ikenbot:Get Vocal: Personalize, Industrialize, Socialize, Tax Cannabis for a Healthy EconomyTake Act

ikenbot:Get Vocal: Personalize, Industrialize, Socialize, Tax Cannabis for a Healthy EconomyTake ActionThe most important step you can take is to contact your elected officials at all levels of government (local, state and federal), and let them know you oppose arresting responsible marijuana smokers. As a constituent, you hold special influence over the politicians who represent your district. It is critical you let them know how you feel.Because the marijuana smoking community remains largely “in the closet” and is all too often invisible politically, our core constituency currently exercises far less political power than our numbers would otherwise suggest. The only way to overcome this handicap is for more of us to take an active role, and routinely contact our elected officials.A majority of the American public opposes sending marijuana smokers to jail, and 3 out of 4 support the medical use of marijuana. Yet many elected officials remain fearful that if they support these reform proposals, they will be perceived as “soft” on crime and drugs and defeated at the next election.Tell your elected officials that you know the difference between marijuana and more dangerous drugs and between marijuana smoking and violent crime, and that you do not support spending billions of dollars per year incarcerating nonviolent marijuana offenders.To make that easy, NORML has a program on our web site that will identify your state and federal elected officials, and provide a sample letter that you can e-mail to Congress and state legislators. Additionally, we encourage you to join NORML and help us with this fight for personal freedom. We depend on contributions from private individuals to fund our educational and lobbying campaign, and our ability to move reform efforts forward is partially a question of resources. Please join with us and let’s end marijuana prohibition, once and for all.Write Your Elected OfficialsSupport Marijuana Legislation In Your StateHow To Mount an Effective Letter Writing CampaignPrint & DistributeEnd Federal ProhibitionAction Alerts — Things To ConsiderSupport Federal Legislation To End Marijuana ProhibitionAbout Cannabis and Its UsePersonal UseThe removal of all penalties for the private possession and responsible use of marijuana by adults, including cultivation for personal use, and casual nonprofit transfers of small amounts. This policy, known as decriminalization, removes the consumer — the marijuana smoker — from the criminal justice system, while maintaining criminal penalties against those who sell or traffic large quantities of the drug.Medical UseMarijuana, or cannabis, as it is more appropriately called, has been part of humanity’s medicine chest for almost as long as history has been recorded.Of all the negative consequences of marijuana prohibition, none is as tragic as the denial of medicinal cannabis to the tens of thousands of patients who could benefit from its therapeutic use.Modern research suggests that cannabis is a valuable aid in the treatment of a wide range of clinical applications. These include pain relief — particularly of neuropathic pain (pain from nerve damage) — nausea, spasticity, glaucoma, and movement disorders. Marijuana is also a powerful appetite stimulant, specifically for patients suffering from HIV, the AIDS wasting syndrome, or dementia. Emerging research suggests that marijuana’s medicinal properties may protect the body against some types of malignant tumors and are neuroprotective.Industrial UseHemp is a distinct variety of the plant species cannabis sativa L. that contains minimal (less than 1%) amounts of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the primary psychoactive ingredient in marijuana. It is a tall, slender, fibrous plant similar to flax or kenaf. Various parts of the plant can be utilized in the making of textiles, paper, paints, clothing, plastics, cosmetics, foodstuffs, insulation, animal feed and other products.Drug TestingThe following documents provide important information about drug testing.Health EndorsementsOpponents of medical marijuana law reform often argue that few or no health authorities recognize cannabis as a legitimate therapeutic agent. Most recently, this notion was repeated by DEA Director Asa Hutchinson, who stated, “We all have sympathy for folks that need medication, but we have to listen to the scientific and medical community, and they’re saying that marijuana has no legitimate medical purpose.” This contention, however, is altogether untrue. In reality, numerous health and medical organizations from both the United States and abroad support the use of marijuana as a medicine. -- source link

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