Check out this amazing new video from the Drug Policy Alliance. From their website:

Incarcerex relieves election-related anxieties. It creates the illusion that politicians are improving voters' lives by locking up people who violate drug laws.

Hey everyone,
I found this great video on PotTV.net.  I thought you would find it interesting!

-Reprinted from Time Magazine-

By John Cloud

Are psychedelics good for you? It's such a hippie relic of a question
that it's almost embarrassing to ask. But a quiet psychedelic
renaissance is beginning at the highest levels of American science,
including the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and Harvard,
which is conducting what is thought to be its first research into
therapeutic uses of psychedelics (in this case, Ecstasy) since the
university fired Timothy Leary in 1963. But should we be prying open
the doors of perception again? Wasn't the whole thing a disaster the
first time?

The answer to both questions is yes. The study of psychedelics in the
'50s and '60s eventually devolved into the drug free-for-all of the
'70s. But the new research is careful and promising. Last year two top
journals, the Archives of General Psychiatry and the Journal of
Clinical Psychiatry, published papers showing clear benefits from the
use of psychedelics to treat mental illness. Both were small studies,
just 27 subjects total. But the Archives paper--whose lead author, Dr.
Carlos Zarate Jr., is chief of the Mood and Anxiety Disorders Research
Unit at NIMH--found "robust and rapid antidepressant effects" that
remained for a week after depressed subjects were given ketamine
(colloquial name: Special K or usually just k). In the other study, a
team led by Dr. Francisco Moreno of the University of Arizona gave
psilocybin (the merrymaking chemical in psychedelic mushrooms) to
obsessive-compulsive-disorder patients, most of whom later showed
"acute reductions in core OCD symptoms." Now researchers at Harvard are
studying how Ecstasy might help alleviate anxiety disorders, and the
Beckley Foundation, a British trust, has received approval to begin
what will be the first human studies with LSD since the 1970s.

continues here...  

Stephen Harper's Conservative Party is due to present their new anti-drug strategy to parliament within a few days. While the details of the program are as of yet unknown it is assumed it will take a "tough on crime" approach reminiscent of the U.S. War on Drugs. We know that the Conservatives wish to crack down even harder on cannabis grow-ops and drug traffickers by using mandatory minimum sentences. They also want to increase the flow of money to police while de-emphasizing harm reduction strategies. This part of the plan has been in place since March when the Conservatives allocated an additional $70 million to enforcement, prevention and treatment while negating to even mention various successful and long running harm reduction programs like needle exchanges and sterile crack pipe distributors. Calgary's 10-year-old needle disposal program (which the U.S. Centre for Disease Control and Prevention has recently recommended all U.S. cities adopt) is but one of the initiatives threatened by the Conservative assault.

We've already seen where this path goes and it's an ugly journey. The War on Drugs in the United States has been an abject failure and there is no reason to believe its delusional goals and vicious methods will succeed in Canada. There has never been and there will never be a drug free society - to speak of such is lunacy - but the Conservative government has once again eschewed science, reason, history and experience for right-wing ideology. Because of the Conservative's minority government status however, they will need the support of the other parties to pass this strategy through legislature, support they are unlikely to get.

Read this article by StopTheDrugWar.org for more info 

Expert commission calls for total overhaul of UK drugs legislation

A survey of UK drug experts says alcohol and cigarettes cause more harm than many illegal drugs. All drugs were marked on the physical harm
they caused to the individual user, their tendency to cause dependence
and their social harm, including their effect on families, communities
and society such as crime and Health costs. Each was given an overall
harm score by two separate groups of experts which yielded roughly
similar results.

"A two-year survey of drug use reached the damning conclusion that the
current legislation is "not fit for purpose", failing to recognize that
alcohol and tobacco can cause more harm than "demonized" substances
such as cannabis and ecstasy..."

Read more...

Check out this fascinating article about the convergence of underground dance parties and drug gangs in one of Brazil's poorest urban shantytowns. The gangs theselves often bankroll these wildly popular parties and the most powerful drug factions even commission musicians to make hit songs in their honour.   

In the slums of Rio De Janeiro, drug lords armed with submachine guns have
joined forces with djs armed with massive sound systems and rude,
raunchy singles. Welcome to the most exciting—and dangerous—underground
club scene in the world.

By Alex Bellos

Read the full article at: 

http://www.blender.com/guide/articles.aspx?ID=1653 

Over the next several weeks, we'll be distributing a beautiful, educational, new, FREE CD-rom on Cannabis Harm Reduction, entitled 'Holy Smokes'. These are limited edition discs filled with a wealth of Canna info and music from some of your favourites:

Wassabi Collective


King Sunshine


Subatomic Sound System


Freedom of Expression


Telefunk Soundsystem


The Phat Conductor


And MORE!

Catch up with us at the Global Marijuana March on Saturday May 5th at Queen's Park (12-7pm), or locate the TRIP booth at your next event.

You don't wanna miss this...

Join us during a day-long tribute to perhaps the most controversial plant on the planet!

On Saturday May 5th, 20,000 herbalists will convene at Queen Park for a celebration of Cannabis and pot-activism, and resulting in the pleasure-enhancing vibes that occur when humans congregate and unify.  Stick close to the Speaker Stage, where you can TRIP representatives speak alongside such notable names as Marc Emery, Alan Young, and Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP).  Times are posted below:

Speakers Schedule

Times Speaker
12:30pm Fernando Ferrera - CALM Meduser
12:55pm Eduardo Sousa - Council of Canadians
1:20pm Gary Pieters - Committee to Memorialize the Abolition of Slave Trade
1:45pm Marc Emery - Cannabis Culture
2:10pm Parade / March
3:30pm Erin Lewis - TRIP

3:55pm Allison Myrden - Law Enforcement Against Prohibition
4:20pm ** BREAK **
4:45pm Dr. Brian McAllister - York University Meduser
5:10pm Mama Kind, Lisa Kirkman, Skunk Mag
5:45pm Alan Young - Prostitution Legal Challenge

First and foremost, let me thank all of you who made it out to our Ketamine Kommunity Discussion on April 17th.  We had a fantastic turn out (65+ peepz), and many more people who wrote in or called to say that they were very interested in the information but unfortunately could not attend.  Thank you *all* for your interest in what we feel is an important kommunity issue.

Highlights of the evening included amusing questions like, 'Do you believe that K is a magical drug?', and 'Does K make you smarter?'.

While we weren't able to answer all of the questions you had, we hope that you learned something new, discovered a new resource available to you, or perhaps have a better understanding of how our kommunities are identifying with K.  If you didnt get to ask your question at the forum, please feel free to email us with it. (trip at tripproject.ca)

Some of you are asking, 'what's next?'.

We're currently putting together a summary of the Ketamine survey that we conducted last year, and we're also posting a PDF of the powerpoint presentation that was given at the discussion.  The latter will be coming *very* soon, as soon as we can find a PPT-PDF converter for OSx (if you know of one that is FREE, please email!). We're also exploring the potential development of more concrete supports for K users; we'll keep you posted. 

If you're interested in getting involved in any future K-related projects or groups (literature development, K support groups, research, etc.), please email us and we'll add your name to a list.

Thanks again for your interest and support -- and stay connected for future K tranzmissionz...

-Erin, TRIP!