cannabisnews.com: S.F. Leads Way On User-Friendly Med Pot Clubs





S.F. Leads Way On User-Friendly Med Pot Clubs
Posted by CN Staff on October 13, 2008 at 19:55:49 PT
By C.W. Nevius, Chronicle Columnist
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco, CA -- Three years ago, agents from the federal Drug Enforcement Agency broke down the door of a South of Market medical pot club and raided the premises. It looked like the first skirmish between federal agents and the city, which passed liberal pot laws in 1996.Instead, the city took the crackdown as a wake-up call. 
Quietly, with little fanfare, San Francisco is on the way to becoming a model for medical marijuana clubs done the right way. Exploitive, profit-hungry drug clubs are being forced out and community-based, patient-friendly ones are becoming the norm. Neighbors have shut down dispensaries in school zones and patient services have been increased.Beginning in 2005, when Mayor Gavin Newsom worried aloud about "a path that would allow for a club on every street corner," the city has made a series of small steps that have improved a situation that was nearly out of control. A moratorium on new clubs was enacted and Supervisors Ross Mirkarimi and Michela Alioto-Pier pushed for restrictive legislation. Among other things, all pot clubs were required to get an operating permit from the Planning Commission. Neighborhood input, proximity to schools, and criminal and employment background checks were all included in the consideration for a permit.Since then, almost half of the clubs have closed.And here's an indication of just how well the regulations have worked. When state Attorney General Jerry Brown proposed strict state guidelines for marijuana dispensaries in August, and Newsom's office drafted similar regulations a month later, advocates responded immediately - they said they were wholeheartedly in favor."We went through 10 years of an unregulated cannabis environment," said Kevin Reed, president of Green Cross dispensary, which delivers medical marijuana to patients. "Now they are going to try something completely different, and to see it run correctly is a wonderful thing." Snipped   Complete Article: http://drugsense.org/url/z7IxPSrVSource: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)Author: C.W. Nevius, Chronicle ColumnistPublished: Monday, October 13, 2008Copyright: 2008 San Francisco Chronicle Contact: letters sfchronicle.comWebsite: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/ CannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml
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Comment #52 posted by Hope on October 14, 2008 at 20:21:25 PT
The Humboldt native at the bottom 
of this thread isn't too happy about it either.https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=4748580258329759681&postID=7043704590057380756
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Comment #51 posted by E_Johnson on October 14, 2008 at 20:09:18 PT
I'm not surprised it didn't do well in Seattle
A socially isolated pot grower with no political consciousness whatsoever accepts being told off as a nonproductive citizen by a guy who accepted his hospitality and then ripped off his grow. He finally annihilates himself in a fit of helpless rage after one of the most polite DEA raids in history. Do the guys who made this film really think the people who host Hempfest are going to buy this story?
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Comment #50 posted by Hope on October 14, 2008 at 20:06:08 PT
Two blogs, actually.
http://www.humboldtcountymovie.com/
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Comment #49 posted by Hope on October 14, 2008 at 20:00:11 PT
E_Johnson
That movie website has blogs. Current blogs.:0)http://www.humboldtcountymovie.blogspot.com/
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Comment #48 posted by E_Johnson on October 14, 2008 at 19:39:47 PT
Very nice museman
Your novel sounds interesting. I like the intro clip too.
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Comment #47 posted by E_Johnson on October 14, 2008 at 18:39:01 PT
Here's the movie website
http://www.humboldtcountymovie.com/Go to "About" and then click "Summary"Peter Hadley enjoys himself among the countercultural natives after he can't make his own life work.
He finds some highly sexualized female member of the counterculture, has a sexual experience, and is swept away into the land of the silly feckless highly sexualized childlike natives of Humboldtlandia.He becomes a man (if that's what you can call someone who makes lame excuses for ripping someone else's grow) while he's tromping through the hills fixing irrigation systems for a pot grower. Then he learns about the dangerous and dysfunctional reality of the counter culture (like the DEA, who behave like choir boys and don't even use the "H" word, let alone anything starting with "F"), starts turning down bong hits, and leaves the colorful natives for his new self-determined life.Meanwhile, for no reason anyone can see based on the plot, the pot grower who helped make Peter a man ends up dead from his own violent helpless rage, instead of sharing his pain on the Internet and writing letters to the editor and making plans for Hempfest and joining NORML and so on.(Because the dangerous dysfunctional people in the counterculture would never THINK of doing anything functional and sane like that, right?)I cannot mock this ridiculous piece of poopoo enough.
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Comment #46 posted by Hope on October 14, 2008 at 17:35:11 PT
Amazing website....
and Deja Vu all over again. I've been there before, a long time ago, but, but once again it slipped away along with no telling what else.You've really updated it. It's great.
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Comment #45 posted by museman on October 14, 2008 at 17:12:44 PT
Hope - my website
And for anyone else who is interested.I include the little flash clip I made as an intro, but if you don't want the flash to load (there's a link to bypass) you can use the second link.http://www.terryhubbard.com
mainpage
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Comment #44 posted by museman on October 14, 2008 at 16:45:46 PT
Hope
Ah...I thought to mention (for my own 'edification' ;-)> that that last piece of verse was composed on the spot. I am currently copying it, giving it a name, and calling it a poem.
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Comment #43 posted by Hope on October 14, 2008 at 16:44:51 PT
Gnarly.
I can accept "Gnarly".Heck, if I were all "Natural"... I'd be "Hoary".Laughing again.
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Comment #42 posted by Hope on October 14, 2008 at 16:40:55 PT
  :o)
Lol!
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Comment #41 posted by museman on October 14, 2008 at 16:38:50 PT
Hope #38-39
Well.. if you insist. I can see the 
'artistic adjustment.'
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Comment #40 posted by museman on October 14, 2008 at 16:32:42 PT
Hope
Purty? Not for a few decades. Gnarly. I can accept that. Kind of reflects the way I feel sometimes; gnarly.I actually wrote a few more chapters on that 'novel' of mine. Was cruizing, then I ended up against that wall...I think its just a lack of inspiration. I get a lot of momentary inspirations -and they can be long moments, sometimes lasting days-, but its hard to maintain an inspiration past a certain point. Which I guess is why I am more of a poet than a writer.FREE * FOR EVERYONE
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Comment #39 posted by Hope on October 14, 2008 at 16:30:53 PT
You have to leave out something
for it to all fit in one reasonable size book at a time.Pick a sort of "theme" for the book and follow that. 
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Comment #38 posted by Hope on October 14, 2008 at 16:27:44 PT
Well, leave that off, of course....
 "unacceptable"
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Comment #37 posted by Hope on October 14, 2008 at 16:23:32 PT
AAAAACCCKKKK!!!!!!!
Pretty darn good!That sounds like someone "Influenced" me! Oh my.It was Tina Fey. I feel like that sounded like Tina Fey.
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Comment #36 posted by Hope on October 14, 2008 at 16:21:34 PT
Museman
"answering questions"Lol! We could wear you out with questions. Like forty three curious grandchildren. A "different light" as shown on you and yours than on a lot of people. It seems pretty good and it sure looks like it all turned out pretty darn good... and that's a good story, right there. I can see you on Jay Leno.And then again, knowing you the little that I do, I can see you completely rejecting all that.But maybe you should compile some memoirs of this time, some record of your times, for your grandchildren. They might really appreciate it someday.
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Comment #35 posted by museman on October 14, 2008 at 16:17:02 PT
the tales I could tell
 would be soooo unacceptable.The components of the experiences are already so far outside the mainstream (then and now) they can not be adequatley rendered in 'acceptable terms.'The credibility of many experiences is already tossed in the 'non-valid' round file cabinet, because the necessary terms and meanings of the terms do not meet the criteria of the socio/political/religious parameters of 'defined reality.' Terms like LSD, Psychedelic, Spirituality, Consciousness, MARIJUANA, Intuitive Perception, A Living and conscious Earth..just off the top of my head..those are some of the necessary terms to describe the tales I could tell. Fact is, I 'tell' them quite often. Write them too, here, on Cnews."Creditability" and "Credibility" are synonymous in terms of common useage, even though the association of ones 'worth' (credibility) being equal to their amount of access to money (creditability) isn't being consciously considered."Free" "Without condition" other terms totally misunderstood for lack of the experience of them by most who stay 'close to the fence' or follow proscribed order and status quo.The prejudiced assumption that accompanies the programmed reaction to such terms, pre-empts any honest literary attempt to tell the tales with a modicum of expectation of belief. They get told. Its only the willing ears that hear them however, eveyone else just misses out.The tales are told everyday, everywhere. That guy walking down the street, not frowning, not stressed, maybe walking a little slower than those in a hurry to get somewhere, maybe even smiling a little, he's telling a tale. His story is written on his face, and coming from his heart, though he may not be speaking directly at or to you. Should you want to know more, I'm sure he would be happy to tell you.The story that the wind tickles the tree into telling, when a child of men deigns to look, has no vocabulary to express it, yet the tale is still told to those who choose to hear/feel/see.And the story changes from moment to moment. One moment it is dark and dangerous, and the next it is light and full of wonder and joy.LSD woke us up.A fact no creditor will 'buy.'The fire of Spirit was in the cup,Can you measure God? Why would you try?Consciousness, then embryonichas now been born.And it's so ironic, given a new days tonic,how for yesterday we mourn."Accept my tale!" screams the silent unheard,"I cannot hear you." claims the right.Leftly we played, dreaming of a word,as the ship sank into the night.Bouyant survivors, knowing their way,were then prohibited and pursued.And here we have arrived this day,in a sober and somber mood.Freedom comes from within,as all Spirit People know,and the Earth on which we walk is the only path to go.FREE FATTIES FOR EVERYONE
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Comment #34 posted by Hope on October 14, 2008 at 15:35:12 PT
Two front teeth....
Sorry about that. You better get that book jacket wrapped up while you're still "purty" enough!:0)I can only read a bit at a time (Household chores). Sorry for the segmented commenting.
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Comment #33 posted by Hope on October 14, 2008 at 15:30:35 PT
I remember that Observer wrote a book, too.
Published it I think.I always intended to order it and never did.:0(
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Comment #32 posted by Hope on October 14, 2008 at 15:29:27 PT
 "fiction' story" 
I remember that... Sci Fi.I started reading it and apparently meandered away from it and forgot about it. I'm sorry!If it was a real bound book... and not through this not so handy laptop book thing... I'd have probably stayed with it. This isn't' a comfortable way to read, that much, to me.
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Comment #31 posted by Hope on October 14, 2008 at 15:23:39 PT
Lol! I can comprehend that, though.
"Writers Wall Of China."
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Comment #30 posted by museman on October 14, 2008 at 15:08:08 PT
Hope
Thank you.You know, I started writing the tale, call it "I Hippy" -but the problem is I'm the one who gets bored with it, I mean I've told many of the stories ao many times, when I sit down and try to write it, it just doesn't happen. Its way beyond 'writers block', its more like 'Writers Wall Of China.'I tried using voice-recognition software but then I lost my front teeth, and its just too frustrating trying to get it to work. I spend more time yelling commands to correct the errors than actually creating worthwhile text.You know there is a saying; "Just because you are paranoid, doesn't mean there is nothing to be paranoid about." I'd like to paraphrase; "Just because you are depressed, doesn't mean there is nothing to be depressed about!"When I think of 'my story' the first thing I think is "Its not over yet!" But there seems to be such a focus on the perception of youth that 'having history' must mean you're through making it.If I could somehow 'pretend' that I was answering questions from real interested people while I was writing it, maybe I could get past the wall. Real people would get impatient and bored real quick if they had to wait for a written response - it sometimes takes me up to an hour or more to compose some of my posts here -after trying to remove the most blatant errors -think of how long it would take to actually write a book-length collection of responses.But as I mentioned, I am not an actor. I am not very good at role playing, and pretense doen't come easy for me.Maybe after Obama gets elected, they will put some money back into the VA so we can get some decent medical coverage, and I will be able to get some kind of teeth -so I can speak normally again, even sing on stage.Being able to 'tell' the story, rather than 'write' it, might help me get it finished. Like that 'fiction' story I whittle away at little by little -someday I will find the inspiring energy to finish it, along with a rock opera, and about 30 or 40 songs and video in various stages of recording, mastering and producing. And other projects.FREE BONG HITS FOR EVERYONE
the tent picture
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Comment #29 posted by museman on October 14, 2008 at 14:29:50 PT
E_J
You make it sound so easy!Truth is, I will be honest. On the one hand I, personally have 0% ambition, and haven't the intention necessary to follow through with the processes -as you described them. (I only used myself as an 'example')However, on the other hand, the internet marketing model you describe -of which I have some interest- though temptingly open to possibility, is still dominated by a fundamental need for cash. $400 -a figure you mentioned- may not seem that much to one who either accustomed to cash flow, or has viable access to it, but for one such as I and many others in my situation -disabled and on fixed income- that amount of free, un-earmarked money does not exist for me. And if it did, I would have many other priorities to apply it to before paying someone for their 'professional' opinion.Cash is as necessary to create promotion online, as in older forms of media and production.As an artist -primarily in music- I have been exploring the online possibilities for about 7 years now. A few years ago, before what happened to me happened, I still had an active band, the music was still moving, I had my music on nearly every music site available. I had CDs for sale. I've been listed on many sites for years.But I don't actively promote, because I do other things with my time. I am lousy at promoting, always have been. Bands/musicians that are getting noticed online, have some kind of cashflow, or active promotion available to them.I can do a lot of things, from backyard mechanics to Windows. I can (know how to) build a house and keep it maintained (even if I am physically more limited, I can surely direct and assist). I can write, have written -available for free on my website- but I am a songwriter/musician/poet and psychedelic guitar player.What I definitely am not, is either an actor, or a salesman.These days (and mostly always did) I do it because I am inspired, not because I have any ambition to market it.The irony, that I personally have a hard time not resenting, is that I DO want people to hear the music, and read the words. I DO want to share what I have experienced, and what I can do, but not at the mercy of standards and competetive comparisons.I have 'adjusted' my performance, tonality, connotative structure, and adapted various 'suggested' forms into my writing style both in prose and lyric, including insights gleaned from a couple of the college courses I've had over the years. The idea that my 'style' or composition still needs some kind of 'editing' other than proofreading (I make many spelling and syntax errors due to lousy typing skills splayed fingers from playing guitar, and bad eyesight) is just laughable -to me.As a musician, I am quite comfortable with my own unique but reflective style. Unfortunately, while my lyrics have finally come of age -meaning my 'niche' was very small and my fan base would all fit in a bus, back when I actually did have some ambition and drive- my music is way too retro for the young fastlane -where the major interests lie.As a songwriter, I do have some redemption coming in the form of a new generation who wants to do my music 'their way' but as a performer, I'm comfortabley resigned to an occasional campfire/gathering or living room. Maybe a wild and crazy electric jam once in a while.You are right about 'fiction' as a media to 'get across' an idea or concept. Art has always been the best form of delivery. You can say things artisticly long before they become commonly acceptable terms.The artistic community has long been under the thumb and control of the posessors of wealth. That may be changing with the internet, but then again it may not be changing that much at all.FREE TOKES FOR EVERYONE
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Comment #28 posted by Hope on October 14, 2008 at 14:16:15 PT
On that "Colonialist" line of thought.
To the Colonialist mentalities out there running for office, I'd like to say to them that "The natives are restless". It's that time again. Election time.
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Comment #27 posted by E_Johnson on October 14, 2008 at 13:59:27 PT
Thanks Hope
We don't have to sit back and be written about. It still steams me to think of the failed med student who ripped out the farmer's plants for fun lecturing the farmer about which one of them is a productive citizen. I really wanted to have some words with the writers at that point.But the solution really is to have a story written from the point of view of the farmer guy instead of seeing the farmer guy through the eyes of a failed med student willing to jack someone's grow for kicks.
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Comment #26 posted by Hope on October 14, 2008 at 13:57:32 PT
Museman
Comment 21I don't have your address in this computer. I'll fire up the other one later and copy it to this one... which I'm using more lately.
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Comment #25 posted by museman on October 14, 2008 at 13:34:31 PT
mykeyb420
Yup. Harold "Harry" James Anslinger.Somehow I always think of him as 'James.'Thanks for the correction. Momentary lapse.
one example...
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Comment #24 posted by mykeyb420 on October 14, 2008 at 12:39:40 PT
Who hired James Anslinger?
I think its Harry Anslinger
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Comment #23 posted by E_Johnson on October 14, 2008 at 11:52:08 PT
We rely too much on nonfiction in this community
We produce a lot of nonfiction writing. Grow guides, blog posts, letters to the editor, books on the Drug War and how it's failed etc etc.It's time to start learning the techniques of fiction, because fiction is how people really learn to understand and accept each other and negotiate social power.
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Comment #22 posted by Hope on October 14, 2008 at 11:48:05 PT
"Built in marketing channels"
That's true, EJ. Once again... I never thought of that, but, you're right.
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Comment #21 posted by Hope on October 14, 2008 at 11:41:31 PT
Museman's book jacket picture...
I like the tent picture. Which by the way, I lost, and would like for you to send again, if you can. 
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Comment #20 posted by E_Johnson on October 14, 2008 at 10:37:51 PT
Self-publishing could work in this community
I think we have stories the mainstream publishers might want, but even if they don't -- we have built in marketing channels that could be used to sell books as well as they are being used to sell bongs.
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Comment #19 posted by Hope on October 14, 2008 at 10:27:06 PT
Museman
The story of your life and family and all you've gone through and all you've achieved, would not be boring! I'd love to see your picture on the back of a dust cover for such a book.
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Comment #18 posted by E_Johnson on October 14, 2008 at 10:25:26 PT
The way out is through art
You can tell by the stories that get written who has power in a society. If other people are writing stories about you, then they have power over you. If you're writing stories about yourself, then you've taken that power away from them.It is a big deal whether we are writing down our own experiences or just writing letters to the editor complaining about the stories they tell about us. There are all kinds of wonderful, interesting, complex, dramatic and compelling stories here that we have to tell for ourselves. We have to reach farther and demand more of our talents than just writing letters to the editor and blog posts, because letters and blogs can only say so much.We need to start learning to write short stories and novels and screenplays even. That's the bottom line as I see it.
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Comment #17 posted by Hope on October 14, 2008 at 10:20:00 PT
I've made some posts on that thread
that I didn't add my name, too. You that know me likely will recognize them, just like I can tell one of Kap's post before I ever get to the name.It's hard to get a post to post over there and seems complicated. It's easier to post anon. and add your name, but I've not even done that on occasion.
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Comment #16 posted by Hope on October 14, 2008 at 10:17:16 PT
This makes me think of something that's 
been said over at Scott Henson's place, Grits for breakfast.https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8597101&postID=1216296400129020271This guy, I think an ex DEA guy or some sort of law enforcement, says, "The difference between those that want to legalize and those that don't exists because it's not a choice; it's an alternative and once the jeanie is out of the bottle; it won't go back in. Drug users and for that matters those that sell to use are not sympathetic victims. The combination is toxic so try something that takes the finger off the trigger of more enforcement."The main thing, "Drug users and for that matters those that sell to use are not sympathetic victims."What a cop out and I disagree with him. They and their families are, to me, in fact, very "sympathetic" victims of the war on drugs. I'm horrified at what's being done to people in the name of this prohibition. Horrified.But as has been said, we, and they, have been painted and propagandized and demonized to not be sympathetic figures, or even worthy of human respect. Demonization is damned hard to overcome. 
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Comment #15 posted by E_Johnson on October 14, 2008 at 10:10:45 PT
museman this is how it works
Nowadays a lot of authors are getting their start by self-publishing. The Internet allows this to work.So you take the stuff you've written, put it together into some kind of book, hire a good editor to look it over (costs about $400, you can hire writing instructors from local writing programs for this easily), SUCK UP YOUR EGO AND LISTEN carefully to the editor's suggestions, try to follow them WITHOUT compromising your basic intentions.(This is a difficult balance to achieve -- between standing up for one's own work and listening to outside feedback. But most editors are going to give you good advice. They want to make the work communicate better to the reader. So listen and learn from their experience.)After you're produced a polished, edited copy, get a copy of the Market for Novels and Short Stories book and follow their guidelines for preparing your work for submission.After you've followed their advice carefully, you are ready to start submitting.At first try more established outlets -- like publishers who publish marijuana growing books for example. Don't let rejection stop you. All writers go through rejection. Keep trying until you run out of places to try.If they don't bite, then research self-publishing. There are many options now, thanks to the Internet.You're going to have to do your own promotion and distribution if you self-publish, but now outlets like Amazon.com can help with that.And as far as promotions -- you can promote your work in High Times and Cannabis Culture and on the usual web sites where people hang out.There are writers who are achieving success now using the self-publishing and Internet distribution model. For example, black writers doing gangster stories, the same stories they tell in gangster rap, are succeeding in this way.No publisher would touch their work, because it was written in ghetto English and was just as violent as gangster rap.But those writers didn't let rejection stop them. They learned about the self-publishing model and found places online to market to their target audience and and handle the shipping and money for them and now they're making money AND communicating to their audience.The niche markets can be served nowadays without going through the publishing cliques that run new York, thanks to the Internet and to modern publishing technology.
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Comment #14 posted by E_Johnson on October 14, 2008 at 09:41:28 PT
The most giveaway scene in Humboldt County
This is the scene where the movie shows its true intentions. The rich white guy fecklessly joins some guys he's been drinking beer with in a raid on the grower due's garden. The rich white guy doesn't know that it's his friend grower dude's garden, but he reasons that since there are so many plants, it's okay if they rip down a dozen or two and take them home as souvenirs of their wonderful coming of age guy's night out.Near violence results, because his friend the grower dude has been sleeping in his patch waiting for these thieves.The next day they have an argument where rich white guy refuses his first bong hit of the movie.Here is how they face off over the value of grower dude's friendship and morality vs rich white guy's so-called friendship and morality:Rich white guy: "Back in the city, I was more productive in a week than you are in a whole year."Grower dude: (Something rude and incoherent not even worth remembering)The film tries to establish this as the uncontested truth -- rich white dude is productive because he refuses the bong and grower dude is non-productive because he clings to the bong.But excuse me -- how can a medical student who just failed his final year be considered a productive individual, when all he has really produced for the past seven years is more homework and exams for teachers and other students to grade?Homework does not count in a nation's GDP. Ask any accountant in the world. It especially does not count if it fails to lead to a medical degree.Whereas the grower dude had been producing a huge crop every year for the last seven years -- something that does have economic value.If grower dude had been producing almonds or arugula or microbrew beer, the rich white guy probably wouldn't declare him non-productive.And the film's writers didn't even give the grower dude a decent response. Grower dude apparently never heard of NORML or the MPP and has never read the West Coast Leaf. He's never been to Hempfest. You can tell -- because the writers give him no sense of community or political consciousness whatsoever.That's the point where I had to push pause and jump up and down and yell at the screen.A failed medical student telling a successful farmer that he's not a productive individual.That's a direct parallel with the way white colonialists would call Africans childlike and unproductive while the Africans were hauling gold and silver on their backs out of the mines.
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Comment #13 posted by museman on October 14, 2008 at 09:30:56 PT
The First Media Mogul
was William Randolph Hearst.The media has been under that control ever since.Who hired James Anslinger?As late as 1969, High Schools across the country were still showing 'reefer madness' as an 'education' film. Of course we all got a good laugh out of it, but our 'teachers' couldn't figure out why, because they believed in the god of amerika -which is money, and everything that money says is automaticly the truth. If necessary, history, and dictionaries can be altered to fit the belief system of profit for the rich, and service for everyone else.Look at who owns the media today -if you can wade through all the corporate sub-divisions. Any 'just plain folks' in that exclusive club? Whose interests are going to be of major concern? 'Little' people struggling with their lives? Not when a Paris Hilton is available for distraction.Media is over-rated, like money, politics, and religion. I get my news from Cnews, the FoM filter helps a lot to 'weed' out the totally useless info which is 90% of the media today.FREE HERBAL CONSCIOUSNESS FOR EVERYONE
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Comment #12 posted by Hope on October 14, 2008 at 09:11:41 PT
E_Johnson
You're making me see things from still another point of view.It's uncomfortable. I'm angry. I'll find a way to channel that anger to something that fights those who would see us as less than fully respected humans.
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Comment #11 posted by museman on October 14, 2008 at 09:10:45 PT
E_J -telling our own stories
Well, of course I agree, but I must point out that there are 'standards' in place that prevent just such a thing from occurring.I'll use myself as an example :-)Started when I was 18, that means nearly 40 years of experiences surrounding the use of cannabis, including both 'highs' and 'lows'. Firsthand knowledge of the benefits of cannabis, and the detriments of prohibition. Secondhand knowlege of much more.I can write. Have written. Told the tales. Unfortunately I don't have a bankroll to buy the necessary servants of the status quo to get noticed or 'published.' After almost 40 years of being an artist and musician, I am under no illusions as to who controls the show.The stories must be told, but to expect them to get anywhere close to mainstream production without becoming molded and modeled to fit the parameters of status-quo, politically correct, 'acceptability' or most importantly PROFITABILITY for the producers is just naive and silly -in my mind.The stories must be told in the living rooms, at social gatherings, and the like. Having expectations that the media is going to suddenly get real after the powers-that-be have it sewn into their pockets so thoroughly, isn't realistic.That doesn't mean we stop trying to move media focus in a better direction, or as we do here; challenge the assumptions of the predicated status quo ass-kissing of the media, but in this as in all other misplaced faith and belief, if we wait for the so-called 'champions' of freedom (journalism) to pull their noses out of the dark places, we might as well not even bother.The TV, newspapers, magazines, and mainstream 'published' books about 'our stories' are going to be so twisted and tainted -while belief is erroneously invested in the wrong things -like money and profit- that it doesn't even have decent entertainment value, let alone evidence any consciousness above monkeys.The thing is, the stories are being told. People are talking, they just aren't talking in full view of network TV and mainstream journalism. One thing I have noticed about the media. They swing and move entirely on what is percieved as the popular notions of the time. The only reasons that there are any mentions of 'our side of the story' at all, is because of the conversations we have had for years, finally trickling down into mainstream -and the mainstream is about 40 years behind the rest of us.Keep it up. Enjoy your posts.FREE SPLIFFS FOR EVERYONE
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Comment #10 posted by Hope on October 14, 2008 at 09:06:44 PT
My story...
I'm not "feckless"... as the prohibitionist "Colonialists" that want to run my life would like to think.I'm a hero. And so are all the other sons and daughters of liberty that stand with us.
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Comment #9 posted by Hope on October 14, 2008 at 09:00:44 PT
 EJ
I know you're right. I don't know what to say in response, so don't think I'm ignoring what you're saying. This is all I can think....  :0(
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Comment #8 posted by E_Johnson on October 14, 2008 at 08:33:24 PT
We need to tell our own stories
The movie Humboldt County tells our story through the eyes of a repressed medical student with a controlling father.This is such a recycled plot. The rich white person frolics with the lower classes and learns enough wisdom about life from their colorful yet dysfunctional and childlike ways to leave the lower classes behind and go back to live among his own rich white people successfully at last.So in this movie, the rich white guy who can't grow up frolics with the potheads, and then we know he is GROWING UP AT LAST when he refuses his next bong hit.And then at the end he has the nerve to look down at the colorful natives for not giving up their feckless, childlike ways to go back to the city with him and live in his rich white world.Meanwhile, the film tries to play an even hand about prohibition, showing the DEA as benign, calm, non-abusive people not arresting or killing anyone -- merely eradicating the weed that makes the natives all so feckless and childlike.It's the grower at the end who kills himself, after he almost shoots one of the innocent, businesslike, calm, adult, rational DEA agents who came down from the sky to take his weed.Ah -- the tragedy of being a feckless native! But it's a tragedy that helps the rich white kid grow up, so it's all okay.We need to start writing stories about ourselves instead of letting the colonial powers fit us into their same old stupid recycled plots that validate them and demean us.
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Comment #7 posted by Sam Adams on October 14, 2008 at 07:49:01 PT
More like Cuba every day
Pretty soon the government will run every aspect of our lives, micro-managing and controlling every purchase that we make, owning and running every business in our cities and towns. The government will decide who profits and who doesn't. What a great scheme! That's really worked well through history, hasn't it?btw EJ you're totally right about the colonial mentality. The US is still stuck it. If our only strength is consumption of goods, obviously we have to be exploited someone else to keep the economy running. We don't make anything anymore. We are just skimming the profits off the oppressed Chinese people and the scapegoats we've identified in our own country.
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Comment #6 posted by LaGuardia on October 14, 2008 at 06:05:29 PT
"Not-for-Profit"
I agree that the requiring these clubs to be not-for-profit is un-American but -- at least by the rules that the rest of the country gets to live by (I do not know all of the details about California's special rules for pot) -- not-for-profit status does not mean that you need to live in poverty. It is not the same as being a charity.Under IRS rules, the head of a tax-exempt, not-for-profit can be paid a salary of really any amount so long as at least three other similar organizations also pay their heads a similar salary. Under this logic, the President of the American Bankers Association -- which is a tax-exempt, not-for-profit (sick, I know) -- gets paid more than $800,000 a year (this is a matter of public record, see guidestar.org for copies of tax-exempt entities' Form 990s, in which they have to disclose this salary info).So, at least based on the IRS rules for tax-exempt not-for-profit entities, which should be more restrictive in theory than the California rules since dispensaries are not tax-exempt, you pay yourself a "salary" rather than take the "profits."  The main difference is that a salary has to be set in advance (but does not preclude a "bonus" if that is the way similar organizations are run) whereas, if you are for-profit, you take a profit (or loss) depending on how your year goes. If you are a not-for-profit and you make more than your salary and other expenses in a given year, you would generally be able to choose to either: (1) add the extra money to your "reserves" for future years; or (2), if you are a cooperative, issue a dividend to your members.The key difference about being a not-for-profit is that you would want to also have info on a at least three other dispensary managers' salaries in order to justify your own. Given the legal risk associated with this profession, I could see a salary on par with the head of the American Bankers Association (or higher) being permissible. But California might also be imposing additional restrictions that do not apply to the "straight" (as in "not on pot") part of the country.
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Comment #5 posted by Storm Crow on October 13, 2008 at 22:19:03 PT
Interesting, but not on the net! 
This is one that didn't make it to AP, CNN or even on the net! But I got the paper right in front of me, and I'm going to type up the beginning and then "snip" it well after the last mention of cannabis. I would post a URL, but there isn't one as far as I can find! Siskiyou Daily News
Published Friday, October 10, 2008 Vol. 148 No. 198Supervisor says county should grow and sell potBy Dale Andreasen
For the Daily News Yreka- Supervisor Jim Cook thinks Siskiyou County should be in the business of growing marijuana and selling it at pharmacies.	His comment was made at Tuesday's board of supervisors meeting during a discussion about raising health department fees for services to cover more of the costs incurred by the county.	Terry Barber presented a proposed ordinance that would amend the county code regarding fees for county-provided personal health services.	Along with raising fees for vaccines, tuberculosis skin testing and travel immunizations, the health department is proposing a fee for medical marijuana identification cards.	Barber proposed the fee to be $75, while Supervisor Michael Kobseff suggested charging $300 for the marijuana I.D. card. Barber's plan calls for Medi-Cal recipients to pay one-half of the fee.	That's when Cook made his statement about the county growing the controversial herb. 	"And, I've got a lot more to say about that subject," added Cook, although further comments were not forthcoming and he could not be reached by press time. 
TB skin testing would be charged at $20 under Barber's proposal, while state-supplied vaccines would be provided for an administrative fee at the maximum amount allowed by the state.	All non-state-supplied vaccines would be provided at a charge of $20 plus the county's cost of the vaccine. Travel immunizations for typhoid and yellow fever would be charged at $35 plus the county's cost of the vaccines. (Snipped) (because the rest is pretty dang boring!)I think this gentleman deserves a bit of praise and our hearty approval! You can find his email address here-http://www.co.siskiyou.ca.us/bos/bios/district1.htm
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Comment #4 posted by E_Johnson on October 13, 2008 at 21:38:46 PT
Or maybe it wasn't Showtime
I recorded it. I watched the whole thing and I thought, wow, of course, a young white man comes of age hanging with the feckless childlike natives, isn't that a total colonial narrative right there.They have their narratives. We see lots of them being recited here. In this article above we see the narrative where good people can make a profit from morphine but only evil people would dare make a profit from pot.
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Comment #3 posted by E_Johnson on October 13, 2008 at 21:27:42 PT
It's a story they're telling in their heads Hope
I saw this movie "Humboldt County" on Showtime, where this nerdy failed medical student falls asleep after sex and wakes up in Humboldt County into a family of pot farmers and hippies.The med student of course learns to shed his inhibitions and enjoy the sunlight on his face when he smokes his first joint, right.But after a DEA raid where magically nobody gets busted -- for no apparent reason -- the young marijuana grower gets killed. Either he commits suicide, or he dies because he smoked a joint while driving. They don't make it clear in the film.But I thought -- you know, they couldn't end the film with the guy still alive, because that would make the story partly about him and his future.The story can only end by making his future irrelevant -- by his own hand, more or less, shame on him -- so the med student can quit smoking pot yet thank the colorful natives of Humboldtlandia for making him a man, or whatever.Isn't that the typical colonial narrative? Young white man comes of age fooling around in paradise with the feckless natives, who are undone by their childish native fecklessness while the young white man goes back to the colonizer nation better for having lived among the colonized natives.That is a story they tell in their heads. It helps them understand how much better and wiser they are than us and how they do deserve in a way to treat us like we're their little brown colony.It's the same thing with the saga of the evil profit-hungry pot clubs.It's a narrative that makes them feel in control, even though there's about as much logic to it as that pot grower conveniently dying at the end of the movie so the story doesn't have to concern itself with his future at all.
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Comment #2 posted by Hope on October 13, 2008 at 21:10:39 PT
E_Johnson
I've wondered that same thing myself.
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Comment #1 posted by E_Johnson on October 13, 2008 at 20:15:29 PT
I have a question
Why is profit a good thing when it's morphine or Tylenol but suddenly evil when it's pot?
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