GO ASK ALLISON - ON THE DA & LOW LEVEL MARIJUANA CASES

LA's Dopest Attorney Allison Margolin talks about a recent incident where a Torrance District Attorney intimidated and coerced a medical marijuana patient to plead guilt

MARIJUANA SCHIZOPHRENIA REPORT IS PURE BUNK

Will One Joint Really Make You Schizoid?

Maia Szalavitz, July 30, 2007

Just what did a new study on marijuana and schizophrenia actually say – and what did the media leave out?

Watching the media cover marijuana is fascinating, offering deep insight into conventional wisdom, bias and failure to properly place science in context. The coverage of a new study claiming that marijuana increases the risk of later psychotic illnesses like schizophrenia by 40% displays many of these flaws.
What are the key questions reporters writing about such a study needs to ask? First, can the research prove causality? Most of the reporting here, to its credit, establishes at some point that it cannot,though you have to read pretty far down in some of it to understand this.

Second – and this is where virtually all of the coverage falls flat –, if marijuana produces what seems like such a large jump in risk for schizophrenia, have schizophrenia rates increased in line with marijuana use rates? A quick search of Medline shows that this is not the case-- in fact, as I noted here earlier, some experts think they may actually have fallen. Around the world, roughly 1% of the population has schizophrenia (and another 2% or so have other psychotic disorders), and this proportion doesn’t seem to change much. It is not correlated with population use rates of marijuana.

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NICOLE RICHIE TO SERVE 90 HOURS IN JAIL FOR DUI VIOLATION

Nicole Richie, co-star on"The Simple Life" was sentenced this moring at the Glendale courthouse to serve 90 hours in jail for driving under the influence in December. Richie has been given until September 28th to serve her jail hours.

Richie is rumored to be four months pregnant. She showed up at the courthouse with no immediate family, just her boyfriend, As part of her sentencing she is to complete 21 days of rehab, and will be on probation for three years.

GO ASK ALLISON- WHY'S THE DEA SO HELL-BENT ON CLOSING CANNABIS CLUBS?

LA's Dopest Attorney Allison Margolin talks about what is motivating the DEA to go after cannabis clubs so aggressive

YESTERDAY'S LA DEA RAIDS SECOND BIGGEST ALL TIME

DEA raids LA medical marijuana clinics

By ANDREW GLAZER, Associated Press Writer Thu Jul 26, 2:41 AM ET

LOS ANGELES - Federal agents raided 10 marijuana clinics Wednesday, the same day city leaders introduced a measure calling for an end to the crackdown on the dispensaries allowed under state law.

The bust netted five arrests, large quantities of marijuana and cash, and was the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's second-largest since California voters approved medical marijuana sales in 1996. The drug remains illegal under federal law.

DEA spokeswoman Sarah Pullen said the timing of the bust and the city's action was "purely coincidental."

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Allison has been asked to represent five medical marijuana prostesters that were arrested during the raids.

LINDSAY LOHAN SURRENDERS TO BEVERLY HILLS POLICE

Police book Lohan on charges spurred by May crash

By Richard Winton, Times Staff Writer
July 20, 2007

Actress Lindsay Lohan surrendered to Beverly Hills Police Thursday in connection with a driving under the influence incident in May.

A Los Angeles County Sheriff's website record shows she was taken into custody at about 4 p.m. and booked 15 minutes later. She was released an hour later in lieu of $30,000 bail.

Lohan was initially arrested on suspicion of drunken driving in May after she crashed her Mercedes convertible in Beverly Hills shortly before dawn. Lohan, 21 was slightly injured after she lost control of her car traveling west on Sunset Boulevard about 5:30 a.m., Beverly Hills police said. The car ended up striking a curb and shrubbery along Foothill Road. Two other people in the 2005 Mercedes SL65 -- a car that normally seats a driver and one passenger -- were not hurt. The "Georgia Rule" and "Mean Girls" star left the scene of the crash and was taken by an unidentified associate to Century City Doctors Hospital, Lt. Mitch McCann told the Times at the time.

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DEA MAILS WARNING LETTERS TO CANNABIS CLUB LANDLORDS

DEA targets landlords of pot outlets

About 150 L.A. owners are told they could face jail and lose properties rented to dispensaries.

By Eric Bailey, Times Staff Writer
July 17, 2007

Raising the stakes in the federal government's war against medical marijuana, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has warned more than 150 Los Angeles landlords that they risk arrest and the loss of their properties if they continue renting to cannabis dispensaries.

The two-page letter sent last week by Timothy J. Landrum, DEA special agent in charge of the Los Angeles office, has whipped up worries among landlords and dispensary operators in a region that has seen a proliferation of the businesses in the last two years.

"I'm devastated," said Lisa Sawoya, who left her lucrative job selling high-tech hospital equipment to open a dispensary 18 months ago in Hollywood. "My landlord believes in cannabis as medicine. But they're taking the letter very seriously. So I'll be closing my doors at the end of this month."

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excerpt from landlord letter:

"The DEA has determined you own, or have under your management or control, a building located at [ADDRESS]. The DEA has determined there is a marijuana dispensary, [NAME], operating on the property.

This is a violation of federal law...."

ORANGE COUNTY ACCEPTS MEDICAL MARIJUANA

O.C. to license medical marijuana

In a switch from an earlier stand, the county will issue ID cards and validate prescriptions.

By Christian Berthelsen, Times Staff Writer
July 18, 2007

Orange County will begin licensing medical marijuana use and issuing identification cards to patients who are entitled to it under a plan approved by county supervisors Tuesday.

The decision marked a surprise turnabout from just three months ago, when the proposal initially seemed doomed to failure.

Under the plan, the county will create a system to identify patients eligible to use marijuana for medical purposes, and issue them identification cards, validate prescriptions and monitor the qualifications of care providers who dispense the drug.

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CATHOLIC CHURCH AGREES TO PAY 660 MILLION FOR CLERGY ABUSE

Lee Bashforth says the church settled at the last minute to avoid a public trial.

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- A judge on Monday approved a $660 million settlement between the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles and more than 500 alleged victims of clergy abuse, the largest payout yet in a nationwide sex abuse scandal.

Some of the plaintiffs sobbed as the deal was formally approved and a moment of silence was held for others who had died during the years of negotiations.

"This is the right result," said Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Haley Fromholz.

"Settling the cases was the right thing to do, and it was done by dint of a number of extremely talented and dedicated people putting in an awful lot of time."

The deal came after more than five years of negotiations and is by far the largest payout by any diocese since the clergy abuse scandal emerged in Boston in 2002.

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CELEBRITIES LINE UP FOR HOLLYWOOD'S WONDERLAND

Is Celebrity Rehab Effective?

With So Many Going To Get Sober, It Now Just Seems Like A Trend

Lindsay Lohan, show here parting at the nightclub Warehouse on April 12, 2007, in Tokyo, is one of many celebrities who have checked into rehab.

Not so long ago, alcohol and drug addiction in Hollywood were considered taboo, something shameful. But now hardly a week goes by without a celebrity announcing they've checked into rehab.

Young Hollywood just loves to party but the seduction of alcohol and drugs has led many to rehab facilities like Wonderland, co-founded by Howard Samuels. It was reportedly where Lindsay Lohan went to get sober the first time.

"I have kids lining up at the door that are 19, 20, 21, that are on cocaine on a daily basis. They're doing ecstasy. They're smoking pot 24 hours a day," Samuels said.

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ED ROSENTHAL MAKES A BIG CASE IN FEDERAL COURT

Pot advocate admonishes federal judge

Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer

(07-06) 17:23 PDT -- Marijuana advocate Ed Rosenthal lectured a federal judge Friday before being sentenced to a day in jail -- which he has already served -- for growing pot plants for medicinal use.

"I am proud of what I did. I know I have done nothing wrong,'' Rosenthal told U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer. Referring to the two juries that convicted him of violating federal drug laws without hearing that the marijuana was intended for medical use, Rosenthal said, "You have now hurt 24 jurors. ...You left them feeling guilty about their unwitting role in these faux trials.''

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STUDENTS PASS ON POT FOR PILLS ON TODAY'S CAMPUSES

Experts: Pills becoming the new marijuana on campus

Elizabeth Cohen
CNN

ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- The prescription drugs allegedly found in Al Gore III's possession this week are favorites among young people, according to drug abuse experts, who say prescription drugs may soon overtake street drugs in popularity.
art.pills.jpg

Some young people perceive that prescription drugs are safer than street drugs, experts say.

"I wouldn't be surprised if right now at this point in time, there are more kids abusing prescription drugs than abusing marijuana," said Joseph A. Califano Jr., chairman and president of CASA, the National Center on Alcohol and Substance Abuse at Columbia University.

Gore was arrested on charges of possessing -- in addition to marijuana -- Vicodin, Xanax, Valium and Adderall.

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This article really points out why pot must be legalized. And soon! Whatever you believe, keep in mind that while hundreds die every year from prescription medications, to date, not a single person has overdosed from smoking cannabis.

MAYORS AGREE DRUG WAR A BUST

Nation's Mayors Call for a New Bottom Line in U.S. Drug Policy

The United States Conference of Mayors (USCM) made history last weekend by passing a resolution calling for a public health approach to the problems of substance use and abuse (PDF). The resolution was sponsored by Mayor Rocky Anderson of Salt Lake City.

The resolution proclaims the war on drugs a failure, 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."

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NORML PODCAST

My very first Norml Podcast interview with Chris Goldstein

GO ASK ALLISON - NORML QUESTION ON WHAT HARVARD WAS LIKE

Here's a clip from my podcast interview with Norml's producer Chris Goldstein. The podcast will be availabe on Norml's site as well as here on my blog.

Thank you Chris!

On this Go Ask Allison - Norml video Chris asks me about my early days at Harvard which gave me the opportunithy to once again praise a man who opened doors for me, my mentor; Professor Peter Bsrton Hutt.

THE ALLURE OF DRUGS - ALLISON MARGOLIN'S SUNDAY DAILY NEWS ARTICLE

This courtroom story/opinion piece was published in Sunday's Daily News - 6/24/07

Media, laws glamorize drug use
BY ALLISON MARGOLIN, Guest Columnist

I’m sitting in Glendale court, waiting for the judge to call out my client’s name, relatively bored. To pass the time, I am reading the June issue of Allure magazine. As I flip through the mag, I pass an article purporting to be an expose on drug use among celebrities. At first I don’t read it. As much as drug use is a part of my practice, and though it has been a source of interest for me as long as I can remember, sometimes it gets too much.

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PHIL SPECTOR WILL BE ACQUITTED - PREDICTS ALLISON

LA's Dopest Attorney gives us her legal opinion
on why the jury will find Phil Spector innocent.

MARIJUANA DOES NOT CAUSE CANCER !

Study Finds No Cancer-Marijuana Connection

By Marc Kaufman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, May 26, 2006; A03

The largest study of its kind has unexpectedly concluded that smoking marijuana, even regularly and heavily, does not lead to lung cancer.

The new findings "were against our expectations," said Donald Tashkin of the University of California at Los Angeles, a pulmonologist who has studied marijuana for 30 years.

"We hypothesized that there would be a positive association between marijuana use and lung cancer, and that the association would be more positive with heavier use," he said. "What we found instead was no association at all, and even a suggestion of some protective effect."

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LA'S DOPEST ATTORNEY

"The original LA's Dopest Attorney Youtube

"Allison Margolin calls herself Los Angeles’s “dopest attorney.” The 28-year-old graduate of Beverly Hills High, Columbia University and Harvard Law School has her own blog and promotional video on YouTube. Today, the Los Angeles Times helps her cause with a colorful profile of the ambitious young criminal defense lawyer.." Wall Street Journal