cannabisnews.com: New U.S. Drug Strategy Targets Addiction
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New U.S. Drug Strategy Targets Addiction
Posted by CN Staff on April 17, 2012 at 13:06:13 PT
By UPI
Source: United Press International
Washington, D.C. -- The Obama administration Tuesday released the outline of its new anti-drug strategy, which leans heavily on preventing and treating addiction. The 2012 National Drug Control Strategy incorporates programs and laws dating to 2009 and aims to break the cycle of addiction and incarceration that has frustrated law enforcement and policymakers.
"The policy alternatives contained in our new strategy support mainstream reforms based on the proven facts that drug addiction is a disease of the brain that can be prevented and treated and that we cannot simply arrest our way out of the drug problem," said Gil Kerlikowske, Director of National Drug Control Policy. The White House said in a written statement the thrust of the program would be steering non-violent drug offenders into treatment, youth outreach and using the healthcare system to address addiction. The statement pointed to recent advances in neuroscience that can make treatment more effective. The plan also vows to clamp down on cross-border smuggling and strengthen counter-narcotics efforts with other nations. The administration has requested $10 billion to fund drug education programs and expand access to treatment. Another $9.4 billion has been requested for law enforcement and $3.7 billion for anti-smuggling efforts, the statement said. 2012 National Drug Control Strategy: http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/ondcp/2012_ndcs.pdfSource: United Press International (Wire)Published: April 17, 2012 Copyright 2012 United Press InternationalContact: healthbiz upi.comWebsite: http://www.upi.com/ URL: http://drugsense.org/url/2N4PhgY1CannabisNews Justice Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/justice.shtml 
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Comment #66 posted by museman on May 12, 2012 at 13:12:57 PT
afterburner, hope,
Yeah, I had instructions on my library page (normal in-access) but not on individual pages. Sorry about that. I fixed it. And some other errors I discovered.Thanks for looking.
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Comment #65 posted by Hope on May 10, 2012 at 20:16:24 PT
Oops...
:0)Kinghopeton... not Marley.
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Comment #64 posted by Hope on May 10, 2012 at 20:13:00 PT
One number missing from Marley's 
Can You See The LightWhy / Can you see the light/ Kinghopetonhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EG8qZFfFp8
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Comment #63 posted by Hope on May 10, 2012 at 20:07:13 PT
Oh my...
Thank you, Afterburner.Long As I Can See The Light.Thank you old friend.
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Comment #62 posted by afterburner on May 10, 2012 at 19:55:37 PT
for ever-y one
Why / Can you see the light/ Kinghopeton
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EG8qZFfFpBob Marley - Sun is Shining
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0Oac-IErMI&feature=relatedLong As I Can See The Light - Creedence Clearwater Revival
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1809vqz3zA&feature=related
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Comment #61 posted by Hope on May 10, 2012 at 17:09:00 PT
Lol!
Me, too, Afterburner.I ran my cursor all over it until finally it hit the right place accidentally!
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Comment #60 posted by afterburner on May 10, 2012 at 10:04:15 PT
museman #59
Thanks for the e-book and its information. I just figured out how to turn the pages today.bob marley - 400 years
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83eMx8iq-TU&feature=relatedBob Marley - Roots 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=ZROcsZWjbGkBob Marley " Rebel Music " 3 O Clock Roadblock Live at the Roxy 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4djDzxkM4T8&feature=related
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Comment #59 posted by museman on May 08, 2012 at 07:02:27 PT
as promised
Now I don't have to repeat myself.*note*This version is in flash. I will have other e-book version available from my publisher- for free - soon.LEGALIZE FREEDOM
Elephant in the room
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Comment #58 posted by museman on April 23, 2012 at 08:16:02 PT
elephants
Well, I've thought about this for days, and have decided that I need to get heavy. But rather than continue to post, and repost, reiterate and repeat, I am writing a book. It won't be a novel, but it will be too long to post here.I am not going to say more about it until I can post a link to it after I publish it as a free ebook.Its about elephants in the room.But to entertain my friends I thought I'd offer a little humor on the subject as a prelude.How To Catch A White Elephant(first told to me in 1969 by a High School buddy by the name of Phil Eisenhower -if you're out there old friend, thanks for the joke.)The first thing you do, is get yourself a Red Elephant trap -because its easy to catch a Red Elephant- (you will have to find your own safari supply store)Then -and this is very important- you go to the grocery store and get the ingredients for a cake. You make the cake -doesn't matter what kind, but you have to liberally frost it so that the frosting is creamy and thick. You then place 3 raisins on top of the cake, pack it carefully, and then head out to Africa.To get to White elephant country, you have to first pass through Red Elephant country, where you use your Red Elephant trap to catch a Red Elephant -because it easy to catch a Red Elephant. Then you go through 'Dark Africa' 'Darkest Africa',and into 'Deepest, Darkest Africa' til you come to White Elephant land.Once there, you stealthily seek out the stomping grounds of the White Elephant (fairly easy to find because everything is stomped into the ground there). Once there, find some cover where you can hide to await the great beast, and prepare.Carefully take the cake you so protectively carried through Dark Africa, Darkest Africa, Deepest,Darkest Africa, unwrap it, fluff up the frosting a bit if necessary, and place the cake in the middle of clearing where you expect the White Elephant to show, and then wait.If your cake is pretty enough, and the smell sweet enough, you will not have to wait long.The White Elephant appears. It is suspicious, and though it sees and smells the cake, it is a smart animal, and spends a long time, looking and listening before it approaches the cake. Finally the elephant lumbers over to the cake, sniffs it, walks around it and snorts a couple of times, then rushes in, eats the raisins, and finding no more raisins, stomps the cake into the ground and runs back into the bushes.(stop me if you've heard the joke)Then you pack up, go back through Deepest Darkest Africa, Darkest Africa, and Dark Africa, through Red Elephant country , where you catch a Red Elephant -because its easy to catch a Red Elephant, and return home for the next phase of the adventure.Make another cake, liberally frosted like the first one, but this time, only put 2 raisins on top. Pack the cake carefully and set off for White Elephant country.Passing through Red Elephant country again, you catch a Red Elephant -because its easy to catch a Red Elephant. Then you go again through 'Dark Africa' 'Darkest Africa',and into 'Deepest, Darkest Africa' til you come to White Elephant land.Go back to the same clearing as before -this will save you some time- and place the cake in the center. And wait.Having already hooked the White Elephant on your cake, thereby creating a desire and expectation in the elephant of getting the cake, you won't have to wait very long.The elephant appears, and like last time is suspicious, and looks around, smelling the air, before it approaches the cake. It circles the cake, like before, then quickly licks up the 2 raisins, stomps the cake into the ground and runs back into the bush.The you pack up, and head back through Deepest Darkest Africa, Darkest Africa, and Dark Africa, into Red Elephant land where you catch a Red Elephant -because its easy to catch a Red Elephant.Once you get home, you prepare another cake, just like the others, only this time you only put 1 raisin on it. Head back to Red Elephant country, where you catch a Red Elephant -because its easy to catch a Red Elephant. Then you go through Dark Arica, Darkest Africa, and Deepest Darkest Africa to the same clearing in White Elephant land where you placed the other cakes, and put your cake with only one raisin on it in the clearing.As before the White Elephant appears, sniffing and snuffling around until it goes to the cake. Then it quickly eats the 1 raisin, spends a second rooting through the frosting to see if there are any more raisins, then stomps the cake into the ground and runs off.(patience my friends, patience)Then you go back through Deepest Darkest Africa, Darkest Africa, Dark Africa, and through Red Elephant country where you catch a Red Elephant -because its easy to catch a Red Elephant, and return home.There you bake another cake, only this time don't put any raisins on it at all. And you go back, again, through Red Elephant country, where you catch a Red Elephant -because its easy to catch a Red Elephant - through Dark Africa, Darkest Africa, and Deepest Darkest Africa to the same clearing in White Elephant country.By now you have conditioned the elephant to expect and anticipate the arrival of the cake, and the poor addicted beast is waiting on the edge of the clearing when you arrive. You barely have time to place the cake in the clearing and hide, before he elephant comes trumpeting out to inspect the cake.The elephant circles the cake, looking for raisins. It roots through the frosting but finds none. Several times it trumpets loudly, complaining, but continues to search the cake for raisins. Finding none, the elephant gets mad and starts stomping the cake.The elephant gets so mad it turns red - and (repeat after me) its easy to catch a Red Elephant.LEGALIZE FREEDOM
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Comment #57 posted by Hope on April 22, 2012 at 22:05:51 PT
Rethinking the War on Drugs
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303425504577353754196169014.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
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Comment #56 posted by greenmed on April 22, 2012 at 15:17:46 PT
completely Off.Topic.
A wonderful quote..."The first man who, having fenced in a piece of land, said "This is mine," and found people naïve enough to believe him, that man was the true founder of civil society. From how many crimes, wars, and murders, from how many horrors and misfortunes might not any one have saved mankind, by pulling up the stakes, or filling up the ditch, and crying to his fellows: Beware of listening to this impostor; you are undone if you once forget that the fruits of the earth belong to us all, and the earth itself to nobody.”— Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Discourse on Inequality, 1754http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Jacques_Rousseau
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Comment #55 posted by FoM on April 22, 2012 at 04:34:24 PT
Hope
I figured that out but it has been so long since I have had to ban anyone I can't remember who they are. I know that it takes a lot of pushing to get me upset to that point. 
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Comment #54 posted by Paint with light on April 22, 2012 at 00:27:26 PT
Don't forget Shafer
I have to be cautious in my enthusiasm.I am glad to see the conversation being had but don't forget that under Nixon we had the Shafer Commission that recommended decriminalization and Nixon ignored it.In fact March 18th was the 40th anniversary of the release of the report.Of course I want to think Obama is a lot different than Nixon and I also hope times have changed, including the general public's knowledge.I do hope things are changing.Legal like alcohol, like Ethan said.
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Comment #53 posted by Hope on April 21, 2012 at 23:57:27 PT
We're Winning
Any Time the President is Forced to Say the Word "Legalization"http://stopthedrugwar.org/speakeasy/2012/apr/17/were_winning_any_time_president
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Comment #52 posted by Hope on April 21, 2012 at 20:59:05 PT
FoM
It's you, I'm talking about. Museman was asking, I think, why some guys have gotten the boot from here faster than others. Some days you're more patient than others. Some days, a troll or apparent instigator might have come in on a "Better not mess wif me day." 
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Comment #51 posted by Hope on April 21, 2012 at 20:47:20 PT
Lol!
I know!
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Comment #50 posted by FoM on April 21, 2012 at 18:00:09 PT
Hope
That's funny. I have those days too!
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Comment #49 posted by Hope on April 21, 2012 at 17:05:46 PT
Today
Not mess wif me day.http://icanhascheezburger.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/funny-pictures-today-not-mess-wif-me-day.jpg
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Comment #48 posted by Hope on April 21, 2012 at 16:52:32 PT
Some days
we all are a bit more patient than we might be on some very trying and tiring days.
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Comment #47 posted by Hope on April 21, 2012 at 16:50:59 PT
Museman
 "I sometimes wonder why?"I think I can tell you why. Because some people just irritated, beyond redemption, our web mistress's patience sooner than others. And yes, I'm sure bad days for the same lady made some people get the boot more quickly than some, too. She's human.
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Comment #46 posted by FoM on April 21, 2012 at 15:40:08 PT
MikeEEEEE
I agree.
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Comment #45 posted by MikeEEEEE on April 21, 2012 at 15:05:46 PT
FoM
The old tricks are the best tricks, but some of us have a conscious, those of us not trying to profit from suffering/pain/death.
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Comment #44 posted by FoM on April 21, 2012 at 05:18:01 PT
MikeEEEEE
As Country Joe said way back at Woodstock...There's plenty good money to be made supplying the army with the tools of the trade.
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Comment #43 posted by Paint with light on April 20, 2012 at 21:11:54 PT
Jack Herer
I worked with Jack to put on an event in Memphis in the early 90's.Jack knew me and supported my activism.My well worn copy of "The Emperor Wears No Clothes", is inscribed to me by Jack with a long passage about keeping up the fight.I will keep up the fight no matter how much anyone may try to twist my words, my dedication to legalization, or my true intentions.Jack knew the truth.Legal like alcohol.
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Comment #42 posted by MikeEEEEE on April 20, 2012 at 20:26:53 PT
FoM -- reading between the line$
Wars are all about the money, and $pinning the sheepie,http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/04/20-1
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Comment #41 posted by FoM on April 20, 2012 at 19:18:00 PT
MikeEEEEE 
I look at everything that happens along this journey as leading to it's change. I live in the middle of it but know that what doesn't seem that important can become important in the big scheme of things if that makes sense.
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Comment #40 posted by MikeEEEEE on April 20, 2012 at 18:43:12 PT
FoM
I never expected this kind of event. Expecting little becomes the norm, or a defense in a war, but this is really a step forward. I wonder whether the spin channels here will ever carry this news. Instead, they may choose to shower the airways with more BS about prostitutes in Columbia—a weapon of mass distraction.
Let us all hope for the best, this kind of change is long over due.The fact is: Countries cannot $upport a failed policy, and it really hit$ the pocket, not to mention--their safety, when the evidence keeps repeating, and repeating, and repeating (a failed policy with heavy costs, in lives, $$$$, etc.). But if history teaches me one thing, the US has trouble letting go of failed war$. 
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Comment #39 posted by museman on April 20, 2012 at 10:30:55 PT
afterburner
"I see naked people!"
 
(the emperors ass kissers)LEGALIZE FREEDOM
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Comment #38 posted by museman on April 20, 2012 at 10:10:45 PT
afterburner
And there you have it!LEGALIZE FREEDOM
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Comment #37 posted by museman on April 20, 2012 at 10:06:41 PT
Hope #32
That fragmentation concerns me as well. There are posers in the camp. Government infiltrators who troll around engendering conflict and angst. They pull the same crap that prohibitionists pull, making arguments that contain a small amount of reference to cannabis, but make large issue of the ways and means of the status quo. More time is spent arguing points that have already been established, and division is created.The whole truth about cannabis is narrowed down to factions, and personalities. Confusion is sown, and many who might have joined the fight back away from the instigating factions who continue to contradict and attack the truth because they have some personal vendetta or something. Or they are actually paid to create conflict.We had an eco-warrior group here a number of years ago called "Earth First" they were 'monkeywrenchers' (eco-terrorists by the status quo definition). They did some radical things like chain themselves to gates, bridges and trees. They also crossed the line into sabotage.Their group was founded by a man who went by the code-name 'Lone Wolf' who built them up over a period of 3 years to a substantial organization. He organized every 'protest' and event that they participated in. Near the end of the 90's several of them were busted. In testimony that came out in the trial (but was not made public for a while) was the fact that 'Lone Wolf' was a covert operative of the CIA.To think that there are not such people involved in our labors is a mistake. A true cannabis warrior should be able to distinguish the incongruities -for example- that exist in many statements made about cannabis here that with a few individuals, seem to be adaptive yet very closed to other options like TOTAL LIBERTY, or other concepts not in agreement with the capitulation and surrender of our right knowledge about cannabis.We know cannabis is benign, yet we allow some to continue to support the status quo assumption and propaganda that it isn't. Is it, or isn't it?If cannabis is truly harmless as any long experienced with it knows (there is no accounting for misuse and abuse, anything can be misused by ignorant people, and with cannabis is it usually in association or combination with something else, like alcohol that causes the misuse) then we have to stop supporting the assertion that cannabis is comparable to alcohol.I know I am not a minority in this regardless of the claims of the actual minority who will will not relinquish the adamant claims of status quo veracity.In the end it will not matter, because it is inevitable.The time it takes to get there could easily be accelerated if we clear the space of these infiltrators and government instigators who claim to be 'activists' but their words are all about serving the status quo.If we don't want the fracturing to continue, we will have to clarify and agree on the goal, which all this time I though was personal liberty, not just the liberty of a few ass-kissing slaves who suck up to propaganda way too easily.The evidence is there. There have been several people that I watched get booted from here for a lot less. I sometimes wonder why?LEGALIZE FREEDOM
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Comment #36 posted by afterburner on April 20, 2012 at 09:36:44 PT
museman #35 - The Emperor Wears No Clothes
Alcohol vs. cannabis:{ In the 1920s and ‘30s, Hearst’s newspapers deliberately manufactured a new threat to America and a new yellow journalism campaign to have hemp outlawed. For example, a story of a car accident in which a “marijuana cigarette” was found would dominate the headlines for weeks, while alcohol-related car accidents (which outnumbered marijuana-connected accidents by more than 10,000 to 1) made only the back pages. }
Chapter 4.
The Emperor Wears No Clothes.
By Jack Herer
http://www.jackherer.com/thebook/chapter-four/No harm & no need for regulation or sanctions:"And in 1930, the U.S. government sponsored the Siler Commission study on the effects of off-duty smoking of marijuana by American servicemen in Panama. Both reports concluded that marijuana was not a problem and recommended that no criminal penalties apply to its use."
Chapter 4.
The Emperor Wears No Clothes.
By Jack Herer
http://www.jackherer.com/thebook/chapter-four/Racist propaganda, the "lazy" stereotype & resulting discrimination against dark-skinned races:{ Starting with the 1898 Spanish American War, the Hearst newspaper had denounced Spaniards, Mexican-Americans and Latinos.After the seizure of 800,000 acres of Hearst’s prime Mexican timberland by the “marihuana” smoking army of Pancho Villa,* these slurs intensified.*The song “La Cucaracha” tells the story of one of Villa’s men looking for his stash of “marijuana por fumar!” (to smoke!)Non-stop for the next three decades, Hearst painted a picture of the lazy, pot-smoking Mexican, still one of our most insidious prejudices. Simultaneously, he waged a similar racist smear campaign against the Chinese, referring to them as the “Yellow Peril.” }
Chapter 4.
The Emperor Wears No Clothes.
By Jack Herer
http://www.jackherer.com/thebook/chapter-four/Lies and misinformation & racist profiling:{ Anslinger pushed on Congress as a factual statement that about 50% of all violent crimes committed in the U.S. were committed by Spaniards, Mexican-Americans, Latin Americans, Filipinos, African-Americans and Greeks, and these crimes could be traced directly to marijuana.(From Anslinger’s own records given to Pennsylvania State University, ref.: Li Cata Murders, etc.)Not one of Anslinger’s marijuana “Gore Files” of the 1930s is believed to be true by scholars who have painstakingly checked the facts.4 Self-Perpetuating Lies In fact, FBI statistics, had Anslinger bothered to check, showed at least 65-75% of all murders in the U.S. were then – and still are – alcohol related. As an example of his racist statements, Anslinger read into U.S. Congressional testimony (without objection) stories about “coloreds” with big lips, luring white women with jazz music and marijuana. He read an account of two black students at the University of Minnesota doing this to a white coed “with the result of pregnancy.” The congressmen of 1937 gasped at this and at the fact that this drug seemingly caused white women to touch or even look at a “negro.”Virtually no one in America other than a handful of rich industrialists and their hired cops knew that their chief potential competitor – hemp – was being outlawed under the name “marijuana.”That’s right. Marijuana was most likely just a pretext for hemp prohibition and economic suppression. }
Chapter 4.
The Emperor Wears No Clothes.
By Jack Herer
http://www.jackherer.com/thebook/chapter-four/The truth has been known for many years by insiders and has spread to the masses due to the Internet.Free the hemp.Free cannabis.Thanks to ekim for the Jack Herer link.
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Comment #35 posted by museman on April 20, 2012 at 08:49:34 PT
shielde
You are absolutely right.Its just another form of prohibition, with a lot more fines, fees, and imprisonment if you don't comply.It is conceding to the status quo that they are right, that cannabis is dangerous and should be controlled.It is allowing, like you said, the corporate money interests to step right in and buy up patents, copyright strains and seeds, and put the herb on the GMO lists.Is is allowing profit interests, and their government puppets to control and regulate THC content -like alcohol. They will determine what you want, and give you no choice except to buy their product, likely produced with toxic herbicides, and defoliants, and fertilized with more of the same,As most actual 'activists' are well aware of the probable steps to achieve the original state of 'legality' with cannabis -which for tens of thousands of years was 'its a plant' to say that there are some who selfishly want it their own way is a statement not only grossly uninformed (as so many from status quo supporters are) but is an example of the very 'selfishness' being used as some kind of accusation by ignorance.It may very well take many steps and increments to achieve total freedom, and any sane, intelligent anti-prohibitionist knows this and has already accepted decriminalization, and medical marijuana, as interim stages to repeal of illegal, and unconstitutional laws like cannabis prohibition.The fact that we have to fight so hard for common sense and liberty, makes some of us, the more dedicated I believe, want to take it all the way and not be stopped by any of the many stumbling blocks of compromise with error that the prohibition mentality wants to muddy up the water with.You see -and this has been explained over and over- the problem with the prohibition mentality, is that they have been convinced, and their main agenda, is to convince everyone else, that cannabis is a 'drug,' that it causes all manner of harm; 'makes you lazy' 'makes you forget' 'lowers your sperm count' 'will turn you into a hippy!' etc etc. Before the 30's cannabis was not being used much by the white man, the history is readily available. It is a wondrous thing to read repetitive denials of what history reveals is the real reasons behind cannabis prohibition.They want you to think it is because of cannabis itself, when in reality it is about freedom.And if they succeed in establishing cannabis as a 'LEGAL CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE' well they have succeeded in slowing down the REAL AGENDA of every cannabis activist; LEGALIZATION.The tablescrap mentality that is willing to sacrifice yours and my freedom so they can 'go to the store and buy pot' is not one that I believe many true cannabis activists are looking for, they just accept the possibility as a 'step in the right direction.' And as such it is only a step, not an END, as some would so adamantly state as their desire.To say that cannabis is 'equal to alcohol' or that it should be 'treated like alcohol' is a slap in the face of every cannabis smoker who has had to endure the many lies and obfuscations of the status quo, the ignorant ostracism of their neighbors, and the fear of 'amerikan justice'.Alcohol is a poison, The 'high' one gets while drinking it is nothing more than the screaming death of millions of brain cells. It kills more people than war. It destroys those it does not kill, even if they are too stupid to know they have no brains left -like most 'employees' of the justus system.Cannabis just cannot be compared, and if it is, it is compared with false information, by those who do not want to admit its benevolence.Don't let stumbling blocks of ignorance get in your way. Ignore them like the rest of us do, and onward to freedom, justice, and common sense.LEGALIZE FREEDOM
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Comment #34 posted by Hope on April 19, 2012 at 22:14:44 PT
 :0)
And back at you, PWL.Happy, safe 4/20, everyone!
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Comment #33 posted by Paint with light on April 19, 2012 at 21:57:45 PT
Happy 420
A happy 420 to everyone, even the activists I disagree with.Legal like alcohol.
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Comment #32 posted by Hope on April 19, 2012 at 21:00:49 PT
Factions and divisions among us...
That worries me about the initiatives. The more initiatives on the ballots... the more trouble getting enough of the votes concentrated on any one initiative enough for it to pass. Unless you can vote for all of them. Can you do that?That concerns me a great deal.
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Comment #31 posted by Paint with light on April 19, 2012 at 20:21:08 PT
comment #27
"I personally think it should be regulated no more than any other thing that is grown in the garden but that's just a single fool's opinion."It is not a fool's opinion to think it should be treated that way.It is only a fool's opinion to think it will, at least without going through a cannabis purgatory of regulation first.In fact I agree with you. But I am based in reality.If the farmers would join our fight and stand up for legalized hemp/cannabis it would make the process go a lot faster.One of the main problems with our movement is we have so many factions that selfishly only want it their way.Some medical users go against some of the current bills.In California you had the growers who went against progress.I expect that some of the growers that are against "legal like alcohol" are really supporting a hidden agenda and don't want to see cheaper cost, wider availability, and more producers.Legal like alcohol.
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Comment #30 posted by FoM on April 19, 2012 at 19:18:13 PT
MikeEEEEE
I believe we are making progress. I didn't have high expectations like some folks did. Change is happening.
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Comment #29 posted by MikeEEEEE on April 19, 2012 at 18:11:38 PT
Beginning of the End of the War on Drugs?
Some quotes from article below:If we view Cartagena within the framework of a traditional war, what we have witnessed is the first draft of an armistice.One can only hope that other countries, specifically those that have become so dependent on drug war infrastructure, will begin to take notice of what they have learned and adapt accordingly.http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/04/19-6Take note Drug warrior$, this news is being streamed around the world. The social injustice will no longer be tolerated. 
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Comment #28 posted by FoM on April 19, 2012 at 17:00:58 PT
shielde 
I agree with you. It's only a plant.
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Comment #27 posted by shielde on April 19, 2012 at 16:27:09 PT
Legal like alcohol
There is only one minor flaw with trying to legalize cannabis like alcohol that legislators and leo's will want to take advantage of to ensure higher profits on their end.The problem is that they will likely end up comparing hemp to beer and wine because it does contain some amounts of THC in it and then compare marijuana to liquor.This would ensure that marijuana would only be produced by those who had large sums of money to begin with. While at the same time not allowing individuals to grow it at home. This would mean that if people ended up growing it on their own without ATF's approval it would be equivalent to moonshine.I personally think it should be regulated no more than any other thing that is grown in the garden but that's just a single fool's opinion.
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Comment #26 posted by afterburner on April 19, 2012 at 15:35:15 PT
Ride Natty Ride
U.S. attorney who jailed Canada’s Prince of Pot calls for marijuana legalization.
Published On Thu Apr 19 2012.
A former U.S. prosecutor says he has something in common with the wife of Canada’s jailed Prince of Pot.
  Comments (11).
The Canadian Press
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/1164163--u-s-attorney-who-jailed-canada-s-prince-of-pot-calls-for-marijuana-legalization?bn=1Bob Marley - Ride Natty Ride
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGmSWOkL8eQ&feature=endscreen&NR=1
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Comment #25 posted by museman on April 19, 2012 at 08:53:11 PT
There is only one cure
for ignorance. That is the truth, Of course if an ignorant mind refuses the truth...Doesn't matter though. Truth won't stop, even if some do because their comfort level has been reached through kissing the ass of the status quo.Thank Yah I managed to teach my children above and beyond the slave mentality of public school, status quo propaganda and a belief in reality instead of repeating banality and middle-road compromise with error -error that is known to all who actually look.But you can lead a horse to water.....Also fortunate is the fact that all these old, tired mentalities leftover from WW2- (you know "My country right or wrong!" "Get a job!" "You can't fight city hall." -and all the beliefs that hold onto dying, corrupted systems) are disappearing. A new generation is moving into place, and they are not so inclined to swallow the BS party lines of the 'established order'.It has been one of my greatest joys to have these young people come around after they've reached adulthood and reiterate their understanding and thank me for being there when they needed the truth. Witnessing the mainstream conversation slowly move towards the multiplicity of our actual reality, instead of the narrow minded, near-sighted consumerism that allowed the puppeteers lording over us to score major levels of unconsciousness in the population, has been real exciting for me.It has been such a vindication to see the information and truth about many things -but all relative to a reality that is buried beneath the false values and posturings of the status quo- come out in the past 10 years.Yes there was a time when I despaired that anyone could get out from in front of their entertainment long enough to look, let alone see the truth. 40 years ago when I started this conversation, there weren't many takers. That has changed dramatically.Yes, once there was a time, when I felt so desperate for change, I felt an urgency, like I had to 'get 'er done' - and I beat my head against many walls of ignorance, ending up with one hell of a headache but not much progress. Somewhere in that process I realized that the healing of the consciousness of man could likely take more time than I have currently available.Perhaps I should have conceded then? Well I didn't and now, regardless of the foot dragging, denial, and waste-of-space that tries to insert itself into the resolve of liberty loving people, there is more than hope manifesting, there is real, profound movement.And as I am eternal, I can see no reason to settle for the dregs of freedom, when I can have the real deal. I have all the time its gonna take, and I'm gonna enjoy every minute of it! And I will get a singular joy, witnessing the silly beliefs of silly people getting revealed, one-by-one, for the errors that they are. I get such joy now, as it is happening, regardless of any one persons personal blindness.The only concern I have is for the young minds, who are searching for the truth, who don't need the deliberately sown confusion of ignorant people mucking up the works. Thus I must continue to clarify the obvious, which gets obscured in the shallow-context of status quo supportive arguments. If just one confused mind, gets some direction or illumination, then I am doing my job.Because there is one liberty that we all respect and uphold (some more than others) -the 'freedom of speech' that allows us all to be self-empowered with an opinion, one cannot simply shut up, or shut off a voice that continues to proclaim error, one must endure. And those who know pretty much just get on with reality and avoid the unpleasantness of having to, say confront trolls and instigators whose intent seems related more to some small ego needs than correct information, complete facts (certainly not the contrived statistics that pass for 'fact' in the schools, and other state-funded institutions of slave management and training) or just plain Truth.The ignorant often attack the concept of Truth, because they cannot see it, their faculties are submerged in social programming.I have already seen the outcome. It will be here sooner when all the lukewarm ignorance is 'spit out' of our consciousness. I will live in a free society. Most of the younger people who are opening their consciousness and minds to other options besides the 'buy and sell' mentality of wall street, will see it. Some will just go somewhere else I guess.LEGALIZE FREEDOM
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Comment #24 posted by Paint with light on April 19, 2012 at 01:00:21 PT
Legal like alcohol
There are several states with legislation this year to regulate cannabis like alcohol.How many states have legislation making cannabis totally "free"?The same number as the chance for such legislation to pass.Zero.If cannabis were regulated like alcohol the following would be true;You could own and possess as much cannabis as you want.You could buy 80 proof, 90 proof, and even 100 proof cannabis. Just as you don't have to buy beer, you can buy bourbon, whiskey, vodka, and even Pure Grain Alcohol.You could buy it in the grocery store, the drug store, the corner market, special cannabis stores, the local tavern, pub, or sports bar.People would not be arrested for having or using cannabis.You could have cannabis with dinner in many eating establishments.You could grow a certain amount of cannabis for yourself or to share with friends and not have to have a license.You could get a license to grow commercially.You could have a boutique cannabis farm where you produce your own unique brand and have people buy it or consume it on the property.There could be cannabis bed and breakfast businesses.You could ship your product all over the world.You could advertise your product.Patients could get all the medicine they need in whatever form or percentage THC/CBN they want.The hemp industry could flourish.I could go on and on.If it has taken almost a century to get to where we are now then the cold reality of totally "free" cannabis is probably another century away if not longer.I am sorry but I don't have that long.Legal like alcohol is a way for people to have and enjoy cannabis, patients to have their medicine, the hemp industry to finally get started, and a way to stop locking people up for cannabis crimes.Legal like alcohol.That is the answer.  
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Comment #23 posted by MikeEEEEE on April 18, 2012 at 19:10:25 PT
the CORPORATION
Who will run this new cla$$ification/factory, perhaps the already exi$ting industrial/pri$on complex, or a whole new enterpri$e?
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Comment #22 posted by observer on April 18, 2012 at 14:40:08 PT
Meet the New Boss
re: "new anti-drug strategy, which leans heavily on preventing and treating addiction."Same as the old boss ... Nothing new there, just the same old lip service to change and something new, while delivering the same old police state make-work sops to henchmen and goons to do the same old stealing, killing, and destroying of people for pot, as always. Maybe a slight rhetorical shift. But arrests of people will continue as before; after all - it is the bread and butter of U.S. law enforcement at all levels now: busting people for pot, jailing them (at great expense), fining them, stealing their property, and enslaving them using the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution as their pro-slavery (UNICOR, etc.) loophole. Nice deal - for the police state. But the same old, same old for the victims of this regime. Will people get fooled again? 
http://drugnewsbot.org/pot
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Comment #21 posted by FoM on April 18, 2012 at 13:45:23 PT
museman
Dick Clark was a wonderful person and will be missed.
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Comment #20 posted by runruff on April 18, 2012 at 13:24:05 PT
New policy for the WoD.
An orderly and steady retreat. Load and fire as you go. Stay grouped, don't stray, stay in order as we advance to the rear! A strategic retreat.I always said that the prohibs would not let go easily but would try to end the WoD movie with a fade out. Under Reagan, Bush and Clinton the Wod on drugs was formidable. It was the Great Wall of China in strength and purpose. A few villagers regularly attacked the wall with their meager slings and arrows but to no avail, alas, even laughable, their efforts. After a long while of standing up to the Wall others began to emerge from behind the social landscape. Then more began to show up until one day a miraculous thing happened. A little garage full of stoners invented the giant killer. The Wall destroyer, the Internet!Today's concession being made by the other side would have been unheard of twenty years ago. Indeed, their Great Wall is little more these days than a mud fence. And this year we bring out the bulldozers!
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Comment #19 posted by museman on April 18, 2012 at 12:42:21 PT
OT: Death of a legend
R.I.P. Dick Clark.Wonderful memories of a more innocent time.
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Comment #18 posted by afterburner on April 18, 2012 at 11:45:01 PT
Bill Piper, DPA
3 COMMENTS.
How Obama's "New" Drug Strategy Uses Fresh Rhetoric for Old, Failed Policies.
Bill Piper is the director of national affairs at the Drug Policy Alliance (www.drugpolicy.org).
By Bill Piper | Sourced from AlterNet.
Posted at April 18, 2012, 10:33 am
http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/article/906166/how_obama%27s_%22new%22_drug_strategy_uses_fresh_rhetoric_for_old%2C_failed_policies/
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Comment #17 posted by FoM on April 18, 2012 at 11:42:14 PT
The GCW
I agree with you about Obama. 
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Comment #16 posted by The GCW on April 18, 2012 at 11:30:03 PT
Museman, #13
Yes, cannabis is their biggest threat. Cannabis as a plant with spirit will help put the light on bright. 
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Comment #15 posted by The GCW on April 18, 2012 at 11:26:25 PT
FoM, #12
Obama may have accomplished so much in part because He did drugs.?.?. Without those substances, where would He be?
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Comment #14 posted by FoM on April 18, 2012 at 10:33:58 PT
Museman
You said it so very well. Thank you.
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Comment #13 posted by museman on April 18, 2012 at 10:11:08 PT
FoM
Yes.And let us further understand that the 'counterculture' that started with a bunch of young flower-child-like 'hippies' began in a circle that passed around cannabis.It was cannabis that enabled us to connect with each other, to overcome the false pretenses of corrupted government that was trying to indoctrinate us into believing their crap while at the same time forcing an alarming number of us to become cannon fodder in their intended global conquest. It was cannabis that 'broke the social ice' and allowed our generational conversation to really get underway. If it were not for the insertion of the various elected criminals who serve the status quo, that conversation could have continued and illuminated the public within a decade -AND THAT"S WHAT THEY (the status quo) WERE AFRAID OF!Instead we were branded, hunted, criminalized, ostracized, mocked, vilified, and denied opportunity, liberty, and justice.Even now there are those who do not understand the price that we have paid to come this far, who are willing to toss our effort and veracity out the window for table-scrap concessions. They are more than willing to continue to brand, hunt, criminalize, ostracize, mock, vilify, and deny opportunity, liberty and justice, just so they can get the cultural conversation back into their complete control.It was cannabis that was the GATEWAY to consciousness. We learned that the corporate-run government was supporting the eco-destruction of our planet. We learned that women -our sisters, had as much right to resource, compensation for their time, and 'position' in our society as any men. We learned that magic was real. -some transmuted that into 'technology' We learned that all forms of war -including violent revolution only begat destruction and death for the people while securing wealth and power for the elite. We learned what the truth was, about many things that have been deliberately obscured by the long held power of the rulers, including the most important truth of all, about our Deliverer of Truth, AKA 'Jesus' or as a seeker comes to know as "Yashua" "Yahushua" or YSHWH.Any legislation or belief that engenders the idea that cannabis is or has been anything BUT beneficial to us all is legislation of corruption, and should not be acceptable for any true seeker of true justice.Perseverance will prevail. The time to give in to such subverted and corrupted crap is not now. Not now that we have them finally seeing our resolve. They must not be allowed to think that our resolve is so easily weakened by such trivial movements -made to look like concession, which are in reality just more of the same.LEGALIZE FREEDOM
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Comment #12 posted by FoM on April 18, 2012 at 08:49:17 PT
Drug Use 
I think about all the creative people over the years that accomplished so much that did drugs. Sure some went too far and died or scrambled their brain but way more helped society in many ways like Steve Jobs. The very creation of the Internet was done by people who used drugs to expand their consciousness. I have always felt more comfortable around people who don't drink but have used different substances over their lifetime. They make more sense to me.
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Comment #11 posted by Hope on April 18, 2012 at 08:28:24 PT
"steering non-violent drug offenders"
Does "steering" mean "arrest"?Does "steering" go on a person's permanent government records like arrests do?I think this so called "new" policy must not mean much or prohibitionists and most law enforcement would be squalling like scalded cats. I don't hear a sound out of them.
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Comment #10 posted by museman on April 18, 2012 at 08:16:23 PT
and this article
just illustrates my point.Shall we compromise and 'decriminalize' yet turn around and re-establish the prohibitions false statement of harm associated with cannabis?Oh yes, you aren't a 'criminal' anymore, you are just 'sick.' and not sick in terms of disease, but in your mind. Because smoking marijuana is a sign of mental instability.But like the ridiculous idea that marijuana is like alcohol, this is just another twist to take out the wishy-washy, middle-of-the-road 'anti-prohibitionists' who really don't do much except muddy the waters of truth.Come to think of it, maybe that's not a bad idea. It would almost be worth it to let this happen, kind of like electing Obama to not have to look at bush anymore. Then all the waste-of-space that adds to the confusion about cannabis would be removed and those of us who are left, the serious ones could get on with business, even though such a thing would be a terrible setback to true liberty.LEGALIZE FREEDOM
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Comment #9 posted by museman on April 18, 2012 at 08:03:43 PT
cannabis
Is an herb, It is not a distillation of toxic chemicals found in alcohol. It is not a refined drug such as a pharmaceutical or heroin.It is not addictive. It is not a drug.It is food. It is medicine. It is Sacrament.None of the afore mentioned substances can make that claim. Not even the 'medicine' part, because the pharmaceutical companies stopped concerning themselves with medical efficacy a long time ago.Any degree of control and regulation is not legalization . If I have to ask anyone for permission (except in someones private space) then it is not legal.I woke up this morning trying to imagine what it would be like if cannabis was 'legal like alcohol' here in Oregon.The first thing they would do would be to establish levels of thc content, - like alcohol. That would make consumers have to buy more to 'get the buzz' like they have to do with the watered down beer all the alkies like to guzzle every day a six-pak or case at a time. -I am reminded of '3.2' beer that the 18-21 crowd were 'allowed' to consume in those states that honored the adult status (slightly) of 18+ that stuff did damage.The next thing I thought of, was the new agencies that the taxpayers would have to pay for. The ATF would have to become the AMTF (they're never going to admit cannabis back into the pharmacopia until we stop letting them get away with their many lies on the subject) and the price tag for just changing the name and all those letterheads will probably cost the taxpayers several million bucks.And then I realized the most damming thing of all; if we let them get away with regulating and most importantly EQUATING cannabis with alcohol, they have won.They have won because we would have given in to all of their propaganda stating the 'harm' in marijuana, the lies about lifestyles of the cannabis culture, and the fear of the 'stoned hippy' parading their liberty in front of the uncomfortable slaves.All the art, music, writing, technology, philosophy, and other great works that have come forth because men and women rightly used the herb as an inspirational tool will be mis-cast as to their origin and intent, and the ignorance of the masses remains.The ignorance will remain. The idea that 'marijuana' (not cannabis) is an evil, harmful drug, (only 'not quite' as harmful as alcohol they will say) will become permanently embedded in the culture, taught diligently in the slave factories called public schools, and all the vilification that has occurred, all the suffering, imprisonment and social and political discrimination will remain unaddressed, swept under the rug of fake concessions to liberties which are our birthright.The efforts to return cannabis to its rightful place would be severely stifled, as most 'middle-of-the-road' cannabis "activists" will celebrate victory and line up at the local liquor store to buy their first 'legal marijuana.' The rest of us who have been laboring hard and long for true sanity common sense, and the freedom that we were born with will be left out in the cold of social ostracism once again. Once again our dedicated voices of truth will be stifled by the weekend warriors who want to smoke pot but don't want to get serious about cannabis.If we are willing to compromise with lies just for lesser lies, whose foolin' who?Alcohol leads to death. Cannabis leads to life.Personally I cannot fathom how such tolerance for error remains within serious anti prohibition sentiment.Yes I understand that some people 'just want it to end' and I agree, but how is regulation ending anything?I have no doubt, that if cannabis was regulated 'like alcohol' then they would make some special conditions like; -no growing without special permit (if they are even that magnanimous) and fines and imprisonment for non-compliance with the CONDITIONS of its fake 'legality.'Anybody who thinks that this is just about cannabis is totally missing the reality. And those who support the status quo 'solutions' to their own corruption are foolish if not suspect as infiltrators, spies, and instigators.Cannabis prohibition is serious stuff. Its life-and-death for way too many people, and there is no damm good reason why it should be.Willing compromise with error is inimical to our cause. Those of us who have actually experienced the 'justice' of the status quo up close and personal aren't so easily led down the rosy path of ignorance about what cannabis is and what it is 'equal to.' Cannabis is equal to nothing. Cannabis is the 'herb bearing seed' it is the 'plant of renown' it is the "herb given for the healing of nations"It is uniquely its own and cannot be compared to any other substance without tossing aside a multitude of attributes.Heroin at least has a medicinal value as a pain killer (at least as opium) alcohol is the elixer of demons and fools.LEGALIZE FREEDOM
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Comment #8 posted by afterburner on April 18, 2012 at 06:59:51 PT
"Addiction???"
Cannabis is less "addictive" than coffee, which is unscheduled & NOT accused of being drug by the FDA food police!Solution: deschedule cannabis since it is not addictive and treat it like the food it is. Nutrition for healing!No forced treatment for nutritive ingestion of phytocannabinoids.
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Comment #7 posted by FoM on April 18, 2012 at 04:55:36 PT
White House Criticizes U.S. Drug Policy
By the CNN Wire StaffThe U.S. government's drug strategy should focus more on treating addiction and less on imposing harsh prison sentences, the White House said Tuesday. "Outdated policies like the mass incarceration of nonviolent drug offenders are relics of the past that ignore the need for a balanced public health and safety approach to our drug problem," Gil Kerlikowske, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, said in a statement. The office's annual report to Congress suggests a "new national approach" that includes criminal justice system reforms aimed at stopping "the revolving door of drug use, crime, incarceration, and rearrest," officials said in a statement.Read more: http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/30909843/detail.html
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Comment #6 posted by Hope on April 17, 2012 at 23:17:01 PT
"advances in neuroscience"
That would be chemical lobotomy by a state preferred pharmaceutical.I see what you mean, PWL.
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Comment #5 posted by Paint with light on April 17, 2012 at 22:48:38 PT
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
"The statement pointed to recent advances in neuroscience that can make treatment more effective."Why does the image of Jack Nicholson come to mind when I read this?Legal like alcohol.Colorado understands, how long before the rest of the country?
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Comment #4 posted by FoM on April 17, 2012 at 15:33:34 PT
Hope
They won't do that. The prison industrial complex has a lot of political clout. How would the drug testing industry survive they would think too. Money money money is what it is all about and of course keeping the people controlled so they won't challenge anything.
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Comment #3 posted by Hope on April 17, 2012 at 15:18:51 PT
It's still imprisonment! It's still arrest!
"Steering non-violent drug offenders into treatment".And we looked down on the Soviet Union's "Re-education camps". It's the SAME THING!!!If people want to go through this sort of "Re-education", that's fine. If they don't, it most certainly is a wicked trespass upon their liberty.How dare they? How dare they?
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Comment #2 posted by Hope on April 17, 2012 at 15:14:44 PT
You'd think the Republicans would step up
and counter his opinion with just the opposite... since they do it on everything else.
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Comment #1 posted by duzt on April 17, 2012 at 15:09:53 PT
???
So they are going to do exactly what they have been doing. Obama is such a huge disappointment on so many levels.
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