Pages

Saturday, May 25, 2013

Another Reason for Another Protest at Covington & Burling

protect freedom of medicine and diet from pharmacratic mercantilism



Thumbnail image for ERic HOlder.jpg
http://www.tokeofthetown.com/2013/05/berkeley_marijuana_activists_protest_attorney_gene.php#more

While the cannabis communities of Colorado and Washington await a response to recently-passed marijuana laws from Attorney General Eric Holder, it seems he's busy writing other speeches:

graduation remarks for the University of California at Berkeley law school commencement, which as held over the weekend.

Ganja activists took the opportunity to swarm the campus and even went so far as to fly a custom banner over the outdoor Greek Theater that read: "Holder: End Rx Cannabis War #peace4patients," according to the Huffington Post.

The group was with Americans for Safe Access and were protesting the recent federal action against the Berkeley Patients Group and raising awareness for their new group, Peace for Patients aimed at stopping the war on medical cannabis users.

"Patients will not stand idly by while Attorney General Holder's Justice Department continues to attack our community and endanger the lives of Berkeley residents" said one of the protesters outside the ceremony, according to an ASA press release. "We're here today to call attention to the misguided policies of the Obama Administration and to ensure that his ongoing campaign against medical marijuana is stopped in its tracks."

As we reported last week, BPG is the largest dispensary in Berkeley and as such was the target for a large federal lawsuit filed May 2 that would force the dispensary to shut down and hand over their assets to the feds. Federal agents have also targeted BPG's landlord, threatening to seize the property.

This is the second time the BPG has been targeted. In 2011 they moved locations after receiving a notice from the U.S. Attorney forcing them to move further than 1,000 feet from any schools.

This time, the owners of BPG have decided to fight back. "Berkeley Patients Group intends to vigorously defend the rights of its patients to be able to obtain medical cannabis from a responsible, city-licensed dispensary," said Sean Luse, Chief Operations Officer for BPG.

Even Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates thinks the feds have overstepped their bounds.

"I think it's time for the federal government, the president and the attorney general to wake up and stop these kinds of actions. Here is a group of people who have played by the rules and have had no problems in the city with the way they or their patients conduct themselves."

Holder didn't respond to the protestors outside (big surprise there). Interestingly, he did make the final closing point in his speech, according to the university newspaper, The Daily Cal: "Use your unique skills, your idealism and the power that your new law degree affords to better yourselves, to improve your communities and to solve the complex problems that undoubtedly lie ahead," he said.

We know of an area in our communities that might be a good start for at least a few Berkeley Law grads...

[ and perhaps some adaptive re-use of Covington & Burling's bro bono program ... ]

http://freedomofmedicineanddiet.blogspot.com/2012/05/newsweek-on-covington-burling-eric.html

http://freedomofmedicineanddiet.blogspot.com/2012/04/ex-covington-burling-pharma-attorney.html

http://freedomofmedicineanddiet.blogspot.com/2011/10/usag-holders-criminal-mercantilism.html

http://freedomofmedicineanddiet.blogspot.com/2013/04/breuer-aag-returns-to-covington.html




Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Free Dana Beal

Ibogaine anti addiction activist
currently incarcerated and up for parole



Free Dana Beal! Founder of the Global Marijuana March. Great letter. Some history of Dana's activism. Please share! Thanks to all the great people helping Dana out.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Kuby
http://cannabis.wikia.com/wiki/Dana_Beal
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dana_Beal
https://www.facebook.com/groups/143405647913

 Dana wrote the following model letter for early parole.  He wrote:  "No two letters should be exactly the same, but the contents of the last paragraph should go in each one."

State of Nebraska Board of Parole
PO Box 94754
Lincoln, NE 68509-4754

[date]

Dear Sir or Madam:

I have read that due to prison overcrowding, you have a program of early parole (furlough) for non-violent offenders and inmates with health problems.  I think Irvin Dana Beal should be at the top of your list.  He's had two heart attacks in the past 18 months, including full cardiac arrest on September 27, 2011when he was clinically dead for 4 minutes, followed by 6 days in an induced coma, followed by a double bypass.  His hospital bill was almost a quarter of a million dollars, a bill Iowa County, WI only partially dodged by granting him emergency appeal bond.  (They still had to pay $114,000.)  On February 24, 2012, he had a second heart attack; the stent cost WI DOC another $50,000.

Beal is currently incarcerated in Nebraska for providing medical marijuana to patients with serious life-threatening conditions in Michigan, NYC, and Washington, D.C. -- mostly people with AIDS.  The prosecutor refused to admit that even though their provider was arrested, the seriously ill continue to need their medicine, and also that Beal was a sick man taking care of other, even sicker people.

Ironically, Beal is not only a founder of the medical marijuana movement, but a longtime AIDS activist who worked in the '90s with the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) on the first broad spectrum treatment for addiction to methamphetamine, cocaine, opiate, alcohol , and cigarettes -- ibogaine.  Just last Fall, NIDA appropriated $5 million to develop its own, synthetic iboga congener, 18-methoxycoronaridine (18-MC).  Beal has devoted half his life to a cure for drug addiction.  If you give him a furlough, he's ready to use his exhaustive knowledge of FDA regulations, addiction medicine, and personal ties at NIDA Medications Development to secure funding and help the Nebraska DOC and University of Nebraska set up Phase I and Phase II clinical trails of 18-MC for interruption of addiction to methamphetamine, crack, opiates, and alcohol -- thereby solving your prison overcrowding problem.  Instead of confining Beal, you should be utilizing this resource.   Enforced inactivity is nowhere near as bad as the punishment inflicted on Nebraska taxpayers because you're not using the only known pharmacotherapy for crystal meth.

Respectfully,
[signature]

[print name and
address]


Saturday, May 18, 2013

Fake Reformist Jimmy Carter Against Legalization

http://reason.com/blog/2013/05/17/jimmy-carter-comes-out-against-marijuana#comment

Recall how Carter hid behind a sole reformist appointee (Peter Bourne) to fool many into supporting him as a "reformist" U.S. President.

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Mike Grey is Dead

 
May 2, 2013 - By Marsha Rosenbaum
 

Mike Gray, who passed this week, was a prolific writer, producing screenplays, books, and documentaries.

Right from the beginning of our movement, Mike was a major player in drug policy reform. His 1998 book, Drug Crazy: How We Got into this Mess and How We Can Get Out, which was among the first to parallel alcohol and drug prohibition, was both historical and solution-oriented. The book was a brilliant work of journalism that instantly became a mainstay in drug policy libraries all over the world.
 
In the early days of the Lindesmith Center (which later became the Drug Policy Alliance), the highly accessible writing that characterized Drug Crazy provided an invaluable resource for our focus on public education. To this day, the history outlined in this “classic” is required reading for newcomers in search the origins of America’s misguided drug policy.
 
Mike spoke passionately at conferences, forums, and fit right in at meetings of organizations such as the Elks Club, where he looked as if he could be a member. He was straightforward and succinct, and knew how to connect with and educate both conventional and unconventional audiences. Perhaps that’s because Mike was a “man’s man” who could be gruff and humorous in the same sentence, and used terms like “doll” without sounding chauvinistic. He was part of a (literally) dying breed of smart guys who came of age in the 1950’s and managed to grow with the changing times.
 
For his colleagues in the reform movement, Mike was generous. He was willing to help with others’ projects, interested in the latest developments, and always enthusiastic.
 
For me, Mike was more than a colleague. He was a friend. I feel so lucky to have had Mike Gray as an ally in our mutual struggle and will miss very much this humble, good-natured activist-scholar, who greeted me warmly with “Hello Doll, what’s new?”
 
Marsha Rosenbaum is director emerita of the San Francisco office of the Drug Policy Alliance.

Thursday, April 25, 2013

Coca Anti Addictive Effect

Consumption of Coca tea alleviates withdrawal syndrome from Coffee-caffeine, and Tobacco-nicotine- Have personally tried for Coffee withdrawal successfully


 

Recent (1980s+) research focused upon coca as substitute for concentrated forms of cocaine, rather than a substitute for caffeine and nicotine containing products

https://apha.confex.com/apha/132am/techprogram/paper_92248.htm
http://www.amazon.com/Handbook-Cocaine-Addictions-Teobaldo-Llosa/dp/B004B9G5U0
http://www.encod.org/info/IMG/pdf/Oral_coca_en_pdf.pdf
http://www.dronet.org/sostanze/sos_pdf/cocaine21.pdf

Research previously (1870s+) indicates coca as a substitute for the stimulants - things containing caffeine or nicotine - and for depressants as opiates and alcohol

http://freedomofmedicineanddiet.blogspot.com/2008/03/coca-to-combat-opiate-alcohol-and.html
http://freedomofmedicineanddiet.blogspot.com/2008/03/coca-caffeine-substitute.html
http://freedomofmedicineanddiet.blogspot.com/2011/04/coca-as-tobacco-habit-cure.html

Note that the effects here of Coca and dilute cocaine stand in contrast to that of CONCENTRATED cocaine which has the opposite effect.

Thursday, April 18, 2013

Breuer AAG Returns to Covington

Washington D.C. revolving door...


http://www.cov.com/news/detail.aspx?news=1865

DOJ Criminal Division Head Lanny A. Breuer Returns to Covington As Vice Chair

WASHINGTON, DC, March 28, 2013Lanny A. Breuer, most recently the Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division at the U.S. Department of Justice, is returning to Covington & Burling as Vice Chair of the firm.

Mr. Breuer’s practice will encompass a wide range of civil and criminal litigation matters, as well as governmental and internal investigations. As Covington’s Vice Chair, Mr. Breuer will work closely with senior leadership to implement the firm’s long-term strategy, with a particular focus on the firm’s international initiatives and practices.

“We are extremely proud of Lanny’s outstanding and dedicated service to the nation, and we are delighted that he is returning to Covington,” said Timothy Hester, Chair of the firm’s management committee. “Lanny is one of the finest and most talented advocates and counselors of his generation. We are excited about his return to private practice, and I look forward to working closely with Lanny in his new role as the firm’s Vice Chair in which he will work with our clients and colleagues on global and strategic business, litigation and compliance issues.”

Mr. Breuer rejoins the firm after four years at the Justice Department. As one of the longest-serving Criminal Division chiefs in history, Mr. Breuer oversaw nearly 600 lawyers and established himself as a national leader on a range of federal law enforcement priorities, including on such matters as the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, health care fraud, money laundering, financial fraud, cybercrime, intellectual property theft, and public corruption. The National Law Journal named Mr. Breuer this week one of the 100 Most Influential Lawyers in the nation, and he was recently ranked sixth on Ethisphere’s list of the 100 Most Influential People in Business Ethics internationally.

At the Justice Department, Mr. Breuer increased enforcement of the FCPA, overseeing more than 40 corporate resolutions and eight of the top 10 largest penalties in U.S. history. The Criminal Division secured convictions of more than three dozen individuals on overseas corruption-related offenses, a department record. And he collaborated with the Securities and Exchange Commission to publish critical guidance on the government’s anti-corruption enforcement efforts. Mr. Breuer also developed an innovative program known as the Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative, a program that identified and forced the forfeiture of proceeds from foreign official corruption.

In addition, Mr. Breuer oversaw the investigation concerning the London Interbank Offered Rate and launched the Justice Department’s Money Laundering and Bank Integrity Unit. On his watch, the unit secured approximately $3.1 billion in criminal forfeitures from major financial institutions. Mr. Breuer also led the largest traditional organized crime prosecution and the two largest Medicare fraud cases in U.S. history. And he oversaw the prosecution of the owners of an international data storage website for allegedly committing intellectual property infringement, one of the largest criminal copyright cases ever brought by the United States.

“Covington is a firm that continues to build upon its storied history and move forward in dynamic and important ways, and I am returning at a particularly exciting time,” said Mr. Breuer. “I look forward to my new leadership role in helping to shape the future of one of the country’s most prestigious firms.”

John Hall, Chair of the firm’s Global Litigation Practice, noted that when Mr. Breuer left Covington to head the Criminal Division in 2009, he had already established himself as one of the pre-eminent trial lawyers and white collar defense practitioners in the nation. “It is a privilege to welcome Lanny back to Covington, where his talents, energy, creativity, and wisdom will be tremendous assets to clients navigating corporate crises, anti-corruption investigations and other issues,” Mr. Hall said.

Mr. Breuer will practice alongside colleagues with strong federal and international enforcement backgrounds such as: Robert Amaee, the former Head of Anti-Corruption and Head of Proceeds of Crime at the UK Serious Fraud Office; Bruce Baird, former Chief of the Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York; Tom Barnett and Deborah Garza, both a former Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Antitrust Division; Michael Chertoff, himself a former Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division before becoming Secretary for Homeland Security; Steve Fagell, former Deputy Chief of Staff and Counselor in the Criminal Division; Jim Garland, former Deputy Chief of Staff and Counselor to Attorney General Eric Holder; Haywood Gilliam, former Chief of the Securities Fraud Section in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California; Nancy Kestenbaum, former Chief of the General Crimes Unit in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York; Lynn Neils, former Chief of the Major Crimes Unit in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York; Ethan Posner and Jean Veta, both former Deputy Associate Attorneys General; Alan Vinegrad, former U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York; and numerous other former federal prosecutors and enforcement officials, including Stephen Anthony, David Bayless, Casey Cooper, Geoffrey Hobart, David Kornblau, and Simone Ross. In January 2012, Law360 named Covington’s white collar practice as one of five "White Collar Practice Groups of the Year."

Mr. Breuer began his legal career in 1985 as an Assistant District Attorney in Manhattan, where he prosecuted violent crime, such as armed robbery and gang violence, white collar crime, and other offenses. In 1989, he joined Covington, where he worked until 1997, when he joined the White House Counsel’s Office as Special Counsel to President William Jefferson Clinton. As Special Counsel, Mr. Breuer assisted in defending President Clinton in the Senate impeachment trial and handled a wide array of congressional investigations.

Mr. Breuer returned to Covington in 1999 as Co-Chair of the White Collar Defense and Investigations practice group, where he specialized in white collar criminal defense and complex civil litigation and represented individuals and corporations in matters involving significant legal and reputational risks. He was also Vice-Chair of the firm’s Public Service Committee. At Covington, Mr. Breuer developed a reputation as one of the top defense lawyers in the country. He has been recognized as a leading litigator by numerous publications, including American Lawyer (“45 Under 45”), Chambers USA, The Best Lawyers in America, Guide to the World’s Leading White Collar Crime Lawyers, National Law Journal (Visionary), and Washingtonian. He is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, a Barrister of the Edward Bennett Williams Inn of Court, and a member of the American Law Institute.

Mr. Breuer received his undergraduate degree from Columbia College and his law degree from Columbia Law School.


More About the Drug Policy Organization - Covington Connection
http://freedomofmedicineanddiet.blogspot.com/2013/04/more-about-drug-policy-covington.html