With this year just about over, what do we have to show for it? It’s certainly been an interesting year for drug policy reform, and I’d say one possibly our best in terms of progress made in the most important area: building critical mass for reform.
Here are some re-cap stories (and similar items) from various places…
Drug War Chronicle: Top 10 Domestic Drug Policy Stories
- Marijuana Goes Mainstream
- Medical Marijuana: The Feds Butt Out and the Floodgates Begin to Swing Open
- The Reflexive Prohibitionist Impulse Remains Alive — Just Ask Sally D
- “We Must Drug Test Welfare and Unemployment Recipients!”
- Rockefeller Drug Law and Other State Sentencing Reforms
- Swatting SWAT
- America Finally Notices the Drug War Across the River
- Congress Ends Ban on Needle Exchange Funding, Butts Out of DC Affairs
- Questioning the Drug War: Two Congressional Bills
- The Crack/Powder Cocaine Sentencing Disparity
Tony Newman, writing at Alternet, has a slightly different approach to a top-10 for the year: 10 Signs the Failed Drug War Is Finally Ending
2009 will go down as the beginning of the end of America’s longest running war. Here’s 10 reasons why.
- Three Former Latin American Presidents Call Drug War a Failure (February)
- Michael Phelps and the Bong Hit Heard Around the World (February)
- Obama Justice Department Says No More Raids on Patients and Caregivers in States with Medical Marijuana Laws (March)
- Drop the Rock! NY’s Draconian Rockefeller Drug Laws Finally Reformed (April)
Governor Arnold Calls for Debate on Legalizing Marijuana: Voters to Decide in 2010 (May) - Drug Czar Calls for End to the Drug War (May)
- Mexico and Argentina Move to Decriminalize Marijuana and other Drugs (August)
- The Results Are In: Portugal’s Decriminalization Law of 2001 Reduced Transmission of Disease, Cut Overdose Deaths and Incarceration, While Not Increasing Drug Use. (August)
- Coming Out of the Closet: “Stiletto Stoners” Explain Why They Like Marijuana (September)
- The Marijuana Legalization Debate Hits the Mainstream (Fall )
Note: With both stories above, be sure to go to the original article to read the full description under each item.
This item in The Nation really threw me for a loop. I was rather shocked to come across this poll in a major political magazine:
What was the best political moment of 2009?
- Obama’s inauguration. It marked the end of the Bush years and set a hopeful tone for the year.
- Iran’s revolutionary moment. A new generation of activists’ tweets are heard around the world.
- Obama’s progressive drug policy reforms. A first step towards an exit plan for the ‘war on drugs.’
- The confirmation of Sonia Sotomayor. Obama’s appointment broke with precedent; gave the court its first hispanic woman chief justice.
- America’s renewed outreach to the international community. The Cairo speech heralded a renewed embrace of diplomacy.
Wait. Really? That item stunned me on multiple levels. First, for those of us working on drug policy reform, it’s extremely hard to think of Obama as a leader in drug policy reform. Second, for a major political mag to consider working toward an exit plan for the ‘war on drugs’ to be an important political goal — well, that’s pretty exciting in itself.
Of course, good things have happened this year — some may say that those things happened despite Obama. After all, his Drug Czar (and all his other appointees) has been no friend to true reform. And didn’t Obama himself derisively laugh at us internet drug policy reformers… more than once?
And yet… and yet… I am willing to posit that Obama’s Presidency has been, if not a friend to reform, in many ways less of an obstacle to reform than past Presidencies. During the Presidential campaign, I said that I felt Obama’s value to drug policy reform would not be as a supporter of reform (that no President who could become elected would be a reform supporter), but rather through “benign neglect” — through not completely shutting down the doors that others might go through — and I believe that has been the case. In fact, everything from his Drug Czar’s bumbling vocabulary limitations to Obama’s derisive laughter has actually helped us in a backhanded way (I’m not giving him credit, just saying that the actions of the administration have done nothing to shore up the reputation of the drug war, allowing us to effectively chip away at it).
Jordan Smith in the Austin Chronicle has Top 9 Joints
- Patients Free to Inhale
- Some Like it Pot
- Don’t Know What He’s Smoking
- Frustrated Farmers Jailed
- Cracking the Cocaine Disparity
- Pricks Kill Needles … Again
- We Don’t Talk Like That in El Paso
- Pot From Coast to Coast
- Your Choice: Treatment or Jail
The last one caught my eye… Full text is:
After years of hearing the nation’s drug czar jaw on and on about how potent pot is sending more tokers in search of medical help to quit their habit, the feds this year released a new set of statistics showing that – surprise, surprise! – 56% of people admitted to rehab for pot use have actually been sent there by the criminal justice system, as an alternative to going to jail for drug possession. Back to the drawing board, Mr. Czar.
Actually, of course, we’ve known and have been trying to get that information across for some years. But I’m always happy to have someone discover it anew and talk about it.
What are your top stories for 2009? Any that weren’t listed here?
“Prohibition will work great injury to the cause of temperance. It is a species of intemperance within itself, for it goes beyond the bounds of reason in that it attempts to control a man’s appetite by legislation, and makes a crime out of things that are not crimes. A Prohibition law strikes a blow at the very principles upon which our government was founded. America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.”
-President Abraham Lincoln
…1 hour after a standard ‘cigarette’ containing 10 mg cannibis…lol
http://www.drunkdrivingdefense.com/publications-articles/alcohol-and-marijuana-combined-impairment-effects.htm
Oh happy day: Canadian parliament has been prorogued (suspended) and Bill C-15, which called for mandatory minimum sentences for as little as one pot plant, is dead!
25 Of The Best Marijuana Related Stories Of 2009
Hail Mary Jane: 2009 will go in the history books as a major year in the history to marijuana.
CBC’s 2009 BC Newsmaker of the Year: Marc Emery?
BC Marijuana Party Leader Marc Emery has been nominated for the CBC’s “Top 5 B.C. Newsmakers of the Year”. The CBC will reveal one winner each day this week.
Keeping things on a happy note; The most sincere smile of the year goes to this guy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IyAyd4WnvhU&feature=player_embedded
“56% of people admitted to rehab for pot use have actually been sent there by the criminal justice system, as an alternative to going to jail for drug possession.”
Eh? I would have thought it would be nearly 100%. Who on Earth checks into rehab for pot?
As for Obama, I agree: It is a benign neglect. He’s not doing anything at all to help, but he is not actively hurting our cause, either. I think he would just rather not think about it or take political risks on this issue. If it really swings our way and the drug war Wall begins to fall, he’ll probably get behind it and take the credit.
If he does, he’s welcome to it. I don’t really care how it happens, so long as the Wall goes down.
The wall is falling Paul… the mortar was poorly mixed and our incessant hammering away at it is causing it to crumble.
My #1 drug policy story…
A pothead was sworn in as President of the United States. Now if he’ll just grow a pair o’ stones… and stand, as he has stated, by science and the truth.
Just in from the dope research review panel; Listening to Pat Benatar is 2.6 times more enjoyable on Marijuana, another reason to legalize.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIpva8TtHGM&feature=related
Nearly all 9 of those 10 (one must be missing) supposed reasons that the “drug war is ending” are just another example of how most people see “drug war” and “prohibition” as only referring to marijuana.
“End Prohibition” means decriminalize all drugs. Not just one of them. The people who were fighting to end alcohol prohibition weren’t just talking about light beer.
At the end of the day it’s a non-issue because marijuana won’t be legalized as long as the United States exists, and nor will any other drugs. In that sense, it’s bittersweet that the US is past the tipping point and on the verge of total bankruptcy and collapse. Obama will be the final US president (though America’s collapse is not entirely his fault – 8 years of Bush damaged us beyond repair, and Bushbama is doing absolutely nothing to even try to mitigate said damage).
soBMdd
Ganja and Hemp are not drugs, but your harping is still boring. Just because devilman nixon and his naziscum side kick henry lie about a plant with potential to remove large quantities of profits. Doesn’t make it reality. Ganja is an hallucinogen, therefore it can not be addictive. It can only show up in a pisstaste after weeks because it is non toxic and resides in fat cells. Booze and white powders flush out in 48 hrs or less. Toxic, ask your kidneys and liver.
Ganja is proven medicinally, longer than any white powder. Including at the time it was misclassified. Medical research was banned after the 1974 discovery that it shrank brain tumors. That should piss off any red blooded American. Especially if you know someone with a brain tumor.
Being a menace to society is required, and it looks better, if there is a victim. Otherwise its just a scam. A commercial to sell to naive boring twits.
By definition it is not a drug, because all drugs must be approved by the FDA. Be labeled and come in a container with an Rx number. Cannabis has not been tested by the FDA.
So by any credible method Ganja and especially Hemp do not fit as scheduled narcotics, with no medicinal value or a menace to society. Doesn’t fit. Science dictated by moneysluts, not physics.
Drugs are human inventions that require many fossil fools to produce and sell. Hemp is plain insane since it is not possible to alter consciousness other than through its seed’s nutritional value.
The Ganjawar is a separate topic from the white powders you keep squawking like a drunk over. So tagging every post with the same silly troll spam won’t change a thing, no matter how many times. If you wish to advocate white powders, with victims and infrastructure of health hazards and waste. Or the other vices made into crimes by opportunistic politikops. Gopherit. But stop being obnoxiously repetitive over something that no one really cares about, junkies. You are the myopic all eggs in one basket tunnel vision. Agent Orange herbicide is a white powder more than Hemp or Ganja is a drug. They are legal, and as many have told you, so are opiates, speed/meth, booze and cocaine products.
Just them sick people not bothering anyone stealing the junkies limelight getting sympathy. Go figure, these insensitive religionists I reckon. Never heard of a stoner mugging someone for pot. Have heard of crack-heads and junkies selling their bodies, stealing, mugging and trading testimonies to fabricate cases. I have sympathy for the Vets getting caught up in the DEAth interference and the spineless coercive AMA Pharmaceuticals. I think for the safety of innocent collateral damage as the Czar might call it. Junkies should have access to QA dope and of coarse sterile equipment. That was mass murder on Boosh Rayguns part, declaring war on log cabin GOP idiot gays who voted them in. Killed the IND for the same agenda, hurt cage and kill those spreading the fag disease. Same groups condemned wanting their pot medicine started blaming stoners getting it for them for stigmatizing Ganja. Dementia isn’t usually contagious. It seems to be with drug worriers and utopians.
So prohibition of any vice includes Ganja and Hemp, but they are the only ones without victims other than what prohibition causes. White Powders, Prostitution and Gambling have victims. Far more unnecessary during prohibition but even if legitimized there will still be deaths, suffering and trauma. Not smoking Ganja and certainly not utilizing Hemp. Again… think he’ll get it?
[“End Prohibition†means decriminalize all drugs. Not just one of them. The people who were fighting to end alcohol prohibition weren’t just talking about light beer.]
Actually, the desire for beer was a driving force in the ending of alcohol prohibition. Because beer was harder to smuggle and therefore less profitable it had all but disappeared from the distribution chain. Liquor was easily available, and possession wasn’t a crime.
http://www.bioquest.org/icbl/projectfiles/prohib5.jpg
http://socalledexpert.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/we-want-beer.jpg
I can remember all of these articles when there were posted. Great year.
Resolved,in 2010 some state(s) will LEGALIZE…power of positive thought.
DdC: So now your beloved marijuana isn’t even a drug? But it should be formally declared legal, acceptable medicine tomorrow, made available to everyone who needs it, like tylenol?
I agree marijuana should be legal, i’m just not a hypocrite about supporting ending prohibition just so I can get high on pot (the worlds’ most worthless drug and yes it’s most certainly a drug – that’s the whole damn point). A ‘drug’ at it’s most basic level is some substance that causes a sought-after, beneficial reaction to/within the human body. I’m sure you have 10,000 quotes/links in your “marijuana quote file” that support the notion that marijuana is a useful, safe, beneficial, harmless drug with a wide array of uses.
Every time I see someone refer to “ending prohibition” as merely legalizing marijuana, I’m going to point it out, whine about it, and call them stinking hypocrites. So get used to it, especially since you are the single worst offender. The only good thing about that is if pot were legalized tomorrow, you’d immediately cease posting here.
“Every time I see someone refer to “ending prohibition†as merely legalizing marijuana, I’m going to point it out, whine about it, and call them stinking hypocrites.”
Me too, Yes Sireeeee!
If marijuana can make listening to Pat Benatar tolerable, then it truly is a wonder drug.
Cheer up, folks. Use your passion for the fight and enjoy the dust ups with the anti-freedom (pro-prohibition) crowd.
(More tortured neologisms to come in 2010…)
It always annoys me when herb is lumped together with stuff like prostitution, hard drugs, alcohol and gambling. It is like comparing Spongebob Squarepants with snuff porn. Absolutely ridiculous.
@ BruceM: It’s not about the drugs – it’s all about ending a failed social experiment. And calling cannabis the “world’s most worthless drug” may be your opinion, but it exposes an incredible lack of knowledge of history and science.
Ending drug prohibition will have many, many benefits for societies across the globe, with not having to read your whining posts one of the better ones.
Daniel: yes that’s exactly my point – drug prohibition is a totally failed social experiment. It’s corrupted our police, destroyed our Constitution, eviscerated our rights, turned us into a police state, made a huge black market, funded terrorism and created crime.
But most people who want to “end prohibition” just mean they want to legalize pot. All other drugs are properly criminalized in their minds. To call them half-assed is to give them too much credit. They agree with the drug warriors on everything except the illegality of pot. Cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, LSD – those drugs are all properly criminalized and everyone in prison for the sale/possession of THOSE drugs, well they should be there, these people think.
It’s total hypocrisy. Yes, I personally believe marijuana is the most pointless, worthless drug out there, but that’s not to say I don’t support it’s immediate decriminalization. The people who ONLY support decriminalizing marijuana absolutely infuriate me. The problem is the drug war, the problem is drug prohibition – not the fact that you have to break the law to smoke your stinking smelly worthless stupid pot.
But 90% of people who talk about “ending prohibition” only mean legalizing marijuana. And half of those people don’t even support fully doing that – they just support “medical marijuana” i.e. allowing certain people to use marijuana when prescribed by a doctor and acquired by prescription.
So when I read things which remind me that the vast majority of people here are horrendous hypocrites who do not support the immediate, absolute, and unconditional repeal of the Controlled Substances Act and the immediate decriminalization of all “controlled substances” but rather only want an easier/cheaper means of getting pot, I will continue to point it out. Someone has to. And like you I hope one day I won’t have to do it anymore.
Bruce M;
Great Post; Prohibition sucks, and in all it’s forms, period! Just regulating pot will hardly solve anything.
DdC: So now your beloved marijuana isn’t even a drug?
Oh, so you can read, is it comprehension or just more than a sentence that troubles you? Not “now” dude, for ever and ever amen.
But it should be formally declared legal, acceptable medicine tomorrow, made available to everyone who needs it, like tylenol?
It was never formally illegalized unless you believe in lies. Tylenol is a white powder, man made substance. If you were to compare it, it would be closer to willow bark and aspirin. Willow bark isn’t illegal or a drug and aspirin kills several thousand a year but we don’t even classify it, let alone lump the bark in the mix. Or oak trees that might confuse the narkosluts. Cannabinoids can be extracted and synthesized into drug medicines. Hemp is just silly as lumping cotton. Drugs have criteria dude, definitions that distinguish them from cans of spray paint and solvents that might also get you fucked up but aren’t classified as drugs. Drugs are sold in, wait for it, “DRUG STORES”. Now ain’t that special. Ganja would be sold in Apothecaries. Herbs dude, not drugs. Drugs suck don ya know?
I agree marijuana should be legal,
What you agree with is totally irrelevant and only makes us pity your poor mother for all those years of forcing herself to listen to your shouts in the dark. Ain’t you grateful she didn’t throw the baby out with the bathwater like you propose?
i’m just not a hypocrite about supporting ending prohibition just so I can get high on pot
Yes but you are the hypocrite lumping it all into one basket. A fool to boot but thats your ignorance and sometimes its curable. Willow bark is not heroin, Ganja has no properties of a laboratory titration, no lab equipment necessary. Just because you are ignorant of Ganja and Hemp doesn’t make it a hazardous drug or waste product. Poison Ivy ain’t a drug either.
(the worlds’ most worthless drug and yes it’s most certainly a drug – that’s the whole damn point).
The point is still on top of your head. Willow bark or hops are not drugs either hypocrite. St John’s Wart or Flax seed or a Prickly Pear Cactus. Your utopian BS only works for prohibitionists scaring the Un-knowledgeable soccer moms. You think trolling my post makes your case? Your words are empty, void of any reference or logic. More and more like a drug worrier.
A ‘drug’ at it’s most basic level is some substance that causes a sought-after, beneficial reaction to/within the human body.
Pesticides and fertilizers can do that, willow bark is the basic level of aspirin. Your full of shit thinking merdenol synthetics are the same as the scores of cannaboinoids in the plant. Only one gets the inexperienced high. Delta 9. The one they synthesized. The drug merdenol was sabotage to provide an alternative to the buyers clubs. Politics you seem fine with. Not Hemp. Not poppyseeds in muffins. Not marogold flowers or hops and barley. Or buds. I think you drank the wrong kool aid kid.
I’m sure you have 10,000 quotes/links bla that support the notion that marijuana is a useful, safe, beneficial, harmless drug with a wide array of uses.
Oh but why would you confuse yourself with facts when your BS spreads so thick? You might even have a groupie to impress. Hemp products sold on the net are not “link’s to win arguments. They’re products you still think are propaganda to legalize just pot. Legally grown in 32 countries because they know the difference between drugs and plants. I never said to legalize just pot. I said there was a difference the same as giving the public anthrax to play with or formula 1 race cars on the streets. Heroin should be available with clean equipment, behind the counter. Since that is not utopian enough I have to believe your just a nark tossing shit into the mix. No logic in trying to make believe the Ganja you fear making you have religious thoughts is the same as laboratory fabricated addictive poisons. The religions can’t hurt you boy. You think its easier for religions to cast spells on atheists to force them to find Jesus if they use Ganja? Silly Utopitarians.
Every time I see someone bla bla bla you’d immediately cease posting here.
Yes dopey, first you hear voices on the net and now you see someone typing words about ending prohibition? its still simply just boring and stupid spam you bring. No references just a stalker trying to intimidate by trashing posts with unrelated info. Those who will not read have nothing over those who can not read. Willow Bark, thats your new moniker. Hope you like it. Oh, and Nixon never lied about heroin willow, just Hemp and Ganja. get over it, you’re making more of a fool of yourself than when you cheerlead for Insurance companies and war machines. Grow up willow bark!
Muggles
December 31st, 2009 at 1:02 pm
It always annoys me when herb is lumped together with stuff like prostitution, hard drugs, alcohol and gambling. It is like comparing Spongebob Squarepants with snuff porn. Absolutely ridiculous.
Yes that is the point of trolls and drug worriers without a debate. He wants a personal nuclear device for his birthday. The right to bare bunker busters! Lump it all into one bag and toss it in the garbage another 40 years. Annoying to some, boring to most. Intimidation is their only weapon. Don’t fear the idiots though. We have truth and they have BS. Don worry, be happy! The drug worrier walls are starting to crumble. Only the Calvina trolls are still fidgeting.
“The greatest service that can be rendered to any country
is to add a useful plant to its culture.”
~ Thomas Jefferson
But most people who want to “end prohibition†just mean they want to legalize pot. All other drugs are properly criminalized in their minds.
No that’s just the mantra you continue to whine about. No one has said to keep the fraud prohibition going except your idiotic denial will. Heroin is dangerous and has potential to do harm. Its probably illegal because it would remove to many “drugs” being sold. The one thing utopitarians always seem to leave out of the hazards of prohibition. Besides the gutting of the Constitution. The profits are why prohibition exists. With propaganda from the media and religion, but it is about the money stupid. Just the money. Remove competition, get more profit. Even a numbnut republican should see that. So willow, no one wants the government to continue the drug war. We just don’t want kids having easy access to substances that can harm them and their neighbors. Like biological weapons. I know you think your corporate masters should be able to sell anything, let the buyers beware. But dude its reckless and unlike Ganja not killing anyone, heroin and anthrax can. Just get one shot and if they’re dead after the experience, games over. So as with all nuclear devices it should be in trained hands out of reach of shoplifters and terrorists drug worriers. So willow stop whining. Suck all the crack you want and I’ll stand in the rain protesting your right to burn out as much of your brain as you wish. But not kids. Get it? What am I saying, trolls don’t come here to get anything. Nevermind.
“A great deal of intelligence can be invested
in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep.”
~ Saul Bellow
BruceM: Here, here! Indeed far too many of our fellows want to stop short of legalizing and legitimizing all drugs and focus primarily or exclusively on cannabis prohibition. This is pure folly.
But I got to ask: cannabis useless, really? Do you mean that in medicinal sense or in comparison to other stuff that “gets you high”? If you mean the former, I couldn’t disagree more and would be tempted to call you a shill for the pharmaceutical companies. If you mean the latter, I still disagree but I respect your opinion. Personally, I find opiates to be the most worthless drugs as far “getting high” goes, but then again I’ve never tried heroin.
I would say that an important story this year was that the move from Salon.com to here was pretty seamless. This blog is a very important resource. Please remember to help Pete out and click on the “Please help direct-pay Drug WarRant’s hosting bills at DreamHost” button on the left-hand side of any page and make a donation to help keep the lights on here.
“Suck all the crack you want and I’ll stand in the rain protesting your right to burn out as much of your brain as you wish. But not kids. Get it?”
DdC; you force me to yell STRAWMAN! ..nobody anywhere on this board has ever wanted to make recreationally, available any substance whatsoever for kids, and you must know that.
Maybe you’re smoking the wrong useless shit!
The #1 thing about 2009″ Its fucking over!
Go forth and fight the control freaks in 2010, whatever their motivation and whatever yours.
2010 is another new year giving us the opportunity for a revolution. Fight them everywhere with every means you can muster.
Thank you Pete and the awesome DrugWarRant community.
nice summary DavesNotHere… here hear! I could certainly stand a better year. And whilst praising Pete and DWR I’ll add my props to my friends Tim and Bonnie King at Salem-News.com for continuing to give our voices space. Their #1 story was their post by LEAP’s Norm Stamper with his letter to the new drug kzar, Gil “I’ve-never-seen-a-dictionary-I-like” Kerlikowske. Norm’s piece had almost 90,000 views (and it’s Prohibition focus coming in at #1 is a good thing!). I humbly had the #9 piece with not quite 20,000 views and was followed by that great doc of pharmacy, WWII vet and staunch supporter of cannabis for vets w/ PTSD. Here’s their wrap-up for 2009: The Hottest Stories of 2009 on Salem-News.com
Citizen journalism at its best… I say let’s kick this f’in’ wall down. … ’cause it’s ’bout time. I’ve got fish just waiting for summer and me and my fishin’ pole!
Maybe you should try reading Ripmeupacuppa. OTC means over the counter where any kid can shoplift. Try asking if you can’t google the definitions. All I said was treat it like whiskey, preferably with medical access to determine proper dosages. Regardless, removing the danger of prohibition for adults. Not a threat, same as cigarettes. Not a cure either, just a deterrent. But nothing to do with Ganja or especially Hemp as schedule#1 Narcotics. That’s just BS. Herbs are grown, drugs are titrated in labs. Duh. Even doctors prescribing opiates result in dead people occasionally. Still better than the streets sharing needles. Not with Ganja. No strawman junior,. Just more boring buzzwords I can only surmise as to avoid answering the questions. What do you think a strawman is utopi? Besides any DEAth monger narkoslut or commercial grower would suggest OTC opiates and crank etc just for the statistics, to bring back a larger prohibition with more drug worriers screaming they warned us about that heathen devil weed. From the collateral damage of just letting 7-11 sell it. How far do you think it goes? Now answer some questions about what is a right and what is a privilege. Automatic weapons? Tanks? Anthrax at farmers markets? Pollution? Dumping drugs down the toilet into the rivers? No government? How Utopian are the Libralterrorists?
The #1 thing about 2009″ Its fucking over!
Go forth and fight the control freaks in 2010, whatever their motivation and whatever yours.
I second/third/forth that.
BruceM: Here, here! Indeed far too many of our fellows want to stop short of legalizing and legitimizing all drugs and focus primarily or exclusively on cannabis prohibition. This is pure folly.
Here here also! I see too many willing to stop at cannabis legalization. It will be impossible to stop there, heres why.
Ending cannabis prohibition is the lynch pin that will unravel all that is wrong with prohibition. It will send the control freaks into a tailspin.
I’ve used this analogy before. Ending cannabis prohibition is like looking at and iceberg,its only 10% of the beast. Once you remove that 10%,the beast will rise and expose more of its self and so on and so on.
It will be impossible to only look at just one part of it. Theres a lot of ugliness under those waters! Once people realize the magnitude of the lie, there will be a great demand to put a stop to the whole damn mess.
“A great deal of intelligence can be invested
in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep.â€
~ Saul Bellow
Once the illusion is exposed,the ignorance of it all will be apparent ,then the investment will no longer be needed for intellegence will have won.
Hows that from reverse engineering?
Happy new year.
Speaking of legalizing all drugs, Alternet has an amazing piece on the medical attributes of psilocybin and other mushrooms from Andy Isaacson, writing for Mother Jones.
Annual Causes of Death in the United States
Tobacco 435,000
Poor Diet and Physical Inactivity 365,000
Alcohol 85,000
Microbial Agents 75,000
Toxic Agents 55,000
Motor Vehicle Crashes 26,347
Adverse Reactions to Prescription Drugs 32,000
Suicide 30,622
Incidents Involving Firearms 29,000
Homicide 20,308
Sexual Behaviors 20,000
All Illicit Drug Use, Direct and Indirect 17,000
Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs Such As Aspirin 7,600
Marijuana 0
Dr. Andrew Weil
Weil Says LSD Cured His Allergy
Andrew Weil on medical uses of Ecstasy, MDMA by Dan Skeen
From Chocolate to Morphine by Dr. Andrew Weil
Everything You Need to Know About Mind-Altering Drugs.
No Bad Drugs
The Newservice Interview: Dr. Andrew Weil
Let me give props to Obama. By simply not reacting when other countries experiment with new policies, he has given his tacit approval to starting the lengthy, difficult process of dismantling Prohibition.
Case in point: Mexico which has decriminalized small amounts of HARD drugs for personal use. Also, Portugal which has decriminalized all drug use, and the U.S response has been to look the other way.
Now the Czech Republic has decriminalized all drugs. Can Germany be far behind? When a G-8 country summons the heuvos to stare Uncle Sam in the face and tell him that they are diverging from official US policy, well then Katie bar the door.
I’m an incrementalist. All these little changes contribute to the cause and will continue to build momentum for actual, meaningful changes.
Agree that ending prohibition is ending prohibition. And I only do marijuana but realize that the black market will provide anything that they can make money providing,including legal as well as illegal goods. It is the nature of the beast.
We have just had the most productive year in the last 40 years on the road too ending this insanity. With 4 states having legalization bills in their legislatures,my hope is that at least one gets the bill passed. And ending the prohibition has to start somewhere. I believe that marijuana is the only schedule 1 drug that will even have a chance of starting the process of educating America that drugs are a health issue,not a judicial one.
Even if they legalized marijuana completely,there will still be a black market for marijuana until we harvest our own first crop,since,theoretically,no one has any marijuana for the future retail sites to sell.
So it won’t be an overnight stoppage of the green market. And the limits for possession in your home will have to be enough that when you harvest in the fall,you can have enough to last you until your next years harvest,which is more than any of the “medical” limits I’ve seen so far.
And if they have limits on the amount individuals can produce,there will be work for the cops because there will always be entrepreneurs too lazy to work at a real job that will try to sell marijuana for a living.
The only way to stop that would be to price the marijuana so low,that there isn’t enough profit in it
to make growing a large crop or possessing a large enough quantity to make a living selling it worth
the risk. So the end of marijuana prohibition won’t mean
the end of people in prison for marijuana,but it will be the end of the majority of people from ever getting arrested or having a record that can ruin their lives.
My own belief about marijuana is that it is a gift from mother nature,it gives balance to life and mans greed can only take away from the gift.
“Marijuana is addictive to people the same way sex is,anything that good needs repeating!”
Jon Doe: i mean the latter. I fully appreciate the fact that marijuana has legitimate medical uses. But as a recreational drug, it is the single most worthless substance out there. It amazes me that so many people love it so much. I tried oxycontin long before I tried marijuana (is schedule II oxycontin a gateway drug to the more serious schedule I marijuana?), so by the time I got around to experiencing THC the only thing that went through my mind was “huh? this is it? this is what people rave over and make such a big deal over and risk going to prison for? A beer is stronger and more mind-altering.”
Anyway if the plan is to start ending drug prohibition by starting with marijuana to show the drug warriors that legalized (not medical, but legalized) marijuana won’t cause the sky to fall so we can then move on to decriminalizing everything else, well… I would support that. But few people actually have that as their plan. They just want their stupid pot. And not for medicine. If pot were rescheduled a C-II and treated like morphine, we’d see who is really in it for medicine and who is in the fight just for recreational value.
I fully support the recreational use of drugs. That’s what they’re there for. Whether to have fun, to make life bearable, or to enhance performance, drugs should be permitted in all instances. If we’re not going to let athletes use performance enhancing drugs then logically we shouldn’t allow them to use performance enhancing exercises. If natural talent and ability is what we’re supposed to respect, then 8 hour a day workouts, custom protien diets, personal trainers, million dollar gyms, etc are just as “cheating” as taking a shot of steroids. Either you hit a home run as you are – with the abilities you have as you were born – or we let people do whatever they can to do it better, whether it’s steroids, HGH, or weightlifting routines. Working out to lift more, hit harder, punch stronger, that’s no more “natural” any more than testosterone is.
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DdC; Alcohol is sold “over the counter” and tobacco is sold “over the counter”, but not to kids and not without restrictions. Nobody on this whole board has ever called for un-restrictive access to meth, coke or heroin for kids.
So again sir; “STRAWMAN”
@ Ed Dunkle
I’m not of the belief that dismantling drug prohibition need be a lengthy ordeal. Its creation, from outcry to legislation, was a relatively short and easy process. The difficult part is largely behind us, however, as a majority of Americans have come to see drug prohibition as a failed social experiment. Unfortunately, our political leaders, as is generally the case, are far behind the curve of American public opinion.
Which is why I’m not giving any props to Obama. The Netherlands, Portugal and now Mexico would prefer to create a regulated market to control the sale and distribution of all drugs, but rightly fear an American backlash. So I doubt these countries would agree with your assessment that Obama has expressed tacit approval for their actions – more likely is that it is simply benign neglect.
Incrementalism, exemplified by medical marijuana, has proven to be the wrong strategy. How many more decades and untold ruination of individual lives are you willing to commit to incrementalism before you realize its failure to bring about “actual, meaningful changes”?
Calderon and the Mexican Senate got tired of waiting for the monkeys in Washington to figure out how to peel the banana, therefore, they went the decrim route. The most obvious of the change in law is not obvious at all. No longer do you see the street interrogations, the pat downs, the all around BS that accompanies Prohib. It’s actually gotten peaceful here in the interior.
the path to victory is paved through the landscape of changing one mind at a time rather than one piece of legislation at a time. and we are indeed doing just that. the mass is building for reform, and once we have changed enough minds, then it is game over in the political/legal battle and the whole thing falls apart. that is a highly achievable goal and one for which the time has provably arrived. those in the drug reform “movement” have got to come to a complete understanding that this can be done and more importantly must be done in one leap.
fear is the real enemy we are fighting. fear on the part of the prohibs that are well documented (but provably unfounded — thus they can be changed). fear on the part of reformers over “political” considerations, and the leftover specks of a lifetimes’ exposure to the prohibitionist message. that too can be changed.
perhaps the most important thing to remember is that we are trying to change the world. and believe it or not, we actually can! it is already happening all around us and it should be clear that our time has finally come. so be brave, stand together, and do it.
if you think we should do this incrementally, allow me to point out that we have actually already done so. hooray, you won! the anti drug war movement started back in the 70’s (ignoring for the moment, that the roots go much deeper), and holy crap, the nation is now “ready for the dialogue.” we finally have incrementally (40 years later) made inroads to legitimizing marijuana use. yea, it worked! so now let’s finish the job and get rid of prohibition completely.
these are some of the big things in our favor: first, the current worldwide economic disaster provides a financial incentive to “consider” the issues across a wide spectrum of societies and governments. next, we have the decades of research and actual data that are the intellectual foundation for challenging the mythologies (on both sides) surrounding drugs and drug use. third, we have the internet, which provides instant access to information and nearly unlimited ability to disseminate it to others. finally, we have millions of people with decades of first hand experience who demonstrate very plainly that your average drug user is a respectable contributing member of society — just like everybody else.
when you pick everything apart, the only thing left to “defend” the continuation of prohibition are moral arguments and emotionalism. the number of people whose fears and moral positions trump their intellectual ones is a distinct and diminishing minority. as always, in the field of human endeavor, truth always “wins.”
let’s keep helping truth as much and as fast as we possibly can.
DdC; Alcohol is sold “over the counter†and tobacco is sold “over the counterâ€, but not to kids and not without restrictions.
Not where I come from sissy/ Its behind the counter where kids can’t shoplift it. Where booze is sold off the shelf, kids steal them. You want crtack in 7-11, thats the sigtn of a degenerate fool.
Nobody on this whole board has ever called for un-restrictive access to meth, coke or heroin for kids.
Bullshit. You say the same as booze and cigarettes, then you say in some areas they both sell over the counter where kids steal it, and then say the opposite? Well boosie you can change your mokiker a thousand times but you’re still an Asshole.
So again sir; “STRAWMANâ€
So again sir, Asshole! Learn to read.
Oh and ya little fucking dirtbag!
show me one place where I said to keep junk prohibited?
Lying sack of shit!
Oh where are the punk lapdogs when these were posted? Where it was advocated to end all prohibition. That the danger is with prohibition and that heroin can be done safely. Not the versatile natural alternatives to the poisons as Ganja and Hemp are. But it doesn’t have to kill either. Sell it in Pharmacies the same as the other garbage white powders. Same assholes building hobgoblins about meth. Meth sucks but its a USA! Qaeda staple of the moneysluts. The white crosses college kids pop for mid terms is the same Pharmaceutically safer product smoked in boats. Again, make it accessible and teach how Ganja can smooth out the rage of the red zone. No one has to die.
But unlike the Liberalterrorists banking on Wallstreet profits on the wars including the Ganjawar. Fuck them. They also want to sell the National Parks and let Boosh oil refineries spew asthma onto kids as a Constitutional right. Fuck the fascist dirtbags, remove them from seats of power and the war is over. I never take these fools too seriously, same with these undercover narks. Good for posting on other forums as visual aids. Their goal is too perpetuate, not win or lose, for the same profit reasons it always has. Toss in a few one liners and cast some doubt and lie. Or throw the baby out with the bathwater. Thats it.
So junior missy, when you 12 and giving blowjobs to your brother brucie, since I assume atheists have no morals to make it a degenerate act. I was posting these bits of info and opinion. Learn the definitions before you make more of a fool of yourself than you already are.
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Marijuana has been the subject of smear campaigns since the 1930s. As the oldest generations become out-numbered, it’s time for a change. Both the government and the press have collaborated in the prohibition against marijuana, a drug millions of Americans have realized does not deserve the same enforcement policy as heroin. Federal institutions and many state governments have fallen behind on the sentiments of almost half the population that claims to have tried marijuana at least once in their lives. Still, a strong anti-cannabis minority exists, supported by industries built on prohibition. Advocates work toward legalization, but their success is far from inevitable.
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