Pink Eyed Jim’s Blog

I’m not going to fill this with a lot of needless introduction, so without further ado, here it is:

2006: The Year In Review — NORML’s Top 10 Events That Shaped Marijuana Policy

#1: Cannabis Smoking Not Linked To Lung Cancer, UAT Cancers, Largest Case-Controlled Study Says
Smoking cannabis, even long-term, is not positively associated with increased incidence of lung-cancer, according to the findings of the largest population-based case-control study ever conducted. “We did not observe a positive association of marijuana use — even heavy long-term use — with lung cancer, controlling for tobacco smoking and other potential cofounders,” investigators concluded. Their data further revealed that moderate lifetime users had an inverse association between cannabis use and lung cancer. The five-year trial was sponsored by the US National Institutes of Health (NIH). Full text of the study appeared in the October issue of the journal Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention. Read the full story at: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=6912.

#2: Nearly Half Of Americans Say Pot Should Be Regulated Like Alcohol
Nearly one out of two Americans support amending federal law “to let states legally regulate and tax marijuana the way they do liquor and gambling,” according to a national poll of 1,004 likely voters by Zogby International and commissioned by the NORML Foundation in March. Forty-six percent of respondents — including a majority of those polled on the east (53 percent) and west (55 percent) coasts — said they supported legalization. Nearly two-thirds of 18-29 year-olds (65 percent) and half of 50-64 year-olds think federal law should be amended to allow states the option to regulate marijuana. Read the full story at: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=6838.

#3: Marijuana Arrests For Year 2005 Most Ever
Police arrested an estimated 786,545 persons for marijuana violations in 2005, the highest annual total ever recorded in the United States, according to statistics compiled in September by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. An American is now arrested for violating marijuana laws every 40 seconds. Read the full story at: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=7040.

#4: Clinical Trial: Vaporization Is A “Safe And Effective” Cannabinoid Delivery System
Vaporization is a “safe and effective” cannabinoid delivery system for patients desiring the rapid onset of action associated with cannabis inhalation, but who are seeking to avoid the respiratory risks of smoking, according to clinical trial data published this spring in the Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences. Vaporization delivers the “pulmonal uptake of THC [in a manner] comparable to the smoking of cannabis, while avoiding the respiratory disadvantages of smoking,” the study concluded. Read the full story at: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=6885.

#5: Cannabinoids Curb Brain Tumor Growth, First-Ever Patient Trial Shows
THC administration decreases recurrent glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) tumor growth in humans, according to the findings of the first-ever clinical trial assessing cannabinoids’ anti-tumor action. Previous preclinical studies indicate that cannabinoids and endocannabinoids can stave off tumor progression and trigger cell death in other cancer cell lines, including breast carcinoma, prostate carcinoma, colectoral carcinoma, skin carcinoma, and pancreatic adenocarcinoma. Read the full story at: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=6947.

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Well, it’s been a crazy year so far, and I doubt these last two weeks will change that prognosis. So here’s a look back at what affected me in 2006, and then a look ahead for 2007. This is partly because Darren Rowse, an Aussie blogger ten years my senior, to the day, is running a contest over on Problogger.net for Year-in-Review posts.
2006 was the year that everyone finally started to take the internet seriously as a medium. Watch any American newscast and mixed in with old stock footage, you’ll see youtube clips. Reporters get information on people from their myspace profiles. Time magazine voted “you” (as in the users that have turned the internet into this giant content-sharing web) as person of the year. Yep, the internets are really moving on up.
The USA is about to enter its fourth year in Iraq. I kept telling people, “It’s just not Vietnam” but now it’s been longer in Iraq than in the European theater of WWII.
I lost my best friend this year.
Medical marijuana and marijuana decriminalization initiatives were on several ballots this year, but most lost by about a ten percent margin. Dutch border towns have begun making it illegal for non-Netherlanders to purchase or posess marijuana. Marijuana is reportedly the #1 cash crop in the USA, too.
Blah blah blah Michael Richards, blah blah blah Democrats in control of both House and Senate. Blah blah blah North Korea.
Now onto 2007…
Bush will be giving his “new direction” on Iraq in early January, so we’ll see what we’re going to do to turn the tide of this thing. Hah.
I’m going back to The Netherlands in March!
Oh and my final prediction for 2007 is that pinkeyedjim.com and fuckingnastyshit.com are both going to hit their tipping points (FNS is a lot closer than PEJ, but they’re both gonna do it).

It’ll be fun to check this post this time next year when we do our 2007 year in review.

See you in cyberspace.

That’s right folks, you have something in common with Adolph Hitler.

Congratulations!

Ok, so you want to know what it is?

You and Hitler have both been Time Magazine’s “Person of the Year.”

Time’s January 2, 1939 Cover, featuring Adolph Hitler as “Man of the Year”

So again: Congratulations!

Hey, if you like pot, be sure to check out the newest Pink Eyed Jim Worldwide site: Blunt Notes. It’s a completely unique and real look at pot law, culture, and politics by Mauricio Enigma, who has some very personal experience in all three.

More bud wallpapers from yours truly. This time it’s Matanuska Thunderfuck, in my opinion the most colorfully named strain.

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