cannabisnews.com: Drug War Needs New Ideas










  Drug War Needs New Ideas

Posted by CN Staff on June 10, 2008 at 07:48:57 PT
By Rick Green 
Source: Hartford Courant 

Connecticut -- Sylvester L. Salcedo spent 2½ years during the 1990s as a Navy lieutenant chasing drug runners for a federal narcotics task force. A waste of time, he told me.In Bridgeport, where he lives now, his neighborhood is filled with too many boarded-up homes, addicts and fatherless families. America's decades-old war on drugs hasn't made much of a dent, except to grease the revolving door between prison and the inner city.
Fed up, Salcedo, now a lawyer, is running for the General Assembly, arguing it is time to change the way we think about fighting drugs."Everybody knows that something different has to be done," said Salcedo, who was born in Minnesota, raised in the Philippines and has lived in Bridgeport for eight years. "The war on drugs is senseless, wasteful and counterproductive."Salcedo is running for state representative in the 130th district, pitching a plan to make his home a no-arrest zone for drug users. Instead of police raids, there would be expanded drug treatment, job training — and supervised areas where addicts could, if they chose, shoot up.This sort of talk is unlikely to get the 51-year-old close to the gold-domed Capitol. Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch offered me a few reasons why he won't touch Salcedo's ideas."The issue of violence and drug sales are the same. If we had an arrest-free area, it would become a target," Finch said. "The organized gangs and organized crime are trying to addict as many of our young people as possible. If we don't go after the sellers and users with arrests, they will have free rein over our community."Salcedo, who once mailed his military medals back to the White House in protest of our drug policies, instead sees a waste of money that could go toward treating addicts, job training and improving city schools.I'm not sure we need to lower standards further for the residents of our poorest neighborhoods, but I can see where Salcedo is coming from.We spend about $12 billion on drug control. Another $30 billion goes toward arresting and incarcerating the users, according to the White House. We fill up costly prisons with nonviolent drug offenders and let them learn from the violent criminals.In 2005, according to the nonprofit Sentencing Project, almost 43 percent of all drug arrests nationally were marijuana-related. Meanwhile, few who are jailed get any meaningful drug treatment, even though many are addicts. The number of drug offenders in jail has risen by 1,100 percent since 1980."The problem is the drug habit," Robert Painter, a retired surgeon and former Republican member of the Hartford city council, said when I called. "This is a medical and a public health problem. This is not a criminal problem."Salcedo has pursued multi-ton drug shipments only to witness no change in drug abuse, crime and the number of broken homes. As a lawyer, he's watched drugs destroy the lives of clients and their families."Jail is too expensive. Jail is counterproductive. Jail doesn't get them through the rehab process," Salcedo told me. "It's a matter of where you want to allocate your precious resources."I like some of what Salcedo is saying, particularly when he talks about how ridiculous it is to jail drug abusers as if they were hard-core criminals. He loses me, though, with the heroin shooting galleries and government-dispensed reefer."Do we need more treatment? Yeah," said Kevin Hale, president of the police chiefs association, when I told him about Salcedo's long-shot proposals.But Hale, chief in Ansonia, asked me why would we want to allow people to destroy their lives with highly addictive drugs like methamphetamine or crack cocaine."Why would you do that?" he asked. "Once the door is open, what do you do?That's the problem: The drug door is already wide open. We've got to do something different. Salcedo, to his credit, is willing to talk about it.Rick Green's column appears on Tuesdays and Fridays. Source: Hartford Courant (CT)Author: Rick GreenPublished: June 10, 2008Copyright: 2008 The Hartford CourantContact: letters courant.comWebsite: http://www.ctnow.com/CannabisNews Justice Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/justice.shtml

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Comment #82 posted by FoM on June 12, 2008 at 15:26:57 PT
Dankhank
I was raised Catholic and I believe it's true. They helped people hide or get away that did that to the Jews.
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Comment #81 posted by Dankhank on June 12, 2008 at 15:11:30 PT
OT ,,,
saw that earlier, will check it out ...Interesting ... a book, about Pope Pius, my sister-in-law sent me for Christmas years ago documented the fact that the 8 foremost Fascists in pre-war, WW2, Europe were all raised in the Catholic religion. That info coupled with obvious attitudes of mainstream Christianity made it an easy thing to believe. I have thought of most Christian religions as fairly fascist in nature, for years.
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Comment #80 posted by FoM on June 12, 2008 at 14:17:28 PT
OT: Interesting Article From AlterNet
Worse Than Fascists: Christian Political Group 'The Family' Openly Reveres Hitler June 12, 2008.URL: http://www.alternet.org/rights/87665/
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Comment #79 posted by FoM on June 12, 2008 at 10:47:38 PT
Sam
You made me think of this song. War is over if we want it. The north and the south are both guilty. How do we end war and unite our country? I think the only way is to forgive and move on. We can be a great country if we want to be a great country. As long as we have open minded people who care and the Internet the future for us all might just be better. I have traveled in almost the whole USA and I found good things in every state. I consider all states mine and ours.Happy Xmas (War Is Over) - John Lennonhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8jw-ifqwkM
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Comment #78 posted by Sam Adams on June 12, 2008 at 10:19:51 PT
Canada
yes, Canada was cruel to the Indians - I was talking about the thousands of people in the US colonies that died of wounds or disease in the Revolutionary War for no good reason.Of course in the US we couldn't perform cultural genocide on the Indians because we killed them all.
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Comment #77 posted by FoM on June 12, 2008 at 06:50:39 PT
afterburner
Thank you. That's how I feel.
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Comment #76 posted by afterburner on June 11, 2008 at 23:59:41 PT
Sam Adams #64 RE apartheid 
Yesterday, the Prime Minister of Canada apologized in the House of Commons for the Indian Act, which resulted in taking Aboriginal or First Nations children away from the parents, sending them to boarding schools, where they were punished for speaking their own languages or practising their own customs. The purpose of the act was enforced assimilation, also described as "cultural genocide." The result was a loss of culture and identity, abuse, and years of emotional and spiritual searching for life's meaning.In the feedback from mostly Native participants, the Canadian Indian Act was described as the prototype for the hated and now defunct apartheid system of South Africa. Some of the non-native participants described the event as opening their eyes to just how hard the Native search for a place in today's Canada has been and how limited their resources, due to the fragmenting of the culture resulting from the Indian Act.
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Comment #75 posted by afterburner on June 11, 2008 at 23:15:59 PT
ChristenMitchell #10 & FoM #11
Thumbs Up!Canadian pharmaceutical companies are even now lobbying to follow the US example by lobbying in favor of DTCA.
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Comment #74 posted by afterburner on June 11, 2008 at 23:00:24 PT
museman #3 & FoM #4 
"When times are good, the wise man remembers the sad times. When times are bad, the wise man remembers the happy times." --old Chinese proverb
 
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Comment #73 posted by john wayne on June 11, 2008 at 22:28:54 PT
Ron Paul pops the question
"Do you care about sick people using marijuana?"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ez5robAWmu4I'm not that big on RP, since I'm not convinced his economic ideas are without major fault. Yet he does cut to the meat of the matter on the MJ issue, among several others.
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Comment #72 posted by FoM on June 11, 2008 at 20:33:25 PT
fight_4_freedom 
That's great. Today I just bought two Ohio pins from Obama's web site.The weather here has cooled down but some of the mid west is being hit so hard with tornadoes. We aren't really in tornado country where we live. Lots of hills and valleys break up storms. That boy scout camp being hit is just terrible news. 
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Comment #71 posted by fight_4_freedom on June 11, 2008 at 20:26:39 PT:
Correction
I just stopped by the Obama site and our group has now raised $509 dollars in the name of marijuana reform. Woo Hoo!
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Comment #70 posted by fight_4_freedom on June 11, 2008 at 20:22:30 PT:
Obama Supporters For Marijuana Law Reform
I just made my first $10 dollar donation recently through that group on the Obama website. So far we've raised $310. With over 500 members, we'd reach our goal in no time if everybody in that group just donated $10.Anyways, I just thought you might like to hear that FoM.And I hope the storms didn't cause too much damage down your way.
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Comment #69 posted by FoM on June 11, 2008 at 19:31:52 PT
Odd Topic: Tornado Hits Boy Scout Camp
This has been the worst weather that I have seen in years if not ever. 4 Dead, 40 Hurt as Tornado Hits Boy Scout Camphttp://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-ia-tornado-westernio,0,4193421.story
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Comment #68 posted by Sam Adams on June 11, 2008 at 18:20:21 PT
War
Museman so Ozzy summed things up pretty well in "War Pigs" with Black Sabbath, eh?All I'm saying about American history is that Canada got a pretty good deal and they never had to go to war with England.
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Comment #67 posted by The GCW on June 11, 2008 at 17:03:19 PT
Urantia & war.
Urantia indicates a reason and a logic behind wars in the past that I understand. In the past, in some ways war can be rationalized.Urantia indicates that in the future, We may come to a point where wars will end, due to human intelligence and desire to stop hurting one another and simply getting smarter about it.I'd like to live the day that wars no longer exist.Life without wars would please Christ God Our Father.
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Comment #66 posted by museman on June 11, 2008 at 15:42:04 PT
Sam
"One of the biggest brainwashing of Americans is that the Revolutionary War and Civil War were inevitable and "good wars". Neither should have occurred."Absolutely!Both wars were economic in nature. Hell, all wars since Babylon have been economic in nature. Conquest and aquisition. Same stuff the Amerikan Dynasties are about right now. Keeping the peasants down is a very economicly oriented status quo. Control and power is economic in its workings and structure. Without high finance and mercantility, there is absolutely no impetus for war, as those who make 'em don't actually fight 'em, and if there is no potential profit, no war machine to fuel and sell, there is no interest on the part of the kings/princes/presidents and other pretenders to authority, for their thrones all sit on the foundation of gold and silver - money.Without fortune as motivation -even small stuff like 'guaranteed college education'- who would go fight and die? Of course, cannon fodder is recruited from all angles, but 'glory' only appeals to a small minority of fanatics, not nearly enough to people an effective army.An old Roman saying;"The most important weapon in any war is an abundance of gold."
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Comment #65 posted by FoM on June 11, 2008 at 15:06:22 PT
Sam
I've always believed that we are the United States of America. I don't think of some great divide. When do people get over the distant past and get on with uniting our country? Why keep fighting over something that was? Carter was liberal but it was so long ago and things went really wrong when he was President. He was doomed from the start practically.
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Comment #64 posted by Sam Adams on June 11, 2008 at 15:01:20 PT
what about Carter?
I guess he was the last of the socially liberal Southerners.State's Rights doesn't endorse slavery. Personally, I would have preferred that Lincoln did not destroy the states' rights clause of the Constitution. I wish that the South had been allowed to secede, as the original Constitution allowed.I think that slavery would have ended soon anyway. Would slavery have lasted in the South until this day? Probably not. And remember, even staying in the "Union", the South still had apartheid until the late 60's - it was explicitly endorsed and allowed by the federal government for 100 years. There were other ways to end slavery in the South besides destroying the liberty in the Consitution and enthroning an all-powerful central government. The end of apartheid in Africa is a great example. It ended without hundreds of thousands of men killed in war.I believe there is no way to justify the death and destruction caused by the Civil War. One of the biggest brainwashing of Americans is that the Revolutionary War and Civil War were inevitable and "good wars". Neither should have occurred.
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Comment #63 posted by FoM on June 11, 2008 at 14:21:13 PT

Sam
State's rights was about slavery so I always back away from that as the all powerful issue. Some really backward states will keep their people in the dark ages. So state's rights are good but they have a dark side. Clinton was not a Northern Democrat. That's why I didn't vote for him or anyone when he ran for President. Northern Democrats are more liberal or at least I've always felt that way.
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Comment #62 posted by Sam Adams on June 11, 2008 at 14:12:32 PT

the GCW
you're right about the GOP not being alone in this, of course.I check in with the "Christians for Cannabis" website every once in a while, it's a great group of peopleIt's interesting, in my state the non-Catholic Christian churches are mostly VERY liberal. Mostly Congregational (United Church of Christ) and Unitarians. In fact, I was at a party-type event recently and an older gentlemen started telling me about the MJ decrim referendum in November. I did *not* bring it up! Turns out he was the minister of a Congregational church and he had heard about because that church is helping the campaign out. I was pleasantly surprised, to put it mildy. Many of the Christian churches up here are not only progressive but quite activist as well.Of course I'm talking about non-Catholic churches, you know how the Pope feels about all this. The Catholics probably wish they could support MJ reform but he won't let them!
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Comment #61 posted by Sam Adams on June 11, 2008 at 14:06:54 PT

czar
FOM, I don't really know, you're probably right. But I would guess that's a political rule and not a legal one. Remember there was a brief flash of hope at the beginning of Bush/Cheney when they removed drug czar from the Cabinet (I believe it is no longer an official Cabinet post)Remember folks, Bush specifically promised to leave the issue of medical MJ to the states when he was running. Just call me doubting Thomas, I'm not a big believer in campaign speeches.Clinton was also a spectacular campaign liar and reneged on many specific promises. Here's hoping that Obama wins and brings back a little integrity to the office. There's no question that Obama has the strong backing of the ACLU, if you look at his campaign donors many are academic and civil liberty type people. that is encouraging.
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Comment #60 posted by FoM on June 11, 2008 at 11:19:15 PT

Sam
I have a question. I seem to remember that a person can't be appointed drug czar if he has a public opinion about the drug war. I hope I'm wrong about that but somewhere at sometime I read it.
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Comment #59 posted by Sam Adams on June 11, 2008 at 11:12:19 PT

the awful irony
isn't is sad - that Jesus is being used by the rich elite to trick the stupid people into continually voting them into power? I don't feel sorry for idiots, I think we need to acknowledge than many Americans are complete idiots to be able to deal with it. Remember, half of Americans agree with Creation and less than a third "believe" Evolution. That is a disgrace.My position on Obama is, I hope he wins. I'll be voting for Nader again. (Since the Libertarians picked Barr)That is a good point about Kucinich as drug czar. We'll know whether or not Obama is completely sold out quickly, by the people he selects for his Cabinet. When the Republicans get in the White House, they immediately fill every post with the most far-right wackos and industry reps they can find - for example Ashcroft, the holy roller who covered up Lady Justice, or various extraction industry reps heading up the EPA. When Clinton was there, I was hoping he'd name Ralph Nader to head the EPA. Or Abbie Hoffman to be attorney general. You laugh, but this is exactly what Bush/Cheney did for the Republicans. Of course we're not even discussing what happens if McCain wins! Remember, 31% of black men in Texas can't even vote.  Same with most southern states. The Repubs have done their work well. 

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Comment #58 posted by FoM on June 11, 2008 at 07:22:02 PT

The GCW
I am pro life but I am pro choice. I believe in the separation of church and state. I believe every woman who feels a need to have an abortion is seriously conflicted by that decision. She will live with the choice she makes for the rest of her life. It's not for me or government to get in the middle of a woman's personal moral decision in my opinion. It should be between her doctor and her God and that's it.
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Comment #57 posted by FoM on June 11, 2008 at 07:06:28 PT

The GCW
You're welcome. I liked what he said in the interview. He thinks very deeply and that is what I have always done about my Faith.One of the things the Christian Right never seems to say is that we are our brother's keeper. I believe they don't say that because it means caring for those less fortunate and that is not in their agenda. 
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Comment #56 posted by The GCW on June 11, 2008 at 06:53:37 PT

FoM,
Thanks for posting the interview. I will share it.-0- 
It isn't just that "the GOP uses hot botton issues to stir up hate"-0-I feel as though it is also the devil at work. Consider the issue of weather or not, when sperm meets egg as being a human being.To honest humans, a human doesn't exist when sperm meets egg but the people against abortion have an agenda and are willing to accept what is a lie in order to get their way. The devil knows this and creates that separation between people and Christ God Our Father / The Ecologician. All the devil has to do is get Christians to accept lies and live in lies in order to get His job done. Christians fall for it. The devil's done a great job. Who do We thank for helping the devil?The "Christian Right" seems to be the devils chosen.It makes Me want to puke for eternity.
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Comment #55 posted by FoM on June 10, 2008 at 20:14:45 PT

The GCW
Here's the interview.The Dude Abides An existential crossing guard at the intersection of spirituality and pop culture.http://falsani.blogspot.com/2008/04/barack-obama-2004-god-factor-interview.html
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Comment #54 posted by FoM on June 10, 2008 at 20:08:16 PT

The GCW
I'm glad he did meet with them. I read somewhere recently about his faith in an interview and it is very broad and I liked it.
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Comment #53 posted by FoM on June 10, 2008 at 20:01:14 PT

museman
Very nice.
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Comment #52 posted by The GCW on June 10, 2008 at 20:00:39 PT

Christian leaders meet privately with Obama 
Jun 10, 10:41 PM EDTChristian leaders meet privately with Obama By CHARLES BABINGTON 
Associated Press WriterCHICAGO (AP) -- Barack Obama discussed Darfur, the Iraq war, gay rights, abortion and other issues Tuesday with Christian leaders, including conservatives who have been criticized for praising the Democratic presidential candidate.Bishop T.D. Jakes, a prominent black clergyman who heads a Dallas megachurch, said Obama took questions, listened to participants and discussed his "personal journey of faith."The discussion "went absolutely everywhere," Jakes told The Associated Press, and "just about every Christian stripe was represented in that room."Jakes, who does not endorse candidates and said he also hopes to meet with Republican presidential candidate John McCain, said some participants clearly have political differences with Obama. The senator's support for abortion rights and gay rights, among other issues, draws opposition from religious conservatives. Some conservatives have criticized Jakes for praising Obama.Jakes said the meeting, at a law firm's offices, seemed designed to prompt a wide discussion rather than to result in commitments from either Obama or those attending. Others familiar with the meeting said some participants agreed to attend only because it would be private.Rich Cizik, vice president for governmental affairs of the National Association of Evangelicals, an umbrella organization for evangelical churches and ministries, said Obama asked participants to share "anything that's on your mind that is of concern to you.""I think it's important to point out this isn't a group of people who are endorsing Obama," Cizik said in an interview. "People were asked for their insider wisdom and understanding of the religious community."Mark DeMoss, a spokesman for the Rev. Franklin Graham, said Graham attended and asked Obama whether "he thought Jesus was the way to God, or merely a way." DeMoss declined to discuss Obama's response.Graham, who succeeded his father as head of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, found the senator "impressive" and "warm," DeMoss said."He feels that dialogue with someone who may be president is useful whether or not you agree with them on everything or anything," DeMoss said. Graham expects to soon meet with Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.Joshua Dubois, the Obama campaign's director of faith outreach, said the meeting included "prominent evangelicals and other faith leaders" who "discussed policy issues and came together in conversation and prayer." Similar sessions will occur "in the months to come," he said.About 30 people attended, the campaign said, but it released only three names: the Rev. Stephen Thurston, head of the National Baptist Convention of America, Inc., a historically black denomination; the Rev. T. Dewitt Smith, president of the Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc., which was home to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights leaders; and Bishop Phillip Robert Cousin Sr., an A.M.E. clergyman and former NAACP board member.Two sources familiar with the meeting, but who spoke on background because the session was private, said others attending included conservative Catholic constitutional lawyer Doug Kmiec; evangelical author Max Lucado of San Antonio; Cameron Strang, founder of Relevant Media, which is aimed at young Christians; the Rev. Luis Cortes of Esperanza USA; and Paul Corts, president of the Council of Christian Colleges and Universities.Kmiec, an abortion opponent who worked for the Reagan administration's Justice Department, was denied Communion in April at a Mass for Catholic business people because he had endorsed Obama. Church leaders later apologized, according to syndicated columnist E.J. Dionne.Cont.http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/O/OBAMA_RELIGION?SITE=COFRI&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
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Comment #51 posted by museman on June 10, 2008 at 19:41:19 PT

 22 cents worth
I was perusing my choices the other day,Weighing their consequence in the usual way,When the dawning came.It was not for lack of darkness and misery,or the long trudged road of historyon which so much to blame,But the silence of the moment, seperate from that fact, revealed the power of my liberty to confirm and to enact.It's not the sameAs the fear of change seen as the status quo,somewhere within, this you know.And the answer came;Choose to know and you will see.Choose to grow and you will be.See the now, living, breathing, loving.Is there any other reality?
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Comment #50 posted by FoM on June 10, 2008 at 18:54:21 PT

john wayne
Having hope is good for us. Nothing changes without hope. Since it will be Obama or McCain the choice is easy for me.
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Comment #49 posted by john wayne on June 10, 2008 at 18:38:38 PT

dream on, dreamers
I'll be referring to this thread when the inevitable crackdown against medical cannabis or whatever materializes under a possible Obama presidency. I sure as hell would like to be wrong.
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Comment #48 posted by FoM on June 10, 2008 at 18:11:18 PT

BGreen
I have hoped and looked for someone who would be good for our country and we have a good man now. I will be very happy to watch 8 years under an Obama presidency blossom. He isn't perfect but he inspires and brings out the best in those who support him.
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Comment #47 posted by FoM on June 10, 2008 at 18:08:16 PT

BGreen
Thank you so much. That means a lot to me.
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Comment #46 posted by BGreen on June 10, 2008 at 17:56:11 PT

I know how you feel, FoM
You've been on this earth even longer than I have and I respect your knowledge and wisdom.The thing I really respect and admire about you more than anything else is your heart.The unconditional love you have for your son even though many can't see through the hate. The unconditional love you have for the victims of this horrible plague of a war on cannabis.Last but not least, the unconditional love you have for your CNews website and family, and that's the love that comforts me personally.I have the same gut feeling about Obama as you. Nothing should keep us from having hope we'll see a decent president again in our lifetime.{Big Hugs}The Reverend Bud Green
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Comment #45 posted by FoM on June 10, 2008 at 17:44:12 PT

BGreen
I have been a supporter of Obama since I heard his speech at the DNC in 2004. I've been looking for someone like him since I was young.PS: Listen to Looking for a Leader Documentaryhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZejS7ix_s9g
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Comment #44 posted by FoM on June 10, 2008 at 17:38:31 PT

The GCW 
It seems the GOP uses hot botton issues to stir up hate. What a way to win by making people hate rather then by trying to be constructive and help the citizens of the USA.
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Comment #43 posted by BGreen on June 10, 2008 at 17:37:19 PT

We've got your point, john wayne
We'll stay bitter and hateful now that you've set us straight.We're f$%#%d no mater what, so let's just wallow in our misery.We need someone to first save the country from going the way of the Greek and Roman empires. Obama represents the best hope for that.I know that Obama has a certain amount of pandering he has to do in order to get elected. That doesn't mean he won't surround himself with advisers that actually have expertise in their fields, not just buddies and political donors.How about Dennis Kucinich for drug czar? It could happen.Why does anybody think they have the right to tell people how they ought to feel? I'll be pumped up about Obama if I want to and I don't care what anybody thinks.The Reverend Bud Green
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Comment #42 posted by The GCW on June 10, 2008 at 17:27:36 PT

The effect of Amendment 48 & Obama.
GOP Counts on Pro-Life VoteObama Looks to Solidify WestBy Richard Martin, New West.Net, 6-10-08Will Amendment 48, the pro-life ballot measure that will be voted on in the November election, cost Barack Obama Colorado? Will Amendment 48, the pro-life ballot measure that will be voted on in the November election, cost Barack Obama Colorado? That’s one possibility raised in recent days by local politicos eyeing the fall presidential race. , At the same time we are witnessing what the Grand Junction Sentinel calls “a fundamental realignment of the formerly reliably Republican Rocky Mountain West.” Brought to the ballot by abortion foes centered in Colorado Springs, Amendment 48 would revise the state constitution to define life as starting at conception. The measure could “bring out conservatives in droves, possibly spoiling the electorate’s recent Democratic tendencies.” The region’s GOP is also hoping to capitalize on Obama’s misstep in characterizing rural voters earlier in the primary campaign as bitter and “clinging to religion and guns.” “We know of the disparaging way he thinks of rural voters,” state GOP chairman Dick Wadhams told the Denver Post. “We know he wants to tax and spend Americans to death. In a region undergoing swift changes that include an influx of wealthy liberals and moderates and an energy boom, that old saw may not fly. More than any candidate in recent memory, Obama has the money and the enthusiastic supporters to mount a sweeping field campaign in states like Colorado, Montana, and New Mexico. “You’ll see a [Democratic] presidential field operation in Mesa County for the first time I can remember,” Democratic consultant Steve Welchert told the Post. And Obama’s coattails could help continue the leftward tilt that has seen moderate Democrats capture statehouses across the Rocky Mountain West. Colorado Pols has the major congressional races in the state tilting toward the Dems, including the Fourth District House seat now held by firebrand conservative Marilyn Musgrave. “Two months ago [Musgrave] looked fine,” the political blog comments, “but after GOP losses in Red states she must be worried.” Drop by your Summit Dems Booth during 
the Frisco BBQ Challenge
Friday & Saturday, June 13-14, 2008
for ice cream & conversation
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Comment #41 posted by john wayne on June 10, 2008 at 17:22:39 PT

Obama supports marijuana prohibition
Here Obama expresses his support for marijuana prohibition:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQr9ezr8UeA
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Comment #40 posted by FoM on June 10, 2008 at 17:20:54 PT

john wayne
One time Taylor121 said that he wasn't a single issue voter and I understood. I also am not a single issue voter either. I also hope for reform in our health care system. 
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Comment #39 posted by FoM on June 10, 2008 at 17:18:13 PT

john wayne
I believe in spirituality but not organized religion. It's good to be spiritual because you become sensitive to those less fortunate. Religion is a control mechanism particularly when used politically like Republicans have done for years. 
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Comment #38 posted by john wayne on June 10, 2008 at 17:13:00 PT

which plant?
>What makes you think Obama means cannabis?What keeps the war on drugs going? Which drug or plant or whatever you wanna call it accounts for *by far* the most arrests, hence *by far* the most support for the prison industrial state? Cannabis it is, by far, by far. Obama is going to start dismantling this? I am waiting for the to see an actual plan.Now we are putting hopeful ideas into our candidates minds, speeches and intentions? We've been here before. I am reminded of Clinton in '92, even Bush in 2000. Check the archives on this site for all kinds of "Bush on drugs will be like Nixon goes to China" (WRONG WRONG WRONG!) posts in the runup to the 2000 election.All I am saying is don't set yourself up for disappointment. Take it easy. Find out what each candidate is really saying and compare and contrast. Religiosity towards any campaign is courting disaster, as the GW Bush example amply demonstrates, no matter your denomination.
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Comment #37 posted by FoM on June 10, 2008 at 17:09:45 PT

Barack Obama Supports Marijuana Decriminalization
He hasn't changed his mind. He needs to be careful. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQr9ezr8UeA
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Comment #36 posted by FoM on June 10, 2008 at 17:01:49 PT

I Like This Article
Old Friends Recall Obama's College Yearshttp://www.politico.com/news/stories/0508/10402.html
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Comment #35 posted by FoM on June 10, 2008 at 16:56:50 PT

Messiah?
He isn't a Messiah in my opinion. He is a smart, compassionate, strong willed and a capable politician. He is Charismatic like John and Bobby Kennedy were. For Republicans Reagan was Charismatic. Having a President that people like is one heck of a good beginning.
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Comment #34 posted by BGreen on June 10, 2008 at 16:54:38 PT

What makes you think Obama means cannabis?
Maybe Obama is really referring to "drugs" instead of a relatively benign plant.Maybe Obama is going to be the first sane person who puts all of the effort into stopping the scourge of poison that has taken over the streets while the government previously put all of it's efforts into eliminating cannabis.Why can't we have any hope that things will be better?The Reverend Bud Green
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Comment #33 posted by BGreen on June 10, 2008 at 16:46:40 PT

Way Wrong, john wayne, Way, Way Wrong
All I meant was that we really have only two choices, not that you supported either of them.One of the two will win, no matter how many third, fourth or fifth party candidates anybody votes for.I really don't care who you vote for, but stop assuming I'm attacking you. That's just not the case.The Reverend Bud Green
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Comment #32 posted by john wayne on June 10, 2008 at 16:44:48 PT

Obama and the drug war
Obama and the drug warhttp://blogs.salon.com/0002762/2008/05/27.html#a2870Obama speech in Miami, confirming my worst fears:http://blogs.suntimes.com/sweet/2008/05/obama_latin_america_speech_in.html

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Comment #31 posted by john wayne on June 10, 2008 at 16:35:07 PT

binary politics
Why yes, BGreen. Since I am warning against Obama being portrayed as the messiah, I must be touting the virtues of McSame! Hint: McSame and Obama are in the same legislative body and kowtowed to the same people to get there.http://www.antiwar.com/avnery/?articleid=12963I just love binary political systems. So easy to keep track of everyone's absolute position!
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Comment #30 posted by FoM on June 10, 2008 at 16:25:27 PT

BGreen
Who is McCain? LOL!
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Comment #29 posted by FoM on June 10, 2008 at 16:22:28 PT

The Person Who Put Together Dreamer
The Power of One!http://www.tellingthoughts.com/us-politics/the-power-of-one
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Comment #28 posted by BGreen on June 10, 2008 at 16:21:35 PT

er, hear LOL
Did anybody HEAR ...Oh, well, I'm not trying to be president. LOLThe Reverend Bud Green
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Comment #27 posted by BGreen on June 10, 2008 at 16:19:52 PT

I'll veto any beer ... er, bill
Did anybody here McCain say that in his speech?Priceless.The Reverend Bud Green
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Comment #26 posted by BGreen on June 10, 2008 at 16:15:47 PT

john wayne
I'll take a dose of "Obama hopefulness" any day over the fear mongering and lies of McBush or McSame or McShame, whatever the old fart's name is.The Reverend Bud Green
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Comment #25 posted by FoM on June 10, 2008 at 16:05:41 PT

 john wayne 
There is one thing to have hope and one thing to be realistic about a person. He is a politician. I don't know what is wrong with being Pro Israel. I was always taught that we should be kind to Israel. As far as the drug war I don't know why you would think he is for locking up more people for non violent drug offenses since I have heard him say otherwise in town hall meetings more then one time.
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Comment #24 posted by FoM on June 10, 2008 at 16:00:05 PT

Small Amount of Pot in Prison Not a Felony
 N.Y. Court: Small Amount of Pot in Prison Not a FelonyJune 10, 2008 
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) -- New York's top court ruled Tuesday that small amounts of marijuana in prison do not represent ``dangerous contraband'' under the law, ordering lower courts to reduce two convictions from felonies to misdemeanors with shorter sentences.
 Complete Article: http://www.1010wins.com/pages/2344909.php?contentType=4&contentId=2192314
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Comment #23 posted by john wayne on June 10, 2008 at 15:57:38 PT

Watch out for Obama hopefulness.
FOM, Obama is very pro drug-war and also very pro Israel-at-any-cost. Meaning the status quo is just fine with him. Hint: you don't get into the US senate without having these positions cemented firmly in place in exactly this way.I can get the links for you if you want, but if you've been following the news at all you know already!
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Comment #22 posted by FoM on June 10, 2008 at 15:21:49 PT

And For All The Dreamers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHNhc6TPXts
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Comment #21 posted by FoM on June 10, 2008 at 15:16:48 PT

OverwhelmSam
That was great and the truth!
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Comment #20 posted by BGreen on June 10, 2008 at 14:58:28 PT

re: post #18
The full title should be "Why I'm Voting Republican - You Get What You Deserve."Damn straight!The Reverend Bud Green
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Comment #19 posted by BGreen on June 10, 2008 at 14:50:46 PT

That's what I always say, OverwhelmSam
You'll notice that most of the negative pseudo-science reports are coming out of countries such as Great Britain, where cannabis is mixed with tobacco.In fact, the United States is the only country where the majority of cannabis users smoke it pure.I smoked a blunt (cannabis wrapped in a hollowed out cigar) and IMO it was nasty.The chances of finding deleterious effects in cannabis-only partakers are much slimmer that those who also use tobacco.That immediately calls suspect any "research" coming from those countries.There are millions upon millions of cannabis partakers like myself who don't use tobacco, rarely drink alcohol and don't take pharmaceutical drugs, who would be perfect subjects for a valid study of the true effects of so-called "chronic" use of cannabis.The only reason this study doesn't take place is because the US government and the prohibitionists are absolutely scared spitless about people finding out the truth that we already know.The Reverend Bud Green
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Comment #18 posted by OverwhelmSam on June 10, 2008 at 14:41:08 PT

Have A Cookie!
From Sea To Shining Sea, Why I'm voting Republican:http://www.imvotingrepublican.com/
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Comment #17 posted by OverwhelmSam on June 10, 2008 at 14:15:33 PT

If Cannabis Was Truly Bad For Us
Don't you think we would know it by now? If it were like herion, meth or nicotine, it would be obvious. In fact, you can go to just about any hospital lab and see the cigarette smokers lined up for blood tests. Cannabis doesn't even produce a noticeable blip on the HealthO'Meter. If there is some latent health problem related to cannabis, it has been to date inpercievable, which makes the issue at about moot, except for the health fanatics. They should kill themselves to preserve their bodies in pine tree sap.
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Comment #16 posted by BGreen on June 10, 2008 at 14:09:46 PT

Which gives us this story
America's Medicated ArmyThousand of troops are being given antidepressant drugs to deal with battle field stress. A TIME investigation reveals combat's heavy toll on their mental health - and why the military's efforts to treat it may be making the problem worse.The U.S. military says that 12 percent of combat personnel in Iraq and 17 percent serving in Afghanistan are taking prescription antidepressants or sleeping pills to battle the mental strain of extended tours of duty and the horrors of war.Drug them up and send them to kill for the rich men and women. Now we finally have those "drugged-up killers" the prohibitionists always talk about.The Reverend Bud Green
America's Medicated Army
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Comment #15 posted by sam adams on June 10, 2008 at 14:00:22 PT

then again....
bloodletting and mercury doses were big back in the day - maybe nothing HAS changed!
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Comment #14 posted by Sam Adams on June 10, 2008 at 13:54:05 PT

More on Harvard docs selling out
this was in today's paper, I'm not making this stuff up......http://www.boston.com/news/health/articles/2008/06/10/3_psychiatrists_accused_of_missteps_face_inquiry/-excerpt-Grassley, Republican of Iowa, introduced documentation into the Congressional Record last week that indicates the three psychiatrists - Joseph Biederman, Timothy E. Wilens, and Thomas Spencer - might have violated federal and university conflict-of-interest rules by failing to indicate on disclosure forms the full amounts they received from drug makers.The three psychiatrists, who also work at Mass. General and receive federal money for pharmaceutical research, initially said they earned a few hundred thousand dollars over a seven-year period from drug companies, but when pressed by Grassley, they later admitted to receiving between $1 million and $1.6 million, The New York Times reported Sunday.The three doctors have conducted extensive research in child psychiatry, which in some cases has ultimately advocated for the use of certain medicines, not yet approved, in children, the Times reported.
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Comment #13 posted by Sam Adams on June 10, 2008 at 13:43:27 PT

christen
of course your idea of banning Big Pharma advertising is right. It is one of the only things that can save our health care system from bankrupting itself!I realized something interesting lately. Here in the northeast, medical marijuana bills have been introduced in almost every state in the last several years. They have passed the legislature in Maine, Vermont, and Rhode Island. They have passed at least one branch of the legislature (house or senate) in Connecticut and New York. The only states that have not even moved the bill out of committee are Massachusetts and New Jersey. (in NH a decrim bill passed the full Senate this year, I won't count them). Strangely, these states are the most progressive in the region on gay marriage!  They are not morally conservative by any stretch, they are two of the most liberal in the US.New Jersey is basically the world headquarters of Big Pharma. You can drive the highways and see huge HQs of all the big Drug Companies. Massachusetts has lots of Big Pharma and is a world center for the "best" Western doctors (Harvard) and a world center for the Biotech industry, which is 95% new drug development.Big Pharma in state = no medical marijuana. You'd have to be really high to think that's only a coincidence.As a matter of fact, 3 of the biggest Psychiatry professors at Harvard did "ground-breaking" research showing that little toddler kids really have bipolar disorder and need several anti-psychotic medications, causing an explosion in the use of those dangerous meds in SMALL children. I just saw in the paper today that they were caught lying about how much money they took from Big Pharma - $1.6 million is the latest estimate, over a few years. They lied before and said they took only a few hundred thousand.Little children have died all over the country from taking these drugs. It's sad and quite frightening to see the supposed "best and brightest" minds we have totally corrupted and selling out, even if it kills children. These doctors are supposed to have sword to heal and cause no harm. Does not bode well for our future, somehow the upper 1% needs to re-discover integrity, compassion, and morality quick or we're lost. Our health care system is already ranked equal to Slovenia, pretty soon everything else will be too.
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Comment #12 posted by BGreen on June 10, 2008 at 12:38:41 PT

There's ONE thing I like about the TV Rx Ads
The very same drugs the prohibitionists like to scream as being so much safer than cannabis have some pretty nasty and even fatal side effects, and the reason I know that is that I hear them clearly stated in these TV advertisements.Infections, harm to fetuses, tuberculosis, bone necrosis (dying bone,) erectile dysfunction (not the same as the previous entry ;p ,) liver failure and numerous other "safe" effects including death are just some of the things we can expect by taking the FDA approved medications instead of cannabis, which we know has never killed anybody.These FDA approved drugs DO CAUSE HORRIBLE SIDE-EFFECTS and yet are deemed safe and effective and legal.Cannabis MIGHT CAUSE SOME KIND OF NEGATIVE SIDE-EFFECT THAT WE DON'T YET KNOW ABOUT, so cannabis remains illegal and punishable by arrest and imprisonment.The only redeeming factor in this whole matter is that the prohibitionists are shortening their lifespan by taking those poisonous pharmaceuticals they love so much.The Reverend Bud Green
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Comment #11 posted by FoM on June 10, 2008 at 12:21:29 PT

ChristenMitchell 
I really dislike the drug commercials on tv. 
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Comment #10 posted by ChristenMitchell on June 10, 2008 at 12:12:54 PT:

No Pharma DTCA
I propose to run a state initiative to ban pharmaceutical advertising. .....The US and New Zealand are the only two countries that allow DTCA, direct to consumer advertising.
.....Big Pharma spends more for advertising than research.
.....It is your Doctor's business, not Madison Avenue's.
What do you think?
 
Hemptopia - Reefer Sanity
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Comment #9 posted by FoM on June 10, 2008 at 10:11:49 PT

museman
Yes we are all equal now. I so agree!
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Comment #8 posted by FoM on June 10, 2008 at 10:10:59 PT

museman
Almost all the time when I can remember a portion of my dreams when I wake up they have been about heaven but not like what we think heaven is. It always is pleasant and different. 
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Comment #7 posted by museman on June 10, 2008 at 10:09:08 PT

FoM
"We all are equal in the end"Which pretty much means that we are all equal now, doesn't it?
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Comment #6 posted by museman on June 10, 2008 at 10:05:52 PT

FoM
These simple things and facts of human life, and expereince are the things of true value. Left alone without Big Brother I believe that most of us, if not all would naturally grqavitate towards the natural states of being without all the unreal impositions of false realitites constantly battling with our consciousness.I have no doubt that you appreciate the beauty of what YHWHW has given us, without the conditions and restrictions of society and cultural ignorance.Many many are there who cannot relate to the earth, particularly in Amerika, who think of the earth as 'dirt.' Trees are building materials, animals are pets, food, and an 'inconvenience,' and the earth itself is just a big cooling ball of rock circling an impossibly long-burning ball of fire. This is a contrived consciousness, a superimposed perception over the natural real discernment that we see when we first look without the judgement of the mind and its eons of social programming.
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Comment #5 posted by FoM on June 10, 2008 at 10:01:32 PT

museman
When I saw the one house being washed away yesterday I thought how good life must have been for the family that owned that house and now it is gone. In a flash life can change. We need to keep things in perspective. Senator Kennedy has plenty of money but what good will it do for him now? Illness and unforeseen circumstances befall all men. We all are equal in the end.
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Comment #4 posted by FoM on June 10, 2008 at 09:54:08 PT

museman
I don't understand somethings but I believe that we should be ready for whatever comes our way. I am not angry or even sad because I believe what will be will be. When life seems good and our worries seem tolerable hang on because life is always changing. What I mean is enjoy good times when we have them and when they are gone don't be angry that they are gone. 
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Comment #3 posted by museman on June 10, 2008 at 09:45:57 PT

who gets the money?
"We spend about $12 billion on drug control. Another $30 billion goes toward arresting and incarcerating the users, according to the White House. We fill up costly prisons with nonviolent drug offenders..."Would it surprise anyone to find out that the same people who are raking in the dough in the WOD, are the same ones lobbying to keep it going? The progeny of the first prohibitionists whose aims were economic, racist, and class oriented, just moved into the vacancies their predecessors left. Dynasties of wealth and power, the same ones our 'patriotic' ancestors supposedly came here to escape, came here on their heels and set up shop. They created a political system that not only favors the rich, but makes it impossible to participate in any meaningful way without wealth.They've gotten really good with doublespeak and the zeitgeist. They have those who would otherwise logicly, and with common sense oppose their newworldorder in their economic pocket, speaking words to support the status quo, capitulating to their power on nearly every angle, because they are too attached to the bright and shiny baubles of propriety and possession.Its all about money, and when we can collectively free ourselves from the errant belief in its power, it simply won't be needed any more, and will be gone from this reality. That would be the first choice, but I don't think the majority is ready to let go of their misbeliefs, so nature, and the Spirit that lives within is going to force an end to the falseness. Its not going to be pleasant, as recent examples have shown us, but there will be an end, and it is going to be soon. The painfulness of the transition is equal to the resistance to change, so those who don't resist, who go with the now, the 'flow' will experience much less pain than those who cling to their errors with stubborn pride.
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Comment #2 posted by FoM on June 10, 2008 at 09:41:53 PT

Just a Comment
I looked really close but maybe I missed it but I didn't see anything about sellers of hard drugs just users. I'll look again.
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Comment #1 posted by observer on June 10, 2008 at 09:28:42 PT

click-testing the message at the nursing home
But Hale, chief in Ansonia, asked me why would we want to allow people to destroy their lives with highly addictive drugs like methamphetamine or crack cocaine. "Why would you do that?" he asked. "Once the door is open, what do you do?a) Jailing people who use or sell meth or crack prevents other people from using such drugs? If jailing people who police catch using drugs was intended to be anything other than a perpetual make-work program for police, wouldn't it have succeeded in halting drug use?b) his metaphorical "door" isn't already as open as any barn door can be?c) re: "Once the door is open, what do you do?" Ah .. the "door" (gateway) http://drugpolicycentral.com/bot/pg/propaganda/theme4.htm#4 Isn't that "door" (gateway) just more propaganda? Sounds nice in a sound bite (above) - so this is as far as most of his audience can or will go with it. Their sound-bite reasoning goes like this.Authority/Official?Yes, a police chief, even! Check.(If TV) Dresses nicely? well-groomed hairUniform. Check.Good sound-bite?Oh my goodness yes! "Once the door is open, what do you do?" That's a real zinger. All the folks at the nursing home that we were able to click-test that message on, they liked it.Check.Conclusion: the nice police man's message will "sell" to the target audience. 

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