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Voters Will Decide Whether To Legalize Marijuana
Posted by CN Staff on December 18, 2009 at 15:46:35 PT
By Daniel B. Wood, Staff Writer of The CSM
Source: Christian Science Monitor
Los Angeles -- California continues to stay at the nation-leading edge of legal activity concerning marijuana use.In 1996 it passed the first national initiative to make marijuana available by prescription to relieve pain, nausea, and other physical maladies. In July of this year, Oakland became – by a wide margin (80 percent to 20) – the first US city to assess a tax on the sale of marijuana.
Now, a new initiative that will allow local governments to oversee and regulate cultivation, distribution, and sales – and to determine how and how much cannabis can be bought and sold within area limits – will be on the November 2010 ballot. National advocates say that regardless of the vote – signature gathering went fast and easy, according to reports – a major corner has been turned in national acceptance of marijuana use.“Regardless of what the voters decide in 2010, the genie is not going back in the bottle,” says Paul Armentano, deputy director for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML). “A majority of west coast voters, and an estimated one-half of the national public, are demanding that we replace our nation’s seven-decade-long policy of marijuana prohibition with one of controlled regulation, taxation, and education.”Armentano says the citizen’s initiative is evidence that despite the growing public support for marijuana reform, a majority of elected officials still perceive the issue to be a political liability rather than an opportunity.“As a result, it will be the voters, not the politicians, who will ultimately determine the direction of our nation’s modern marijuana policies,” he says. Other States Take Up The Issue The California initiative comes amidst a flurry of activity nationally in the past two months after nearly two-decades of inactivity, according to Bruce Mirken, director of communications for the Marijuana Policy Project in Washington D. C., which advocates legalization of marijuana. California has a legislative bill in the offing, he says, as does Washington State while New Hampshire has recently introduced a bill and Rhode Island has adopted a commission to study ideas.“There are signs all over the place that this has reached critical mass,” says Mirken, citing the high-profile arrest of Olympic superstar Michael Phelps last summer. He also says that law enforcement agencies have begun to realize the high cost of arresting, trying, and incarcerating marijuana users – money that could be better spent elsewhere.“There is growing recognition that through our policies of prohibition, we have not stopped people from using marijuana, but rather handed this lucrative consumer market to some rather unsavory characters, including Mexican gangs,” says Mirken. “There’s a reason you don’t see Mexican wine cartels planting fields of cabernet sauvignon in Sequoia National Park, and people are beginning to understand that there really is a fundamental irrationality to laws that tolerate the far more dangerous substance of alcohol.”Substance abuse activists say the headlong rush to legalization in this initiative has other motivations that ripple out in negative ways.“Proponents of the proposed legislation are using the California fiscal crisis to say this will be a revenue-generating solution,” says Jim Hall, Director of the Center for the Study and Prevention of Drug Abuse at Nova Southeastern University in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. “What has been largely ignored in the legalization meta-debate, however, is the impact the legislation could have on young people.”“We have developed a clear model with alcohol, but when we debate the legalization of marijuana, we don’t address the potential lifelong impact that earlier and easier access will have on young people,” says Hall. “While the proposed legislation might generate a few tax dollars, we need to ask what the cost to society will be for a whole generation exposed to the risk of lifelong substance abuse.” 'Right of Passage' for Adolescents? He says there needs to be a better way to change patterns of marijuana use as a rite of passage for adolescents. “Clearly, affording legal access distorts the message of why young people should not use marijuana. If it’s legal, what’s the big deal? So goes the mindset.”Hall points out that for the last 20 years, nearly two-thirds of all first-time marijuana users have been below the age of 18. Statistics also show that the younger a person begins marijuana use, the greater the risk of substance abuse later in life, he says. Therefore, it’s important to ask a host of questions: Who is going to determine or regulate how marijuana is produced and distributed? Who will it be distributed by? How is the state going to collect the taxes? Will it really have an impact on the illicit trafficking and production of marijuana? Will this lead to proposals to legalize other drugs?“This is a largely unexplored policy that raises important questions and potentially dire social risks,” says Hall. “Before changing policy, let’s honestly and thoroughly explore these questions.” Initiative Advocates Point To Safeguards Dan Newman, spokesman for the proposed Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act, counters that the initiative does includes significant safeguards and controls. For example, it will increase the penalty for providing marijuana to a minor, expressly prohibit the consumption of marijuana in public, forbids smoking marijuana while minors are present, and bans possession on school grounds.He also says that studies by state tax experts – the Board of Equalization and the Legislative Analyst Office – show that the initiative will generate billions of dollars in revenue to fund schools, public safety, and other critical needs at a time when the state is desperate for resources.“For those reasons, and the fact that most Californians understand that the current drug laws aren’t working, several recent polls show the initiative [will win] support from a majority of voters," says Newman. “We’re building a broad and diverse coalition that includes law enforcement professionals who understand that regulating marijuana will put street drug dealers and organized crime out of business, while allowing police to focus on protecting the public by preventing violent crime.”Source: Christian Science Monitor (US)Author: Daniel B. Wood, Staff Writer of The Christian Science Monitor Published: December 18, 2009Copyright: 2009 The Christian Science Publishing SocietyContact: oped csps.comWebsite: http://www.csmonitor.com/ URL: http://drugsense.org/url/aQCPvxVkCannabisNews -- Cannabis Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/cannabis.shtml
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Comment #48 posted by runruff on December 23, 2009 at 21:05:55 PT
JustGetnby......
...my dear friend....
[ Post Comment ]
Comment #47 posted by FoM on December 22, 2009 at 17:38:33 PT
JustGetnBy
Merry Christmas! It's so good to see you. I too know that Runruff and Mrs. Runruff will do what they feel is best for them.
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Comment #46 posted by JustGetnBy on December 22, 2009 at 17:13:01 PT:
Runruff & Linda
I have faith that you will do the right thing. You, Linda and your loyal animal family will come out the OK. Keep on keepin on my friends, Peace : Damon
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Comment #45 posted by FoM on December 21, 2009 at 16:34:56 PT
Pot Shops Could Ease California's Fiscal Jam
December 21, 2009URL: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE5BK1ZZ20091221
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Comment #44 posted by Had Enough on December 21, 2009 at 15:53:05 PT
A tune...
A runruff tune....Grand Funk Railroad - Inside Looking Out 1969http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0x6chChxzV0***LyricsI'm sitting here lonely like a broken man.I serve my time doin' the best I can.Walls and bars they surround me.But, I don't want no sympathy.***No baby, no baby,All I need is some tender lovin'.To keep me sane in this burning oven.And, when my time is up, you'll be my reefer.***Life gets worse on God's green earth.Be my reefer, got to keep smokin' that thing.No, no, no, no, no, no.No, no, no, no, no, no, no.***I said now baby ... baby ..., let me smoke it ... smoke it ...Makes me feel good ... feel good, yes, I feel good ... ahhhhh ...Yes, I feel alright ... feel alright ..., yes, I feel alright ... feel alright ...Yes, I feel alright ... Ahhhhh ...Ohhhhh ...***Ice cold water is runnin' through my veins.They try and drag me back to work again.Pain and blisters on my mind and hands.I work all day making up nickel bags.***The oats they're feeding me are driving me wild.I feel unhappy like a new born child.Now, when my time is up, you wait and see.These walls and bars won't keep that stuff from me.***No, no, baby,Won't keep that stuff from me.No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.No, no, no, no, no, no, no.***I need you right now mama.I need you right now baby.Right by my side, honey.All night long.***Make me feel alright ...Yes, all ..., yes, all ..., yes, all ... alright.You better come on up and get down with me.I'll make you feel real good, just you wait and see.***Make me feel alright ..., yes, I feel alright ...Yes, all ..., yes, all ..., yes, alright.http://www.metrolyrics.com/inside-looking-out-lyrics-grand-funk-railroad.html
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Comment #43 posted by BGreen on December 21, 2009 at 14:24:51 PT
An odd thing happened to me, runruff
I was explaining your situation to Mrs. Green, all about how pissed you are and how we were trying to talk you down. I read posts from you, Hope, FoM and myself, and I was pretty proud of how we "got it" and you didn't seem to.That's when it hit me, and this was even before I read your latest posts, but it was an epiphany.How freakin' dare us question you? You have been in the belly of the beast itself and yet you're willing to go back in instead of continuing being treated as worthless garbage by a bunch of intellectually challenged bullies.I've got to tell you how sorry I am, NOT for caring about you and Mrs. runruff, but for not understanding that you, more than most of us, know what you're risking by your actions. I think I finally understand and I'm proud of your strength and convictions.The one thing that I must insist is that Mrs. runruff is with you 100%, no matter what you decide to do. She is your soul mate and you need each other.I hope the best for you both.The Reverend Bud Green
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Comment #42 posted by runruff on December 21, 2009 at 06:41:08 PT
May I share?
I am not feeling sorry for myself for I always default to the question, who made the choice?I have had eight years of the fed treating me like a criminal. Even trying to convince me that I am a criminal and should accept that I am a criminal and should grovel as a guilty, no good, trying to ruin society for my own profit, don't care about the kids, kind of guy!They are looking into a mirror, they don't even see me!I survived an ordeal even I am surprised that I did so well?A pretty typical day in the joint would be to pass through a gang of angry black men, built like Mac Trucks, on a two story tier four feet wide.Face to face, eye ball to eye ball they might stop you and ask you, "where you goin' white boy?" What would you do? What would you say? Say the wrong thing and over the side rail you go! Act scared and you make it worse!I came out a little tarnished I think but what would I expect? It was like living in a crowded bunker for two years with men a hell of lot more pissed off than I would know how to be!
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Comment #41 posted by kaptinemo on December 21, 2009 at 06:08:33 PT:
POW's
That's how I see the non-violent victims of the DrugWar. Only, in this case, our POWs were never really freed, they're still wearing the chains of tyranny until we win this, once and for all. They're reminders of just how unjust our 'justice' system is.But the day is coming when it becomes clear that the prison/industrial complex is simply too expensive to run, and that only those truly deserving (murderers, rapists, child molesters and every single one of the big-shot banksters who've brought this country so much misery) need to be its' permanent 'guests'. The parole system is already feeling the pinch, and despite the confident blatherings of its' administrators/beneficiaries, the day is arriving when many ensnared within its' grasp will have to be let go, as the cost of maintaining the non-violent within that grasp is going to be unjustifiable. That's what all those articles in my previous link were saying: the States' budgets are collapsing, the system's falling apart, and cannot sustain the numbers of parolees the DrugWar has produced.So, RunRuff, as galling as it is, play their stupid game, knowing that, very soon, they will have to face a shiny steel budgetary axe that is being sharpened by each State's legislatures, even as we speak. It's just a matter of time...
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Comment #40 posted by runruff on December 21, 2009 at 05:32:30 PT
You all will never know!
You will never know how touched I am by all ya'lls scolding and obvious caring!People who are "in the know" and have been as supportive as ya'll, I could not in all good conscience ignore what you are telling me.Thank You!I guess the wild head long attacks into the fray, is not always the best way to deal with a powerful enemy?You all are giving me seconds thoughts and I will consider what you are saying to me.RGB, I am eternally in you dept as well as others here, too numerous to mention in this post. When that great gold nugget finally falls out of the sky into my back yard, there will be some compensating going on! Life has many twist and turns, we will see?Love to you all!
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Comment #39 posted by Paint with light on December 20, 2009 at 23:41:22 PT
runruff
I forgot to address comment 38 to you....but I bet you figured that out.
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Comment #38 posted by paint with light on December 20, 2009 at 23:38:05 PT
huge request
I have always admired your spirit, knowledge, and wit.I admire your dedication and commitment.I have followed your ordeals over the years and can only understand a fraction of what you have been through.All of this over a harmless, non-toxic plant whose only crime is it makes people feel good.People with pain.People with stress.People with.......you know.....all that stuff on granny's list.And just people.We need you on this side of the concrete jungle.I don't know if I could do what I am asking you to do.Try to hold your rage a little longer.I sincerely believe we are close to winning this war that was declared on us.Living good is the best revenge.........but it takes a lot longer.Legal like .........drug tests are now.And drug tests legal like..........cannabis is now.
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Comment #37 posted by runruff on December 20, 2009 at 12:36:53 PT
...and someone said,
"after awhile it begins to look like rage!"-Braveheart!
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Comment #36 posted by BGreen on December 20, 2009 at 12:24:19 PT
runruff
Listen, you stubborn son of a gun. We know the situation you're in. We know these people are filth. We know they want you in prison if not dead. We know they suck!We know all of that!There is nothing wrong with letting the clock run down when you're winning, and dad gummit, as long as you're not locked up you are winning!Don't blow it!Most of us can't afford to financially help you this time because the same people who f'ed you over basically f'ed us over, too, just by stealing our money, not our freedom.Do what you feel is necessary but don't ignore those of us who have supported you through these hard times. Don't leave Linda alone again. Does it matter who is right when they can totally f*** up your life more than they already have?We love you and can't deal with losing you again!Dammit!The Reverend Bud Green
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Comment #35 posted by Had Enough on December 20, 2009 at 12:21:26 PT
Pee testing in America...
I’ve to pee in the cup, about a dozen times maybe, for employment reasons.I was always wanted to bust their chops and ask the pee collector if they tell their kids and other people they know, if they fondled pee for a living.But I always tried to refrain, as tempting as it was.One occasion...I stepped out the door, the door bumped up against the pee collector...she had her ear close to the door listening. She took a few steps backward and said excuse me...I replied to her that I didn’t know she was standing that close to the door. At that point she took the cup, held it in her hand over her head and held it up to the fluorescent lights mounted in the ceiling, was looking through it, then she put a thermometer in it and said the temperature was ok. I was thinking this is really crazy. At that point I was ready to unload my thoughts on her...but I bit my tongue as the words were about to jump out, thinking that that my little amount of self satisfaction could cause me more trouble, so I refrained.Another occasion...I had to take 2 tests in the same week. I arrived at 8 am. As scheduled. When I walked in the door the pee collector looked at me and said you were just in here a few days ago, why are you back today? I told him I had finished up that project and was going to another project that involved a different employer and they all require a pee test before you can start. Even he, a pee collector had that look on his face, and tone in his voice that this was a little ridiculous. The collector said it would be a few minutes because the pee test documents hadn’t been faxed to him yet. About 30 minutes later he came back out and said they were having problems getting the pee test documents and it would be another 45 minutes or more. Now I had got up that morning at about 4:30 am. The drive to this place was about 50 miles, and I had to stop at the employer’s office to get my paperwork done before going to go pee. And now it was after 9 am. I had to pee. So did the guy I showed up with, he drove about 75 miles that morning. We discussed it and decided, let’s go pee before we peed in our pants.As soon as I was leaving out of the bathroom door, another pee collector came up and said you paperwork is coming in on the fax machine right now and we can collect your sample in just a few more minutes. I told her that I had just peed and she asked me in a very authoritative tone” What did you do that for?” I replied that the other collector less than 5 minutes ago had told us it would take another 45 minutes or more.Well sitting there back in the waiting room, the guy I showed up there with said “I’m glad I saved some of my pee”. I told him he was crazy for doing that, and that was not healthy and you can get bladder infections and so on. The pee collectors heard me. The pee collectors started looking my way more often then usual. So I didn’t stop. I spoke up while commenting to the guy I showed up there with, and said this is the most ridiculous thing...to pee in a cup to see if someone is eligible for employment. Especially when I had just had one in the same place by the same people less than a week ago. Then I mentioned that if these employers didn’t have to pay for these pee tests, we could get at least that amount more on our paycheck...Now I’ve got the pee collectors attention...and everybody else’s ear that was waiting there...They came over right away and said we were next.The guy I showed up with peed in the cup and left.Well I had no pee left to give them. I had to try 3 times. It is now close to 11 am...The final time I was told...if you can’t give us a sample this time...that because of the laws involved with drug testing...that they would have to start all over with the paperwork...and it might take a few days as this was Saturday and the employers office wouldn’t be open till Monday to get the documents faxed over to them (the employers office sent someone to go in that morning just to send the documents, and had left afterwards). Well I walked around the parking lot for about 30-45 minutes...went in...peed in the cup...then went to the job site.We were finished with that project the next Tuesday...three days after peeing in the cup...the prior project...we were finished 4 to5 days after peeing in their cups...go figure...************runruff... You have certainly paid way more dues than necessary; I admire your spirit...But please be careful...You are much more helpful to our beliefs and cause...outside of the gulags rather than in them...************Didn’t mean to spoil anybody’s dinner with way too much information...:)
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Comment #34 posted by kaptinemo on December 20, 2009 at 11:39:39 PT:
Fetishists
There are plenty of rather pitiful, sick people in this world, and many of them have some obsession (or a multiplicity of them) that consumes the majority of their lives.There are two types of fetishists that drug testing seems to attract. They may not even be aware of their mental illness. Urolagnists (urine fetishists) and coprophiliacs (feces fetishists). I won't detail the two, as it's too close to local dinner time. Look them up yourselves...and then ask yourself if the people you have to hand over bodily fluids and fecal matter to aren't much, much sicker than they claim you are.
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Comment #33 posted by FoM on December 20, 2009 at 07:53:58 PT
runruff
I understand. I look at life a little differently then you do. I feel free because no one can take my freedom from me. Even if we are in prison like Nelson Mandela was for many years he still was free.
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Comment #32 posted by runruff on December 20, 2009 at 07:34:13 PT
FoM
You always remain so clear. I admire that. I realize the frivolousness of my gut reaction to my view of injustice.I am stuck on the ideologies attached to freedom!I know freedom. I have lived free, I understand it's value, I love freedom!My mind conjures up images of Ann Frank and Patrick Henry.Like I said I am my own worst enemy in this matter.
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Comment #31 posted by The GCW on December 20, 2009 at 07:25:03 PT
It's not just the pee.
They want more than the pee.These wierdos want Your poop too.CN ON: Latest Strip-Search Complaint One Of Manyhttp://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n1133/a09.html?397
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Comment #30 posted by FoM on December 20, 2009 at 06:52:23 PT
runruff
It reminds me that when we love someone we tell them to be careful because things are the way they are.
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Comment #29 posted by runruff on December 20, 2009 at 06:30:02 PT
FoM, you dear soul!
What does it remind you of when citizens warn each other of their govenment?
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Comment #28 posted by FoM on December 20, 2009 at 06:22:01 PT
runruff
We love you and Linda. Please be careful.
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Comment #27 posted by runruff on December 20, 2009 at 06:19:31 PT
Bureaucrats and mushrooms....
...well you know what they have in common.One day I ask my PO what would happen to his job if drug were legalized. He has been a PO for 16 years.What about layoffs, funding?He said nothing would change in his department because the PAs pick and choose which cases they want to prosecute so there will always be a full docket!So the moral here is, The DoJ is toxic to society not beneficial because they intend to find bogeymen under beds everywhere instead of going after the monsters on Wall Street and the Monsters in the Pentagon where decisions are mad to wipe millions of lives for profit.Something has got to change. We cannot conduct ourselves this way any longer. This is a small planet and whatever you do affects me and vice versa let alone having the power of billions of taxpayer dollars at your god forsaken disposal to create disturbance and malice!
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Comment #26 posted by kaptinemo on December 20, 2009 at 05:46:48 PT:
The economy will rule
RunRuff, if things keep going the way they are, sooner or later the parole board in your State will be facing the cutbacks that other States have. And when that happens, those who so smilingly suggest pain and misery and degradation for you may themselves find out that there's not much use for experience as parole board functionaries in the modern, contracting economy.From the National Institute of Corrections: Retrenchment Cutback http://tinyurl.com/ybdz2enIt's a string of articles consisting of peeing and moaning on the part of those who were living high off the (drug prohibition) hog in the prison/industrial complex who are now facing the economic meat-grinder. The DrugWar was always dependent upon the illusion that the economy would always go in one direction: fast-forward. Now that that illusion has been dispelled, the realities of a retrograde, contracting economy are starting to hit home at the State level.And since the P/I complex was dependent upon funding that really, truly could not have been afforded to begin with (because our industries were largely shipped to China long ago and so we don't make much of anything the rest of the world wants, so no real wealth was being produced, so there really weren't any goods to tax) it's now becoming evident in State legislatures that the massive P/I complex can no longer be funded.Time. It's all a matter of time. I would predict that before the Webb Commission has concluded its' deliberations, you may well see your parole reduced, because the number of parole officers may have shrunk. And then they can join the ranks of those they've condemned to economic marginalization. And I can only hope that they will meet up with some of the folks they've hurt. I'm sure they'll have something to say to their erstwhile oppressors...
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Comment #25 posted by runruff on December 20, 2009 at 04:52:08 PT
Hope, you are good for the spirit!
In the respect you just described, I am my own worst enemy.I can't pretend, I can't cow tow! I must speak up because I am innocent. I am innocent of committing a crime. Crimes involve victims, not people I have helped outside of the law!Judge Ann Aiken-Kolinsky informed me at sentencing that in order to pay back society for my wrong doing she is sentencing me to 24 months prison and 48 months supervised probation, I was ordered to submit DNA and regular urine samples.Judge Aiken-Kolinsky was appointed by Hillary Clinton In her attempt to feminise our DoJ a little! Judge-mum Ann has 8 kids. She is mediocre in her career, an absent mom, or superwoman with super powers?
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Comment #24 posted by BGreen on December 19, 2009 at 23:11:34 PT
Amen, Hope
Amen!The Reverend Bud Green
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Comment #23 posted by Hope on December 19, 2009 at 23:03:35 PT
The urine testers
One of those wrong things that looks right to the "wisdom of this world" people. It's not right.Runruff, I don't want you to send them DVDS of anything. Don't even talk to them at all unless you have to. Hello. Good bye. Not "Uncooperative"... but you know what I mean.It makes me sick that my earnings are taken to pay, even a micro micro percentage of a percentage of those people's wages... to protect society from people like Runruff.Monstrous leeches is what those people that persecute you for a living look like to me. Monstrous leeches. And yes, to my mind it is most certainly persecution.But don't rile them. They're dangerous. I don't like them. But I do like you and I want to keep you safe from them. Don't do cartwheels in front of them! Don't do anything to make them notice you any more than they already have.Please.I feel like a little kid...please don't make them mad at you where they'll take you away again. Please.
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Comment #22 posted by Sam Adams on December 19, 2009 at 21:13:31 PT
minnesota
better link, it's too bad, the fishermen are the ones who keep an eye on the border for free:http://www.twincities.com/ci_14005699?IADID=Search-www.twincities.com-www.twincities.com
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Comment #21 posted by runruff on December 19, 2009 at 19:54:36 PT
"dungeon hell hole."
Could not have said it better myself!
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Comment #20 posted by Had Enough on December 19, 2009 at 17:16:46 PT
Obsessive desire for warm Pee...
One day someone will pee on the desks of Tracy Chapman & Judge Ann Aiken, and all the other pee collectors, and tell them “Here it is...You asked for it...you got it...”But runruff...don’t you do it. Their sanctimonious and vengeant dark minds would love nothing better for Christmas than putting you back in their dungeon hell hole.
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Comment #19 posted by Had Enough on December 19, 2009 at 16:59:22 PT
All I want for Christmas is...
To spread the good holiday cheer about marijuana and Mexican drug cartels, retired officer and drug specialist Howard Wooldridge hand-delivered these holiday cards to the Senate offices Wednesday on behalf of the Marijuana Policy Project. He visited the offices of representatives Thursday bearing cards in a special shirt that reads: "Cops say Legalize Pot, Ask Me Why."Click to see the card...http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/politics/blogs/yeas-and-nays/Holiday-cheer__--Marijuana-Policy-Project-has-a-special-wish-this-Christmas-8666361-79568997.html***This was in ekim’ s link...thanks ekim...
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Comment #18 posted by The GCW on December 19, 2009 at 16:53:47 PT
Pee and don't stop.
US MN: Strict Coast Guard license rules threaten Minnesota outfitters, fishing guidesWebpage: http://www.twincities.com/ci_14005699?nclick_check=1Pubdate: 15 Dec 2009Source: St. Paul Pioneer Press (MN)
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Comment #17 posted by Mark702 on December 19, 2009 at 15:18:41 PT
DVDs
Runruff,You should send Tracy Chapman some Cannabis TV dvds or at least send a link to the CannabisTV.org site.
CannabisTV.org
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Comment #16 posted by runruff on December 19, 2009 at 13:21:19 PT
Today's color is green, 1-866-248-4718.
This is the color hot line. It is only a recording so go ahead and listen. I called and today is green so that means on Monday I will take the misses to lunch at Tin Tin's and stop by the Pee Pee Palace. Afterward I will accompany My wife to the Medford Mall where I will follow her around like a hungry pup.The woman's voice on the recording is Tracy Chapman, on of the most snaky women I've ever met. She works in probation and for some reason interviews people going up for sentencing. After a one hour interview with me on the phone she told the judge in court that day that I should do a minimum of 5 years and 10 years probation.Medford is a courthouse full of little Judge Ann Aiken drones and sycophants. They are all members of one of those "the devil made you do it" churches, SDA I think?Anyway, she sounds sweet but she is evil.
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Comment #15 posted by FoM on December 19, 2009 at 12:56:32 PT
Just a Comment
I hope everyone is having a nice day. We are having our first snow this year and we have been out watching the dogs play. Stay safe everyone.http://www.freedomtoexhale.com/snowplay.jpg
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Comment #14 posted by westnyc on December 19, 2009 at 12:47:00 PT
These Days!
I have never seen a time when so many are angry! Anger is everywhere these days. Perhaps this young woman's death will ignite the spark that leads to the storming of the Bastille called prohibition? Perhaps, it wasn't the arrest that lead her to taking her life; but rather, the terrible and honest reality that her life was now ruined by a criminal record? Perhaps she knew she would "now" lose her job and ultimately her home and children; or, face humiliation? Perhaps she was just too overwhelmed and terrified of the eventual repercussions that she would endure? America The Free? God bless her!I love this song by Nico--don't know much about her--but her song is beautiful and haunting!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_z_UEuEMAo
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Comment #13 posted by BGreen on December 19, 2009 at 12:05:25 PT
Oh, heck yeah!
Think about it, cannabis is the new tattoo. Tattoos used to be associated with criminals, gangs, prison, soldiers and low-life. Now, every soccer mom and her mother wants to get a tattoo.What a perfect metaphor for cannabis.Go for it, ekim!The Reverend Bud Green
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Comment #12 posted by ekim on December 19, 2009 at 11:10:02 PT
Howard on the Hill
Hi Everyone, MPP had a great idea which I took a step further. The Washington Examiner I believe their daily circulation is 300,000 published this yesterday. PS. while in my pot t-shirt a Georgia Congressman came up to me in Longworth café, said he liked my shirt & he engaged me for two minutes in conversation. Later a House Member’s chief of staff (CBC member) insisted on having her foto taken w/ me, even as her colleague warned her about it ending up on YouTube. Times they are a changin. Should I wear my ‘Legalize Pot’ t-shirt more often in the halls of Congress? I am considering it. Could become like George Will’s bowtie? Here is the URL: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/politics/blogs/yeas-and-nays/Holiday-cheer__--Marijuana-Policy-Project-has-a-special-wish-this-Christmas-8666361-79568997.html
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Comment #11 posted by Sam Adams on December 19, 2009 at 11:06:36 PT
some fun!
This is great, never saw this page before - check out the videos of Snoop Dog cooking brownies with Martha Stewart (no lie!) and taking a huge plant into an Amsterdam hotel!http://www.tmz.com/tag/marijuana/
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Comment #10 posted by Sam Adams on December 19, 2009 at 10:19:10 PT
Brooklyn death
FOM, that's absolutely horrible! I see DPA and others claiming that the Drug War is in shambles, and yet marijauna arrests are still at an all time high.I was hoping the national reform movement would follow up on the Massachusetts decrim referendum with more similar referendums, but apparently not. We've got one flawed med. MJ referendum in AZ on the horizon for next year and that's it from DPA and MPP. Apparently it's been decided that dozens and dozens of full-time employees is better than running 5-6 referendums every year to actually change laws.That article on marijuana "apartheid" was very true - medical MJ is great, but in every medical MJ state there are tens of thousands of people getting arrested and jailed for marijuana possession, and the vast majority of them are non-white and poor.
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Comment #9 posted by Sam Adams on December 19, 2009 at 10:11:09 PT
CSM
We all know what CSM thinks, we've read their editorial.Ah yes, the horrors for children of legal cannabis - just look at those heathen Dutch people! Their kids use cannabis at one-third the rate of USA kids.But reality has never been allowed to interfere with a good witch-hunt! Children are the easiest targets, that's why witch hunts have always focused on children & women. In fact, it's a common thread with the Catholic Church as well, look at who they beat up and raped for centuries - kids.
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Comment #8 posted by FoM on December 19, 2009 at 09:55:08 PT
No One Should Die Because of Marijuana Laws
Woman Hangs Herself In Precinct After Weed ArrestURL: http://gothamist.com/2009/12/19/woman_arrested_on_weed_charges_hang.php
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Comment #7 posted by FoM on December 19, 2009 at 08:04:13 PT
The GCW
I was a little perplexed about the whole point of the article. I believe charities are to feed the hungry or shelter the homeless and issues like that.
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Comment #6 posted by The GCW on December 19, 2009 at 08:00:00 PT
FoM,
I saw that story: Charities Criticize Online Fund-Raising...It made Me stop and think. How does that effect Me and also opens up how I feel about shall I say, the enemy and the way they work. How I want to use resources that are also used and available to other groups I don't agree with.I wish Chase wouldn't rule out the 1st 2, Students for Sensible Drug Policy, the Marijuana Policy Project - but I don't want funding to go toward anti-abortionists.People who want to cage humans for using cannabis, are the bad people.People who want to cage women for having an abortion are the bad people too.So often it seems like the bad people are Republicans.I would be safe if they came for the Republican. Would it have been different if Hitler came for the Repulicans?But would that be right?
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Comment #5 posted by FoM on December 19, 2009 at 06:15:48 PT
Off Topic: Charities Criticize Online Fund-Raising
Charities Criticize Online Fund-Raising Contest by Chase Published: December 18, 2009JPMorgan Chase & Company is coming under fire for the way it conducted an online contest to award millions of dollars to 100 charities.At least three nonprofit groups — Students for Sensible Drug Policy, the Marijuana Policy Project and an anti-abortion group, Justice for All— say they believe that Chase disqualified them over concerns about associating its name with their missions.URL: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/19/us/19charity.html
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Comment #4 posted by Universer on December 18, 2009 at 23:49:59 PT
Won't somebody pleeeeezz think of the children?!?
That ignorant fool couldn't make it though a complete sentence before employing the ultimate scare tactic: "Young people."Truly, is that all they've got at this point? We can't let adults have it because we shouldn't let kids have it.That's prima facie absurd. Furthermore, it immediately calls into legitimate question the intellectual efficacy of the speaker.Hey, Hall: Put down the crack pipe. You ain't thinkin' too good.The end.------------Addendum: "We have developed a clear model with alcohol..."Yeah? What's that?Apparently Nova Southeastern University has no problem with underage drinking. Or perhaps this is further manifestation of this poor man's willful ignorance.A mind is a terrible thing to waste. Methinks Mr. Hall was "wasted" long ago.The Dragon has been awakened. And Puff the Magic is mad as hell and not gonna take it anymore.It must subconsciously chap the asses of these prohibs that not only are they slowly but certainly losing their argument to a bunch of potheads, but that said potheads are demonstrably smarter than they are.
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Comment #3 posted by runruff on December 18, 2009 at 19:01:46 PT
I had a white monkey on my back!
My gateway drug was sugar!I spent all my money on candy and soda pop. When my friends had candy I said,"bites" which meant you wanted a bite of their candy or "sips" to claim a sip of soda!I was always on the look-out for something sweet. I had a sugar Jones! Now I read about how destructive sugar is to our bodies and how later in life this addiction will cause type two diabetes, lead to heart disease even nerve damage. Very destructive stuff!Herb came after the alcohol, tobacco and sugar. After using the herb I dropped the other three about 35 years ago. The herb has not been a problem except for the law!
The punitive laws in this land are far more destructive than any drug. They are 1000 times, no infinitely more destructive than herb because herb in and of itself is not in any way destructive.As a side note to John P: Put this in your pipe and smoke it!
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Comment #2 posted by kaptinemo on December 18, 2009 at 18:07:38 PT:
The boogeyman! THE BOOGEYMA-AN
Aaaaah, the boogeyman! He's gonna getcha! Like little kids say when they're trying to spook each other.Jeez. When grown people make the same kind of juvenile noises, I can't help but feel embarrassed. They make adulthood seem less than what it's cracked up to be."“What has been largely ignored in the legalization meta-debate, however, is the impact the legislation could have on young people.”Uh, like making it harder for them to get it courtesy of the practice of 'carding' those who appear too young to purchase cannabis? Ooooh, I'm 'skeered'"“We have developed a clear model with alcohol, but when we debate the legalization of marijuana, we don’t address the potential lifelong impact that earlier and easier access will have on young people,” says Hall. “While the proposed legislation might generate a few tax dollars, we need to ask what the cost to society will be for a whole generation exposed to the risk of lifelong substance abuse.”Ya mean, they aren't now, already? With tobacco and booze? Well, seems that 'carding' has cut down on a lot of that, doesn't it?"Hall points out that for the last 20 years, nearly two-thirds of all first-time marijuana users have been below the age of 18. Statistics also show that the younger a person begins marijuana use, the greater the risk of substance abuse later in life, he says.Oh, puh-lease. Leaving the trade in the hands of criminal elements practically guarantees the exposure of minors to illicits. A point which was proven during alcohol Prohibition, where some kids showed up for school drunk during Prohibition, but that tailed off after it ended."“This is a largely unexplored policy that raises important questions and potentially dire social risks,” says Hall."'Dire', the man says. And police shotgunning little kids in the back at point blank range while they lay face down on the ground during a drug raid as Alberto Sepulveda was in 2000 isn't 'dire'?Cut. It. OUT. Enough with your boogeymen, prohib. Stick your little voodoo doll in your back pocket, because we're tired of your attempts to stampede us by waving it around and making scary noises. We've had it with this silly sh*t. Down with fear! Up with reason!
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Comment #1 posted by HempWorld on December 18, 2009 at 16:21:52 PT
Mr. Hall, what is your agenda? You are
disingenuous!"the impact the legislation could have on young people."Look at the Netherlands and Portugal for this:This will lead to less marijuana use in general and by children, and the age of 1st use will go up.
Legalize It!
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