cannabisnews.com: NORML's Weekly News Bulletin -- June 29, 2006 





NORML's Weekly News Bulletin -- June 29, 2006 
Posted by CN Staff on June 29, 2006 at 16:09:29 PT
Weekly Press Release
Source: NORML 
 Drug Czar's Office "Obsessed" With Marijuana, Fails To Address 'Hard Drug' Use, Study SaysJune 29, 2006 - Washington, DC, USAWashington, DC: The White House Office of National Drug Policy (ONDCP) has wasted billions of taxpayers' dollars since its formation in 1988 on ineffective and counter-productive policies that fail to meet the agency's core objectives, according to a report released this week by the non-partisan Washington, DC think-tank Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW).
"The federal government and the ONDCP have chosen to ignore evidence suggesting that the methods being used in the war on drugs are not effective," the report says. "[T]he federal government has become so obsessed with marijuana use that it is spending money unwisely."The report cites the ONDCP's National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign and the Justice Department's decision to prosecute medicinal cannabis patients and their caregivers as examples of two particularly wasteful and counterproductive programs."The government has thrown more than $1 billion at a campaign that has only succeeded in increasing the number of teenage marijuana users," the report states, noting that reviews of the media campaign have found that it often encourages - rather than discourages - cannabis use among viewers.Regarding the Justice Department's prosecution of state authorized medicinal cannabis patients, the report determines: "It is useless to throw millions of dollars into attacking patients that are simply trying to find the most effectual medicine possible. ... [S]tates must be given the right to create and enforce these [medical marijuana] laws within their jurisdiction."Congress voted 259 to 163 this week to continue enforcing federal penalties upon state-authorized patients.The CAGW report also rebukes government claims that marijuana serves as a "gateway" to harder drug use, finding that ONDCP policies aimed at reducing marijuana availability are unlikely to make a dent in the use and availability of harder drugs such as cocaine, methamphetamine, or heroin.Citizens Against Government Waste issued a similar critique of the ONDCP last year, calling the agency a "federal wasteland" that fails to show objective results.For more information, please contact Allen St. Pierre, NORML Executive Director, at (202) 483-5500. Full text of the CAGW report, "Wasted in the War on Drugs: Office of National Drug Control Policy's Wasted Efforts,' is available online at: http://www.cagw.org/site/DocServer/Drug_Report.pdf?docID=1661DL: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=6942Congress Votes To Continue Prosecuting State-Authorized Medicinal Cannabis Patients June 29, 2006 - Washington, DC, USA163 House Members Vote To End Federal ProsecutionsWashington, DC: State-authorized patients and their caregivers who use or possess medical cannabis will continue to be subject to federal arrest and prosecution, after the House of Representatives rejected a proposed amendment that sought to bar the US Department of Justice (DOJ) from targeting patients who use cannabis medicinally in accordance with the laws of their states.The House voted 259 to 163 against the bi-partisan measure, sponsored by Reps. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) and Maurice Hinchey (D-NY). The 163 House votes in favor of the patient-protection provision was the highest total ever recorded in a Congressional floor vote to liberalize marijuana laws. Of those who voted in support of the Hinchey/Rohrabacher medical marijuana amendment, 18 were Republicans (a gain of three votes from 2005) and 144 were Democrats (a loss of one vote from last year). The House's only Independent Congressman, Vermont Representative Bernard Sanders, also voted in favor of the amendment."For the fourth year in a row, Congress had an opportunity to stop wasting taxpayers' dollars arresting seriously ill patients who possess and use medical cannabis in compliance with state law," NORML Executive Director St Pierre said. "Instead, 259 members of Congress chose to prosecute patients."Representatives Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) and Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), along with Reps. Sam Farr (D-CA), Barney Frank (D-MA), Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), Barbara Lee (D-CA), David Obey (D-WI), and Lynn Woolsey (D-CA) spoke in favor of the amendment, while Reps. John Boozeman (R-AR), Steve King (R-IA), Tom Latham (R-IA), John Mica (R-FL), John Peterson (R-PA), and Frank Wolf (R-VA) spoke in opposition to the amendment.Following the vote, Rep. Hinchey vowed to keep lobbying in favor of the medicinal use of cannabis. "People who are dying and suffering in states where medical marijuana is legal should be able to use the drug under a doctor's supervision to ease their pain without having to worry that the federal government is going to bust down their door and arrest them," he said. "It is immoral to deny people access to medicine that can help relieve their pain and suffering. We will continue our fight in Congress to protect medical marijuana users and doctors in states that allow such use. This is a battle that must be won."For more information, please contact Allen St. Pierre, NORML Executive Director, at (202) 483-5500. Final vote tallies for the Hinchey/Rohrabacher medical marijuana amendment are available online at: http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2006/roll333.xmlDL: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=6940Source: NORML Foundation (DC)Published: June 29, 2006Copyright: 2006 NORML Contact: norml norml.org Website: http://www.norml.org/CannabisNews NORML Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/NORML.shtml 
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Comment #37 posted by afterburner on July 01, 2006 at 00:03:59 PT
#29 lombar & Other Interested Posters
Some resources to consider:botanical.com - A Modern Herbal | Tobacco - Herb Profile and Information
http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/t/tobacc21.htmlExcerpt from ---Constituents---:
The most important constituent is the alkaloid Nicotine, nicotianin, *nicotinine*, nicoteine, nicoteline. After leaves are smoked the nicotine decomposes into pyridine, furfurol, collidine, hydrocyanic acid, carbon-monoxide, etc. The poisonous effects of Tobacco smoke are due to these substances of decomposed nicotine. Excerpt from ---Medicinal Action and Uses---:
"The leaves in combination with the leaves of belladonna or stramonium make an excellent application for obstinate ulcers, painful tremors and spasmodic affections. A wet Tobacco leaf applied to piles is a certain cure. The inspissated juice cures facial neuralgia if rubbed along the tracks of the affected nerve."&&&I have maintained a theory for a long time that when nicotine is burned, it turns into oxidized nicotine. Niacin is nicotinic acid, or oxidized nicotine. Niacin, or B-3, is necessary for mental balance. Prolonged fasting and/or a diet lacking in niacin--like a corn-based diet of the North American Aboriginal people can cause a "schizophrenic"-like experience. Perhaps, schizophrenics are desperately seeking mental balance through the temporary effect of oxidized nicotine. Since the rest of the B-complex may be missing from their diet, due to over-refined flour made into white bread with a few synthetic vitamins added back in, the balance never becomes permanent and the sufferer never heals.&&&nicotinic acid
http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/nicotinic+acid"One entry found for nicotinic acid.
 "Main Entry: nicotinic acid
Function: noun
: an acid C6H5NO2 of the vitamin B complex found widely in animals and plants and used especially against pellagra -- called also niacin"&&&nicotine
http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/nicotine"One entry found for nicotine.
 "Main Entry: nic·o·tine 
Pronunciation: 'ni-k&-"tEn
Function: noun
Etymology: French, from New Latin nicotiana
: a poisonous alkaloid C10H14N2 that is the chief active principle of tobacco and is used as an insecticide"&&&nicotinine - Google Search
http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=RNWE,RNWE:2004-49,RNWE:en&q=nicotinineMembers - Institute for Ageing and Health - University of Newcastle
http://www.ncl.ac.uk/iah/staff/publication/4873
Nicotinine binding in human striatum: elevation in schizophrenia and reductions in dementia with Lewy bodies, Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease ... &&&Niacin : Nutrition : Active Low-Carber Forums
http://forum.lowcarber.org/archive/index.php/t-42279.html
destruction of nicotinine does produce niacin. I know of no evidence that plants make niacin in any quantity. It's basically a manufactored substance made ...&&&Schizophrenia Daily News Blog: Schizophrenia and Nicotine
http://www.schizophrenia.com/sznews/archives/000879.html
Niacin either helps the brain produce or has a byproduct (cant remember which) of a substance called Nicotinine. A recommended therapy for people with this ...
 
Schizophrenia Daily News Blog: Complimentary Schizophrenia Treatments Archives:Schizophrenia Daily News Blog: Nicotine for Alzheimers, & Schizophrenia?
http://www.schizophrenia.com/sznews/archives/002767.htmlSchizophrenia Daily News Blog: Diet May Affect Outcome of Schizophrenia
http://www.schizophrenia.com/sznews/archives/002546.html&&&Disproven (or Unproven) & Overmarketed "Schizophrenia Treatments"[*They*, the medical profession, want to disprove the niacin hypothesis because they are embarrassed and/or threatened by the implications and by the psychedelic researchers who first studied it.]:Niacin 
http://www.schizophrenia.com/treatments.htm#niacin &&&psychedelicpp.3-7 Psychedelics Encyclopedia, first editionWhat's "Psychedelic"?Excerpt:
"The word 'psychedelic' wasn't actually coined until 1956. How this came about is one of the fascinating stories that make up this saga. "It begins back in the early 1950s, when Humphry Osmond--along with Abram Hoffer and John Smythies--began experimenting with mescaline. Osmond, an English psychiatrist, spent what he later called 'Peyote Night' out with the Indians of the Canadian Plains. During that night he recorded and participated in their religious ceremonies. He and Smythies had earlier written some papers on the mental effects of mescaline, which came to the attention of novelist Aldous Huxley. ..."It was evident from Huxley's description of what he experienced the first time he tried mescaline sulfate that he was *not* going through some kind of imitation psychosis. In the literature then available about what we now call psychedelic the term most commonly used to describe their effects was 'psychotomemetic' (meaning psychosis mimicking). Yet Huxley described something he clearly though was akin to classic mystical experience. ..."This distinction between the usual description of the drug and the actual experience also bothered Osmond and his colleague Abram Hoffer after they began to experiment with the use of LSD in treating acute alcoholism. They states they began producing in their subjects were not at all what they had expected. ..."Their common interest in psycoactive drugs led Osmond and Huxley into correspondence. In 1956 they turned up the word 'psychedelic'--coming from psyche (mind) and delos (arising or manifesting)--as a proposed name for the type of experience engendered by certain mental drugs for which the language has no appropriate word. ..."Especially noteworthy about the word 'psycedelic' is the presence of the first 'e'--which removes it effectively from most connotations with 'psychotic,' 'psycho,' etc."&&&Competition by R. Cobb, My Fellow Americans (1967), IN
Psychedelics Encyclopedia, Page 72 - Google Book Search
http://tinyurl.com/ewbj5
[Scroll to the right to see the table of contents and some sample pages from the latest edition of Psychedelics Encyclopedia.]&&&botanical.com - A Modern Herbal | Hemp, Indian - Herb Profile and Information
http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/h/hemind22.htmlExcerpt:"Botanical: Cannabis sativa (LINN.) "---Synonyms---Cannabis Indica. Cannabis Chinense. Ganeb. Ganja. Kif. Hanf. Tekrouri. Chanvre. 
---Part Used---The dried, flowering tops of the female, or pistillate plants. 
---Habitat---India. "---Medicinal Action and Uses---The principal use of Hemp in medicine is for easing pain and inducing sleep, and for a soothing influence in nervous disorders. It does not cause constipation nor affect the appetite like opium. It is useful in neuralgia, gout, rheumatism, delirium tremens, insanity, infantile convulsions, insomnia, etc. "The tincture helps parturition, and is used in senile catarrh, gonorrhoea, menorrhagia, chronic cystitis and all painful urinary affections. An infusion of the seed is useful in after pains and prolapsus uteri. The resin may be combined with ointments, oils or chloroform in inflammatory and neuralgic complaints. "The drug deteriorates rapidly and hence is very variable, so that it is best given in ascending quantities to produce its effect. The deterioration is due to the oxidation of cannabinol and it should be kept in hermetically-sealed containers. "The action is almost entirely on the higher nerve centres. It can produce an exhilarating intoxication, with hallucinations, and is widely used in Eastern countries as an intoxicant, hence its names 'leaf of delusion,' 'increaser of pleasure,' 'cementer of friendship,' etc. The nature of its effect depends much on the nationality and temperament of the individual. It is regarded as dangerous to sleep in a field of hemp owing to the aroma of the plants." &&&Hemp, Enc. Britannica 1856 about hemp
http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/h/hemp22a.html
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Comment #36 posted by potpal on June 30, 2006 at 20:06:43 PT
living with drug war
Couple things...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/devon/5130472.stmAnd a giggle...but seriously why we have such a sorry state of affairs...
http://www.comedycentral.com/sitewide/media_player/play.jhtml?itemId=70892Aloha.
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Comment #35 posted by mayan on June 30, 2006 at 19:23:52 PT
FEDERAL WASTELAND
From the first article...Citizens Against Government Waste issued a similar critique of the ONDCP last year, calling the agency a "federal wasteland" that fails to show objective results.At least the ONDCP is consistent! I imagine they'll recieve a similar critique every year, at least until they're disbanded! 
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Comment #34 posted by Wayne on June 30, 2006 at 19:04:35 PT
re: c25
lombar, it's funny you mentioned the list of arguments. I actually just started doing that a couple of days ago. Everyone should pool their resources. How could true knowledge in numbers be anything but a blessing? I've got gateway and potency tackled already. Some of these statistics come from DrugWarFacts.org, a great source of stats:Gateway Theory: Over 72,000,000 people have tried marijuana. But only 600,000 have become hooked on cocaine, and even fewer on heroin. That is a ‘gateway’ rate of about 0.8%, or about 1 in 120. You would come up with a higher gateway rate by saying that Mountain Dew is a gateway to tobacco.Potency Theory: "Pot is much stronger than it was in the 1970s." That claim is based on the THC content of the marijuana seized by police. Pot that was seized back then wasn’t being grown in hydroponic grow-houses, and wasn’t being refrigerated or otherwise cared for. Cops were basically seizing ‘bad’ weed. Of course the marijuana seized these days is stronger. It has been grown using a method that produces higher THC content, and it typically hasn’t had time to spoil. Also, marijuana has never killed anyone. It takes smoking 40,000 joints in one sitting to overdose on THC. Even if pot were 5,000 times stronger tomorrow than it is today, it still wouldn’t kill you. Potency instantly becomes a moot point.
http://www.drugwarfacts.org
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Comment #33 posted by global_warming on June 30, 2006 at 16:34:52 PT
so here it is
you got it all buttoned down
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Comment #32 posted by global_warming on June 30, 2006 at 16:09:39 PT
if Jesus
was nailed to some crossfor the crime of seditionmay my useless wasted lifebe placed at the foot of that abominable cross
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Comment #31 posted by global_warming on June 30, 2006 at 15:53:42 PT
re:c29
Is there a huge upswing in the numbers of people being committed for being delusional, schizoprhenic? Evidently so, since a short while back I recall reading, that Bush and his administration were pushing for some new law of the land, that children and citizens should be screened (that is tested) for mental illness, this so sounds like Herod, that issued a decree, that all the firstborn should be put to death.
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Comment #30 posted by global_warming on June 30, 2006 at 15:01:40 PT
re: c27
Challenging that cannabis is related to "psychiatric effects" is very difficult because it is clearly a strongly psychoactive and it does change people's personalities in substantial ways (beneficial ways, in our opinion). But from the standpoint of the mainstream, these changes are abnormal, strange and might indicate an "illness"."I think you have hit the nail on the head, for it this change, strangeness that is so feared, for it is during that short period that the human mind (which has not been understood yet ..consciousness.. and the orphan soul ) experience Cannabis euphoria, that short time when ones mind glimpses its place in reality, the soul sees the vastness of Eternity, yet it can look down at its ankle and see the shackles that Ceaser has placed around its foot.Fear not Cannabis, but fear Ceaser and all his blind mutant slaves, for they feed on lies and deceptions, ignorance and anger, may the Light that comes from the Heart of the Universe fill their minds and souls.
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Comment #29 posted by lombar on June 30, 2006 at 14:05:05 PT
Have to think about that one.
Since it is questionable whether pyschiatry is science, voodoo, or another social control, or a combination thereof, many can indeed make the argument that psychiatric model is flawed. But a model is just a projection of belief/theory, not the real phenomena, to predict real phenomena. No abstract model is 100% accurate, the weather man can't predict the weather. As I understand it, schizophrenia is not an illness that is quantifiable (maybe none of them are), it is a label attached to a bunch of symptoms that are not otherwise explainable. I have seen cases ranging from mild to very bad, they just turn them out on the streets here, a halfway house that eats up their disabilty leaving many scrounging ciggarettes.About 90% of 'schizophrenics' smoke tobacco, that could be a possible attack. The prohibs use tactics like that all the time. Rather than directly debunk the question, attack its relevence. 90% of schizophrenics smoke tobacco. Why is there no study to see if there is a direct causal effect from legal tobbacco?Answer:predjudiceIt is even deeper still, if you can't trust authority in the first place, you cannot really trust the certification by the 'authorities' of any other ones like doctors. Since prescription meds are the 4th leading cause of death in the USA (heard, not verified) we can be reasonably sure that doctors are not GOD, nor is the system infallible. If doctors cannot be sure of their 'physical' models, how can pychiatrists be certain their 'mental' models are any more accurate?.However many people are wrapped in a cocoon, swaddled in the comfort of the belief that 'ceaser can do no wrong'. When they get their rude awakening, everything comes into question. Everything you have ever been told has to be tested against your increasing awareness, perhaps many times.Is there a huge upswing in the numbers of people being committed for being delusional, schizoprhenic? There has sure been an upswing in the numbers of people using cannabis.What research has been done on the beneficial effects of cannabis on mental illness? They only ever try to prove cannabis 'causes' mental illness rather than study the reasons for the correlations. what if the reasons that shcizophrenics become paranoid from cannabis is because there is a corrupt narco-fascist state that will take whatever they have for a few puffs of a plant, rather than the actual effects of the plant itself?
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Comment #28 posted by afterburner on June 30, 2006 at 13:45:36 PT
Here in Grandmother's Land
I see children in tie-dyed shirts. I see elders in tie-dyed shirts. It looks beautiful.And yes, whig, the battle is about abnormal psychology vs. human potential psychology.Off to work I go. Be safe and happy. 
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Comment #27 posted by whig on June 30, 2006 at 13:30:15 PT
lombar
Okay, you want to argue the prohibitionist arguments?Address this one please:1 - It's not safe - causes psychosis/schizophrenia in vulnerable individualsDo we want to address this from the side of statistical data relying upon the psychiatric model?Or do we want to reject the psychiatric model?This is a hard problem, because to attack the psychiatric model altogether is to challenge a much more deeply held public belief than prohibition itself. We could wind up marginalizing our public support if we make them think we are anti-psychiatry.But we are anti-psychiatry.So how openly should we express this and in how much detail?Maybe this is precisely the battle we should be waging, notwithstanding the political situation we cannot be trying to win through deception or material withholding.Challenging that cannabis is related to "psychiatric effects" is very difficult because it is clearly a strongly psychoactive and it does change people's personalities in substantial ways (beneficial ways, in our opinion). But from the standpoint of the mainstream, these changes are abnormal, strange and might indicate an "illness".And a lot of people go through an adjustment phase which is very much a land of confusion. Not all of us are well supported by people who can help us figure out what we should do or say when we don't know whether we are crazy or just discovering something new that we had never perceived before.The solution to this confusion is really easy if we have a support system like CNews and whatever other sites we have to explain it. That's why I talk about my beliefs a lot, my understanding of the world and the reality of what we all perceive. Because even if we all perceive them, if we never talk about them nobody knows we do, and each of us might feel like nobody else feels like we do. Very lonely, and it takes a lot to figure that out without help.
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Comment #26 posted by FoM on June 30, 2006 at 13:26:07 PT
Just a Little More About The Rainbow Gathering
Rainbow Group Prepares Excerpt:The all-vegan, all-kosher "Jerusalem" kitchen will kick off its main celebration today at 6 p.m. with a 24-hour celebration of prayer, singing and dancing to welcome Shabbat, the Jewish holy day of rest."Our celebration works with the Rainbow idea of disconnecting and unplugging," said Rav Shmuel, a Jewish Orthodox rabbi who is vacationing from New York City.http://www.steamboatpilot.com/section/news/story/37963
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Comment #25 posted by lombar on June 30, 2006 at 12:58:28 PT
Perhaps..
We could compile a list of the current arguments for prohibition (yes, both of them ;-)) and then eviscerate them, one by one.The new risk is the 'potent pot' myth.1) potent pot
2) gateway
3) becuase its the law
4) another drug in the mix.perhaps we could compile a fact card for peppering candidates in public with. I am thinking they need to be cornered and exposed as freedom-haters because that is what all prohibitionists are. Maybe there is one somewhere already.There really is not much more than the underlying myth that cannabis is somehow more dangerous than alcohol as a recreational drug. Prejudice mostly.
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Comment #24 posted by Hope on June 30, 2006 at 10:18:06 PT
And here I sit
in my favorite tie dyed t-shirt.:0)It's pretty and it's message is "Joy" without having to have a printed word on it.
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Comment #23 posted by FoM on June 30, 2006 at 10:10:42 PT
Max Flowers 
No matter what I've done in my life my heart has always been tie-dyed.
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Comment #22 posted by Max Flowers on June 30, 2006 at 09:51:02 PT
Hippies
We're the "Negroes" of the 21st century. Looks like we need to re-establish our human and civil rights just like black people did in the 1940s, 50s and 60s. Who would've thought that would be needed this far down the line??
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Comment #21 posted by Toker00 on June 30, 2006 at 09:45:53 PT
It's amazing, really.
The Hippie culture has created The New American Renaissance. Proudly wear the name of Hippie! Let the name stand tall and proud, and as we begin the annual recognition of The New American Renaissance, we shall make our presence ever known in this world. (Wouldn't this be a total embarrassment to the right wingers, if the country embraced Hippieism? Again? Perfect!) PROUD TO BE A HIPPIE! Let's talk it up, y'all! It's just good, common sense!Wage peace on war. END CANNABIS PROHIBITION NOW!
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Comment #20 posted by FoM on June 30, 2006 at 08:21:39 PT
More About The Hippie Culture
Woodstock To Go Hip from Hippie***By Jennifer Harper, The Washington TimesJune 14, 2006 Are we talking Jimi Gym Togs and Sly and the Family Stoneware here?   The original promoters of Woodstock announced Monday that they have licensed the name of the fabled 1969 music fest to a marketing group, which plans to create a "Woodstock lifestyles brand" -- fashion, accessories and home decor inspired by the old hippie era of peace, love and shamelessly garish colors. "The three magical days of music and community at Woodstock has left a lasting and indelible mark on the minds of not only baby boomers, but all generations in the U.S. and around the world," said Dell Furano of the Signatures Network. Complete Article: http://washingtontimes.com/national/20060613-110630-9585r.htm
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Comment #19 posted by FoM on June 30, 2006 at 07:57:47 PT
Camp Wavy: Summer Camp for Fun-Loving Adults
By Dorothy VriendJune 24, 2006Known as the voice calling for breakfast in bed for 400,000 at Woodstock, Berkeley's Wavy Gravy is still on stage at his Camp Winnarainbow north of Laytonville. A summer camp for youths, it opens each year with a week for adults.After a three-hour drive north on Highway 101, campers leave the stresses of everyday life in the parking lot and are absorbed into a thick grove of oak and bay trees, where the motto is all play and fun.Complete Article: http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/breaking_news/14896231.htm
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Comment #18 posted by FoM on June 30, 2006 at 07:48:45 PT
Sam 
Thank you for saying nice things about our culture, past and now present. I really appreciate it.
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Comment #17 posted by FoM on June 30, 2006 at 07:44:47 PT
Upcoming Concert Events: Feeding The Hippies
 Jun 29 2006Veteran booking agent Shelly Schultz recently teamed up with promoter Toby Ludwig and Tattoo The Earth production coordinator Ron Hausfeld to package a festival tour for what they believe is an underserved demographic. Namely, hippies. The Hippiefest kicks off in Brooklyn, N.Y., August 3rd and hits several East Coast markets throughout the month. On board are Felix Cavaliere's Rascals, Mountain, Canned Heat, Lovin' Spoonful, Country Joe McDonald, Mitch Ryder, Iron Butterfly, Vanilla Fudge, Rare Earth, Melanie, Badfinger, Janis Ian, Denny Laine, Terry Sylvester, Dr. Hook, and Blood, Sweat & Tears. Hosting the event is counterculture icon Wavy Gravy.
 The idea was cooked up by Ludwig, who produced the Walk Down Abby Road show that featured Todd Rundgren, Alan Parsons, John Entwistle and Ann Wilson. According to Ludwig and Schultz, this is the first time a tour has been geared toward the flower children. Because Ludwig came up with the idea for the festival in early May, this tour will be a short one. "I think we're only going to do about a dozen dates this summer," Schultz said. "We want to be able to have this up and healthy, with all of the mistakes made this year without killing anybody. We may do 30, 40 shows next year." Ludwig added that he was amazed that nothing has ever been done on this level. "Well, thankfully," Schultz joked. All kidding aside, the producers expect the tour to be a viable summer package that can bring in the younger crowd as well as the baby-boomers. Hippiefest launches August 3 at Asher Levy Park in Brooklyn, N.Y., and will continue through eight more cities in New York, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Michigan. "The period of the '60s is the equivalent of the Renaissance that occurred artistically in Europe. The same revolution in modern art, music and cultural awakening took place then as well," Felix Cavaliere said. "The enduring fact is that it [the '60s and '70s] was an era full of new and beautiful works and thoughts. The generations that follow, however, still feel the beauty and richness of the period. The division in our country is worse today than it has been in many years. Music always bridged the gap; it cannot be suppressed."Joe Reinartz / Pollstar Copyright: 2006 Pollstarhttp://www.pollstar.com/news/viewnews.pl?NewsID=7047
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Comment #16 posted by Sam Adams on June 30, 2006 at 07:42:48 PT
Rainbow
The way the Rainbow gathering is treated is a telling sign about government and policy in the US.However you feel about the institution of marriage, the issue of gay marriage has become the litmus test of our culture and acceptance of people that are gay. In reality, gay marriage means that same-sex couples can get all sorts of important financial and legal benefits. But, it's never been about those issues. To our politician masters, allowing gay marriage is a statement acknowledging that it they now think that being gay is OK. And the states that are banning it are clearly saying it's NOT ok in their state.And, like it or not, cannabis is the bellwether issue for government's approval of hippies. No matter how much information we have on money wasted by Prohibition, kids losing college aid, people losing jobs because of arrest records, families torn apart, etc., none of that really makes any difference. No matter how many clean-cut, corporate workers use cannabis, or even presidents and supreme court justices smoke it. The government and rich elite never want to admit that the "hippie" lifestyle is OK. When government get so big that the people in it are totally disconnected from the real world of working at a job to earn a living based on your productivity as a human, this is what happens. The political class lives in a make-believe world of fantasy. Where it's more important to satisify your own bloated ego, to not to "condone" the hippie lifestyle than ANY real world consideration.  It doesn't matter if we run the deficit up so high that the country is plunged into Depression for 20 years. The political class would gladly do that, rather that leave the 5% of the population alone that choose NOT to spend their lives obsessing over materialism, greed, and status. 
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Comment #15 posted by FoM on June 30, 2006 at 07:38:08 PT
Sam
I think of it this way. They never want to see another Woodstock so keep pushing against the people. Don't let them gather. Insult them. It's almost like trolling. 
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Comment #14 posted by Sam Adams on June 30, 2006 at 07:30:40 PT
Rainbow gathering
So much for the "right to assemble". Apparently you have to beg permission from the US forest service for more than 75 people to assemble. Even if it's on public land - OUR land.It's almost like the government of today is using the Bill of Rights as a road map on which rights to take away in order to keep us down.  The government is so huge and omnipotent now, you can't even flee to the wilderness to escape. Now their armed thugs reach to the darkest corners of our vast forests.Sure, you're free to assemble, as long as it's at some corporate sports or music event with $100 tickets. Assemble all you want!  As long as Ticketmaster gets a cut, it's A-OK!I highly recommend reading Edward Abbey to anyone who hasn't done so. Start with "Desert Solitaire". He recognized that the government's lust to pave roads into as many forests as possible is driven by the urge to oppress and control. Once their is no place to physically escape the government, their control is complete.He first figured this out back in the 50's, when the government would argue and haggle with every proposed penny of expenses from the US Park Service, but they would spend $100 million without hesitation to put roads into the same parks.
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Comment #13 posted by FoM on June 30, 2006 at 07:06:32 PT
Hope
I know that every little thing that happens at the Gathering will be blown out of proportion but that's the way it is. They have tried to stop the Rainbows from gathering since they started in 72. I doubt they will stop them now. I just read on one article they said some have Hepatitis C. How would they know that because it takes special blood tests to determine if a person has the virus. When I read that I though how many of people policing the gathering have HepC? Anyone who has a tattoo could be infected since it's easily transferred that way. They want them to be considered, dirty, sick, rejects like they always do.
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Comment #12 posted by Hope on June 29, 2006 at 23:21:18 PT
Amen!
"I pray for a peaceful gathering and good fellowship for all of them."
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Comment #11 posted by afterburner on June 29, 2006 at 22:58:25 PT
Treating Yourself Magazine Is Online
Treating Yourself Magazine: Promoting the Responsible and Respectable Use of Medical Marijuana
http://www.treatingyourself.com/magazine/click the link: Stinky Editorial Pg 10
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Comment #10 posted by FoM on June 29, 2006 at 22:44:20 PT
Hope
I hope nothing goes seriously wrong. People are very angry these days and can snap out easily. That will happen when a person or group of people feel their freedom is being taken away. I pray for a peaceful gathering and good fellowship for all of them. I check Google for updates often and subscribed to the Rainbow Gatherings Yahoo Group. When I checked a few hours ago everything seems fine.
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Comment #9 posted by Hope on June 29, 2006 at 22:33:44 PT
Thanks, FoM
Anyone know anything about that Lexx guy? He's saying that everyone is being arrested. The papers say about 250. I'm scared for the Phamily. Authorities are still saying that they are all illegal campers and some seem to be bristling to do something. I hope those "bristlers" stay calm and don't instigate and incident. That fire situation is worrisome, too. Although...what with bug infestation and the dead trees...it's seems like the forest is due for a natural burning. I so hope it doesn't happen while the Rainbows are there.
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Comment #8 posted by FoM on June 29, 2006 at 22:08:50 PT
Hope
Yes it appears that a lot is happening. http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=us&ie=UTF-8&q=rainbow+gathering&btnG=Search+News
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Comment #7 posted by Hope on June 29, 2006 at 21:57:28 PT
Anyone heard anything 
from or about what might be going on with the Rainbows?
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Comment #6 posted by afterburner on June 29, 2006 at 21:52:51 PT
Movie Review, Drug-Testing Limits, Critcism of UN
CN BC: The Prosecution Of Comedian Tommy Chong, Vancouver Sun, (29 Jun 2006) http://www.mapinc.org/newstcl/v06/n849/a03.html?176CN AB: Court Overturns Drug-test Firing, Edmonton Journal, (29 Jun 2006) http://www.mapinc.org/newstcl/v06/n849/a04.html?176CN ON: Editorial: The Real Dope On Marijuana, Ottawa Citizen, (29 Jun 2006) http://www.mapinc.org/newstcl/v06/n846/a08.html?176
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Comment #5 posted by FoM on June 29, 2006 at 21:40:04 PT
Whig
Do you mean like something you would write could be commented on like we can an article? I understand that concept but people don't keep their comments on the article all the time but follow the mood of the people commenting. It's like people go with the flow. An article makes us think and then we can go off in different directions which to me is what is beneficial. I learn that way. 
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Comment #4 posted by FoM on June 29, 2006 at 21:32:40 PT
whig
I like the link because I am getting excited about the Freedom of Speech Tour. I said to my husband today I can imagine everyone singing along to Restless Consumer and singing Don't Need No More Lies. Neil is trying to motivate people with the music and the tour. I'm glad his health is holding up and that he can do it for us.As far as people being able to read all the comments it depends on how much time they would spend here. I don't read blogs because my time is spent on CNews or whatever else I'm trying to get done in a day. I can only absorb so much and then I get overloaded. I am not sure what a blog would do. That doesn't mean anything except I don't understand it all. I check Google News and read my Neil Young List and the CCC list. I read about global warming and earth issues. I can't think of anything I'm not keeping up on already that is an interest to me. One thing I do know is if you have a desire to do more you should do more. Never let anyone or anything hold you back and that goes for everyone.
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Comment #3 posted by whig on June 29, 2006 at 21:12:05 PT
FoM
That LWW Today website was not what I hoped for. I don't think it was much more than a promotional thing and there was nothing or no one I could really interact with there.Made me a little sad for a minute because it could have been something excellent. But there are other excellent places for that kind of thing, so it's not really a big deal. Neil does what he does, through his music, and he is not someone that should be trying to build up a conversation online when other people can do that, and he can keep writing and performing his music.I'm going to see what I can do. I don't want to break the conversation between us here in order to talk somewhere else, though. Nothing should detract from CNews, it's our home base for our group of people and it should remain.I just wonder whether people who are casually looking at the site really have time to read through so many of the comments every day to keep up with the conversation and how we're thinking about things. Somehow we ought to be able to put those thoughts into articles that others can read to get the sort of condensed explanation, not just by finding Comment #3 in a thread entitled "NORML's Weekly News Bulletin -- June 29, 2006".What I'm talking about is kind of a CNews-OT list which feeds back to CNews, but a website kind of like this where others can comment to our comments. That's what I mean by a "blog" too.
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Comment #2 posted by FoM on June 29, 2006 at 20:09:05 PT
Off Topic: Neil Young News
NeilYoung.com debuts two new additions today which will feature additional never-before-seen content added periodically over the next few weeks. Please be sure to check it out, post about it and help spread the word!
 
 
Dan
 Living With War Network & Living With War Today Newspaperhttp://www.neilyoung.com/lwwtoday/index.htmlAvailable Now at http://www.neilyoung.com/ Submissions Being Accepted forProtest & Topical Songs & Videos FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: (Burbank, CA) June 29, 2006-Two exciting new additions to Neil Young's website make their debut today. Living With War Network will feature both brand new videos and documentaries for songs from the recent album Living With War, as well as rare archival material from the musician's past, including a live clip of "Mideast Vacation," filmed in 1987. Several other surprises are going to be available on the site soon, making it a not-to-miss interactive destination for everyone interested in world events.Living With War Today, with its motto "All War All The Time," is a special online newspaper with an wide array of features, ranging from a unique Time Line Analyzer to reports from the Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young Freedom of Speech '06 tour. There will be continual tour info and updates, which starts Thursday, July 6th in Camden, NJ, continuing across the United States and Canada.A unique feature of the newspaper will be a section for artists to submit their own protest or topical songs and videos for possible play on the LWW web network. Along with that is the LWW Today Questionnaire, which asks readers to share their thoughts on five questions regarding the war, with selected responses to be posted as they come in.Other newspaper items include the exclusive Time Line Analyzer, which allows website visitors the ability to track events before, during and after the Living With War album throughout the media. The Great Debate section, which collects all the pro and con reviews of Young's Living With War album is also now available at LWW Today, allowing readers to fully trace all the critical reactions to the controversial release.Other highlights include an exclusive travel section, as well as a series of features on each song from the album. The first story, "After The Garden," is written by noted scribe Jack Flak. Others will become available over the summer. Two important icons are included near the masthead that provide links to both the USO, so readers can support those in the military needing assistance, as well as the League of Women Voters, for those seeking voting information regarding the upcoming election in the Fall.The Living With War website will be updated regularly, so stay tuned and stay informed.Dan 
#818/953-3750
Neil Young: Living With War
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Comment #1 posted by billos on June 29, 2006 at 17:57:08 PT
                Sooooo
What's new????
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