cannabisnews.com: A Drug Dealer's Toll on Americans










  A Drug Dealer's Toll on Americans

Posted by CN Staff on March 29, 2006 at 09:03:12 PT
By Karen P. Tandy 
Source: Washington Post 

Washington, DC -- Marc Emery, who distributed millions of marijuana seeds throughout the country, admits the accuracy of the Drug Enforcement Administration's charges against him, but he denies harming Americans ["High Crimes, or a Tokin' Figure?" Style, March 18].Like all dealers, Mr. Emery turns a blind eye to marijuana's victims -- people like Victoria Rogers, a mother driving with her children when she was killed by a marijuana-intoxicated motorist.
Marijuana feeds thousands of addictions -- so many that more teenagers enter treatment for marijuana dependency than for all other drugs combined. Thousands of adolescents whose brains are still developing also suffer from depression, memory impairment and diminished judgment because of marijuana. Users destroy their lungs because marijuana smoke contains 50 to 70 percent more cancer-causing chemicals than tobacco smoke.That Mr. Emery sees no consequences of his actions does not change the fact that they destroy innocent American lives and that he should and will face legal consequences as a result.Karen P. TandyAdministratorDrug Enforcement AdministrationArlingtonSource: Washington Post (DC)Author: Karen P. TandyPublished: Wednesday, March 29, 2006 - Page A18Copyright: 2006 The Washington Post CompanyContact: letters washpost.comWebsite: http://www.washingtonpost.com/Related Articles:High Crimes, or A Tokin' Figure?http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread21671.shtml   CBS: 60 Minutes Prince of Pot ~ Transcript http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread21645.shtmlPrince of Pot Fights Extradition on Drug Chargeshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread21224.shtml

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Comment #119 posted by user123 on April 02, 2006 at 12:10:44 PT:
Lungs
If users are suffering such severe lung damage, shouldn't the hospitals be full of long time smokers who started in the 1960's?? Where are all the news stories of old stoners filling our hospital beds? Some people assume if you can just get rid of one thing (marijuana, illegals, gays, etc) then all of society would be one happy wonderful place to live. What a load of BS.
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Comment #118 posted by whig on April 01, 2006 at 20:31:44 PT
Patrick
"Perhaps we could convice congress to pass a law against bullsheet and hopefully gain convictions on Tandy, Waters, and all the other dealers of bullsheet who waste my hard earned tax dollars pedaling bullsheet to both minors and adults alike? Wishful thinking on my part I know."Defamatory false statements can be actionable libel or slander in the United States. Statements which are malicious, knowingly false, or with reckless disregard for truth, may carry additional damages. The question of law would be, who is being defamed and has standing to sue?
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Comment #117 posted by jose melendez on April 01, 2006 at 19:56:23 PT
Patrick
There are laws in place, yet Congress and the Justice Department keep turning a blind eye to the truth. Whistleblowers keep coming out of the woodwork . . .http://www.justacitizen.com/
14th anniversary - PEN/Newman’s Own First Amendment Award
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Comment #116 posted by FoM on April 01, 2006 at 19:35:12 PT
Jose
What a terrible flashback. My how things are now since then.
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Comment #115 posted by Patrick on April 01, 2006 at 19:33:31 PT
Since GreenJoy asked...
17,419 persons were killed in alcohol-related crashes in 2002, 15,019 of which involved a driver or non-occupant with blood alcohol content of 0.08 or greater.(1)Taken from:
http://www.alcoholalert.com/drunk-driving-statistics-2002.htmlTandy isn't chasing car dealers, beer dealers, alcohol dealers, brake dealers, or gasoline dealers. Even though all have contributed to these annual deaths either directly or indirectly. Nope our esteemed DEA spokeshole touts one accident as the reason our country needs to seek the extadition of a foreigh national for being a seed dealer! This makes just a much sense to me as convicting Tommy Chong for being a glass dealer? Perhaps we could convice congress to pass a law against bullsheet and hopefully gain convictions on Tandy, Waters, and all the other dealers of bullsheet who waste my hard earned tax dollars pedaling bullsheet to both minors and adults alike? Wishful thinking on my part I know.
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Comment #114 posted by jose melendez on April 01, 2006 at 19:27:27 PT
magic bus
Groovy, FoM! - - -Another Whistleblowers Speaks Out:http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/02/washington/02missile.htmlnytimes.com user ID: cannabisnews / password: password
flash back
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Comment #113 posted by FoM on April 01, 2006 at 18:45:05 PT
One More Thing
I'm smiling. I'm sitting here listening to http://www.rustradio.orgRoel has been playing a live Greendale concert. It's really nice to hear the concert again.
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Comment #112 posted by FoM on April 01, 2006 at 18:40:34 PT
Jose
You're welcome. I like this one!http://www.tendertails.com/gratefuldead.jpg
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Comment #111 posted by jose melendez on April 01, 2006 at 18:32:45 PT
FoM
Thanks for the excellent chart on foods and neurotransmitters, it is a very excellent link that bears repeating:http://www.hbcprotocols.com/chart.html
Bears Repeating
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Comment #110 posted by jose melendez on April 01, 2006 at 18:26:18 PT
interactions arise
Choosehttp://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096412576 Freedomhttp://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12101999
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Comment #109 posted by FoM on April 01, 2006 at 18:19:15 PT
Jose
I don't know much about drug interaction but I do believe problems could arise. My husband and I don't take any prescription medicine. His doctor at the VA always says he is the healthiest person he sees in a day. His blood work comes back good. His liver is functioning fine. When the VA doctor told him to stop using herbal medicine we were trying to figure out why he had been so sick. We never figured it out but he hasn't had what I call a sick episode now in years. The feel-good neurotransmitters, their primary functions and how to enhance them.http://www.hbcprotocols.com/chart.html
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Comment #108 posted by jose melendez on April 01, 2006 at 17:59:45 PT
nature's prozac complicates big business' profits
RISK OF DRUG INTERACTIONS WITH ST JOHN’S WORT AND INDINAVIR AND OTHER DRUGShttp://www.fda.gov/cder/drug/advisory/stjwort.htm - - -"Overall, we found that patients taking either St. John's wort or placebo had similar rates of response according to scales commonly used for measuring depression," says Dr. Davidson. "And, although sertraline produced no greater effect than placebo on the primary measures, it fared better than placebo on the Clinical Global Impressions-Improvement scale and produced results consistent with its known benefits."http://nccam.nih.gov/news/2002/stjohnswort/pressrelease.htm - - -Material Safety Data Sheet - St. John's Wort Extract, 0.3% HypericinPowder MSDShttp://tinyurl.com/z7xl6  - - -Hyperforin exhibits two activities which may alter the action of other concurrent medications. It inhibits the activity of several CYP450 enzymes, with CYP2D6 being the most sensitive with an IC50 of about 10 µg/ml.1 Hyperforin is also a ligand for the steroid X receptor (SXR).2 Since one activity of this receptor is the induction of CYP450 expression, the exact nature of hyperforin's drug-drug interactions must be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. However, these interactions certainly complicate its use as a human therapeutic.http://tinyurl.com/hpe6m 
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Comment #107 posted by FoM on April 01, 2006 at 17:25:27 PT
Universer
I sure have noticed. The drug war is big business. 
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Comment #106 posted by FoM on April 01, 2006 at 15:59:17 PT
Whig
Oh I know you are right. I sure haven't made any money for them by using Prozac. St. John's Wort costs me around $11.00 for 100 capsules.
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Comment #105 posted by whig on April 01, 2006 at 15:44:50 PT
FoM
The pharmaceutical industry has to absolutely hate that things like capsaicin could work as well or better than their patented chemical toxic crap.
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Comment #104 posted by FoM on April 01, 2006 at 15:16:55 PT
Whig
I'm glad it's helping. That's a very interesting article too. My husband took Capsaicin capsules eveyday for quite a long time. His VA doctor told him to stop all herbs and he backed away from them. 
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Comment #103 posted by whig on April 01, 2006 at 14:50:29 PT
OT: Capsaicin
I got the capsaicin spray yesterday and have used it a few times. It definitely clears my sinuses to a good extent, though the effects on my headache will have to wait a few days. My eustachian tubes definitely clear up for a few hours when I use the spray.So even though this is still preliminary results and all, I think it's a promising start. I was hypothesizing that the benefit may be due to stimulating the body to release endogenous steroids, and was trying to search out some information about it, but in the meantime I came across this:http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-03/aafc-pch031306.php
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Comment #102 posted by jose melendez on April 01, 2006 at 14:42:01 PT
thanks whig
Although I cannot find the direct link ritght now, it may be of interest to note that at this same event Tashkin apparently produced images that proved the damage that is caused by the heated tars . . .from: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n1106/a09.htmlMarijuana smoking -"even heavy longterm use"- does not cause cancer of the lung, upper airways, or esophagus, Donald Tashkin reported at this year's meeting of the International Cannabinoid Research Society. Coming from Tashkin, this conclusion had extra significance for the assembled drug-company and university-based scientists ( most of whom get funding from the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse ). Over the years, Tashkin's lab at UCLA has produced irrefutable evidence of the damage that marijuana smoke wreaks on bronchial tissue. With NIDA's support, Tashkin and colleagues have identified the potent carcinogens in marijuana smoke, biopsied and made photomicrographs of pre-malignant cells, and studied the molecular changes occurring within them. It is Tashkin's research that the Drug Czar's office cites in ads linking marijuana to lung cancer. Tashkin himself has long believed in a causal relationship, despite a study in which Stephen Sidney examined the files of 64,000 Kaiser patients and found that marijuana users didn't develop lung cancer at a higher rate or die earlier than non-users. Of five smaller studies on the question, only two - -involving a total of about 300 patients-concluded that marijuana smoking causes lung cancer. Tashkin decided to settle the question by conducting a large, population-based, case-controlled study. "Our major hypothesis," he told the ICRS, "was that heavy, longterm use of marijuana will increase the risk of lung and upper-airways cancers."The Los Angeles County Cancer Surveillance program provided Tashkin's team with the names of 1,209 L.A. residents aged 59 or younger with cancer ( 611 lung, 403 oral/pharyngeal, 90 laryngeal, 108 esophageal ). Interviewers collected extensive lifetime histories of marijuana, tobacco, alcohol and other drug use, and data on diet, occupational exposures, family history of cancer, and various "socio-demographic factors." Exposure to marijuana was measured in joint years ( joints per day x years that number smoked ). Controls were found based on age, gender and neighborhood. Among them, 46% had never used marijuana, 31% had used for less than one joint year, 12% had used for 1-10 j-yrs, 5% had used 10-30 j-yrs, 2% had used for 30-60 j-yrs, and 3% had used for more than 60 j-yrs.Tashkin controlled for tobacco use and calculated the relative risk of marijuana use resulting in lung and upper airways cancers. A relative risk ratio of .72 means that for every 100 non-users who get lung cancer, only 72 people who smoke get lung cancer. All the odds ratios in Tashkin's study turned out to be less than one! Compared with subjects who had used less than one joint year, the estimated odds ratios for lung cancer were .78 for 1-10 j-yrs [according to the abstract book and .66 according to notes from the talk] .74 for 10-30 j-yrs; .85 for 30-60 j-yrs; and 0.81 for more than 60 j-yrs. The estimated odds ratios for oral/pharyngeal cancers were 0.92 for 1-10 j-yrs; 0.89 for 10-30 j-yrs; 0.81 for 30-60 j-yrs; and 1.0 for more than 60 j-yrs. "Similar, though less precise results were obtained for the other cancer sites," Tashkin reported. "We found absolutely no suggestion of a dose response."
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Comment #101 posted by whig on April 01, 2006 at 14:27:16 PT
#100
Yeah, I was about to correct you. :)"[A]ny smoke is harmful" -- this is tendentious and not to my knowledge proven with respect to cannabis smoke. This isn't to say we shouldn't consider it a possibility, and there are other reasons to prefer vaporization as well.
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Comment #100 posted by jose melendez on April 01, 2006 at 14:18:08 PT
truth hurts, don't it KT?
I see I made an error: pot smokers were shown to be slightly less at risk for lung cancer than NONSMOKERS:"The data on tobacco use, as expected, revealed "a very potent effect and a clear dose-response relationship -a 21-fold greater risk of developing lung cancer if you smoke more than two packs a day." Similarly high odds obtained for oral/pharyngeal cancer, laryngeal cancer and esophageal cancer. "So, in summary" Tashkin concluded, "we failed to observe a positive association of marijuana use and other potential confounders."There was time for only one question, said the moderator, and San Francisco oncologist Donald Abrams, M.D., was already at the microphone: "You don't see any positive correlation, but in at least one category, it almost looked like there was a negative correlation, i.e., a protective effect. Could you comment on that?" [Abrams was referring to Tashkin's lung-cancer data for marijuana-only smokers, 1-10 j-yrs.]"Yes," said Tashkin. "The odds ratios are less than one almost consistently, and in one category that relationship was significant, but I think that it would be difficult to extract from these data the conclusion that marijuana is protective against lung cancer. But that is not an unreasonable hypothesis." "
source
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Comment #99 posted by jose melendez on April 01, 2006 at 14:12:46 PT
Administrate THIS, DEA and FBI Ombudsmen!
KT: "Marc Emery, who distributed millions of marijuana seeds throughout the country, admits the accuracy of the Drug Enforcement Administration's charges against him, but he denies harming Americans ["High Crimes, or a Tokin' Figure?" Style, March 18]."1. Cannabis (Marihuana Hemp) indisputably exhibits neuroprotective, antimicrobial and anticarcinogenic properties, is only harmful to the body if smoked and may be eaten or vaporized and inhaled.KT: "Like all dealers, Mr. Emery turns a blind eye to marijuana's victims -- people like Victoria Rogers, a mother driving with her children when she was killed by a marijuana-intoxicated motorist."2. Pejorative aside, according to transcripts of a previous Karen Tandy speech, the "marijuana-intoxicated motorist" used as evidence of political activist Marc Emery's harm to Americans was also under the influence of cocaine and opiates. At least four studies have indicated that cannabis intoxication is far lower than any amount of alcohol, and experienced users showed slightly better performance than sober drivers.KT: "Marijuana feeds thousands of addictions -- so many that more teenagers enter treatment for marijuana dependency than for all other drugs combined."3. Court ordered sentencing has been shown to be the real reason teenagers enter treatment for marijuana dependency, most eventually quit using pot without such "treatment", certainly no such programs were needed to reduce teen tobacco abuse.KT: "Thousands of adolescents whose brains are still developing also suffer from depression, memory impairment and diminished judgment because of marijuana."4. Adolescents are regularly prescribed methamphetamines, anti-depressants and a plethora of other toxic, deadly and poisonous alternatives to cannabinoids, which have proven to stimulate brain cell growth and kill tumors via a process known as apoptosis."Users destroy their lungs because marijuana smoke contains 50 to 70 percent more cancer-causing chemicals than tobacco smoke."5. While any smoke is harmful, pot smokers were shown in a study to have slightly less risk for lung cancer than cigarette addicts. Never mind that the tobacco to pot death ratio is 435,000 to 0. Surely incarceration is far more deadly than any amount of cannabinoid infused smoke. Eat it, or vaporize, and inhale.KT: "That Mr. Emery sees no consequences of his actions does not change the fact that they destroy innocent American lives and that he should and will face legal consequences as a result."6. Lying under oath is perjury. War against Americans is treason per Article III, Section 3. The False Claims Act provides severe financial penalties and felony prison time for lying and collecting or disbursing federal funds. Restraint of commerce and trade or the creation of a monopoly is a violation of antitrust law. - - - During her confirmation hearings before the U.S. Senate, Karen Tandy lied about the safety and efficacy of marijuana, even claiming that "I am not personally familiar with the sources you cite discussing the putative 'medicinal benefits of marijuana.'"	Through such fraudulent means, she and her cohorts wage war and prey on hundreds of thousands of otherwise law abiding citizens to earn otherwise unlikely profits via their multi-billion dollar incarceration and pharmaceutical industries. Her Drug Enforcement Administration imports coca leaf while overseeing the spraying of deadly, toxic herbicides in Latin America, and guards the one marijuana farmer, Mahmoud ElSohly who is the sole person permitted to sell and distribute marijuana.That Karen Tandy uses such hysterical and intellectually dishonest methods even as she knowingly lines the pockets of profiteers is proof enough of her criminal acts against our own citizens and at least one rather outspoken political activist from Canada, Marc Emery. Just saying no is lying.some references1. "DEXANABINOL: A NEUROPROTECTIVE CANNABINOID"http://tinyurl.com/rn8xqSee also:"Neuroprotective and brain edema-reducing efficacy of the novel cannabinoid receptor agonist"http://tinyurl.com/ot7rtand: "Cannabidol and (-) -∆9 -tetrahydrocannabinol are neuroprotective . . . "http://www.uaf.edu/chem/451f00D/Cannabidiol.pptand: Health Aspects of CannabisLeo E. HollisterVeterans Administration Medical Center
and Stanford University School of Medicine,
Palo Alto, Californiahttp://web.archive.org/web/20020918001001/http://www.lycaeum.org/drugwar/marij4.htmland: Chemical ecology of Cannabis
David W. Pate
International Hemp Association, Postbus 75007,
1070 AA Amsterdam, The Netherlandshttp://mojo.calyx.net/~olsen/HEMP/IHA/iha01201.html2. http://www.dea.gov/speeches/s102604.html"Drug use causes tragic accidents on our roads, such as the one in Springfield, Ohio last February. One Saturday morning, a drugged driver—high on a virtual drug cocktail of marijuana, cocaine, and opiates—struck another car and killed a 31-year old mother, Victoria Rogers, who was driving with her two young daughters and a niece. Her two children suffered head and neck injuries. Her niece had severe face and head injuries that she continues to undergo reconstructive surgery to heal."-Karen P. Tandy
Administrator
Drug Enforcement Administration
Central Ohio Crime Stoppers Breakfast
Columbus, Ohio
October 26, 2004See also:Cannabis driving danger measured" . . . (R)eaction times to motorway hazards were not significantly affected.Trials previously completed under similar test conditions at the TRL have shown that alcohol and tiredness have a more adverse effect on driving ability.The results of the cannabis and driving study agree with similar research carried out in Australia, the US and Holland."http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/1068625.stmUniversity Of Toronto Study Shows Marijuana Not A Factor In Driving Accidentshttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1999/03/990325110700.htmand:Dose related risk of motor vehicle crashes after cannabis use."recent use of cannabis may increase crash risk, whereas past use of cannabis does not."also:Epidemic increases in cocaine and opiate use by trauma center patients: documentation with a large clinical toxicology database.http://tinyurl.com/p9x3f3. see:Court-Ordered Treatment for Drug Offenders is Much Better than Prison: Or Is It?by Stanton Peele, Ph.D., Esq.http://www.peele.net/lib/court.htmland:Hyper-Lying: Walters Takes War Propaganda to A New Level: "Marijuana is two-thirds of the addiction problem in America today.”"In 1994, 43 percent of teens "treated for substance abuse" were marijuana users. In 1999, 60 percent were. "Marijuana admissions" rose in many states, with the overall rate for teens and adults climbing from 69 per 100,000 people in 1994 to 103 per 100,000 in 1999. This mirrors the increase in marijuana arrests under Clinton, and the increase in employer urine testing, which is primarily aimed at cannabis users. Employees who fail urine tests are often required to get "treatment" in order to keep their jobs."http://marijuananews.com/news.php3?sid=491and:The Drug is Identified as Solely Responsible for Many Problems in the Culture, i.e., Crime, Violence, Insanity.http://drugpolicycentral.com/bot/pg/propaganda/theme2.htm#24. Meth dollars battle threat"Crystal meth is a highly addictive synthetic stimulant that can be produced by combining several commercially available products. First synthesized in 1919, the drug helped U.S. Air Force pilots remain awake during bombing missions in the Second World War and is now prescribed under the name Desoxyn to children with attention deficit disorder."See also: Meth incidents jump in state"Known by such names as crank, crystal, ice and tweak, meth is a more potent version of the drug amphetamine, developed by the Japanese in 1919. It was once a common prescription drug in the United States called Methedrine and is still prescribed for attention deficit disorder and weight loss under the name Desoxyn."http://pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/trib/regional/s_427985.htmland: Seizure Induced by Insufflation of Bupropionhttp://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/extract/347/12/951also:Teen Suffers Seizure After Snorting Antidepressanthttp://www.healthyplace.com/communities/Depression/treatment/antidepressants/articles/003.aspEspecially: Debate Resumes on the Safety
of Depression's Wonder Drugs"Warnings by drug regulators about the safety of Paxil, one of the world's most prescribed antidepressants, are reopening seemingly settled questions about a whole class of drugs that also includes Prozac and Zoloft.Doctors are just beginning to react to the finding - reported first by British drug authorities in June and then endorsed the next week by the Food and Drug Administration - that unpublished studies about Paxil show that it carries a substantial risk of prompting teenagers and children to consider suicide.Because the studies also found that Paxil was no more effective than a placebo in treating young people's depression, the regulators recommended that doctors write no new Paxil prescriptions for patients under 18. Experts say that the suicide risk is highest in the first few weeks young patients are on the drug.The concern that Paxil and drugs like it could cause suicide had been weighed, and rejected, by regulators a dozen years ago, amid early concerns about the group of antidepressants known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or S.S.R.I.'s. In the meantime, millions of people have taken the drugs, and many experts say that they have prevented far more suicides by teenagers and children than any reading of the new findings suggests they could have caused.Almost no one suggests that Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil and their cousins are not safe for the vast majority of adults, although studies have shown them to be only modestly effective.Still, the warnings have the early critics saying they feel vindicated. Plaintiffs' lawyers who have uncovered evidence that they say shows drug makers withheld evidence of the S.S.R.I.'s suicide risk from regulators say the warnings give fresh urgency to their claims.And the findings have unsettled some of the very experts who absolved S.S.R.I.'s of a link to suicide a dozen years ago. Of the 10 American specialists who, as members of an ad hoc F.D.A. panel, formally cleared the drugs of a link to suicide in 1991, seven now say that the new information would prompt them to reconsider that decision, if they were asked."In 1991, we said there wasn't sufficient evidence to support a link between these drugs and suicide," said Dr. Jeffrey A. Lieberman, a professor of psychiatry and pharmacology at the University of North Carolina and a member of the panel. "Now there is evidence, at least in children, and I wouldn't rule out that it's in adults, too." . . .So far, there is little evidence that the warnings have affected doctors' prescribing practices. Teenagers and children account for about 5 percent of S.S.R.I. prescriptions, and companies that track the industry have detected no falloff in sales."and: ANTIDEPRESSANTS POTENTIALLY MISUSED IN TREATING ADOLESCENTS, STANFORD STUDY FINDS"researchers discovered a more than twofold increase in the number of visits associated with adolescent depression during those seven years, going from 1.4 million visits in 1995 to 3.2 million in 2002. “This change is a potential positive because depression historically has been underdiagnosed in children and adolescents,” . . .But the study also showed that the use of psychotherapy dropped from 83 percent of the visits in 1995 to 68 percent in 2002. Meanwhile, the use of medications rose from 47 percent in 1995 to 52 percent in 2002."http://tinyurl.com/qzsby5. Column: Marijuana Smoking Does Not Cause Lung Cancerhttp://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n1106/a09.html?275821and: Treatment and marijuana usescroll to footnotes in post by "Ultrouvaille"http://www.cancerforums.net/about3153.htmland: Marijuana Use is not Associated With Head, Neck or Lung Cancer in Adults Younger Than 55 Years: Results of a Case Cohort Studyhttp://www.nida.nih.gov/MeetSum/marijuanaabstracts.html6. from: President Bush Appoints Drug Warriors To High Administration Positions"Here are a few of Karen Tandy:s responses to questions submitted by Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL), as compiled by the Marijuana Policy Project:"On marijuana's medicinal benefits:"'The active ingredient in marijuana, THC, has been accepted as having medicinal value when processed into Marinol. Marijuana itself, however, has not been shown to have medicinal benefits; accordingly, I have no basis for believing that marijuana, and specifically smoking marijuana, has any such benefits.'"On two authoritative government reports re marijuana's medical benefits:*"*These are the 1999 Institute of Medicine report "Marijuana and Medicine: Assessing the Science Base," commissioned by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, and the 1988 ruling of the DEA's chief administrative law judge, Francis L. Young, both of which conclude that marijuana has medicinal benefits and should be made available to patients who can benefit from it."'I am not personally familiar with the sources you cite discussing the putative 'medicinal benefits of marijuana.''"On enforcing federal laws against state-approved medical marijuana providers:"'DEA's priorities should reflect the need to encourage adherance [sic] to the law. ... (I)t is not improper for the government to prosecute individuals who make a point of disobeying the law, and encouraging others to disobey it, even if the disobedience is said to be for reasons of conscience.'"On DEA raids on state-approved medical marijuana patients and providers:"'If I am confirmed as Administrator of the DEA, it will be my duty to see to the uniform enforcement of federal law. I do not believe it would be consistent with that duty for me to support a moratorium on enforcement of this law, or any law, in selected areas of the country.'"http://www.csdp.org/news/news/warcabinet.htm and: http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/16/thread16876.shtml
Drug war is crime. We have proof . . .
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Comment #98 posted by afterburner on March 31, 2006 at 23:48:05 PT
Interesting Developments
US CA: Column: Mikuriya To CSAM: 'I Quit!'URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06/n388/a04.htmlPubdate: Wed, 29 Mar 2006Source: Anderson Valley Advertiser (CA)
 &&&US NC: PUB LTE: Marijuana May Be a Blockade, Not a GatewayURL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06/n394/a03.htmlPubdate: Wed, 29 Mar 2006Source: Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)
 
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Comment #97 posted by Universer on March 31, 2006 at 21:53:11 PT:
Anyone else notice...?
Anyone else notice that they're not smuggling massive quantities of tobacco or alcohol across the border, making organized criminals and terrorists richer from the black-market sale of those harmful substances? Funny how that works.
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Comment #96 posted by FoM on March 31, 2006 at 20:33:08 PT
Partial Transcript: Lou Dobbs - Marc Emery
March 31, 2006DOBBS: Mexican President Vicente Fox announced here in Cancun that his government will extradite 24 Mexican drug traffickers to the United States. Fox says the first dozen drug traffickers will be turned over to U.S. authorities within the next few weeks. Late last year, the Mexican supreme court overturned its ban on the extradition of Mexican citizen criminals to the United States who face life in prison. And as Mexico fails to control drug violence in Mexican border towns such as Nuevo Laredo, Mexico's attorney general is attacking the U.S. efforts to fight illegal drugs.The Mexican attorney general saying it is now the duty of the United States to do more to fight illegal drugs. He says his nation's efforts to fight illegal drugs is far superior to American efforts. Drug trafficking is, of course, a problem on the Canadian border as well. Whether by car, truck, or tunnel, Americans are getting more than cheap prescription drugs from Canada. Katharine Barrett reports now from the U.S.-Canadian border in Lynden, Washington. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)KATHARINE BARRETT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It's a homegrown Canadian marketing success, a stubborn problem for law enforcement. BC bud marijuana, as it's known, from the province of British Columbia is highly potent, highly priced and prized by smugglers. It and other drugs are coming in to this country at an alarming pace. In 2005, U.S. Border and Customs officials made hundreds of drug seizures along the northern border -- 68,000 thousand pounds of marijuana, 1,600 pounds of cocaine, more than 1,700 pounds of ecstasy. All together, more tonnage than a humpback whale. Border Control has beefed up since 2001. Smugglers have just amped up their efforts. INSPECTOR PAUL NADEAU, ROYAL CANADIAN MOUNTED POLICE: We hear everything from commercial transport vehicles, private vehicles, people, you know, in the middle of the night with backpacks running this stuff across the border, helicopters flying across just across the line dropping hockey bags full of marijuana and coming back into Canada again. You know, where there's a will, there's a way. And what's happening over time is, some of these organizations are so much money, the sky's the limit. BARRETT: Literally. Traffickers fly over the border, landing in the vast wilds of the 4,000-mile frontier. And not exactly NAFTA's design, but free trade, nonetheless. Cocaine from Mexico is often ferried north then bartered for Canadian marijuana. Last year brought some high-profile crackdowns. The revelation of this smugglers' tunnel just yards from a border crossing in western Washington, and the arrest and pending extradition of Canada's so- called prince of pot, mail order seed seller Mark Emory (ph). GREGORY GASSETT, SEATTLE DEA: His yearly impact on this country with marijuana growth was about 100,000 pounds of marijuana per year based on his seed sales. One person. (END VIDEOTAPE)BARRETT: There's fresh asphalt on the road behind me covering up the first known smuggler's tunnel on the Canadian border. The tunnel has now been dug up and filled in, but it does raise deeper concerns. If drug traffickers have this much money, determination and known connections to organized crime, those connections could easily be exploited by terrorists -- Lou. Complete Transcript: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0603/31/ldt.01.html
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Comment #95 posted by FoM on March 31, 2006 at 20:24:30 PT
Oh No Whig
Not Marc and Lou smoking a bowl. It might help Lou out a little now and then though. Lou didn't sound really angry when he mentioned Marc. Lou was talking about Marc and they showed Marc lighting up a bowl in the street or outside somewhere with people around like he has done many times.
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Comment #94 posted by whig on March 31, 2006 at 20:20:39 PT
FoM
"There was more to the piece then Marc and him smoking a bowl."Marc and Lou smoking a bowl? Surely that's not what you meant, but it sure would be nice to see.I wonder if the video is available somewhere to download.
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Comment #93 posted by FoM on March 31, 2006 at 20:01:07 PT
whig 
I saw that on Jon Stewart Show last night. It was good.There was more to the piece then Marc and him smoking a bowl. Lou did label him important in the canadian marijuana movement and is facing prosecution here in the states. They said and showed big like bales of mexican cocaine that is traded for BC Bud. Vincente Fox agreed to let the U.S. have the drug smugglers to prosecute. Bush called them drug thugs. They showed lots of BC Bud and talked about the different ways it is smuggled into the U.S. 
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Comment #92 posted by whig on March 31, 2006 at 19:50:08 PT
g_w
Sadly, people just trying to help people. Nothing to see.
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Comment #91 posted by whig on March 31, 2006 at 19:46:10 PT
Lou Dobbs
I would think with Lou Dobbs' anti-immigration stance he would be opposed to Marc Emery entering the United States.And I'm sure Marc Emery would be just fine with that. :)I missed the segment, but Jon Stewart had a great bit of fun with Lou last night.
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Comment #90 posted by global_warming on March 31, 2006 at 15:41:18 PT
re:85
Hi WhiggerWas curious, just what is over the line?Maybe it has to do with 'the demographics of culture?From what I gather, it seems that post would not be considered "over the line" in that region, yet in other places, some might find enough 'information to target and persecute the named individuals.Sometimes I wonder, how many people feel the same way that most of here in that cyberworld, its like that story about that person who so wanted to wear a shirt with a cannabis leaf printed on the front, yet he felt it was not the right time to do this.I once knew a man, from Poland, he jumped ship while in an American port, he told me that Russian Communism was like a house of cards, ready to fall at the slightest wind of change.I have to wonder, about the house of cards I live in, this cannibalistic frenzy on people who use cannabis, there are places in this good old US of A, where alcohol is not sold, they call these places 'dry counties, yet, how many of these people, drive across the border, to another county, to purchase alcohol?If the people of this US of A, ever figured it out, not only would Cannabis be Free, but also the yolk of oppressive taxes, and the height of bureaucratic modernism, would fall to reason and good common sense.Oh, well, have to get up early, to get to the salt mine', you know what they say' idle hands are the 'devils work..
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Comment #89 posted by FoM on March 31, 2006 at 15:13:32 PT
Marc Emery
On CNN's Lou Dobbs Program they just showed Marc smoking a bowl and they talked about his arrest. Also Vincente Fox agreed to extradite drug smugglers from Mexico.
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Comment #88 posted by FoM on March 31, 2006 at 14:24:42 PT
Max Flowers
All done.
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Comment #87 posted by Max Flowers on March 31, 2006 at 14:20:23 PT

Go ahead, FoM
Sorry, I do sometimes speak (write) a little too freely, because we here in "medical cannabis country" are pretty open. But I don't want anyone uncomfortable, and your point is probably good about what could be seen by paranoid, psychotic drug warriors as facilitating unauthorized healing and compassion. Delete away. Thanks and sorry whig, I'll try to watch that.
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Comment #86 posted by FoM on March 31, 2006 at 13:29:19 PT

whig
I know Max is a real outspoken Californian. It doesn't worry me because it really is the way it is out there. Maybe someday we will see liberty everywhere.
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Comment #85 posted by whig on March 31, 2006 at 13:25:07 PT

FoM
It's not an offensive post, but I'm concerned about that kind of thing getting CNews in trouble. It might not be over the line but it seems to tread pretty close.Which isn't to say I don't appreciate it, Max. I do. :)
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Comment #84 posted by FoM on March 31, 2006 at 13:21:05 PT

whig
We had to go into our lawyer's office and I didn't see your comment until now. I don't want to delete Max's post unless he knows because then he might get upset with me. I hope that's ok. Can we wait until he says ok?
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Comment #83 posted by whig on March 31, 2006 at 10:51:41 PT

Max
Too much information.FoM, please delete Comment #80.
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Comment #82 posted by unkat27 on March 31, 2006 at 10:48:54 PT

This article is reeking so bad my eyes are waterin
I have only one thing to say about this article:B_LL$$$HHH____TTTTTTTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Comment #81 posted by E_Johnson on March 31, 2006 at 10:17:17 PT

Speaking of cell phones
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060331/sc_nm/phones_dc_3STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - The use of mobile phones over a long period of time can raise the risk for brain tumors, a new Swedish study said on Friday, contradicting the conclusions of other researchers.The Dutch Health Council, in an overview of research from around the world, last year found no evidence radiation from mobile phones and TV towers was harmful. A four-year British survey released in January showed no link between regular, long-term use of cell phones and the most common type of tumor.However, researchers at the Swedish National Institute for Working Life said they looked at the mobile phone use of 905 people between the age of 20 and 80 who had been diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor and found a link."A total 85 of these 905 cases were so-called high users of mobile phones, that is they began early to use mobile and, or wireless telephones and used them a lot," the study said.
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Comment #79 posted by Toker00 on March 31, 2006 at 09:34:54 PT

Well,
Every letter I've written to the Editor has been followed up with a phone call to verify I am who and where I say I am. I have never been harrassed here by the cops or anyone else. But, follow your heart. Don't give 'em what you don't want them to have. But, they already have it anyway, with the Patriot Act.Wage peace on war. END CANNABIS PROHIBITION NOW!
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Comment #78 posted by FoM on March 31, 2006 at 09:20:52 PT

Universer 
I know what you are saying. I have never written to a newspaper for that very reason. 
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Comment #77 posted by Universer on March 31, 2006 at 08:48:22 PT:

O What To Do?
Do I dare disturb the Universe? Do I dare to eat a peach? Do I dare to re-send my submission with the required full name and address, in the probably vain hope that it would be published?Indeed, why the bloody hell do they want that information anyway? They're certainly not going to publish it. For the Gestapo, perhaps?Here's the auto-reply from the Post.-------------------------------PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO THIS E-MAILThis is an automatic reply to let you know that we have received your letter and that we will be in touch, usually within about 10 days, if we are considering your letter for publication.Letters must be exclusive to The Washington Post. They should be no longer than about 200 words, and they must include your home address and day and evening telephone numbers. Please do not send attachments.Letters are subject to editing for reasons of space and style. Although we are unable to acknowledge those letters we cannot publish, we appreciate and value the views of those who take the time to send us their comments.Thank you,
The Washington Post
Editorial Department
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Comment #76 posted by jose melendez on March 31, 2006 at 05:24:32 PT

truth before reconciliation
False Claims:Houston Chronicle; August 2, 2003In written answers to the Senate Judiciary Committee in June, Tandy, 49, defended DEA raids against marijuana providers, and said the drug "has not been shown to have medical benefits."http://www.mpp.org/USA/news_4727.htmlsee also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perjuryand: http://www.taf.org/Karen TandyBirth date: Oct. 24, 1953, Tarrant CountyEducation: L.D. Bell High School, Hurst, 1971; Texas Tech University,
bachelor of science in education, 1974; Texas Tech School of Law, law
degree, 1977Career: Judicial clerk, Lubbock, 1978; 1978-present, various positions in
U.S. Justice Department; current position, associate deputy-attorney
general and director of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forceshttp://tinyurl.com/p36ms Karen Tandy
Administrator, Drug Enforcement Agency
202-307-7977According to Tom Riley, the spokesman at the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, Tandy "doesn't see drugs as an abstract issue, but as a real problem. She is clear every time she talks about it." As a parent and as a professional, Tandy has an ability to connect "law enforcement effectively to citizens' real concerns about drugs," Riley added. Tandy oversees the work of drug enforcement special agents in the United States and abroad. Her focus is trying to dismantle the financial infrastructure that fuels the drug trade. Before becoming DEA administrator in 2003, Tandy, 51, was associate deputy attorney general and director of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces. She has also held several positions in the DOJ Criminal Division.http://tinyurl.com/o7xqr

Know Thyself KT: Drug war is crime. We have proof.
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Comment #75 posted by jose melendez on March 31, 2006 at 05:00:48 PT

prohibitionists are crooks
Charge them:Notes From The Haguehttp://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06/n389/a10.html The Silver Lining in Turmel? Possession May Be LAWFUL in Canadahttp://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06/n389/a01.html
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Comment #74 posted by E_Johnson on March 30, 2006 at 20:58:08 PT

About Karen Tandy
I haven't found definitive proof either. Honestly, the first place I read that she was from the Radio Shack Tandies was HERE, when she was first appointed. Someone in a discussion about Tandy Computers said the same thing. The Tandy family started their company in Ft. Worth. Karen Tandy's bio at the DEA says she is a native of Ft. Worth. 
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Comment #73 posted by Universer on March 30, 2006 at 19:40:39 PT:

Kaptinemo
Many thanks. Actually, like ATruePatriot, I'm often a reader, rarely a poster. But this...this was just too easy. I had to take a moment from researching mutual funds to snap off something to the Post. I hope that many of us did the same. The Washington Post is, of course, very very widely read. To have that sort of propagandistic trash promulgated thusly cannot be abided without a substantial counterargument.Living so near to D.C. -- Fairfax County, in fact, like ATruePatriot -- for the totality of my earthly existence, I find myself in envy of those in the West, or in Canada, or in certain countries of Western Europe, whose access to their chosen vice is likely with much greater facility than my access to same.But nonetheless the fight is all of ours, from the weekend toker to the unfortunate sufferer, from the Bible Belt to the Left Coast to the Northeastern Megalopolis, and beyond. All we need to do, as we all already know, is to stick resolutely to Truth and Freedom, letting those be our instruments of propaganda. The Karen Tandies of the world are simply not sustainable.
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Comment #72 posted by John Tyler on March 30, 2006 at 19:21:40 PT

more new voices
Hey True Patriot and Universer great writing. It’s good to read your comments. 
E_Johnson I have missed your insightful comments. Glad you are back.
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Comment #71 posted by global_warming on March 30, 2006 at 16:21:41 PT

re:because I have a conscience
because I have a conscience and thus I create my own heaven or hell.""I choose to end this 'Hell for human beings that use Cannabis.
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Comment #70 posted by kaptinemo on March 30, 2006 at 16:15:35 PT:

Welcome to A_T_P and Universer
And may you two post many more incisive comments. More voices 'speaking Truth to Power', for the opposition is indeed 'hearing' them. It's a wonder their eyes don't bleed from reading here, the commentary is often that sharp. 
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Comment #69 posted by whig on March 30, 2006 at 16:11:25 PT

g_w
"Can 'you be sure, that your hand has cast the correct vote, can you be sure that someone will 'forgive you?"It's actually an interesting and good question, but I resolved that to do what I know to be right is its own reward, and to do what I know to be wrong is its own punishment, because I have a conscience and thus I create my own heaven or hell.What happens later, happens later.
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Comment #68 posted by global_warming on March 30, 2006 at 16:01:53 PT

the number 
of 'your days,remain in the bosom of uncertainty,some call that 'mystery God,can you hold your hard hand upin this universe,Can 'you be sure,that your hand has cast the correct vote,can you be sure that someone will 'forgive you?
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Comment #67 posted by global_warming on March 30, 2006 at 15:48:56 PT

You Waiting
For a Judge,You waiting for 'emancipation,Have you the "money to "buy,Peace and Understanding, I salute, the fallen,I salute the warriors,In this place and time,I pass, through,The fields are empty and barren,Some hollow testament That cannot come to the table,Where clean linen invites,
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Comment #66 posted by whig on March 30, 2006 at 15:45:01 PT

Celaya
Wow. So many people posting now. So much truth.We are One.Anything is Possible.Its all Good.Everybody's Different.
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Comment #65 posted by whig on March 30, 2006 at 15:42:43 PT

A True Patriot
Beautiful, and Amen.
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Comment #64 posted by global_warming on March 30, 2006 at 15:13:57 PT

Imagine
That bitter fruit, that is so human,While lawyers and judges,Take Cannabis, into their 'gateways,They preside over you and me,In hastily formed trials,That proclaim who must enter a "cageImagine, some rotten footed,Ill tempered youth,Holding that 'hammer,Whose roots, have been watered by temptation and lust,

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Comment #63 posted by A_True_Patriot on March 30, 2006 at 15:07:54 PT:

Thanks
For the kind replies. I have just modified my post into a letter and forwarded it to the editor of the Post. Celaya - Thanks for the link. I have heard about the Rainbow Family quite a bit but have never gone to a gathering. It is something I am interested in.Toker00 - I have enjoyed your posts for some time now, thanks for the compliment.
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Comment #62 posted by Celaya on March 30, 2006 at 14:35:18 PT

True Patriot
"We, the Cannabis people, do not want to harm anyone. In fact, we want to help other people so much that we can feel it."One of the world's great ironies - that we, who hold peace and love as our highest ideals should be the object of such a vile persecution. Makes you wonder about the human race.For a good charge of your spiritual batteries, visit these folks - there is probably a local gathering near you.
The Rainbow Family
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Comment #61 posted by global_warming on March 30, 2006 at 14:32:45 PT

I second that Amen
True Patriot,..

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Comment #60 posted by Toker00 on March 30, 2006 at 14:26:45 PT

A True Patriot, indeed.
Thank you brother for your heart felt testimony. You have mirrored many million of cannabists thoughts and beliefs with this post. Excellent, my friend. Excellent.Wage peace on war. END CANNABIS PROHIBITION NOW!
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Comment #59 posted by Celaya on March 30, 2006 at 14:22:53 PT

E Johnson
Do you have any verification of Karen Tandy being a Radio Shack heir? I've been looking quite a bit and haven't found any. I did find out her husband, Steve Pomerantz, was Director of the FBI's Counter Terrorism division.Seems a lovely family bent on being at the top of the Police State hierarchy.
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Comment #58 posted by A_True_Patriot on March 30, 2006 at 13:49:13 PT:

I represent the D.A.R.E. generation.
Hello to all the good, noble people at Cannabis News. I have been an avid reader of this wonderful site for about two years now, and up until this point, preferred to remain a reader. That is, until I read this pathetic rebuttal of the beautifully articulated thoughts of the honorable Marc Emery. As a citizen of this country, I am so upset with my government that I barely know how to communicate these angers and concerns, or where to start. It is just shocking to me that:A HIGHLY POSITIONED GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL WILL TELL BLATANT LIES AND HALF-TRUTHS TO A MAJOR MEDIA OUTLET SUCH AS THE WASHINGTON POST.This is insanity.I am originally from Fairfax County, VA, not far from where Ms. Tandy sits in her office perpetuating this horrible war against humanity, and collects her paychecks funded with our own tax dollars. It feels entirely surreal that something so wrong has been and is being carried out so close to my home.HER ROLE IN THE D.E.A. SHOULD BE THAT OF A PUBLIC SERVANT, NOTHING MORE, NOTHING LESS.The D.E.A. is placing commercial and social interests above the welfare of this nation's citizens when it comes to their war on pot. Ms. Tandy could be a person with good intentions that simply got tangled in the bureaucratic thinking, policy, and methodology that is so common in my beloved city of Washington. It is not my place to judge a persons character, especially someone I do not know personally. I also do not advocate things like violent revolutions. But instead believe there has to be a way to get these government officials to listen to reason supported by loads of anecdotal, empirical, and clinical evidence, and reclassify Cannabis. Being raised in the DC area, I was exposed to their propaganda likely to a much greater magnitude than, say, a child in California. Up until a few years ago when I entered college, I truly believed the lies told to me by my government, and believed Cannabis to be as harmful as they claim. This ignorance and naivety is common among my generation, which has been fed "this is your brain on drugs" commercials throughout our lives.Over the course of a year and a half in college, doctors had me on various anti-depressants, anxiety meds, adderall (amphetamines - a more intense, cleaner, and longer lasting high than methamphetamine and cocaine, but it is schedule III), all because I was initially depressed from a bad breakup… Doc said I had a condition and needed Zoloft. I was abusing alcohol to the point I considered myself a binge drinking alcoholic as well. It started out as getting wasted with friends for fun, and changed into cycles of depression of drinking. I had also been a slave to nicotine from 16-20, and quitting that was one of the hardest things I have had to accomplish. I was a wreck. Part of the imbalance could have been my age and position in life at the time, but I contribute most of it to the FDA-approved serotoninergic drugs that were given to me as casually as a piece of gum, and would have me feeling emotions ranging from euphoria to suicidal impulses. These emotions/moods were extremely fluid and would often times go back and forth many times throughout the day. Then came Cannabis.Smoking weed wasn't like the other drugs. It felt good at times yes, but it made me aware and made me think. Instead of numbing my mind, it made me look my problems and afflictions directly in the face. Cannabis has saved my life as far as I am concerned. I was on a path of self destruction, frighteningly close to suicide, a miserable existence to say the least. I have since abstained from all pharmaceuticals, rarely drink and when I do it is light and social, and I AM HAPPY.I also lift weights and run 2-3 miles several times a week, something I never did before. I am in the best mental and physical shape of my life. Cannabis has made me see the good in the world and other people. Sometimes I feel so much joy and see so much beauty I don't know how to react. The only tears I shed anymore are tears of joy or compassion for others. I no longer want to die, I want to embrace life and leave a positive effect on as many people as I can. Which I am still figuring out exactly how to go about, but the intention is there nonetheless.It is sooooo wrong that Americans are criminalized for this. Especially when the FDA approved drugs are poisoning people, killing them, and making them suicidal. Alcohol makes people violent with totally no judgment, makes men force themselves on women, and is the cause of many deaths on the highways and domestic disturbances. Yet it remains legal. Tobacco turns people into nicotine junkies then kills them, but remains legal. My grandfather was an alcoholic who eventually died of lung cancer brought about by tobacco use. Had weed been legal, he might have been a pothead that would still be alive, toking, and smiling, rather than leading the short and miserable life of a tobacco using alcoholic.Humans have a right to this earth, and Cannabis is of the earth. What the government is doing is morally reprehensible and a violation of the United States Constitution, and they know it. Non Cannabis people may never understand us or like us, but we should not be imprisoned regardless.We, the Cannabis people, do not want to harm anyone. In fact, we want to help other people so much that we can feel it.Yet they want to hurt us.One of my gifts is my ability to write, and I feel I must do something. This absurdity must stop. I just want my medicine, I want other people to have their medicine, and I want us all to exist in peace.

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Comment #57 posted by Universer on March 30, 2006 at 13:21:47 PT:

Whig
Thanky kindly. Actually, the PS wasn't part of the LTE -- although perhaps it should have been. Regardless, I'm just a poor lonely waif looking (yet again) for a hook-up in a red state. I long for the day when I can flash my ID at a smiling associate, who will then reach behind the counter to supply me with my legally purchased pack of pot. Sigh.By the way, my bad on the bad grammar: "...to which myself and Mr. Emory and countless millions are starkly against..." has two prepositions. Dang. I must be drunk. I'm quite the fastidious grammarian when I'm stoned...which I'm not...because I'm all out.Hey, everybody, send those letters to the Post at letters washpost.com! This is a straight fastball down the middle. Swing away.
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Comment #56 posted by whig on March 30, 2006 at 12:33:11 PT

Universer
That was a great letter, I only wish I thought they'd publish something by an admitted pot smoker. It was extremely well written and funny. The PS gave me an extra chuckle, too.
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Comment #55 posted by Universer on March 30, 2006 at 12:15:34 PT:

How's this?
Just sent to letters washpost.com. Probably not going to be published, but I hope it gets read by someone over there. (Maybe I should have said that I was with the DEA -- that would virtually ensure publication.)Dear Editor,I smoke pot. Not every day, but certainly most weekends. I also have a healthy, active social existence to accompany my equally healthy occupation in the financial services industry. Further, I know of a substantial multitude of individuals with situations similar to my own, who make similar choices as to their responsible, moderate usage of cannabis.Karen P. Tandy's letter of 29 March tells me that my choices are harmful, to myself and to others. I resolutely question this assertion. Indubitably you, dear Editor, have received several notes with specific responses to Ms. Tandy's errata regarding cannabis' capacity to physically addict its users, to cannabis' "destruction" of "innocent American lives," to its supposed proclivity to contain carcinogenic material. All of this is easily disputable, so I will not bother you with that minutiae.There are very few anti-prohibitionists who would argue that adolescents should be permitted the free usage of cannabis, or that one should endanger themselves and others by driving a vehicle soon after having consumed cannabis -- though there is the omnipresent question of why alcohol is so easily available whilst being directly responsible for so many vehicular tragedies, but I digress. Again, responsibility is paramount. But the prohibition of cannabis, to which myself and Mr. Emory and countless millions are starkly against, is a method to ensure that cannabis cannot be controlled or regulated, and ensures that people like me continue to be, technically speaking, criminals, and people like Mr. Emory, ostensibly a free-market entrepreneur, are viewed as "drug dealers."Ms. Tandy's job with the DEA is dependent upon having drugs be illegal, so her rhetoric, while tiringly refutable, is understandable. But Ms. Tandy would do well to recognize that present reality is not in her favor, and that draconian prohibition is wasteful, unpopular, and ultimately self-defeating. Mr. Emory is rightfully praised and admired by a great many for his articulate stance in favor of common sense and personal freedom.Jason R
Northern Virginia----------------------P.S. Unfortunately at the moment I'm all out, and Northern Virginia seems to me to have turned into one of the absolute most difficult places to find and maintain a connection. Virginia Beach -- all over the place. But here, close to D.C., I might as well be asking to find a senator who doesn't take bribes. C'est la vie.
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Comment #54 posted by observer on March 30, 2006 at 12:07:36 PT

Karen Tandy -- Tandy Corporation =
Karen Tandy -- Tandy Corporation --- Radio Shack...Ever notice how persistent Radio Shack was to get your personal info when you bought stuff there? Da. Of course, it was merely for to send you catalogs... http://www.google.com/search?q=%22Karen+Tandy%22+%22Tandy+Corporation%22Fascinating, Captain. 
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Comment #53 posted by Dankhank on March 30, 2006 at 10:48:01 PT

hello
high EJ,good to see you still feisty ...
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Comment #52 posted by FoM on March 30, 2006 at 09:55:09 PT

 E_Johnson
It is good to know you are ok. Fight the good fight everywhere I say.
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Comment #51 posted by E_Johnson on March 30, 2006 at 09:51:50 PT

Hi FoM and everyone
I was off fighting the good fight on another forum.I couldn't resist this Tandy story. It's too good to be true.I already sent my letter about cell phones and death.
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Comment #50 posted by E_Johnson on March 30, 2006 at 09:48:33 PT

Search the Internet for a terrible anecdote
I'm sure someone at Cnews came find a sad and terribel anecdote of someone killed by a driver on a cell phone.Karen Tandy is so dumb. She's really opened herself up to attack on this one.Her family fortune is being augmented right now by the profit from selling devices that are seen by police as a major hazard on the highway.THis editorial was a gift from God.Her family sells cell phones for a living. We can shut her down on this issue right now.
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Comment #49 posted by FoM on March 30, 2006 at 09:46:20 PT

E_Johnson 
I've missed you so much! It's great to see you!
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Comment #48 posted by E_Johnson on March 30, 2006 at 09:41:50 PT

Nobody's caught on so I must speak up
Karen Tandy -- Tandy Corporation --- Radio Shack --- self-proclaimed "largest retail sales of wireless phones" -- how many people killed on highways by drivers talking on wireless phones?Write those letters folks and hit this point home to those editors at the Post
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Comment #47 posted by observer on March 30, 2006 at 09:41:38 PT

re: Marijuana & Driving
No Proof Cannabis Put Drivers At Risk (2001) http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n1849/a09.htmlCannabis May Make You A Safer Driver (2000) http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1161/a02.htmlUniversity Of Toronto Study Shows Marijuana Not A Factor In Driving Accidents (1999) 
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1999/03/990325110700.htmCannabis Crash Risk Less: Study (1998) http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98/n945/a08.htmlStudy Goes to Pot (1998) http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98/n947/a06.html
"It has been impossible to prove marijuana affects driving adversely ... There is no doubt marijuana affects performance but it may be it affects it in a favourable way by reducing risk-taking. ...
There are some quite distinguished researchers who are going through incredible contortions to try and prove that [driving after using] marijuana has to be a problem."-- Adelaide University researcher Professor Dr Jack Maclean, Director Of Road Accident Research

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Comment #46 posted by Celaya on March 30, 2006 at 09:29:39 PT

Canadian Judge Gets Real About Marijuana & Driving
An Ottawa man has been acquitted of driving while under the influence of drugs after the judge agreed that there was no way to assess what effect being stoned had on the ability to safely operate a vehicle. Even though 33-year-old Stephen Ayotte had admitted to police that he had smoked “a couple of joints” before getting behind the wheel on May 1, 2005, Justice Richard Lajoie found him not guilty of impaired driving, citing a problem with the law’s definition of “impaired.” “I don’t have any evidence as to the effect marijuana may have had on a person,” Lajoie said as he handed down his judgement. “How can one make that giant leap between proof of consumption and the effect of consumption?” Although driving under the influence drugs like marijuana and cocaine is explicitly illegal, there is no definition of the threshold of intoxication. Former Justice Minister Irwin Cotler moved to alter impaired-driving laws to address that problem in Apr 2004, but concerns over the admissibility of roadside tests quashed the new laws
Judge Says "What Impairment?"
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Comment #45 posted by whig on March 30, 2006 at 09:23:35 PT

Some day...
I read all about the different strains, their distinctive colors, flavors, and effects. Some day, I may even get to experience this for myself.Around here, there is big bud or skunk. Take your pick.
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Comment #44 posted by Max Flowers on March 30, 2006 at 09:09:03 PT

Kona Gold
Oh I couldn't forget Kona Gold. I got some as a high-schooler around 1977. I remember it vividly to this day. It was yellow/gold in color, had a complex, spicy flavor, and was true "one-hit sh%t". Magical. Very different from the degraded "lids" of "mersh" (commercial Mexican) that were dominating the market at the time. The Kona Gold I recall was $10 for a gram, and that was in 1977 dollars, so when I look back I realize the guy selling it was really cleaning up! I bet he was getting ounces for around $60-80 and getting $280 back on them. Ah, the good old days...
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Comment #43 posted by FoM on March 30, 2006 at 06:20:47 PT

Had Enough 
I really don't know. If I remember right he stopped posting around election time in 04. 
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Comment #42 posted by Had Enough on March 30, 2006 at 04:56:28 PT

p4me
How come these drug warriors have the middle initial P?FoM. Remember p4me. What ever happened to that guy who used to post here? He was into Rotts too. I remember seeing pictures of a dog show he attended.
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Comment #41 posted by Toker00 on March 30, 2006 at 03:46:12 PT

Don't forget Kona Gold.
Ahhh, the memories. Having only smoked Mexican til then, the experience of Hawaiian cannabis was absolutely a "trip". Actually, more of a journey. A soul journey. I was able to bring a sack back to the states with me, and I wound up sharing it with homeless people in downtown Dallas, on my way home. These people could have robbed me, beat me, or otherwise ruined my day, but instead we had a great time. I managed to have a couple doobs when I finally arrived home. The Hawaiian experience is like no other feeling on earth. Nature Supreme.Aloooooohaaaaa!Wage peace on war. END CANNABIS PROHIBITION NOW! 
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Comment #40 posted by bigislehawaii on March 29, 2006 at 23:53:17 PT:

Aloha MF
Thank you and aloha right back at you. From what I "hear" Maui Wowie and Puna Butter are still around, not as prominent as in the "old days", the Green Harvest program has had alot to do with that. I'd love to know they are keeping the flame burning with those strains also, but I also know Marc Emery has helped provide a valuable service even to those of us in need here in Hawaii. Definately not like the "old days" here. Take care, bigislehawaii.
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Comment #39 posted by Max Flowers on March 29, 2006 at 23:31:58 PT

bigislehawaii
Welcome/aloha.Hey I'd like to ask you a question.... this is something I've wondered a lot through the years. Are some of those old Hawaiian heirloom strains, things like Kauai Electric and Maui Wowie and Puna Butter still available, or did they die out during the state eradication campaign only to be replaced by more ordinary mainland indicas? I'd like to think people on the islands are still keeping the flame lit under those so to speak.thanks, MF
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Comment #38 posted by whig on March 29, 2006 at 22:51:21 PT

bigislehawaii
If you read the comments below, you will see that according to Karen P. Tandy herself, in an earlier speech, Virginia Rogers was killed by a motorist who had not just cannabis, but cocaine and opiates, in his system.
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Comment #37 posted by bigislehawaii on March 29, 2006 at 22:29:09 PT:

Let's get the TRUTH out!
I am a medical cannabis patient living here in Hawaii. I don't know the true details of Karen P. Tandy's research on the accident involving Victoria Rogers and the marijuana - intoxicated motorist, but is the information a proven fact or was there other items in the motorists' system? It is very easy to point a finger, but remember you have three fingers pointing right back at you. When I used to drive my daughter to school I would see approximately 200 students a day standing right outside of the school perimeters smoking tobacco, but that's okay right. Even though time has told the truth and people know what they are doing to their bodies/lungs, not to mention the second hand smoke inhaled by innocent victims, even though it's a proven undeniable fact that tobacco smoking kills you, the government continues to make it legal, and you, Karen P. Tandy, can feel good about that? I have been a cannabis user for approximately 17 years now and every x-ray of my lungs have been perfect without any medical issues whatsoever. You say marijuana users "destroy their lungs" that the "smoke contains 50 to 70 percent more cancer-causing chemicals than tobacco smoke", I will not argue the chemical content as I am not a scientist, but I do know there are other alternatives than smoking, but before that, I would like to know with your expertise, has there been truth and proof that there in fact have been marijuana users who have died because of chemicals from smoking marijuana? I mean if you can make the statement you should then be able to back it up right? What Marc Emery has done for people all around the country is provide a service to people who needed it. I mean I am just not understanding our governments position on this and maybe you can explain it to me until I understand it. You (the DEA) and the Federal government say it is illegal and prohibited, that there is no medicinal value in it, but on the other hand for over 20 years you and the Federal government can approve yourselves to grow it and distribute government-issued marijuana as you see fit, but not for anyone else here, in the land of the free? Now this so-called research (Compassionate program) you and the government have been doing for all these years now, supposedly you have been following and tracking the handful of approved patients over the years, can I ask, exactly how many of them have passed on due to lung cancer from marijuana? Until you are in a situation such as mine or any other patients, in my opinion I would advise you to come out with all the facts not just what you think you know. I just don't understand how you and our government can sleep at night knowing there are at least 1000 people dying a day from what you all approve as legal both tobacco smoking and alcohol, alcohol and tobacco smoking kills not only users but non users too, think about it, do you feel good about that? Where is the medicinal value or any other value at that, in that? You make it and keep it legal, go figure! Big Island, HI
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Comment #36 posted by Dankhank on March 29, 2006 at 22:27:23 PT

love those ...
propaganda breakdowns ...
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Comment #35 posted by John Tyler on March 29, 2006 at 22:19:25 PT

Shallow, silly and vindictive
We have gained the intellectual, rhetorical, and moral high ground and we now frame the debate. We know more about the subject than the prohibitionists. Their arguments look shallow, silly and vindictive.
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Comment #34 posted by observer on March 29, 2006 at 21:05:31 PT

Der Drogenpropagandafrau
[1]
Washington, DC -- Marc Emery, who distributed millions of marijuana seeds throughout the country, admits the accuracy of the Drug Enforcement Administration's charges against him, but he denies harming Americans ["High Crimes, or a Tokin' Figure?"

(Sentence 1) re: "Crimes" - Prohibitionist propaganda claims that horrible dangers are caused by "drugs." (Madness,Crime,Violence,Illness (propaganda theme 2) http://drugpolicycentral.com/bot/pg/propaganda/theme2.htm#2 ) re: "Americans" - The survival of society is assured, -- says the propaganda of prohibition -- as long as drug users are punished (jailed). (Survival of Society (propaganda theme 3) http://drugpolicycentral.com/bot/pg/propaganda/theme3.htm#3 ) re: "Marc Emery", "Emery" - Because they care so deeply for the kids, prohibitionists, we are told, are above reproach. Therefore, the evil legalizers who dare question the authority of prohibition are the ones who must be silenced. (Dissent Attacked (propaganda theme 8) http://drugpolicycentral.com/bot/pg/propaganda/theme8.htm#8 ) 
 
 
[3]
Like all dealers, Mr Emery turns a blind eye to marijuana's victims -- people like Victoria Rogers, a mother driving with her children when she was killed by a marijuana-intoxicated motorist . 

(Sentence 3) re: "dealers" - The rhetoric of prohibition tries to link drugs with marginalized people. (Hated Groups (propaganda theme 1) http://drugpolicycentral.com/bot/pg/propaganda/theme1.htm#1 ) re: "children" - Prohibitionists are champions of "the child", "kids", "children", etc. Only continued or increased punishments of all adults caught using "drugs" will send the correct "message" to children. (Children Corrupted (propaganda theme 5) http://drugpolicycentral.com/bot/pg/propaganda/theme5.htm#5 ) 
 
 
[4]
Marijuana feeds thousands of addictions -- so many that more teenagers enter treatment for marijuana dependency than for all other drugs combined . 

(Sentence 4) re: "addictions" - It is prohibition, claim prohibitionists, that saves people from drug crazed, whacked out, high flying drug users. (Madness,Crime,Violence,Illness (propaganda theme 2) http://drugpolicycentral.com/bot/pg/propaganda/theme2.htm#2 ) re: "teenagers" - Drug war propaganda plays on parental fears for the well being of their kids. If drug users are not jailed, says the prohibitionist, then your children will surely suffer. (Children Corrupted (propaganda theme 5) http://drugpolicycentral.com/bot/pg/propaganda/theme5.htm#5 ) 
 
 
[5]
Thousands of adolescents whose brains are still developing also suffer from depression, memory impairment and diminished judgment because of marijuana . 

(Sentence 5) re: "impairment", "depression" - Prohibition propaganda rarely misses an opportunity to link crime, violence, and insanity with "drugs". The propagandist insinuates that prohibited drugs cause evil, and if it weren't for "drugs" bad things would not exist. (Madness,Crime,Violence,Illness (propaganda theme 2) http://drugpolicycentral.com/bot/pg/propaganda/theme2.htm#2 ) 
 
 
[6]
Users destroy their lungs because marijuana smoke contains 50 to 70 percent more cancer-causing chemicals than tobacco smoke . 

(Sentence 6) re: "destroy", "cancer-causing" - Prohibitionists claim any use of currently illegal drugs cause death, illness, lunacy, mania, melancholy, and all means of sin and degradation. (Madness,Crime,Violence,Illness (propaganda theme 2) http://drugpolicycentral.com/bot/pg/propaganda/theme2.htm#2 ) 
 
 
[7]
That Mr Emery sees no consequences of his actions does not change the fact that they destroy innocent American lives and that he should and will face legal consequences as a result . 

(Sentence 7) re: "American" - The health of the "community" (read: government) is assured, prohibitionists explain, because drug users are punished. Jailing drug users is thus painted as upholding society. (Survival of Society (propaganda theme 3) http://drugpolicycentral.com/bot/pg/propaganda/theme3.htm#3 ) 
 
 summary: drugwar_propaganda = 100%

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Comment #33 posted by FoM on March 29, 2006 at 20:17:51 PT

A Note from a Canadian Reader and Friend
This thread by the esteemed readers of cnews reminds me of how much I f&#$%^ ing Love cnews and it's people.Kudos to you and the cnews gang, Martha.If you feel like it, you can post this email to the cnews crew/ keep my name out, but you can tell 'em I'm a Canadian.

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Comment #32 posted by FoM on March 29, 2006 at 19:42:59 PT

Scapegoat
Marijuana has been the scapegoat for about everything concerning the children. How about parents teach their children the way to act and how to succeed in life. The government is to make our country run in a productive and fair manner. It's called a democracy. Leave people live and let live and let Marc Emery stay in his country and let him be. He isn't hurting anyone.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scapegoat
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Comment #31 posted by goneposthole on March 29, 2006 at 19:27:25 PT

scapegoat
whipping boyPeople make mistakes. It doesn't matter if they're drunk, stoned or sober. Accidents happen.The more the government pursues its irrational goals, the more unhinged it becomes.It will only get worse, not better.The war in Iraq was supposed to be a few weeks in duration. It has entered its fourth year. The war on drugs is some thirty years old. How many times has Congress declared the US is going to be drug free in the past twenty years?If the leaders of the US gov would only pursue peace; I can hope that they will. They might surprise themselves if they would.
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Comment #30 posted by GreenJoy on March 29, 2006 at 19:07:30 PT

So Okay
"Like all dealers, Mr. Emery turns a blind eye to it's victims--people like Victoria Rogers, a mother driving with her children when she wqas killed by a marijuana intoxicated motorist." I wonder how many kill and are killed behind the wheel every year because they were drunk, debilitated by prescription medications, talking on the phone, turning the radio dial, combing their hair, doing their make-up, amped up on Mountain Dew..reaching for the donut they dropped..blah blah blah...you name it? We are expected to be responsible and really make sure the sleeping pills have worn off before we drive. Nearly every narcotic prescription med that I have for pain says to not drive or be very careful when driving. People leave restaurants, bars, clubs, and stadiums in droves having had too much alcohol to drive. Unfocused drivers kill. I do believe the California Highway Patrol did a test and found that people that had smoked Cannabis actually drove more safely!
          
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Comment #29 posted by OverwhelmSam on March 29, 2006 at 18:23:44 PT

What A Total B
Karen Tandy, who distributed millions of lies about marijuana throughout the country, will not admit the inaccuracy of the Drug Enforcement Administration's charges against Marc Emery, but she denies harming Americans.Like all prohbitionists, Ms. Tandy turns a blind eye to marijuana prohibition's victims -- people like Peter McWilliams, an aids patient who was court ordered not to use marijuana to control his nausea, he choked to death on his own vomit.Prohibition supports thousands of illegal dealers -- so many that marijuana is readily available across the United States. The prosecution of Marc Emery will change nothing.Thousands of adolescents whose brains are still developing also suffer from depression, memory impairment and diminished judgment in spite of marijuana. Users are attracted to marijuana to excape the prohibitionists mentality that they have to deal with on a daily basis.That Ms. Tandy sees no consequences of her actions does not change the fact that she destroys innocent American lives and that she should face legal consequences as a result. The only satisfaction that results from Tandy's wasted life is that she is living it in vain.
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Comment #28 posted by FoM on March 29, 2006 at 18:20:34 PT

Interesting Related Article
Even though marijuana is mentioned the blame is given to alcohol. This is a sad story no matter how we read it.***Alcohol To Blame For Deadly Lower Merion Crash 
Walt Hunter, Reporting(CBS 3) LOWER MERION, PA A driver involved in a deadly crash in Lower Merion has allegedly admitted to being drunk behind the wheel. Police say he ran over a 16-year-old girl, killing her as she tried to get out of the car he was driving.URL: http://cbs3.com/topstories/local_story_088174525.html
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Comment #27 posted by global_warming on March 29, 2006 at 16:35:37 PT

sorry
cornir,Was hoping for some change,In this world,
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Comment #26 posted by global_warming on March 29, 2006 at 16:30:22 PT

What is Freedom?
It was clearly written,In the Declaration Of Independence,The Charter of this 'Free Nation,This US of A,Sprinkled with 'blood and 'gentle hand,A hand that has wrestled with Angels,What is the 'price to redemption?In one blink of your mortal eye,You can be witness,You can 'seeYour place, amongst your greatest heroes,It is just another 'free breath,That can illuminate your place,In this 'Infernal Paradise,
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Comment #25 posted by cornoir on March 29, 2006 at 16:25:50 PT

"Better to let people think you are an idiot...
...Then open your mouth and prove them right."Lets simplicy this. We are pro and she is con on marijuana, and obviously not from a factual, scientific stance instead relying on misinformation and fear. A tactic being employed by the current administration from the head on down it appears.What does tandy have over any of us? A title that sounds like it has the backing of authority based upon no hidden agenda, yeah right I believe that one.So basically no one really cared about Tandy till she opened her mouth to say some really foot in mouth things, in other words a purebreed bureacrat.So we can not affect her from the top (they are worse) or from the bottom (too much work for any of us in reality), so what option does that leave us?Whig pointed out that the details concerning Victoria Rogers death, were to say lacking in all the details. Doing this sort of thing in a courtroom will really piss off a judge, but in "real life" people lie through their teeth just enough to not be caught.Cocaine and opiates (both of which exit your bloodstream way faster than marijuana ask any drug test facility, even the DEA's). Opiates like codein or vicodin or any other prescription type drugs available over the net like Emery's seeds but in a more rediable ingestable form.What we need to do is factual nueter them in public, in whatever medium they use (internet, news media, print or public events). Combat the ir rhetoric with not just facts about MJ, but with facts that discredit the opposition (compare the current public trust with our government after media coverage or opinions against Bush, they keep going down and down).A factual and more concise letter to counter Tandy's opinion letter to the editor about Emery, while at the same time stating the facts that Tandy is manipulating the public. Most people are mouth feed their news and opinions by those they put their trust in (a catch-22) so breaking the chain of trusting people in authority just because they are in authority will hopefuly end whatever apathy this country is headed for.
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Comment #24 posted by global_warming on March 29, 2006 at 16:04:06 PT

some thoughts and lyrics
JOHNNY CASH LYRICSListening to Tom Jones,"Green, Green Grass Of Home"The old home town looks the same,
As I step down from the train,
And there to meet me is my mama and my papa.
Down the road I look, and there comes Mary,
Hair of gold and lips like cherries.
It's good to touch the green, green grass of home.The old house is still standing,
Though the paint is cracked and dry,
And there's the old oak tree that I used to play on.
Down the lane I walk with my sweet Mary,
Hair of gold and lips like cherries.
It's good to touch the green, green grass of home.Yes, they'll all come to see me,
Arms reaching, smiling sweetly.
It's good to touch the green, green grass of home.Then I awake and look around me,
At the four gray walls that surround me,
And I realize that I was only dreaming.
For there's a guard, and there's a sad old padre,
Arm in arm, we'll walk at daybreak.
Again, I'll touch the green, green grass of home.Yes, they'll all come to see me
In the shade of the old oak tree,
As they lay me 'neath the green, green grass of home.
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Comment #23 posted by siege on March 29, 2006 at 15:45:31 PT

 Karen, is this what you think we are ?
The risks of self-medication are obvious: addiction to habit-forming substances, dangerous drug interactions, use of counterfeit or tainted products, and adverse reactions to medications that are prescribed without a medical purpose. Pharmacists and doctors that participate in dispensing controlled substances without valid prescriptions essentially become Internet-based drug lords.

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Comment #22 posted by global_warming on March 29, 2006 at 15:33:58 PT

how did a person
called Karen Pee Tandy ever get such a government position? The big cheese in the dEA?What are here credentials, is she a doctor? does she law enforcement experience??Her only credentials that I can see is her inheritance to the ratshack fortune, a true yuppie at heart.If it can be said, her only legacy is money, and she has fallen in with leagues of the insanely greedy, whose only ignorance is lust for power and more power.May God Have Mercy Upon Her Soul...
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Comment #21 posted by freshy on March 29, 2006 at 14:49:34 PT

so many lies, or half-truths
chances are "marijuana-intoxicated" means they were drunk and smoked some. (that's the half truth)lies are the marijuana "feeds addictions," the only way to be addicted to it is mentally...suffering from depression... lol, studies show that it reduces anxiety and a study suggests that it promotes hippocampal nuerogenesis (results in an anti-depressant effect)there's more but everyone already knows those.. like how it kills ur lungs..I've never seen so much propaganda in the time it took me to read that... besides the section on cannabis in 10th grade wellness.
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Comment #20 posted by mayan on March 29, 2006 at 14:09:33 PT

Cynthia McKinney
CNN is saying she just had some sort of altercation with a cop. I do believe she's had enough. I know I have.Cynthia McKinney: The most courageous member of Congress:
http://www.911truth.org/osamas/mckinney.html
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Comment #19 posted by mayan on March 29, 2006 at 14:03:38 PT

WEAK
Was Karen Tandy in a big damned hurry when she wrote her little page of lies? Was she actually awake? A second-grader could pick her laughingly weak argument apart. I demand better from my corrupted government officials. Sheesh!Just say no to DEAth! THE WAY OUT... 9/11 Truth Calling Oprah! An Appeal from TvNewsLIES.org:
http://tvnewslies.org/html/9_11_truth_calling_oprah.htmlBetter TV than CNN:
http://www.hicksforsenate.com/2006/03/better-tv-than-cnn.htmlCNN Fears 911 Truth - Cancels Ed Asner's Appearance:
http://www.rense.com/general70/asner.htm9/11 Truth Movement: Time for Action:
http://wingtv.net/thorn2006/911action.html"Let's discuss the 9/11 hijackers"
http://valis.cjb.cc/hijackers.htmlThe Pentagon Exit Hole: More 9/11 Demolition?
http://rense.com/general70/hole.htmUseful 9/11 Sound Bites:
http://georgewashington.blogspot.com/2006/03/sound-bite.html
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Comment #18 posted by Celaya on March 29, 2006 at 13:59:29 PT

Great Rebuttals To All!
When they arrested Marc for extradition, they made the great mistake of saying how this was going to really set back the marijuana reform movement. WRONG!!!Arresting Marc was like throwing the rabbit in the briar patch. Please see this tribute to Marc:http://www.pot-tv.net/archive/shows/pottvshowse-3298.html
Tribute To Marc Emery
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Comment #17 posted by Sam Adams on March 29, 2006 at 13:52:56 PT

cocktail
whig, thanks for doing your homework. She couldn't even find an MJ-caused atrocity for her LTE! They try and try, but it's just too damn hard to find the bodies. Where oh where can we find someone killed by cannabis? Only in our deceitful imaginations, apparently.

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Comment #16 posted by whig on March 29, 2006 at 13:52:29 PT

Lying B*tch
Sorry to be profane, but that was a speech Karen Tandy herself gave, so she can't even pretend to believe that this Victoria Rogers was killed by a motorist that was only "marijuana-intoxicated."
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Comment #15 posted by FoM on March 29, 2006 at 13:51:17 PT

Cocaine and Opiates
Thanks Whig!
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Comment #14 posted by Sam Adams on March 29, 2006 at 13:50:38 PT

Bgreen
Great analogy - only one thing wrong with it. Busting Emery isn't like busting Coors or Annheuser-Busch - it's like busting the seed house that sold the seeds to the farmers that grew the hops and barley for the beer!This is great to see, the DEA is taking a beating from mainstream media outlets like the Post and 60 minutes, I would say the Emery strategy has totally backfired on them. Their fantasy of a righteous crusade has turned into an obvious petty, vindictive action that could potentially cause an international conflict with one of our allies.Nice going! I almost feel sorry for Tandy, she was probably handed this mess, it was Walters who initiated the project after getting heckled by Emery & co.Ok, just kidding, I don't feel sorry for her. She can always go find another job.
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Comment #13 posted by whig on March 29, 2006 at 13:49:39 PT

Victoria Rogers
http://www.dea.gov/speeches/s102604.html"Drug use causes tragic accidents on our roads, such as the one in Springfield, Ohio last February. One Saturday morning, a drugged driver—high on a virtual drug cocktail of marijuana, cocaine, and opiates—struck another car and killed a 31-year old mother, Victoria Rogers, who was driving with her two young daughters and a niece. Her two children suffered head and neck injuries. Her niece had severe face and head injuries that she continues to undergo reconstructive surgery to heal."
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Comment #12 posted by BGreen on March 29, 2006 at 13:41:52 PT

Did Marc sell the seeds that grew the cannabis?
Victoria Rogers, a mother driving with her children when she was killed by a marijuana-intoxicated motorist.Um, I really doubt it (and they couldn't prove it, either,) but is Anheuser Busch or Coors held criminally or even morally responsible for the alcohol related deaths that have already happened today, or how about the hundreds of alcohol related deaths that happened yesterday with the product they created from scratch, canned or bottled, loaded on trucks, took to stores, then walked away with all of the money for the product somebody consumed and ultimately took somebodies life, littering the roadway with bodies and empty beer cans with their fancy labels?Hell, no!!!!You are a lame, patsy of a puppet, Karen Tandy, and your sorry little diatribe is a waste of newspaper space.The Reverend Bud Green
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Comment #11 posted by taylor121 on March 29, 2006 at 12:58:53 PT

Wow she made me laugh
This was the worst attempt I have ever seen. If anything, this will just stir up readers and someone will end up writing a better letter to the post.
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Comment #10 posted by kaptinemo on March 29, 2006 at 12:51:32 PT:

*This* is the best she can do? THIS?
I'm really disappointed. I was hoping, when I first glanced at the byline, that we would see a slam-bang defense of cannabis prohibition. Instead her diatribe limps like a lame duck with one bad wing, locked into a circular course, going round and round, nowhere...and not very quickly, either. We've all heard this before, and it's gotten so old it's turned green and stinks.(Sigh) This is like those baited fields where so-called 'hunters' sit in lawnchairs and shoot at corn-fed game. There's just no challenge, here. There's not enough meat on the bones to warrant chewing on them. C'mon, Karen; with all that education, you can do much better than that! 
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Comment #9 posted by siege on March 29, 2006 at 11:36:36 PT

learn to read what your govt.put out
Like all dealers, Mr. Emery turns a blind eye to marijuana's victims -- people like Victoria Rogers, a mother driving with her children when she was killed by a marijuana-intoxicated motorist. Here is one for your dumbness Karen P. TandyMamma: It is with great interest that I read the story about the defendant you sentenced to "living with a coffin" as a reminder of the "deadly consequences of your choices." The young man was convicted of possession of Cocaine and driving under the influence.In recent months I have been corresponding with a Dr Jim Frank of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration regarding "Impaired Driving." During our discussions he offered and sent me six studies done by the Department of Transportation. After reading these studies, I picked out the most startling, I feel, comments many will read while insisting that since alcohol negatively affects driving skill, all other illegal drugs must, too. Here are some items I gleaned from each study provided by the NHTSA.This is MY research ---------Dankhank Lawton OK DOT HS 808 078 "Marijuana and Actual Driving Performance" Final Report, Nov. 1993 Conclusions on page 108 of the copy I received from the NHTSA are interesting and informative. A sample, "It is possible to safely study the effects of marijuana on driving on highways or city streets in the presence of other traffic." "Drivers under the influence of marijuana tend to over-estimate the adverse effects of the drug on their driving ability and compensate when they can; e.g. by increasing effort to accomplish the task, increasing headway or slowing down, or a combination of these."DOT HS 808 939 "Marijuana, Alcohol and Actual Driving Performance" July 1999 Conclusion on page 39 midway of paragraph 5.1 of the copy I received: The addition of the new data, (for marijuana), broadens the range of reactions that may be expected to occur in real life. This range has not been shown to extend into the area that can rightfully be regarded as dangerous or an obviously unacceptable threat to public safety.DOT HS 809 020 "Visual Search and Urban City Driving under the Influence of Marijuana and Alcohol" March 2000: Conclusion 1 on page 24 of the copy I received. "Low doses of marijuana, taken alone, did not impair city driving performance and did not diminish visual search frequency for traffic at intersections in this study." General Discussion, page 22 “Previous on-the-road studies have also demonstrated that subjects are generally aware of the impairing properties of THC and try to compensate for the drug's impairing properties by driving more carefully (Hansteen et al, 1976; Casswell, 1979; Peck et al, 1986; Robbe 1994). “DOT HS 809 642 "State of Knowledge of Drug Impaired Driving" Sept 2003: Experimental Research of Cannabis, page 41 midway: "The extensive studies by Robbe and O'Hanlon (1993), revealed that under the influence of Marijuana, drivers are aware of their impairment, and when experimental tasks allow it, they tend to actually decrease speed, avoid passing other cars, and reduce other risk-taking behaviors."DOT HS 808 065 "The Incidence and Role of Drugs in Fatally Injured Drivers" Oct. 1992 In discussing the "Distribution of Ratings on Driver Responsibility" Table 5.12 page 64 of the copy I received, paragraph (p.65); "Responsibility, drugs and alcohol”, third paragraph, the following appears: "Note that the responsibility rates of the THC-only and Cocaine-only groups are actually lower than that of the drugfree drivers. Although these results too are inconclusive, they give no suggestion of impairment in the two groups. The low responsibility rate for THC was reminiscent of that found in young males by Williams and colleagues (1986).” This study is remarkable in it's propensity to attack itself as inconclusive.Forensic Science Review Vol. 14, Number One/Two, Jan 2002, surely must be the reference of note regarding metabolic functions and where the THC goes following ingestion. This review discuses THC and it's metabolites; THCCOOH, 11-OH-THC to mention the most discussed. Location and type of measured quantities of these and other metabolites should be easy to use to determine if a driver is "stoned" or was stoned yesterday, or last week. Mention was made of a man who had measurable levels of metabolites sixty-seven days after ingesting Cannabis. Chap IX paragraph D, "Summary" appears to be of two minds. While stating, "Studies examining Cannabis' causal effect through responsibility analysis have more frequently indicated that THC alone did not increase accident risk …," it continues optimistically suggesting that further exhaustive research may rebut that.All of the studies agree that combining Cannabis with any other drug, such as Alcohol ... a major deleterious effect on driving skills, as is benzoates with Cannabis … it rapidly becomes evident that Cannabis in combination with any number of other drugs is not to be desired, but that Cannabis and Cocaine alone in all six studies have the smallest perceived safety risk of all the drugs and drug combinations tested and against drug-free drivers.Thank You for taking the time to review this material and I must comment on the previous statement in bold and larger font, DOT HS 808 065. It strains a credulous mind; the government and legislatures are of two minds about the “War on Some Drugs.” The legislature harasses, imprisons and generally ruins hundreds of thousands of families every year for a perceived threat that is not supported in other government studies conducted supposedly to give guidance to legislators, and the rest of America, regarding what is a threat or not.Mamma, I ask you to task your staff to order those studies from NHTSA or DOT and have someone review them. My observations are accurate, but we all insist on verification.
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Comment #8 posted by dongenero on March 29, 2006 at 11:29:49 PT

march out the DEA propoganda
Karen Tandy is like Tokyo Rose. The DEA is marching her out to do a little propoganda after Emery beat Tandy and the DEA like a drum in his recent interview with the post.Tandy's statements here are really lame at that. I guess nobody in our current administration thinks in anything but idiotic 30 second sound bytes anyway. Emery's interview was thoughtful, smart and thorough. Tandy's statements are weak BS. Hey Washington! Not all of the citizens out here are dumb, attention defecit, Foxnews watching morons.
How about putting a little thought and depth in your statements? Ah....we all know why...because there is no depth to your arguments. You can't risk pulling the curtain back.
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Comment #7 posted by FoM on March 29, 2006 at 10:53:17 PT

Accidents and Injuries from Alcohol
In the United States, injuries are the fourth-leading cause of death, exceeded only by heart disease, stroke, and cancer. Of all deaths from injury in the United States, about 65 percent are classified as unintentional or accidental. The other 35 percent are intentional injuries, occurring as a result of fights, assaults, suicide, homicide, and other crimes. Alcohol-related fatalities have been estimated to be about 43 percent of all unintentional injuries.Studies show that an amazing number of those injured and killed every year have high levels of alcohol in their blood. This may be because the drinking accident victim engaged in risky behavior, such as not wearing a seat belt or motorcycle helmet. People who tend to take safety risks, act impulsively, and engage in thrill seeking are likely to both drink alcohol and to suffer from injuries. Alcohol is known to decrease both motor coordination and balance, and to interfere with one's ability to pay attention and use good judgment.Estimates of Alcohols InvolvementEmergency room (ER) studies test patients admitted for injuries for blood alcohol level (BAL) or blood alcohol concentration (BAC). In studies done on weekend evenings, when a large number of people would be expected to be consuming alcohol, close to 50 percent of people admitted to the ER had alcohol in their blood at the time of admission.http://www.bookrags.com/other/drugs/accidents-and-injuries-from-alcohol-dat-01.html

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Comment #6 posted by zandor on March 29, 2006 at 10:42:39 PT

What about Tobacco & Alcohol
What about Tobacco & AlcoholThey both kill more people every year but you do nothing about that? What about drunk drivers as I type this and you read it there as another death from Alcohol and tobacco just happened. Opps add in another TC from a drunk driver in New Mexico where you can buy a can of beer or bottle of whiskey from a drive through window and have it served up in your car. Would you like a burger with that whisker?Yet another Lie spread around to confuse the mass of people who only get their news & information from sound bites on the 6 o’clock news.That is the biggest shame on America, how many people think they are informed and make their decisions based on sound bites on the news….Shame, Shame Shame. 
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Comment #5 posted by lombar on March 29, 2006 at 10:12:28 PT

Consider..
"Thousands of adolescents whose brains are still developing also suffer from depression, memory impairment and diminished judgment because of marijuana."On the basis of the effect upon CHILDREN, adults must be subject to an eternal war. I agree, drugs should be kept away from children. Power should be kept away from cops.So, because children who are not mine, nor my responsibility (beyond that of a good neighbor) at all, the DEA has the right to loot the treasury, kill children, imprison thousands, wage war on other countries, and deceive continually?And my questioning of the complete and utter lack of logic and reason must be the degenerative effects of using cannabis? Right?Bulls leave that in the fields ... and the USA needs to shovel it out of their government for the sake of the rest of the world as well as themselves.
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Comment #4 posted by lombar on March 29, 2006 at 09:48:01 PT

Peter McWilliams
.. and so many more . It was my first thought when I read that tripe. I am embarrassed for the people of the United States for allowing such a person a position of power and authority.It does not take too long to find a list of drug war victims...http://tinyurl.com/pgdphJohn Adams64 years old
Lebanon, Tennessee
October, 2000
	
Shot to death during a SWAT drug raid while watching TV. The house didn't match the description on the warrant.Xavier Bennett8 years old
Atlanta, Georgia
November, 1991
	
Xavier was accidentally shot to death by officers in a pre-dawn drug raid during a gunfight with one of Xavier's relatives.Delbert Bonnar57 years old
Belpre, Ohio
October, 1998
	
Shot 8 times by police in drug raid. They were looking for his son. Veronica Bowers
35 years oldCharity Bowers
7 months oldIn the air over Peru
April, 2001
	
As part of a long-standing arrangement to stop drug shipments, U.S. government tracking provided the information for the Peruvian Air Force to mistakenly shoot down a Cessna plane carrying missionaries. Killed in the incident were Roni Bowers, a missionary with the Association of Baptists for World Evangelism, and her daughter, Charity. As of August, 2003, the United States is considering reinstating the shoot-down program. Perhaps they think by now we've forgotten. Rudolfo "Rudy" Cardenas43 years old
San Jose, California
February, 2004
	
Rudy was a father of five who was passing by a house targeted by narcotics officers attempting to serve a parole violation warrant and the police mistakenly thought he was the one they were there to arrest. They chased Cardenas, and he fled, apparently afraid of them (they were not uniformed). Cardenas was shot multiple times in the back.Dorothy Duckett, 78, told the Mercury News she looked out her fifth-floor window after hearing one gunshot and saw Cardenas pleading for his life. "I watched him running with his hands in the air. He kept saying, 'Don't shoot. Don't shoot,'" Duckett said. "He had absolutely nothing in his hands." Jose Colon20 years old
Suffolk, New York
April, 2002
	
Jose was outside the house where he had come to repay a $20 debt, when a drug raid on the house commenced. He was shot in the head by SWAT. 
... and MOREOMG...I'm not angry... I am determined. Lies, more lies, and damn lies.
Peter McWilliams
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Comment #3 posted by b4daylight on March 29, 2006 at 09:31:39 PT

I like
"Like all dealers, Mr. Emery turns a blind eye to marijuana's victims -- people like Victoria Rogers, a mother driving with her children when she was killed by a marijuana-intoxicated motorist. "Why becauseIf anyone was concered with anothers well being it would not be the DEA. So how dare she say he does not care about victims. Second at least Mr. Emery does not create victims like the DEA. How many millions of victims so far has the DEA killed or destoryed? How many more will they get a chance too.This is fodder for Marc's peacefull appoarch.
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Comment #2 posted by Truth on March 29, 2006 at 09:14:06 PT

Marc Emory
Marc's product is way safer then either alcohol or cigarettes. He's doing the world a service by providing a safer alternative. You go Marc, you're a true hero.Hats off to you.
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Comment #1 posted by lombar on March 29, 2006 at 09:14:01 PT

Wow.
"
Marijuana feeds thousands of addictions -- so many that more teenagers enter treatment for marijuana dependency than for all other drugs combined.
"And how many are VOLUNTARY Karen? I'm addicted to coffee and potato chips, will you guardians of health and morality outlaw fried potatoes?Either they believe their own lies and are delusional or are aware they are lying and doing it for power in which case they are just plain EVIL. Since compassion and reason seem beyond them, they must just be EVIL.
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