Cannabis News The November Coalition
  Coming Out of the Cannabis Closet
Posted by CN Staff on May 09, 2002 at 23:39:51 PT
By Ann Harrison, AlterNet 
Source: AlterNet 

cannabis Jodi James is a 34-year-old single mother of two, a Democratic candidate for the Florida House of Representatives and a marijuana smoker. James, who made a point of disclosing her marijuana use at the Florida state Democratic convention, is one of a growing number of people who believe it's time for pot smokers to step forward and challenge their negative stereotype.

"If many prominent people come out of the closet, it will change the idea that we have to hide, that we have to be ashamed," James says. "Coming out on this issue will change what will be okay for other politicians to do."

Some politicians have already been forced out of the closet, or have come out on their own. Michael Bloomberg, the mayor of New York City, was revealed to be a marijuana smoker by the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), which ran a series of advertisements featuring Bloomberg's reply to a reporter who asked him last summer if he had smoked marijuana, "You bet I did," said Bloomberg, "and I enjoyed it."

Other people who have voluntarily chosen to reveal their cannabis use include Don Topping, a professor emeritus at the University of Hawaii and Norm Kent, an attorney from Ft. Lauderdale and a recovering cancer patient. Kent uses marijuana for medical relief, as does James who became permanently disabled after a fall in 1987. But Kent hopes to move the cannabis debate beyond the question of medical use. He notes that the vast majority of the estimated 12 million American cannabis users are not lighting up to ease an ailment.

According to Kent, healthy cannabis smokers need to become a political constituency, much like gays and lesbians who built a political movement by shedding the "shame" of being homosexual. "It is about your right to be free and make decisions without the government telling you what you can do with your body," said Kent who publishes Express, the largest gay and lesbian newspaper in the state of Florida. "The rights you fight for can keep someone from going to jail."

Cannabis Consumers Campaign

A group of outspoken cannabis users, including James and Topping, are uniting to support the newly launched Cannabis Consumers Campaign -- a California-based movement that lobbies for the civil rights of marijuana smokers. "Are you tired of being treated like a second-class citizen, denied the same rights in society that our alcohol and tobacco-consuming peers enjoy?" reads a letter sent by the Campaign to prospective activists.

Campaign director Mikki Norris points out that cannabis smokers could have their children, jobs, public housing, drivers licenses, student loans and even their freedom taken away from them at any moment. "This is not just about the right to get high, it's about equal rights," said Norris in a recent address to the annual NORML conference in San Francisco. "I pay taxes, I earn a living, I recycle, I am a good neighbor, and at the end of the day and at the end of work, I like to smoke a joint."

The Cannabis Consumers Campaign asserts that marijuana prohibition is based on the false presumption that pot smokers are a detriment to society who lack a moral compass and fail to achieve their potential. The Campaign is conducting a survey that intends to clarify who cannabis consumers are and how they use the plant. Norris says the Campaign will culminate in an advertisement featuring 100 prominent cannabis smoking celebrities who will "come out" together.

"We need to present ourselves with dignity and stand up to the persecution and harassment that we live with," said Norris. "I would love to see a time when we are judged not by the contents of our urine, but by our characters."

Bill Maher, host of the television show Politically Incorrect, told attendees at the NORML conference that it's time Harrison Ford and Ted Turner stood up and acknowledged their cannabis use. Spokespersons for Ford and Turner did not return calls seeking comment on Maher's statement.

Norris acknowledges that coming out of the closet is not entirely without risk. The first wave of people that the Campaign is seeking to reach are self-employed professionals or entrepreneurs who are less likely to lose their jobs by coming out of the cannabis closet. Norris also cautions that such admissions could be used against parents who are involved in child custody disputes.

According to San Francisco criminal defense attorney Anthony Feldstein, a public statement of cannabis use is constitutionally protected speech. But Feldstein says there is no guarantee that law enforcement investigators will not use such an admission in support of a search warrant. Much depends on where the person making the admission lives and on the attitudes of the local judges. In general, he says, prosecutors in the San Francisco area have not been aggressive in pursuing cannabis possession cases. "The risk would be radically different from one county to the next," Feldstein says.

Feldstein adds that there also is a big difference between saying that you have smoked cannabis and admitting that there is a bag of cannabis presently in your house.

Should the Campaign create a critical mass of public cannabis smokers, Feldstein says the resulting publicity would also decrease the chances of arrest. "There is safety and strength in numbers," says Feldstein. "The more people who take the risk, the less risk there is for other people doing the same."

Speaking Out and Coming Out

Washington D.C. DEA spokesman Will Glaspy says federal authorities that prosecute drug traffickers will not target outspoken cannabis smokers. But Glaspy argues that the Campaign undermines the government's warnings about marijuana. "If we try to convince kids that smoking marijuana is safe, it is the wrong message and not the message that should be put out," said Glaspy.

Nick Spadafino, owner of Pacific Park Recovery Center, in Tustin, Calif., says he is concerned that those who proudly smoke marijuana increase their chances of addiction to other substances. "I started smoking pot at a very young age and I didn't think anything was wrong with it," says Spadafino. "But it led me to smoking cocaine and I smoked cocaine every day for 13 years. That almost destroyed me."

Spadafino adds that he does not believe that all cannabis use leads to addiction or self-destructive behavior. Many cannabis smokers now coming forward say that marijuana has not been damaging, but instead has enhanced their quality of life. "I get stoned and I listen to Mahler -- classical music with weed is fabulous," said 80-year-old Arthur B. Waugh who attended the recent Cannabis Freedom Day Rally in San Francisco.

The Cannabis Freedom Day Rally also drew San Francisco immigration attorney Steve Baughman who strolled through the crowd handing out a leaflet entitled "Vital Stats On One Pot Smoker." Among the items listed were "Number of persons in my employ who will lose their jobs if I go to jail: 15."

"I think it's important for mainstream, day-job people like myself to show up at events like this to get the word out that this is not just potheads wanting a bigger party," said Baughman, who wore a neatly pressed business suit. "This is a fundamental civil liberties issue."

Ann Harrison is a freelance writer in San Francisco.

Source: AlterNet
Author: Ann Harrison, AlterNet
Published: May 7, 2002
Copyright: 2002 Independent Media Institute
Contact: info@alternet.org
Website: http://www.alternet.org/
DL: http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=13059

Related Articles & Web Sites:

NORML
http://www.norml.org/

NORML's Ad Campaign Pictures
http://freedomtoexhale.com/ad.htm

Million Marijuana March 2002
http://freedomtoexhale.com/million.htm

Bush Medical Marijuana Policy Not Compassionate
http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread12776.shtml

Thousands of Pro-Marijuana Protesters March
http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread12736.shtml

Maher Urges Crowd at NORML Convention
http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread12723.shtml

California Cannabis Clubs Organize to Fight Feds
http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread12569.shtml


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Comment #34 posted by kaptinemo on May 14, 2002 at 13:25:16 PT:

Horses
I can't exactly say I am a horse afficianado, but there have a been a few I've known and liked.

When the Feds deep sixed my career, I was forced to do a lot of things to make a living. One was to work security at a horse training facility in Maryland. I got to know a bit about horse racing and plenty about their care and feeding.

Most of those animals were severely inbred. Many could have been 'certified' as crazy; one would roll it's eyes and bare it's teeth every time I passed the stall. And being an 'animal lover', I cringed every time one was injured and 'put down'...which happened with sad regularity.

But several horses were quite friendly, and would accept carrots (a delicacy with them) and let me pat their necks and rub their foreheads. Ears forward, they'd extend their necks and blow through their nostrils at me, almost like they were trying to get my attention and make me stop and pat them. Which of course I did. They'd clamp their (slobbery) muzzles on my shirt, but wouldn't bite. They seemed to appreciate even-temperedness and quiet talk...just as any person would.

I have no intention of ever owning a horse (more like they own you, through upkeep bills) but I have fond memories of some of them...about the only happy memories of a brutal and ugly time forced upon me by DrugWarriors.

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Comment #33 posted by Jose Melendez on May 11, 2002 at 09:33:56 PT:

pot is safer, easier to quit
"I started smoking pot at a very young age and I didn't think anything was wrong with it," says Spadafino. "But it led me to smoking cocaine and I smoked cocaine every day for 13 years. That almost destroyed me."

Baloney. Nick probably "started" with beer or cigarettes. Second, if cannabis was indeed the "first" substance, apparently he was able to quit, as most marijuana smokers do...

The gate swings both ways with cannabis. Learn to use it, and you can do or quit almost anything.



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Comment #32 posted by Hope on May 11, 2002 at 00:01:22 PT
Riding
Never rode English, myself, but have always admired and respected it.

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Comment #31 posted by FoM on May 10, 2002 at 22:52:46 PT
Hope
You're a horse person too! Wow. You know horse people are horse people. Never rode western just english. Loved to jump fences and fox hunt( We didn't kill the fox just had good runs.) I hunted on Thanksgiving and Christmas Days when I was young. It would be great but when the hounds ultimately lost the scent we were miles from the club house and we children froze while the adults had their whiskey flasks for company! LOL!

PS: I sure hope I will be able to do more and am anxious to try. Rodeo how cool. My nephew is a bull rider as a hobby.

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Comment #30 posted by Hope on May 10, 2002 at 22:19:54 PT
FoM
As well as "Rearing to go!"...which I know you are!

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Comment #29 posted by Hope on May 10, 2002 at 22:14:38 PT
FoM
Considering all that you accomplish with a painfully slow system, I'm wondering what's in store for us once you get a fast system. I'm looking forward to it, too.

I understand "chomping at the bit". Horse people here, too, although not dressage and hunt...just ranch and rodeo.

When you get that new connection you'll be like a mare I used to have, who liked to "get the bit in her teeth and take off!"

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Comment #28 posted by FoM on May 10, 2002 at 22:04:22 PT
Hi Hope
You are far from a bad example! You're a really nice person in my book and I know you must be kidding. We shall overcome someday! Someday soon I Hope! Hope!

PS: I'm starting to countdown the days until they have to put my satellite in, on or up and the most I have to wait is until the 23rd and I'm chomping at the bit. Old horse expression. I'm just so excited about getting better then a 24bps connection. I'll probably surf for hours and accomplish nothing but having a brand new time of seeing more in a short time then ever before.

Happy Days will be here again la la la la la la la la! LOL!

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Comment #27 posted by Hope on May 10, 2002 at 21:40:28 PT
FoM
I was joking about being held in the closet. Although, there are family and friends who, on occasion, will plead with me to practice discretion about when and where and how often I do my rants against the war. Mostly the complaint is about how often. I've been out of the closet for years and years and years.

Actually, it might have been more helpful for our cause if I'd stayed in the closet! Some folks might say that I'm a great example of why no one should ever smoke cannabis!

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Comment #26 posted by lookinside on May 10, 2002 at 18:58:43 PT:

dddd...
LOL! I sometimes get a picture of you in my mind.

Sorta Freewheelin' Franklin 25 years later.

I peed in a bottle again today. Started another job. Showed the peetech my OCBC caregiver's card. Funny how nervous some of those folks get.

I'm going to retire in 6 years. I will know to the hour when I'm eligible. I gotta find one of those papers from the "Big Bambu" album. I'm gonna need it.

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Comment #25 posted by goneposthole on May 10, 2002 at 11:21:39 PT
dddd H. kwiest
The 'H' stands for hilarious.

David Letterman and Jay Leno might as well retire.

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Comment #24 posted by qqqq on May 10, 2002 at 11:11:24 PT
....FoM..Hope..Goneposthole...
...your complimentary comments make me blush with delight....seriously,,when I look back at my strange comments,,I wonder if people are getting tired of my clowning around ...I start thinking that I might be going overboard with my buffoonery....I am insecure,as I am blatant.........
...I appreciate the appreciation!......love...dddd


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Comment #23 posted by FoM on May 10, 2002 at 10:41:24 PT
Hope
Why oh why should adults be so afraid? This is suppose to be the land of the free but we know it isn't. Jerry Garcia's guitars sold for way over a million dollars. Bob Dylan is still touring and Elton John just did a private performance for the Queen. People that society admires are usually people who use Cannabis. They have brought us songs to sing and dreams to dream. What a drab world this would be without those who use Cannabis.

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Comment #22 posted by goneposthole on May 10, 2002 at 10:35:57 PT
damn near like Jesus Christ Almighty
I'll say, "dddd kwiest."

Your name will be remembered for milleniums, too.

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Comment #21 posted by Hope on May 10, 2002 at 10:27:44 PT
dddd and qqqq
FoM is right. There really is a blank spot without you.

qqqq, you really got me a moment ago. I love your ability to surprise me with a laugh I didn't see coming. The pictures you paint with words so often lift my spirits. I was especially struck this morning when I was somberly reading "a while back,,I came out of the closet..." and then suddenly had to laugh out loud when I read, "then I went back in... " Thanks.

My situation is more like I keep trying to get out of the closet (there's no smoke in here) but someone else is holding the door shut to try to keep me out of trouble! We fuss allot through the door about it but they remain stronger than I. There is more than one of them in fact and they all lean on the door with such weight that I'm lucky when I can stick my toe out from under the crack at the bottom.

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Comment #20 posted by FoM on May 10, 2002 at 10:09:15 PT
dddd
I need to tell you how much we love you here on C News. You bring such color and personality to all of us. I'm so glad you are getting better because when you were so sick and weren't here there was a big empty spot.

Thanks for being who you are. You make me smile!

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Comment #19 posted by dddd on May 10, 2002 at 09:45:54 PT
...'ardent'......
..I like that term Goneposthole..I'd send you one of them bales,,,but we had a big smokeout last night and smoked 'em..,, I made a power-blaster hookah pipe out of an old Shop-Vac!..It was absolutely Wild!!!...people were rolling 5 inch diameter joints with sheets of notebook paper!

.............Ardently.....dddd


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Comment #18 posted by goneposthole on May 10, 2002 at 09:28:10 PT
dddd
I would use the word 'ardent' for your 'ramblings'. 'Intense' is just too intense.

Please mail me one of those 500 lb bales of skunkweed.

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Comment #17 posted by qqqq on May 10, 2002 at 09:25:39 PT
.........yup...
..a while back,,I came out of the closet...then I went back in... I find it more comfortable being in,than out.. now I live in the closet,and only come out for special ocassions...I installed one of them little peephole fisheye lens viewers in the closet door,so I can keep track of what's going on outside.... Just because someone comes out of the closet,,doesnt mean that they cant go back in if they want to,or need to..... heck,,nowdays even closets are not secure,,,..the harrowing experience of a door-bustin',no-knock SWAT team closet raid can bring one out,,and then,one might end up in a different sort of closet with bars.

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Comment #16 posted by FoM on May 10, 2002 at 08:45:05 PT
el_toonces
God Bless You for what you are doing today and when we talked on the phone and mentioned about coming out of the closet yesterday I thought it was very important to get this posted before morning so you could see it! Good luck today and thank you for what you are doing!

PS: It was almost 3 am when I posted this!

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Comment #15 posted by FoM on May 10, 2002 at 08:33:54 PT
OK Guess What? I LOVE CANNABIS
Is that out of the closet enough! I'll do a few cartwheels too if necessary!

Shame, shame, shame on those who want to deny us a simple pleasure and good medicine.

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Comment #14 posted by dddd on May 10, 2002 at 08:08:14 PT
..Good Point Kap....
..If the masses of people who enjoy using Marijuana,could be brought together as a group of voters,, registered under a third party,,things could very well change..but,,as usual,I am going into another rather negative ramble. .(* see footnote).........
..This reminded me of something that I am not very comfortable with,,and that is;,,when you register to vote,you are asked which party you belong to...and,,if I remember correctly,you are given multiple choices in non-alphabetical order,,with Republican and Democrat at the top of the list,,and ya gotta wonder what this means.? .Who is it that gets this info about a"party",to which you claim to be a member?....At the bottom of the list,there is the "Other_________"..I usually fill in this blank..Once I wrote,"Druid",,,and I also wrote;"Angry Freako Party" once........ What I dont like about this,,is that when Joe Sheeple registers to vote,,,there is an unspoken assumption that he will choose to be a "member", of one of the ruling parties.???,, and another thing; It seems to me,,that as long as the electoral college exsists,,there is very little hope for a third party..The electoral college is inexcusably useless in todays world....It is a tool that secures the Republicratic Empires stranglehold on our withered democracy.Many have suggested that the electoral college should be eliminated,but that is about as likely as CongressmanSuet becoming a Republican.............dddd

..*..Footnote..I hope that no one has been offended,or spooked by my negatively flavored comments,,or my contrary style of responding to other peoples comments....I've had these mild fears,,that perhaps I am a bit overly intense,,and that some people might mistakenly take it personally...I love everybody!..

...on an unrelated matter,,,,, I got pulled over last night...yup,,the cold chill of those flashing blue and red lites,, I pulled to the side of the road instantly..... Then,, the cop did the thing with his spotlight,pointing it at my van...He took an uncomfortably long time to get out of his car,and approach me....I guess ya cant blame him,,this is LA..... anyway, he cautiously walks up,,I purposely made sure both my hands were visible....he said;.
"how ya doin' tonight."
"fine",I replied
...My little dog barked.,,,,,The cop said;
"oh,,,you got your pup with you."
..I said;"yup".
..He asked for my license and registration......I handed him my holographic hi-tech California drivers license which has a strip on the back like an ATM card,,,I also gave him my proof of insurance....... (it's true,I am a longhair, ,with beatnik beard and moustache,wearing a Basque beret,,if I met myself for the first time,I would be cautious,due to my appearance. )......anyway ,,,,this is the good part..he says;
"when was the last time you were in jail?".....I looked him in the eye and said;
"I havnt even had a traffic ticket in fourteen years!".....He said;
"oh,,so you're not on parole or anything like that?"...
.."no"........I couldnt fucking believe it......he said he pulled me over because I had a light out .He wanted to see my registration.I scrapped around and could only find outdated ones from years ago,,,so he told me to keep looking while he went back to his car to run my license....He returned right away and handed me back my license.I still had not found my current registration....he said;.."well,you better find it,because you could get a ticket for not having it,and you should get that light fixed."....I asked him which light it was that was out,,,he said,,"your license plate light"......?.....boy,,,,,lucky I got out of that one!... I had just carjacked the van yesterday,.I had three huge 500 lb bales of prime skunkweed in the back,,a couple of kilos of coke,,and my "Meth-Master Porta-Lab",,and a fifth of Old Crow that I had just guzzled half of, tucked under the seat with my assortment of assault weapons and crackpipes....


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Comment #13 posted by Lehder on May 10, 2002 at 08:06:34 PT
like it or lump it
"Are you tired of being treated like a second-class citizen, denied the same rights in society that our alcohol and tobacco-consuming peers enjoy?"

I sure am, have been for a long time, and I let people know it. I do not let aspersions on cannabis users pass unchallenged in casual conversation and have no problem at all in making people uncomfortable by confronting cannabis bigotry. I'm often offered alcohol or encouraged to drink it. I explain that I do not use dangerous drugs, thank you, I smoke cannabis. In fact, I often briefly instruct waiters in restaurants on this point when they ask if I want a "drink." A few weeks ago I saw a big red-faced guy exiting a liquor store, clutching a rattling bag as he headed for his car. When I told him, uninvited, that he ought to switch to marijuana he laughed. I went on that I saw nothing funny here, that he looked like a drunk to me and that "I bet you drive drunk and favor jailing people for smoking marijuana at home and you really ought to inform yourself on the facts, buddy, and get your head straight."

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Comment #12 posted by goneposthole on May 10, 2002 at 07:05:27 PT
Ach du lieber, Augustine
I had to go to a German-English online dictionary on that one. I haven't really used much Deutsch since my days at university. My German professor was late to every single class.

You're a shrap dude.

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Comment #11 posted by kaptinemo on May 10, 2002 at 06:26:17 PT:

Bitte bin ich für meine Anmerkung traurig
I meant no disrespect for the the citizens of Neander. But I have no respect at all for those whose actions would seem to mimic those aforementioned pre-humans.

I call it as I see it...

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #10 posted by Patrick on May 10, 2002 at 06:21:51 PT
In jail, there are no closets
Feldstein adds that there also is a big difference between saying that you have smoked cannabis and admitting that there is a bag of cannabis presently in your house.

Oh really now? Perhaps, a difference being the number of cops smashing your front door down on a probable cause warrant or is it the timing at 4 am or 5 am?

And this line is rich….

"If we try to convince kids that smoking marijuana is safe, it is the wrong message and not the message that should be put out," said Glaspy.

It ought to have read… If we try to convince kids that smoking marijuana is safer, than say smoking tobacco and or drinking alcohol, they might make a responsible choice to choose the one that is easy to grow and costs nothing and will ruin our pharmaceutical get rich scheme, said Glaspy... in my opinion.

There is not one damn thing positive about locking up humans for smoking or growing marijuana. NOT ONE DAMN THING.

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #9 posted by goneposthole on May 10, 2002 at 06:18:45 PT
The folks from the Neander Valley
are shocked and dismayed to be compared to drug warriors who are really vicious animals.

Please show some respect for the Neanders from a tal (valley) in Germany

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #8 posted by kaptinemo on May 10, 2002 at 05:51:22 PT:

I'm the ______________, and I VOTE!
How many times have we seen this? In the DC area you can't pass more than 10 cars without your eyes settling on a similar bumper sticker. And for every person who displays one, there are probably a hundred who wish to spare their bumpers...but harbor the same sentiments...and act upon them.

Depending upon whose statistics you read, there are 70-80 million Americans that have smoked cannabis. With nearly 300 million Americans, that's almost a third of the population.

That's quite a voting bloc. Now, imagine if a sizable majority of that bloc registered to vote...as a Third Party. The effects would be seen and felt in every State Capitol. The repercussions would reach to the lowest levels of the DemoPublican Party. Just as Ross Perot's Reform Party got them to talk about balancing the budget, the rise of an entire voting bloc not allied to the DemoPublicans would send shock waves throughout the political spectrum. And you can bet that, like the *ss-whipping the Republicans took when one-fifth of the votes in 1992 went to the Reform Party, they'll change their tune real quick. Only Neanderthals like Barr would be left swinging in a cold wind.

And the beauty of it is, all someone has to do is just register the voters; that alone is enough to light fires under previously arrogant and confident backsides.

You want re-legalization? Then the pols have to understand that, like any organism when it is attacked, the cannabis community will retaliate. And unlike them, we are far more civilized about it that the aforementioned Neanderthals; we'll do our 'fighting' at the voter regsitration booths.

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #7 posted by masscrusader on May 10, 2002 at 05:18:42 PT
well
As a pot smoking jew, I have no problems with Nixon. Because he is dead now.

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Comment #6 posted by el_toonces on May 10, 2002 at 04:05:00 PT:

How timely...
....and thanks for posting this, FoM! I especially took it as an indication that what I plan to say in oral argument this morning to put a "face" on things is the right thing to do!

Hope this good karma stays with me!



[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #5 posted by dddd on May 10, 2002 at 03:04:17 PT
Beneath The Wheel
"The Cannabis Consumers Campaign asserts that marijuana prohibition is based on the false presumption that pot smokers are a detriment to society who lack a moral compass and fail to achieve their potential."

EJ: "First I must protest on completely abstract intellectual grounds: it is a philosophical and causal absurdity to claim that one can measure the potential of an individual and detect an actual state of not having achieved it."

.For whatever it's worth EJ,I think you are outstandingly outstanding,and I appreciate and enjoy your comments. .......Dont Stop..
Sincerely....dddd


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Comment #4 posted by Dan B on May 10, 2002 at 02:54:24 PT:

I'm an Overachiever
I have been called an overachiever by several people before. This is actually an insult, if you think about it. It means that I have overreached my potential--that I have accomplished what no other cretin like me should be able to accomplish.

This, too, is a fallacy.

If I have accomplished something, that means I have always had the potential to accomplish it. By the same token, if someone does not accomplish what the rest of society thinks they should accomplish, perhaps society was using the wrong standard to begin with.

E-Johnson, I like what you're saying. I think you're right on target.

Dan B

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #3 posted by E_Johnson on May 10, 2002 at 02:39:32 PT
What Nixon would say to this!
"I get stoned and I listen to Mahler -- classical music with weed is fabulous," said 80-year-old Arthur B. Waugh who attended the recent Cannabis Freedom Day Rally in San Francisco.

In Nixon's eyes, listening to Mahler would prove beyond a doubt that we're all a bunch of Jewish homosexual psychiatrist bastards.



[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #2 posted by Dan B on May 10, 2002 at 02:35:03 PT:

I Agree, E_Johnson
I think what we are actually suspected of is failing to achieve our quotas of consumption and production in the modern mass corporate consumer economy.

True. But if you re-read what they are saying, it is not entirely different from what you are saying. The main difference is that you focused (I think rightly so) on the part about "fail[ing] to achieve their potential," rather than on the "false presumption that pot smokers are a detriment to society who lack a moral compass." And, of course, you are correct that it is impossible to measure one's potential and, by the same token, impossible to detect whether one has achieved it.

To the government's way of thinking, not contributing to corporate coffers is being a detriment to society and lacking a moral compass. Power and greed are the twin gods of America's corporate oligarchy, and refusal to worship them is considered the ultimate sin.

In one sense, then, when people who do serve the system come out as cannabis users, they are refuting the assumption that cannabis users cannot successfully worship the twin gods. On the other hand, they are also holding valid the assumption that service to the twin gods is the only proper choice.

But here's the rub: because we do live in a society that worships power and greed, it makes sense to show those who accept the standards associated with said worship that cannabis users can hold their own and then some in the corporate system. Perhaps coming out as cannabis users who are "successful" by societal standards is one more tool we can use to show the average citizen that their government has been lying to them..

It would be nice if one day people were not judged by the contents of their urine, and were not judged by the contents of their paychecks, and were not judged by what they choose to eat, drink or smoke. The only thing that should matter is how people treat other people. By that standard, the corporate oligarchy--those high priests to the twin gods--are surely the least accurate compasses by which one should measure morality.

Dan B

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #1 posted by E_Johnson on May 10, 2002 at 01:41:44 PT
Beneath the Wheel
The Cannabis Consumers Campaign asserts that marijuana prohibition is based on the false presumption that pot smokers are a detriment to society who lack a moral compass and fail to achieve their potential.

First I must protest on completely abstract intellectual grounds: it is a philosophical and causal absurdity to claim that one can measure the potential of an individual and detect an actual state of not having achieved it.

I think what we are actually suspected of is failing to achieve our quotas of consumption and production in the modern mass corporate consumer economy.

That's why they're even against hemp.

So if we're trying to argue that we aren't a threat to the mainstream -- well, maybe we actually are, but just not the kind of threat they are claiming in public.



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