When I write on Facebook, it’s an entirely different audience — coming mostly from my work — so I write on a variety of subjects and I’m careful not to inundate them with drug war rants all the time. In some ways, that makes it more powerful when I do have something to say about drug policy.
We had a football player arrested this week, and I felt like saying something. Thought I’d share it with you as well.
…
Locally, we have that same tired scenario where a extremely talented young person has made the news and is probably going to have his very promising career sidelined because he got caught with 5 to 30 grams of marijuana.
And, of course, none of the solemn, disapproving articles I’ve read are asking “Why?†And I don’t mean “Why did he smoke pot?†I know the answer to that. Or “Why did he try to sell it to an undercover cop?†I’ve got a pretty good idea on that one as well. No, the question I’m looking for is “Why the fuck are we still arresting people for this?”
Oh sure, some of you are getting ready to roll out the propaganda that we’ve been force-fed for decades about how it’s necessary to protect people from the evils of this plant — that it will enslave them, take away their motivation and make them unproductive members of society.
And that reminds me of a recent Daily Show with an appearance by Willie Nelson.
Willie Nelson has made sixty-eight studio albums, ten live albums, thirty-seven compilations, and twenty-seven collaborations. He’s toured all over the place in his bus. He founded Farm Aid and is president of the board. He’s done benefits, has been involved in politics and an activist for animal welfare and for LGBT rights. And he managed to do all this while smoking more pot than any other human probably has in the history of the world.
Yeah, pot really shortens your career. Just take a look at the unproductive lives of such potheads as Carl Sagan, Louis Armstrong, Bill Gates, Stephen Colbert, Rick Steves, Maya Angelou, Barrack Obama, Susan Sarandon, Ted Turner, Lady Gaga, Sarah Silverman, Morgan Freeman, Steve Jobs, Shel Silverstein, David Letterman, John Lennon, and the list goes on and on.
Yes, I know that (in some places anyway) it’s still against the law. That doesn’t make the law right. There’s a certain role we’re supposed to play when this happens, but I’m quite frankly too damned tired of doing the requisite sad shake of the head in disappointment when someone is caught doing this kind of law-breaking. In the meantime, societal leaders joke about their “youthful indiscretions†and because they weren’t caught (whether through luck or privilege) they face no consequences, even as they enforce damaging consequences against others.
Using marijuana responsibly isn’t particularly hard to do, and compared to many other ordinary activities in our world (like bike-riding, eating sugar, or playing football) it’s far, far safer. But the laws against marijuana? Those can really mess a person up bad.
Politicians talk about their past mj use as if it were a “youthful indiscretion,” but it’s most definitely NOT. What they are doing when discussing such past behavior is confessing to a federal crime that could’ve landed them in a federal prison for 6 months or more had they been caught. Hardly an “indiscretion.” On top of that, they actually seem to be bragging about breaking the law and not getting caught, in other words being a successful criminal who was able to evade the law and remain at large. So our current and past two presidents (at least) are criminals smart enough to have evaded detection and capture.
I would bet a hairburn test would show a lot of politicians are still smoking pot.
If they want to test people living off tax dollars every legislator should be tested every six months.
I have raised this suggestion many times. If anyone on the government’s dole needs to be drug tested, it’s the legislators, who have real power to make our lives miserable, and not the poorest among us, who barely have the power just to stay alive.
as well as recipients of corporate welfare
I’m so sorry about your student athlete. I’m thankful they didn’t kill him over it… but they’ve harmed him.
It’s so stunning and sickening that people are still so willing to do harm to others over this plant. It’s so awful.
I’m traveling off into some dramatic Biblical type speak, obviously, but, I have to say it, “The blood” of the victims of this terrible era in American history surely must “Cry out from the ground, “When? When?”
“Listen”!
When will this cruel injustice end?
I believe it was Kevin Sabet who made a comment along the lines of, “Not everyone who smokes pot will go on to be like Carl Sagan” (I’m paraphrasing). As if to suggest, “It’s just dumb luck that Carl Sagan was a brilliant person who happened to consume marijuana. The rest of you pot smokers will become addicted dullards and detriments to society”.
I understand the attractiveness of listing famous luminaries who have consumed cannabis. It makes for good copy and attracts attention. But in many ways it’s also a false metric that neither validates cannabis use for the famous and brilliant nor invalidates cannabis use for the rest of us (I know I’m being Captain Obvious here ;)).
Since I’m in no way famous and solidly in the camp of “the rest of us”, I’d like to describe an example that I know plays out millions of times every day, yet does not have glitter power.
I work in an industry broadly known as “high tech”. A while long ago I was assigned to an engineering team that was working under a very strict deadline. Since I came to the project after it was well underway, I was given the task of solving peripheral issues to free up the primary engineers to focus on bigger, more important problems. At one point I came to know of a particularly vexing problem that had been passed around by the core design team for days but had not been solved. I volunteered to look into the issue but was told that since I did not have full knowledge of the project, my time would be best spent on easier to solve minor issues. However, as the deadline neared this mean ass problem remained. Eventually I was asked to “just take a look and provide feedback”. After three solid, maddening hours of racking my brain, I solved the problem.
Now, according to some (Kevin Sabet, I’m talking to you) I should not have been able to achieve this. Why? Because I consumed cannabis the night before (and for many years prior, to be honest) not knowing I’d be asked to assist the next morning. I’m not suggesting the previous night’s cannabis consumption is why I solved the problem. But I sure as hell know it did not prevent me from figuring it out.
Again, my minor example plays out similarly millions of times every day by unheralded cannabis consumers. I’m certainly no Carl Sagan, but after consuming cannabis off and on for 40+ years, I still haven’t reached full blown dullard status. Not yet anyway :).
Really great point. Really nicely stated.
To Kev-Kev (In response to his quote in the first para): And not everyone who doesn’t smoke marijuana will end up being a professional liar.
It’s interesting that the mild fog induced by cannabis consumption can also obscure negative messages that tell us we can’t do something. It can sometimes force the consumer to think outside the box and to recognize an alternative solution to a problem which baffled their “sober” thinking.
Given the present drug laws targeting athletes and other exceptionally functional, productive citizens, the US has become not just a police state, but a weaponized police state that calls into question the state’s motives. Increasingly writers are now blaming the drug war for playing a systemic and critical role in certain national crises, including, no less, the humiliating government debacle following Hurricane Katrina:
Yeah, it’s the demons again. The devil made the authorities arrest athletes and anyone else violating taboos targeting consumers of potentially beneficial plants. The US government could use an exorcism, or a swift kick in the butt.
I’m really not sure that following the recent fad for lumping “eating sugar” into the category of “unsafe pursuits” does you any favours Pete.
There’s no credible evidence that backs up recent sugar hysteria, just like there is none that ever backed up marijuana hysteria either.
You misread. I did not put eating sugar into the category of “unsafe pursuits.” Nor did I do so with bike-riding, football, or marijuana. I just pointed out that the notion of treating marijuana as dangerous is ridiculous, particularly when it’s safer than the other three, of which there is little doubt. I know for me, anyway, cutting back on sugar and other processed carbs eliminated my pre-diabetes condition.
I would not want to penalize anyone for their own personal choice to ride bikes, eat sugar, play football, or smoke pot.
04:20 >
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rofj9M5owGI
Marijuana Vs Sugar – Which Drug Is Most Dangerous? Russell Brand
http://youtu.be/rofj9M5owGI
And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music — Frederick Nietsche
Marijuana may be even safer than previously thought
http://endingcannabisprohibition.yuku.com/topic/1994
FDA Reverses Its Position on Daily Aspirin
http://endingcannabisprohibition.yuku.com/sreply/961
Jeff Mizanskey, Life for Pot in Perspective
http://endingcannabisprohibition.yuku.com/topic/1970
Drug Worriers preferred methods of treatment…
http://endingcannabisprohibition.yuku.com/topic/1945
☛ Ambien, delusions,dementia,lack of feeling or emotion,thoughts of killing oneself,confusion,shakiness…
☛ Celexa, lack of emotion,loss of memory,Behavior change similar to drunkenness,convulsions, (seizures)….
☛ Xanax, changes in patterns and rhythms of speech,clumsiness or unsteadiness,difficulty with coordination,shakiness and unsteady walk,feeling sad or empty
☛ Prozac, inability to sit still,difficulty with concentration,drowsiness,mood or behavior changes
☛ Zoloft, very stiff (rigid) muscles, high fever, sweating, confusion, fast or uneven heartbeats, feeling like you might pass out; agitation, hallucinations, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, loss of appetite,
Annual Causes of Death in the United States
☛ All Causes 2,596,993
☛ Cannabis (Marijuana) 0
.
.
Here’s some unanticipated good news. This one is from the “I never thought I’d live to see the day” category:
Medical Pot for Patients on Probation Was Controversial, But Now It’s Law
The Colorado Legislature, with Governor Hickenlooper’s signature of approval has made medicinal cannabis legal for probationers. I don’t think that it’s safe to presume that it also applies to people on parole without further research. I guess that I think the latter is more likely than not.
To the best of my knowledge this is the first time probationers have been validated by a State Legislature as actually being patients using a medicine that didn’t happen by order of a Court of Appeals. Unbe-friggin-lievable.
How the heck do they keep stuff like this under the radar? Well that’s probably a good thing since the proposal would have given the sycophants of prohibition extreme conniption fits or severe brain lock. That usually leads to the most annoying part of the ongoing process of regulated re-legalization. Of course I mean the incessant whining, wailing and gnashing of teeth from the sycophants of prohibition. While it’s a good idea to just let the babies cry themselves to sleep it doesn’t mean listening to them before that happens isn’t highly annoying.
PS FYI: Willie Nelson turned 82 years old at the end of last month.
.
.
My god, I swear that I can not believe how many times in the last few weeks I’ve heard the lame “we just don’t know the long term blah, blah, blah that might happen if you smoke pot! Will it turn you into a bat? We just don’t know!” It appears that the sycophants of prohibition are tired of being laughed at for their dire warnings of doom and think that we won’t laugh at them if they go with “it’s a mystery, we just don’t know!”
So what’s prompted this diatribe? We’re on the cover of the May 23rd issue of Time magazine. Talk about a blast from the past The cover art is a mouse smoking a joint. The theme of the article is “we just don’t know!”
The Great Pot Experiment
By we, of course I mean the chronicles of the marginalized to second class citizens who choose to disobey orders and enjoy cannabis.
.
.
It appears that Arizona learned something from last year’s campaign against Measure 91 in Oregon. They got the State’s Attorney General to sign off on government entities using public resources to lobby against the proposed 2016 ballot initiative to implement regulated re-legalization. But they have to pretend that they’re trying to educate people instead of trying to get them to vote against the proposal.
Forfeiture Funds Used to Oppose Marijuana Legalization
I smell an upcoming lawsuit.
.
.
After reading the article I’m not optimistic that a lawsuit will prevail. Assuming that the Arizona laws are Federal & State Constitutional I think that it’s safe to speculate that the only way to block these assholes would be on the grounds that the State efforts are a de facto sham. Sure, I can see that happening but don’t think that it’s likely. But then again for a couple of years we’ve been seeing all sorts of stuff happen which I hadn’t thought that I’d ever see.
Arizona is a truly weird State. I think that of the 50 States Arizona has the most significant gulf between the Government and the citizenry. Also the most arrogant public authorities and that is pretty extreme when we consider the average level of public arrogance in all fifty States. At least there’s plenty of time to take such a lawsuit to the Arizona Supreme Court.
Arizona is a weird State – but its government reflects the general weirdness of its population. There’s a reason Joe Arpaio keeps getting re-elected – he’s popular. People think he’s great, cracking down on the messicans and the dopers.
I think the heat fries peoples’ brains – especially the already old-timers demented when they retired there.
Sounds like open legislative defiance of local, State and Federal Hatch Acts. Like that stupid OK/NE lawsuit. They only identify themselves for later electoral removal. We should thank them; they’ll make it so easy for us, come 2016.
Granted, the Hatch Act has been toothless in the past 15 years, despite the long string of its abuse, but with a new electorate rising that wants cannabis legal again, some enterprising pols just might do what OR did, and actually use it.
Especially when they begin to receive specific direction to do so from that above-mentioned electorate.
It bears repeating once more: cannabists cross nearly every demographic there is. ‘Well over half’ of America? My money’s on at least 70%.
At least.
We are the majority, now. We have arrived. The sleeping giant HAS awakened. We made the slightest move, and three opponents of reform are footnotes in the new political manual being written as we speak, the one warning political advisors to pols of the rise of that new electorate, and the power it has yet to realize that it possesses.
Letting the pols know we’re onto their game, and really are watching them like hawks, gets that point across. Tell them of the ‘litmus test’ that new electorate is using on them, whether they like it or not. And if it turns yellow for cowardice on the issue of supporting re-legalization, then again, they’ve made our jobs soooo much easier.
This issue provides real progressives a once-in-a-lifetime chance to truly sweep Congress of the faux variety. It is one honking big high pressure water hose, with the majority of the country supplying the electoral pressure, and aimed squarely at those in Congress who happily trade our freedoms for campaign contributions from the thieves.
Even now, with just a comparative trickle of pressure, they are being flushed out into the open as the only voices speaking in favor of prohibition. Imagine what happens when we open the hydrant…
.
.
kaptin, I’m not inclined to believe that the Federal Hatch Act applies to this controversy. I’m not informed of the language in the comparable State law or even know if Arizona has such a law.
Did you take a look at the ruling from the Arizona Court of Appeals which is the precedent upon which the Attorney General hung his hat as the basis for his opinion? That’s the part that’s my basis for thinking there’s little chance that the friends of 420 will prevail in leveling the playing field.
Kromko v. CITY OF TUCSON No. 2 CA-CV 2002-0064
(Decided: May 10, 2002)
Duncan, what I was thinking was the sheer force of the pressure from the electorate can short-circuit most if not all of the usual delaying tactics employed by the prohibs and their legislator allies.
It’s deceptively simple, but affects so many levels I can’t guess where it ends. But it comes down to one stark fact.
As the social and political majority, we don’t have to stand for the BS anymore. Just tell your local Rep you want cannabis legal again.
To save time, tell him/her you don’t care about any BS Gub’mint studies supplied by ONDCP or DEA that they have ready to shake in your face like some voodoo doll to scare you off.
You’ll make it real easy for them; there’s only one thing they have to do, and that is follow the expressed political will of the electorate…which wants cannabis legal again. This will flush those parasites out into the open.
The special interests face having the harsh spotlight of public scrutiny trained on them. Being creatures unused to the sanitary effects of sunlight, preferring the shadows supplied by the public’s backs, such exposure would prove deadly. That’s why they seek to camouflage themselves, courtesy of orgs like SAM.
Too late; we spotted them coming long ago. The Internet is the planet’s cortex, with billions of eyes everywhere, billions of minds acting like neurons. Word of prohib activity gets around fast in reform circles. Even if it is in another language, a day, maybe only hours before a reliable translation is available.
And then reform activists of all nations swing into action in their respective body politic like virtual white corpuscles battling dangerous, poisonous conceptual bacillus like Bullshittius Propagandus by encapsulating it and crushing it with factual information.
But the Beast of drug prohibition was born here, let loose to savage the world; the Beast must be slain here, to save it.
And so push has finally come to shove. The gloves are already off. But the prohibs have already lost; that happened when we went past 50% support for re-legalization. The pols who were supporters of their prohib allies and who took their money now have to say that our sheer numbers overwhelm that money.
Checkmate happened long ago; they’re just frozen, hunched over, staring at the board in disbelief…but only for as long as we let them.
Not only will public servants “educate” on the taxpayer dime, they’ll also have access to funds from asset forfeiture to teach people legalizing pot is bad: http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news/forfeiture-funds-used-to-oppose-marijuana-legalization-7328613
Arizona AG has “withdrawn” his opinion.
http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news/brnovich-withdraws-opinion-on-public-resources-and-elections-7333026
He could smell the lawsuits coming.
.
.
That’s what I’m talking about! Just a few short years ago who in the world would have ever have seen that one coming?
The mania continues to collapse and is in its death throes. Heck, in not too long we might even see a State Legislature authorize the use of medicinal cannabis in public schools for authorized patients.
This is happening in no small part thanks to the evident sea-change in the electorate’s attitude toward cannabis. A change being reflected in the vast number of comments on any article being dominated by those with reformer sentiments.
The gears have shifted, the direction has changed, but the prohibs are still operating on inertia, and it shows in how they present themselves. It’s an unconsciously arrogant demeanor that sticks out like a sore thumb, one where their opinion equals fact. A demeanor no longer warranted, thanks to that demographic shift leading to that evident sea-change.
But they haven’t quite realized that yet. And so people like Brnovich still think that they can BS an audience that is as ignorant as he is on the issue of drugs, and get away with it.
Well, as someone put it long ago, ‘Quoth the raven, “Never more!” The days of that are past. The intended marks refuse to play their role in the con-game, and are challenging the prohibitionist grifters on their own territory, the law itself, and are winning. That’s why Brnovich has backed away. As DC said, he smelled the approaching lawsuits. Lawsuits leveled by the very ‘Children’ they constantly catewerwaul about, the ones that were supposed to stay impressionable ‘blank slates’ forever despite biology.
Those ‘Children’ grew up, have jobs, pay taxes and (most importantly) vote. And they’re tired of the anti-drug BSers. Prohib legislators and bureaucrats are on notice, now, and Brnovich is amongst the first to get the memo.
The Great Pot Experiment
http://cannabisnews.com/news/28/thread28584.shtml
Could parental marijuana exposure pass on changes to the next generation, even to offspring who had never been exposed to the drug?
endoCannabinoid Deficiency from 100 years of forced abstinence. Larger fear centers and dull minds. Forcing trust in the only possible salvation, Authoritah! The tool has become the tinker.
Are You Cannabis Deficient?
Abstinence is potentially risking Chronic endoCannabinoid Deficiency
http://blog.norml.org/2010/03/23/fox-news-are-you-cannabis-deficient/
Especially since Cannabinoids occur naturally in breast milk
http://www.naturalnews.com/036526_cannabinoids_breast…
If it were not for these cannabinoids in breast milk, newborn children would not know how to eat, nor would they necessarily have the desire to eat, which could result in severe malnourishment and even death.
After 12,000 years of use and then 78 years of cold turkey abstinence. Fear centers are growing. More dependance on authority to keep you safe. More blind obedience and serving without questions. You know, republicans are the result.
The Prohibitionist’s Have Larger ‘Fear Centers’ in Their Brains
http://endingcannabisprohibition.yuku.com/topic/1690
Scientists have begun speculating that the root cause of disease conditions such as migraines and irritable bowel syndrome. Does that not describe Rush or Palin… irritable bowel syndromes?
Endocannabinoids
http://endingcannabisprohibition.yuku.com/topic/1683
Marijuana Prohibition Is Unscientific, Unconstitutional, And Unjust
http://tinyurl.com/nrk3q29
Jacob Sullum: “Next Thursday I am scheduled to debate Robert White, co-author (with Bill Bennett) of Going to Pot: Why the Rush to Legalize Marijuana Is Harming America, on Glenn Beck’s radio show. Each of us will get half an hour or so to make his case before taking questions from Beck and each other.”
We have legalized the most dangerous drug already – alcohol. Its all smoke and mirrors about pot. These snake charmer prohibitionists need to go.
Bill Bennett fabricates almost as good as Kevin. Good luck to Jacob Sullum; may the force be with you!
.
.
The best liars believe that their lies are true. That will even get you past a lie detector. There’s no doubt in my mind that Mr. Bennett and Kev-Kev are true believers.
Wasn’t it Bill Bennett who said that he only lies to maintain his reputation as an honest man? Ooops, nope. That was me in the late 1980s. Never mind.
Realizing this has nothing to do with the drug war, research of cannabis, or some dumb prohibitions rant, but I think all of us on this couch, at one time or another, has lost ourselves in this man’s music being or not being high…..May BB King rest in peace. Gonna play his music all day long in honor of this sweet, wonderfully talented individual…..https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l45f28PzfCI and another one….http://verticaljumpcure.com/subscriberthankyou
Yes, gonna miss this good man and his signature music!
Guitar players talk about “tone.” B.B. King WAS TONE.
Recognizable in ONE note.
One of my heroes.
Yeah, it was sad to hear of this, though I had been expecting it for a couple of weeks. I live in Vegas–I should see if people have a memorial going outside his place.
Along with many other acts that come through/live in Las Vegas, I wish I had seen him at least once. I was two degrees of separation from him–the guitar tech I occasionally use had worked on B.B.’s guitars before. Too bad that connection doesn’t seem to channel B.B.’s magic for me.
RIP, Mr. King.
Johnny Etheridge, one of my fave local DJs on my favorite local station – listener supported KRVM – will be starting the day out w/ BB King live works from 5a.m. until 9a.m. and you can listen online! (thus the linkee)
Requiescat In Pace B.B. King
President Obama Mourns The Passing Of Blues Icon BB King
http://www.politicususa.com/2015/05/15/president-obama-mourns-passing-blues-icon-bb-king.html
SWEET HOME CHICAGO
https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=20&v=xPFtzUilUSI
Obama, BB King, Buddy Guy, Mick Jagger, Jeff Beck
oops, sorry that second link not BB, don’t know what happen, but you can find any of his music on YouTube, just put in BB King, he is the King of the rock-n-roll blues!
oops, sorry that second link is not BB, don’t know what happen, but you can find any of his music on YouTube, just put in BB King, he is the King of the rock-n-roll blues!
In National Geographic! That’s as mainstream as media gets. AND it’s about the science of cannabis, no politics! No jokes. My guess is a lot of people who otherwise wouldn’t know much about the subject, or worse, might just learn a little bit of truth. Long read, but worth it.
Science Seeks to Unlock Marijuana’s Secrets
THUD
THUD. BANG! Rattle-rattle-rattle, as broken pieces roll across the floor…
(Turning to reformer budtender) I’ll have whatever (pointing at) the gentleman with the hammer is having!
Trying to understand how it works?
grind it up
roll it up
light it up
smoke it up
You forgot the last line; do it again
Senate Drug Warriors Push to Remove Marijuana Research Roadblocks
http://tinyurl.com/psq676c
Keep you hats on.
U.S. Senators Charles Grassley (R-IA) and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), drug warriors:
“In separate letters sent to the Department of Justice and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on Wednesday, Grassley and Feinstein request that the two departments work together to “determine ways to remove any unnecessary barriers that stand in the way of research into the potential medical benefits of marijuana.â€
.
.
Good grief! Here’s another unexpected to be seen in our lifetime event. You may want to sit down otherwise you might faint. A while back my wife fainted. That resulted in her breaking her ankle. So let’s not hear any nonsense about fainting being harmless. This is an article about some prohibitionists who actually care about the children. This one is from the “you’d better believe that truth is stranger than fiction” category:
Last year the federal government seized $3.9 billion in assets.
http://goo.gl/2pV377
That’s larger than the entire operating budget of the DEA!
http://goo.gl/vd0ORi
Holy forfeiture, Batman!
Members of Parliament of Germany’s Green party and Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative (!) Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party are each recommending legalization and regulation of marijuana.
If Germany’s conservatives can get their act together, America’s rightous wingers should find their path to marijuana redemption easier as well. Successful international drug law reform, as it happens at the 2016 UNGASS meeting—convened for three days, from 19 to 21 April 2016, at United Nations Headquarters in New York—will make it easier for all nations to adopt more humane drug control policies.
Reading about German discussion on legalization and the progress made at the ballot in the U.S., Jamaica, and numerous other countries I am mystified how an election has has taken place in Britain without any debate at all about drug reform or cannabis legalization. It’s as though the entire electorate has been put under a spell by the Daily Mail and are incapable of mentioning the drug war and what it costs them.
Stephen A. Smith Goes Off on Black Athletes for Smoking Weed 3.26.15
Stephen A. Smith is absolutely fed the fuck up. He’s pissed, and his pissed-ness boils down to one central point: He’s tired of seeing athletes, namely black ones, smoke weed without a care when their chosen profession explicitly bars them from doing so.
Marijuana is an addictive drug which produces in its users insanity, criminality, and death. You smoke a joint and you’re likely to kill your brother. Marihuana leads to pacifism and communist brainwashing. Reefer makes darkies think they’re as good as white men. It is a drug that causes insanity, criminality, and death — the most violence-causing drug in the history of mankind…. the primary reason to outlaw marijuana is its effect on the degenerate races.
~ Harry J. Anslinger
Indiana dismisses Davis, Mosquera-Pera after pot incident…
The Dopest NBA Stoners in Basketball History
If they tested for pot, there would be no league.
☛ Steve Nash, LA Lakers
☛ Joakim Noah, Chicago Bulls
☛ Klay Thompson, Golden State Warriors
☛ JR Smith, New York Knicks
☛ Ty Lawson, Denver Nuggets
☛ Zach Randolph, Memphis Grizzlies (ex-Blazer)
☛ LeBron James, Miami Heat
☛ Michael Beasley, Miami Heat
☛ Marcus Camby, Retired
☛ Cliff Robinson, Retired
☛ Rasheeeeed Wallace & Damon Stoudamire, Retired
The NBA’s All Star Stoner Team or
The Most Athletic Weed Smokers in the World
The NBA doesn’t test for marijuana in the offseason for a good reason: approximately 90% of the NBA’s players smoke cannabis on a regular basis.
NFL’s Buzzkill
☛ Fans Too Relaxed for Fights
☛ Basketball Riots in L.A., Soccer Thugs in Europe
☛ Euro 2000 Soccer Violence Could Vanish in a Puff
☛ Cannabis Helps Keep Fans Calm
Unofficial Self-Appointed Cannabist for the SF Giants
Drug Worriers preferred methods of treatment…
☛ Ambien, delusions,dementia,lack of feeling or emotion,thoughts of killing oneself,confusion,shakiness…
☛ Celexa, lack of emotion,loss of memory,Behavior change similar to drunkenness,convulsions, (seizures)….
☛ Xanax, changes in patterns and rhythms of speech,clumsiness or unsteadiness,difficulty with coordination,shakiness and unsteady walk,feeling sad or empty
☛ Prozac, inability to sit still,difficulty with concentration,drowsiness,mood or behavior changes
☛ Zoloft, very stiff (rigid) muscles, high fever, sweating, confusion, fast or uneven heartbeats, feeling like you might pass out; agitation, hallucinations, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, loss of appetite,
Annual Causes of Death in the United States
☛ All Causes 2,596,993
☛ Cannabis 0
I don’t know where to post this, so I finally decided to post here. Before you dismiss me as a troll, please hear me out. The most informed people who aren’t the stereotypical (and embarrassing) “we need to legalize it duuuude” people always post here. You people are extremely articulate, educated, and informed. When I read the comments to a Drugwarrant post I’m more likely to think of an educated person in a suit than a hippie in a tie-dye.
Now here is my problem. As a non-American living in an actual third world country, I am a bit puzzled by the Anti-Americanism going on here at times. This blog seems to focus on the American drug war exclusively. Where are the posts condemning the drug-related executions going on in the middle East and other Asian countries (like Indonesia)? Did you know, for example, that in Japan, making pornography depicting underage girls getting raped (as long as the genitals are censored, strangely enough) is completely legal, yet cannabis… even simple possessio over there, can land you in jail for YEARS?!
I, as an outsider, actually see America as a very progressive country. Two states in the US have legalized recreational marijuana. Medical Marijuana, which is very rare outside of the USA, is a hot topic in the USA only. When I type “cannabis reform” in a Google search. it’s mostly American related stuff. Why isn’t this blog more global? I don’t give a shit about some Republican goon in the USA giving an affirmative nod to medical marijuana occasionally. On the contrary, some of your Republicans seem downright liberal compared to our so-called liberals!! What about a poor person in an African country getting thrown in jail for cannabis, just because he smoked some weed to relieve the pain from the cancer he is suffering from? Why?!
Thank you for hearing me out.
Probably the biggest reason that America is currently dominant in the discussion is a little cultural thing we call “freedom of speech”, which is still far from universal throughout the planet.
World drug policy is definitely discussed (See German link above) and condemned here (The “Bali 9” in Indonesia), but generally people will talk about what impacts them most locally, and have a tough time relating to events outside of their bubble.
America is progressing, and in many cases faster than the rest of the world, but that is not to suggest that we are any less frustrated that the pace of reform is still slow. The people currently in control do not want to relinquish the control that they never should have taken in the first place. That is one of many unfortunate aspects of human nature.
There’s a lot of anti-American sentiment posted because a lot of the posters are Americans, so that’s what they/we know and what’s annoying them/us.
There’s also the fact that the USA is not just evil when it comes to this issue but evil and powerful and influential. There’s a long, long history not just of killing its own people over made-up thoughtcrimes, but killing lots of others (or encouraging them to be killed…or looking the other way while they’re killed) for the same non-reasons.
There’s also the previously-mentioned issue of free speech, which has become a brilliant feature for reasons probably not initially on the minds of those who institutionalized it: If you’re the government and you destroy countless lives every year over nothing, some people think you’re still heroes if you can then legitimately say “But you’re FREE because you can complain about the horrible things we do!”
Granted, that last only applies to those who weren’t murdered…
I understand your frustration. I am in Canada, and nothing like this exists here, focused on things Canadian. Of course we do discuss some Canadian stuff on DWR, but not much. It is up to you to do what you can to start something like this in your own country or one nearby which shares common concerns. Be prepared to be a voice in the wilderness for several years prior to becoming mainstream, as happened on this site.
Biafra, thanks for your comment. I think you may be mistaking an anti-EMPIRE and anti-Prison Complex position for anti-Americanism.
I can assure you that folks here are working towards a MORE PERFECT UNION and a better America that doesn’t put people into cages or blow their families to hell because we’re addicted to oil and/or a stupid drug war.
I’m convinced that defeating the NON-science crowd behind drug prohibition will go a long way towards defeating the NON-science crowd denying climate change.
So, for me, picking on America is the best way to go about solving BOTH of these humanitarian missions.
Some of us are nice people but if you check out our military budget we’ve also got a shit-load of American warmongers. Any anti-Americanism you might get from me is my total and permanent hatred and disgust towards WARMONGERS.
If you haven’t already, may I strongly suggest that if you want to help out your part of the world, learn EVERYTHING you can about how cannabis interacts with our body’s endocannabiod system. That’s where the healing knowledge will flow from.
Become an endocannabinoid missionary and spread the word.
Excuse me I gotta run, I just dropped a big piece of burning ash on my cool Tie-die shirt. Damn, I hate that when it happens. Probably shouldn’t have used that stinky bong water to put the fire out…!
“Where are the posts condemning the drug-related executions going on in the middle East and other Asian countries (like Indonesia)?”
Google ‘drugwarrant + Bali nine (or Indonesia) and get back to us!
Death penalty http://bit.ly/1yg0Ru5
The United States can’t be so fixed on our desire to preserve the rights of ordinary Americans . . . .
— Bill Clinton, March 1, 1993,
during a press conference in Piscataway, N.J.
(Boston Globe, 3/2/93, page 3; and USA Today, 3/11/93
Deep in the Black Heart of Teckus…
http://endingcannabisprohibition.yuku.com/topic/1961
Occupied America, U.S. No Longer An Actual Democracy
http://endingcannabisprohibition.yuku.com/topic/1960
“Casual drug users should be taken out and shot.â€
–x LAPD Chief Daryl Gates
Father of SWAT Founder of DARE
Ten worst sentences for marijuana-related crimes
http://www.salon.com/2012/10/29/ten_worst_sentences_for_marijuana_related_crimes/
Punishments of this sort seldom fit the offense, but these cases are especially egregious
Texas Judge Sentences Man To Death For Marijuana Possession
An Austin Superior Court judge sentenced 34 year old Joseph Goldsmith to death row yesterday, after Goldsmith was picked up on his third offense for marijuana possession.Judge Martin Churchill said during the trial that he had “already seen [Goldsmith] twice†and that “the third time was the charm.â€
Exporting DEAmocracy
http://endingcannabisprohibition.yuku.com/topic/1501
“From time to time, I say that the suppression of medical marijuana is murder. This is not quite correct. It is actually mass murder. It has caused the deaths of countless thousands of people.â€
~ the Financial Times Limited, 1998
(Ed. note: The FT is the London equivalent of the Wall Street Journal.
This drug could be patented, so it is of interest to the financial community.)
And exactly which country was is that went so batshit crazy over pot that it had to force the whole world to come along on the war and even to exceed the original craziness?
Ah, Germany?
Ah, Germany? No wait… China? Vietnam, Thailand or Malaysia? Certainly not the US selling it for profits. We don’t kill users, we cage them and enslave them. Forfeit their homes and confiscate their bank accounts. But we don’t kill them. Some would like to kill them. Some have tried to kill them and some have succeeded. But not as a capital punishment. It is also the US activists standing up to these liars and thugs. We may have created the drug war but we have also created the uses. From Hemp to Dispensaries. Even when 30 countries outside of the US don’t outlaw Hemp, it is us who buy and sell the most products. It is the US also leading in quasi legal sales of Ganja. $700M in Colorado alone. It has become CA’s #1 cash crop and we lead the world in salads. So yes our drug worriers are lame, stupid and greed stricken modern fascists. But I’d put a Texican activist up against anyone on the planet. With only the internet and truth we have overcome adversity, censorship and whacko religionists so I can order a dozen different strains of either Sativa or Indica or even CBD. Edibles and concentrates all delivered to my door and paid with a CC. So many Americans still aren’t rolling over to the thugs or even to the money in prohibition. We will continue to speak out as we did against Nixon, Ford and Clinton. We will continue to grow the best damn pot on earth and price it for the customers. At least in the Central Coast. WAMM even gives it away to patients. So without getting all patriotic and crap. Try to distinguish the difference between Americans and the US sponsored drug war that Americans in greater numbers are opposing. With more clout than some foreign puppet countries kissing Uncle SAM’s ass for favored nation status or trade deals. Now I think I’ll go jerk my Hemp flag for the neighbors.
This Coach Leather Tote Handbag is made from signature ultra soft leather, and has multi-function pockets inside where
you can place your cell phone and other belongings. Psychological tools for releasing unwanted food habits.
Pee-wee football is designated for elementary school children as
there are generally no organized sports in elementary schools.
wow… multi-function pockets!
The Couch Hemp Bags are made from a 18.5 oz. 100% hemp plain weave fabric
Most leather is chrome-tanned. All wastes containing chromium are considered hazardous by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The waste from tanneries also includes large quantities of other pollutants, including protein, hair, salt, lime sludge, sulfides, and acids. Furthermore, a chrome-tanning facility wastes nearly 15,000 gallons of water and produces up to 2,200 pounds of “solid waste†(e.g., hair, flesh, and trimmings) for every ton of hides that it processes. Leather tanning also generates 800,000 tons of chrome shavings annually, and much of this chromium waste ends up in landfills.
Pollution from Giant Livestock Farms Threatens Public Health
Giant livestock farms that are known as Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations or CAFOs house thousands of cows, chickens or pigs and produce staggering amounts of animal manure. The way these wastes are stored and used has profound effects on human health and the environment. Raising animals for food and leather requires huge amounts of feed, pastureland, water, and fossil fuels.
Organic Hemp vs Chemical Cotton
Aborting babies in the bible belt.
Cattle face many hazards in unnatural confinement. Restricted within a particular area, the cattle often have no refuge from extreme weather. Many die as a result of intense heat, hypothermia and seasonal floods. In 2009, approximately 91,000 cattle in North Dakota died due to flooding and extreme winter weather. Cow feed, “forages” use more water per acre than almonds @ gallon each. In an average day, cattle will drink 30 gallons of water and eat 100 pounds of plant material.
Hemplastic or Fossil Fools Crud
Tannery Operations
One can find many sites throughout the developing world with abandoned factories that used to make tanning chemicals, or poorly-run (usually small) tanneries, or legacy contaminated waterways with dangerous levels of chemicals. These places pose significant public health risks to local populations.
Cannabis Seeds:
The Most Nutritionally Complete Food on the Planet
Seeds of the plant cannabis sativa, hemp seed, contain all the essential amino acids and essential fatty acids necessary to maintain healthy human life. No other single plant source has the essential amino acids in such an easily digestible form, nor has the essential fatty acids in as perfect a ratio to meet human nutritional needs.