The Alcohol Lobby and Cannabis Reform

Borrowed from here

It is probably one of the worst kept secrets in the world, but the Alcohol industry doesn't want cannabis legalized for medicinal purposes, and especially not for private home use.
Now, call me cynical (or even a conspiracy theorist), but I don't think that the Alcohol Lobby opposes Cannabis reform for altruistic reasons.

The Alcohol Industry employs a lot of people and keeps a lot of people happy (or unhappy if you can't control your Alcohol intake).

According to Alternet, there is mounting evidence that the Alcohol Lobby and certain Police groups (in opposition to their members) are the primary financial backers to California's anti Prop-19 group 'Public Safety First'.

I'll repeat what I've read of other opinion pieces. The Alcohol sector stands to lose a lot of money if cannabis is legalized across Western cultures. The Pharmaceutical Industry, another anti-Prop 19 heavy-weight will also lose a lot if a non-patentable drug is available to grow in our homes. Lastly, it is widely rumoured that Narcotic divisions of certain Police Departments will have a hard time justifying expenses if their one 'easy catch' offence is no longer available.

Will every state or territory in every Western country have to fight this type of attack when they see the light and try to pass a legalization motion for cannabis?

Thanks to Chilli Man for permission to edit and reprint.

1000's of Cannabis Convictions May be Based on Flawed Evidence

One of the most commonly used Cannabis detection methods may be responsible for the wrongful convictions of thousands of people.
According to AlterNet, the 'Duquenois-Levine' test, widely used by police forces as a screening test for Cannabis, is non-specific and may produce false positive. In fact, the manufacturers of the test stress that it should only be used as a preliminary screening test, prior to more specific testing methods.
Yet the test is routinely presented as the only evidence in cannabis use/possession charges.

Science Blog also covers this story.

Natural News ran a similar story back in 2009, stating cases where NIK tests were falsely flagging soaps and chocolates as narcotics and/or Cannabis.

Stop The Drug War ran the expose in 2009

The Australian Hemp Embassy is also re-reporting the story from AlterNet.