The End of the Argument

Since time is the limiting factor in the equation of survival, people everywhere are justified in taking responsibility for the true value of hemp, without further penalty.

Dear All,

The following are my feelings about the recent release by ENCOD regarding the UNGASS in Vienna.

Please contact me to support a federally enforceable end to Cannabis prohibition this Spring, under the protection of Article One, individual freedom of religion. Every planting season missed is gone forever. Depending on environmental, economic and social catastrophes looming predictably ahead, we may not get another chance to reclaim our Constitutionally protected freedom to farm as a demonstration of love and respect for all the blessings afforded by Cannabis. If the Constitution is suspended, as it could be at any time, then it will be much harder to recover.

I trust I'm wrong about the approaching synergistic collapse and the future is brighter than it looks, but even my optimism is wearing thin. We don't have any time at all to argue further about the true, essential value of Cannabis agriculture. Abundance of resources, evenly distributed around the planet, could be effective in disempowering the black market while creating the necessary, concurrent economic surge toward balance. Partnering with Nature to heal the environment, it is much more efficient to empower regional economics based in abundant, organic agricultural feedstocks.

If there's one good reason that's true, not to "sow hemp everywhere" then someone had better state it now, because otherwise, we share an obligation to overcome the intransigence, and begin farming everywhere possible, without further discussion. To do otherwise would require that someone take responsibility for the malnutrition, illness, and starvation of literally billions of people over several generations during the last seventy years.

In addition, the atmospheric aerosols produced by hemp are our best defense against global broiling, the most proximate threat to our existence.

It is beyond moral accountability to induce essential resource scarcity on such a scale. I invite inquiry and investment in the agriculturally abundant and clean biodynamic garden and farms economy.

for peace,

Paul
California Cannabis Ministry
831 588 5095

========


Bravo,
to all who helped to produce a fine statement of reason.

If I could be at the Drug Peace March I would carry a sign that said,

"DRUGS DON'T MAKE SEEDS,
HERBS DO"

on one side and Genesis 1:29
"every herb bearing seed...and every green herb"

on the other. Spiritual dimensions of the ancient Cannabis culture potentially afford immediate legal legitimacy to individuals who claim their freedom of religion in a sincere way.

If I could be at the Press Conference I would add that because of it's exceptional nutritional value and enormous environmental benefit, Cannabis agriculture warrants in-depth, public revaluation as an unique and essential organic agricultural resource.

Prohibition of 'marijuana' as obscured the world's oldest global culture, inducing scarcity and fundamental imbalance.

--- "encod.org" wrote:

> EURODRUG - INFORMATION LIST OF THE EUROPEAN COALITION FOR JUST AND EFFECTIVE DRUG POLICIES
> Dear friends,
>
> Herewith you find the last press release for Vienna, thanks for sending
> it to all your press contacts (and please send me a translation in your
> language so I can send it to journalists in Brussels, most of the
> translation you can find in the latest bulletin..)
>
> Best wishes,
>
> Joep
>
> European NGOs march for drug peace in Vienna
>
> Dear journalist,
>
> On 7 March, from 17.00 onwards, a Drug Peace March will take place to
> the seat of the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs in Vienna.
>
> The march marks the start of a counterevent organised by the European
> Coalition for Just and Effective Drug Policies (ENCOD) on the occasion
> of the annual meeting of the CND that will take place from 10 to 14
> March 2008. The purpose of the CND meeting is to evaluate the results of
> a ten year strategy that was decided upon in New York in 1998, a
> strategy whose goal was “to eliminate or significantly reduce the
> illicit manufacture, marketing and trafficking of drugs”.
>
> According to the latest figures of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, the
> production of illegal drugs in the past ten years has increased, with
> 100 % in the case of opium, 19 % in the case of cocaine, and 40 % in the
> case of cannabis.
>
> ENCOD, an independent platform of NGOs and individual citizens involved
> in the drug issue as consumers, health workers or researchers, maintains
> that the prohibition of drugs maximises the burden for those with little
> or no participation in the drug market, while it has no measurable
> impact on the global size of this market at all. "In fact", says ENCOD,
> "drug prohibition increases the size and negative repercussions of this
> market."
>
> In a message to the CND meeting (see
> http://www.encod.org/info/ENCOD-BULLETIN-39.html ), ENCOD wishes the
> governments’ delegates in the CND meeting "a clear head. You will have
> the opportunity to make a historical contribution to improve the living
> standards for millions of people, and at the same time attack the main
> income source of organised crime."
>
> ENCOD proposes that governments "adopt non-repressive strategies in drug
> policy that do not threaten the livelihood of peasants in developing
> countries, do not damage the health of consumers and do respect the
> rights of citizens, such as the right to grow and use natural plants for
> personal consumption. Strategies should be implemented that would create
> legal means for the production and use of hemp/cannabis, opium and coca,
> plants that have served humanity for thousands of years."
>
> The counterevent will also include a a conference with (inter)national
> experts in the Vienna University (Altes AKH). For more information
> please see http://www.encod.org/info/VIENNA-2008-TEN-YEARS-AFTER.html
>
> ENCOD invites the representatives of the media to a Press Conference
> with some organisers and speakers of the conference.
>
> Place: Cafe Landmann, Dr. Karl Lueger Ring 4, 1010 Vienna
>
> Time: Friday 7 March - 11.00 hs
>
> Contact for more information:
>
> Joep Oomen – ENCOD Coordinator
> Tel. 0699 816 12676 / + 32 (0)3 293 0886 / + 32 (0)495 122644
> E-mail: info@encod.org
>
> Otmar Pusch
> Tel: 0681 1036 0480
> E-mail: pusch.otmar@gmx.at
>
> Andreas Holy
> Tel: 0699 1622 8661
> E-mail: a.holy@found.at
>
> --
>
>
> --
>
>
>
> EUROPEAN COALITION FOR JUST AND EFFECTIVE DRUG POLICIES
>
> Lange Lozanastraat 14 – 2018 Antwerpen - Belgium
>
> Tel. + 32 (0)3 293 0886 – Mob. + 32 (0)495 122644
>
> E-mail: info@encod.org / www.encod.org
>
>

Regarding the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, Fifth report of the Executive Director

Regarding the Commission on Narcotic Drugs
The world drug problem
Fifth report of the Executive Director
http://www.encod.org/info/IMG/pdf/UNREPORT2008.pdf

Pg. 29 :
"Illicit drug crop eradication and alternative development
(e) Donors, affected States and other relevant key development partners
should examine innovative ways to promote environmentally sound alternative
development programmes."

In this document, the United Nations has failed to assess, or even acknowledge, the immense harm engendered by the "drug war," which is imposing critical food insecurity and malnutrition on countries where industrial hemp is prohibited. The United Nations is apparently in denial of the looming global food crisis and refuses to recognize the world's most nutritious seed as food for humans, as it fails to account for seven decades of protein production losses and poverty imposed, by banning a critical industrial feed stock.

I interpret "innovative ways to promote environmentally sound alternative development programmes" as a mandate to cultivate industrial hemp. As long as prohibition continues to profit the bureaucracies producing these reports, over-paid bureaucrats will continue to spew drug war rhetoric and propaganda in lieu of a responsible effort to address problems attributed to drug use, that are in reality created by the "drug war" itself.

As far as I can tell, "religious" freedom is the most potent protection there is against the drug war machine. International treaties and most governments are bound by law to protect people's right of religious freedom. Whether we are protected as individuals, or it is necessary to join a "church" to be legally legitimate, seems to be the question.

Because Cannabis agriculture is the world's oldest global culture, it does not require permission to exist from recently established governments. Because of environmental, economic and social imbalances being induced by Cannabis prohibition, there is no obligation to obey laws that are transparently perverse.

With everything we know of the true value of Cannabis, if mankind doesn't initiate a massive global planting of industrial hemp this spring, then we must recognize that we are facing a much greater threat than global warming. Economic intransigence has institutionalized prohibition of the world's most useful and nutritious crop. Our most proximate and potent strategy for addressing climate change is being suppressed.

Because Cannabis produces atmospheric aerosols called "monoterpenes" that reflect solar radiation back into space and seed cloud formation, while sequestering a ton of carbon/acre/year, the cost of the so-called "drug war" in hindering climate change mitigation, has driven the cost of prohibition up, far beyond accountability.

Letter to the Attorney General of California

Dear Attorney General Brown and staff,

I would like to request a meeting with Attorney General Brown to discuss information about climate change strategies that I have discussed with him on the telephone, and sent previously to you office using the AG's on-line messaging service.

Please let me know, by telephone or e-mail, when would be the earliest convenient time for us to meet, regarding the critical role of hemp agriculture in climate mitigation strategies, addressing both global warming and global broiling.

Now that the Conference of Mayors, LEAP and many others have identified the "drug war" as a failed policy, the effects of drug policy on food security, nutrition, environmental imbalance, economics, and the social structures upon which we all depend can and must be openly considered.

Thank you very much for your time and attention to this request.

Sincerely,

Paul J. von Hartmann
California Cannabis Ministry
831 588 5095 cell

Cannabis agriculture, nutrition and global broiling

As many of you probably already know from reports in the alternative and mainstream media

i.e.
"Hot Hemp Foods on Today Show"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJePiS7A7lo

Cannabis hemp is potentially the most abundant, globally distributed, nutritious and useful organic agricultural resource on Earth.

Hemp also sequesters carbon from the atmosphere (nine tons/acre/year); regenerates depleted, compacted and contaminated soils; while producing atmospheric aerosols called "monoterpenes" that reflect solar radiation back into space and seed cloud formation. There is simply NOTHING that even comes close to hemp agriculture for its proximate effectiveness in addressing many problems at once, including and especially climate change.

See:
"Radiative forcing is the change in the balance between radiation coming into the atmosphere and radiation going out."
http://www.grida.no/climate/vital/04.htm

In a recent teleconference call, Eban mentioned that Focus the Nation is not concerned with increasing UV-B radiation. Well, that's a choice...

But people ought to consider that even more immediately dangerous than global warming is the increasing UV-B radiation ("global broiling") that is being ignored. By its nature, global broiling is much harder to measure and discern the impacts of than global warming, but that doesn't man it isn't having devastating effects. Genetic mutation, impaired immune response, and stunted growth are all happening right now as the result of global broiling.

Consider that the massive mysterious die-off of bees all over the world, neatly labeled as"Colony Collapse Disorder" may actually be a result of immune system failures in an indicator species. By the time we figure out what's killing the bees, it could be too late to do anything about it. All solutions must be considered if we are to avoid the synergistic collapse of environment, economics and social structures upon which we all depend.

Time is the limiting factor in the equation of survival.
How bad do things have to get before all solutions are considered?

The REAL Question for Davos07
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edZw3hXkGJo

I suggest that people reference the Conference of Mayors resolution of June 2007, which recognizes the drug war as having "failed" and communicate to their elected officials that the counter-productive drug policy, based in punishment, is suppressing consideration and discussion of what may be the most viable measure for addressing climate changes (both global warming and global broiling), Cannabis agriculture.

Consider for a moment that even in the midst of radical global food insecurity and epidemic malnutrition, because of 'marijuana' prohibition, the United Nations Food & Agriculture Organization doesn't even recognize the world's MOST nutritious seed as food for humans.

Hemp Oil Nutrutional Profile, MaryBeth Augustine, RD,CDN
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jya6kcOEMUU

This level of informational negligence is effecting discussion of climate change solutions. How sad and pointless that such a failed policy could be harming so many people in so many ways. Now that our elected officials are paying attention to climate change, it is time to point out that part of the solution is to stop creating problems.

I invite anyone who understands the potential for employing nature to heal nature, to contact me directly at projectpeace@yahoo.com or on my cell at 831 588 5095.

I particularly challenge the spiritually vital community to do the right thing by putting "drug war" rhetoric (and the phony moralism that's been associated with it) aside long enough to investigate the TRUE value of Cannabis agriculture, as a source of biofuels, oil rich protein, effective herbal therapeutics, paper, cloth, paints and varnishes, building materials, bio-degradable plastics, as feed & cover for wildlife and much more.

See:

The Emperor Wears No Clothes - Book Chapters
http://www.jackherer.com/chapters.html

and pass this information on to your elected officials.

Best wishes to all,

Funding for clinical trials needed

The California Cannabis Ministry is seeking funding for a clinical trial of hemp seed nutrition, used in combination with Cannabis essential oil.

It is proposed that there is substantial and unique benefit for prevention and treatment of cholesterol and overall systemic toxicity in blood, nervous and lymph systems. Anti-fungal, anti-viral, anti-oxidizing, anti-biotic to name just a few of its therapeutic benefits, Cannabis essential oil has no psychoactive (THC) component, and is also an environmentally benign pesticide, toxic to insects.

I invite anyone who may be open to the immensity of this project to participate. Ultimately, I am intent on getting the UNFAO to
recognize and encourage the true value of hemp in food security and nutrition. There can be no single measure that could so easily occur that would have greater effect for more people and other creatures.

I am certain that there is substantial synergistic benefit, as the result of ingesting the fresh, whole Cannabis
plant, all at once. I can report first-hand on the effects, and therefore propose to conduct clinical trials using a blend
of hemp seed oil and essential oil. Tests will also be done to measure the extended shelf-life of the hemp seed oil as a result of mixing with essential oil.

It has been my experience, and that of several patients I have
introduced this combination to that holistic hemp nutrition affords substantial, multiple benefits
for a wide variety of imbalances. Because of its anti-oxidizing effect, Cannabis essential oil and
seed oil are as close to an "elixir of Life" than any other substance on Earth, besides pure
Shasta springwater.

US Conference of Mayors Calling for a “New Bottom Line” in US Drug Policy

NEW BOTTOM LINE IN REDUCING THE HARMS OF SUBSTANCE ABUSE



WHEREAS, the United States Conference of Mayors has long been concerned about substance abuse and its impacts on cities of all sizes; and



WHEREAS, this Conference recognizes that addiction is a chronic medical illness that is treatable, and drug treatment success rates exceed those of many cancer therapies; and



WHEREAS, according to the 2005 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, an estimated 112,085,000 Americans aged 12 or over (46.1% of the US population aged 12 and over) have used an illicit drug at least once; and



WHEREAS, the United States has 5% of the world’s population, but 25% of the world’s prisoners, incarcerating more than 2.3 million citizens in its prisons and jails, at a rate of one in every 136 U.S. residents—the highest rate of incarceration in the world; and



WHEREAS, 55% of all federal and over 20% of all state prisoners are convicted of drug law violations, many serving mandatory minimum sentences for simple possession offenses; and



WHEREAS, the U.S. Conference of Mayors adopted a resolution at it 74th Annual Meeting opposing mandatory minimum sentencing on both the state and federal levels and urging the creation of fair and effective sentencing policies; and



WHEREAS, drug treatment is cost-effective: a study by the RAND Corporation found that every additional dollar invested in substance abuse treatment saves taxpayers $7.46 in societal costs, a reduction that would cost 15 times as much in law enforcement expenditure to achieve; and



WHEREAS, the National Treatment Improvement Evaluation Study shows substantial reductions in criminal behavior, with a 64% decrease in all arrests after treatment, making public safety a primary beneficiary of effective drug treatment programs; and



WHEREAS, the U.S. Conference of Mayors adopted a “Comprehensive National Substance Abuse Strategy” at its 69th Annual Meeting, and a “Comprehensive Drug Prevention and Treatment Policy” at its 66th Annual Meeting, both of which called for treatment to be made available to any American who struggles with drug abuse; and



WHEREAS, federal, state, and local costs of the war on drugs exceed $40 billion annually, yet drugs are still widely available in every community, drug use and demand have not decreased, and most drug prices have fallen while purity levels have increased dramatically; and



WHEREAS, according to the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), only 35% percent of the federal drug control budget is spent on education, prevention and treatment combined, with the remaining 65% devoted to law enforcement efforts; and



WHEREAS, over one-third of all HIV/AIDS cases and nearly two-thirds of all new cases of hepatitis C in the U.S. are linked to injection drug use with contaminated syringes, now the single largest factor in the spread of HIV/AIDS in the U.S.; and



WHEREAS, the U.S. Conference of Mayors has, on three separate occasions, adopted resolutions in support of expanded access to sterile syringes by people who inject drugs as a public health strategy to decrease the transmission of blood-borne diseases and provide links to treatment without increasing drug use; and



WHEREAS, virtually all independent analyses have found ONDCP’s drug prevention programs to be costly and ineffective: the Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently found that both the National Youth Anti-Drug Media campaign and the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) program have not only failed to reduce drug use, but instead might lead to unintended negative consequences; and



WHEREAS, blacks, Latinos and other minorities use drugs at rates comparable to whites, yet face disproportionate rates of arrest and incarceration for drug law violations: among persons convicted of drug felonies in state courts, 33% of convicted white defendants received a prison sentence, while 51% of black defendants received prison sentences; and



WHEREAS, women are the fastest growing prison population in theU.S., increasing by over 700% since 1977, to 98,600 at the end of 2005. Drug law violations now account for nearly one-third of incarcerated women, compared to one-fifth of men; and



WHEREAS, at year end 2005, over 7 million U.S. residents—about 3.2% of the adult population, or 1 in every 32 adults—were incarcerated or on probation or parole, of whom 28% were under correctional supervision for a drug law violation; and



WHEREAS, at its 73rd and 72nd Annual Meetings, the U.S. Conference of Mayors adopted a resolution to promote the successful reentry of people leaving prison or jail, through job training, transitional housing, family reunification, drug abuse and mental health treatment, and the restoration of voting rights; and



WHEREAS, the cost of local law enforcement and of providing services to formerly incarcerated residents is borne primarily by local governments; and



WHEREAS, cities across the country have experienced a rise in violent crime and must prioritize scarce law enforcement resources, yet the nation’s police arrested a record 786,545 individuals on marijuana related charges in 2005—almost 90% for simple possession alone—far exceeding the total number of arrests for all violent crimes combined; and



WHEREAS, there is no easy, “one-size-fits-all” solution to substance abuse and drug-related harms: individual cities, counties, and states face unique challenges and therefore

require local flexibility to pursue those policies that best meet their specific needs;



NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the United States Conference of Mayors believes the war on drugs has failed and calls for a New Bottom Line in U.S. drug policy, a public health approach that concentrates more fully on reducing the negative consequences associated with drug abuse, while ensuring that our policies do not exacerbate these problems or create new social problems of their own; establishes quantifiable, short- and long-term objectives for drug policy; saves taxpayer money; and holds state and federal agencies accountable; and



BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that U.S. policy should not be measured solely on drug use levels or number of people imprisoned, but rather on the amount of drug-related harm reduced. At a minimum, this includes: reducing drug overdose fatalities, the spread of HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis, the number of nonviolent drug law offenders behind bars, and the racial disparities created or exacerbated by the criminal justice system; and



BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that short- and long-term goals should be set for reducing the problems associated with both drugs and the war on drugs; and federal, state, and local drug agencies should be judged – and funded – according to their ability to meet specific performance indicators, with targets linked to local conditions. A greater percentage of drug war funding should be spent evaluating the efficacy of various strategies for reducing drug related-harm; and



BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a wide range of effective drug abuse treatment options and supporting services must be made available to all who need them, including: greater access to methadone and other maintenance therapies; specially-tailored, integrated services for families, minorities, rural communities and individuals suffering from co-occurring disorders; and effective, community-based drug treatment and other alternatives to incarceration for nonviolent drug law offenders, policies that reduce public spending while improving public safety; and



BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Conference supports preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS, hepatitis and other infectious diseases by eliminating the federal ban on funding of sterile syringe exchange programs and encourages the adoption of local overdose prevention strategies to reduce the harms of drug abuse; and



BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED the impact of drug use and drug policies is most acutely felt on the local communities, and therefore local needs and priorities of drug policy can be best identified, implemented and assessed at the local level. A successful national strategy to reduce substance abuse and related harms must invest in the health of our cities and give cities, counties, and states the flexibility they need to find the most effective way to deal with drugs, save taxpayer dollars and keep their communities safe.