excellent comments...i'm excited with all the developments...the solution is not going to be one savior effort from a singular source, but a combination of many voices harmonizing our need for true freedom.

Try:http://cheaptalk.marijuana.com/420/index.php?s

Then click- Legalization- then click-TA-DA!!!

http://cheaptalk.marijuana.com/420/.php?threadid=2134&goto=newpost

A little idealistic, but, who knows??

Of course, there is a reason why the LP hasn't made much more than a dent: too many cannabis users and sympathizers either vote Republican, vote Democrat, or don't vote at all. There is another reason: they are extremely right-wing in their fiscal policies (as right-wing as Greens are left-wing, which is why that party also has not made much more than a dent).

Finally, (and perhaps most importantly) the Libertarian Party is all but unacknowledged by the mainstream media, and it is a sad fact that the bulk of America's voters get all of their information from the mainstream media (even online, the biggest media outlets are still owned by corporate America: Iwon is owned by CBS, Lycos made a deal last year to be a front for the ONDCP, then there are CNN.com, MSNBC.com, ABCNews.com, etc.).

Still, the Libertarian Party gains votes and respect each year they are on the ballots. Last year they were on more ballots than any other third party (the Greens were far behind, yet their candidate for president got almost all of the third party coverage, so he got the votes).

No, we need more than support from groups like the NRA (many of whose members also belong to the LP). What we need is a voice beyond our own earshot. The NRA is a one-issue organization that, by definition, cannot risk losing support from its constituents by officially supporting other controversial causes. And we do have supporters in the NRA, just as we have support among environmentalists (if you ask me, those are the people who should be directly involved; the drug war issue is, at its core, an environmental issue), fiscal conservatives, fiscal liberals, economists, psychiatrists, medical doctors, abortion rights advocates, right-to-lifers, death penalty protesters, prison reformers, and people from every conceivable occupation.

There are over 350 different drug policy reform groups across this country, and you can bet that many focus on specific issues within the larger drug policy reform issue. But the fact that there are so many points up the truth that we have a heck of a lot more supporters than we realize. Perhaps what we should do is find a way to draw all of these groups together.

I believe that groups like The Lindesmith Center-Drug Policy Foundation and DRCNet are attempting to do just that (check out the DRCNet website at http://www.drcnet.org to see what I mean). I think that the Internet is the key to drawing all of these groups together, and sites like Cannabis News, with its list of links to other sites (and those sites have links to other sites, and so on . . .) is an excellent example of how this drawing-together is done.

That's why it is so important to me that we do not cause division among ourselves. It is important to have as many people on board as possible. That is why it is important for everyone to feel free to express his or her opinions, and that while we can have disagreements, we should not let those disagreements divide us. Civility among the ranks is one good way to insure that our numbers will continue to grow. I am thankful to have a place like Cannabis News where such civility is both maintained and appreciated (with only a few exceptions every once in a while, and even then we tend to rally around one another).

Wow. This is a long post (I know, not unusual for me). I hope it holds together and makes sense.

i will defend TO THE DEATH the right of every american to
keep firearms...it's the only thing that keeps the guvmint
in WARshington from enslaving us...we have ALOT in common
with the NRA...we are natural allies...fighting the same
battle...

some of us are squeemish about guns...some of them are
squeemish about drugs...but we all agree that our
constitution is being raped by powerful interests that would
remove our rights as americans and human beings...we MUST
win this war, for ourselves and our grandchildren..

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

1500 tons producing $8,000,000,000 is $166.67 per oz...

if they insisted on the higher figure,(and kept cultivation
illegal) the pot on the street would be cheaper and more
plentiful than in the drug stores...