Cannabis News The November Coalition
  Boomers' Marijuana Not as Strong as Today's Pot
Posted by CN Staff on November 07, 2005 at 07:45:39 PT
By Michael Pound - Times Staff  
Source: Beaver County Times 

cannabis Pennsylvania -- This is not your father's marijuana. Or your mother's. And that's the problem.

A generation that often viewed marijuana use with a casual eye is now old enough to have kids who may be experimenting with the drug themselves. But their own experiences with pot are keeping them from having an accurate perception about use of the drug these days.

Meta Hogue, a counselor at Drug and Alcohol Services of Beaver Valley in Vanport Township who specializes in adolescent treatment, said she sees it all the time.

"Parents are thinking that they smoked marijuana when they were young and it really wasn't a big deal," Hogue said. "What they don't realize is that what they were smoking isn't what their kids are smoking today."

What's changed? Hogue said it's the levels of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, the intoxicant found in the marijuana plant. THC is measured as a percentage, and that percentage has jumped since the drug became popular in the in 1960s.

"The average strength of marijuana back in the day was around 2 or 3 percent," she said, citing studies by the National Institutes of Health. "The average strength of marijuana your children are smoking is 17 percent and higher, as much as 31 percent."

Moreover, there are differences between how the Baby Boomers consumed their marijuana and how their children typically smoke it these days, Hogue said.

"In the old days they were smoking joints, just a little bit rolled up," she said. "Today they're smoking blunts (hollowed-out cigars filled with marijuana) or bowls (pipes).

"That's what some parents don't get - their kids are smoking more, and what they're smoking is a lot stronger."

It becomes a problem because the harmful effects of marijuana are amplified in the stronger version of the drug. Hogue said those issues can include short- and long-term memory problems, a compromised immune system and increased risks of cancer, even more than tobacco use. In men, it can lower sperm counts and cause impotence; in women, it can mean an increased risk of miscarriage and can cause developmental problems for a child whose mother smoked pot while she was pregnant.

"And that says nothing of dependence, a built-up tolerance and the fact that you just want to sit on the couch all day," she added. "And I have parents telling me this isn't a really big deal. Come on."

Hogue said she's also had parents explain that they would rather have their child using marijuana than alcohol because "they won't get a DUI."

"And then I have to explain that if the child gets in a wreck, he's going to get tested and he's going to get that DUI they're so worried about anyway," she said.

Hogue said there's one other danger - that marijuana use can lead to worse things. Whether marijuana is actually a gateway drug - one that leads to the use of stronger drugs - continues to be debated, but Hogue said she's seen enough evidence personally to believe it's true.

"Of all the clients I've worked with who have used heroin, there's been only one who starting out using heroin before using anything else," she said. "Everyone else - I mean everyone - has started out using marijuana or alcohol."

Hogue said there's one more misconception held by many parents: that marijuana use is something that their kids are going to experiment with late in high school or early in college, because that's what the parents did.

"When I was growing up in the '70s, that was largely the case, but it's not any more," she said. "Think about this: the average onset age in this county is 11 or 12, and not 18 or 19."

Hogue said she expects her clients to dig in their heels when it comes to discussing marijuana use. But when she hears the same from parents, she knows it's probably because their memories no longer match the present.

"That's when I have to stress that, yes, marijuana use is a big deal," she said. "It is something they should be concerned about."

Source: Beaver County Times, The (PA)
Author: Michael Pound - Times Staff
Published: Novenber 7, 2005
Copyright: 2005 Beaver County Times
Contact: timesletters@timesonline.com
Website: http://www.timesonline.com/

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Comment #27 posted by Toker00 on November 08, 2005 at 03:59:41 PT
nuevo mexican
Yes. Heaven on Earth. It IS possible. Eliminating pain and hate will be a big step that Cannabis is at least capable of initiating. The rest is up to us.

"It ain't me, it ain't me, I ain't no Fortunate one!!"

Wage peae on war. END CANNABIS PROHIBITION NOW!

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #26 posted by Jim Lunsford on November 08, 2005 at 03:53:27 PT
What they don't realize....
is that we are very aware of the potency of weed, both then and now, because we are all still smoking it! So my buddy Thomas Jefferson was a stoner! Or was he a drug lord? I get so confused sometimes. Amazing how cannabis was obviously a "gate-way" towards freedom in government.

However, I would have to say that I don't know of any "good" or "bad" people. Just their opinions are different from mine. If we want a freer world, perhaps we should be as open to ideas being outdated, or no longer popular, rather than good or bad. In many ways, the fear of punishment from prohibitionists could delay legalization. In societies, change is uncertain. Uncertainty breeds fear. However, the chaos is really opportunity for growth. The more we concentrate on what kind of society we want, instead of the problems of the one we have, the less painful the change. Just an opinion. Neither good nor bad. Peace, Jim

Rev Jim Lunsford

First Cannabist Church

Villians: Somebody’s hero

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #25 posted by boballen1313 on November 08, 2005 at 01:25:09 PT
AS A FATHER THAT SMOKED THE KIND
Back in the "day" when the weed was so gosh darn nostalgic... this bloke was smoking some nice hash. John P. Walters doesnt know about the wonderful availabitity of some of the world's BEST DARN HASHISH a bloke could ever hope to dip in his pipe, "back in my fathers day". What was the THC of that delight? Anyone remember smoking up some of that paraquate shit that was made multiple times more dangerous by our own United States Governmint? Gosh dont you love to be nostalgic?

MARIJUANA TODAY IS NOT GENETICALLY ALTERED!!!!GENETICALLY ALTERED MEANS FIDDLING WITH THE GENETIC MAKEUP NOT TENDING A GARDEN!!!USING THE BEST FERTILIZERS AND GROW TECHNIQUES IS NOT GENETICALLY ALTERING THE PLANTS DNA!!!

ITS THE SAME GREAT WEED! WE ONLY TEND IT BETTER!!!! TELL WALTERS TO GET A LIFE.



[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #24 posted by nuevo mexican on November 07, 2005 at 23:29:33 PT
Oops!
If you want to remove my spastic fingers second post FoM, thanks in advance!

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #23 posted by nuevo mexican on November 07, 2005 at 23:27:49 PT
Super da kine? Elephant bud.......
I too saw the Hawaiian Island of Kuauis' Napoli Coast by helicopter in '75 Toker00. and experienced tiny pin joints that would remain unlit halfway through, as you recall I'm sure! Electric Wheelchair weed!

An hour might pass by and you MIGHT be able to light it, if there was any point, as the album would need to be turned over, (like Cat Stevens 'Numbers' or Gino Vanellis' Crazy Life, stoney latin jazz, Loggins and Messina, Shawn Phillips, and of course Neil Youngs first two albums got most of the turntables space, as a rule!

Great music and great smoke and a great stereo and a view of the the Pacific is still all one needs to realize Heaven exists here on Earth, Cannabis has always been excellent, and of high integrity for eons, and science has a long way to go to catch up with the Miracle Plant!

I haven't noticed quality going up, we're just more knowledgable it seems, but we were then, thanks to Dr. Atomix Pipe and Dope book comix, and a few brave writers in the seventies that published what little was known at the time, thankfully.

Remember the days of great Columbian, and everyones favorite, Alcapoco Gold?

I'm sure you all do, for those who don't know, the results are legendary! Let's propose we add a School of Cannabis Journalism link, ala MAP, to educate the uninformed authors of bogus articles from know-nothings pandering mis-information, I don't think any site like C-News offers anything similiar.

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #22 posted by nuevo mexican on November 07, 2005 at 23:22:38 PT
Super da kine? Elephant bud.......
I too saw the Hawaiian Island of Kuauis' Napoli Coast by helicopter in '75 Toker00. and experienced tiny pin joints that would remain unlit halfway through, as you recall I'm sure! Electric Wheelchair weed!

An hour might pass by and you MIGHT be able to light it, if there was any point, as the album would need to be turned over, (like Cat Stevens Numbers or Gino Vanelli, stoney latin jazz, Loggins and Messina, Shawn Phillips, and of course Neil Youngs first two albums most of all!

Great music and great smoke and a great stereo and a view of the the Pacific is still all one needs to realize Heaven exists here on Earth, Cannabis has always been excellent, and of high integrity for eons, and science has a long way to go to catch up with the Miracle Plant!

I haven't noticed quality going up, we're just more knowledgable it seems, but we were then, thanks to Dr. Atomics Pipe and Dope book comix, and a few brave writers in the seventies thankfully.

Remember the days of great Columbian, and everyones favorite, Alcapoco Gold?

I'm sure you all do, for those who don't know, the results are legendary! Let's propose we add a School of Cannabis Journalism link, ala MAP, to educate the uninformed authors of bogus articles from know-nothings pandering mis-information, I don't think any site like C-News offers anything similiar.

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #21 posted by runderwo on November 07, 2005 at 17:58:36 PT
sigh
"What they don't realize is that what they were smoking isn't what their kids are smoking today."

Well, I should hope not, as surely its potency would be nothing by now.

"The average strength of marijuana back in the day was around 2 or 3 percent," she said, citing studies by the National Institutes of Health.

That study is known to be flawed as it used improperly stored samples. 2 or 3 percent wouldn't get ANYONE high, in which case, why would anyone have smoked it?

"The average strength of marijuana your children are smoking"

Note the assumption here. The devil has already taken root in your children.

"is 17 percent and higher, as much as 31 percent."

Oh NOES!

""In the old days they were smoking joints, just a little bit rolled up," she said."

"Just a little bit"? Has she ever watched Cheech and Chong? Seen a Bob Marley cover? She definitely hasn't seen the joints my grower rolls.

""Today they're smoking blunts (hollowed-out cigars filled with marijuana) or bowls (pipes)."

I fail to see the point here. If she means they are consuming more material, she is wrong. Pipes are specifically for consuming LESS material, as a byproduct of prohibition prices rising from $40 an ounce to $40 for an eighth we see the prevalence of pipes at an all time high today.

""That's what some parents don't get - their kids are smoking more, and what they're smoking is a lot stronger.""

No, they aren't missing anything. You are simply making this stuff up, probably because your job depends on it. Yes, maybe kids are smoking more pot today than back then. However, are they doing less cocaine, heroin, alcohol, or huffing as a result? Can't see the forest for the weed.

"Hogue said those issues can include short- and long-term memory problems"

Bullshit, when under the influence only

"a compromised immune system"

Research shows THC to be a likely cancer fighting suspect

"and increased risks of cancer, even more than tobacco use."

Is anyone still listening to this flat-earther?

"In men, it can lower sperm counts and cause impotence;"

Sweet, birth control for free? They certainly can't mean that it keeps you from getting frisky. Unless they've never used it, the poor prohibitionists...

"in women, it can mean an increased risk of miscarriage"

Bullshit, but this is a new fabrication I haven't seen before. I'm sure this interview will be cited as an authoritative reference as drug warriors add this factoid to their arsenal.

"and can cause developmental problems for a child whose mother smoked pot while she was pregnant."

Bullshit, see Jamaican study. Is it better for a mother to be nauseous, malnourished and depressed during pregnancy or to imbibe in a moderate amount of a cheap harmless weed to alleviate all of those issues?

"And that says nothing of dependence, a built-up tolerance"

Huh? Tolerance is only a problem when it comes with withdrawal symptoms that compel the user to seek more. Because marijuana does not have withdrawal symptoms more severe than caffeine or chocolate, marijuana is not a drug of dependence. End of story.

""and the fact that you just want to sit on the couch all day," she added."

How the hell do you know? Idiot. Or the poor thing just tried some really bad grass.

""And I have parents telling me this isn't a really big deal. Come on.""

No, it really isn't, sitting around on the couch stoned in the worst case is far FAR more benign than almost anything else your child could get mixed up in. No, it's not productive, but there's no law requiring productivity (yet). Is playing 8 hours of video games after school a better idea in some way? I think it's just about the same.

""And then I have to explain that if the child gets in a wreck, he's going to get tested and he's going to get that DUI they're so worried about anyway," she said."

And that's an argument for prohibition? To me, it's an argument against stupid zero-tolerance laws that criminalize driving with the inactive THC-COOH metabolite in your system. But no, the clear answer is that drugwar must go on.

"Hogue said she's seen enough evidence personally to believe [gateway drug] is true."

Good for you. Stay the hell away from my kids if you think the gateway theory resembles reasonable thinking in any way. Prohibition drug pushers are the gateway. Curiosity is the gateway. Boredom is the gateway. DARE lies are the gateway. Marijuana is not the gateway.

""When I was growing up in the '70s, that was largely the case, but it's not any more," she said. "Think about this: the average onset age in this county is 11 or 12, and not 18 or 19.""

"Average onset" of what? Is 'use' the problem or is 'abuse' the problem? She's talking about 'use' as if it were some sort of malady. Oh, and by the way, you can thank your prohibition drug pushers for selling to children. Without the pushers, the children would have to steal from their parents like they do with booze...

"Hogue said she expects her clients to dig in their heels when it comes to discussing marijuana use. But when she hears the same from parents, she knows it's probably because their memories no longer match the present.

It certainly couldn't be because her outrageous and muddled claims don't resemble reality in any way, no sir.

""That's when I have to stress that, yes, marijuana use is a big deal," she said. "It is something they should be concerned about.""

Sure. But there are other things to be concerned about too, and frankly marijuana substitutes for some of those things. If by 'being concerned' you mean 'grounding or threatening to throw them out of the house if you catch them high', I think that is the wrong approach. But what do I know.

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #20 posted by runderwo on November 07, 2005 at 17:29:36 PT
runruff
do you have a link for that?

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #19 posted by mayan on November 07, 2005 at 16:48:40 PT
Meta Hogue
She has a job to protect and she'll be damned if she lets the truth get in the way.

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #18 posted by charmed quark on November 07, 2005 at 16:40:33 PT
I must really be in trouble!!!!!
"Hogue said those issues can include short- and long-term memory problems, a compromised immune system and increased risks of cancer, even more than tobacco use. In men, it can lower sperm counts and cause impotence"

Oh my gosh - I'm using pure THC, it must be 33 times stronger than that old hippie mary-ha-wana. So I must really be in trouble.

It's called Marinol. Yet, nowhere in the medical literature does it mention these side effects. I should sue somebody! :-)

-CQ

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #17 posted by runruff on November 07, 2005 at 16:23:26 PT:

Certainly.
Thomas Jefferson in a letter, correspondences of the founding fathers, I found in the Library of Congress, T.J. said he had some agents smuggle some of the Emperor's seeds out of China. His agent were almost caught and killed because the Emperor considered these seeds to produce the best herb in the world at that time. T.J. said they produced some very sticky and stoney stuff espicially if you pulled the males before they pollenated the females. The whole story is in his letters. Pull them up and read them. It is very interesting.

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #16 posted by Max Flowers on November 07, 2005 at 15:51:28 PT
runruff
Thomas Jefferson was proud of the sticky cush he was able to steal from the Chinese Emperor 250 years ago.

This is intriguing, can you elaborate?

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #15 posted by runruff on November 07, 2005 at 15:20:40 PT:

Harmful effects?
See this is how they work. The DEA won't allow any research into cannabis i.e. Dr. Cracker. And when it comes to cannabis as a medicine not enough is known but when we talk about the stronger [pot] it just amps up the harmful effects. WHAT HARMFUL EFFECTS? Are these people potologist or cops or what? Do they know? Do they not know? Make up your minds. You remind me of used car salesmen. Just say whatever sounds good at the moment.

There was dirt weed back in the sixtys there was stoney weed back in the sixtys. Ti sticks. Budda sticks, Panama red, Alcapolco gold Muaue Wowie, Even a little skunk here and there. Thomas Jefferson was proud of the sticky cush he was able to steal from the Chinese Emperor 250 years ago. Oh please, Enough with this it is stronger than the hippys had bull. Even if it is it ony takes less to get the same effect. If young people are going to expierment [and they might] it will be heathier for them because they won't need to smoke as much. Now. Lets face the very fact that you are reporting this distorted piece of...... Should tell us all that prohobition isn't working anyhow. So put that in your pipe and smoke it!

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #14 posted by Toker00 on November 07, 2005 at 14:44:49 PT
Memories...
Maui Waui, Elephant Weed, and "Hain't no big 'ting, brudda!" I LOVE Hawaii! International Marketplace ROCKED in '72. I would love to go back as a civilian!

This stuff about we only smoked small joints back then is so, so, hilarious! We had hookas with eight tubes coming off and a bowl that would hold an ounce. Obviously the person who wrote this crap was not around then.

Hawaii is absolutely a tropical paradise. I loved eating the pineapple out of the field when we were playing soldiers. It is beautiful from a helicopter, too.

Wage peace on war. END CANNABIS PROHIBITION NOW!

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #13 posted by JustGetnBy on November 07, 2005 at 12:46:12 PT
Da Kine
Aloha Kona Gold

How bout Pakalolo ???

Peace

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #12 posted by siege on November 07, 2005 at 11:04:51 PT
Ms Meta Hogue:
I beleave that this has slip your mind, that the make up of the person is, the things that they will DO in live so you think your a ( Counselor ) go back to SCHOOL and learn Something!!! before you open mouth and put foot in again. and furthermore all you government payed people QUIT telling the young people 8 to 13 the LIES, and tell the truth about what marijuana is so they don't have to go out to find out for them self, and go back to the rest of the KIDS, and tell them that you have lied to them, and then they THINK all drugs are not HARMFUL...

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #11 posted by FoM on November 07, 2005 at 10:51:46 PT
Another Comment
When my son went off to college he knew about drugs and alcohol. You can't control a child in college. You've got to give college kids, which are young adults, enough rope to hang themselves and hope and pray they don't or they will never grow up and be accountable for their own actions. Hopefully what a parent teaches them at home will help them from going off the deep end. What bothers me so much is the government telling parents how to raise their children. I talked to my niece who is a nurse and I asked her about drug testing in schools. She said if a school is trying to put a drug testing policy in her children's school it should be up to the parents and the parents only to go to meetings and talk about if they feel it is right or it's wrong. I agree.

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #10 posted by billos on November 07, 2005 at 10:41:18 PT
.....Bee-otch....
(((In the old days they were smoking joints, just a little bit rolled up," she said. "Today they're smoking blunts (hollowed-out cigars filled with marijuana) or bowls (pipes).)))

that's right lady.

And when your kids get to college they will probably play all sorts of drinking games designed to get the maximum amount of booze in one's system in the least amount of time.

Oh yeah....some of the kids will die from such recreational fun too.

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #9 posted by konagold on November 07, 2005 at 10:07:27 PT:

Cognative decline
Aloha

Hashish was available in the 60s

in fact it has been smoked for thousands of years and is equally as potent as the finest 'da kine' [hawaiian pidgen for buds which has been morphed into 'kind' bud -snicker-]

so the higher potency claim is so much bs one can hear the bovine chewing

Aloha Rev. Dennis Shields

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #8 posted by FoM on November 07, 2005 at 10:00:31 PT
dongenero
You said: I don't support recreational use by minors.

I agree with you. The laws I want changed are for adults not children.

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #7 posted by dongenero on November 07, 2005 at 09:55:38 PT
substantiation???
I would like to see some substantiation of this string of BS..... "It becomes a problem because the harmful effects of marijuana are amplified in the stronger version of the drug. Hogue said those issues can include short- and long-term memory problems, a compromised immune system and increased risks of cancer, even more than tobacco use. In men, it can lower sperm counts and cause impotence; in women, it can mean an increased risk of miscarriage and can cause developmental problems for a child whose mother smoked pot while she was pregnant."

This article is ridiculous. The people you always hear saying that the potency is so much greater now than in the past are people with no experience then or now.

The only thing I agree with in this article is that I don't think minors should use cannabis unless it is under supervised medical direction. I don't support recreational use by minors.

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #6 posted by Dankhank on November 07, 2005 at 09:51:27 PT
And your point?
"Of all the clients I've worked with who have used heroin, there's been only one who starting out using heroin before using anything else," she said. "Everyone else - I mean everyone - has started out using marijuana or alcohol."

Or milk

or refined sugar

or Caffine

or Ritalin



[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #5 posted by FoM on November 07, 2005 at 09:50:05 PT
Parental Responsibility
Laws are made to protect the children but the laws that are made to protect the childen often hurt adults. Many people don't have children or their children are grown and on their own so why do we still hear WHAT ABOUT THE CHILDREN?

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #4 posted by Toker00 on November 07, 2005 at 09:35:52 PT
..................................................
Deja vu. You can explain the truth to an idiot repeatedly, and they still won't get it. I smoked cannabis in 1972 that took me to places I've never been since. Big, purple, sticky buds I've yet to see a repeat of. My nephew pays 2-3 hundred dollars for an ounce of something that has a really robust smell, but doesn't even overshadow the average border weed down here. So I don't buy for a minute, this piece of prohibition caca. I admit BC may have some that is comparible to what I had in 1972, and I can't wait to encounter it, but I doubt it's much better. You'd think they could come up with more entertaining lies, wouldn't you?

Want to protect your children? END CANNABIS PROHIBITION NOW!

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #3 posted by cloud7 on November 07, 2005 at 09:14:46 PT
It's like I'm stuck in a time loop
Looks like Johnny Pee is seeding the papers again.

Please check the archives of these identical articles for insightful comments.

March 20, 2005 Is Pot Far More Potent Than in the Past? http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/20/thread20384.shtml

November 07, 2004 Potent Pot Just One Reason Legalization Unwise http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/19/thread19786.shtml

October 20, 2004 Exposing Potent Pot Myths http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/19/thread19678.shtml

July 20, 2004 U.S. Drug Czar Warns of Potent Pot Here http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/19/thread19209.shtml

July 19, 2004 As Pot Gets Stronger, US Officials Change Policy http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/19/thread19203.shtml

May 17, 2004 Marijuana More Potent, Harmful http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/18/thread18867.shtml

May 05, 2004 Stronger Marijuana Propels Abuse Rates http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/18/thread18807.shtml

How about one more from 2000 to emphasize the staleness of this refrain?

August 27, 2000 Potent Pot Rolling Up Sales http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/6/thread6848.shtml

Find more here: http://www.cannabisnews.com/thcgi/search.pl?K=potent&H=40&T=t

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #2 posted by ekim on November 07, 2005 at 07:53:45 PT
No rational person can defend this;
i read a blurb a few days ago about Mr Keillor is not going to be doing the show from the theater it has been in for years. i hope we hear more on this issue.

US: Column: A Foul Tragedy

URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05.n1731.a03.html Newshawk: M & M Family Votes: 0 Pubdate: Tue, 01 Nov 2005 Source: In These Times (US) Copyright: 2005 In These Times Contact: http://www.inthesetimes.com/site/about/contact/ Website: http://www.inthesetimes.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/207 Author: Garrison Keillor

A FOUL TRAGEDY

Democrats Fled In The Face Of Danger

We Democrats are at our worst when we try to emulate Republicans as we did in signing onto the "war" on drugs that has ruined so many young lives.

The cruelty of the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984 is stark indeed, as are the sentencing guidelines that impose mandatory minimum sentences for minor drug possession-guidelines in the 1986 Anti-Drug Abuse Act that sailed through Congress without benefit of public hearings, drafted before an election by Democrats afraid to be labeled "soft on drugs." As a result, a marijuana grower can land in prison for life without parole while a murderer might be in for eight years.

No rational person can defend this; it is a Dostoevskian nightmare and it exists only because politicians fled in the face of danger.

That includes Bill Clinton, under whose administration the prosecution of Americans for marijuana went up hugely, so that now there are more folks in prison for marijuana than for violent crimes. More than for manslaughter or rape. This only makes sense in the fantasy world of Washington, where perception counts for more than reality.

To an old Democrat, who takes a ground view of politics-What is the actual effect of this action on the lives of real people?-it is a foul tragedy that makes you feel guilty about enjoying your freedom.

If suddenly on a Friday night the red lights flash and the cops yank your teenage son and his little envelope of marijuana into the legal meatgrinder and some bullet-headed prosecutor decides to flex his muscle and charge your teenager-because he had a .22 rifle in his upstairs bedroom closet-with a felony involving the use of a firearm, which under our brutal sentencing code means he can be put on ice for 20 years, and the prosecutor goes at him hammer and tong and convinces a passive jury and your boy's life is sacrificed so this creep can run for Congress next year-this is not your cross alone to bear. If the state cuts off your right hand with a meat cleaver on my account and I don't object, then it is my cleaver and my fingerprints on it.

I don't dare visit Sandstone Federal Prison here in Minnesota for fear of what I'd see there: People who chose marijuana, a more benign drug than alcohol, and got caught in the religious war that we Democrats in a weak moment signed onto. God help us if we form alliance with such bullies as would destroy a kid's life for raising cannabis plants.

Garrison Keillor is the host and writer of A Prairie Home Companion, now in its 26th year on the air. This adapted excerpted from Keillor's new book, Homegrown Democrat ( Copyright 2004 ) is reprinted by arrangement with Viking, a member of Penguin Group ( USA ) Inc.



[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #1 posted by FoM on November 07, 2005 at 07:48:11 PT
OK Now I'm Upset
Articles like this really get to me. Why should responsible adults be jailed and harassed because someone isn't keeping their own children from using Cannabis.

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