Cannabis News Cannabis TV
  Conference Focuses on Changing U.S. Drug Policy
Posted by CN Staff on March 05, 2006 at 09:37:22 PT
By Chris Paul 
Source: Columbia Missourian 

medical Missouri -- George McMahon walked into MU’s Arts and Sciences building Saturday and dumped a can of “marijuana cigarettes” on the floor just to make a point.

He is one of many speakers who came to MU for the 2006 Midwest Drug Policy Conference, a three-day event sponsored by the National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws and Students for Sensible Drug Policy. The conference ends today.

The conference features student activism workshops, books, merchandise and guest speakers from Columbia and around the country.

McMahon suffers from nail and patella syndrome. His gnarled fingers, some missing fingernails, hold the can that carries the marijuana he said he receives for free from a federal medical marijuana program. Officially he gets marijuana for the pain, spasms and nausea he gets from his condition, he said.

McMahon said he was on his death bed until he smoked marijuana for the first time.

“I smoked a joint and lived,” he said.

Clifford Thornton, the president of Efficacy, an organization that advocates changes to America’s current drug policy, spoke on the need to reform and change drug laws.

“You have to thoroughly understand the economics behind it,” Thornton said. “Economics is the driving force behind the drug war.”

It’s also an issue of class and race, Thornton said. “If people don’t understand racism, classism and white privilege then they don’t really understand what the drug war is about,” he said.

“That’s the war on drugs in its entirety,” he said.

Joe Bartlett, president of the MU chapter of Students for Sensible Drug Policy, said the conference is a way for different organizations to come together and share ideas, experiences and to create bonds to help further their cause.

Source: Columbia Missourian (MO)
Author: Chris Paul
Published: March 05, 2006
Copyright: 2006 Columbia Missourian
Contact: editor@digmo.com
Website: http://www.columbiamissourian.com/

Related Articles:

Student Group Drums Up Opposition To Drug War
http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread21643.shtml

Conference Takes On The Drug War
http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread21640.shtml


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Comment #50 posted by FoM on March 05, 2006 at 19:15:45 PT
60 Minute Transcript
http://cannabisnews.com/news/21/thread21645.shtml

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #49 posted by Hope on March 05, 2006 at 19:14:11 PT
The DEA agent
That agent had the coldest, emptiest eyes I ever saw on a human being.

Mark did well. Very well. He needs many a high five on that one.

Really good work, Mark! Really good!

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #48 posted by FoM on March 05, 2006 at 18:02:29 PT
60 Minutes
Bob Simon said something really nice when he saw the first garden. I can't remember the exact remark but it was like an awe statement. They separated the grows into babies, teenagers and adults. What a good way of explaining the different stages of growing so the public would understand better.

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #47 posted by PainWithNoInsurance on March 05, 2006 at 17:51:50 PT
60 Minutes
It was good but too short. There is alot more to the story than was presented and I wish it all could have been said.

I saw some subtle human compassion in the DEA agent when Bob Simon asked about the difference in the law of Canada's minor outlook on seed selling compared to America's life sentence. The agent looked as though deep down he didn't believe in that harsh of punishment, but then all he has to do is think of the high paying job he possesses and then anything is alright with him.

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #46 posted by FoM on March 05, 2006 at 17:24:50 PT
charmed quark
My impression is it showed happy silly people standing up and saying go away DEA. It made me smile and I know it made others smile too. It was light hearted and out there. I really enjoyed it. Marc looked very non threatening just focussed on what he believes is the right thing to do which is change the laws. Very basic and upfront.

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #45 posted by BGreen on March 05, 2006 at 17:23:44 PT
It seems strange to me
It's quite strange that the story was about the sale of seeds to people in the US, but to emphasize their point, the DEA talked about grow ops in Canada and about people smuggling cannabis bud out of Canada.

I would think that the sale of seeds to Americans would help to alleviate both of these alleged "problems," don't you think?

The Reverend Bud Green

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #44 posted by Toker00 on March 05, 2006 at 17:22:54 PT
Free Marc Emery
How can Cannada extradite a man the U.S. DEA just said could face LIFE in prison, when they haven't punished ANYONE in the last 35 years with more than a $200.00 fine? Life/vs./200.00 fine. Hmmm. Life/vs./200.00 fine. Is that really fair? What should we do here newly elected conservatives? In effect, Death/vs./200.00 fine. Keep Marc in Cannada and the DEA in the hole they are digging themselves in the U.S.

DEA does not spell GOD!

Good job, by the way, Hope. Thanks! : )

Wage peace on war. END CANNABIS PROHIBITION NOW!

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #43 posted by charmed quark on March 05, 2006 at 17:19:40 PT
60 minutes
I thought it was a very fair and evenhanded presentation. Of course, that made the DEA look kinda bad.

A good inditement of out draconian marijuana laws.

I didn't know the DEA considered one seed to be equivalent to one plant. It reminds me of a Texas case back in the 70's where a man was given life for 2 seeds and some pot lint found in his pocket.



[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #42 posted by BGreen on March 05, 2006 at 16:57:43 PT
God must be the biggest "drug" kingpin
The Almighty God must be captured and punished by the US for the manufacture and distribution of ALL of the cannabis seeds ever created on earth.

This criminal has escaped punishment for eternity, but now must be hunted down, captured and extradited to the United States.

He may call Himself "The Lord God," but He'll now be known as "The Lord of Prison."

The Reverend Bud Green

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #41 posted by FoM on March 05, 2006 at 16:55:02 PT
Hope
When we saw the DEA agent my husband called him a square headed cowboy named Otto! Steve Earle used that term in one of his songs and it fit tonight for sure.

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #40 posted by FoM on March 05, 2006 at 16:52:14 PT
My Impression of 60 Minutes
I am so pleased that they showed Marc in a very good light. The Pot-TV cartoon shots were so funny.

Thank you 60 Minutes!

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #39 posted by Hope on March 05, 2006 at 16:51:32 PT
Whoo Hoo
Everybody typing?

He did good. Real good, I thought.

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #38 posted by FoM on March 05, 2006 at 16:46:18 PT
60 Minutes is Great
Very good.

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #37 posted by FoM on March 05, 2006 at 16:21:30 PT
BGreen
I was told we are using too much bandwidth so to trim down CNews size he did stuff but I don't know exactly what or why except to help with our size getting too big.

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #36 posted by lombar on March 05, 2006 at 16:07:46 PT
Get a dvd burner
- and make regular backups of the data you generate.

For email I strongly recommend Thunderbird(free!). You can just copy the email files(one directory) to another computer and use them there(just have to change one line in a textfile). I have moved my mail from a windows box, to a Linux box, to a Mac box without losing a single email. Email that I can serve on one shared directory to all the computers in the house(if I wanted..tried it for a time, could check my email on either computer but the data was always updated on the one it was stored on, always current, no matter what computer I sat at!)

I have been trying to convert the household... I'm the guy who has to restore the emails after disasters ;)!

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #35 posted by BGreen on March 05, 2006 at 16:02:44 PT
Why did Matt change our website???
I couldn't post with my normal security settings.

I had to uncheck "remove private header information" on my firewall for CNews to allow me to post.

Why in the heck does our private information have to be transmitted now?

Did our website get taken over by canadian authorities, too?

WTF?

The Reverend Bud Green

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #34 posted by FoM on March 05, 2006 at 16:01:43 PT
Woo Woo Woo
So far so good! The introduction was fine. Now I'm excited and not as worried.

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #33 posted by FoM on March 05, 2006 at 15:59:55 PT
Good Luck Mr. Emery
I hope it goes well!

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #32 posted by BGreen on March 05, 2006 at 15:58:24 PT
60 Minutes with Marc Emery almost on
I've got my DVD recorder set.

The Reverend Bud Green

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #31 posted by FoM on March 05, 2006 at 15:56:37 PT
lombar
I am so pleased that I now have two computers that work. I have a lot of work to do to get my main computer back up and running and gathering links etc. but I can do that when I have time. Important links I sent to my one yahoo email account ( form I need to post news etc.) so I can find them easily. I won't open that email until I am on my other computer.

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #30 posted by lombar on March 05, 2006 at 15:47:58 PT
There's nothing more frustrating...
Than trying to direct someones hand without any feedback from ones own senses. I could fix your puter in a jiffy but 'support online' takes 10 times as long. I have a few people who call me from time to time to fix stuff, the hardest part is getting a description of the problem in lingo that I can translate into a diagnoses. The second hardest part is getting the user to understand what the heck you just said when you tell them how to fix it.

Far less frustrating to fix it myself!:-) I give charmed a kudos for trying!

The last few years have taught me a few things about the computer business.

1) there is no money for the reasonable business person to make on retail sales. At least here, there are a few computer stores in town that were beating my wholesale prices.

2) most money is generated by fixing WINDOWS. Macs might be slow and expensive but the repairman is off with the Maytag guy playing golf. The user does not know how to fix them because they seldom break.

3) Techs who come to a residence have to charge really thick cash to make it worthwhile. If you have a shop, you can theoretically be working on 10 computers at the same time.

4) hardware usually only fails under heavy stress. I had one friend lose his whole drive for no apparent reason. I later found out that he NEVER defragged the harddrive. It probably wore out reading bits all over the hardrive constantly.

gw- often erasing it and starting over is the only way to fix something! :)(especially windows problems!)

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #29 posted by FoM on March 05, 2006 at 15:21:40 PT
charmed quark
I can't get the computer connected to the satellite and I might need to call them to put in different numbers in someplace for it to work. Actually I have no idea how this one just accepted the satellite connection and works.

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #28 posted by FoM on March 05, 2006 at 15:17:27 PT
charmed quark
I had to put the CD that came with my computer in and it installed Windows XP. It took a while but it went smoothly. As far as Marc Emery goes I hope the interview shows good things. I just don't know how they will present it. 60 Minutes can show plenty of bad things too.

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #27 posted by charmed quark on March 05, 2006 at 15:13:30 PT
OS on hard drive
So the hard drive you installed must of already had the operating system on it. I hope it is the version you want ( you use XP?). Check to see how much room is left on the disk.

As a future project, you might want to add a second drive for back up purposes. The link I gave you has directions for that.

It looks like the Emery segment is not in the first half - at least the way my program guide is listing it. There's more info at cannabisculture.com - they have a link in the article to some previews and stuff. I did not check them out.

FoM - I have no strong opinions about Emery other than he is a "showman" and a businessman. Nothing wrong with that. I tend to be the opposite and, while working for medical marijuana, keep a low profile and try to stay squeaky clean in a legal sense. But I think Emery's seed business helped a lot fo medical groups.

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #26 posted by FoM on March 05, 2006 at 15:11:14 PT
Dankhank
Thanks I turned on CNN. I've been working on the computer so much I think my poor little brain needs to stop and watch the Oscars and 60 Minutes. I get stuck in a mode of I need to try this or that. I hate to call for technical help but I will tomorrow. I hope the interview goes well. It really has me nervous.

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #25 posted by Dankhank on March 05, 2006 at 15:02:44 PT
ot oscar ...
cnn has started coverage, now ...

could be interesting tonight ...

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #24 posted by chris00764 on March 05, 2006 at 14:41:51 PT:

Time
Its on at 7:00 tonight.

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #23 posted by FoM on March 05, 2006 at 14:37:35 PT
charmed quark
I wanted to mention that it worked. Thank you and everyone for all the help. I can't figure out how to get the satellite to work on the computer but I know it's something that I will be able to get fixed once I do a little thinking. I might need to call Direcway and I'll do that tomorrow. The computer sounds good and everything seems to be just like a new computer. Thanks again.

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #22 posted by global_warming on March 05, 2006 at 12:22:00 PT
get a system with ATHLON
a proven winner in this digital age,

what time is 60 minutes and Marc on tonight?



[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #21 posted by FoM on March 05, 2006 at 12:19:58 PT
charmed quark
It's working. It's loading now! Yippie! Maybe it will get fixed. Thanks so much!

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #20 posted by global_warming on March 05, 2006 at 12:14:34 PT
re:mother boards
best to move on and get a 'new machine



[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #19 posted by charmed quark on March 05, 2006 at 12:09:08 PT
Motherboard wouldn't explain grinding noise
When you say it tries to start up and then stops, could you give more info?

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #18 posted by global_warming on March 05, 2006 at 12:09:06 PT
is this real?
imagine

Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, and Hindus

have converted

to the hand of a carpenter,

who brought 'salvation

when I look at my 'hand



[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #17 posted by FoM on March 05, 2006 at 12:06:39 PT
global_warming
If it's the motherboard then it isn't worth fixing I don't think. I was told that by a technician a while back.

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #16 posted by global_warming on March 05, 2006 at 11:56:48 PT
sounds like mother board failure
not much unlike

'our own falures..

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #15 posted by FoM on March 05, 2006 at 11:52:48 PT
charmed quark
It tries to start up but then it stops.

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #14 posted by charmed quark on March 05, 2006 at 11:47:32 PT
X-ing my fingers for your computer
Let us all know

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #13 posted by global_warming on March 05, 2006 at 11:46:26 PT
hey Lombar
I choose

to not erase it,

I choose to bring this problem

Home, to an infinitely small destiny,



[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #12 posted by FoM on March 05, 2006 at 11:45:07 PT
global_warming
Thank you. Now we are ready to turn on my broken computer. I will still be using this computer until I know we are successful at fixing it. I am so glad this one is working. That's a big miracle.

Gotta have Faith!

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #11 posted by global_warming on March 05, 2006 at 11:40:34 PT
I Know You Have Faith
'From those "Hopeful

A Kiss for you

and Mr. Fomme,



[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #10 posted by global_warming on March 05, 2006 at 11:31:19 PT
don't thank me
thank those that have lived before us,

those that have caught a glimpse,

thank those who are caught in the belly of the beast,

for it will be their greatest fears,

that 'we, must carry back 'home..



[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #9 posted by FoM on March 05, 2006 at 11:23:15 PT
global_warming
OK I'll have Faith. That works! Thanks.

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #8 posted by global_warming on March 05, 2006 at 11:21:23 PT
Have Faith
For is not Cannabis that gateway to 'human salvation?

Has not poll after poll revealed that most people understand the benefits and harms of Cannabis?



[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #7 posted by global_warming on March 05, 2006 at 11:17:53 PT
Liberty and justice for the Just
for not all have demonstrated an ability to earn Justice.



[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #6 posted by FoM on March 05, 2006 at 11:17:17 PT
global_warming
My worry is if he has frightened me will he frighten 60 Minute viewers? Most 60 Minute viewers are older and conservative. I try to step back and think like I don't know anything about our topic and am viewing it for the first time. People involved in activism know how they feel but we are trying to convince the voting public that cannabis shouldn't be against the law. I look at this issue that way. It's the fence sitters that we are trying to convince.

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #5 posted by global_warming on March 05, 2006 at 11:05:55 PT
80 is smaller than 120
you might try 420..,

I come from that persuasion that has read what Marc has said, he may frighten some folks, be not frightened, he may seem arrogant, he is, he is willing to sacrifice his mortal flesh, in the name of 'freedom, he is more American than has been reported by the media.

I hope it goes well for Him.

Its not just about him, it is about all of us Americans,

Who see the injustice that has inflamed this world.



[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #4 posted by mmj4nj on March 05, 2006 at 10:56:55 PT:

Liberty & Justice For All
I guess I'm naive, but if we're afforded equal protection under the law, why can't I smoke without fear of arrest?

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #3 posted by FoM on March 05, 2006 at 10:52:38 PT
global_warming
Tonight is the interview on 60 Minutes and it might overlap with Jon Stewarts opening of the Oscars but I'll watch 60 Minutes if I have to pick one or the other. I hope progress and news doesn't get slowed up over this interview. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

We are working on the computer and have the new drive in the computer. It says its 80 and the broken was says 120 on the drive. I will be turning it on to try to get it up and going again soon I hope.

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #2 posted by global_warming on March 05, 2006 at 10:29:36 PT
did you get your pc woes fixed?
tonight, is this the Emory interview?



[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #1 posted by FoM on March 05, 2006 at 10:22:03 PT
Just a Note
Tonight most of us will watch 60 Minutes. I don't know how it will come across to the majority of people who watch 60 Minutes but we will see. This could really hurt us or it might help us. I hope it helps us. I have never been envolved or even slightly interested in this part of the cannabis culture so I am a little worried. I hope that Jon Stewart does a good job tonight hosting the Oscars. I know he will be restricted as to what he can say but maybe he will get a few zingers in for folks. Hopefully news will pick up but it might not.

[ Post Comment ]

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