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| Transcript: Montel Williams on Medical Marijuana |
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Posted by CN Staff on February 02, 2004 at 13:08:58 PT MSNBC: Deborah Norville Tonight Source: MSNBC 
NORVILLE: And coming up next, Montel Williams, his fight against M.S., depression, and thoughts of suicide. Why he says medical marijuana should be legal. Montel Williams joins me next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MONTEL WILLIAMS, TALK SHOW HOST: The pain was so bad I wanted to stop. And the only thing that made me stop from pulling the trigger at that moment was the thought of the possibility of my children finding me in that closet. (END VIDEO CLIP) NORVILLE: Montel Williams on his show sharing his most personal secret about how he loaded a .357 magnum, sat in his closet, and twirled the gun near his head hoping it would accidentally go off. He didn‘t want it to look like a suicide, but that is exactly what he had in mind. Back then Williams was living a life full of almost constant physical pain and depression. He‘s also talking very candidly now about his use of medical marijuana to help him battle what could be the biggest fight of his life. Here tonight with his personal story, talk show host and author of the book “Climbing Higher,” Montel Williams. Good to see you young man. WILLIAMS: Thank you so much for having me. NORVILLE: The battle is against multiple sclerosis. WILLIAMS: Yes. NORVILLE: And it‘s one that you‘ve been fighting for a while until you were really forced to tell the rest of the world about it. WILLIAMS: You know crazy as it is I fought this disease for way longer than I even knew that I had it. For about 15 years I went through cycles of remitting and lapsing M.S. that were misdiagnosed. NORVILLE: You‘d stumble into things. You‘d have a aching back or whatever. WILLIAMS: Well I had a lot of neurological pain and I was also becoming more and more clumsy. I mean everybody around me used to point out that you know it‘s like you know—they would make a joke about me tripping or falling and I made jokes about it. NORVILLE: Sort of the Gerald Ford kind of thing. WILLIAMS: Sure. And then I had a bout that was one that I couldn‘t make a joke about anymore and I went to a doctor and I got diagnosed with M.S. From that point on, you know the struggle and the journey kind of began. And then for a while, I kind of tried my best to put my best face forward. Hide it. NORVILLE: In the book, you talk about the day you got the diagnosis, and you just want to—reading it, you want to reach through the pages of the book and punch the doctor. He was so incredibly callous, yes, you‘ve got M.S., nothing we can do about it, can‘t cure it, get our of here. WILLIAMS: You sound too much like him. NORVILLE: It was infuriating. WILLIAMS: Well you know the thing about it and that‘s how a lot of doctors and a lot of our medical professionals look at the way they have to explain a diagnosis like that to someone. And for personally me, I didn‘t know whether or not that was a death sentence immediately... NORVILLE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) WILLIAMS: Was that a year? A month? Three months? And again, at the moment that he said it, I swear to you I thought am I going to be one of Jerry‘s kids? I thought that only happened to kids. NORVILLE: You didn‘t even know which... (CROSSTALK) NORVILLE: ... disease he was talking about. WILLIAMS: Right. And then when we finally kind of got a grip with that and then I understood that maybe what he was trying to do was be professional and try to not show emotion to elicit something from me, but he did anyway. NORVILLE: Yes, because then you broke down... WILLIAMS: Yes, sent me into spiral that... NORVILLE: Yes. WILLIAMS: ... has taken me a long time to admit to it, a long time to try to get myself out of... (CROSSTALK) WILLIAMS: ... and I‘m getting out of. NORVILLE: Well let‘s answer some of the questions that you had that day you got the diagnosis. WILLIAMS: Sure. NORVILLE: What is M.S.? WILLIAMS: Yes. NORVILLE: What‘s your life expectancy and quality of life likely to be and can they fix it? WILLIAMS: We are probably living in the best time that I think we could ever live in when it comes to neurological diseases and others diseases like this and M.S. is one of those. Unfortunately, though, up until this point, when the diagnosis comes, what is M.S.? M.S. is multiple sclerosis, which means multiple scars. Why? Because people who have this disease the doctors believe that some—for some reason our immune system turns on itself and starts attacking what is the myelin sheath or the myelin coating around nerves. Any of the wires that have plastic around them. NORVILLE: Sure. WILLIAMS: If I scrape some of the plastic off and bare that wire out to the air, it starts to rust and the signal doesn‘t get through. My immune system attacks that myelin and rips it off and leaves that nerve open, eventually the signal doesn‘t get through. Now, that can manifest itself in a million different types of symptoms. NORVILLE: How does it done—affect you? WILLIAMS: In me, I have extreme neuralgic pain, which is pain from my shins to my toes. NORVILLE: Like knives stabbing... WILLIAMS: It is—it‘s almost if I can liken it to slamming your crazy bone on something, that the initial thing that hurts, then multiply that by about 50. I have that every day. When it‘s bad, I have it by about 100 and sometimes it even gets worse than that... NORVILLE: You know the thing about you, Montel, you look so good, you know you can‘t be the poster child for M.S. because people flip on the TV, they see your show, you‘re doing your job, you‘re going about your life. I guess what your viewers forget is there‘s 23 other hours in the day. WILLIAMS: Twenty-three others. And you know what? Unfortunately and fortunately, I have this great job and I love my job and I love what I do and I love speaking with people, but you know as well as I do that this business is very unforgiving and we look at illness as weakness, and so I have had my—had to hide the fact that I‘m ill from everybody. Now I‘ve gotten support from everybody in the company that backs me and everybody who works with me, I‘ve gotten support, but truly for my own self, I keep thinking that somebody is going to pull the plug on me and so I hid it and I really hid it. And what I‘ve hidden from the public is the fact that I‘m in pain every day. I had a woman walk up to me in the airport, that‘s the reason why I wrote this book, she walked up to me and said, Montel, thank God for you, you know you brought so much attention to M.S. I have MS. NORVILLE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) WILLIAMS: And you know and she started talking about some of the drugs that she was on. And then in the same conversation her face changed and she said I have to tell you something, you make it really hard for a lot of us. I said, what are you talking about? NORVILLE: Yes. WILLIAMS: She said you know my husband comes to me and says why can‘t you be like Montel? You‘re so lazy, you won‘t go to the gym. You won‘t do this. And I‘m like oh, my God. NORVILLE: Yes. WILLIAMS: What—people need to know the truth. This disease affects me like it affects so many other people in this country. I just have to work very hard in making sure I can be in your living room every day. NORVILLE: Yes. WILLIAMS: And unfortunately we in America don‘t like to see people who are ill. NORVILLE: Tell me how that‘s changed, what you do on the talk show? WILLIAMS: Nothing. I‘ve not missed... NORVILLE: But... WILLIAMS: ...one day of work... NORVILLE: Not only that because I know you‘re there everyday before you need to be and you stay... WILLIAMS: Sure. NORVILLE: ... longer than you have to. WILLIAMS: Sure. NORVILLE: But in terms of the way you do your show, the way you interview your guests, the kinds of stories that are now important to you, are you a different man hosting the Montel Show because of your illness and maybe the empathy that you have than you were before? WILLIAMS: I‘m a different person from the day I was diagnosed. I‘m a different person from the day that I came forward publicly. I‘m a different person from the day that I wrote this book. For the first time in my life, I really had to sit down and talk about some truths in my life about myself. And I was hoping that by me doing so, it‘ll help other people out there who are suffering from whatever their illness may be. This isn‘t just about M.S. This is about the struggle that a lot of us have. My disease causes depression. The doctors didn‘t tell me that when I was first diagnosed at all. It took me seven months to read about it and figure it out before I realized I was in an abyss... (CROSSTALK) WILLIAMS: ... getting ready to kill myself. NORVILLE: ... took you all the way to suicide... WILLIAMS: Absolutely. NORVILLE: And you‘re the guy who was out there giving speeches saying climb the mountain... (CROSSTALK) NORVILLE: ... the mountain. WILLIAMS: I‘m the guy who has got one of the most wonderful jobs in the world. I get to talk to people. I get to hug people. I get to interact with people. And you know in the last 13 years I‘ve had—I thought about it. I‘ve interviewed over 19,000 people who were seated—been seated... NORVILLE: Right... WILLIAMS: ... as close as you and I. NORVILLE: That‘s cool. WILLIAMS: That‘s an unbelievable job... NORVILLE: Yes. WILLIAMS: ... and for that gift all—and all the gifts I have I was willing to give it up because I was in so much pain physically. I was in so much pain emotionally because I didn‘t understand the depression I was in. NORVILLE: One of the things that in the book you say has really helped you is the use of marijuana... (CROSSTALK) NORVILLE: ... for medicinal purposes. Unfortunately, you live in New York and that is illegal here. WILLIAMS: That is a different category. That‘s something that—OK, talking about that, I don‘t do that for depression. Unfortunately... NORVILLE: But you do it for pain. WILLIAMS: ... some of us who have neurological pain, there are some people that this works for. I have doctors in several states across this country who have prescribed this for me and our Supreme Court of the United States about two months ago and said we cannot penalize a doctor for prescribing this drug because they understand the needs of their patient. Therefore, our Supreme Court tacitly approved the fact that we who need this drug—because I‘ve been on everything from Tarin (ph) to Vicodin to Percocet to OxyContin to morphine, name it, I‘ve taken it... NORVILLE: Yes. WILLIAMS: ... and it doesn‘t work. What works for me—and it doesn‘t work for everybody with M.S. NORVILLE: Right. WILLIAMS: That‘s for a doctor to prescribe. All we have to do—I‘m not asking you to legalize marijuana. I‘m asking that we do the same thing that we do for anyone else in this country who‘s ill. Change the category from a class I to a class II drug. Make it prescribable. Right now marijuana is in the same category as heroin as the most addictive product on the planet. Move it to class II, let a doctor prescribe it, and if a doctor thinks it‘s good for me, let my doctor decide. Not you—not—sorry—not you, but (UNINTELLIGIBLE). NORVILLE: M.S. is the cross that you have to bear. WILLIAMS: Yes. NORVILLE: I‘m sure everybody watching this show has their own personal cross to bear. WILLIAMS: Absolutely. NORVILLE: In a nutshell, what‘s your message to help them? WILLIAMS: I think what you need to do is to understand first off, learn as much about whatever it is that‘s affecting you, from depression to disease or whatever, and then once you do and you gain that knowledge, you use that knowledge to empower yourself to climb higher. NORVILLE: All right. WILLIAMS: You don‘t have to live down to people‘s expectations. Live up to your own. NORVILLE: Live up to your own. Well, you‘ve done that for a long time on TV and now in your personal journey as well. Montel, it‘s great to see you. WILLIAMS: Good to be here. Thank you Deborah. NORVILLE: The book is called “Climbing Higher” and if you‘d like to see more of it we‘ve got some excerpts posted on our Web site. Just go to our page Norville.msnbc.com and check out Montel‘s book. Complete Transcripts: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4136519/ Newshawk: G F Storck - http://www.immly.org/ Related Articles & Web Sites: Montel Williams Medicinal Cannabis Research Links Transcript: Montel Williams' Battle With M.S. Montel Williams Goes To Pot Talk Show Host Fined For Drug Paraphernalia Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help |
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| Comment #38 posted by The GCW on February 03, 2004 at 12:37:45 PT |
| When You say, “prevent the rest of humanity from making use of something that we literally 'grew up' as a species with,” keep in mind the prohibitionists are not just keeping it away from humanity; humans. They are keeping it away from animals; all of them. And the animals used to eat cannabis and We ate the animal; now the animal eats toxins and We eat the animal. In the Bible when it says God created all the seed bearing plants, and He said they were all good… it also says that He created and gave them to all the animals also. That would be Genesis 1:11-12 & 29-31; THE VERY 1ST PAGE OF THE BIBLE, (actually Gen. 1:31 is the 2nd page in My NASB). http://www.biblegateway.org/bible?passage=GEN+1&language=english&version=NASB Gen. 1:11-12, Then God said, "Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit after their kind with seed in them"; and it was so. 12 The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit with seed in them, after their kind; and God saw that it was good. Gen. 1:29-31, Then God said, "Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you; 30 and to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to every thing that moves on the earth which has life, I have given every green plant for food"; and it was so. 31 God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. The Green Collar Worker [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #37 posted by mamawillie on February 03, 2004 at 11:10:01 PT |
| Let me get all of this out as quickly as I can as to not forget (sick child, sleep drprived... NOT stoned lol)... 1) Montel is doing the right thing in the right way. You need to know your audience. Montel is a main-stream MEDICAL patient, so he speaks ONLY of marijuana in his experiences to the MAIN STREAM audiences. He clearly states it is a joke that MJ is in schedule 1 and how it should be classified at least as a schedule 2 drug. Does anyone here disagree with this? When we're talking marijuana AS A MEDICINE; doesn't everyone understand that it wil HAVE to be in the drug schedule if it is going to be legally used as a MEDICINE? 2) Montel should be only commended for OUTING himself for a currently ILLEGAL activity that he admits is current and ongoing with no plans to stop when he LIVES in a state where this activity is 100% ILLEGAL? 3) Montel already stated on his show that this is the fight he's chosen to take on... to get it from schedule 1 to schedule 2. He told people that if you want it legalized and whatnot that that is YOUR fight to fight. Bitching on an internet posting site is not considered fighting :) 4) We can all benefit from Montel's plan: if it goes from schedule 1 to schedule 2 then more people will try MJ for their true and legit medical conditions under the supervision of a doctor. As more people use it, they will realize it is not additcive, and they will tell people they know. Eventually (and this is what ASSCROFT is scared of), people who never even thought of trying MJ will at least know it is not a demon, addictive and dangerous drug. In time, everyone will see it for the benevolent herb that it is. Montel is helping to push that snowball down the mountain and once it gets rolling, there will be no stopping it. Love to all, Mama [ Post Comment ] |
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Comment #36 posted by kaptinemo on February 03, 2004 at 10:16:52 PT:
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| In ancient times, two armies would set aside an area of the battlefield where the wounded of both sides were dragged to, protected and cared for. It was called 'the quarter'.
No further harm could come to them. Anyone who violated that rule on EITHER side was going to catch Hell from BOTH sides. To refuse to allow quarter was considered to be the height of viciousness, and a promise that whoever the victor was, the wounded of the other side would be slaughtered. This is the reason behind the phrase, "No quarter asked or given!". In other words, no mercy. Needless to say, the bloodiest acts in history have begun with such simple words. because it truly was 'to the death'. Need I point out that the DEA has practically done the exact same thing? In this battle they have violated quarter and attacked the wounded, the helpless and the dying. Such as they have forfeited any pretense of honor. They are as the scum that followed behind the battles, robbing the dead, and killing those the 'chirurgeons' had missed in their ministrations to the wounded. I can't speak for anyone but myself, but please, folks, let's not emulate them. Get the wounded off the field by supporting Barney Frank's Bill HR 2233; The States' Rights to Medical Marijuana and Sam Farr's HR 1717: the Truth in Trials Act; pull the DEA's teeth and claws when it comes to savaging the sick. THEN let the DEA know politically that there is a terrible price to pay for violating quarter. Hound them at their homes. Get in their faces. Lobby for their budget being cut. Ask your local pols when they expect the DEA to win the DrugWar; they've been at it for 30+ years - they've had way too much of our time and money to play with, and have accomplished nothing but further misery. I can't emphasize this enough: We are a voting bloc tens of millions strong. It's long past time we flexed our political muscle. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #35 posted by BigDawg on February 03, 2004 at 09:56:11 PT |
| And I certainly understand. Especially considering I WAS a rec user... now very medical. The reason I see this medical rescheduling as key... is because it is, IMHO, the only line of reasoning that will work when fighting the rediculous prohibitionist arguments. The arguments for legalization are solid... but the powers that be won't give in easily. The arguments for rescheduling are very persuasive to anyone with a suffering loved one. If we can just get it rescheduled... allowing "Joe/Jane Average" to see that it isn't heroine... we have a solid foothold for the next fight. And... medical users are less likely to be branded criminals. Rec users have nothing to protect them from the State and are obviously less likely to stand up and shout... for fear of being busted. The Feds may deny medical use, but at least MMJ users have sympathy and State laws to help proptect them. My .02 [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #34 posted by E_Johnson on February 03, 2004 at 09:25:37 PT |
| I get annoyed a lot when healthy recreational users express expectations that the sick people are supposed to go to work and solve all of their problems for them. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #33 posted by Virgil on February 03, 2004 at 09:25:07 PT |
| This would imply that Montel had residence if not Citizenship in Canada. He may well bring someone on his show from the UK and it could be they, that say the great tragedy of illegal cannabis in medicine is that it should have never been illegal in the first place. The first study the British did was the India study, which really tried to figure this new thing out. I am not sure exactly what it said, but it could not say much more than the grass makes them laugh and food taste better and they consume it while we make them toil in the fields and mines. The great tragedy of the SOL is that there should have never been a federal prohibion on Miracle Plant in the first place. That is what makes our situation so unbelievable today. They just landed two machines on Mars and they still cannot restore freedom to what it was in 1936. How can we go foward in science when we went backwards on what it means to be human. Cannabis prohibition is vital to the drug warriors because it is the number 1 illicit substance in the world. It is number 1 with reason and with cause. People know that it is not harmful. To say people that smoke do some harm to their heart and lungs is a long way from being "full of harm" and of course prohibition has only encouraged smoking as I would not smoke it if there were Free Cannabis For Everyone. The drug wars are used to intervene in other countries. At Kerry's website he speaks of attacking the source of production. Of course Kerry is the establishments man to carry on business as usual and a poor if not terrible for choice as president. What Kerry is saying is we need to go down to Colombia and steal us some land. The armies of the United States are deployed to 75 countries in some cases solely to protect oil pipelines. Just as the military is used to protect American multi-nationals, the drug wars are used to gain wealth. Colombia has oil and hydro-power and land is worth something. When we sit around and see the drug wars result in the destruction of the rain forest with Monsanto poisons and our media says that coca is destroying the rain forest we see how god damned fucked up things are. People should be outraged. They should be outraged at the corrupt definition of freedom the concentrations of wealth have imposed on us. The Constitution wanted to prohibit the penalties of law from being excessive. Here we have an inalienable right to consume cannabis because it is an act that harms no one. It does not even harm the individual. It benefits him. Why would a person face the onerous laws and black market prices if it did not do something for him and it is not addictive. The country has slap gone to hell. For Kerry to be the front runner with his voting record on the big bills passed under Bush is an outrage. America is in this position because of television by God and that is a literary expression and not the one of Christian mythology. There has to be a new declaration of independence. It starts first with what are the inalienable rights of man. Even the State of North Carolina was not to take away those rights. The federal government could not have been given something the Nation of North Carolina did not have to give. If you are going to take back the country you have got to understand the role of the media and wealth. You absolutely have to see that we are in fact ruled by treason. Question 1- What are the inalienable rights of man? We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. --That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. --Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain [George III] is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world. http://www.law.indiana.edu/uslawdocs/declaration.html[ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #32 posted by Virgil on February 03, 2004 at 08:52:55 PT |
| Don't you think Montel knows that prison and arrest is worse than Miracle Plant. What do you think he tells his friends. If Montel could get legal cannabis, say a Canadian prescription for GW Sativex, where he could carry it on his show, don't you think he would. He might let the pain grow and then take a dose and describe it to the audience and viewers. At that point he would probably want to say, we need to legalize Miracle Plant. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #31 posted by goneposthole on February 03, 2004 at 08:41:27 PT |
| I have a relative that is now past 90 years. When she was a young girl, she accidentally was cut with a butcher knife across her hand. Later on that day, blood poisoning set in. She was taken to the hospital where the doctors determined nothing could be done for her and was sent home to die. On the return trip to the farm, the parents of the now 90 year old woman stopped at a nearby relatives farm. The dire staits of the life and death matter were explained to the relatives. The farmer's wife was not alarmed, set out for the barn to retrieve the freshest cow manure on the floor of the barn. She brought it back to the house and placed it in a bag. She then stuck the young girl's injured hand into the cow manure. Before they returned home, the red line from the blood poisoning had vanished. Medicine is not some exclusive ivory castle. It has very humble beginnings. Live for today. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #30 posted by BigDawg on February 03, 2004 at 08:38:39 PT |
| At first I was quite annoyed at Montel for half stepping. But the more I thought about it... the more it seems right. For him... and for "us." He is apparently NOT a recreational user. There is no personal reason for him to go out on a limb for legalization. However... he DOES have a personal reason to see cannabis re-scheduled. And although I feel outright legalization w/ minimal regulation is the only real solution... to have someone preaching about the SOL is exactly the angle we need to keep inching this forward. Once cannabis is re-scheduled... the lies will begin to stand out more and more every day. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #29 posted by RasAric on February 03, 2004 at 08:34:41 PT |
| The Episode entitled: The Pipe...on TV Land Right Now...lol Larry Mondello talks Beaver into smoking the Antique Meerschaum pipe sent to Ward & June by friends touring Germany. HAHAHAHAHAHA [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #28 posted by mayan on February 03, 2004 at 08:23:34 PT |
| This movement can use all the allies it can get, especially high-profile individuals like Montel. Once cannabis is removed from Schedule 1 the wall of prohibition will crumble very fast. You really think Montel should be in jail? Montel just might do more for our cause than we can imagine. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #27 posted by Virgil on February 03, 2004 at 08:20:22 PT |
| Montel is doing the exact thing he needs to do. The problem with Montel is that he is the lone wolf, which is not his fault at all. The big thing is that it needs to be widely spread that the Schedule 1 classification is a lie. We do not need to pretend that it is a misclassification as there are three requirements for Schedule 1 and where it should have to meet all three it does not meet any of the three. Montel raises the issue. But right now do you know the three criteria needed to be in Schedule 1? To say that it needs to be in Schedule 2 is a political solution and not even an intellectual one. What does Dr. Russo say that the proper classification of cannabis should be? I am asking for myself, because I have long awaited the answer. BTW, can someone put up a link to pot-tv if Dr. Russo is archived from Sunday on the Myth of Schedule 1? But let me tell you why Montel is doing the exact right thing. First on the word prescription. Technically, this is probably a lie as he gets a recommendation. Cannabis cannot be prescribed on a DEA prescription for precisely because it is a Schedule 1. Schedule 2 is no problem. It is kind of like the rust thing. Rust is a noun is always associated with iron and for 99% of the time that will be what it is used to describe. But yes, the poisonous oxidation that turns copper blue could be called rust and copper could be said to rust although it is not the corrosive act it is on iron and would probably be refered to as oxidation and even the compound a copper oxide. So in the slightest of ways he does have a prescription, just not the DEA prescription pad thought of 99% of the time. Can a doctor prescribe diet and exercise? It is still a wise choice of words even if it an exaggeration of the implied meaning. He is right in calling on Schedule 2 as the Lone Wolf. First becasue that is the political solution even if not the intellectual classification. Actually, I think the plant itself should be removed from the Schedule altogether like alcohol and tobacco and have its own regulations. The plant is a plant and not medicine. It would have extreme medical value as an herbal remedy, but it is still a plant. When you negotiate with someone when you are buying something is to see if they are locked on their price. If they want a hundred and you ask if they will take $95, you know they will budge. Here we know cannabis is welded by the DEA and all we have to do is budge it to Schedule 2. Ideally of course, it would be classified intellectually as that is what the guidelines are for- a way of classification according to criteria. Montel could not play his cards any better? He only gets one soundbite. That soundbite is "Reclassify cannabis to Schedule 2." It has to be simple. People could not really understand how profound a move that would be. The only problem with Montel is that he needs a choir. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #26 posted by goneposthole on February 03, 2004 at 07:04:31 PT |
| "Right now marijuana is in the same category as heroin as the most addictive product on the planet."- Montel Williams bunkum and bosh. Heroin the most addictive 'product'? Pshaw. ATF- alcohol, tobacco and firearms are the most addictive 'products' on the planet. just for the record. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #25 posted by SystemGoneDown on February 03, 2004 at 06:50:45 PT |
| This guy refuses to defend marijuana. 'Don't legalize it, just bring it to schedule II. Well screw him. How ignorant was that statment - "Marijuana treats my pain and not my depression". What a whore, he refuses to carry the burden of doint what's right regarding marijuana laws. They shouldn've tooken his ass to jail and put him in prison like they do with regular users of pot. [ Post Comment ] |
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Comment #24 posted by kaptinemo on February 03, 2004 at 05:45:55 PT:
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| I was thinking of the linoleic acid connection when I said that we had evolved with this plant. These fatty acids are positively VITAL for health and cellular regeneration...yet the greatest source of them is denied us. We are literally killing ourselves as a species when a small group of benighted individuals - and some who DO know the facts, but whose livelihood is dependent upon those facts remaining out of the public's sight - prevent the rest of humanity from making use of something that we literally 'grew up' as a species with. Antis have to be amongst the most self-loathing people on Earth. I don't mind if they engage in their peculiar rituals of self-hate in denying themselves this botanical version of a Swiss Army Knife; but they have no right to condemn the rest of humanity to poor health and disease by demanding we all follow their twisted ideas. Sick people. They're sick, sick people. Body, mind and soul. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #23 posted by Nuevo Mexican on February 03, 2004 at 00:01:12 PT |
| Later on Tuesday night! He was on Democracynow.org today, where you can listen to the interview, or if you have the Dish Network, go to Free Speech TV to watch it. Cross you fingers the county I live in goes to Dennis tomorrow, it could happen! The grassroots groundswell has to start somewhere! As the bush and blair administrations crash over the next few months, only a candidate like Dennis will be suited for the job. We don't need any Democrat, we need the right one, and kerry is part of the plan to avoid speaking for the partys' base. But well see, he could flip flop and get more radical, and remember, he was tied with Carol Mosley-Braun a month ago at 8 percent, and the Iowa primary now looks suspicious. But check out these links to articles portraying the fall of the blair empire, as the recent whitewash regarding David Kellys questionable 'suicide by ?' takes phoney tony all the way down, its incredible! Seems like the parralels are striking, as the evil twins empire mirrors itself, and bodes well for cannabis prohibitions complete and total collapse, as the gig is up, time to arrest and impeach these criminals. Nice to see the world at large agrees with us on this, don't be fooled, this is largely underreported, but seeping into the mainstream press from the flood of corruption that this regime represents as amazing speed! Doubts about Hutton Inquiry's reliability in role as Coroner's Inquest: In the Letters page of the Guardian newspaper (International Edition) on 27 January 2004 the following letter by David Halpin (Specialist in trauma and orthopaedic surgery), C Stephen Frost (Specialist in diagnostic radiology) and Searle Sennet (Specialist in anaesthesiology) appeared: “As specialist medical professionals we do not consider the evidence given at the Hutton inquiry has demonstrated that Dr David Kelly committed suicide. http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2004/02/284823.html Howard Dean has joined the list of victims of U.S. corporate media consolidation. Dean shares this distinction with Dennis Kucinich and the people of the formerly sovereign state of Iraq, among many others. Dean was stripped of half his popular support in the space of two weeks in January while John Kerry – tied in the polls with Carol Moseley-Braun at seven percent just two months earlier – rose like a genie from a bottle to become the overnight presidential frontrunner. http://www.blackcommentator.com/75/75_cover_dean_media.html Below is a Post from a commenter/author from Intervention Magazines website, get ready! This could crumble some cookies! Professor Sweet, Just wanted to let you know that more information will be forthcoming on Bush's Guard record. My new book, "Bush's War for Reelection," includes new documents from the guard and an interview with a Lt. Col. in the Tx Guard, who was a part of a "scrubbing" operation of Bush's records. He was involved in two conversations where orders came from the Bush gubernatorial chief of staff, and he was there as another general went through the file and threw out critical records. I expect all of this to be explosive. The book ships from Amazon on Mar. 5 and should be in bookstores nationally by Mar. 20. Regards, James Moore PS - my previous book was "Bush's Brain: How Karl Rove Made George W. Bush Presidential." http://www.interventionmag.com/cms/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=627 Watergate at the BBC, a cover-up exposed: BBC dossier reveals fury at Hutton 'flaws' · QC outlines Dyke battle plan · Hutton verdict 'wrong in law' · Spy chief revealed WMD doubt http://observer.guardian.co.uk/hutton/story/0,13845,1136307,00.html Iraq WMD inquiry details due The intelligence used to send troops to Iraq is under scrutiny Plans for an independent inquiry into the intelligence on which the UK went to war with Iraq are due to be confirmed on Tuesday. Tony Blair is expected to be questioned on the issue when he appears before senior MPs ahead of a Commons statement from Foreign Secretary Jack Straw. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/3453305.stm David Kellys family blames blair government: David Kelly's family fought to the bitter end to have the Government accept some blame for his death, it was revealed today. Only weeks before Lord Hutton published his report, the family sent him a devastating indictment of key government evidence. http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/articles/8876006 Blair Fears Being Hung Out to Dry by Bush Over WMD Close associates of Tony Blair fear that the Prime Minister is on the point of being hung out to dry by President George Bush over the issue of whether Iraq held weapons of mass destruction when Britain and the US went to war last March. http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0201-03.htm Dennis the Kootchs' subscribes to the theory that as we hear the highest note, our voices rise to match that note, as we tune instruments this way. So sing the highest note, and all will have to rise to meet it, or bear sounding completely out of tune. Something to that extent. Its true as well! Now I now why he knows he can win! [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #22 posted by mayan on February 02, 2004 at 23:19:50 PT |
| Vote Hemp Releases Voter Guide on Presidential Candidates: Kucinich Scores A+ Rating!
http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=108-02022004 [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #21 posted by mayan on February 02, 2004 at 22:56:16 PT |
| "I have doctors in several states across this country who have prescribed this for me and our Supreme Court of the United States about two months ago and said we cannot penalize a doctor for prescribing this drug because they understand the needs of their patient." American doctors "prescribing" cannabis? I thought they could only recommend it. That's news to me. The way out is the way in... White House Holding Notes Taken by 9/11 Commission: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A64628-2004Jan30.html 9/11 Commission May Subpoena Bush Briefings: http://www.911citizenswatch.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=45&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0 Bush to 9/11 families: 'enough already' http://www.911citizenswatch.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=44&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0 A 9/11 COVER UP? http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/7822324.htm The 9/11 Family Steering Committee: http://www.911independentcommission.org/ [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #20 posted by The GCW on February 02, 2004 at 22:03:20 PT |
| Another Symbiotic aspect of cannabis is hemp seed oil’s presence of gamma linolenic acid, (GLA) which is only found in 5 places, and is responsible for a strong immune system. GLA is in borage, black current seed oil, primrose oil, mothers milk and hemp seed oil. Most of Us never include it in Our diets and hemp seed oil only contributes about 3% of Our daily requirements. & The association of plants and religion is Biblical. Those who will and do prohibit cannabis are also Biblical. Read “Sin of the Priests” in Malachi 1:6-14 & 1 Timothy 4:1-5 (The) Apostasy. http://www.biblegateway.org/bible?passage=MAL+1&language=english&version=NASB & http://www.biblegateway.org/bible?passage=1TIM+4&language=english&version=NASB The Apostasy IS HERE. Evolution includes not only man evolving from animals, but from plants before that. Plants are Our ancestors. Cannabis being the Kahuna of the plant kingdom and is part of Our family. As birds can fly; they have something We don’t… so do plants… 12,000 years? Humans may have evolved from cannabis. Well over even 120,000 years ago. While We may forget, plants don’t forget. Through cannabis, We may remember all things. LET THE FLOWERS PICK YOU. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #19 posted by BUDSNAXZ on February 02, 2004 at 21:58:20 PT |
| I just received this from a friend.
"Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
-- WOW--What a Ride!" [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #18 posted by ekim on February 02, 2004 at 20:13:11 PT |
| http://www.kucinich.us/schedule.php Tuesday, February 3 9:00 p.m. PT Larry King Live CNN 12:30 a.m. PT Late Late Show CBS http://www.leap.cc/events/events.php Feb 3 04 Hannibal Rotary 12:00 PM Jack Cole Hannibal Missouri USA The Hannibal Rotary sits down for dinner with Executive Director Jack Cole at TJ's Supper Club, Hwy 36W & Munger Lane. Feb 3 04 CrossTimbers Norman Rotary 06:30 PM Howard Wooldridge Norman Oklahoma USA Speaker Howard Wooldridge will be meeting with the CrossTimbers Norman Rotary at the CobbleStone Golf Course Club House located at 1350 Cobblestone Creek Drive. Feb 3 04 Dan Viet Radio Show 07:00 PM Jack Cole Columbia Missouri USA Executive Director Jack Cole will be interviewed via telephone by Dan Viets on KOPN 89.5 FM. Subject: "Sex, Drugs and Civil [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #17 posted by Virgil on February 02, 2004 at 19:53:59 PT |
| The purpose of life is to live and help live. There is one group I sure would like raptured or somehow inialited. After that then we could live and help live. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #16 posted by FoM on February 02, 2004 at 19:43:15 PT |
| I didn't really watch the Super Bowl. I found things to do while it was on. I watched a few minutes of the half time and changed the channel and then saw the end. I think it was weird to say the least. TV is really strange to me anymore. BGreen, They don't trust the president! Who'd a thunk! LOL! [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #15 posted by John Tyler on February 02, 2004 at 19:35:20 PT |
| I suppose everyone has seen or heard of the embarrassment poor CBS has suffered as a result of the Janet Jackson bare breast incident in the half time show. Is this bad Karma getting CBS or what? [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #14 posted by BGreen on February 02, 2004 at 19:34:28 PT |
| 271 Yes 8911 No 9182 Total Votes [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #13 posted by FoM on February 02, 2004 at 19:27:46 PT |
| LOU DOBBS TONIGHT QUICKVOTE Do you believe a commission assembled by President Bush to review prewar intelligence on Iraq can be truly independent? Vote Here: http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/lou.dobbs.tonight/ [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #12 posted by FoM on February 02, 2004 at 19:10:49 PT |
| I don't know if my simple way of saying this makes sense. We are complex creatures. We have basic needs just to survive. Beyond food, clothing and shelter we have our inner being needs. I can't imagine that everyone hasn't wondered why we are here and what is our purpose in life. Cannabis can be a part of finding answers to those questions. From the time we are children we have looked for ways to feel differently then how we feel under most circumstances. People who have used substances like Cannabis seem to think deeper and are wiser then someone who hasn't. [ Post Comment ] |
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Comment #11 posted by kaptinemo on February 02, 2004 at 19:00:41 PT:
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| Hardly original, I know, but then think of how long humans of one form or another have been using cannabis; by some people's estimation, some 12,000 years. Which is supposedly around the time the 'modern' form of human was coming into existence. Curious, no? Especially when hemp seeds are found in burial sites? Those early humans thought it important enough to put it in a grave. What did they know that we may have forgotten and only recently are re-learning? [ Post Comment ] |
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Comment #10 posted by kaptinemo on February 02, 2004 at 18:28:44 PT:
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| about. E_J has written at length here about the ability of cannabis to ameliorate traumatic memories; I hold with that idea, just as I do that MDMA can do the same thing. But the association of plants and religion is also well documented. Terrence McKenna's own theories about 'shrooms and religion, the Eleusinian Mysteries, etc. lead me to wonder just what connections have existed down through the millennia between ingesting plants and the formation of what we call 'intelligence' or 'consciousness' itself. It would be interesting to find out what percentages of THC existed in early hominids' brain cells and bodies. I suspect that the flowering of intelligence (this time, no pun at all, quite serious) is closely matched with the rise of agriculture, at least as far as producing psychotropics were concerned. It would certainly explain why we have those receptors, and why we have so MANY. [ Post Comment ] |
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Comment #9 posted by kaptinemo on February 02, 2004 at 18:16:05 PT:
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| Until somebody gently pointed out to me the derivation was Greek, not Latin. I should have known better, being a recovering-High-Mass-in-Latin Catholic as I am... :) http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=symbiont sym·bi·ont ( P ) Pronunciation Key (smb-nt, -b-) n. An organism in a symbiotic relationship. Also called symbiote. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #8 posted by E_Johnson on February 02, 2004 at 16:08:19 PT |
| has nothing whatsoever to do with rust. I hope everyone can agree with that. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #7 posted by FoM on February 02, 2004 at 16:01:39 PT |
| We've seen this a few times but it is funny and thought some of you might want to see it again! It is on Direct TV and hope it's on cable. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #6 posted by E_Johnson on February 02, 2004 at 16:01:23 PT |
| Copper develops a patina but it doesn't rust right through like iron does, and that's what he meant. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #5 posted by JustGetnBy on February 02, 2004 at 15:32:33 PT |
| captinemo The depth of the symbiotic relationship between Cannabis and mankind had never occured to me. I knew that mankind has utilized and cultivated Cannabis throughout history, but never gave a thought to the emotional and/or spiritual attatchment that may have created in our spirit/psyche. Hmmmmmmmmm! This may explain my attraction to the plant itself, over and above it's value as a healing plant. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #4 posted by Nuevo Mexican on February 02, 2004 at 15:28:16 PT |
| nerve, and cannabis seems to act as a sheath for the nerve where it has been damaged. So his electrical analogy was fairly accurate! Cannabis is the miracle plant, that enhances life, in every way! (shhhhh, its the biggest well-known secret in academia!) [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #3 posted by charmed quark on February 02, 2004 at 14:47:20 PT |
| It oxidizes and developes a green patena. In any case, there have been some studies that suggest the neuoprotective aspects of cannabis may slow down the progression of MS. -Pete [ Post Comment ] |
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Comment #2 posted by kaptinemo on February 02, 2004 at 14:08:07 PT:
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| If you remember, the body's fluids, especially the haemoglobin of the blood, is suffused with iron; that wet environement the nerves exist in need that myelin sheath around them to prevent 'shorts' caused by the surrounding tissues, which are also wet and saturated with thin solutions of haemoglobin. So, even though electrical wiring is indeed made of copper, the analogy is still useful. It *would* be like scraping a live wire of it's insulation and ducking it into a bucket of water. And like any form of electrocution, painful as Hell. But cannabis is being shown by both GW Pharmaceuticals and by Pharmos of Israel to have nerve protecting qualities, reducing the damage to the myelin by coating it. It's no bloody accident we evolved with cannabinoid receptors in our brains and an ability to take massive quantities of cannabis with no ill effect other than a deep sleep. We and this plant are symbionts, no doubt of it..and to deny us the use of this necessary symbiont is to engage in species-wide suicide. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #1 posted by E_Johnson on February 02, 2004 at 13:20:16 PT |
| "WILLIAMS: If I scrape some of the plastic off and bare that wire out to the air, it starts to rust and the signal doesn?t get through.
" Electrical wires are made of copper and copper doesn't rust. Electrical wires are insulated with plastic so that the electricity stays inside the wire and doesn't end up shorting out the ciruit by traveling through every other wire it touches. But he makes it sound good. Oh well. The electricians in the audience must have sent a lot of email to the show I imagine. ;-) Maybe that is also how the myelin protects nerves. Does anyone know? [ Post Comment ] |
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