cannabisnews.com: 3 Myths About Marijuana

cannabisnews.com: 3 Myths About Marijuana
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3 Myths About Marijuana
Posted by CN Staff on May 24, 2009 at 05:58:40 PT
By Rob Kampia
Source: Star-Tribune
USA -- Our nation is having the most intense debate about our marijuana laws in more a generation -- one that Minnesotans recently saw play out in full force as legislators and Gov. Tim Pawlenty debated medical marijuana. As one who has pushed for just such a debate, I'm delighted, but as I and other Marijuana Policy Project staffers have engaged with journalists and policymakers lately, it's become clear that this debate is being hobbled by a series of myths.
If we want marijuana laws that make sense -- that actually prevent harm rather than cause it -- we have to get these myths out of the way.Myth No. 1: Marijuana is illegal because it's dangerous. In fact, the first national marijuana ban was passed in 1937 based on a wave of hysterical propaganda and newspaper stories that had nothing to do with marijuana's actual effects. Goaded by Federal Bureau of Narcotics chief Harry Anslinger, newspapers printed wild stories such as the San Francisco Examiner's claim that "Marihuana makes fiends of boys in thirty days -- Hashish goads users to bloodlust."Many of these had a distinctly racist undercurrent, featuring marijuana-crazed Mexicans and African-Americans attacking innocent white girls.We now know that, while no drug is harmless, the health risks of marijuana are relatively modest. Compared with alcohol, marijuana is less addictive, much less toxic, and overwhelmingly less likely to provoke violence. In the words of Dr. Leslie Iversen, Oxford University pharmacology professor and member of the British government's Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, "Overall, by comparison with other drugs used mainly for 'recreational' purposes, cannabis could be rated to be a relatively safe drug."Myth No. 2: Legal marijuana would mean an explosion in marijuana use, bringing all the same social and health problems we now see with liquor and tobacco. In fact, research suggests that laws banning marijuana have little effect on use rates.A World Health Organization survey published last year found that in the Netherlands -- where adults are allowed to possess small amounts of marijuana and purchase it from regulated businesses -- the rate of marijuana use is only half of ours. When Britain ended most marijuana possession arrests in 2004, the rate of marijuana use went down, not up. After reviewing data from U.S. states that have decriminalized marijuana, the National Research Council concluded, "there is little apparent relationship between severity of sanctions prescribed for drug use and prevalence or frequency of use."But even if there were a modest increase in marijuana use, marijuana simply doesn't cause the severe health and social problems that these two legal drugs cause. Unlike tobacco, for example, marijuana has never been shown to cause lung cancer or emphysema.And the main social harm from booze is violence, with alcohol well-established as a major contributor to domestic violence. Marijuana, as the journal Addictive Behaviors noted recently, decreases aggression and violence during intoxication. Consider how often we hear of violence committed "in a drunken rage." Have you ever heard of a marijuana user committing mayhem "in a stoned rage"?Myth No. 3: We must keep marijuana illegal for adults in order to keep it away from kids. This seems obvious to most people, but efforts to cut teen cigarette smoking tell a different story.Cigarettes are legal for adults, produced and sold by licensed, regulated businesses, and that's actually helped keep them away from kids. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 1991, 27.5 percent of U.S. high school students were current cigarette smokers. By 2007, that had dropped by over a quarter, to 20 percent, while current marijuana use jumped from 14.7 percent to 19.7 percent, a statistical tie with cigarette use.Why the difference? In 1995, Congress passed the Synar amendment, mandating a crackdown on underage tobacco sales, and from 1997 to 2007 illegal tobacco sales to minors dropped 75 percent. Because tobacco sellers -- unlike drug dealers -- are licensed and regulated, we can set rules and make sure they're followed. We have no such control over marijuana dealers.The present national debate on marijuana policy is long overdue. But if we're going to get it right this time, we can't let the discussion be weighed down by myths and mistaken beliefs not supported by the evidence.Rob Kampia is executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project.Source: Minneapolis Star-Tribune (MN) Author: Rob KampiaPublished: May 23, 2009 Copyright: 2009 Star Tribune Contact: opinion startribune.com Website: http://www.startribune.com/URL: http://drugsense.org/url/TCMSBXzWCannabisNews -- Cannabis Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/cannabis.shtml
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Comment #37 posted by Hope on May 27, 2009 at 13:50:06 PT
That's very interesting.
Some little something for a perfect stranger. That might really be an antidepressant... if you can keep the right state of mind. None of "They wouldn't care"... or "They'll just blow it." Thinking how it might surprise them and give them a smile and a happy thought to have all day is a good feeling to imagine. They might tell the story to people they meet. "Someone just walked up to me and gave me five dollars for no reason. What do you think of that?"A very old man walked up to my daughter one day in Wal-mart and handed her a poem he said he'd written. He told her he'd written it especially for someone that day, he just didn't know who until he saw her, and he smiled and walked away. It made her day, which had been kind of rough, have a sparkle that it didn't have before. As I remember the one page poem was something to the effect of "A Beautiful Face". She is a beautiful woman, but that day she'd been to the dermatologist and had something burned off her face and actually looked and felt pretty rough. It was just a regular weekday morning that she'd taken off from work to have that procedure done. She was amazed and touched and came home and showed the poem to me. We were both touched and had a sense of wonder about it all. Still do.Stuff like that makes you think God really does work through some people at the most unexpected times. It's certainly a better thing to do for yourself and someone else than sitting in front of the TV griping and feeling bad about all the wrongs going on in the world. Once, I believe God used a young man, a total stranger to me, at a gas station to dry some of my tears, silly though those tears might have been. I'd been shopping that day and had noticed a couple of women nearby staring at my very short bleached buzz cut and laughing at me, in a very tacky way. Feeling super sensitive that day... I left the store quickly nearly in tears. I did cry in the car and was headed home to hide... but I felt I had to stop and get some gas whether I wanted to or not. As I was pumping the gas, a very cute teenage boy was coming out of the store and passed near me. He stopped in his tracks and looked at me so amazed. He said, "Whoa! I just love your hair! It's so cool!" Next thing you know, I was smiling and grateful to him, and God, in spite of myself, and the unkindness of the ladies in the store. It was so sweet and so very totally unexpected.I still remember to say a prayer for blessing for that kid every once in awhile. I felt like that was to be my part in the "deal" that went down that day.A bit of cash. A poem. A much needed complement or encouragement. Sometimes "Perfect strangers" can have a much needed and sometimes, profound, good effect on someone's life, if only for a fleeting moment.There are some non-toxic people out there... and I've discovered a lot of them here at C-News.Go ahead! Make somebody's day! It'll be good for more than just the two of you, most likely.
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Comment #36 posted by FoM on May 27, 2009 at 10:06:21 PT
Hope
That is good. These times are trying but we are moving forward. This has been a long and hard journey but it is getting better all the time. I have learned that I can't help everyone and make their lives better but maybe I can help one person at a time. I read if you want to feel good all day give $5.00 to a perfect stranger. Doing good things helps us to not look so closely at what is so dark and depressing. We can change the world doing little things like giving $5.00 to a perfect stranger. It could be contagious and make others feel better. If we feel better we can do so much good.
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Comment #35 posted by Hope on May 27, 2009 at 09:59:28 PT
Toxic personalities
I read that article a few days ago, too!We all know these people. It's hard to avoid them. Sometime we're married to them or related to them. I find myself with the natural tendency to be Debbie Downer, myself. There is a lot to be down about in the world, no doubt... but dang it... if we don't find a way to rise above it, it can destroy us. I fight it because I see it and know it.... it's toxic to me, too.Thankfully, most of them occasionally do have greater personality traits that come to the fore on occasion.See... I did it... I found the positive spin!
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Comment #34 posted by FoM on May 27, 2009 at 09:29:29 PT
Shredded Weed: Taking The Fun Out of Marijuana
By William SaletanWednesday, May 27, 2009URL: http://www.slate.com/id/2219152/
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Comment #33 posted by FoM on May 26, 2009 at 18:25:31 PT
Off Topic: But My Kind of Article
8 Toxic Personalities To Avoidhttp://shine.yahoo.com/channel/life/8-toxic-personalities-to-avoid-461078/
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Comment #32 posted by FoM on May 26, 2009 at 16:56:21 PT
BGreen
Plain language from politicians! I don't think so. It's ifs ands and buts that keeps them in business! LOL!I couldn't resist.
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Comment #31 posted by BGreen on May 26, 2009 at 16:45:55 PT
yoo hoo, commonsense re: post #27
If there's anytime for a trained legal deciphering into plain language it's now.My untrained legal mind seems to see a whole lot of "ifs," "excepts" and "buts" in there so I don't know what it all really means.The fact that federal law still considers cannabis a schedule I banned substance still seems to fall into the category of "ifs," "excepts" and "buts."The Reverend Bud Green
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Comment #30 posted by FoM on May 26, 2009 at 07:56:16 PT
runruff
If my pea brain also understands I think you are correct.If that's true hasn't the argument from Conservatives/ Republicans been Democrats will take away state's rights? What will they complain about now if I am reading this right.
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Comment #29 posted by runruff on May 26, 2009 at 07:03:06 PT
So he is saying , leave the states alone?
He recognizes that each state has the right to regulate it's own laws?If my pea-brain can absorb what I just read, then everything has changed, yes?
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Comment #28 posted by The GCW on May 26, 2009 at 07:02:56 PT
How the police / prohibitionist / enemy ticks...
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n560/a08.html?397US CA: Group Takes Drug Fight StatewideA Santa Clarita-based nonprofit is on the front line of the statewide battle against drugs, according to the association's executive director. The California Narcotics Officers' Association helps law enforcement officials and prosecutors enforce California's drug laws while lobbying state legislators to pass even more stringent drug laws, said Joe Stewart, executive director. The association trains personnel from nearly all of the state's law-enforcement agencies in drug-abuse recognition, undercover-officer safety, search-warrant preparation and drug-lab laboratory investigation, Stewart said. The association is supported by member donations and by tuition paid by law-enforcement agencies for its programs, he said. Before the California Narcotics Officers' Association was founded, two informal groups concerned about drug-law enforcement were meeting in homes of law enforcement officers throughout the state as far back as the 1950s, Stewart said. "In the early days, it was marijuana that dominated Northern California - specifically San Francisco," Stewart said. "( In Southern California ) you had border drugs like cocaine and chemical-based drugs like LSD." The drug trade sent Bay Area marijuana to Southern California, while cocaine and LSD flowed north. The need arose to have a state narcotics officers' association so that local law enforcement agencies could share tips on how to recognize the effects of those drugs, as well as battle them, Stewart said. The California Narcotics Officers' Association was founded in 1964. Past association president Bob Hussey moved the headquarters to Santa Clarita in the 1970s. "The organization started humbly to provide training and it's grown to more than 7,000 members," said Gary Schram, assistant chief, bureau of investigations, in the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office. The Narcotics Officers' Association provides more than 150,000 hours of training annually to more than 7,000 members, Stewart said. The training program provided by the Narcotics Officers' Association that Stewart is most proud of is the Drug Recognition Education class. The class is Peace Officer Standards Training certified, which qualifies the graduates as experts at recognizing the influence of drugs, Stewart said. "When officers who have gone through the drug-recognition training testify in court, they do so as qualified experts," he said. CONT.NOTE: police law enforcement agencies... don't just enforce the laws...
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Comment #27 posted by FoM on May 26, 2009 at 06:46:39 PT
Obama and State's Rights
Excerpt: The purpose of this memorandum is to state the general policy of my Administration that preemption of State law by executive departments and agencies should be undertaken only with full consideration of the legitimate prerogatives of the States and with a sufficient legal basis for preemption.http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Presidential-Memorandum-Regarding-Preemption/
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Comment #26 posted by FoM on May 26, 2009 at 04:56:47 PT
Paint with light
Thank you.
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Comment #25 posted by Paint with light on May 25, 2009 at 22:25:06 PT
FoM
My thoughts are with you on Memmorial day.
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Comment #24 posted by FoM on May 25, 2009 at 16:44:00 PT
museman
I agree. It has happened before. It was special to me. I hope this new and awakening generation realizes the importance and value of the times that are beginning to happen again. This time it really is for them.
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Comment #23 posted by AdaptBones on May 25, 2009 at 13:42:51 PT:
So true
Kapt, that is so very true about the power of words and why I refer to it as cannabis, since that is the name of the plant without any racial or political ties. Museman, brother I hope with all that I am this will be the wave that finally makes some changes that last. I am hopeful that by December 2012 it really will be the end of the world as we know it. Blessed be everyone.
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Comment #22 posted by museman on May 25, 2009 at 12:38:55 PT
FoM
I am not denying the wave that hit us during that time, and that for some of us it was absolutely life changing.But that wave did not originate in the '60's' any more than those that learned to surf that wave were specificly part of the boomer generation. And the underlying conditions that caused so many to leap at a chance of liberty and a 'new' age have been festering a long, long time.It often amazes me that such pearls of wisdom as were offered in so many excellent songs and lyrics from about '67 to '75 came and went in the mainstream without being really grasped at the time. But considering that most of the pearls were never actually present in prime time, I guess I shouldn't be so amazed.For me the '60's was the decade that I began my spiritual journey with deliberation and consciousness, but it was more because of that wave I spoke of than anything else.I had some 'psychedelic' experiences (without any use of any substance) that were part of the collective experience of my generation getting hit with that wave, before I was even interested in any of the nuances of 'the times.' It was those experiences that later allowed me to see the 'wave' as not being specificly related to the activities of my generation, so that when I took psychedelic substances for the first time, I recognized the territory.Music had a lot to do with the consciousness infusion that has occurred since that wave first hit us, I concur. It is the main reason I became a Bard.It was not the first nor the last wave of consciousness evolution/revolution to wash over this planet, and in fact I feel the wave we are beginning to feel wash over us now may very well be 'The One' that will actually intitiate consciousness change on the earth.
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Comment #21 posted by Sam Adams on May 25, 2009 at 12:17:56 PT
Republicans and drug dealing
Remember when several prominent Republican figures were caught in drug scandals during campaign season? Look at this story:http://www.boston.com/news/local/new_hampshire/articles/2009/05/25/crimes_jolt_nh_tourist_town/This is a very affluent resort town in New Hampshire where Mitt Romney owns a big compound and several other mega-rich people as well - it used to be in the only Republican state in the region, now it's gone Democrat as well.The Police Commissioner (republican) was caught with 900 pounds of cannabis in his car.This is rare view into how the US really works. The affluent Republicans officials love the WOD because they're often either laundering the cash through their financial operations or running their own commercial MJ businesses.I seriously believe that here in Massachusetts that state government and organized crime are linked at the highest levels. It's all a big racket. The police unions make the money enforcing the laws and extorting dealers, the higher-up political guys make the money selling the drugs and laundering the money. In this state it's Irish political clans, in NH it's Republican officials.
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Comment #20 posted by Sam Adams on May 25, 2009 at 12:11:10 PT
the "culture war"
I don't like this term either - cannabis prohibition is just a really stupid idea. Yet another counterproductive and very costly government program that needs to be repealed.Calling it a "culture war" makes it into a lot more than it is and lumps it in with other issues that confuse things.Besides, the real "culture war" has been going on for a lot longer than 40 years. What about the Reformation? What about the Roman Catholics vs. nature-loving pagans of northern Europe? And of course no one talks about it but nearly half of the people killed by the Nazis in the holocaust were gays, bohemians, and Gypsies.It's so true about language - it is the ultimate form of propaganda. Just look at the words that we're supposed to use. Gitmo isn't a prison, it's a "detention facility"Liquor store proprietor vs. Drug dealerMedication vs. DrugCocktail vs. DrinkThis can work in our favor too - the term "medical marijuana" gives the prohibitionists fits! It turns their rascist-sounding name on its head and makes it sound wholesome and compassionate. Remember Andrea Barthwell running around chanting "smoke-weed! smoke-weed!"
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Comment #19 posted by FoM on May 25, 2009 at 12:02:53 PT
museman
I don't think I ever mentioned why the 60s and the 70s were so special to me. As you know I was raised and educated in the Catholic Church. We couldn't even eat meat on Friday and had so many things to do it was hard to remember them all. My education was really old school. When I heard Carole King's Tapestry it started to make me think outside the box. It evolved and took years but finally I walked away from the Church of my childhood and into being a young adult. My experience with any illegal substance was zilch until my mid twenties. What the 60s means to me is I was set free to think and learn and experience way more then I had to that point in my life. It was an amazing time.
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Comment #18 posted by FoM on May 25, 2009 at 11:43:26 PT
Interesting Video from The Globe and Mail
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/theres-no-business-like-gros-business/article1149617/
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Comment #17 posted by museman on May 25, 2009 at 11:19:28 PT
this...
statement just leaps out at me..."...we live in country divided by a culture war that started in the 60s."That is an incorrect statement. We might have become more aware of the culture war -already-in-progress- through expanding our minds and consiousness -and Vietnam woke a lot of us up- in 'the '60's', but the agenda for global control and domination that precipitates all wars, all 'conflicts' through the simple disparity of class distinction and their (the status-quo) own finely controlled game called 'economics' -has been going on longer than recorded history -which also explains why it has been carefully excluded from the commonly accepted reference of 'history' which of course was throughly controlled since the first scribes were made to write it.It wasn't some 'sudden turn of events' that signalled the 'class war', or 'started' it, not some recent conspiracy that just appeared in the last century, the build-up to global dominion has been going on quite unchallenged for (as close as i can figure it) for about 10,000 years -give or take a few centuries.The biggest challenge ever to come forth to the power of the Status Quo was the advent of Y'shua ben Yoseph -and just look how they re-wrote that history! And how well it has served them to maintain the ingorance of the lower classes, and perpetuate their own power and control.It seems to be hard for people as a whole to realize and admit that they've been so wrong, for so long, and that so much of what they have been LED to believe is just so much lies and little else. The effort required to make a change just seems like its 'too complicated' or 'too much of a sacrifice' or it's 'what will my neighbors think?'Unfortunately, if things don't change (fortunately I think they will) the "60's" will be written up in history as just about everything that it really wasn't -based on the stories of notable celebrity that just happened to be there at the time, but who (and their status as celebrity almost guarantees this) could not see the forest for the trees, and like to talk of it as the 'foibles of our youth.'The WAR is against humanity, Ya, and Creation. Where and when it started is nearly lost in antiquity. Cannabis is the "Plant Reknown" the wonder gift of Ya that -more than any other physical substance known to man- that can open doors and windows of consciousness -without losing consciouness in the process. And Consciousness is the faculty/'weapon'/tool, that will 'win' the war, nothing else.The Status Quo Kings, Princes, Politicians, etc. do not want the people to have that consciousness, so everything that they fear might allow us to find it, is witheld through "Rule of Law" religious "Morality," complete control of Providence (the many Gifts of Ya) through false and contrived "economics" and the many divisions inserted into families and cultures by these manufactured systems.The "60's" as a decade, really isn't any more notable than tha 70's -in fact, most of the things asociated with the '60's didn't even really come about until the last 2 years of the 60's and continued until the mid 70's.IMO, the decade we are ending now, will be seen in retrospect as the most spiritual, intellectual, revolutionary, and with actual movement and success in those areas -compared to the wholesale yuppie sellout of the boomer generation-, and thankfully (and hopefully) more of the generation now coming of age will stick with their new found consciousness, and not trade it in for the suburbs, plasma TVs and SUV equivalents -like the majority of the '60's generation.'.FREE CANNABIS FOREVER
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Comment #16 posted by museman on May 25, 2009 at 10:16:21 PT
Kapt#12
Excellent point.The language -devised definition, and interpretive meanings (connotative) that have been handed to us by the Status Quo/Prohibition is in itself a kind of catch 22 that prevents many intelligent people (who errantly believe the kind of falzse authority spawned by this condition) from accessing and accepting the truth.Emotional hype has always been much more effective in moving the masses than truth, logic, and reason. It also works quite well in keeping that movement stagnant.Pat phraseology, and cliche axioms make up a large percentage of the verbal 'arsenal' of prohibitionist/status-quo belief systems -all designed to keep the plebes 'at work', occupied, distracted, and absolutely unlikely to change their patterns of slavery by consent.The fact that such concepts as freedom, liberty, personal sovereignty, and personal responsibility for those things, are often revealed as to what they really are (not the "american dream" of consumerism) through intelligent use and partaking of cannabis, is the REAL reason why cannabis has been made a bogey. All the hype and 'concern' is pure invention, created essentially in the '30's, and escalated because of the embrace of the boomer generation -that led to revolutionary ideas being considered and acted upon - exactly what the early prohibitionists feared.People have been swallowing the lies and propaganda of the Status Quo for so long -much longer than just the last century- they readily believe whatever comes from the
'top.'If anyone wants to see what they have done to the original definitions and meanings of words, find an english dictionary that was published before prohibition, and then compare it to one that was published after Reagan. Look up some of the terms and words definitions used by prohibitionists, and you might be astonished at the changes.They did essentially the same thing with the language and terminology used in the 'practice' of 'law' that we call 'legaleze', but that's been going on a lot longer than cannabis prohibition -though it is certainly inter-related.THE TRUTH SHALL SET YOU FREE
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Comment #15 posted by FoM on May 25, 2009 at 08:41:48 PT
EAH
You said: One is that we live in country divided by a culture war that started in the 60s.The 60s breaking out of the old ways and marching to the beat of a drum they believed in was a time of great hope and expectation for those who lived during those times. No one should ever put us down again. I will stand strong against those who are on the other side. They have had their way for so many years it's our time and I hope all those who feel similarly will not allow them to bully us. We have proven ourselves and stood our ground so I say to them step aside and let it finally happen.
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Comment #14 posted by runruff on May 25, 2009 at 07:31:47 PT
Good point Kapt!
I am a warrior in this "War on Drugs". I have been twice taken prisoner, had my stores depleted, was separated from my Dear wife and family for two years while being held in a POW Citadel. I was always aware of the danger of my actions. I was even flamboyant at times but even while incarcerated I did what I could to promote the growth of my industry and to educate all those whom I met.I met very wealthy business men who wanted to know how grow cannabis indoors so at my bench in the rec yard I held classes. I had many very interested students who were very anxious to start growing when they got out. I was able to use the copy machine in the Rec office to copy off my yoga lessons, I was also able to make study sheets for growing which I used as teaching aides. I taught many!After about one year some one said to me they had heard that I knew about growing indoor mushrooms. I told him I once had a facility that produced about one ton of dry cubensis Cambodia every three months. At that time I was getting $500. per pound. I had a buyer from NY,NY and one from Ann Arbor, Mich. They said they were doubling their money. He wanted to learn how? On the first day of "class" I had eight students. My second class I had 29 students. I made "how to" pamphlets and gave step by step instructions.When I got home I looked up all my old growing buddies and shared with them all that I had learned and set them up with much better contacts than we had known in the past.My wife kept my Medical cannabis card active while I was in. We had a care giver who grew for us, sold our portion and kept half. This along with my Wife's business and the help from many friends, we were able to survive financially. Most prisoners did not have this kind of support behind them and their lives and families fell apart. Tragic!
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Comment #13 posted by FoM on May 25, 2009 at 07:27:56 PT
Songs For Our Fallen Veterans on Memorial Day
Families by Neil Younghttp://www.neilyoung.com/lwwtoday/lwwvideos/families_wm.html***Roger and Out by Neil Younghttp://www.neilyoung.com/lwwtoday/lwwvideos/rogerandout_wm.html
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Comment #12 posted by kaptinemo on May 25, 2009 at 04:01:33 PT:
But we keep using the opposition's 'framing'!
Words have power because of their connotations. Which would you rather have? A medium-rare steak or a blood-dripping slab of muscle tissue from a castrated bull? The fact is, there really is no difference, but most people would automatically prefer the former."As one who has pushed for just such a debate..."Pushed". As in 'pusher'? This is the kind of negative connotation that is immediately, thoughtlessly, reflexively made in the minds of most people when the subject of drug law reform comes up. It is precisely the kind of connotation many newspaper editors seek to instill concerning this subject; just look at the wording of the leads on articles regarding the subject.And our use of the word 'marijuana' is also playing into the opposition's hands. As just about every drug law reformer knows, the non-English word was used to great advantage of the prohibitionists in order to play upon the fears of the Anglo-American public regarding Hispanics. Despite advances in civil rights, many old racist 'triggers' still exist; 'code' and 'dog whistle' politics are examples of that in action. Pointing out the fact that the word 'marijuana' was used to instill unreasoning fear of Hispanics, and that the proper word to use is 'cannabis', breaks the 'framing' hold the prohibitionists have on the conversation. It also points out that the primary public reason given for cannabis prohibition was racially motivated. This then provides a means of attack, for then the reformer can ask the prohibitionists why they continue to support such an obviously racially bigoted law? As any practitioner of martial arts knows, you use the opponent's strength against them. In attacking, they tend to go off-balance. This makes it possible for a smaller, weaker defender to apply force where their opponent is vulnerable. Our force is the truth, but that force will have no effect if we are essentially punching ourselves in the face every time we use the oppositions' terminology.
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Comment #11 posted by Canis420 on May 24, 2009 at 23:35:31 PT:
Slikno420
Thats just crazy. what kind of problems...Tax?...once in a while? PleeeeeeezeFree Cannabis
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Comment #10 posted by Slikno420 on May 24, 2009 at 23:10:16 PT:
Myth number 2
I do agree that it would be a problem if we totally legalized it at first. It would be an issue but to cure that all you would have to do is one make the tax high enough (lol drug reference) that people could only afford to do it once in a while. also make it only usable in certin locations. Kind of like the amsterdam coffee shops.
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Comment #9 posted by EAH on May 24, 2009 at 21:41:28 PT:
When facts intrude on beliefs
There are two problems for cannabis reform advocates. One is that we live in country divided by a culture war that started in the 60s. Cannabis is strongly associated with secular liberalism, permissiveness, and "nontraditional" morality.
The other is a strongly entrenched belief in the myths by a startling number of people who should know better.. Over 50 years of repeated lies by authority figures and those in charge of government institutions have created a monolith of irrational resistance to facts and common sense based policy reform.
The media remains largely on the side of the false status quo. Apparently it remains better for business in their view to align themselves that way. The public is ahead of the media and politicians, but the media will need to be converted to convince our cowardly politicians it is safe to vote for reform.
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Comment #8 posted by tintala on May 24, 2009 at 13:10:16 PT:
Cannabis was lumped into one category in 1937
to kill 2 birds with one stone. Hemp - fierce competition with duponts paper / pulp bleaching process and synthetic fibers ,... marijuana: with rascism as the reason , lumped into the same category as hemp, can still make paper with marijuana. hence why BOTH were made illegal by DEA with lobbyist from Dupont, Andrew Mellon, had to create the DEA using Henry Anslinger as the head of THE BEUREU of NArcotics. There was never any proof of marijuana negative effects, only the monkies that suffocated due to lack of 02.
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Comment #7 posted by FoM on May 24, 2009 at 11:19:59 PT
runruff
I have no idea why some much attention is focused towards Republicans. They won't change anything concerning marijuana. It has baffled me for years and now it is even stranger to see.
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Comment #6 posted by greenmed on May 24, 2009 at 11:16:48 PT
Medical Marijuana Backers To Lose GOP Lobbyist
It might be advantageous for our cause for Mr. Delaforest to have Mr. Pawlenty's ear, especially as they seem to be in alignment on other issues. Sometimes the messenger can carry more weight, as wrong as it seems, than the message itself. The governor continues to ignore the will of the people who elected him and this may return to haunt him next election cycle - even some advice along that line might be taken more seriously if offered by a trusted aide. That's politics.
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Comment #5 posted by runruff on May 24, 2009 at 11:02:15 PT
Did someone say irrealivant?
Oh yea, I did!If we loose every repug in this fight they will still loose and be as unpopular as ever!So, Bah-Bye!
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Comment #4 posted by runruff on May 24, 2009 at 10:58:49 PT
"Medical Marijuana Backers To Lose GOP Lobbyist&qu
And?
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Comment #3 posted by FoM on May 24, 2009 at 09:10:17 PT
Medical Marijuana Backers To Lose GOP Lobbyist
By Andy Birkey May 24, 2009Former Rep. Chris Delaforest, R-Andover, will be joining his Gov. Tim Pawlenty�s staff this summer as Director of Legislative and Cabinet Affairs. Delaforest retired from the legislature in 2008 and became a key lobbyist for Minnesotans for Compassionate Care, the main group advocating for medical marijuana in Minnesota.Delaforest, a conservative Republican, lent his ideological bent to the raging debate over the medical use of marijuana.URL: http://minnesotaindependent.com/35441/medical-marijuana-backers-to-lose-gop-lobbyist
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Comment #2 posted by HempWorld on May 24, 2009 at 08:16:25 PT
3 Myths About Marijuana:
Marijuana is bad for you, it is addictive and leads to harder drug use!Marijuana and hemp are simply too useful for the Du Ponts and the Big Pharmas of this world!
On a mission from God!
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Comment #1 posted by runruff on May 24, 2009 at 08:10:02 PT
So put that in your pipe and smoke it, CSM!
Good job Rob!
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