cannabisnews.com: Marijuana Powwow is Cashed Out Marijuana Powwow is Cashed Out Posted by CN Staff on April 23, 2006 at 08:50:30 PT By Chris Durant, The Times-Standard Source: Times-Standard San Francisco -- ”I'm now America's oldest marijuana smoker,” is how the founder of National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, Keith Stroup, started the closing comments of the 2006 conference. He thanked the conference attendees and recognized their continuing efforts to reform marijuana laws around the country and the world. ”What's been important is the people we attract to this, they are the real workers,” Stroup said. “You give real life to NORML's dreams.” Stroup spoke about the organization's history. ”For 35 years NORML has been saying at the top of our lungs that there is absolutely nothing wrong with smoking marijuana responsibly,” Stroup said. “Get over and get out of our lives.” Stroup quoted statistics that stated about 47 percent of the adult population in the United States has smoked marijuana at one point. ”This is close to a tipping point and we're going to win this damn thing and win it soon,” Stroup said. “There should be no penalty for the personal use of marijuana.” He said marijuana smokers need to “come out of the closet” so the influential numbers will be known. ”It's not that we need to blow smoke in the public's face,” Stroup said. “We have some political clout but they need to see it.” He compared the marijuana law reform efforts to those of the homosexual rights movement. He also spoke about his own relationship with marijuana. ”It causes me in my life to have a lot better relationship with the rest of the world,” Stroup said. Race War on Drugs and Effective Legal Advocacy was the first session Saturday. William Murphy, a Baltimore lawyer, talked about the differences between the way white people and African Americans are treated in drug cases. ”80 percent of drug users are white,” Murphy said. Murphy then referred to the high numbers of African American men in prison for drug-related cases. ”The only was anyone gets prison (for drug cases) is because police perjury,” Murphy said. “Police have inherit credibility. My clients will never have inherit credibility in this system.” Murphy mentioned the “Grateful Dead phenomenon” where drug use at concerts for the band is rampant but the police don't interfere, but he said police patrol black neighborhoods. The moderator for the Race War on Drugs and Effective Legal Advocacy session was Norm Stamper, former police chief of Seattle. ”Rodney King would have not been beaten senseless if he was white,” Stamper said. “It's systemwide. It's as disturbing as it is common.” Stamper is part of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, an organization that was giving away DVDs. ”LEAP: A 5,000 member organization created to give voice to law enforcers who know the US War on drugs is a failed policy and support legalized regulation of drugs as an alternative that will lower the incidence of death, disease, crime and addiction while saving tax dollars,” stated the cover of the DVD. Stamper is also quoted on the DVD. ”The drug war has arguably been the single most devastating, dysfunctional social policy since slavery,” Stamper said. Other sessions Saturday included Big Brother is Watching and Pot Planet, a review of marijuana policies around the world. Philippe Lucas from Canada demythed what he hears from a lot of Americans, about Canada having very liberal policies regarding marijuana. ”It saddens me to have to burst their bubble,” Lucas said. “What's going on here in California is the most progressive effort.” Sebastian Seville from talked about the marijuana policies in England and about morals and marijuana smoking. ”Smoking marijuana cannot, in any way, be described as immoral,” Seville said. “Arresting those who smoke it cannot be described as anything else. The conference ended with a NORML Night of Comedy Fundraiser at Cobb's Comedy Club. Source: Times-Standard (Eureka, CA)Author: Chris Durant, The Times-Standard Published: April 23, 2006Copyright: 2006 MediaNews Group, Inc. Contact: editor times-standard.comWebsite: http://www.times-standard.com/Related Article & Web Site:NORMLhttp://www.norml.org/Tommy Chong Addresses NORML Conferencehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread21760.shtmlCannabisNews NORML Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/NORML.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #15 posted by Dankhank on April 23, 2006 at 19:47:40 PT on Huff ... Hank Azaria and Angela Huston just shared a longish doobie smoke while sharing stories ... [ Post Comment ] Comment #14 posted by museman on April 23, 2006 at 12:41:27 PT a generation of vipers "a human being who has renounced his relationship with this eternal universe, a human being who has trivialized Eternity,"Wealth and power will do that to a human. Or better said; gives them choices that negates their sacred nature, replacing it with the illusion of value. [ Post Comment ] Comment #13 posted by global_warming on April 23, 2006 at 12:35:07 PT what is a Pharisee a human being who has renounced his relationship with this eternal universe,a human being who has trivialized Eternity, [ Post Comment ] Comment #12 posted by museman on April 23, 2006 at 12:34:28 PT G_W "You will know them by their works." [ Post Comment ] Comment #11 posted by global_warming on April 23, 2006 at 12:19:53 PT and those who profess allegiances in this night of the drug war,are they Phariseacal, or just taking care of their business interests? [ Post Comment ] Comment #10 posted by whig on April 23, 2006 at 12:15:11 PT gw What goes into a man's mouth does not make him unclean, but what comes out. Thus to clean the outside, to present a well-scrubbed exterior appearance, while being filled with the rankest filth of the worst kinds, is the nature of the Pharisee. [ Post Comment ] Comment #9 posted by global_warming on April 23, 2006 at 12:03:55 PT condemned to hell Mat 23:23 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You pay a tenth of mint, dill, and cumin, yet you have neglected the more important matters of the law--justice, mercy, and faith. These things should have been done without neglecting the others.Mat 23:24 Blind guides! You strain out a gnat, yet gulp down a camel!Mat 23:25 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence!Mat 23:26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup, so the outside of it may also become clean.Mat 23:27 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of dead men's bones and every impurity.Mat 23:28 In the same way, on the outside you seem righteous to people, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.Mat 23:29 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous,Mat 23:30 and you say, 'If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we wouldn't have taken part with them in shedding the prophets' blood.'Mat 23:31 You therefore testify against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.Mat 23:32 Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers' sins!Mat 23:33 "Snakes! Brood of vipers! How can you escape being condemned to hell? [ Post Comment ] Comment #8 posted by global_warming on April 23, 2006 at 11:04:56 PT wish i lived in conn.. Green Party nominates slate for statewide office.NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- The Green Party candidate for governor on Saturday called for an end to the drug war, voicing support for the legalization of marijuana.Cliff Thornton, a retired businessman, told about 50 delegates in a room at the Greater New Haven Labor Council, that the war on drugs was "designed to be waged, but never to be won."Thornton is a founder of Efficacy, a drug-reform group that calls the government's anti-drug campaign ineffective. Money spent to fight drugs would be better used to rebuild public works and fight social problems, he said. support for the legalization of marijuana [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by lombar on April 23, 2006 at 10:41:44 PT That which thy soul lusted after is gone from thee That is going to be the theme of the letters I write for awhile. We, as a people, both Americans and Canadians, supposedly prize freedom and liberty above everything. Individual liberties and the right to live were what all those young men stormed the beaches on D-day. Yet here we are, begging, demanding, the rights to live without the fear of persecution. The right to not be subject to EVIL policies that drive hatred, violence, and engender greed while providing a way for the ruthless to indulge it. It may even be that our so-called 'free markets' depend heavily upon taking the freedom of citizens and keeping the profits from cannabis (thust the costs) 10 times more than they should be. All that is good is brought low by our dependence (as a society) upon criminality in order to continue to exist. Criminalizing non-harmful activities like cannabis use and now an ever expanding police state which only suggests wider nets, criminalizing more non-harmful behavior, to preserve the prohibition inflated black market. Profits for the rich and ruthless, groups to fear and despise for the population, and a way for the state to interfere with any citizen at any time some weak pretext.Capital has been set free and to do so, the people must be all subjugated by it. Easy when the banks de-facto own the state." History records that the money changers have used every form of abuse, intrigue, deceit, and violent means possible to maintain their control over governments by controlling money and its issuance. -James Madison "Our society/civilisation is a mob of unenlightened and easily manipulated walking dead. Afraid to live because the state has made living openly and honestly almost IMPOSSIBLE. Afraid to die for fear of the unknown. Afraid of change and what might happen... dead. There are lights in the sea but by and large, lemmings marching to a twisted beat, continuing cycles of violence and poverty.A friend of mine posed the question: "How much good could have been done with all the money spent on the Iraq War, and if the US spent its military budget on alleviation of poverty?"I guess he did not see that the US government has to INSURE poverty to serve the big business interests by providing cheap and disposable labour. People with choices choose not to slave for pennies. You know, those big businesses that make all their money selling the government weapons and such? Corrupt through and through...(the Canadian government is currently a batch of wanna-bes, they just wanna be like the US) Money Masters [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by Hope on April 23, 2006 at 10:37:48 PT Truth Amen and Amen! "SMOKING MARIJUANA CANNOT, IN ANY WAY, BE DESCRIBED AS IMMORAL. ARRESTING THOSE WHO SMOKE IT CANNOT BE DESCRIBED AS ANYTHING ELSE." I plan on memorizing that like a verse of Scripture. [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by Truth on April 23, 2006 at 10:32:34 PT This says it all... "SMOKING MARIJUANA CANNONT, IN ANY WAY, BE DESCRIBED AS IMMORAL. ARRESTING THOSE WHO SMOKE IT CANNOT BE DESCRIBED AS ANYTHING ELSE." [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by Hope on April 23, 2006 at 09:36:46 PT THE TRUTH.... "SMOKING MARIJUANA CANNOT, IN ANY WAY, BE DESCRIBED AS IMMORAL. ARRESTING THOSE WHO SMOKE IT CANNOT BE DESCRIBED AS ANYTHING ELSE." [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by Hope on April 23, 2006 at 09:35:10 PT Stamper and Seville ”The drug war has arguably been the single most devastating, dysfunctional social policy since slavery,”My thoughts lately have considered the possibility that what Norm Stamper is saying is the terrible truth.”Smoking marijuana cannot, in any way, be described as immoral,” Seville said. “Arresting those who smoke it cannot be described as anything else. I agree with Sebastion Seville, too. So much.Hear the truth, people! Hear the truth, prohibitionists! "SMOKING MARIJUANA CANNONT, IN ANY WAY, BE DESCRIBED AS IMMORAL. ARRESTING THOSE WHO SMOKE IT CANNOT BE DESCRIBED AS ANYTHING ELSE." [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by FoM on April 23, 2006 at 09:16:52 PT Pro-Marijuana Rally in Amherst Video: http://www.cbs3online.com/news/local/2678956.htmlBy Nadia Salomon April 23, 2006It's called the Extrava-ganja. Where Amherst commons turns into a festival of food, music and a message to legalize pot. "Every year we rally here to at least decriminalize marijuana for the sick...I mean, our state needs to medicalize marijuana," said Duncan Schilcher, with the Cannabis Reform Coalition."I don't think people should go to jail for marijuana possession. Sick people going to jail for using it just to help their nausea. People who are sick here have a right to life, a right to a drug of their choice, it's an herb that grows from the ground and I think it's a wonderful thing," said Schilcher.C-R-C president Justin Sawyer, also doesn't think it's fair the government puts marijuana in the same category as LSD, ecstasy and heroin. He hopes this pro-pot rally will raise public awareness to stir the people here to vote to change the state's drug laws."There's no reason right now where terminally ill patients that have cancer, terrible diseases, should not be allowed to smoke this plant to alleviate some of their symptoms. It's proven scientifically...numerous studies have been done show it's good for cancer, aids, all kinds of ailments," said Sawyer.Our cameras weren't allowed in one tent. But, that didn't keep others from selling these so-called tobacco pipes and bongs out in the open. Rally-goer Elizabeth Passy braved the rain and cool temperature to support this cause. She thinks marijuana should be legalized."Cause they waste so much money putting criminals in jail for it that the government spends all their money on that, when they could spend it on more important things. The war in Iraq, schools that need money, education, everything," said Passy. Copyright: 2006 Meredith Broadcasting [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by FoM on April 23, 2006 at 09:08:16 PT Snipped Source: The More Wicked Weed April 23, 2006The drug of choice among children in Iowa isn't what most parents might expect, or even fear.It isn't alcohol. Methamphetamine? Not even close.Marijuana - more than all other drugs combined, including alcohol - is what juveniles want most. It is the state's No. 1 illicit drug problem among people of all ages, and is catching on among children as young as 11. Yet parents, many of whom think back to their own days of "casual" marijuana use, tend to be less concerned about their child's experimentation with a joint than a drink.They shouldn't be, medical and law enforcement authorities say.This is not your parents' pot. Today's marijuana is at least 10 times more potent than it was in the 1970s, according to Iowa's crime lab officials.Snipped:Complete Article: http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060423/NEWS01/604230339/1001/NEWS [ Post Comment ] Post Comment