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  Marijuana Pipe Dreams

Posted by CN Staff on August 26, 2005 at 22:04:59 PT
By John Tierney, Op-Ed Columnist 
Source: New York Times 

USA -- When the Supreme Court ruled in June that states could not legalize marijuana for medical uses, Justice Stephen Breyer voted with the majority. But during oral arguments, he suggested an alternative way for patients to get it: let the federal Food and Drug Administration decide if marijuana should be a prescription drug."Medicine by regulation is better than medicine by referendum," he said. In theory, that sounds reasonable. But what if the officials doing the regulation are afflicted with a bad case of Reefer Madness?
If you doubt this possibility, you should have been at a hearing that began this week at the Drug Enforcement Administration's headquarters. Lyle Craker, a professor of plant and soil sciences at the University of Massachusetts, asked an administrative judge to overrule the agency so he could grow marijuana for F.D.A.-approved research projects by other scientists.Dr. Craker is a well-regarded agronomist who's being supported by the American Civil Liberties Union and both of his senators, Edward Kennedy and John Kerry. But for four years he's been stymied by the D.E.A., which first stalled and then finally denied his request for a permit.There are precedents for his request, because researchers already get supplies of other drugs - like heroin, LSD and Ecstasy - from independent laboratories licensed to make them. But researchers who want marijuana have only one legal source: a crop grown in Mississippi and dispensed by the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Scientists say they need an alternative partly because the government's marijuana is of such poor quality - too many seeds and stems - and partly because the federal officials are so loath to give it out for research into its medical benefits. Discovering benefits, after all, would undermine the great anti-marijuana campaign that has taken hold in Washington. Marijuana is deemed to be such a powerful "gateway" to other drugs that it's become the top priority in the federal drug war, much to the puzzlement of many scientists, not to mention the police officers who see a lot of worse drugs on the streets.People with glaucoma and AIDS have sworn by the efficacy of marijuana, and there have been studies by state health departments showing that smoking marijuana is especially good at controlling nausea. Scientists would like to test these effects, but they can't do good studies until they get good marijuana.Critics of medical marijuana say that it's unnecessary because patients can obtain the benefits of its active ingredient, THC, through a drug that's already available, Marinol. But many patients say it doesn't work as well. They point to the case of the writer Peter McWilliams, who said smoking marijuana was the only way to control the nausea brought on by the mix of drugs he took for AIDS and cancer.He was forced to switch to Marinol after a D.E.A. investigation led to his conviction for violating federal laws against marijuana. In 2000, several weeks before he was to be sentenced, he was found dead in his bathroom. He had choked on his own vomit.Phillip Alden, a writer living in Redwood City, Calif., told me that marijuana was a godsend for him in dealing with the effects of AIDS. He said it eased excruciating pains in his fingertips, controlled nausea and enabled him to avoid the wasting syndrome that afflicts AIDS patients who are unable to eat enough food.But Mr. Alden said only some kinds of marijuana worked - not the weak variety provided by the federal government, which he smoked during a research study."It was awful stuff," he said. "They started out with a very low-grade plant, rolled it up with stems and seeds, and then freeze-dried it so that they probably ruined any of the THC crystals. All it did was give me headaches and bronchitis. The bronchitis got so bad I had to drop out of the study."Mr. Alden was scheduled to testify at this week's hearing, but he told me he had to withdraw because the D.E.A. refused to give him legal immunity if he admitted using marijuana not from the government. It's a shame the judge will be making a decision without hearing him, but I can understand Mr. Alden's hesitancy. D.E.A. officials have already shown they're quite capable of persecuting someone who uses marijuana to deal with AIDS, and they may well be even more eager to go after someone who encourages research into their least favorite drug. When it comes to marijuana research, the federal policy is "Just Say Know-Nothing." For Further Reading:For more information on In the Matter of Lyle Craker, see the ACLU backgrounder. -- http://www.aclu.org/medicalmarijuana/Newshawk: Taylor121 Source: New York Times (NY)Author: John Tierney, Op-Ed ColumnistPublished: August 27, 2005Copyright: 2005 The New York Times Company Contact: letters nytimes.com Website: http://www.nytimes.com/ Related Articles & Web Sites:ACLUhttp://www.aclu.org/MAPShttp://www.maps.org/ Clash Over Pot Research Gets Personalhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread21061.shtmlThe Right To Growhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread21058.shtmlMedical Marijuana Hearings Beginhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread21053.shtml

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Comment #61 posted by global_warming on August 29, 2005 at 17:03:16 PT
Regarding Duty
dutyhttp://www.tfd.com/duty
	  
du·ty Pronunciation (dt, dy-)
n. pl. du·ties1. An act or a course of action that is required of one by position, social custom, law, or religion:.....Might I ask the Christians to do their duty, to release that man from the Cross?For the message of this Rabbi was a message that spoke of the emancipation of all those indentured to a fallen belief, he lived and died to allow a greater understanding, that we are those chosen, to minister to God.gw
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Comment #60 posted by global_warming on August 29, 2005 at 14:57:00 PT
pellucidly
Adv.	1.	pellucidly - in a clear and lucid manner;http://www.tfd.com/pellucidlyThis word is from a recent speech of Justice Stevens,..Justice Weighs Desire v. Duty (Duty Prevails)http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/25/politics/25memo.html?ei
=5088&en=e5af3238afe6e196&ex=1282622400&adxnnl
=1&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&adxnnlx
=1125347879-j1gqiGVGORUxVU6ShL4Ihg"Justice Stevens said he also regretted having to rule in favor of the federal government's ability to enforce its narcotics laws and thus trump California's medical marijuana initiative. "I have no hesitation in telling you that I agree with the policy choice made by the millions of California voters," he said. But given the broader stakes for the power of Congress to regulate commerce, he added, "our duty to uphold the application of the federal statute was pellucidly clear."..Perhaps this "Commerce Clause" and the wrongness it has fueled since its inception may be culprit in a deeper organization that borders on criminal and indecent human behavior that has caused this cancer in our society, perhaps this clause may be excised, much like a black tumor that has taken control of the body of this USA.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commerce_clausePerhaps in its greater wisdom, Congress should cease to interfere with Commerce, and allow Market Forces to prevail, until some Monopoly threatens the well being of the Citizens of this USA, whose job then falls onto Congress to rectify.I suspect that the Commerce Laws were some lazy and convenient trickery that allowed those fat congressman of that time in DC to sleep a little better in the Night.But alas, Sloth and Laziness must pay the dues for such 
moral uncertainty and it is We who must pay for this terrible injustice.gw
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/25/politics/25memo.html?ei=5088&en=e5af3238afe6e1
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Comment #59 posted by FoM on August 28, 2005 at 15:21:24 PT
Hope
Unless we become as a child....I'm watching different news about the hurricane. This is the time when I really love our country. That might sound odd but it's true. The best in man comes out when people are at the mercy of nature. It doesn't matter what race, age, social position or religion in times of need. 
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Comment #58 posted by Hope on August 28, 2005 at 15:17:01 PT
I can see there's some big news on here...
I don't think I have time to read it! 
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Comment #57 posted by Hope on August 28, 2005 at 15:15:57 PT
"The best that can happen..."
I think...might be a sincere child's prayer.
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Comment #56 posted by Hope on August 28, 2005 at 15:12:47 PT
Comment # 48
"Be safe, everyone."Better yet. I wish you "contentment". Be content, everyone.For a moment...if you can.
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Comment #55 posted by FoM on August 28, 2005 at 15:02:26 PT
Kaptinemo
Here's the part from the New York Times.V. Old Age and Drug Legalization If birth rates continue to fall and life expectancy continues to rise, a population made up increasingly of older Americans may bring about a host of constitutional issues of its own -- issues ranging from government financing of gene therapies to the legalization of painkilling drugs. Francis S. Collins, director of the National Human Genome Research Institute, has written that within five years, ''it is likely that predictive genetic tests will be available for as many as a dozen common conditions, enabling individuals to take preventive steps to reduce their risks of developing such disorders.'' The medical profession may respond by customizing drugs and other treatments to suit an individual's distinctive genetic profile, possibly tailoring them not only to prevent disease but also to enhance a patient's cognitive and physical capacities. ''By 2020,'' Collins predicted, ''the impact is likely to be far more sweeping than any of us can envision today.'' Who will pay for these gene therapies? Samuel Gorovitz, a bioethicist and philosopher at Syracuse University, told me recently that in the future, states may well prohibit health care organizations that receive state financing from providing access to these therapies -- at least those that border on enhancement. ''A state legislature might decide that any kind of enhancement is unconscionable,'' he said. Prohibitions like this might provoke court battles over whether states and the federal government have an obligation to finance genetic therapies that can cure identifiable diseases. In the past, the Supreme Court has been reluctant to require the states to finance medical care for the poor. In 1977, for example, the court upheld a Connecticut law that prohibited the use of public money for abortions, except those that were ''medically necessary.'' But identifying which genetic therapies are medically necessary to cure disease and which are merely elective enhancements may prove just as agonizing in cases involving public money for the old as in cases involving reproduction for the young. The Supreme Court may also face increasing pressure from an aging population to remove federal barriers on controversial drugs. William Stuntz, the Harvard professor I spoke with about brain scanning, is 47 and suffers from chronic back pain. He suggested that his common disability will afflict many more Americans as baby boomers age over the next 20 years. ''My generation will include lots of very old people, who have more chronic pain than middle-aged people and also get cancer at higher rates, and both of these trends will massively change the way the baby-boom generation thinks about drug policy,'' he said. ''I'd never had any prescription pain medications until I spent the last five years on them for back pain, and anyone who has that experience will think very differently about what drugs should be on the prohibited list.'' Last June, by a 6-3 vote, the Supreme Court upheld Congress's authority to dictate national drug policies, even in the face of a California voter initiative that authorized the use of medical marijuana. ''I bet a case like that would come out very differently in 20 years,'' Stuntz said. He suggested that political demands may lead states to enact more lax laws authorizing the use various variants of morphine, which are federally prohibited but useful in treating a variety of pain. ''Only those laws won't be coming from California but from Florida and Arizona,'' he said. ''Old people are traditionally statist on these issues, but aging baby boomers may well become more libertarian because they want to be able to design everything from the way they die to personalized medical treatments.'' At the beginning of the new Supreme Court term in October, in fact, John Roberts would most likely have an opportunity to explore whether the federal government has the power to ban the use of drugs for assisted suicide, despite an Oregon voter initiative to the contrary.
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Comment #54 posted by kaptinemo on August 28, 2005 at 14:45:55 PT:
OT: More proof of CNEWS as 'bleeding edge'
in the mdia universe.How many times has it been mentioned here that with the aging Boomer population facing the usual systemic breakdowns common to age, and with the ever increasing probability that those same Boomers will get cancer in their lives, that the DrugWar itself faces enormous pressure for disbandment? Particularly regarding cannabis?Well, folks, you read it here for years and years. And now, the New York Times is saying it: http://tinyurl.com/7hqv9Go see before they archive it and you have to do the registration hokey-pokey. It's part of a much larger and longer article about Supreme Court nominee Roberts and what kind of future decisions he faces, but this little gem sticks out.
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Comment #53 posted by global_warming on August 28, 2005 at 13:54:31 PT
Fear of Thunder, Lightening
That Storm may rumble and Lighten your timid heart,This Storm will passLike so many dreamsThe Night SkySings with LightYou are HomeTou are HomeRest your head On the footstepsThat are Lighted by the StarsBe Strong, People of LouisianaPraying through this awful night.gw
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Comment #52 posted by FoM on August 28, 2005 at 13:45:26 PT
Hope
Please stay safe and if you have to go off line let us know you are ok when this storm is over. I have seen bad hurricanes from when we lived in Pa and I never wanted to go thru one again. Out here they don't happen but tornadoes have touched down in our area. Nature does what it wants and all we can do is hope for the best and pray.
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Comment #51 posted by Hope on August 28, 2005 at 13:42:31 PT
I can see clearly now...
where that wind out of the North I've been noticing has been coming from.http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/PS/PCPN/DATA/RT/na-ir2-loop.html
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Comment #50 posted by global_warming on August 28, 2005 at 13:41:46 PT
re;Nixon
There are people that currently think that Nixon was a great president of these United States. I am not one of them.http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/rn37.htmlThe facts of his disgrace and resignation, will forever remind us, when we first glimpsed into the disgusting contempt and blood payed for the price of this corruption.Today we are still hooked up into the mainline of this disease, corruption, blackmail, fear and confusion.Every human being, citizen is tarnished, like some virus, we all have the marks of this abomination.The Mercy of God, allows us an end, the grim reaper, marks the end of all corruptions, this universe has its checks and balances, and the sweet scent of our human flower drifts eternally closer to the Light.There are some that await the Rapture, when God will reveal his Glory and Plans for our tired world.As we slip further and deeper into spiritual dissolution, the hip bone may be connected to the leg bone, if you have health insurance, you might be able to see an x-ray of your own body.Pay as you go, may easily fit into some peoples view of this world, I suspect that our birth and death have no special requirements from the deepest stellar cores that brighten our night skies.You may smoke medicine, you may take that next pain medicine, you can forget and mingle with soothing pleasures, 
and fade away, unable to remember or forget, what rumbles outside our house.Let us start with taking that man down from that cross.peacegw
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Comment #49 posted by Hope on August 28, 2005 at 13:38:25 PT
FoM, comment 46
"Lord, set my feet on higher ground."
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Comment #48 posted by Hope on August 28, 2005 at 13:33:51 PT
Kap, comment 45
"People keep forgetting that it's won't be only coastal areas that are affected." We felt this thing already. Yesterday, and hundreds of miles inland. Good old, wild, late summer, August, Texas style, hugely electrified, earth shaking thunderstorms...that last a long time, unlike most storms we get in Texas.Normally, the computer goes on, on the way to the coffee pot in the morning and stays on until the lights go out at night. Weather now is calling for prudence about whether the computer should be up and running. There's more threatening skies outside right now, so I'm probably going to shut down again soon.Those late summer "hell raisin" thunderstorms, and sometimes spring ones, have always terrified me, but I was surprised when adults from other states or other countries told me they had never experienced any thing like it and found themselves more terrified than they ever thought a thunderstorm could do to them. Of course they were well aware, like us, that tornadoes spring from storms like that. They get your attention.Be safe, everyone.
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Comment #47 posted by FoM on August 28, 2005 at 10:47:22 PT
Off Topic
If anyone would like to see the video of The Painter you can see and hear it on this link.http://music.yahoo.com/ar-269905---Neil-Young
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Comment #46 posted by FoM on August 28, 2005 at 10:03:20 PT
kaptinemo 
I know you're right. We are close to 1000 feet above sea level. Years ago when we bought our land that was important to us to be up high.
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Comment #45 posted by kaptinemo on August 28, 2005 at 09:55:38 PT:
NOBODY is safe from global warming
People keep forgetting that it's won't be only coastal areas that are affected. Water finds it's own level, as evenly as it can. That means if we experience polar ice melt, it won't only be coastal areas but INLAND ones as well that will be affected, thanks to the river system which drains the continents into the bays, seas and oceans.Imagine: The Gulf of Mexico expands to become an outright sea. The Mississippi expands...and drowns our 'breadbasket of the MidWest as its' overflow causes the other river systems like the Ohio River Valley to expand as well. Schoolchildren of the future could have a radically different looking globe to study...presuming, of course, they're not too busy scratching to stay alive on a planet with MOST OF THE ARABLE LAND UNDERWATER. We could all wind up a good deal hungrier thanks to that.Good rule of thumb: if all the ice melts, ocean levels are projected to rise up to 300 feet. It won't be like that godawful movie "Waterworld", but the conditions could get just as bad. Look at a topographical map of where you live; are you no higher than 300 feet above Mean Sea Level? Then you might seriously consider moving inland. Just remember about those rivers rising as well. Otherwise, you may think you've escaped, only to find your bolthole is just as liable to be drowned...with you in it.
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Comment #44 posted by FoM on August 28, 2005 at 09:02:21 PT
Mayan
You're welcome. Global warming is a serious issue if a person lives near sea level and millions of people do. If this hurricane hits straight on at New Orleans it could literally destroy the city. I'm so glad I don't live anywhere near the sea.
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Comment #43 posted by mayan on August 28, 2005 at 08:46:19 PT
FoM
Thanks for that link. This storm has been unpredictable from the start. One of the early models actually had it going up the east coast! Mother Nature does what she wants. New Orleans is below sea level and some say if the oceans rise as expected with the melting of the polar caps the entire city could be under water in the not so distant future. Category 5 hurricanes sure don't help matters.
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Comment #42 posted by FoM on August 28, 2005 at 07:56:47 PT
A Good Hurricane Link I Use
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/storm/content/storm/
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Comment #41 posted by FoM on August 28, 2005 at 07:55:18 PT
Mayan
I was trying to access a radio station in New Orleans but it is off the air because of the hurricane. It's a category 5 now. Last night it was only a 3 when I checked. I sure hope everyone can get out ok. I've been down in that area and getting out won't be easy.
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Comment #40 posted by mayan on August 28, 2005 at 07:35:49 PT
Satellite 
I normally copy & paste but I thought I could spell for once!Here's an interesting read...WEAPONS OF HASH DESTRUCTION (UK): Evil Iraqi pushers try to get our boys hooked on super strength cannabis:
http://tinyurl.com/ahuv2
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Comment #39 posted by mayan on August 28, 2005 at 07:31:09 PT
Not EZ Today
I hope nobody's tryin' to tough it out in New Orleans... Latest Sattelite Imagery:
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/satellite.shtmlThis is a big mother...
http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/PS/PCPN/DATA/RT/na-ir2-loop.htmlUnited States Radar:
http://tinyurl.com/tr4Global Disaster Watch:
http://home.att.net/~thehessians/disasterwatch.html
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Comment #38 posted by kaptinemo on August 28, 2005 at 06:13:53 PT:
That JAMA article has one flaw
And the flaw can be seen immediately from the first paragraph; the author refers to physicians PRESCRIBING medicinal cannabis. No physician in America can PRESCRIBE cannabis, only RECOMMEND it. The two terms are not co-equal. This was at the heart of the *Conant vs. Walters* case, which oddly enough, the author both mentions and uses as a reference for the article. How someone who is supposed to be a lawyer missed that one and a lay person like me didn't is unfathomable.But aside from a tendency to side largely with what amounts to the big Pharma/Government monopoly on researching cannabis, the article points out that the present system itself is geared, not to encourage research, but discourage it. Not bad, but, as usual, the author doesn't come within 20 miles of discussing the *origin* of the cannabis laws, which I believe would prove juicier meat for an article. Because if the author is so concerned about the paucity of contemporary research into medicinal cannabis, then the absolute *lack* of said research in creating the anti-cannabis laws in the first place would prove more enlightening...as would the publicly aired racial prejudice, given in sworn testimony, of one Harry J. Anslinger.Close, but no cigar...
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Comment #37 posted by FoM on August 27, 2005 at 18:06:18 PT
JAMA News
Medical Marijuana, American Federalism, and the Supreme Court: http://www.csdp.org/research/842.pdf
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Comment #36 posted by Taylor121 on August 27, 2005 at 16:48:48 PT
Activism
Keep up the activist work. I heard hempfest over in Seattle was successful. We need to keep the pressure going and use the rest of this year as much as possible to reach out! So make sure you are talking with others about the issue.On the internet, check out http://big-boards.com./Tons of forums out there to discuss marijuana with others on. Hop to it!
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Comment #35 posted by global_warming on August 27, 2005 at 15:19:38 PT
Off Topic
"But one thing I found shocking was the level of bigotry evinced by ethnic, religious and racial slurs found there. They've cleaned up their language lately, but the fact of the matter is there are plenty of bigots wearing a DEA badge, if the volume of anti-Jewish, anti-Black, anti-Hispanic, anti-femme, etc."Our darkest shaded neighboursCan form into an alliancSheer NumbersShall GovernFools and criminals,Mark, thier descent to HellThis war is coming to N ENd'pEACE and harmomyGreen Pastures,Clear night skies,May warm youRemind You\\Your gentle touchHeralds the Mercy of God
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Comment #34 posted by global_warming on August 27, 2005 at 14:27:58 PT
So Sorry
That spider biteMay heal in timeMy last bite may fill my horizons,But I have heardThe music of the Night Stars,Those big gaiters The last chunk of fleshDream,
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Comment #33 posted by kaptinemo on August 27, 2005 at 14:26:34 PT:
Hope, it's just a general observation
But I have been visiting that site, off and on, for years, and can honsetly say that the 'p*****g and moaning' that is common there, about their jobs, about their fellow agents, their seeming lack of status within the Federal pecking order, their politically opportunistic Directors who seem more interested in feathering their own nests at the expense of those they are *supposed* to support as well as 'lead', etc. is as constant as the North Star.But one thing I found shocking was the level of bigotry evinced by ethnic, religious and racial slurs found there. They've cleaned up their language lately, but the fact of the matter is there are plenty of bigots wearing a DEA badge, if the volume of anti-Jewish, anti-Black, anti-Hispanic, anti-femme, etc. invective is any indicator. (They also regularly accuse their Director of being a Mossad agent; given what has happened with the AIPAC indictments, that will only inflame things further: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=AIPAC+espionage )All in all, I get the distinct impression it is much like a place I used to work in, where some workers were so cowed by the politics running rampant there that they threatened to get those little deaf-mute cards to hand out, so they wouldn't get in trouble by just interacting with other employees. I can only imagine it's a wretched place full of wretched souls.
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Comment #32 posted by global_warming on August 27, 2005 at 14:07:01 PT
Sadness
I wish that sadness has not filled my landscape,Going to my endI share that picture,That lowest meat,Can fill the belly,Thank God..Being, overweight,Is like tripping,And seeing the stars,Light from that comforting starlight,Reassuring our brotherhoodThere is always a canopyThe flesh and bonesClear night skies,Sing to us,Welcome,Embrace,..There is a Big PartyIn Heaven..
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Comment #31 posted by Hope on August 27, 2005 at 13:47:30 PT
GlobalWarming
I wish you didn't have to be so sad.
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Comment #30 posted by global_warming on August 27, 2005 at 13:33:45 PT
Forget them spiders,
They eat mosquitoes,Its the blue spiders that are the most venomous,They have large chests and bully you into cavernous buildings,That control your light and mail,Maybe a letter from God,Can be lost,In this spider prison or "Hell",..Laying flowers before the path of Cindy,Through my tears I might catch a glimpse,Of this most beautiful women...
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Comment #29 posted by Hope on August 27, 2005 at 13:25:22 PT
What a cruel thing to say to a person who
borders on arachniphobic, GlobalWarming.Anyway...it will be a while before I get over that image! 
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Comment #28 posted by Hope on August 27, 2005 at 13:21:38 PT
Comment 24!
Knocking at my door?
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Comment #27 posted by Hope on August 27, 2005 at 13:20:14 PT
Oh well...
You know what I'm trying to say. It is August. It is Texas. I have been out in the sun.
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Comment #26 posted by Hope on August 27, 2005 at 13:18:37 PT
Oh yes....
and 'birds singing'.
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Comment #25 posted by Hope on August 27, 2005 at 13:17:54 PT
'spiders' were eating each other up
Yuck. Not a feast for my eyes. I'm more into 'hibiscus in the morning, trailing vines, and bunnies hopping' kind of person.
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Comment #24 posted by global_warming on August 27, 2005 at 13:14:50 PT
Get Some laxative
Cause you got spiders in your toilet,Worse yet, you got spiders on your front steps,Knocking on your front door.
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Comment #23 posted by Hope on August 27, 2005 at 13:13:20 PT
Kap...comment 20
You still haven't told me what the trouble is about. Is it of any consequence? DEAWatch is a freaky site. It's not something from within the DEA itself...like a branch or an agency or subagency. It's a retired guy, as I understand it, who felt it necessary to give DEA people a place to vent. Is that correct?
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Comment #22 posted by Hope on August 27, 2005 at 12:39:36 PT
Boiling. Anger. Agitation. No peace.
'box full o' spiders' works for me, considering that I am one of those people who attributes extraordinary and fantastic powers and abilities to the arachnid.'toilet full o' snakes' That's an extraordinarily constipating thought, Kap!
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Comment #21 posted by FoM on August 27, 2005 at 11:53:50 PT
Kaptinemo
What state is that from? You met our friend who got a 20 to 40 sentence for less then an ounce many years ago. Luckily after 2 years the laws were changed and he was released.
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Comment #20 posted by kaptinemo on August 27, 2005 at 11:40:30 PT:
Hope, the 'spiders' were eating each other up
Perhaps 'toilet full o' snakes' is a better analogy that 'box full o' spiders'. I get the distinct impression of a low level civil war going on perpetually over there. If the commenters there are indicative of the average agent's attitudes towards their jobs, their 'superiors', etc. they have a most miserable existence. No wonder they take out their frustrations on mostly defenseless non-violent drug users. I'll bet their dogs and cats cringe when they hear the car engine in the driveway...But I have recently read something, which perhaps many here have not heard of: A man has been sentenced in Federal court to 8 years in prison...for less than two ounces of weed. http://tinyurl.com/dz2x9Now, go to http://www.talkleft.com/mt/mt-comments.cgi?entry_id=12004 and read the last paragraph of the first comment, and realize that this is exactly where this is heading. Sooner or later, it will happen. The DrugWar insanity of this country is like a malarial fever that shows no sign of breaking yet. The patient is delusional, and needs restraint, but instead is allowed to roam loose...and armed.
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Comment #19 posted by FoM on August 27, 2005 at 10:37:29 PT
Freedom To Be All We Can Be
Peace and freedom do stand side by side. I am ok with not having the right to do everything I want ( like screaming fire in a crowded theatre if I wanted to do that ) but that's personal for me. I am against hurting people by neglect or out right hatred. 
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Comment #18 posted by Hope on August 27, 2005 at 10:31:13 PT
Comment 13, FoM
"That's one small step but it would be a wonderful beginning."I haven't given up hope yet, that you will see that "beginning". Many of us only saw it in their minds...their hearts, this hope for peace, before they gave up the flesh. We've all seen it in our minds and it is a worthy pursuit…ending this drug war and it’s, perhaps, “unintended consequences”. I say, “Perhaps” they are “unintended, frankly, because in the face of things…watching it happen over and over again…repeatedly…the warriors excuse of “collateral damage” wore out a long time ago.Ours is not a pursuit of "pleasure", as some would frame it. It’s certainly not for me, personally. It's a pursuit of "justice" and "mercy". It's about protecting the helpless and despised from the bullies and the over reaching.Some of us will go to the grave, tired old soldiers who fought the “good fight”, or young ones, killed in raids or caught in the crossfire, but didn’t see the fruition of our efforts. Maybe, if the spirit of a human does live on, we will all see it, in the flesh or not. Otherwise, I’m hoping for a better resolution soon…and hopefully, soon enough that many will have the blessing of seeing the war and it’s injustices cease.
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Comment #17 posted by FoM on August 27, 2005 at 10:25:43 PT
Peace of Mind
Peace of mind is important. It is so easy in a highly charged enviornment that we live in to be angry about so many things. The problem as I see it when we are angry with many things it has a ripple effect and can hurt the ones we love. Peace in the midst of a storm is attainable but difficult. I work very hard at trying to not let what surrounds me to hurt me. Maybe I pay close attention to that area of my life because I never want to need a drug to help me cope. It was easy for me to pop a pill or two years ago but it really didn't help in the long run.
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Comment #16 posted by Hope on August 27, 2005 at 10:01:03 PT
"I saw agitation quiet down world wide"...
and as the other Martha might say, "It's a good thing."
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Comment #15 posted by Hope on August 27, 2005 at 09:59:05 PT
Kap, Comment 5
DEAWatch is like a box of spiders to me. I hate thinking about them, much less peeking in at them. Anyway...saving me having to raise the lid and peek in myself, I'll let the stouter of heart do it. What did you see there, Kap? What are they fussing about their rights about?
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Comment #14 posted by Hope on August 27, 2005 at 09:45:52 PT
I saw agitation quiet down world wide
like when the heat is turned off under a boiling pot. More rest...more peace. A new peace? Will the prohibs still be worried and agitated? Yes, of course they will. They are right now. Their agitation won't cease, but some of their mistakes, which have been heinous and frequent, will cease, or at least, be significantly reduced.
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Comment #13 posted by FoM on August 27, 2005 at 09:29:21 PT
If They Legalized Cannabis
Since Cannabis helps promote a state of peace it would help if it was available to adults. That's one small step but it would be a wonderful beginning.
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Comment #12 posted by Hope on August 27, 2005 at 09:14:24 PT
Peace...as a sought after commodity.
It's no longer to be taken for granted. It's a rare jewel...to be sought after.Imagine the peace that would come to the Earth from just ending the drug war alone.
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Comment #11 posted by FoM on August 27, 2005 at 07:34:35 PT
Hope
I have a wish. I wish that Dennis Kucinich would run for Governor of my state. Even though I am not political I would become political if he ran.http://www.kucinich.us/
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Comment #10 posted by Hope on August 27, 2005 at 07:20:27 PT
comment 8
"could not get the Feds to recognize the validity of their state law." or even extract a promise from them of respect in any way of that law.
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Comment #9 posted by Hope on August 27, 2005 at 07:17:00 PT
Taft, Taft, Taft and his lovely wife, Hope.
Mr. Taft recently got a come-uppence. Seems he got caught taking "free samples" of his drug of choice, golf and entertainment, from some "money changers" (people who are good at changing "our" money into "their" money) who knew what Mr. Taft “liked”.Integrity, in some people, runs a little thin in spots.Ah...the drug war's "saints" and "sinners". It's not a pretty thing to watch.
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Comment #8 posted by Hope on August 27, 2005 at 07:04:38 PT
"states could not legalize"
He's right in the sense that the states couldn't fully legalize it...cause the Feds were not going to be made to back off. While it's legal according to state law it is still illegal according to federal law. They could not get the Feds to recognize the validity of their state law. 
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Comment #7 posted by mayan on August 27, 2005 at 06:26:52 PT
unrelated
This one almost slipped under my radar...*Sparks, NV* Sparks is the latest of the 7 states,387 cities,towns and municipalities that have passed resolutions critical of the PATRIOT Act!Sparks City Council condemns Patriot Act:
http://tinyurl.com/dlcsxBill of Rights Defense Committee:
http://www.bordc.org/
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Comment #6 posted by mayan on August 27, 2005 at 05:02:39 PT
Who's Alden? What's A Vaporizer?
Mr. Alden was scheduled to testify at this week's hearing, but he told me he had to withdraw because the D.E.A. refused to give him legal immunity if he admitted using marijuana not from the government.Mr. Alden does not exist and neither do vaporizers. Nobody has criticized the quality of the government's "marijuana" from Mississippi and smoking is the only way to administer that "marijuana"!I certainly don't blame Alden for not wanting to end up like Peter McWilliams!We are dealing with lying murderers. There is no other way around it. It's hard to fight folks who are perfectly capable of killing you without thinking twice. It's past time to play dirty.THE WAY OUT IS THE WAY IN...Texas Author And Bush Critic Announces New Third Party And Run For 2008 Presidency:
http://www.arcticbeacon.citymaker.com/articles/article/1518131/32307.htmLA Times Magazine Interviews David Ray Griffin: Getting Agnostic About 9/11:
http://www.911truth.org/article.php?story=20050826125021191Intrigue Over Able Danger Grows: 
http://www.wtopnews.com/?sid=558226&nid=251CIA Panel: 9/11 Failure Warrants Action
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/politics/wire/sns-ap-cia-sept-11-report,1,154358.story?coll=sns-ap-politics-headlinesThe 9/11 North Tower Demolition Explained:
http://rense.com/general67/9118.htm
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Comment #5 posted by kaptinemo on August 27, 2005 at 05:01:22 PT:
Partly related: The DEA complains about 
being propagandized: http://members.aol.com/deawatch/daily.htm
23 Aug 2005, 20:38 PST, 6th Edition"...There are strict federal regulations regarding propagandizing or politicizing federal employees. Because both the House and Senate are controlled by the Republican Party a great many rules, regs and policies have been glossed over....As I said, there are strict federal regs prohibiting any Administration to propagandize federal employees."Yes, they are called the Hatch Act, and they have been violated with impunity by the Federal government with regards to the DrugWar for many, many years. Authentic journalist Dan Forbes proved this in his articles years ago (as well as pointing out the less than savory antics of the Taft Administration in Ohio YEARS before they made the MSM) but as the DEA agent who made the complaint above pointed out, the reigning Administration cares little for the rule of law.How ironic that the DEA's own should bitch about the very process they use against us... 
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Comment #4 posted by kaptinemo on August 27, 2005 at 03:21:32 PT:
And thanks to Taylor121 for bringing it to us
I'd have completely missed it, otherwise.
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Comment #3 posted by kaptinemo on August 27, 2005 at 03:18:34 PT:
A gentle correction, not a flamethrower, is needed
Because Mr. Tierney, despite the mistake of his first sentence, was bang-on target with his characterization of official foot-dragging and obfuscation. And he is devastatingly spot-on when it comes to the origin of this behavior. In a few paragraphs, he's bracketed the anti's position for what it is.Mr. Tierney is proving to be an acerbic critic of the DrugWar, and he's *read by millions*. Babies and bath-water, chillun; let's write a few letters thanking him for his stance, but also explaining how the Supremes didn't nullify the State laws, only upheld the Federal one. I'm sure he'd readily accept both as evidence he's getting his point across.
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Comment #2 posted by OverwhelmSam on August 27, 2005 at 03:16:37 PT
Ditto! Fire that Editor.
In fact, the corrupt "Supreme" Court side stepped the states rights issue that the appeal was based on, and made it a commerce clause issue. Based on their ruling, states have every right to legalize marijuana, but the federal goverment still has a right to arrest people for it. Geez, what a sorry and screwed up opinion. Justice is not only blind, it's in a coma! And Stevens is an idiot.
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Comment #1 posted by boballen1313 on August 26, 2005 at 23:03:34 PT
whoa nelly belle!!!
When the Supreme Court ruled in June that states could not legalize marijuana for medical uses, Justice Stephen Breyer voted with the majority.....? huh? did i miss a major court decision? I presumed the court ruled that state medical cannabis laws were still valid!!~!!!
Being an expate montanan i was hoping that my state's laws still held some validity. So when did the supreme's decide that our medical cannabis laws are invalid??? once more for the record please? Otherwise i reckon the journalist may have mucked up right off the bloody bat! This is like reporting that "Mission Accomplished" in Iraq! It just ain't the TRUTH! 
When can we expect a major recall of some journalism degrees from major universities. Cuz Houston we got a problem!! This is gutless journalism. with a gutless message... reckon i will pass on its wisdom.
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