Marijuana eradication plans may stop soon

www.pulseheadlines.com/marijuana-eradication-plans-stop/51974/

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has worked with marijuana eradication programs all over the United States’ territory, using almost $14 million to operate them. Lawmakers are now considering the elimination of the program.

Already, twelve members of the Congress are pushing to ditch marijuana eradication funds and operations to use the money to fund different programs that may have a more significant impact.

Pulling marijuana is expensive

Last year, the marijuana eradication program in New Hampshire was one of the leading examples of the inadequacy of the programs to control marijuana production. Around $20,000 were used to implement the program that ended pulling a single grow site where 27 plants were found.  Utah, on the other hand, used $70,000 and no marijuana plants were removed.

However, the DEA did pull almost 3 million marijuana plants last year, and in those operations, authorities were able to seize nearly 2,000 weapons, only in California. The problem seems to be linked to the particular State, then.

The first action to improve the way marijuana eradication funds are used was to study which states needed funds and how much money was necessary for each program. This led to the elimination of marijuana eradication programs in Alaska, Colorado, and Vermont.

Kentucky, California, Tennessee, Georgia, and Washington are still receiving a considerable amount of money to encourage these programs. The first two are the states were more marijuana plants have been eradicated.

This year, for example, Washington received more than $700,000 to activate the program. These funds are considered alarming by some critics that point out that Washington is the only state where people can not grow their own plants, and recreational marijuana can only be bought in stores, while in the DC happens the contrary.

California’s status

While California is among the states where the eradication programs are effective, voters in the state will once again reconsider the legalization of recreational use of marijuana. The final decision on this issue may significantly affect the way the DEA operates in the state.

The Proposition 64 needs more than half of the voters’ population to pass, but if it does, recreational use of marijuana -and not only medicinal use- will be allowed to residents of the sunny state. So far, the drug remains illegal.

To some people, California’s choice is relevant to the rest of the nation and allowing recreational use of marijuana in this state may open the door to eliminate the federal prohibition, considering the pressure California can put in national politics.

The proposition document is backed by several companies, political actors and health professionals that have raised a significant amount of money to reinforce the campaign. Detractors have failed in trying to raise an equal sum of money for their campaign. 

Members of Congress fighting to stop the DEA

“It makes zero sense for the federal government to continue to spend taxpayer dollars on cannabis eradication at a time when states across the country are looking to legalize marijuana. I will continue to fight against DEA’s Domestic Cannabis Eradication/Suppression Program in Congress and work to redirect these funds to worthwhile programs,” said Rep. Ted Lieuto The Denver Post.

Other 11 representatives in the Congress agree that the Domestic Cannabis Eradication Program must end. The DEA, on the other hand, considers necessary the aggressive strive halt the spread of cannabis cultivation in the country, considering that marijuana is the primary drug of abuse grown within the U.S. borders.

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Recovery Officials Wary of DEA Cutback on Opioids

http://www.kaaltv.com/news/rochester-dea-opioid-drugs-reduction-adult-teen-challenge/4285379/?cat=10242

(ABC 6 News) – The Drug Enforcement Agency has announced they will decrease opioid production dramatically over the next year.

They announced they will be capping the production of drugs like Vicodin, OxyContin and Demerol by 25% in 2017. The DEA says they hope to control the supply of drugs, and keep it out of the hands of people who abuse them.

However, some say this could only make things worse. 

“It could backfire on us dramatically if all of a sudden, this guy that’s got ongoing chronic pain can’t get at it. What’s your alternative? You gonna live in pain? Or you gonna do something about it?” said Minnesota Adult & Teen Challenge’s Tom Truszinski.

“The people that need them are going take them and if they have to take more, they’re going to take more,” added Recovery Coach Adam Thomas. “Then the doctors are going have to prescribe more prescriptions and, you know, I hope they don’t end up going to heroin because that’ll kill them.”

Thomas says his addiction to prescription drugs, as well as many others, brought him to the point of breaking the law.

“I remember one time I broke into this one house, and there was prescription drugs in the cabinet, and I just took the drugs and didn’t really care about nothing else,” said Thomas.

On average, 50 to 75 percent of the men who walk through the doors of Minnesota Adult & Teen Challenge in Rochester will have some sort of addiction to prescription drugs.

For Truszinski, he believes a pain management plan between the patient and the physician is a better alternative than capping the production.

“In a perfect world, I think the physician taking the time to appropriately and properly prescribe the medication, depending on a person’s size, their metabolism, their pain levels and their needs,” he said.

A national survey on drug use last year found that every month 6.5 million Americans over the age of 12 used drugs that were not prescribed to them. In fact, prescription drugs were more widely abused than cocaine, heroin and hallucinogens combined.

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While neither candidate has  seemingly not made a comment or commitment about what their policy is going to be that will effect those in the chronic pain community. There is a single issue that they have made policy statements on that could have a direct/indirect impact on the chronic pain community.

THE OPEN/CLOSE BORDERS ISSUES

Nearly all the illegal drugs on the street are coming from countries outside of our country – mostly from CHINA and across our southern border.  Those drugs include Methamphetamine, Marijuana, Acetyl Fentanyl, Cocaine… and other drugs.. including newly created synthetic drugs… with unknown lethal dose levels and effects and/or side effects.

There was a recent article in the Boston Globe…  Only 8.3 percent of those who died had a prescription for an opioid drug

but this fact is seldom acknowledged by the anti-opiate groups, DEA and the media. IMO, so that as long as our borders remain WIDE OPEN… the illegal drugs will keep flowing and the chronic pain community will continue to be the focus of the anti-opiate groups and the DEA… and legal pharmaceuticals will get the blame for all the opiate abuse.

CLOSED BORDERS does not necessarily mean that there is no one crossing our borders… only that there is some sort of “controlled crossing” of people, merchandise and other things coming into our country…

OPEN BORDERS… means just that… anyone, anything comes and goes across our borders without any restrictions or oversight.

If you are a chronic pain pt and you don’t have a concern about OPEN BORDERS… then whatever pain management you get or don’t get over the next four years…  then voting for the OPEN BORDERS CANDIDATE… you will be more part of the problem for the chronic pain community.. than part of the solution.

The DEA and the anti-opiate groups will be more than willing to spread more misery among those in the chronic pain community

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 American Kratom Association (AKA)

Below is link to a 35 page letter send to the acting director of the DEA  Chuck Rosenberg that the law firm hired by the AKA

hogan-lovells-letter-regarding-kratom-scheduling

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Any pharmacy in a storm: Governor eases refill rule for Hurricane Matthew evacuees

http://www.al.com/news/mobile/index.ssf/2016/10/any_pharmacy_in_a_storm_govern_1.html

Evacuees coming to Alabama to avoid Hurricane Matthew might have many problems, but getting prescriptions filled while waiting to go back home shouldn’t be one of them, says Gov. Robert Bentley.

On Friday Bentley declared a state of emergency specifically aimed at helping storm evacuees with medication needs “of a chronic, urgent, or emergency nature.”

“The issuance of this State of Emergency today will help ease the burden on evacuees as they try to get an out-of-state prescription filled,” Bentley said in a statement issued Friday. “Evacuees will now have more time to get emergency prescriptions filled, instead of 72 hours; they will now have 30 days to get prescriptions filled.”

According to information released by the governor’s office, the Alabama Department of Public Health’s state health officer predicts “a significant number of displaced individuals” will have such needs.

According to Friday’s release, “This State of Emergency only applies to non-controlled prescriptions. The prescriptions may be refilled upon the presentation of the actual medication bottle indicating the name of the prescriber, copies of prescriptions, insurance billing report or insurance claim notification, or other documentation which would provide the pharmacist sufficient information to adequately identify the non-controlled medication and the dosage.”

According to the proclamation, state law specifies an emergency refill period of 72 hours; the document states that “under the current conditions, this time frame is both impractical and inadequate, and should be extended.”

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Our Opinion: Educate yourself before attending ‘Legalization Rally’

http://www.gcdailyworld.com/story/2346272.html

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The DEA spent $73,000 to eradicate marijuana plants in Utah. It didn’t find any.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/10/07/the-dea-spent-73000-to-eradicate-marijuana-plants-in-utah-it-didnt-find-any/

In 2015, the Drug Enforcement Administration gave $20,000 to the state of New Hampshire to eradicate marijuana plants, according to federal documents. But the Granite State’s law enforcement agencies didn’t have much luck finding any weed to pull that year — their efforts uncovered a single outdoor grow site with a grand total of 27 plants.

Do the math, and U.S. taxpayers paid $740.74 for each pot plant uprooted in New Hampshire that year.

That’s an expensive weeding operation, but it could be worse. Utah received $73,000 in marijuana eradication funds, according to the federal documents obtained and published by journalist Drew Atkins. But agents failed to find a single pot plant to eradicate.

The DEA’s $14 million marijuana eradication program has been the subject of a fair amount of criticism in recent years. Twelve members of Congress have pushed to eliminate the program and use the money instead to fund domestic-violence prevention and deficit-reduction programs.

[Drug cops raid an 81-year-old grandmother’s garden to take out a single marijuana plant]

Its purpose is to “halt the spread of cannabis cultivation in the United States,” a mission that has become complicated as more states have legalized medical or recreational marijuana programs. Several more states have similar measures on the ballot this year.

DEA records show the program has been effective in some states, most notably California. Agents pulled 2.6 million marijuana plants in 2015, seizing more than 1,600 weapons in the process. Nearly $5.4 million was funneled into that state’s program.

Kentucky’s $1.9-million program had the next largest number of eradicated plants, more than 570,000.

Nationwide, the DEA documents show that spending on the program has shrunk from about $18 million in 2014 to $14 million in the current fiscal year. Some states — including Alaska, Colorado and Vermont — stopped receiving eradication funds completely.

Here’s where that money’s going on a state-by-state basis.

California, where medical marijuana is legal, receives the lion’s share of marijuana eradication funds, in part because the “Emerald Triangle” region of Northern California. The area has long been home to many of the state’s legal and quasi-legal marijuana production operations, but law enforcement authorities have maintained that it also has been a haven for the grow operations of Mexican drug cartels.

Kentucky also receives a large amount of money to eradicate marijuana. The state has a surprisingly rich culture of marijuana cultivation.

Rounding out the top 5 marijuana eradication states are Tennessee, Georgia and, perhaps unexpectedly, Washington. The aptly nicknamed Evergreen State legalized the recreational use of marijuana in 2012, and pot shops opened for business in 2014. So it may seem odd that the DEA is spending $760,000 this year to eradicate pot plants in the state.

But Washington is the only recreational marijuana state that doesn’t allow people to grow their own plants for recreational use. (In D.C., incidentally, the situation is reversed: Homegrows are okay, but you can’t buy weed at the store.)

[How police took $53000 from a Christian band, an orphanage and a church]

Washington also receives more marijuana eradication money than any other state with a recreational pot regime in place. Oregon received $200,000 this year, while Colorado and Alaska didn’t take any federal money for marijuana eradication.

You can also look at the 2015 marijuana eradication totals to compare the states based on how much they’re spending per plant. Here’s what that map looks like.

New Hampshire, Louisiana, Delaware, Utah and New Jersey all spent well over $100 for every marijuana plant eradicated. Eleven states spent at least $50 per plant, while nearly half of the states — 23 of them — spent at least $25 in federal money for each marijuana plant they eliminated.

At the other end of the spectrum, states with big investments in marijuana eradication — like California and Kentucky — also had the most successful efforts to pull up large numbers of pot plants. So their per-plant costs are much lower.

To be perfectly clear, even in a fully legal, highly regulated market like Colorado’s there will be a need to enforce prohibitions on large-scale, unlicensed marijuana grows — similar to the way the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms busts illegal home alcohol distilleries. Beyond that, authorities often make a number of arrests at cultivation sites, or seize weapons and other property from people suspected of involvement with marijuana grow operations.

Still, some lawmakers are starting to question the need dedicated this level or resources to eliminating pot plants when so many states are relaxing their own restrictions.

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81-year-old woman’s garden raided for a single marijuana plant

http://www.dailyitem.com/news/year-old-woman-s-garden-raided-for-a-single-marijuana/article_285bbf44-8ca4-11e6-ab9f-0bdfc8734368.html

Margaret Holcomb, an 81-year-old woman from Amherst, Mass., grew a single marijuana plant in her garden, tucked away behind the raspberries. She used it to ease the ailments of old age: glaucoma, arthritis and the occasional sleepless night.

She hadn’t tried to get a medical marijuana card, because of the challenges of getting a doctor’s approval, she told the Daily Hampshire Gazette. And traveling to the dispensary in the next town over and paying for marijuana grown by someone else would be too costly, she feared.

So on the afternoon of Sept. 21, a team of Massachusetts State Police and Massachusetts National Guard troops sent a helicopter, several vehicles, and a handful of troopers to Holcomb’s house to chop down the plant and haul it away in a pickup truck.

Holcomb wasn’t the only one targeted by the marijuana raid. State police spokesman David Procopio told the Gazette that authorities also seized 43 other plants from various properties that day. The largest of these seizures involved 20 plants. Several properties netted only two plants each. None of the property owners were charged with crimes, according to Procopio.

Procopio said these operations were done under the auspices of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Cannabis Eradication Program, which gives state authorities money to uproot pot plants. This year, the DEA gave Massachusetts $60,000 for marijuana eradication efforts, according to federal documents published by the Seattle-based nonprofit news outlet Crosscut.

Last year, Massachusetts received $75,000 and destroyed 3,138 plants under the program, a cost to federal taxpayers of about $24 per plant.

Responding to criticism from a local government official in western Massachusetts, DEA spokesman Melvin Patterson told the Boston Heraldthat the state decides when and how to conduct raids for pot plants.

The Cannabis Eradication Program’s stated goal is to “halt the spread of cannabis cultivation in the United States.” But with more and more states legalizing recreational marijuana use in recent years, some lawmakers are questioning whether an $18 million federal program to pull pot plants makes sense.

The program has also been the subject of controversy and ridicule. In the mid-2000s, DEA data revealed that most of the plants destroyed under the program were “ditchweed,” naturally growing marijuana plants that weren’t being cultivated for any particular use.

Last year in Utah, a member of an eradication team testified that a medical marijuana law could lead to an epidemic of stoned rabbits and other animals. The incident became fodder for late-night talk shows.

Even residents carrying licenses in medical marijuana states can fall prey to the program. In a Massachusetts raid last month, Procopio told the Daily Hampshire Gazette that 10 plants were seized from a couple’s back yard because they were not kept in an enclosed area protected by a lock, as the statute requires. The growers, Patti Scutari and Francesco Compagnone, dispute that, saying that their entire yard is surrounded by a fence with a locked gate. Under Massachusetts law patients may grow as many marijuana plants as necessary to meet their medical needs.

In the town of Wendel, closer to where Margaret Holcomb lives, a similar task force seized 10 marijuana plants from a man licensed to grow medical marijuana to treat issues related to his kidney cancer.

[The DEA spent $73,000 to eradicate marijuana plants in Utah. It didn’t find any.]

This summer, a task force consisting of National Guard troops and state troopers used a helicopter to aid in seizing four marijuana plants from 81-year-old former cancer patient Paul Jackson on Martha’s Vineyard,according to the Martha’s Vineyard Times. Like Margaret Holcomb, Jackson didn’t have a medical marijuana license.

“I figured what I was growing was such a small amount, what the hell was the big deal?” Jackson told the newspaper.

In 2014, marijuana eradicators in Georgia raided a retiree’s garden after mistaking okra for marijuana.

Margaret Holcomb’s case is providing additional fodder for critics of strict anti-marijuana enforcement, particularly now since voters in Massachusetts will consider whether to legalize the plant for recreational use this fall.

“This raid, and similar raids in recent weeks, exposes the rank falsity of prohibitionist claims that law enforcement resources aren’t being used on marijuana enforcement,” said Jim Borghesani of the group Yes on 4, which is running the campaign to legalize marijuana in Massachusetts. “It’s difficult to say what’s worse: the waste of taxpayer dollars or the violation of an elderly woman’s peace.”

Efforts to reach the Campaign for a Safe and Healthy Massachusetts, the group opposing legalization, were unsuccessful.

Holcomb told the Gazette she is considering simply growing another pot plant. “I don’t picture them out here and putting an 81-year-old woman in jail,” she said.

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https://youtu.be/IwMYGZEkgbI

And you don’t believe that our country has  MAJOR MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES ?   ELECTION STRESS DISORDER ?

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