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CLIPPING 07/11/2012 CLIPPING VIVAVOZ Fonte: Folha SP Seção: Página: Data: 07/11/2012 Colorado e Washington legalizam uso recreativo da maconha nos EUA FERNANDA EZABELLA ENVIADA ESPECIAL A DENVER, COLORADO (EUA) Colorado e Washington são os primeiros Estados americanos a legalizar o uso recreativo da maconha, após referendos votados nesta terça-feira (6) junto com a eleição presidencial que reelegeu o democrata Barack Obama. Os resultados colocam os dois Estados em choque direto com o governo federal, que continuará considerando a droga de alto risco e sem teor medicinal. O Departamento de Justiça afirmou que sua política não mudará. No Colorado, com mais de 50% das urnas apuradas, 52,7% dos votos foram a favor da medida. Já em Washington, onde a campanha do sim arrecadou o equivalente a R$ 12 milhões, passou com 55% dos votos. Em Oregon, um referendo similar não foi aprovado pela população. Em ambas regiões, a posse de até 28 gramas de maconha será legalizada para maiores de 21 anos. Também serão permitidas a venda e taxação da droga em lojas licenciadas pelos Estados, num sistema parecido com controle de bebidas alcoólicas. "Ainda temos muito trabalho a fazer para implementar. Mas, pelo menos, no ano que vem não teremos mais 10.000 pessoas sendo presas por causa de marijuana", disse Mason Tvert, um dos diretores da campanha, em seu discurso de vitória para cerca de 200 pessoas que acompanhavam a apuração dos votos num bar em Denver. Moradora de Broomfield, Colorado, a aposentada Jean Henderson, 73, disse ter votado pela legalização. "Não é pior do que o álcool, e de qualquer forma é amplamente usada no Colorado. O Estado pode se beneficiar dos impostos em vez de colocar as pessoas na cadeia", disse. A legalização da maconha deve acontecer em 30 dias, e a abertura de lojas só deve ocorrer em 2014, com possível interferência do governo federal. As medidas também legalizam plantio de cânhamo para fabricação de produtos como tecidos e alimentos. Segundo os organizadores do referendo no Colorado, a medida prevê US$ 60 milhões por ano em novos impostos para o Estado, começando em 2014. "É uma receita que atualmente está na mão de cartéis, no submundo, e que agora poderá ser capturada pelo Estado", disse à Folha Brian Vicente, principal proponente da causa, que tentou em 2006 um referendo parecido. USO MEDICINAL Colorado, Washington e Oregon já estão entre os 17 Estados que, junto com o Distrito de Columbia, onde fica a capital dos EUA, Washington DC, autorizam o uso médico da maconha. Também na eleição de terça, o Estado de Massachusetts aprovou o uso medicinal da droga. Segundo o jornal "The Boston Globe", com 49% dos votos apurados, 63% tinham votado a favor da medida. O uso medicinal está liberado a partir de 2013 para pessoas com doenças debilitantes que tenham permissão médica. Elas poderão comprar maconha em centros de distribuição do Estado. O governo federal considera a planta uma droga de alto risco e liderou uma série de apreensões contra fazendeiros e lojas na Califórnia entre 2011 e 2012, após o fracasso do referendo para legalizar seu uso recreativo em 2010. CLIPPING VIVAVOZ Fonte: Guardian Seção: Página: Data: 07/11/2012 Colorado and Washington enjoy their marijuana moment Pot users celebrate historic victory – but drug's continuing illegality under federal law promises confusion Pro-cannabis protesters were celebrating in Colorado and Washington – but were left disappointed in Oregon. Photograph: Alan Porritt/EPA Marijuana users and activists celebrated the drug's legalisation inColorado and Washington as landmark victories on Wednesday but uncertainty over the federal government's response tempered jubilation. Voters in both states on Tuesday approved amendments legalising the recreational use of marijuana, historic decisions that reflect growing disenchantment across the US with the decades-old "war on drugs". A coalition of pot shop dispensaries, civil rights advocates and former law enforcers argued that legalisation would hit drug cartels' profits, boost state tax revenues and reduce the mass incarceration of African Americans and Latinos. "I really think this is the beginning of the end for marijuana prohibition, not only in the US, but in many countries across the world, including the UK," said Sean McAllister, a former assistant attorney general in Colorado who supported the change. "We didn't just legalise it – we created a regulatory system." Norm Stamper, a former Seattle police chief and member of the groupLaw Enforcement Against Prohibition, said he was very happy. "After 40 years of the racist, destructive exercise in futility that is the war on drugs, my home state of Washington has now put us on a different path." Beau Kilmer, co-director of the Rand Drug Policy Research Centre, called the votes groundbreaking. Once the elections are certified – which could take up to two months – personal possession of up to an ounce (28.5 grams) of marijuana will be legal for anyone aged 21 or over in Washington and Colorado. Pot, previously available for medicinal purposes at dispensaries, will be sold and taxed at state-licensed stores. Washington still bans personal cultivation, but Colorado will allow six plants per person. Neither state allows public use. Voters in Oregon rejected legalisation in their state. Social media erupted with jokes and puns, many focusing on Denver's nickname as the Mile High City and Colorado's official song, Rocky Mountain High. Questions abound over whether Colorado and Washington will become Amsterdam-style magnets for marijuana tourism, and over how federal authorities will respond. The justice department said federal law making pot illegal remained unchanged. The Obama administration has used federal law to crack down on dispensaries in California and elsewhere, making some Colorado and Washington dispensaries nervous of a backlash. "We don't know what's going to happen – no clue," said one Denver store owner, declining to be named. McAllister, the former assistant attorney general, predicted that Obama, secure in a second term, would leave Colorado alone because its regulations were tighter and clearer than the nebulous regulations which left California's open to abuse. State leaders had opposed the legalisation but promised to respect the vote. "This will be a complicated process, but we intend to follow through," said the Democratic governor, John Hickenlooper. "That said, federal law still says marijuana is an illegal drug, so don't break out the Cheetos or Goldfish too quickly." Mike Coffman, a re-elected Republican congressman, told the Guardian: "I need to see what other states are doing but clearly if there is a sentiment that is moving nationally to legalise marijuana, then I certainly respect the decisions by the states. And I would support the forming of legislation at the federal level. But I don't know if I'm there yet. I need to study and see what the other states are doing." CLIPPING VIVAVOZ Fonte: Guardian Seção: Página: Data: 07/11/2012 Marijuana ballot measures: US voters send mixed message on pot Voters were deciding on legalization in some states while others weighed medical cannabis schemes. How did they fare? Medical marijuana on sale in Denver. Voters in Colorado and Washington have backed legalising its sale for recreational use. Photograph: Rick Wilking/Reuters The results are in from the US 2012 elections, and among the many issues voters weighed in on were several ballot initiatives regulating the sale and legality of marijuana. The pot measures in Oregon, Washington, Montana and Colorado seemed set to pass. Here is how they broke down on election night: Massachusetts Measure: Eliminating state civil and criminal penalties for patients who use medical marijuana Result: Yes, 63% to 37% How we called it: Yes, by 25 to 30 percentage points Arkansas Measure: Legalizing the use of medical marijuana and establishing nonprofit dispensaries to supply the drug Result: Against, 51% to 49% How we called it: Against, by 15 to 20 percentage points Colorado Measure: Legalizing marijuana use for those 21 years and over. It would also be regulated and taxed much like tobacco and alcohol Result: Yes, 55% to 45% How we called it: Yes, by 5 to 10 percentage points Montana Measure: Impose tighter restrictions on the use, cultivation and distribution of medical marijuana Result: For, 57% to 43% How we called it: For, by 15 to 30 percentage points Oregon Measure: Legalizing the use and cultivation of marijuana without a license, while a commission would regulate commercial cultivation/sale Result: No, 55% to 45% How we called it: No, by 5 to 10 percentage points Washington Measure: Loosening restrictions on the sale, production and use of marijuana, with a 25% excise tax imposed on commercial sales of the drug Result: Yes, 55% to 45% How we called it: Yes, by 10 to 20 percentage points Photograph: Juan Mabromata/AFP/Getty Images Joanna Walters reported on the three key states that would essentially be outright legalizing marijuana in the lead up to election day – in the end, only Oregon failed to pass the measure. States legalizing cannabisis seen by many as being in defiance of the federal government's annual $44bn war on drugs, which the Global Commission on Drug Policy declared a failure: If recreational use is approved, a new drug industry would inevitably boom and the states expect a tax bonanza from the income generated. Colorado plans to spend the first $40m a year on schools, although the state's largest teachers' union is firmly against legalisation. A yes vote would allow the possession and private use of up to an ounce of cannabis, but it would not be legal to smoke a joint in the street. However, owners of medical dispensaries are worried that in the midst of the federal government taking the states to court over the issue, the progresses made by the medical community will be set back. The case of disabled veteran Michael Krawitz covered by Karen McVeighhighlights the struggles many US citizens face in trying to attain medical marijuana today: Krawitz now divides his time between Oregon, the only state that allows non-residents to use medical marijuana, and his family's home state Virginia, where medical marijuana is illegal. His needs are now met by three different physicians, with his medical records split accordingly, he said. Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson contributed his thoughts on the issue last month to Comment is free, emphasizing the inherent failure in banning marijuana: Think of the strain and costs to our law enforcement, court system and prisons. And for what? Is marijuana use decreasing? No. Are cartels any less powerful and violent? I'm afraid not. Is pot difficult for minors to obtain? Nope. In fact, when polled, kids say it's easier to get marijuana than it is to get alcohol. Why? It's simple. Black market dealers don't ID. In sum, it was a historic night for advocates of the legalization of marijuana with the victories in Colorado and Washington. However, it is only a matter of time before the federal government steps in to challenge them. CLIPPING VIVAVOZ Fonte: Guardian Seção: Página: Data: 07/11/2012 Ritalin before an exam fails the test of common sense Students don't need to be tested for drugs before exams – the idea of Ritalin being performance-enhancing is bogus 'Drugs give your brain chemistry a kick. But this is hardly going to help you in the dreary world of exams and coursework.' Photograph: Murdo Macleod for the Guardian Here's the latest panic about drugs. Students are, apparently, taking drugs to give them an academic edge. Some are taking Ritalin, the medicine more typically used to treat ADHD – it seems to make them feel sharper on exam day, and might improve concentration and shortterm memory. So academics are worried that these dopers might have an advantage unavailable to people who can't, or won't, get hold of the drugs. In a survey, as many as 10% say they've done it. Oh dear, people are saying. Test them! Root them out! But should we really worry about drugs enhancing academic performance? For centuries, people have got it into their heads that taking drugs might improve one's mental state. Three hundred years ago, it was thought that smoking opium fired the imagination, and might have figured in some of Coleridge's best poetry. Sure, it makes you feel like a poet. But it doesn't, in my experience, make you write like one. You stare at things, such as bricks or drainpipes, and think new thoughts about them. But I don't think drugs or drink can make you write good poetry; it's just that artist-types tend to drink and get high, because being an artist is so frustrating. In the 19th century, all sorts of people, including Sigmund Freud, believed that cocaine gave the mind special powers. And now, of course, everybody knows that it just makes the mind think it has special powers, while actually turning it, as Robert de Niro tells the coke-snorting Ray Liotta in Goodfellas, into a "mush". In the 1990s, in his book Listening to Prozac, psychiatrist Peter Kramerdescribed his moral qualms about prescribing this new drug. Might it be giving certain patients an unfair advantage? Two decades on, I think we all know the answer to that question. Prozac helps you to hide from your problems. But will it solve them? I think not. The thing about drugs is that they alter your mind. They give your brain chemistry a kick. But this is hardly going to help you in the dreary world of exams and coursework. Drugs might appear to have a brief upside – but anyone who's ever taken them knows that, mostly, they have a worse downside. That's because your brain is designed to work on its own – it produces tiny amounts of different chemicals, in response to a complex world, in order to help you live in that world. It's like a tiny orchestra, spritzing out bits of dopamine here and serotonin there, learning as it goes. Imagine a Mozart concerto. Now imagine the Sex Pistols. That's what happens when you take drugs. It's what happens every time you take a drag from a cigarette. You get a blast of brain chemicals. It's also why taking drugs can be horribly addictive. With the Sex Pistols on stage, the Mozart orchestra packs up and goes home. The subtlety and complexity of your brain diminishes. When you take drugs, your brain fights back. Take too many painkillers, and you eventually become more sensitive to pain; take too much ecstasy, or anti-depressants, and you'll be more susceptible to misery. Drink coffee all the time and you'll be tired. Take speed and you'll slow down. Smoke weed and you'll get the giggles, but smoke weed all the time and you'll never feel like laughing. What was it these students were taking? Ah yes – Ritalin. The seasoned addiction writer Elizabeth Wurtzel, having weaned herself off cocaine, spent some time in the thrall of Ritalin. In her brilliant book More, Now, Again she says about Ritalin that she crushes it up and snorts it. Might Ritalin be an unfair advantage? Possibly, if conditions were perfect, on a good day. But not consistently. Put it this way: if I had to take a competitive exam, and I had the choice, I would want the other guys to be on Ritalin. If you really want your mind to be sharp, have three good nights' sleep in a row, followed by a brisk walk. Then take the exam. That really would be an unfair advantage.