No Cannibis for Kanavas

If 21 year old student journalist can be so misinformed on the issue of marijuana, it stands to reason that a middle-aged Republican politician would be even more so.

“The biggest problem I have about this bill is … the science doesn’t add up,” Kanavas, R-Brookfield, said on Sunday’s “UpFront with Mike Gousha.”

He noted smoking five joints a week has roughly the same harmful health effects of smoking a pack of cigarettes a day. Unlike taking a pill or other prescribed medication, the dosage cannot be controlled when a patient smokes marijuana.

I do not doubt that inhaling smoke – of any kind – is harmful to the human respiratory system. However, one of the first comprehensive studies of marijuana in 2006 found no link between pot smoking and cancer, and Harvard researchers say that cannibis may actually inhibit the growth of the same cancers that nicotine preserves and helps grow.

Furthermore, the only study that has alleged a link between marijuana smoking and lung cancer suggests that 3-4 joints a day is the equivalent of 20 cigarettes, not 5 joints a week = 20 cigarettes a day. Where Kanavas got this information would be highly interesting.

But what is interesting is that Kanavas can get away from this misinformation (again, if somebody can find a reliable study, I will retract the use of that term) because people accept the idea that illegal drugs are more dangerous than legal ones. He wildly exaggerated the numbers, but it doesn’t seem too incredible to the average person, so it passes.

Drunken state rep stands up for 4th amendment

It’s good to see Wisconsin be at the forefront of the fight for American principles – whether it’s Russ Feingold casting the lone vote against the Patriot Act (and the recent defense appropriations bill) or David Obey pushing for health care reform. However, it’s extra special when the state’s unique flavor of inebriation is injected into battles for noble causes.

Take State Rep. Jeff Wood, a Republican-turned-Independent from Chippewa Falls. In December Wood was arrested and pleaded no contest to his third OWI offense, as well as for possession of marijuana, which was found in his car by the arresting officer.

Wood is now asking a judge to reverse the conviction for pot possession, arguing that the state trooper did not have a warrant to search his vehicle. Wood is arguing that the search violated 4th amendment because the officer did not have probable cause to snoop around in his car. If the judge agrees, the marijuana found will have to be suppressed and the conviction would almost undoubtedly be overturned.

In other news, Wood is also seeking to have a 1991 OWI conviction thrown out because…it’s not explained.

Either way, this goes to show that electing drunken public servants may not be as detrimental to democratic government as many-a-Wisconsinite seems to think. Rep. Wood has the rare opportunity of truly standing up for our constitution in a way that Russ Feingold, despite all of his speeches and votes in favor of civil liberties, never will.