It’s been almost 3 years since this journal has been updated which is more than enough time to grow and reflect. I’m not sure why I started this group; probably teenage fantasies of internet fame and controversy, but when I stumbled upon this page a few days ago, I was glad it still remained.

I would imagine deviantART is the perfect place for a group interested in marijuana, given its predominantly young, liberal user-base. The issue of drugs, particularly marijuana, is an incredibly hot topic in the media and in government at the moment. The ‘war’ on drugs, coupled with marijuana use becoming more and more socially acceptable, is creating a contradictive society which is both exciting and frightening to marijuana users everywhere.

Therefore, I want to use this account to help raise awareness about the positive effects of marijuana, as well as debunking the ridiculous myths spread by organisations such as D.A.R.E. I will also be posting the latest news stories, political events and police action relating to marijuana law which could directly affect users or which are just interesting.

Of course, this being dA, we need some art. I’ve been trying to photograph interesting, drug-related things over the past year but if you want to post your work under the ~cannabis name, upload it somewhere and send us a note with a link. You will be given full credit.

Any sort of psychedelic/marijuana-related art, as well as photos of bud, hash, bongs, pipes etc will all be appreciated. Also, feel free to send me links to any relevant websites or news articles and I will link them in this journal.

To show your support for this club, just add us to your watch list by clicking [link]

Thanks

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Seattle Hempfest - 19th & 20th August 2006

"The nation's leading cannabis policy reform event turns fifteen years old this year. Since 1991 Seattle Hempfest has been bringing you the nation's leading experts, activists, and advocates for industrial hemp and marijuana law reform. Hempfest is a work-party, so come prepared to learn while you celebrate.

Music acts come from all over to support the cause making Hempfest one of the largest venues to enjoy free music from the Pacific Northwest and beyond. There is no admission charge, Hempfest is free to attend, but we do rely heavily on your contributions to make it happen. Please give liberally.

Our permanent theme is education with this year's subject being independence. As Americans, we honor and value our precious freedoms of speech and peaceful assembly, however beleaguered they might be. Come to Hempfest this year and learn how you can protect your rights and freedoms and perhaps even gain a little more.

Hempfest features multiple stages and a variety of political, arts, crafts and food vendors against the backdrop of Elliot Bay and Mt. Rainer, and it all takes place in Myrtle Edwards and Elliot Bay Parks on Elliot Bay in downtown Seattle.

Come back soon for a list of bands and speakers. We have some special surprises in store for our fifteenth anniversary. For information on how to become a vendor, a sponsor, or on how to earn your own staff shirt, just click the appropriate buttons on the upper left of this page.

We're not preaching to the choir, we are singing our song of freedom to the world. How can we remain silent while others are being silenced? Come add your voice to the chorus. Until then, we'll keep the porch light on for you.

Hempfest for Victory!"

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Drug classification rethink urged
By Pallab Ghosh
BBC science correspondent

The designation of drugs in classes A, B and C should be replaced with one more closely reflecting the harm they cause, a committee of MPs has said.

The Science Select Committee said the present system was based on historical assumptions, not scientific assessment.

BBC News has obtained details of an alternative system devised by the government's advisers which is being considered as an alternative.

It rates some illegal drugs as less harmful than alcohol and tobacco.

The MPs said including alcohol and tobacco in the classification would give the public "a better sense of the relative harms involved".

They also denounced the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs - which provides scientific guidance to the government - for "dereliction of duty" in failing to alert ministers of "serious flaws" in the rating system.

Phil Willis, who chairs the committee, said the current classifications were "riddled with anomalies" and "clearly not fit for purpose".

Controlled drugs are currently put into alphabetical categories, reflecting the level of penalties offences such as possession and dealing can attract.

Class A, which is the highest category, contains substances such as heroin, cocaine, ecstasy and magic mushrooms.

Class B includes speed and barbiturates. Cannabis and some tranquilisers are graded as class C substances.

Mr Willis said the only way to get "an accurate and up to date classification system" was to "remove the link with penalties and just focus on harm", adding that this meant social consequences as well as harm to the user.

He went on: "It's time to bring in a more systematic and scientific approach to drug classification - how can we get the message across to young people if what we are saying is not based on evidence?"

Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, he said: "In 1971 when the classification system was launched, that was right for the time.

"What we've had is a huge societal change over that period and what we've seen is that putting a drug into Class A does not stop people using it at all."

The alternative system proposed is based on the first scientific assessment of 20 legal and illegal stimulants.

The MPs say it should be replaced by a league table of the harm caused by particular drugs. It was being considered by former home secretary Charles Clarke, but has now been put on hold.

It has been prepared by Professor David Nutt, a senior member of the Committee that advises the government on drug classification, and Professor Colin Blakemore - chief Executive of the Medical Research Council.

There are three class A drugs in the top five of the system, as well as one Class B and alcohol.

Tobacco is listed as the ninth most harmful drug and cannabis, a class C drug, comes in at number 11.

Perhaps most surprising is the presence of two Class A drugs - ecstasy and LSD - in the bottom six.

This places them well below tobacco and alcohol and a number of class B and C drugs.

Professor Blakemore told BBC News alcohol and tobacco were included in the ranking to give a "calibration of what these levels of harm mean".

He added: "That's not to say there's any argument that alcohol should be banned but it does give one a feel for the relative harm".

[link]

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ELLICOTT CITY, Md. -- Authorities aren't happy about yellow, smiley face gumballs.

The federal Drug Enforcement Agency is warning about so-called "Greenades," which are marijuana-containing gumballs.

The DEA is issuing an intelligence bulletin about the pot candies to police departments across the country. The smiley face gumballs were first discovered at a Howard County, Md., high school in January.

Police charged three 17-year-old students after a teacher alerted a school resource officer. She told the officer that she saw a student give a plastic bag that the teacher believed contained drugs to another student.

The officer seized the bag, which contained two "candy balls," police said. The gumballs came wrapped in colorful tin foil labeled as "Greenades" with a marijuana leaf on the wrapper and detailed instructions for use. Instructions on the foil told users to chew for 30 minutes to 1 hour "before you would like receive your high" and to "chew for as long as possible, then swallow."

Officers charged two students with distribution of drugs on school property and a third with possession of marijuana.

The federal Drug Enforcement Agency recently released an intelligence bulletin about the "greenades."

Each gumball contained approximately one gram of marijuana, and the total net mass of the two gumballs was 17.5 grams.

If a toddler were to ingest the amount of THC, the active chemical in marijuana, in one gram of high grade marijuana it could produce harmful effects, according to PRWeb.

"The way drugs are being marketed and packaged these days to encourage kids to buy and use them is getting pretty sophisticated. The purpose, of course, is to create future clientele for drugs and what better-targeted market for a pusher than kids. They are young, experimental by nature and have the money to buy it. If they try it and like it, they could end up being a permanent customer that one day ends up in our rehabilitation facility, in jail or dead," J.T. Daily, Director of Drug Education for Narconon Arrowhead, one of the country’s leading drug rehabilitation and education centers, told PRWeb.

[link]

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::LINKS::

-NORML
-American Alliance for Medical Cannabis
-Hemp.net
-Independant Drug Monitoring Unit (UK)
-Cannabis Culture Magazine
-Erowid Cannabis Vault
-NORML