, as marijuana is often inhaled more
deeply and held for longer," said Dr Noemi Eiser, honorary medical
director of the British Lung Foundation.

"The New Zealand study highlights the carcinogenic properties of
cannabis smoke and it is a great worry that these exist in similar or
even greater proportions to tobacco smoke."

The UK Government may decide later this year whether it will reclassify
cannabis as a class B drug, having downgraded it to a class C substance
in 2004.

There is evidence to suggest that usage has fallen since
reclassification occurred.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7217601.stm

---
MARIJUANA is DANGEROUS. Pot is NOT harmful to the human body or mind.
Marijuana does NOT pose a threat to the general public. Marijuana is
very much a danger to the oil companies, alcohol, tobacco industries and
a large number of chemical corporations. Various big businesses, with
plenty of dollars and influence, have suppressed the truth from the people.

The truth is if marijuana was utilized for its vast array of commercial
products, it would create an industrial atomic bomb! Entrepreneurs have
not been educated on the product potential of pot. The super rich have
conspired to spread misinformation about an extremely versatile plant
that, if used properly, would ruin their companies.

Where did the word 'marijuana' come from? In the mid 1930s, the M-word
was created to tarnish the good image and phenomenal history of the hemp
plant...as you will read. The facts cited here, with references, are
generally verifiable in the Encyclopedia Britannica which was printed on
hemp paper for 150 years:

All schoolbooks were made from hemp or flax paper until the 1880s;
Hemp Paper Reconsidered, Jack Frazier, 1974.

* It was LEGAL TO PAY TAXES WITH HEMP in America from 1631 until the
early 1800s; LA Times, Aug. 12, 1981.

* REFUSING TO GROW HEMP in America during the 17th and 18th Centuries
WAS AGAINST THE LAW! You could be jailed in Virginia for refusing to
grow hemp from 1763 to 1769; Hemp in Colonial Virginia, G. M. Herdon.

George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and other founding fathers GREW
HEMP; Washington and Jefferson Diaries. Jefferson smuggled hemp seeds
from China to France then to America.

* Benjamin Franklin owned one of the first paper mills in America and it
processed hemp. Also, the War of 1812 was fought over hemp. Napoleon
wanted to cut off Moscow's export to England; Emperor Wears No Clothes,
Jack Herer.

* For thousands of years, 90% of all ships' sails and rope were made
from hemp. The word 'canvas' is Dutch for cannabis; Webster's New World
Dictionary.

* 80% of all textiles, fabrics, clothes, linen, drapes, bed sheets, etc.
were made from hemp until the 1820s with the introduction of the cotton gin.

* The first Bibles, maps, charts, Betsy Ross's flag, the first drafts of
the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were made from
hemp; U.S. Government Archives.

* The first crop grown in many states was hemp. 1850 was a peak year for
Kentucky producing 40,000 tons. Hemp was the largest cash crop until the
20th Century; State Archives.

* Oldest known records of hemp farming go back 5000 years in China,
although hemp industrialization probably goes back to ancient Egypt.

* Rembrants, Gainsboroughs, Van Goghs as well as most early canvas
paintings were principally painted on hemp linen.

* In 1916, the U.S. Government predicted that by the 1940s all paper
would come from hemp and that no more trees need to be cut down.
Government studies report that 1 acre of hemp equals 4.1 acres of trees.
Plans were in the works to implement such programs; Department of
Agriculture

* Quality paints and varnishes were made from hemp seed oil until 1937.
58,000 tons of hemp seeds were used in America for paint products in
1935; Sherman Williams Paint Co. testimony before Congress against the
1937 Marijuana Tax Act.

* Henry Ford's first Model-T was built to run on hemp gasoline and the
CAR ITSELF WAS CONTRUCTED FROM HEMP! On his large estate, Ford was
photographed among his hemp fields. The car, 'grown from the soil,' had
hemp plastic panels whose impact strength was 10 times stronger than
steel; Popular Mechanics, 1941.

* Hemp called 'Billion Dollar Crop.' It was the first time a cash crop
had a business potential to exceed a billion dollars; Popular Mechanics,
Feb., 1938.

* Mechanical Engineering Magazine (Feb. 1938) published an article
entitled 'The Most Profitable and Desirable Crop that Can be Grown.' It
stated that if hemp was cultivated using 20th Century technology, it
would be the single largest agricultural crop in the U.S. and the rest
of the world.

The following information comes directly from the United States
Department of Agriculture's 1942 14-minute film encouraging and
instructing 'patriotic American farmers' to grow 350,000 acres of hemp
each year for the war effort:

'...(When) Grecian temples were new, hemp was already old in the service
of mankind. For thousands of years, even then, this plant had been grown
for cordage and cloth in China and elsewhere in the East. For centuries
prior to about 1850, all the ships that sailed the western seas were
rigged with hempen rope and sails. For the sailor, no less than the
hangman, hemp was indispensable...

...Now with Philippine and East Indian sources of hemp in the hands of
the Japanese...American hemp must meet the needs of our Army and Navy as
well as of our industries...

...the Navy's rapidly dwindling reserves. When that is gone, American
hemp will go on duty again; hemp for mooring ships; hemp for tow lines;
hemp for tackle and gear; hemp for countless naval uses both on ship and
shore. Just as in the days when Old Ironsides sailed the seas victorious
with her hempen shrouds and hempen sails. Hemp for victory!'

Certified proof from the Library of Congress; found by the research of
Jack Herer, refuting claims of other government agencies that the 1942
USDA film 'Hemp for Victory' did not exist.

Hemp cultivation and production do not harm the environment. The USDA
Bulletin #404 concluded that hemp produces 4 times as much pulp with at
least 4 to 7 times less pollution. From Popular Mechanics, Feb. 1938:

'It has a short growing season...It can be grown in any state...The long
roots penetrate and break the soil to leave it in perfect condition for
the next year's crop. The dense shock of leaves, 8 to 12 feet above the
ground, chokes out weeds.
...hemp, this new crop can add immeasurably to American agriculture and
industry.'

In the 1930s, innovations in farm machinery would have caused an
industrial revolution when applied to hemp. This single resource could
have created millions of new jobs generating thousands of quality
products. Hemp, if not made illegal, would have brought America out of
the Great Depression.

William Randolph Hearst (Citizen Kane) and the Hearst Paper
Manufacturing Division of Kimberly Clark owned vast acreage of
timberlands. The Hearst Company supplied most paper products. Patty
Hearst's grandfather, a destroyer of nature for his own personal profit,
stood to lose billions because of hemp.

In 1937, Dupont patented the processes to make plastics from oil and
coal. Dupont's Annual Report urged stockholders to invest in its new
petrochemical division. Synthetics such as plastics, cellophane,
celluloid, methanol, nylon, rayon, Dacron, etc., could now be made from
oil. Natural hemp industrialization would have ruined over 80% of
Dupont's business.

THE CONSPIRACY

Andrew Mellon became Hoover's Secretary of the Treasury and Dupont's
primary investor. He appointed his future nephew-in-law, Harry J.
Anslinger, to head the Federal Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs.

Secret meetings were held by these financial tycoons. Hemp was declared
dangerous and a threat to their billion dollar enterprises. For their
dynasties to remain intact, hemp had to go. These men took an obscure
Mexican slang word: 'marihuana' and pushed it into the consciousness of
America.

MEDIA MANIPULATION

A media blitz of 'yellow journalism' raged in the late 1920s and 1930s.
Hearst's newspapers ran stories emphasizing the horrors of marihuana.
The menace of marihuana made headlines. Readers learned that it was
responsible for everything from car accidents to loose morality.

Films like 'Reefer Madness' (1936), 'Marihuana: Assassin of Youth'
(1935) and 'Marihuana: The Devil's Weed' (1936) were propaganda designed
by these industrialists to create an enemy. Their purpose was to gain
public support so that anti-marihuana laws could be passed.

Examine the following quotes from 'The Burning Question' aka REEFER MADNESS:

a violent narcotic.

acts of shocking violence.

incurable insanity.

soul-destroying effects.

under the influence of the drug he killed his entire family with an ax.

more vicious, more deadly even than these soul-destroying drugs (heroin,
cocaine) is the menace of marihuana!

Reefer Madness did not end with the usual 'the end.' The film concluded
with these words plastered on the screen: TELL YOUR CHILDREN.

In the 1930s, people were very naive; even to the point of ignorance.
The masses were like sheep waiting to be led by the few in power. They
did not challenge authority. If the news was in print or on the radio,
they believed it had to be true. They told their children and their
children grew up to be the parents of the baby-boomers.

On April 14, 1937, the Prohibitive Marihuana Tax Law or the bill that
outlawed hemp was directly brought to the House Ways and Means
Committee. This committee is the only one that can introduce a bill to
the House floor without it being debated by other committees. The
Chairman of the Ways and Means, Robert Doughton, was a Dupont supporter.
He insured that the bill would pass Congress.

Dr. James Woodward, a physician and attorney, testified too late on
behalf of the American Medical Association. He told the committee that
the reason the AMA had not denounced the Marihuana Tax Law sooner was
that the Association had just discovered that marihuana was hemp.

Few people, at the time, realized that the deadly menace they had been
reading about on Hearst's front pages was in fact passive hemp. The AMA
understood cannabis to be a MEDICINE found in numerous healing products
sold over the last hundred years.

In September of 1937, hemp became illegal. The most useful crop known
became a drug and our planet has been suffering ever since.

Congress banned hemp because it was said to be the most violence-causing
drug known. Anslinger, head of the Drug Commission for 31 years,
promoted the idea that marihuana made users act extremely violent. In
the 1950s, under the Communist threat of McCarthyism, Anslinger now said
the exact opposite. Marijuana will pacify you so much that soldiers
would not want to fight.

Today, our planet is in desperate trouble. Earth is suffocating as large
tracts of rain forests disappear. Pollution, poisons and chemicals are
killing people. These great problems could be reversed if we
industrialized hemp. Natural biomass could provide all of the planet's
energy needs that are currently supplied by fossil fuels. We have
consumed 80% of our oil and gas reserves. We need a renewable resource.
Hemp could be the solution to soaring gas prices.

POT IS ILLEGAL BECAUSE BILLIONAIRES WANT TO REMAIN BILLIONAIRES!

http://www.helium.com/tm/556093/marijuana-dangerous-harmful-human

Add your voice http://www.helium.com/items/new_item_a/61885-tycoons-drugs

---
CANNABIS with a street value of £2,000 has been seized by police in
Droitwich.

Yesterday a man and woman were arrested at Bays Meadow, Droitwich after
cannabis bush - with a street value of about £2,000 - and growing
equipment was seized.

The two remain in custody at Worcester Police Station while enquiries
continue.

Police in South Worcestershire have thanked the public for their help
after a string of successes in the on-going fight against the illegal
use and supply of drugs.

Inspector Steve Brooker, head of police in Wychavon, said: "In the last
two weeks high-profile arrests, substantial seizures and long sentences
have highlighted just how successful the partnership between the public
and the police can be.

"These successes clearly demonstrate that if the public continue to come
forward with vital information we will act on it and positive results
will be achieved for the good of the community as a whole.

"It is becoming increasingly clear that the public are less tolerant
than they used to be when it comes to drug dealers coming to their local
neighbourhoods and are informing the police more readily, resulting in
more successful police operations," he added.

"This is to be greatly welcomed and our message to law-abiding citizens
is quite simple: Please continue providing the information and we will
continue providing the arrests," added Inspector Brooker, who is
responsible for policing in the Droitwich, Evesham and Pershore areas.

South Worcestershire Police recovered £7,000 in cash and tobacco,
cigarettes, jewellery and other suspected contraband after a driver was
stopped by Central Motorway Police Group officers at Wychbold after
'poor driving' on the M5 on Monday.

After failing a breathalyser test at the roadside, the man was found to
be carrying £1,000 in cash. Officers then found around £1,000 in the car
boot.

When the man's home was searched, more cash totalling around £5,000 and
the 'contraband' items were found. The man was bailed to return to
Worcester Police Station while enquiries continue.

http://www.worcesternews.co.uk

---
A police raid on a house near Bicester where just 13 cannabis plants
were seized has prompted a flood of comments from people who read the
story on the Oxford Mail's website.

Scores of readers posted comments following the arrest of a 35-year-old
man in Fringford, near Bicester, for possessing and cultivating cannabis
with an estimated value of £1,000. He was released without charge.

One correspondent - Jane, from Oxford - said: "What crime is this man
committing to another person growing his own cannabis and smoking it in
his home?"

Another said: "No wonder people don't respect the police any more, they
don't arrest robbers and muggers, just law abiding citizens who smoke
cannabis in their own home."

Michael, from Abingdon, added: "If the police continue to make cannabis
harder to get hold of then there will be more call for harder drugs on
the streets and that will result in more drug-related deaths and more
crime to fund expensive drug habits."

Other readers supported measures to clamp down on cannabis users and
dealers.

Alan Page said: "Cannabis destroys the brain and renders long-term users
little better than vegetables. My brother is a far brighter, funnier
person since he cut down his habit."

The Legalise Cannabis Alliance also questioned whether police should
concentrate so much time, effort and money on tackling cannabis.

But spokesman Don Barnard added users of the drug should respect the job
police were doing. He said: "Laws are there to protect society from
people who do dangerous things and harm others."

Thames Valley Police released the 35-year-old man whose house was raided
with a caution after officers "uncovered a well-organised cannabis
cultivation set-up".

Spokesman Toby Shergold said: "Our officers were responding to concerns
raised by local people and if criminality is going on we have a duty to
respond.

"Cannabis remains illegal and factories are being uncovered across the
country run by organised gangs with proceeds going to fund operations
such as human trafficking.

"We tirelessly pursue dealers of all illegal drugs and in the last month
two have been jailed for dealing ecstasy, crack cocaine and heroin. We
are also targeting drug addicts who are committing crime to fuel their
habit."

http://www.lca-uk.org
http://www.oxfordmail.net/news/headlines/display.var.2009271.0.drugs_debate.php

---
A 15-YEAR-OLD boy was due to appear before magistrates yesterday after
police raided a cannabis farm in Tranmere.

A large quantity of sophisticated cannabis growing equipment, with an
estimated value of £18,000 was seized together with what is believed to
be more than 300 cannabis plants with an estimated street value of
between £20,000-£30,000, during the raid on Tuesday.

The 15-year-old is charged with suspicion of cannabis production.

Neighbourhood Inspector Brian Griffiths said: "This is a significant
seizure and local people should be reassured that we will continue to
take positive action on any information relating to drugs activity in
the area.

"Information from the public is vital in our continuing war on drugs. I
want to thank the community for their support so far and also urge them
to keep supplying us with information.

"This latest seizure sends out the message that if you're involved in
drugs and associated crime we will target you and put you before the
courts."

http://www.thisiswirral.co.uk/display.var.2010118.0.cannabis_seized_in_tranmere.php

---
TWENTY cannabis factories have been closed down by police in Swindon in
the last 18 months.

And the latest was a big production unit in a family area of Swindon.

Officers know there are still a few more houses being used to grow the
drugs but said it is only a matter of time before their doors are also
knocked down.

Sgt Scott Hargreave said: "Cannabis is a significant problem nationally
and Swindon is no different. Britain is one of the biggest exporters of
cannabis to other countries.

"We have probably closed 20 to 25 factories down in the last 18 months.

"There are still one or two about, but we are aware of them.

"This is a huge money-making industry run by three or four organised
crime groups in Swindon.

"We have got individual departments that look at organised crime, we
have experts looking into how people make the stuff, others looking at
the dealers and some that look at how people get across the borders with
class A drugs.

"Our team is focused on it at the moment because it is one of the areas
identified by the community."

Sgt Hargreave was speaking following the raid on the latest factory,
where thousands of pounds worth of cannabis was found in Kingshill.

Police officers rammed in the door of the house in Stanier Street, to
find the male tenant watching TV, while the upstairs of his rented house
was piled high with drugs.

Officers said the makeshift factory was capable of generating a
£50,000-a-year income for the drug-maker.

The two bedrooms housed about 100 plants, ranging from seedlings to
five-foot tall trees ready for drying and selling.

Police also found at least £2,000 worth of dried herbal cannabis sealed
into plastic bags ready for sale at £20 a time and a cardboard box full
of the loose drug waiting to be weighed out into bags.

Sgt Hargreave said: "A big part of this is reassuring the community that
we are tackling drug problems, not only class A drugs, but class Bs like
amphetamines, speed and ecstasy as well as class C.

"This is a family neighbourhood and this kind of activity is not acceptable.

"We know where the drugs are and we will be visiting these establishments.

"The message we want to get across is that we know who you are and we
know what you are doing.

"We have targeted heroin, cocaine and social use cocaine, and now
cannabis, just in the last week.

"We have had three good results, and want to continue to encourage the
community to come forward. If people give us information, we will act on
it."

The Kingshill factory was rigged up with state-of-the-art growing,
lighting and ventilation systems.

"Most of the equipment needed is readily available from gardening shops,
but I would suggest he must have had some assistance to set this up,"
said Sgt Hargreave.

"This is a professional outfit capable of making thousands of pounds'
worth of drugs.

"This set-up would have been turning over about £50,000 to £60,000 a year."

Before raiding the address a police helicopter, using thermal imaging
technology flew over the house to try and identify high heat levels.

But Sgt Hargreave said community information was the most important tool
in tracking the factories down, as the complicated ventilation system
had left the property virtually undetectable.

A 35-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of cultivation of a class C
drug. He has been released on bail while the drugs are sent for
laboratory testing.

http://www.gazetteandherald.co.uk