VIDEO: Hawaii Governor rails against marijuana dispensaries
March 28, 2010 | Kailua-Kona, State News
Lingle says current drug is much stronger than the weed of yesteryear
Kona, Hawaii – Video by Baron Sekiya, Hawaii247.org
During a recent speech made before the Kona-Kohala Chamber of Commerce, Hawaii Governor Linda Lingle took a hard stance against the recent legislative push to legalize marijuana dispensaries for medical use.
The governor points to the situation in California, where she says legal marijuana dispensaries now outnumber both McDonalds and Starbucks. The governor says the term of ”compassion centers” given to these dispensaries is an insult, because in reality they are simply “pot stores”.
Lingle also claims that today’s marijuana is far more potent than the herb that people knew in the 1970s.
The Hawaii state legislature is considering allowing medical marijuana dispensaries. The bill would levy a $30 per ounce tax on medical marijuana, and would bring raise an estimated $50 million per year for the financially ailing state. Other laws being considered by the state would eliminate criminal penalties for marijuana possession, and allow medical marijuana patients to have more plants and ounces of the herb.
Complete propaganda. Everything this woman stated is either deliberately misleading or has been proven false by true ‘experts’.
Definition of an ‘expert’ : Anyone who agrees with what I say.
This woman laughs at obvious past marijuana use by those in the room. Yet, if she was caught just once by the police she would never have been able to be Governor. Just one charge on her criminal record would have probably prevented her from getting any good paying jobs. But who cares? Just throw more citizens in jail. That’ll fix it.
Get a clue already Lingle. Stop using those tired outright lies as propaganda to spread fear among the populace. The Starbucks myth was proven to be false long ago and the argument that “todays pot is far stronger” is both false and misleading. If you go out to dinner and have a couple of glasses of wine with dinner, you feel the buzz and stop drinking because you know you have to drive home just as you would feel the buzz from 2 shots of whiskey or 2 beers. Do you drink a pint of whiskey or a pint of wine? No, because it takes smaller amounts of them to attain the buzz from 2 pints of beer so you actually use less. Stop lying to us and grow up, we’re adults.
It’s Lingle who’s the”one who’s insulting us”
Marijuana has become more potent precisely because of this crazy failed policy of prohibition. If it was properly regulated (prohibition is the opposite of regulation) then nobody would take the trouble and extra expense to grow indoors under lights, which is what is done now to produce this more stronger variety. Alcohol prohibition led to bath tub gin for precisely the same reason –the stronger the drug the higher the profits and the easier it becomes to smuggle.
Many of us have now finally wised up to the fact that the best avenue towards realistically dealing with drug use and addiction is through proper regulation, which is what we already do with alcohol & tobacco –two of our most dangerous mood altering substances. But for those of you whose ignorant and irrational minds traverse a fantasy plane of existence, you will no doubt remain sorely upset with any type of solution that does not seem to lead to the absurd and unattainable utopia of a drug free society.
There is an irrefutable connection between drug prohibition and the crime, corruption, disease and death it causes. If you are not capable of understanding this connection, then maybe you’re using something far stronger than the rest of us. Anybody ‘halfway bright’ and who’s not psychologically challenged, should be capable of understanding, that it is not simply the demand for drugs that creates the mayhem; it is our refusal to allow legal businesses to meet that demand.
No amount of money, police powers, weaponry, diminution of rights and liberties, wishful thinking or pseudo-science will make our streets safer; only an end to prohibition can do that. How much longer are you willing to foolishly risk your own survival by continuing to ignore the obvious, historically confirmed solution?
If you still support the kool aid mass suicide cult of prohibition, and erroneously believe that you can win a war without logic and practical solutions, then prepare yourself for even more death, corruption, terrorism, sickness, imprisonment, unemployment, foreclosed homes, and the complete loss of the rule of law and the Bill of Rights.
“A prohibition law strikes a blow at the very principles upon which our government was founded.”
Abraham Lincoln
The only thing prohibition successfully does is prohibit regulation & taxation while ceding control to the cartels and terrorists, regulation would mean the opposite!
The 1930′s called and they want their prohibition back. Apparently, it didn’t work then either. Geez, what’s next? Zombie medical cannabis users committing axe murders? Wait, Hearst and Anslinger tried that before and it didn’t work either. I know. Try legalization!
Wow, sounds like someone does not want to get re-elected…
It’s not a drug. It’s a herb. It’s all natural and should be legalized in Hawaii. Let the people decide what they want. Mahalo
Q – Lingle also claims that today’s marijuana is far more potent than the herb that people knew in the 1970s.
A – How does she know?. Pakalolo today is much less potent today than in the 70′s simply do the math.
Q – she says legal marijuana dispensaries now outnumber both McDonalds and Starbucks in California.
A – What does food that kills you has to do with something that saves you. How about some marijuana muffins or juana java?.
I am not going to get into it over this woman its truly now worth my time and effort but i will say this, She does’nt know anything about what she is talking about. She is just blabering at the mouth nonsense. She needs to understand this is 2010 and she doesn’t know anything about these times. She is stuck in the past. We need to move forward but people like this woman are pulling us back.
If anyone believes a word this woman says please wake up and do your own research. she is clearly uneducated and stuck in some kind of la la land herself.
Gov. Lingle’s willful and unbecoming ignorance about marijuana is majestic in its all-encompassing magnitude.
This may be the single stupidest woman in Hawaii, when it comes to cannabis knowledge.
Linda, have you thought about Native Hawaiians? What about their rights, why are you worried about them? Why are you worried about THC levels? Why aren’t you worried about things like:
1) The high cost of fresh produce on the islands?
2) Rate of teenage pregnancy for islanders?
3) Rate of suicide for native islanders?
4) Rate of diabetes and blood pressure amongst islanders?
5) The cost of milk on the islands? How are mothers to feed their infants?
6) The lack of opportunities for the youth living on the islands?
Why do you worry about things that DO NOT matter?
What is your agenda? Why are you in office? Why not try to use your power for something constructive?
Sincerely,
Vinil Patel
A recent tourist, just making some casual observations.
And, if we’d legalize it, or at least change how police enforce laws (the Big Island did try by passing the Lowest Law Enforcement of Cannabis Ordinance) we could save a lot of money…which could be better used by Mr Patel’s comments above….by the way Mr Patel, you really noticed many things…and laid out the problems very clearly…..
More potent marijuan equals SAFER marijuana… the stronger it is the less you use!
The Constitutional right to freedom of religion, free speech, a free press, to keep and bear arms, to be secure in your person, house, papers and effects against unreasonable search and seizure, to life, liberty and property, to be protected from having your property taken by the government without due process of law and without just compensation, to confront the witnesses against you, to be protected from excessive bail, excessive fines, cruel and unusual punishment, to vote and others have been unjustly denied to millions of Americans in the name of the drug war.
ALL MAJOR AUTHORITIES AGREE THAT THE VAST MAJORITY OF DRUG-RELATED VIOLENT CRIME IS CAUSED BY THE PROHIBITION AGAINST DRUGS, RATHER THAN THE DRUGS THEMSELVES. THIS WAS THE SAME SITUATION WHICH WAS TRUE DURING ALCOHOL PROHIBITION. ALCOHOL PROHIBITION GAVE RISE TO A VIOLENT CRIMINAL ORGANIZATION JUST LIKE EVERY OTHER DRUG PROHIBITION HAS.
Unless you are living isolated from the world, you know millions of Americans are breaking not only the marijuana laws but every other drug prohibition law on a huge scale. Who is profiting from this?… Criminals, gangsters and terrorists, BOTH INSIDE AND OUTSIDE OUR GOVERNMENT. Regulating drugs will instantly put virtually every illegal drug dealer out of business. Preventing criminals, gangsters and terrorists from being funded by the multi billion dollar annual illegal drug trade is a major reason but far from the only sound reasoning supporting regulating rather than prohibiting drugs.
Once the voters have the honest facts about drugs and drug policy, 80% support drug policy reform that implements the ONLY long term proven methods of effectively dealing with drug use and addiction – “HONEST DRUG EDUCATION AND RATIONAL LEGAL DRUG REGULATION”. Look at tobacco. That is the ONLY real success in US history when it comes to significantly reducing drug related death, disease and drug use. According to Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, roughly half of all tobacco users have stopped using that often deadly and highly addictive drug in the last couple of decades. We didn’t prohibit tobacco. We didn’t have a war on tobacco users. This amazing feat was accomplished through HONEST DRUG EDUCATION AND RATIONALLY REGULATING THE LEGAL USE OF TOBACCO. The drug war has NEVER reduced use of ANY illegal drug BY 50%, NOT A SINGLE ONE!
Drug warriors are continuously subverting the Constitutional laws and Constitutional rights and trying to convince the citizens of this Country that we are not capable of making our own decisions about what we choose to put in our own bodies. That’s the same tactic that was used on the American Indians, “you’re not smart enough to govern yourselves, you need the “Great Father in Washington to tell you what’s best for you”. We all know how well that turned out for the native Americans. The drug war is no different. It is a hoax, a smokescreen, designed to make everyone think the drug war prohibitionists are doing something good for America and Americans while in fact they are taking away Constitutional rights and freedoms like no other policy in the history of this Country and CAUSING unnecessary, unproductive harm and waste on an astronomical scale.
It’s far past time for rational drug policy that has PROVEN to get much better results than our drug war.
The alleged goals of the drug war are to reduce drug related death, disease, crime and drug use. It has accomplished NONE of those goals after almost 100 years of prohibition policy, over 1 trillion tax dollars wasted, ever tougher criminal penalties, arresting millions of Americans, removing an ever increasing list of Constitutional rights and all the other irrational effort and wasted resources that have been put into this failed harmful unproductive policy.
We have laws on the books that are causing a nonviolent US citizen to be arrested every 17 seconds on drug charges. Those laws have been in effect for almost 100 years and the goals of those laws are not being accomplished AT ALL. It’s time for the voters and our elected representatives to say enough is enough and support long term proven methods of dealing with drug use and addiction in an effective rational manner rather than continuing to feed the destructive, harmful, wasteful, unproductive, drug war white elephant.
The drug war is a real war and it is an unnecessarily harmful, completely unwinnable, and wasteful war. It is in fact a war against a certain large percentage of our own population that chooses to different degrees and with a wide range or results, to put a wide variety of different substances in their own bodies and for a wide variety of reasons. It’s being fought in our communities with real guns, military styled raids against nonviolent citizens, teargas, dogs and virtually every other tool of war available.
Despite the drug war and all the money and efforts that have been put into it, drugs today are more potent, more readily available and often less expensive than they were in 1971 when Richard Nixon coined the phrase “war on drugs”. The U.S. had 200,000 prisoners in the 1970s, it currently has over 2.3 million, making it the largest incarcerator in world history. The U.S. accounts for 5 percent of the world’s population and 25 percent of its prison population. The drug war is the single largest contributor to the US becoming a police state.
Right now we are installing 900 new prison beds and hiring 150 new correction officers every 2 weeks. Here in the “land of the free” for the first time in history, more than one of every 100 adults is in jail or prison. 2,319,258 Americans were incarcerated at the start of 2008. The United States now incarcerates more people than any other nation on earth, far more than even much more populous communist China. Each prisoner costs the taxpayers an average of about $35,000.00 to $40,000.00 per year to incarcerate. Over half of our federal prisoners are serving time for a drug offense. Largely because of the drug war, arresting Americans is becoming big business. We now have companies attempting to privatize our penal systems. These companies are huge supporters of drug prohibition and any other laws that cause Americans to be incarcerated. The more Americans behind bars, the more money they get from the government. This policy goes against EVERYTHING this Country was founded on!
Marijuana is not a “gateway” drug, there is absolutely no evidence that using marijuana CAUSES people to use any other drug. In fact the vast majority of marijuana users never use any other illegal drug. Marijuana which accounts for roughly half of all drug arrests, never was a serious threat to society, families, or individuals and it never will be. Because of that bad law being implemented based on lies by a few people that stood to gain financially from marijuana’s prohibition and them intentionally deceiving lawmakers, literally millions of Americans that choose to use that plant for ANY purpose are criminalized needlessly. NO ONE, IN THE ENTIRE WORLD, OF ANY AGE, IN ALL OF RECORDED HISTORY, HAS EVER DIED FROM THE INGREDIENTS IN MARIJUANA. MANY HAVE DIED FROM ITS PROHIBITION. In the US we arrest someone on marijuana charges every 38 seconds.
Many big corporations that see marijuana as competition contribute heavily to promoting marijuana prohibition. Alcohol, tobacco, petroleum, cotton, timber, chemical and pharmaceutical companies, just to name a few all see marijuana as unwanted competition and of course the government contributes billions every year to keep their unnecessarily harmful and wasteful, oppressive prohibition cash cow alive and well. I’ve seen estimates that contributions toward drug prohibition may be as much as 1 million dollars per day. However, once people learn the truth about drugs and drug prohibition they overwhelmingly favor rationally regulating rather than prohibiting drugs. That’s partly why 15 states have bucked the federal government and passed medical marijuana laws already and several have decriminalized. The federal government recently revised its policy about prosecuting medical marijuana patients that are in compliance with state laws. That’s a huge step in the right direction. It proves when enough voters take action rational progress toward regulation and away from prohibition is being made.
WE THE PEOPLE HAVE HAD IT WITH OPPRESSIVE, CONSTITUTION SHREDDING, DRUG WAR POLICY. THE EVIDENCE IS CLEAR. AFTER DECADES OF CRIMINALIZING DRUGS AND DRUG USE, PROHIBITION HAS FAILED AND THERE ARE FAR BETTER, LESS EXPENSIVE, LESS HARMFUL METHODS AVAILABLE. IT’S FAR PAST TIME FOR CHANGE OF THIS BAD HARMFUL CRIMINAL PROHIBITION POLICY.
On March 22, 1972 the Richard Nixon-appointed, 13-member National Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse recommended the decriminalization of marijuana, concluding, “[Marijuana's] relative potential for harm to the vast majority of individual users and its actual impact on society does not justify a social policy designed to seek out and firmly punish those who use it.”
In 1988, after reviewing all evidence brought forth in a lawsuit against the government’s prohibition of medical marijuana, the DEA’s own administrative law judge (Judge Francis Young) wrote:
“The evidence in this record clearly shows that marijuana has been accepted as capable of relieving the distress of great numbers of very ill people, and doing so with safety under medical supervision. It would be unreasonable, arbitrary and capricious for the Drug Enforcement Administration to continue to stand between those sufferers and the benefits of this substance in light of the evidence.” Judge Young went on to say: “MARIJUANA, IN ITS NATURAL FORM, IS ONE OF THE SAFEST THERAPEUTICALLY ACTIVE SUBSTANCES KNOWN. IN STRICT MEDICAL TERMS, MARIJUANA IS SAFER THAN MANY FOODS WE COMMONLY CONSUME.” Judge Young recommended that the DEA allow marijuana to be prescribed as medicine, but the DEA has refused. IT’S FAR PAST TIME FOR THE VOTERS IN THIS COUNTRY TO DEMAND RATIONAL MARIJUANA POLICY BASED IN SCIENCE AND FACTS RATHER THAN REEFER MADNESS AND UNSUBSTANTIATED RIDICULOUS UNTRUTHFUL DRUG WAR PROPAGANDA AND SCARE TACTICS.
REDUCING THE COST OF MEDICATION SHOULD BE TOP PRIORITY FOR HEALTHCARE REFORM. MEDICAL MARIJUANA TREATS A WIDE RANGE OF AILMENTS AND CAN BE EASILY GROWN BY MOST PATIENTS. IT SHOULD NOT REQUIRE A PERMIT OR A PRESCRIPTION TO USE A NATURAL MEDICATION PROVIDED BY THE CREATOR. IT ALSO SHOULD NOT REQUIRE A SERIOUS CONDITION IN ORDER TO USE A SAFE EFFECTIVE NATURAL MEDICINE.
In 1906 the Pure Food And Drug Act reduced addiction nationwide far more than the drug war ever has. This was accomplished by simply educating consumers, through proper labeling, about the ingredients and addictiveness of products sold to the public.
Because of our prohibition policy bad laws have been put on the books that make it illegal for IV drug users to obtain clean needles. This results in AIDS and hepatitis being spread unnecessarily into our non drug using society on a huge scale.
Take a look at the way the Swiss have dealt with their heroin problem. You can watch a lot about this in the video titled “Jack Cole Interview” on the Just Say Know website (link below). In Switzerland they set up government clinics where heroin addicts can go and get pharmaceutical grade heroin. If they don’t have the money to pay for the drug it’s free. That instantly put every illegal heroin dealer in that Country out of business… they can’t compete with free. Anyone that wants heroin can go into a government clinic up to 3 times a day and inject it. There are medical personnel on hand and anyone that wants to kick their habit is given counseling and help toward that goal. THE RESULTS ARE THAT THERE HAS NOT BEEN A SINGLE HEROIN OVERDOSE THERE IN MORE THAN 13 YEARS. SWITZERLAND HAS THE LOWEST AIDS AND HEPATITIS INFECTION IN ALL OF EUROPE. CRIME FELL BY 60% BECAUSE NO ONE IS STEALING OR PROSTITUTING THEIR SELF TO PAY FOR THEIR HEROIN AND AFTER A 10 YEAR STUDY, THEY DOCUMENTED THAT THERE HAS BEEN AN 82% DECLINE IN NEW HEROIN USERS. PLEASE TELL ME WHY OUR DRUG WAR SEEMS LIKE BETTER POLICY THAN THAT. NO ONE WENT TO JAIL AND NO ONE GOT KILLED. THIS PROGRAM IS FAR LESS EXPENSIVE THAN WHAT WE ARE DOING AND FAR LESS HARMFUL.
TRUE DRUG ADDICTION OF ALL TYPES SHOULD BE HANDLED AS A MEDICAL PROBLEM NOT A CRIMINAL PROBLEM. DRUG use should not automatically be considered abuse or addiction. If a person kills or drives when they are intoxicated or breaks any legitimate law, we already have laws on the books to deal with those problems and if a real danger to society is recognized like it was with drunk driving, then those laws certainly should be rationally adjusted accordingly. Trying to lock up every drug user or eradicate every plant that produces illegal drugs from planet earth are completely unattainable irrational goals. We simply cannot afford to lock up every drug user and even if we could the vast majority go back to using drugs when they are released. Some countries even went so far as to execute drug users and even that has not succeeded in accomplishing a “drug free” country. AT SOME POINT WE HAVE TO REALIZE THAT A CERTAIN PERCENTAGE OF PEOPLE ARE ALWAYS GOING TO USE DRUGS AND IMPLEMENT POLICY THAT MINIMIZES THE HARMS WITHOUT DEVASTATING SOCIETY.
Most drugs are made from weeds which, without prohibition would be of far less financial value. According to a fairly recent documentary by Walter Cronkite, all the plants needed to supply an entire year’s worth of the heroin consumed in the US could be grown on about 50 square miles almost anywhere on earth and the entire year’s worth of heroin could be transported in a single cargo plane. Doesn’t it make more sense to have doctors treat the addicts and rational laws to deal with drug consumption and the related harms like drunk/intoxicated driving than to try and stop heroin or any other drug’s production? It has to because law enforcement has only been able to prevent the production or transportation of about 10% of the heroin and all other illegal drugs according to their own estimates.
If you can show me ANYTHING that the drug war has accomplished when it comes to reducing drug related death, disease, crime and drug use that has significantly improved any drug related area over a long period of time I’d appreciate you telling me what it is.
THE CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT TO FREEDOM OF RELIGION, FREE SPEECH, A FREE PRESS, TO KEEP AND BEAR ARMS, TO BE SECURE IN YOUR PERSON, HOUSE, PAPERS AND EFFECTS AGAINST UNREASONABLE SEARCH AND SEIZURE, TO LIFE, LIBERTY AND PROPERTY, TO BE PROTECTED FROM HAVING YOUR PROPERTY TAKEN BY THE GOVERNMENT WITHOUT DUE PROCESS OF LAW AND WITHOUT JUST COMPENSATION, TO CONFRONT THE WITNESSES AGAINST YOU, TO BE PROTECTED FROM EXCESSIVE BAIL, EXCESSIVE FINES, CRUEL AND UNUSUAL PUNISHMENT, TO VOTE AND OTHERS HAVE BEEN UNJUSTLY DENIED TO MILLIONS OF AMERICANS IN THE NAME OF THE DRUG WAR.
In 1914 when all drugs were legal in the US, 1.3% of the US population was addicted to drugs. Despite over 1 trillion tax dollars being wasted, millions of Americans being arrested, ever increasing harshness of penalties and all the other harms that have resulted from our failed drug prohibition policy, today 1.3% of our population is still addicted to drugs. THAT’S 0% IMPROVEMENT.
Because of the inflated prices of illegal drugs CAUSED by prohibition the profits between the point of production and the point of sale can be as much as 17,000%. DRUG PROHIBITION IS A SELF PERPETUATING POLICY THAT DRAWS PEOPLE INTO THE ILLEGAL DRUG TRADE LIKE A MAGNET BECAUSE OF THE ENORMOUS PROFITS DIRECTLY CAUSED BY PROHIBITION. Alcohol prohibition created the same unnecessary, wasteful and harmful problems as every other drug prohibition. THE YEAR ALCOHOL PROHIBITION ENDED VIOLENT CRIME FELL BY 65%.
The only way to end the crime, corruption waste and other astronomical harms of the drug war is to LEGALIZE ALL DRUGS, LEGALIZE THEM AND REGULATE THEM RATIONALLY ACCORDING TO THE REAL DANGER EACH DRUG PRESENTS TO SOCIETY, FAMILIES AND INDIVIDUALS. THAT WILL INSTANTLY PUT EVERY ILLEGAL DRUG DEALER OUT OF BUSINESS .
Regulating drugs is NOT a solution to our true drug problems. Regulating drugs IS a solution to our illegal drug TRADE related crime and violence problems. With rational drug regulation the authorities are in control of the drug trade instead of violent gangsters. That’s a huge step in the right direction and ONCE REGULATION IS IN PLACE WE CAN EFFECTIVELY DEAL WITH OUR REAL DRUG PROBLEMS. When was the last time you heard of alcohol dealers getting into a shootout? I bet it was when alcohol was prohibited.
Through drug prohibition, criminals, gangsters and terrorists are effectively put in complete control of the illegal drug trade. They decide which drugs will be sold, what the profit margins will be, how potent the drugs will be, how pure or contaminated the drugs will be, where the drugs will be sold and what age their customers will be. The more dangerous a drug is, the more reason there is to regulate it rather than prohibit it! Drug prohibition and the drug war are colossal failures! Drug war policy has done NOTHING to effectively reduce drug related death, disease, crime or drug use!
Through rational drug regulation we will end the astronomical unnecessary, totally preventable harms to society, families and individuals that is currently being inflicted on all of us because criminals, gangsters and terrorists are being financed through drug prohibition policy. Rational drug regulation replacing prohibition is EXACTLY why we no longer have alcohol dealers getting in shootouts on our streets and the multitude of harms that directly resulted from alcohol prohibition.
Prohibition equals additional crime, corruption, death, disease, waste, increased drug use, increased drug addiction and the shredding of Constitutional rights. Drug regulation equals drug control and will precipitate a policy through which we can end the illegal drug trade and effectively reduce drug addiction and the multitude of other true drug problems.
More HONEST information about drugs and drug policy from Just Say Know:
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Watch this video: “Irvin Rosenfeld Medical Marijuana Testimony”, then get back to me about what you think of medical marijuana and heavy long term marijuana use.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1NggzEkltM
It could be what she says is true, but she still has not given any convincing reasons why we should not be able to produce and consume the stimulant here in paradise.
People have a right to experience any peaceful level of consciousness they want.
This is my first time to your website, but not my last! I have heard it said, that Ms. Lingle had an arrest (for a joint) a long time ago, that would be good to figure out, if anyone knows how…
Ignorance! I can’t believe how blind and ignorant she is! If she noted statistically, how many people spend money each year to keep a certification and how frequently this issue is starting to get outrageous, she needs to re-think a way to positively impact patients who get these medically certified patients to obtain it with tax benefits as people can spend more on this type of medication a year (more than regularly prescribed medications for the hospital pharmacies!) and get a “medical tax break” as well as ‘LEGALIZE’ dispensaries with regulations as to:
Allow other registered patients from other states, who, through proper validation processes, be able to obtain medical cannibis from a dispensary, as if it was a “Longs Drugs or Rite-Aid”. It would generate that much more revenue to the State of Hawaii from patients who can not carry their prescriptions while on vacation in our wonderful state.
1) Propose how many dispensaries can be opened in a single council district.
2) Secure a tax percentage for the dispensaries. Of course, it would be higher, you’d expect, than ‘tanning salons’!
3) Allow patients, who can not grow plants at home, to be able to establish a criteria of how many plants a “patient member”, thru a “legalized” dispensary that offers to have patients grow in an “on-site” controlled and secured facility, to meet the supply needs for the demand by “donating” to the facility. It would be up to council, I propose, to offer ‘how many plants each commercial dispensary’ can grow that would determine how many patient members can grow in their own crop.
4) Protect dispensaries from Federal raids as it should be recognized as a respectable and secured facility.
5) Provide a criteria of how far from schools, parks, beaches, etc. that a dispensary should be.
6) Research the other states zoning laws (which differ from state to state) regarding issues pertaining to medical cannibis.
7) Release from injunction and jail systems, any prosecuted individual who was caught without a doctor’s recommendation, to obtain a certification within 3 months or 90 days of release and paying the Department of Public Safety, Narcotic Enforcement Division, the $25.00 fee to be registered!
**NOTE: It’s not easy getting into a dispensary as it is easy to get your medication thru CVS, Longs Drugs or Rite-Aid. Proper verification processes need to be met in order to get into a dispensary to purchase!
Our State legalized the use in 2000. It’s been 10 years and it would have been profitable to have started “perfecting the regulation and use of cannibis” by now, 2010!
Why can’t Gov. Lingle see that this is an “island” in which we are not trying to introduce more plants to our native land, but “importing” plants to grow from seeds from other states that are sent in by mail? Then why are we filling out the forms when we’re on the plane pertaining to foreign fruit?
Come on! A weed, is a weed, is a weed!
We eat weeds in salad and it gives our bodies immunities and good health benefits.
We cook with weeds and it provides distinct flavors that ‘enhance’ our palate.
We smoke it because it provides relief from distresses and pains.
Wanna Motrin 1500? Get a recommendation from your doctor!
Need a good dose of sobriety? Take a 12 pack, drink it up foolishly, try to drive somewhere (like home), possibly or most likely, kill somebody on the road and ruin the whole family or better yet, let’s physically abuse someone violently while intoxicated and displace a loved one in a hospital somewhere! Think about it! What good has lawmakers done with regulating alcohol? Is there a ‘purchase limit’ like a customer can only buy 2 bottles of alcohol or 15 “mini” shot bottles per month? Is alcohol the main producer of health issues or am I just blind?
RESEARCH THIS GOV’R LINGLE! IT’S NO LONGER AN ISSUE! IT’S BEEN PUT BEFORE YOU ON MANY OCCASSIONS! IF A RESPONSIBLE GOV’T LOOKED INTO THIS RESPONSIBLY AND NOT WAIT UNTIL A NEW GOVERNOR GETS ELECTED AND **PASS THE BUCK** THERE WOULD BE NO FURLOUGHS, THERE WOULD BE MORE KIDS IN SCHOOL AND THERE WOULD BE MORE PROGRAMS FOR THE STATE TO SUPPORT DUE TO THE GENERATION OF MORE REVENUE!
HOW ABOUT TAKING ACCOUNTABILITY OF WHERE ALL THE TAX PAYERS MONEY WENT, WELL AS, ALL THE MONEY THAT WAS GRANTED TO THE STATE OF HAWAII TO MAKE THIS STATE THE FIRST STATE TO BENEFIT IN ALL ASPECTS!
ALL STATE WORKERS WOULD BE BACK IN FORCE! OUR LAW OFFICER’S WOULD BE ABLE TO BETTER DIRECT THEIR FOCUS ON ‘PEOPLE IN CARS WHO ARE TALKING ON CELLPHONES WITHOUT THEIR BLUETOOTHS’, PROVIDE TIMELY RESPONSE TO ‘OTHER EMERGENCIES’ SUCH AS DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND INTRAFAMILY BREAKDOWNS, REQUIRE LAW OFFICERS TO BE ACCOUNTABLE FOR THEIR ‘HIRED DUTIES’ AND NOT FOR HARRASSMENTS ON MISDEMEANORS.
Ten years of missed revenue and ignoring the premise of this issue is starting to get beyond ridiculous. It’s border lining on oblivious ignorance. Has she tried the “brownies yet”? I am laughing at the way she’s handled this delicate subject…NAHT!!!
Lingle was arrested on Maui, years ago. It’s hard to find evidence of it now, I wonder why? Not to mention that her family, the Cutters, have a history of smuggling white powder, cocaine! They had auto dealerships, I guess they moved the coke in the “French Connection” manner. Now, about Lingle’s arrest for sales of marijuana, what I wonder is, was it the 2% marijuana or the 26% marijuana? If it was grown on Maui, I’d bet it was the 26.
Nearly three-quarters-of-a-century after it was made illegal; half-a-century after it was proven to be practically harmless – why is it still a crime to possess and smoke marijuana?
Here is a list of ten famous people who died as a result of nicotine abuse:
Humphrey Bogart
Edward R. Murrow
Nat King Cole
George Harrison
John Huston
Noel Coward
Betty Grable
Walt Disney
Gary Cooper
Peter Jennings
Here is another list. Ten famous people who died from alcoholism:
Billie Holiday
Jack Kerouac
Truman Capote
Lorenz Hart
Veronica Lake
Bix Beiderbecke
Montgomery Clift
Dylan Thomas
John Barrymore
Errol Flynn
Now I’m going to ask you to name for me one celebrity who has died from too much grass.
Go on, I’m waiting….
Couldn’t do it, could you? Don’t feel bad. Neither could I. Not only am I not aware of anyone ever dying in that manner, I am not aware of it happening in all recorded human history. If someone can come up with one example I’ll shut up forever on the subject. Is it a “gateway drug” as they never tire of reminding us? An argument may be made that it is. But so is Pabst Blue Ribbon. Also, ciggies and booze have absolutely no medicinal value. Marijuana has. Think about it.
Do I advocate its use? I don’t. I haven’t smoked pot in over twenty years and have no intention to take up the habit again any time soon. But at the dawn of the second decade of the twenty-first century the question is screaming to be asked: Why are we still having this stupid conversation?
http://www.tomdegan.blogspot.com
Tom Degan
Goshen, NY
MEDICAL MARIJUANA SUMMIT?
I would like to address the persistent propaganda that attempts to legitimize state-sanctioned harassment of medical cannabis patients. This is fact: Cannabis has documented medical value proven by dozens of studies.
Keith Kamita, of the Hawaii State Dept of Public Safety, belittles the effect of medical cannabis with pain management patients, echoing the tired suspicion that this is some imagined effect fabricated to get cannabis from a Doctor. Is Mr. Kamita a practicing physician? Or some pencil-pusher in fear of loosing a job or funding?
This is fact: Pain is the primary reason people seek medical treatment, and patients seeking pain relief are the largest group of cannabis patients. Many chronic pain patients have been prescribed strong opioids such as oxycontin, morphine, or hydrocodone to manage their pain. However, with the use of cannabis, most patients significantly decrease or eliminate their use of these opioids. As director of Patients Without Time in Paia, I have seen this first hand. Do you think the Pharmaceutical Companies appreciate how Medical Cannabis threatens their bottom line?
Most of those who oppose medical cannabis receive grants from either the Federal Government or from the Pharmaceutical Industry. The Pharmaceutical Industry hopes that preventing access to medical cannabis will protect their own products. Who funded this closed-door “Medical Marijuana Summit”? The whole point of this meeting was to maintain funding from anti-drug programs, reject the proven medical value of cannabis, and ignore the protections promised by Hawaii law. By keeping cannabis illegal, Police Departments enjoy continued opportunities to tap the public till. As the old mantra goes, “Follow the Money”!
Speaking of economics… while logic and compassion should be reason enough to correct these inhumane practices, there is no doubt that medical cannabis will be a multi-billion dollar crop for Hawaii’s family farmers. Hawaii would be able to collect enough sales, excise, payroll, and various taxes to finance a working public education system. Given enough foresight and planning, Hawaii could provide the entire country with the best in medical cannabis products and research. Take the time to check out HB2847, a good start for our medical cannabis program in Hawaii.
On April 22, 2010 at 9:30 am, in Judge Joseph E. Cardoza’s courtroom, you will hear how Mr. Keith Kamita mislead the grand jury to indict me. Although Mr. Kamita testified that I did not have a medical cannabis license, I did indeed have one (which was actually issued by Mr. Kamita). You will also hear how he misled the jury about the law and how local police testified that they feel cannabis has no medical use anyway. Remember, these are desk jockeys and cops, not doctors or physicians. I look forward to seeing you in the Wailuku courthouse on April 22 at 9:30 am
Mahalo
Brian Murphy
Aloha
Linda is working on her next Job at the RNC! She is such a good liar she should get it! Liar’s do well with the RNC
She will go down as the worst Governor from the state of Hawaii!
When you see where she is heading, being a lair is important at the RNC
B
I’m not even there on the Islands I think the lady is completely ignorant! I’m a Californian who is personally not a card holder but my husband is. He has Myotonic Muscular Dystrophy and due to his heart rate being extremely slow, he is unable to take the regular medications that would be prescribed to someone else with this disease. So someone please tell me how him using this natural herb is not medicinal? He was given 5 years to live, maybe 7. That was 9 years ago…
It’s absolutely hilarious that Lingle comments that they are now in more abundance than ‘starbucks and Mcdonalds’ here in Cali. There is a HUGE population in CA and in order to meet the needs of that HUGE population, there is a MODEST ratio of person to clubs. Heck, if you really want to get technical, there is a larger Bar/Cigarette/Alcohol ratio than even Churches here and they are to biggest KILLERS in AMERICA but I don’t see anyone having a problem with that… She really needs to quit babbling and get her facts straight before she rambles on about something that she clearly has nooooo idea about…
If it wasn’t for the current laws here in CA, I would quite possibly be without a loving husband and my children would be without their wonderful father… She needs to put that in her pipe and smoke it….
hawaii fails again at yet another oppertunity to secure a fiinancial win, just like they did when they balked at creating a viable railway decades ago.way to go you half-wit governor, sucks you would be so short sighted and misinformed yet amazingly sure of the “facts” you represent. pathetic
As you all know linda lingle is a republican… and i might be talking out of my ass but for the most part republicans love their big business. If marijuana was legalized that would cut out big business industries like the pharmaceutical companies, tobacco and alcohol. So who’s back does she have? the people’s or big businesses?
Another thing that I wanted to bring up is that the American Government (run by republicans) are liars and like all of us, they do not want to be caught in a lie, that is one reason why i don’t feel that it has been legalized… but hey a democrat(Bill) apologized for the injustice of taking Hawaiian land, maybe this democrat(Barack) will apologize for the injustice and the lies that his predecessors had sewn.
Thank what ever god you pray to that we got a democrat in the white house.
True that. Weed isn’t a drug! It’s a plant. hmm. So are shrooms a drug or just a plant?
Don’t you know? Politicians and police are immune to arrest and prosecution for THEIR OWN drug and alcohol offenses!
MEDICAL vs RECREATION (DAILY) use…TWO TOTALLY DIFFERENT ISSUES!
STOP STONERS from further destroying their own lives and this country! STONERS are RUINING the HEALTHCARE USE INITIATIVE!!!
IF MARIJUANA IS LEGALIZED, IT WILL NOT STOP UNREPORTED INCOMES!!!! IF THEY ARE CRIMINALS NOW, THEY WILL CONTINUE THEIR ILLEGAL ACTIVITIES!!!
READ THE ACTUAL CRIME STATISTICS AND MURDERS INVOLVING MARIJUANA DEALERS!!!! aND IT WILL ONLY INCREASE!
tAKE A LOOK HOW MARIJUANA HAS DESTROYED ENTIRE LIVES AND COMMUNITIES!!!!
TALK, TALK, & TALK SOME MORE. WE CAN KEEP TALKIN’ OR WE CAN COME TOGETHER TO PUT SOMEONE IN HER POSTION THAT IS FOR US, NOT AGAINST US. WHERE IS EVERYONE AT ELECTION TIME. THERE ARE SO MANY OF US THAT SUPPORT DISPENSARIES, THAT WE COULD PUT ANYONE WE LIKE INTO OFFICE. GOTTA GET WIDDIT EVERYBODY. TIME TO STOP TALKING & START ACTING. THEN WE’LL SEE ALL THE SUPPORTERS COME OUT DA WOODWORK. THEY’D BE FORCED TO SUPPORT, CAUSE THERE WOULD BE KNOW WAY THEY’D GET ELECTED IF THEY DIDN’T. ONLY THEN WOULD THEY GET SERIOUS ABOUT WHAT WE GOT TO SAY. OVERGROW THE GOVERNMENT…
STONER LOGIC…NONE of these comments make sense, unless you are a stoner, to which these comments are directed at perpetuating a lazy, worthless life!
Must be the same welfare recipients that also illegally collect unemployment, food stamps and other benefts they justify with retentive cult-mentality rights of “give me”, under irrational stoner thinking, or lack thereof!!!
Thanks for bringing down the country druggies…you are nobetter than corrupt govrnments who take everything from HARD WORKING, LAW ABIDING CITIZENS who actually CONTRIBUTE TO SOCIETY, NOT BRING IT DOWN, as STONER MENTALITIES DO!
STONERS ARE LOSERS!!!!
OKAY, so two commenters have stated this issue orrectly…
REALITY and OWL are RIGHT ABOUT THE DRUGS and CORRUPTION PROBLEM to which stoners are so oblivious…
The feds need to come to North Kohala and bust a few residents who live by scamming tax reporting and by selling drugs on the black market…one of them is a nurse and her ice dealer friend!!!
Hey feds…get a clue! You could have millions $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ in property collections up there!
STONER PROPAGANDA!!!
“Major authorities” on the take, you mean…
ALL MAJOR AUTHORITIES AGREE THAT THE VAST MAJORITY OF DRUG-RELATED VIOLENT CRIME IS CAUSED BY THE PROHIBITION AGAINST DRUGS, RATHER THAN THE DRUGS THEMSELVES. THIS WAS THE SAME SITUATION WHICH WAS TRUE DURING ALCOHOL PROHIBITION. ALCOHOL PROHIBITION GAVE RISE TO A VIOLENT CRIMINAL ORGANIZATION JUST LIKE EVERY OTHER DRUG PROHIBITION HAS.
This FALS PROPAGANDA is TOTAL STONER MENTALITY, as “REALITY” says
Hey, JS KNOW…
It’s “JUST SAY NO”, but being stoned all of the time, you wouldnt know your left foot from your right!!!
VinilPATEL…stop perpetuating drug use and watch thee statistics change on their own…dont blame government for the wrong examples you show your kids by smoking dope in front of them!
Give kids a chance at NOT doing drugs…LIVE BY GOOD EXAMPLE…DONT BE A STONER!
The poor woman is deluded, and she is singing from the song sheet that the dominators gave her. I pray she gets well soon.. How many poison prescription drugs would be shown worthless if the weed was free?
It is time for good people to stand up! It is our duty.
If History Serves me right, Didn’t our government make alcohol(ManMade) illegal not too long ago. But yet you are quick to point a finger to a person that consumes something Natural. Why haven’t there been public government sponsored studies for Marijuana. Because it opens our minds and makes us realize that the government is screwing us over.
The government nearly wiped out(by infecting them with smallpox) a whole peaceful civilization because they needed 100,000 acres per person. Some may say Native Americans were not peaceful, But,how would you feel if I got you drunk and stole your Harley Davidson with no consequences and laughed at you? Laughter is Universal.
The rules we need to set for our government is” If you can’t get the Public/ Your local publics concerns resolved in a timely manner( one -two years), then you need to be replaced. No Terms, Power of voting can be monstrous. Big Business now controls our government because Our senators/congressmen need to send their children to overpriced universities and live in 5 bdrm/5bth homes for 2 people. While their Housekeeper/Nanny/Chauffeur is struggling to keep her job, kids in school, out of gangs, food on the table and a roof over their head.
FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE IS NEAR. Congress has consistently given themselves raises but refused to raise Minimum wage. Big Business has consistently raised consumer prices while lobbying congress to keep minimum wage down. (HP/EDS imposes more pay Cuts). Why hasn’t Congress considered Cutting their OWN retirements/health benefits when cutting public services like local pools/Park activities. Big Business Should No Longer control what you think. Be independent and make your own decisions and quit watching so much TV. You don’t need those $90 pair of jeans that are on sale for $50. If you want a boat, pitch in with your Family and buy one debt free. If you can’t get along to make a few decisions like who gets the boat then you have collapsed to Big Business because you need your own.
Write your Senator/Congressman about your concerns. If they don’t respond, Vote for someone else or run for office your self.
The 80′s & 90′s were the governments way of getting a civilization drunk on greed and non essential needs. Look at China, Most Young Adults in China don’t even know what happened in Tiananmen Square, because they’re too busy texting or listening to their ipods. Quit trying to keep up with the Jone’s/Hernandez’s,Roth’s. Keep your focus on your family. If you do this and set this great example then your children will learn from this and we will change us back to a caring Nation one generation at a time. Look how fast we changed from the 40′s and 50′s. (only fifty years ago)
Marijuana Consumers don’t start fights, they are too stoned. Marijuana Consumers don’t speed, they are too paranoid to drive. (different strokes for different folks). Marijuana Consumers eat more, therefore contributing more to the economy. Alcohol Consumers eat more after they’re finished drinking, and have caused more deaths in the world than Marijuana just to get to the restaurant before all the other drunks get there when the bars close.
If The DWI unit got smart they would stake out Ihop or Jack in the box between 1:30am and 7am(After hours Club). This will aggravate all those drunks who will then speak up about their rights to consume an item that is killing them.
I just want to make a living for my family, come home every now and then and smoke a nice fat bowl. Not stand in Line shoulder to shoulder with a stranger at a bar for 10 minutes for an overpriced drink that’s going to kill me anyways.
Big Business says this is cool but not staying at home with your family and watching your children grow up is cool. I understand we need to be social but there are more casual/safe ways of doing that. What happened to neighborhood back yard bar B q’s?
Back to the subject. How many People do you know have died from marijuana overdoes? I can not find one person’s name in history who suffered/Enjoyed this kind of death. How many people have died from an accidental sleep aid overdose( no ad plugs here)? How many people have died from liver failure because of acetaminophen? Remember Different Strokes for Different folks.
Government is in the pockets of Big Business. Pharmaceutical Companies don’t want it legalized because it will make a lot of their products useless and maybe even cheaper or Obsolete. We are all Lab Rats (standing in line at bar)and Our so called democratic government is standing over us and laughing with Big Business right next to them. Remember the Native Americans.
Remember to take the time today or soon(put that J down) and write your Senator/Congressman and let them know how you really feel about legalizing Marijuana.
Don’t just write a one liner, then they will just think your an UnEducated Marijuana Consumer. Sort of Like a Teenager telling Adults they knows everything. Who would take that serious?
GOOGLE WHO IS YOUR CONGRESSMAN/SENATOR AND MAKE SURE YOUR ON A DOTGOV SITE. otherwise I’d give the URL/website to write them. CL’s Rules not mine.
I don’t claim to be smarter than anyone else or better than you, but have observed and learned that our government is taking advantage of an Ignorant(uneducated) world.
People that respond to this will try to discredit alot of this, but You are a smart person, be independent and make your own decision from what you believe. Not from what someone else thinks. Remember the Jone’s?
I’m just here to make a point, not be right or wrong.
LEGALIZE MARIJUANA CONSUMPTION!!!!!!!
MY OWN PRIVATE TRUTH
On this idea i will need to tell you let us rejoice having a nice cuban cigar, and this day will commence just good!
I’m with Vinil Patel….who, as only a tourist, has more insight as to the needs of the people of Hawaii than Linda Lingle, the governor. What an old fashioned, and unrealistic view this woman has. She obviously comes from a different generation…..we really need younger people in office!!!!! Also…I live in California….dispensaries outnumbering Starbucks/McDonalds is an outright lie! Lying just makes you look desperate to prove your point. Total propaganda.