“Points: The Blog of the Alcohol and Drugs History Society” discusses Eric Sterling’s blog and gives a shout-out to Drug WarRant.
Over at “At Painful Truth: The Entrapment of America’s Sick read Branded and see how our drug war attacks people in so many ways, including their dignity as individuals.
New Mexico couple says no to DEA drug raid — asked for warrant, the DEA leaves.
New Ken Burns PBS Documentary Brings “Prohibition” Lesson to Modern America at LEAP
Justice Stevens indicates he was wrong to uphold special Texas approach to death sentencing
“I really think that I’ve thought over a lot of cases I’ve written over the years. And I really wouldn’t want to do any one of them over…With one exception,†he told me. “My vote in the Texas death case. And I think I do mention that in that case, I think that I came out wrong on that,†Stevens said.
If I could chat with him for 20 minutes about Caballes v. Illinois, I think I could convince him that he was wrong on two cases.
I’m busy reading a book about evil and an eternal battle.
Statement of Governor Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island refusing to implement medical marijuana compassionate centers.
Statement of Governor Lincoln D. Chafee
After much internal and external discussion and research, I have decided that the State of Rhode Island cannot proceed with the licensing and regulation of medical marijuana compassion centers under current law.
This has been a difficult decision. I believe that patients with debilitating medical conditions such as cancer, glaucoma and AIDS should have safe, reliable and well-regulated access to marijuana for therapeutic purposes. Rhode Island has a card and caregiver law currently in place for distributing medical marijuana to patients in need. I have met with and heard from advocate groups and patients that this existing system has serious flaws. In 2009, in an effort to address these flaws, the General Assembly passed a new law authorizing the cultivation and distribution of medical marijuana through three state-registered and regulated compassion centers. The Governor’s constitutional duty is to implement laws passed by the General Assembly and I take that obligation very seriously.
Unfortunately, Rhode Island’s compassion center law is illegal under paramount federal law. And, while the United States Attorney in each district is given some discretion in the local enforcement of federal laws, I have received communications from both the United States Department of Justice and from the United States Attorney for the District of Rhode Island that large scale commercial operations such as Rhode Island’s compassion centers will be potential targets of “vigorous†criminal and civil enforcement efforts by the federal government. I cannot implement a state marijuana cultivation and distribution system which is illegal under federal law and which will become a target of federal law enforcement efforts. Federal injunctions, seizures, forfeitures, arrests and prosecutions will only hurt the patients and caregivers that our law was designed to protect.
I remain committed to improving the existing medical marijuana cultivation and distribution system in Rhode Island. I am hopeful that the General Assembly will introduce new legislation in the upcoming session that will address the flaws in, and indeed make improvement to, the existing medical marijuana card and caregiver system while not triggering federal enforcement actions. I pledge to work with advocates, patients and members of the General Assembly towards that end.
You have GOT to be fucking kidding me, right? And they didn’t even shoot their dogs?
The United States is suffering a critical hemp gap.
The head of the Russian Federal Drug Control Agency, Viktor Ivanov, is advocating for re-legalization of hemp in Russia for export to the world market.
Meanwhile, China, hemp’s number-one producer, has decided to go forward with increasing their hemp production by 600% by the year 2020.
http://rt.com/news/drug-cannabis-production-russia-553/
Well I wonder if Napoleon will invade Russia again?
Which begs THE question… if the drug war is about drugs why is hemp illegal? After almost 5 years of asking Miz Linda (nor any of her sickophants) never answered that one. Well none of the others I asked either now that I think about it…
Because the drug war is Agricultural Mercantilism- a topic I cover at Freedom of Medicine and Diet
twas a rhetorical question Douglas… but certainly one that deserves an answer.
Absolutely. And that cited drugs history blog has nothing on this early history with the 1906 US Food and Drugs Act, that later had the involvement in its tightening, of Congressman James Harry Covington, who founded a certain powerhouse law firm that is long involved with drug policy:
http://freedomofmedicineanddiet.blogspot.com/2011/09/covington-burlings-continuing.html
Since hemp was the actual target that Randolph Hearst wanted banned,,they had to come up with something about it that would justify banning it,,,,Mexicans coming across the border gave them the answer.
And every person that asks them about legalizing hemp gets the same answer,,,”we must keep hemp from being grown so no one can grow marijuana,,instead of hemp,,,duh.
Can you imagine a farmer,after legalization,growing the low thc strains developed by hemp growers trying to get hemp production approved,,growing anything but the best he can get,,,it adds more of his crop he can sell to grow
a good indica/sativa cross.
“I’m busy reading a book about evil and an eternal battle.”
Lol, the thought of that is making the skin on the back of my legs and my, umm, seat, do the heebie jeebies dance. I hope you have a barf bag handy.
Just caught a bit on PBS news about the documentary, Raw Opium. It’s one of 12 selected by the Economist Film Project:
The clip was educational and makes me want to catch the whole thing. Screenings are being added, check it out at http://www.rawopium.com/
And I have no idea what TVO is (not only am I on a dial-up modem but I don’t have cable) but apparently the film will be screened on TVO in October.
Wow… turned away the DEA… 2012 isn’t that far away then. Way to go Parkers!
Allan, I’ve got part 1 of Raw Opium, just drop me your address via email and I’ll send you a copy.
aaarrrr… roger that matey… and BTW Malcolm, the Hive has become a virtual ghost town (in case you hadn’t visited in a while).
I’ll get burning right away!
I suspect we both had some small part in the Hive’s demise ;>)
And ya know… those submarines just keep on a chooglin’ (another sign of drug war success?):
Coast Guard nabs drug sub in Western Caribbean
Police seize drug submarine in southwest Colombia
Drug Subs Sure Rule The Waves
The revolution WILL be televised. Live feeds from OccupyWallStreet and actions around the world. Watch. Support. Citizen journalism is not a crime:
http://www.livestream.com/globalrevolution
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That DEA raid article was awesome. You can just imagine the scene:
DEA: “DEA! Open the door! Open the fucking door right now! Do it now!!!!!”
Parker: Uh…Do you have a warrant?
DEA: Get down on the fucking–uh…Sarge, do we got a warrant? Somebody bring the warrant?
Parker: Look, you can’t come in if you don’t have a warrant.
DEA: uh, yeah….you’re right. We, uh…we gotta go, OK? You folks have a nice night.
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Say, remember that lady that got billed for a body cavity search in Las Cruces at the start of September? Sure you do, how the heck could you forget that? I was just looking up that story, seems she got arrested for “resisting arrest” a week later. Now just how does someone get arrested on the stand alone charge of “resisting arrest”?
I don’t know, I’m going to go out on a limb here and speculate that she didn’t want to get violated again. Anyone think I’m crazy for thinking that just might be the case? Gosh that poor girl looks sad.
Does anyone know much about the Ken Burns’ documentary? Has he made his views of the drug war public? Does the documentary explicitly draw parallels between Prohibition 1.0 and Prohibition 2.0 (not that the parallels really need to be “drawn,” given how friggin’ obvious they are). I’m just wondering what kind of impact you all are expecting it to have.
“Of course. The parallels are endless. The folly of enforcement, the impossibility of enforcement, how enforcement itself becomes its own center of corruption, the absurdity of ‘victimless crime.’ And there are many other parallels as well: lack of civil discourse in our conversations, the demonization of immigrants… parallels that are extraordinarily contemporary. They’re almost scarily contemporary, as modern as anything that’s going on today—and I mean today. In today’s headlines.”
http://tinyurl.com/6ebledo
At this point, its blindingly clear government could care less about the ‘Parallels’ due to the unbridled power prohibition gives them, and continues to give them over the people…not to mention the world.
How else would they be able to trample the constitution,invade your life…..and other countries.
I went to an advance screening of excerpts from in it in Philadelphia. It had very little sympathy for the prohibitionists, but I didn’t see anything drawing explicit parallels. It would be great if it had something at the end explaining how alcohol madness morphed into reefer madness, but it would take some balls to go that far.
Saw him on Rachel Maddow the other night. She seemed to want to avoid the “M” word, but that might have been due to wanting to keep the segment specifically about alcohol prohibition back in the day, to respect his work. She said something to the effect of (I paraphrase), “without drawing parallels to other associated topics today,” almost stammering (in my mind), and then Ken blurted out, smiling, “like marijuana?”
I also just watched a segment promoting the show, where a producer or the author of a/the book the show is sourced from drawing direct parallels to MJ prohibition. I think the link to it was on the NORML daily stash blog, bit I’m not sure (was on another computer, can’t check it’s history now).
I appreciate it, Pete, as always, but how about some Evens and Middles for a change? 🙂
I could chat with Justice Stevens for roughly an hour about his outrageous decision in Gonzales v. Raich.
To irrationally apply the Commerce Clause (“To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian tribes;”) to uphold a ban on non-economic activities involving marijuana within a single state is simply unacceptable to any good American patriot.
To abandon rationality is to abandon law.
I would like to propose a new political party that I feel represents the collective view of the average American: The Disgusted Party. I think it would draw support from all corners as no current party seems to voting according to what their party stands for. Conservative folks whose reps wont balance the budget if it means making Corps and the rich pay the same % in taxes as you and I; Lib folks whose reps want to fund welfare so well that they need more and more public $; Independent voters who don’t like the media presented choices but don’t want to throw thier vote away…. Who’s in?
I hear Newt Gingrich made his 21st century “contract with Americaâ€. In this, he apparently said if he is voted president, he will sign 150 executive orders. One of which he said he will get rid of all the czars….really?
So, I would like everyone to contact Newt and ask him if that means getting rid of the drug czar as well. Bet he backs out….or lies.
Hers the story.
http://news.yahoo.com/newt-gingrich-detail-contract-america-143300860.html
Heres his site.
http://www.newt.org/get-involved-now
from Tom at LEAP:
Pot advocates say White House blocking constituents’ No. 1 online issue
Almost twice as many as the runner up… not bad for amotivational couch potatoes.
Polls Show a World of Difference Between Marijuana ‘Legalization’ and ‘Regulation’ in California
Recent polls show marijuana “regulation” is much more popular than marijuana “legalization in California. Steve Kubby of the Regulate Marijuana Like Wine Act of 2012 team analyses the data.
Battle of the Marijuana Bills: Why ‘Regulate’ is Better Than ‘Repeal’
Five reasons why Regulate Marijuana Like Wine Act of 2012 is better for the state of California than the Repeal Cannabis Prohibition Act of 2012.
Hey, Allan,
Where’s our little cupcake, Linda, showing herself these days. She ducked out of her old soapbox. Guess it too rough coming up with an educated answer. I’d love to be back on her case. Any intel you can share?
haven’t seen hide nor hare of her ez… not that it’s easy for her to hide…
let’s see… wordpress has an activist1 blog, but the gal’s name is Carol Anne Grayson and she uses big words – properly…
… and there is an activist1 yoga site – we know that ain’t her! Anyway it’s a he in Clearwater, Florida and I konw our buddy Steve in Clearwater wouldn’t be able to miss Miz Linda…
she’s prolly still on her own site – stancoinsider… oops, here’s the northvalley patriots… nope, that’s a dead link… oh wait, I think I have a bite! it’s big whatever it is… yeppers, she’s blogging on a whale of a site, the Oakdale Leader:
http://community.oakdaleleader.com/accounts/view/397/ and her last blogpost was a week ago. Oh… it seems Malcolm has been holding out on us… he’s already there.
No way she can hide. Literally. And Malcolm is EVERYWHERE. He’s like Chickenman. (That’s a reference to a series of radio ads featuring “The Adventures of Chickenman” that ran in the midwest in the late sixties and early seventies. If anybody but me remembers those things, thumbs-up this so I know one of my most arcane references wasn’t wasted…)
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Well I’d never heard of Chickenman before, but I gave you thumbs up because it’s funny as heck and I wouldn’t have known to look for the video without your mention. But I am puzzled, why would a radio show be animated?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcQfy1SavdQ
You did know that just about every piece of media in the world which you can possibly imagine is archived on youtube, right? Heck, even quite a large percentage of stuff with no entertainment value beyond the amusement that comes from noticing that people archive stuff with almost no entertainment value. E.g. here’s a video of a deer with peculiar markings eating out of a dish on somebody’s porch:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iY9gtdBIsrs
caution: watching this video could cause you to become petrified as a result of acute, total b-o-r-e-d-o-m. Somebody give that videographer a TV and a gift subscription to cable.
Sorry guys but some things are just too good to share ;>)
The simple fact that the media continues to ignore Ron Paul should tell you that the ‘powers that be’ DO NOT want him elected! Why is that!?
Could it be that he won’t continue ‘business as usual’?!
How refreshing to have someone who believes in the Constitution and our Civil Rights.
The right to be left alone, freedom to put into our bodies what we please, reduce fear-mongering around the world, reign in the ‘police state’ and ensure states rights trump the Fed.
WAIT! I heard the media say he’s unelectable, so I’d better believe them and vote for who they say… (cue sarcasm).
How they’d love to force Perry or Romney or someone unforseen yet upon us as our only choices!
If the American sheeple don’t wake up to these facts, they get what they deserve (sad as it is).
As soon as the ‘sheeple’ stop looking at the surface of what they believe to be life,reality in this country, as soon as the ‘sheeple’ take a good hard look at what lies underneath ‘reality’ and realize its all based on fear ,deceit ,and greed….only then will real change happen.
Seat your selves firmly in the truth , for it is blinding and undeniable.
Weed the People! petitions 45,639 signed
Legalize and Regulate Marijuana in a Manner Similar to Alcohol
If anyone corners up Calvina Fey,,please ask her how her court proceedings against her rehab center are going,,,seems she was torturing kids,,not sure if it was mentally or physically,,but she is in the crapper over it,.
it’s good that her connections to the Seed and Straight Inc are still being pursued as that is a skeleton in Prohibition’s closet that will definitely not look good when all the players are introduced as an ensemble. A very sad, sad tale. If it helps clay, her office is in Florida, Clearwater I believe.
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The problem is that quite a large number of people are OK with torturing people who don’t follow orders.
It’s an old dung worrier ritual,
passed down since before Anslinger…
Matthew the Evangelist, reports that Herod ordered the execution of all young male children in the village of Bethlehem, so as to avoid the loss of his throne to a newborn King of the Jews whose birth had been announced to him by the Magi.
Bush. Religious drug treatment in Texas
“Drug Addiction Is NOT a Disease. It’s a Sin.”
At a Christian young adult home in Corpus Christi, police recently took the unusual step of arresting a supervisor after teenagers complained that they were beaten and roped to a bed, all in the name of Christian discipline. More arrests are anticipated, authorities say.
Calvina Fay Prohibition Inc.
THE TRUTH ABOUT STRAIGHT, INC &TEEN CHALLENGE
Kids Helping Kids began as Straight-Midwest and over time was incorporated into Pathway Family Center (owns/owned 4 known programs). Pathway Family Center was founded by Terri Nissley, a “satisfied” Straight, Inc. cult parent who wants to continue in the torturing and brainwashing kids for profit industry. Kids Helping Kids (a Pathway Family Center program) has closed or is closing according to recent reports. Closing after years of protesting against fraud, abuse, and torture at the Milford, OH location.
Deaths of children in private and government-run programs and institutions
click on child’s name for current and archived news reports
At least 10 children have lost their lives as a result of their participation in a wilderness therapy program (AKA “Brat Camps”) who failed them in the worst way imaginable. These are their stories as told through media reports, opinion and commentary.
Anti-Drug Campaigns Dumb Down Vital Message
Calvina Fay is the Executive Director of Drug Free America Foundation and Save Our Society From Drugs (S.O.S.) From 1976-1985 it was known as Straight, Inc. and had a reputation for abusing kids as a drug rehabilitation program. Mel Sembler and his wife Betty founded Straight, Inc. In 1985 it changed its name to Straight Foundation, Inc. in order to protect its money and its principals from civil suits. In 1995 it was changed again to Drug Free America Foundation. DFAF is a national and international drug policy think tank and provider of services for drug free work places.
The Assassins of Youth: PDFA/DARE
Partnership for a Drug-Free America Sources of Funding from 1988-91 as extracted from Federal Tax Returns (figures are approximate) by the Washington Hemp Education Network, also from the Los Angeles Times:
LIQUOR FIRMS
Anheuser-Busch, Joseph E. Seagrams & Sons, Inc., Coors Brewing Co., Hiram Walker-Allied Vintners, Inc., Stroh Brewing Co.
TOBACCO COMPANIES
Brown & Williamson, RJR Nabisco, Inc., RJ Reynolds, Lorillard, Inc., American Brands, Phillip Morris
PHARMACEUTICAL FIRMS
J. Seward Johnson, Sr. Charitable Trusts, Du Pont, Proctor and Gamble Fund, Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation, Johnson & Johnson, Merck Foundation, Hoffman-LaRoche
COMMERCIAL DRUG MANUFACTURERS
Perry Drug Stores, Inc., The Pfizer Foundation, Inc., Rohrer Group, Inc., Schering-Plough Foundation, Inc., Smith-Kline Beecham, Inc., Sterling Drug Co.
those whacky Canadians…
http://drugsense.org/url/VIs1oVO2
It’s so nice to see a government that has reached a plateau of equitability in it’s handling of the cannabis problem…
I believe the next logical step is to assume that Canadian PM Stephen Harper has indeed been replaced with his clone from the pods…
… so just remember, in Canada, you’re better off exposing yourself to school kids than growing six plants in your own home.
Canada… the 51st state of the onion.
Ya know, Allan. I’ve never been able to figure out why they are so fucking afraid of us. Whatdya figgur? The only explanation is that at some base, limbic level, they fear free people. That scene from Easy Rider, when Nicholson, Fonda and Hopper are smoking a joint just keeps coming back to me.
as one of those able to see Easy Rider when it came out it I konw it certainly affected my attitude toward the good herb. I graduated in ’69 but wasn’t all that aware of the hippie scene except for what I saw in Hollywood on my weekend cruises and pot was just something that showed up at parties. I was a SoCal beach kid… and it wasn’t until I joined the military that I really kicked off my herbal adventures.
So for 2/3 of my life (my total adult life) I’ve been around pot. I’ve smoked and eaten and vaporized and been around lots of other pot smokers. And yes, there are some bad folks that smoke pot. But mostly I’ve seen only good things around ganja use and good people.
While perhaps it’s use mellowed out the Scythians to the point of losing them their cultural/social dominance that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I think what scares the power interests is that ganja does mellow us out and frees us to consider new ideas, to ponder peace. It also (I believe) bonds us – and therein lies our real threat to them.
A peaceful, cohesive block of humanity can change the world and the next step in our evolving towards civilized behavior (we’re not their yet) will be the elimination of most of our swords and beating them back into plowshares – a task we can only accomplish together.
I caught a bit of Warren Buffet on Charlie Rose last night and his devotion to capitalism and the belief that production and consumption drives the world really pointed out to me how far from mainstream notions of life I’ve drifted philosophically.
Without addressing our flaws and inefficiencies we will spiral downward. Only by elevating the status of personal independence/sovereignty (and the accompanying higher levels of responsible action) can we avoid the ultimate fate of spiraling downward rapidly from great heights – crashing and burning. Of course avoiding such a collective demise will take the administrative equivalent of thousands of Sully Sullenbergs, lots of good hearted and headed folks who know how to land a heavy vehicle in treacherous circumstances.
I kind of view this battle over saving cannabis (and all attendant benefits accompanying such a salvation) as one of those epic tasks – because there is more to this than meets the eye…
… either that or the aliens have landed and they brought their cookbook – Serving Humanity.
I mean that’s what such silliness as pot being more offensive than flashing a schoolyard full of kids says to me – who the hell ARE these “people”?
And after having said all that darkcycle… I haven’t a clue why we’re such a threat. Like any good Hobbit I’ll have to smoke my pipe, blow some smoke rings and think on it.
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When you strip everything that’s been used to decorate our “offense” and get down to brass tacks their
fearhatredbelief that our actions are criminal(insanity?) is because we refuse to follow orders. It’s a free country as long as you do as your told you know.Well why the heck wouldn’t they? It’s very enjoyable. Prohibitionists just see the world bass ackward. Heck, there are some very devout religionists who enjoy torture and serial murder.
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Prime Minister Stephen Harper said he is disappointed but will comply with the ruling, which has thrown open the door across the country to new supervised injection sites, dubbed “shooting galleries†by conservative critics.
Insite supporters celebrate top court’s ruling to keep it open
Delivered by Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin, the high court’s decision said Ottawa’s attempt to close Insite was “arbitrary†and undermined the protection of health and public safety, a violation of the Charter of Rights.
Yep, I was going to mention this. Here’s another link:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/supreme-court-ruling-opens-doors-to-drug-injection-clinics-across-canada/article2186191/
Additionally: Single Dose of ‘Magic Mushrooms’ Hallucinogen May Create Lasting Personality Change, Study Suggests.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/09/110929074205.htm
Apologies for being too lazy to learn how to make my links descriptive and pretty.
Short URLs are ok… long ones should be TinyURLed or hyperlinked (it’s just plain old web etiquette). Just google hyperlink html and w/o entering any sites the html code is in the descriptions on google’s page, 3rd link down, just copy and paste the html code (save it or learn it) and fill in the URL (between quotation marks) and text between brackets (><) or go to TinyURL.
Thank you, sir. I just started to look into it, and prettied up a link the other day–almost getting it the way I wanted. Anyway, I’m gonna take the five minutes to learn this.
It’s just sad when I’ve been using computers since the early 80s, can build my own, but I never bothered to learn basic html.
If you click on “About” at the top of this page, you’ll get a quick refresher on how to do some of the basics that you might want to use in a comment.
Looks like the petition I’ve been trying to help push (eliminate/reform departments that lie–the ONDCP) finally went over 150 sigs and became public. Hitting the comments at newspapers and self posting at reddit seem to have paid off. Of course, thanks to Pete, Clay, and everyone here who helped out.
Forgot to mention this one. I couldn’t believe my eyes at first:
http://www.chron.com/news/article/Mont-congressional-delegation-denounces-ATF-memo-2197064.php
And where the hell is the NRA in all of this?
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Trying not to step in it. Poopaganda smells nasty when you get some on your shoe.
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Oops, I made a boo boo, I meant “propaganda” of course.
damn typoos…
I can scarcely believe that folks actually like policy of the Harper gov’t in regards to some drugs. Maybe the Canadians don’t like the other party’s foreign policy.
From Salon: Flashback! Psychedelic research returns
and another, related (covered in multiple outlets):
‘Magic Mushrooms’ May Permanently Alter Personality
my favorite radio station here in Eugene, KRVM, is in the middle of their fall fundraiser (it’s listener supported) and have a Grateful Dead marathon this friday, if you’re a DeadHead… http://www.krvm.org/listen/listen.html