Category Archives: marijuana

March 15, 2015 Newsletter

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Knock, knock, who’s there? Rocky! Rocky who?
Rocky Mountain High!

The Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (RMHIDTA) report of August 2014 should be required reading for legislators, officials, and other Georgians considering marijuana as a medical treatment. Within its 166 pages are enough warnings of harmful results to put a permanent pause on the possibility of changing the Drug Enforcement Administration classification of marijuana as a Schedule I drug (a) with a high potential for abuse, (b) no accepted medical treatment in the U.S., and (c) insufficient safety under medical supervision.

After the return of CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta from his year-long global fact-finding tour, he began work on a documentary entitled, “Weed,” a collection of interviews with medical leaders, experts, growers and patients. Simultaneously, he published his article, “Why I changed my mind on weed,” which was updated August 8, 2013.

At the end of that report, Dr. Gupta said, “Citizens in 20 states and the District of Columbia have now voted to approve marijuana for medical applications, and more states will be making that choice soon. As for Dr. Roger Engeberg1, who wrote that letter in 1970, he passed away 16 years ago. I wonder what he would think if he were alive today.” Indeed!

News Flash! Findings from the Weed Report should be compared to RMHIDTA facts reported in the “The Legalization of Marijuana in Colorado, The Impact.” See selected excerpts below.

Timeline: 2006-2008 was Colorado’s early medical marijuana era; in 2009 it expanded into the commercialization of medical marijuana; and recreational marijuana was legalized in 2013.

  • From 1995-2013 marijuana THC potency rose to an average or 12.33 percent, up from 3.96.
  • In 2012, of Colorado youths age 12-17, 10.47 percent were considered current users, compared to 7.55 percent nationally, which is 39 percent higher than the national average.
  • In 2012, of college age students 18-25 years of age, 26.81 percent were current marijuana users compared to 18.89 percent nationally, which is 42 percent higher than the national.
  • In 2012, of adults age 26 and over, 7.63 percent were considered current marijuana users, compared to 5.05 percent nationally, which is 51 percent higher than the national average.
  • In 2013, of Denver adults arrested, 48.4 percent tested positive for marijuana, a 16 percent increase from 2008.
  • Hospitalizations related to marijuana increased 82 percent from 2008 to 2013.
  • The number of pets poisoned from eating marijuana increased four-fold in the past 6 years.
  • Over the last nine years, the top three drugs involved in treatment admissions were alcohol, marijuana and amphetamines.

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¹ The August 14, 1970 letter of Dr. Roger O. Engeberg, U.S. Assistant Secretary of Health, recommended that the marijuana plant be classified as a Schedule 1 substance. Dr. Gupta attempted to render that classification outdated.

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February 15, 2015 Newsletter

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Multi-Pronged LGBTQAI Attack on Morality
Where? Public, Private, Religious Education, Crime & Employment

Sexual offenses and crimes in the Official Code of Georgia Annotated (O.C.G.A.) are divided into five categories: Sexual Assault, Sexual Battery, Sexual Exploitation of Children, Sexual Intercourse, and Sexual Offenses. Within those five categories are at least 45 subdivisions.

Sexual crimes and offenses reflect behaviors found to be harmful to those who participate and to society as a whole. Penalties demanded upon conviction of illicit sexual behavior are intended to deter repeat offenders and prevent dalliance by anyone tempted to experiment. The Code sections under attack are all-inclusive. Title 31 deals with AIDS/HIV; Title 24 concerns DNA; Title 19 confronts child sexual abuse; Title 17, rape; Title 20, student reporting; Title 15, duties of magistrates; and Title 16 extensively covers sexual offenses from fornication to adultery to bestiality to incest to necrophilia to reckless conduct and beyond.

Thus far, a cluster of bills has been introduced in this year’s legislative session to redirect morality in Georgia. Four additional bills would establish and fund services for victims of “sexual servitude,” which includes individuals trafficked for sexual purposes, plus anyone under age 18 who participates voluntarily in prostitution, pornography, lewd massage, et al.

All Schools: H.B. 40, prefiled by Representative Keisha Waites (D) January 9, drastically changes (a) discipline policies for K – 12 students, (b) bullying definitions (c) for all public and private schools, and (d) provides no exemption for religious school doctrines.

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January 16, 2015 Radio Commentary

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Ralston said, “We’re Going to ‘Move’ on [Marijuana]!”

Radio Commentary, 90.7, 91.7 New Life FM, January 16, 2015 – By Sue Ella Deadwyler

Representative Allen Peake’s January 9th press release explained how he and the governor had “been in intense conversations over the last several days about [Peake’s marijuana bill, H.B. 1].” After those talks, he decided to rewrite his bill and file it with the Clerk’s office today.

Some say the bill has been gutted because the new version will not allow marijuana to be grown in Georgia. However, “individuals with certain medical conditions” could go to another state to legally obtain cannabis oil with a three to five percent THC level and bring it back to Georgia, without fear of prosecution.

During the marijuana study committee meeting in Gwinnett County, where law enforcement officials were asked to express their opinion, committee member Representative Margaret Kaiser revealed that cultivation of marijuana is the heart of their plan. After hearing each law enforcement official urge them NOT to allow cultivation, she said, “We don’t think we can do this without cultivation. It’s a big point to take cultivation off the table.” Last Saturday morning I was reminded of her comment when someone called WSB radio and asked Walter Reeves to tell him how to grow marijuana. Continue reading →

December 26, 2014 Radio Commentary

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326 Sovereign Nations within U.S.

Radio Commentary, 90.7, 91.7 New Life FM, December 26, 2014 – By Sue Ella Deadwyler

During the last several months, a joint committee of the Georgia General Assembly held hearings on the pros and cons of legalizing medical marijuana for childhood seizures.  As a result, three marijuana bills have been pre-filed for 2015, and two of them legalize the recreational use of marijuana.

Although marijuana is illegal under federal law, in August of last year, the Justice Department authorized states that legalize marijuana to open stores to sell it.  So, this year Colorado and Washington State opened the first marijuana stores in the U.S.  In November Alaska, Oregon and the District of Columbia voted to legalize marijuana and could open stores to sell it there.

The United States has 566 federally recognized American Indian tribes and the Bureau of Indian Affairs says there are 326 American Indian reservations that govern themselves as sovereign nations with certain federal restrictions.  That explains why casinos operate on American Indian reservations in states that prohibit casinos.

On December 11th the Department of Justice announced that Indian tribes may grow and sell marijuana, if they follow the same federal conditions laid out for states, even if the reservations are located in states where marijuana is not legal. Continue reading →