UPDATE: 2009-08-16 —  the video problem (Item 1) is now resolved, thank you for your patience. :)

Quick update for y'all following Hotbox tech news...

1. JomSocial's video uploader functionality is malfunctioning. Apologies for this, I'll hopefully have it resolved within a day or two. If you're able to log on to Azrul's website, I invite you to bitch them out for me (I can't given that JomSocial.com is currently not loading for me.)
2. We're planning on a bunch of mobile apps for Hotbox, enabling contributors to upload photos and videos on the fly from their iPhones, Blackberries or Android-based devices. Expect to see this in Fall '09.
3. We're also going to start work on our first PDF edition fairly shortly; I'll let Ændrew post about that and not give out too many details...

Again, apologies for the video downtime; if you're wanting to upload video from Shambhala, please check back in a day or so! We want your videos!

After a hard night of coding and graphic design, we are finally ready to roll out our advertising support on the recently-redesigned Hotbox Magazine.com.

Our ads are sold on a per-month basis through our specialized server. Instead of the overly complex model we had before, all ads are now $99 per month for a rotation, excluding the top banner ad next to our logo in the header, which is $199 per month and takes up more screen space (500px x 70px as opposed to 468px x 60px for regular banners, or 180x180 px for the square sidebar ads.).

As a special introductory deal, all ad orders placed before September 1 receive a free month. Please mention the August Special when ordering.

April 20th marks the relaunch of Hotbox Magazine, both in form and content. Here's what's new and what we're planning for the next few months:

• To begin, the lovely Andi von Doom is posting a new photo set later today from her travels to Ontario. Stay tuned!
• Secondly, Hotbox is pleased to present our newly-redesigned and updated website! Ever wished you had a place to freely and openly talk about cannabis, in a supportive, community-driven environment? Hotboxmagazine.com is working to become the Facebook of the cannabis community, helping activists connect with supporters in their area while also being a place for anyone wanting to write about the Drug War to be able to do so.
• We're also relaunching TokinHotChicks.com, our alternative beauty modeling site. The new website has a redesigned gallery, community content, info about our various projects and more strong, intelligent, cannabis-smoking women than you can shake a bong at. If you have an account at Hotbox Magazine, it also works there. Click "Models" above to check it out!
• As well, please say Hello to Johnny Elbow, our new Entertainment Editor! Johnny has some mad plans for Entertainment coverage this summer; if you want to be involved, might I suggest logging in and adding yourself to the Entertainment mailing list...?
• The Hotbox Tokenomics project is now functional, and very much in need of data. If you want to contribute to a broader scientific discussion on the economic impact of cannabis and recently bought an ounce, please check it out!

Intelligent discussion is needed about drug policy, and Hotbox Magazine believes that citizen experts have some of the most intelligent and nuanced opinions on the topic, opinions that deserve to be heard.

Cannabis legalization shouldn't just happen, it will within a decade. One statician has analyzed the current upward trend in the U.S. and predicts support with reach supermajority status by 2022. Managing Editor Ændrew Rininsland has predicted legalization will be a possibility by 2010 and argues from a political science perspective why he thinks we're still on track in an expansive paper released on Hotbox later this month. Meanwhile, Current Affairs Xander Harding looks at the recent media discussion of cannabis legalization in a piece later for today—quite suiting for 4/20 in what may perhaps be remembered as the year when cannabis legalization finally became a topic on politicians' lips.

Washington Senator Jeanne Kohl-Welles submitted a bill Jan. 14 to the legislature regarding decriminalizing small amounts of cannabis. It'll probably be awhile before it does anything (It's currently been referred to a senate subcommittee), but something definitely worth following. Washington has a fairly vibrant cannabis community and this would be a huge boost for them.

Original Media Awareness Project article

Smokkr link

According to this Media Awareness Project article reprinting information from the Prairie Post, the Alberta Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission (AADAC) with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) have compiled a fairly-detailed booklet to help parents talk to kids about drug usage.

Positives:

• It is fairly factually accurate in its portrayal of many drugs.
• It suggests parents create an open dialogue about drugs with their kids.

Negatives:

• Its portrayal of cannabis in particular is factually inaccurate, in particular:
  • "decreased motivation and interest, as well as difficulties with memory and concentration"
    • This has never been proven.
  • "chronic coughing and lung infections"
  • "cancer (As a result of the heavy use of pesticides and fertilizer in indoor grow-ops, the tar in cannabis smoke contains much higher amounts of cancer-producing agents than tar in tobacco smoke.)"
    • The prior two points are inaccurate; several studies have shown that cannabis users do not have any of the chronic lung issues that afflict tobacco smokers.
  • "psychological and physical dependence can occur among heavy or regular users."
    • Any study of cannabis has shown it has next to no physical dependence symptoms.
  • They also go to great lengths to state that cannabis grown today is much stronger than in the '60s. In fact, this increase in potency has would have an inverse effect on any issues that do in fact exist, due to less inhaled smoke.

Frankly, the way I see it, the best way to have a family discussion about drugs is around a Volcano.

The PDF is available here.

We're gradually phasing out WordPress Multi-User for IDoBlog, a component better integrated with our CMS system. If you have a WordPress blog on our blogs.hotboxmagazine.com subdomain already, please use the new "Write Blog Entry" link in the user menu on the side after you login now instead.

For those wanting to create a blog, all you have to do is log-in and click "Write Blog Entry"; no confusing setup with WordPress required!

Blogs will be one of the fundamental aspects of Hotbox in the long run; we invite anyone who's interested to start a blog and contribute to our project.