that's the big question on our minds - where do we go from here/now ?

i've bounced this issue around for quite some time while observing all the recent developments from around the world - belgium, canada, UK...real developments from the europeans...i've lived in europe - if any culture can rise above the war on drugs, it seems the euros are mature and aware enough to pull ahead...and it's happening...but the US...that's a toughy...alot of our population is stuck in some 1950s/60s pop TV/squeaky clean mindset.

so anyway, i've come to the conclusion we have to attach our fight to a sympathetic REAL political group that has a voice that is large enough to influence the masses, and cannot be ignored by the very powerful groups controlling our laws...take your pick...the NRA is just one...sure, hempfests are fine, but they don't have an agenda beyond that event...NORML is fine, but not mainstream enough yet...we should continue the dialogue and move forward...i know i'm ready...it's time to strike while the iron is hot.

by the way, this really is my second post...hee hee.

ksp

yes, this cause needs organized friends. the hard part is in the words "team up". not being a political boss or even very diplomatic personally, i'd have no idea how to do this. but that's what's needed. NRA, Parents Against Ritalin, environmental groups. our cause has a bad image and has to take second place to others. a deep recession or depression might help.

what is the programming language used to write the software for this website, the simple green and white mechanism i'm looking at now? is this html, java, what?

i dislike the government, so instead of just complaining, or recruiting a 500 man army of idiots, i think i'll set up a competing government. i'll call it Provisional Revolutionary Government. it will have absolutely no power whatsoever. it will consist of a board like this one, but more elaborate. all contributors will have the same name - Anonymous, or no name - because government must be devoid of personality and offer no opportunity for anyone to exercise control over large numbers of people. no heroes, no big shots, no christs. Power-type personalities of the future will have to content themselves with ant farms and the abuse of small pets, not the destruction of civilizations for the sake of a quirk of ego or fixation on a fallacious principle ( like "I will not be the first president to lose a war!"). the board will have the capacity to hold the articulation of millions of causes ranging from the intelligent to the setting up a 500 man army etc. each can be debated anonymously in print. each can be voted on. votes can be changed from day to day, continuously, as people wise up. votes must be refreshed from time to time to remain effective so that people who lose interest in a cause eventually lose the effect of an old and forgotten vote. i'll have to dig out an old Scientific American to find from an old article the best way of counting votes for satisfying the maximum number of voters. how would such a system become effective and translate votes to action? i have no idea. at first,maybe, action could be taken only on a local level. for example, someone might suggest that a traffic light and new prison be placed in Red CLoud, New Mexico (population 6). The whole world would be allowed to debate and vote on this issue, anyone who wants. hmm, this isn't working either. oh well, these quirks would get worked out on-line soon enough and the new governemnt, would eventually supplant the old. at that point, the form of the debates would change, by vote, from prose to image. corrupt and deceitful images would cause the level of literacy to degenerate and would influence people to vote for evil causes advertised by corrupt and ambitious - anonymous - individuals. we could be be tyrannized by a faceless System and have no one to complain about. Better, i guess, to just vote LIbertarian for now.

....and we will also make them reimburse us for all the time we
had to spend hassling to regain our freedoms,and rights...

the framework of our government is pretty good...we just
need to trim a few things...NIDA, DEA, ATF, IRS...most of
the FBI...and i'm sure you could add a few dozen more things
to the list...

there are so many things we can do...here's my short list of action plans that i've considered for a while, and have shared with other reasonble folks, just like you:

* team up with other powerful political action groups like the enviros or even the NRA - yes, the NRA...they likewise are getting sick of the constitution being trashed by the feds...tell me the NRA members don't whole heartedly support the 4th ammendment...we need large numbers of people supporting cannabis legalization...join forces...team up.

* go to local state representative meetings...every time my state rep shows up for a presentation, i politely look him square in the eye and tell him i am SICK of my hard earned tax dollars going to waste on this "war on some drugs"...i tell him it's a complete failure, and american lives are being wasted for consuming a plant, yes a plant (can you imagine if an animal was illegal !!!)...DUMB !!!

* endorse/promote responsible usage of cannabis...parents and teachers should be able to teach kid how to use beer, wine, sex and cannabis responsibly...kids aren't stupid - they want to be told the truth...be good/honest parents...teach how to use things responsibly.

* share cannabis recipes and teas with reasonable people/friends...some people think MJ is only for smoking...i love to prepare recipes from Marc Emery's Pot TV program "Cici the tap dancing Chef" with close friends, especially non-users...of course i go easy on the main ingredients for them...but you'd be amazed how ordinary people can enjoy these recipes...we gotta remove the burned-in bad hype from decades of brain washing...demonstrations work the best...words go so far...give them a tasty treat.

* here's one i can't get over...harry anslinger's message that marijuana was used by african americans to seduce white women and kids...i'm still not believing that african american attorneys haven't raised the flag on those extremely prejudiced remarks...it may have worked then, but times have changed, friends.

* there are ALOT of reasonable, hard working people in this country that are VERY SICK of being closet cannabis consumers...for goodness sakes, it's a beautiful plant with so many uses - why is this plant still SO illegal ??? i just can't believe it !!! I work with alot of very reasonable people who like to enjoy cannabis in their own way, but keep very quiet about it to secure their careers - this is unnecessary nonsense...i don't see them come to work high or drunk...they're responsible consumers like me, who are tired of worrying about their livelyhood disappearing for consuming cannabis.

i'm oversimplifying things a bit here, but i've been wanting to share these thoughts for a long time...good folks on this site, FOM - thanks for your endless work to keep us informed.

keep on keepin' on

"Drugs are a handicap. I don't think anyone should
use them."

I agree, Jose. Utter baloney. Without drugs, from
analgesics to entheogens, human life would be much
nastier and shorter. Gov. Johnson regularly trots out
this "just say no" line to prove he's not some
acid-tripping hippie, but it just provides plenty of return
fire for the antis and the nannies -- who believe that if
something is bad for you, it must therefore be regulated
or prohibited.

If you want an example of a truly principled politician,
take Steve Kubby. He regularly burned through joints
while holding forth eloquently on talk radio. He made
no secret of his high regard for cannabis. But we all
know what happened to him.

Johnson faces similar retribution from his enemies.
So should we begrudge him throwing a bone to the
snarling antis?

Kevin Hebert says,

The problem is the other 49 governors.

But Kaptinemo says,

out of 50+ Governors in the US, he is literally only
one of two men acting in that capacity [to tell the]
truth.

So my question is, does Jesse Ventura count or
doesn't he? On the one hand, he's not above
peppering his speeches with crowd-pleasing musings
on legalization. On the other hand, he's done
absolutely nothing (that I'm aware of) in furtherance of
that goal.

So is Jesse Ventura a friend or a foe of cannabis
advocates?

Also, Kevin suggests that if there were a credible
candidate who stood for legalization, voters would line
up behind him. But I'm less optimistic. In 2000, even
as medical marijuana initiatives won victories across
the country, avowed MM supporters Ralph Nader and
Harry Browne -- from the country's most respectable
third parties -- garnered only their usual insignificant
shares of the vote. The overriding theme of Harry
Browne's campaign was ending the War on Drugs.
The voters yawned. Gore and Bush both ruled out MM
-- Gore did so on an MTV talk show, for chrissakes --
and they got pretty much all the votes.

Unfortunately, the Reps and Dems have a lock on
electoral politics in this country, and with the exception
of Gary Johnson, their members hew to the party line. I
think more statewide initiatives are the answer, given
their demonstrated success, as opposed to
campaigns to elect third party candidates, which have
always failed.

The problem is the other 49 governors.

And virtually every member of Congress.

And the President.

And all but a handful of state legislators.

We need an action plan for the 2002 election. We need to make the drug war the biggest issue of the election. It certainly should be. I feel if the people are given a choice between candidates who support Prohibition and those who have had enough, the anti crowd will be eliminated.

I cannot help but notice however, that he is still forced to couch his phrases in terms that still deny the fact that everyone does drugs.

"Drugs are a handicap. I don't think anyone should use them. "

Baloney.

Just because there is NO truth in labelling required (or allowed?!) on tobacco or alcohol does not mean that they are not psychoctive drugs. And a quick sample of broadcast television reveals sales pitches every few seconds, practically begging us to ask our doctors for a cornucopia of mood-altering substances from Advil to Zantac, almost all of which are many times more dangerous than Cannabis.

Just as Al Gore said years ago, before he somehow became mute on the issue, it is time to balance these arguments against the fabric of our Constitution.

Watched him debate this very issue with the Anti's/Prohibitionists recently on CNN and "they" are so brainwashed that this fight for freedom is going to take alot more than one or two Governors voices!

But one of the things he's said here is troublesome:

"We should ask if public nuisances associated with drug use and dealing went up or down.

Now, as everyone here knows, Fed and State LEOs are not above playing fast and loose with the statistics; the much ballyhooed recent internationally organized DEA dog-and-pony show where arrest figures and seizure amounts were shown to be counted several times, and many arrests counted were NOT part of the actual operation at all, gave rise to legitimate complaints that DEA has been cooking the books.

(And of course, you must ask: was it just this once? I doubt it; they've probably been doing it for a long time and were just unlucky enough to get caught. So how much are they actually intercepting? I'd wager a fraction of one percent.)

Leaving the statistical analysis to people who have a vested interest in inflating figures for appearences sake is not a wise move.