Archive for August 14th, 2009
Found on Infowars
Raw Story
A police officer in the Syracuse, New York, area Tasered a 37-year-old mom repeatedly in front of her children during a routine traffic stop—and then arrested the mom, leaving the children alone in their family minivan for 40 minutes in freezing weather.
The incident took place in Onondaga County, New York, on January 31, but dashcam video of the incident only recently came to light.
According to a report at syracuse.com, what started out as a routine traffic stop “escalated quickly” when 37-year-old Audra Harmon challenged officer Sean Andrews’ assertion that she had been talking on her cell phone when he pulled her over. Harmon disputed that fact, as well as the officer’s claim that she had been speeding—doing 50 mph in a 45 zone.
An article at MSNBC.com describes the situation:
Harmon had been driving home with her 15-year-old son, whom she had just picked up from wrestling practice, and 5-year-old daughter. She said she was resting her right hand on her cheek as she pulled behind a sheriff’s deputy to make a right turn onto the road where she lived. After she made the turn, the deputy pulled off the road to let her pass, then pulled out behind her with his lights flashing and siren blaring.
When Harmon got out of her minivan to show Officer Andrews that she wasn’t in possession of a cell phone, and to ask to see video footage of her allegedly talking on the cell phone she didn’t possess, the officer ordered her to get back in her car.
“And then he pulled out his taser and said I’m under arrest,” Harmon said. “I got back in the car and he said he wanted me back out of the car now. And I said ‘Why am I under arrest?’ … He then yanked me out of the car … pulled his taser out and the first shot jolted me…”
According to Syracuse.com, “Harmon was charged with disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and going 50 in a 45 mph zone. The district attorney’s office dismissed the charges a month later—after watching the videotape, said her lawyer, Terrance Hoffmann.”
Amazingly, the officer had justified Harmon’s arrest by saying she had obstructed traffic by getting out of her minivan.
As MSNBC points out, when Harmon was arrested, her children, aged five and 15, were left by the side of the road for forty minutes.
Harmon is suing the Onondaga County sheriff’s office. Officer Andrews has been taken off street patrol and “reassigned” until an internal affairs investigation is completed, the sheriff’s office said.
Found on High Times
Dr. Bill Schwied, 88, is the neighbor who encouraged Bouer to find out about cannabis.
“The only risk involved is the legal risk, which is very frightening to many doctors and patients,” Schwied said.
There have not been enough studies conducted to evaluate the full medical risks of marijuana, especially on the elderly. There is risk of developing dependence on the drug. Both the American Medical Association and the National Multiple Sclerosis Society say there is a need for more research in the field. Meanwhile, 13 states now approve the medical use of marijuana. But the federal government still classifies the plant as an illegal “Schedule I” controlled substance, with no accepted medical use — a category it shares with cocaine and heroin.
But Schwied sees that marijuana has obvious benefits.
“I don’t think it cures everything, but it’s one approach in medicine that the medical profession has kind of ignored,” he says.
The retired doctor and nurse have become vocal advocates for elderly use of medical marijuana. Since the spring, they’ve appeared publicly at community meetings.
Spreading The Word
Speaking at a recent forum, Margo described her own experience.
“For the first time, the nausea dissipated,” she said. “I sat there and waited for it, and I felt relaxed and I thought, ‘Well, it’ll probably return during the night.’ But guess what? I slept like a log.”
More than 200 seniors turned out for the panel discussion on medical marijuana at the retirement community this past June. No one spoke against it.
These days, getting a doctor’s recommendation for medial marijuana is easy. It’s getting the cannabis that can be a problem for the seniors. Laguna Woods passed an ordinance allowing dispensaries a year ago, but so far, retail property owners have refused to lease to any marijuana businesses.
So the retirees are forming their own non-profit medical marijuana collective. A small group of them has been meeting to study their options under the law.
At a recent session, one man suggested that the group distribute not merely doses of medical marijuana, but the plants themselves.
“We could give them these little plants that they could put on their balcony that won’t take much room at all,” he said, “and they would be able to have medicine available in like 60 days.”
The Question: How Legal Is Legal?
While some dispensaries charge $20 a gram or $600 an ounce, the seniors say they want their collective to charge only enough to cover their costs. The Orange County District Attorney’s office wouldn’t comment on the legality of marijuana collectives.
The Laguna Woods collective is getting legal advice. But even if they follow the letter of California’s law — which permits doctor-recommended use of cannabis, and allows patients to legally buy it, or grow their own — the retirees are still taking a risk, according to Don Duncan, California director for Americans for Safe Access.
“The federal government typically doesn’t target medical cannabis patients,” Duncan said. “But if one or more of these patients want to join together into a collective or cooperative, there is a substantial legal risk in providing that service to the community.”
Duncan said that although he sees the risk as being lower under the Obama administration, “until the federal law changes, there’s always a chance that somebody could be arrested or indicted.”
That possibility doesn’t deter Margo Bouer.
“I’ll be a test case,” she said. “What are they going to do, throw me in jail? A 73-year-old person with MS?”
If that happens, Bouer is likely to have a lot of elderly supporters. Her group recently held a community meeting to announce that the collective is forming. More than 70 people turned out.
Found on Cannabis Culture
Cannabis could protect bones from weakening in later life, scientists have said.
A study on mice showed that while properties of the plant can reduce strength in the young, it may guard against osteoporosis.
Researchers at the University of Edinburgh said a molecule in the body, which can be activated by cannabis, is “key” to the development of the bone disease.
It was not previously known whether the results would be positive or negative.
The study on mice showed that compounds similar to those found in cannabis decreased bone loss in older mice and prevented the accumulation of fat in bones.
The same study showed an increase in the rate bone tissue was destroyed in young mice.
The university said bone disease affects up to 30% of women and 12% of men at some point in life.
Stuart Ralston, the Arthritis Research Campaign professor of rheumatology at the university, said: “This is an exciting step forward, but we must recognise that these are early results and more tests are needed on the effects of cannabis in humans to determine how the effects differ with age in people.
“We plan to conduct further trials soon and hope the results will help to deliver new treatments that will be of value in the fight against osteoporosis.”
Prof Ralston said that smoking cannabis with tobacco is “bad at any age” for bones.
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