As I wrote yesterday morning, NIDA has had an agenda that “focuses on prohibition and abstinence, rather than harm reduction and respect of human agency.”
So I was surprised to see this blog post yesterday in NIDA for Teens: Concerts and Drugs: Is There a Way to Reduce the Dangers?
They don’t come out and endorse harm reduction, of course, but they openly discuss it.
… But some music festivals are trying a different approach to reduce the bad experiences for concert-goers determined to get high off of illicit drugs.
“Harm reduction†is an approach that is based on the belief that some people will do risky, dangerous, and sometimes illegal things even if they know that it could hurt them or have an outcome they don’t want. Risky behaviors include things like using drugs, having casual sex, and binge drinking. And examples of unwanted outcomes from these behaviors include getting HIV, pregnant or arrested, or into a drunk-driving accident.
Supporters of harm reduction feel that educating and protecting people about how to reduce unwanted outcomes is more realistic and helpful than educating them on why they shouldn’t do it in the first place. However, others say there should be a “zero tolerance†approach and that by trying reduce harm from using drugs, you are encouraging drug use.
And they conclude the post by asking…
What do you think? Will harm-reduction programs at concerts help people make smarter decisions about their health, or encourage risky behavior?
Again, in a sane world, NIDA would be actively promoting harm reduction. But in ours, it’s a breath of fresh air just to see them acknowledge its existence.
A breath of fresh air,,,more like a breeze caused by falling chunks of wall,,TMK this is the first mention of harm reduction that was not dismissed outright by any government agency,,look how long it is taking to get the opiate overdose medicine approved nationwide even knowing it saves lives.
Somewhere in that language is room for a smooth advocate to get NIDA to admit that marijuana use is harm reduction over using alcohol,,,if they did not admit it they would continue proving how ineffective they are and how much tax money they squander.
https://pearlsofprofundity.files.wordpress.com/2013/08/lipstick-on-a-pig-2a.jpg?w=535&h=401
Arrgh!
Should sunscreen be legal or illegal?
NIDA: Hmm… tough question. If we allow people to use sunscreen so they can spend time in the sun then more people may be tempted to spend time in the sun. Wouldn’t it be better if we just banned sunscreen so people have to think twice about the risks of going outside into the sunshine?
I agree with NIDA on this and its exactly why I forbid my children from wearing sunscreen. If there are no serious consequences as a result of spending time too much time in the sun, they may decide to spend more time bathing in harmful UV rays. Sunscreen sends the wrong message to other people and normalises being outdoors for far too long. If children want to spend lots of their playtime outside, they need to suffer the consequences of sun burn. Maybe watching their sister die of skin cancer (although easily prevented had I allowed her to use sunscreen) will teach them to be more careful about exposure to sunlight.
The belief in so called ‘harm reduction’ is very dangerous thing for society to embrace. My daughter died of skin cancer (and that was a sad thing) but at least it sends the ‘right message’ to others about how dangerous UV exposure is.
The harm is caused by the soulless profiteers of DEAth. With their propaganda gossip queen denying research, all for fat pharma. The 3rd rail of please bargain, to avoid profit prisons is rehabilitation asylums at $4500.00. Gets you a 28 day retreat to recover from cancer remedies or an alternative to the greedy bastards drugs of choice in bottles, kegs or white powder pills. Pisstasters and the plastic corporations setting them up. Ah… It’s a profit deal. Takes the pressure off. Get your weight guessed right here! Only a buck! Actual live weight guessing! Take a chance and win some crap!
Navin R. Johnson
“Encourage risky behavior”. Right up there with “send the wrong message”, another way to say Thoughtcrime, much loved by every group from the PTA to NIDA.
So, to follow their logic, drug testing, which reduces risk, is encouraging risky behaviour. Perhaps a short course in logic would assist them.
How about = drug testing provides a false sense of security to parents or other “concerned” authority figures, while offering no actual “safety” until after-the-fact…
Aka it provides a tattle-tale-ish, guilty of trying to gave a good time *verdict*, Except that – you have to presume guilt to all of those being tested, which (in theory) goes against our regular justice-system/approach.
One might call that Un-American (at least in the spirit of things), what’s REALLY much worse is that testing like this doesn’t prevent harm from *actually dangerous* drug use.
It may be a deterrent(?) – But that’s very debatable, as we know many of the truly dangerous drugs won’t show up in a screening/test for all that long…
So, in reality – you’re mostly just finding proof of who uses cannabis on a semi-recent or regular basis. (After the fact, which wouldn’t in any way remove alleged/related “dangers”.)
And if we DON’T presume that:
Cannabis USE = Cannabis ABUSE…
Or for the more liberal worry-wart parents/authority figures, that “non-medical use” = abuse…
Hence using their logic, we can deduce that FUN = SIN, Pleasure = Risk of Bad Things (AKA – possible impending punishment from God for Hedonism – more or less.)
IMO this is their take on “Well, harm reduction sounds good and all, but Abstinence is the only way to be truly safe/pure/etc.”
Which is fraking stupid, Life is dangerous and risky at times. Make sure your insurance is paid-up, wear a helmet and/or a seat belt. Maybe cross your fingers if that makes you feel better.
As for this garbage:
This “question” is bullshit = they’ve very obviously structured it as a leading question. And they’ve done it in terms of absolutes, which simply isn’t realistic.
When have they ever given a damn about letting people make their own decisions?
They obviously don’t here = Harm Reduction means being able to have your drugs tested with a reagent kit, to make sure you know what you’re really taking.
There could be one or more off-duty/retired EMT’s on site = to make sure people they stay hydrated drinking a moderate amount of water.
But, take care that they don’t over-hydrate themselves, “drink more water” isn’t always the answer at a rave.
Some club drugs can nearly stop you from sweating – which could be dangerous IF not taken into account = is one of the actual dangers, have some sober ‘babysitters’/security just in case someone’s brain *goes sideways* for whatever reason.
Looks like they are sticking to the “safe sex isn’t really 100% safe” style/theme here… “The condom could break & wham you get pregnant, or get HIV, or HPV, etc.”
This is the crown jewel of their “harm reduction is still really really dangerous = enough to keep us employed denying you your liberty.”
Our Liberty to do whichever risky, plausibly dangerous, or irresponsible stuff we (as adults) choose to do = Knowing The Risks Involved!
AND, we need to get an FYI to them, (thru their extra-thick skulls), WE HAVE NO RESPONSIBILITY TO DELIVER ANY ‘MESSAGES’ TO “THE CHILDREN!”
Harm reduction is a bitter pill to swallow for the NIDA. For decades the NIDA has done everything to induce harm, including keeping cannabinoid-focused cancer research off the public radar just so no one would have anything good to say about marijuana.
Even their designated name, the National Institute of Drug Abuse, implies they’re officially mandated by law to abuse drug consumers. The NIDA’s credo has been built around producing plenty of bodies. Dead drug consumers can be hung by their heels from gas station rafters like Mussolini to provide examples to the world that recreational drugs are harmful. If drugs stop being thought of as harmful, a definable ‘abuse’ disappears, and with it the NIDA.
Considering the serious defects and tragedies resulting from its drug-abuse market placement, the NIDA could benefit immensely by rebranding themselves. They could call themselves the National Institute of Drug Happiness and Good Health—or the NIDHGH. It’s more letters to remember for an acronym, and it will be up to the NIDHGH to find employees who can master the memorization task.
The new NIDHGH would also come with a new government mandate, that of keeping drug consumers safe and happy, as opposed to tossing them into a cage, or shooting them.
The “belief”? Um, shouldn’t that be the “incontrovertible fact”? The natural human desire to alter one’s consciousness will lead people to use consciousness-altering drugs, notwithstanding the fact that their use is associated with certain risks. And yes, that remains true even when governments declare the use of those drugs “illegal,” as several decades of the drug war’s failure have shown us.
Note the classic false equivalence there between the mere “use” of “drugs” (i.e., recreational drugs other than booze) and “binge” drinking. The implication is that while alcohol can be used in a responsible, non-“risky” way, all use of other drugs is inherently risky / abusive.
That’s an obvious false dichotomy. There’s nothing inconsistent about teaching people harm reduction strategies for safer drug use, while also recommending, as the best and safest option, that they avoid drugs entirely. I don’t particularly want my kids jumping out of an airplane, but if they do, I want them to wear a parachute. (Although I suppose if I actually told my kids that, the drug warriors would claim I was “sending the wrong message.”) Similarly, I don’t want my kids using recreational drugs before they’re adults, but if they do, I’d strongly prefer that they use non-toxic, non-addictive cannabis over the infinitely more dangerous alcohol.
As I’ve argued before, the drug warriors’ real objection to harm reduction strategies is a very fundamental one. The entire premise of prohibition is based on discouraging drug use via harm promotion, i.e., deliberately making drug use more harmful than it would otherwise be by piling on the entirely artificial harms of criminal punishment — incarceration, the financial burden of fines, legal fees, and job losses, social stigma and loss of educational and employment opportunities as a result of a criminal record, disqualification for certain government benefits, taking children away from their parents, etc. And those are only some of the ways in which prohibition directly increases harm. Prohibition also makes drug use more harmful in other, more indirect ways — making the drugs themselves more dangerous thanks to the uncertain potency and purity of the black market, the “iron law of prohibition,” and the whack-a-mole dynamic that drives people towards new, untested, and almost inevitably more dangerous “research chemicals”; creating structural incentives for violence by limiting the ability of parties to drug transactions to resolve their disputes peacefully; making people in life-or-death situations too afraid to seek needed medical help for themselves or their friends; and creating a chilling effect around the discussion of illicit drugs that discourages the dissemination of accurate, harm-reducing information.
+++++ this. Excellent essay, Francis!
adults should be bombarded with Harm reduction information snail mail, included in coupon packs, windshield of cars, etc. Kids can research these facts but zero tolerance for minors is a must if there’s a chance to gain support for the already oppressed victims we are responsible for creating for allowing it. At least that website mentioned harm reduction. They did it right though because it’s aimed at minors.
I’ve always wondered when people say they are opposed to a “harm reduction” approach what they mean. I saw Kerlikowske say in a hearing before Congress that the feds were not interested in such an approach. Not in their vocabulary. Same thing when people are discussing things like safe injection sites. Harm reduction is absolutely the wrong way to go. So what is the opposite of harm reduction? I’d say it would be “harm maximization.” I propose that any policy that specifically avoids proven harm reduction techniques should be called a harm maximization strategy.
Chronicle AM: AMA Wants Protection for Pot Docs,
LA Marijuana Sentencing Reformed, More (6/9/15)
Meeting at its annual convention in Chicago, the American Medical Association has passed a resolution called “Immunity from Federal Prosecution for Cannabis Prescribing.” The resolution is “consistent with AMA policy to protect patient-physician communications about treatment options, supporting a public health approach rather than a law-enforcement focus, for individuals possessing cannabis for personal use and opposing government interference with the practice of medicine,” the nation’s largest doctors’ group said.
AMA Calls For Ending Nixon’s Lie?
November 10th, 2009 By: Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director
The Schedule I federal classification of cannabis – which states that, by law, the marijuana plant and its natural compounds have “no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States” – has long since passed the point of farcical. Nevertheless, defenders of the so-called “Schedule I lie” have possessed, for nearly
3045 years, one prestigious ally that they could always rely on to endorse their absurd position: the American Medical Association.$1-MILLION GRANT TO HELP RESEARCH LINK BETWEEN POT, HIV/AIDS
UBC doctor to have ‘all the freedom in the world’ to look into possible therapeutic benefits of cannabis. A University of British Columbia researcher who recently found that daily pot use might help fight HIV/AIDS is getting a $1-million grant from a commercial cannabis grower, which could lead to more clinical evidence for doctors skeptical of a drug still outlawed in Canada.
Desperate Parents of Autistic Children Trying Cannabis Despite Lack of Studies
Parents of severely autistic children are turning to medical marijuana for relief. After seeing the results that epileptic children experienced, these desperate parents are beginning to wonder if it will work for them too. There are very few studies linking cannabinoids as a treatment for autism, but that isn’t holding these parents back. Most figure they don’t have anything to lose.
Reefer Madness Redux: Who Let the Clowns Out?
by Keith Stroup, NORML Legal Counsel June 10, 2015
The anti-marijuana zealots in this country have always been entertaining, but I have lately noticed the appearance of some new defenders of prohibition, making Reefer Madness claims reminiscent of the earliest years of prohibition.
AMA is buried in a deep pile of Fat Pharma.
http://i36.tinypic.com/1smr0y.jpg
Meanwhile, back in reality…
Leafly: the Web’s Ultimate Cannabis Resource
“We decided to build a platform that had a great visual representation; something that people could use in their workplace or wouldn’t be embarrassed looking at.”
New York Hospitals Will Treat Patients With Medical Marijuana
On the heels of the deadline for pot growers to submit applications to hold one of five licenses to supply New York with medical marijuana comes news that the state’s newfound cannabis industry has gained the support of many influential hospitals.
Leafly’s advertisement in The New York Times.jpg
The Compassionate Care Act in New York
New Data Sheds Interesting Light on Relationship Between Weed and Sex
According to Pornhub, smoking fetishes are extremely popular, but a closer look at the website’s latest search data has revealed that there is an entire world of marijuana enthusiasts searching for weed-related porn.
First ‘Aphrodisiac Weed’ Targeted to Women Hits the Market
The FDA is finally approving a form of Viagra for women, but one woman is already several steps ahead with a natural solution—a low-THC strain, grown, packaged and branded as an “aphrodisiac weed,†especially for women.
Weed porn sounds awesome.
Too bad the authoritarian left (modern feminists) would consider it “exploitation of women”
Maybe the rescue industry can get involved, too steer is into a drug/sex free world, in accordance with the Swedish model.
*pukes*
Weed Porn
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHtTItDC54E
Instead of donuts:
(Homer Simpson voice) “Mmmmmm. Weeeed porn”.
Cannabis World Congress & Business Exposition
JUNE 17-19, 2015 JAVITS CENTER NYC
Colorado retail pot sales level off in April, but taxes for schools see surge
While Colorado’s medical and recreational marijuana sales held steady in April, the state’s pot taxes earmarked for school construction capital reached an all-time high that month
Bill Clinton Cracks Jokes About Marijuana, and Himself
Not funny Slick…
Mother, Shona Banda Faces 30 Year Prison Sentence
For Using Cannabis To Treat Crohn’s Disease
Wrestler Dusty Rhodes, The American Dream, Has Died
RIP #DustyRhodes He was a true icon, great wrestler & an even better man. My prayers go out to Dustin & his family.
@ChynaJoanLaurer
Clinton was unworthy of his middle name; more were arrested during his tenure for cannabis than during previous Administrations. He sicced his (ha-ha-not-funny) ‘Justice’ Department attack ‘dog’ Janet Reno on the doctors who were recommending cannabis as part of Prop215. And then he had the gall, when he left office, to feign ignorance when this was pointed out and said that he thought the States had decriminalized it.
Invite you to speak to cannabists? After what you did to us? Go away, Clenis. Your hypocritical stance on cannabis led to almost 2 decades of intentionally vicious raids on dispensaries everywhere the people voted to re-legalize for medical reasons.
Cannabists have long memories of being spitted on the short, sharp and dirty stick held by people like him; now, with support for re-legalization passing 50% in our favor, that stick has changed ownership.
It’s in our hands, now. What we do with it to those who used it against us is entirely up to us now, not them. And the pols are starting to realize they don’t want to be on the business end of that stick, not when it is being held by those whose fresh blood is still dripping from it…and they have a mind to use it in the same manner it was used on them.
.
.
Shouldn’t we stop allowing emergency rooms in hospitals? Maybe people wouldn’t drive drunk if they knew that they’d have to wait until 9 A.M. Monday morning to get medical care! Don’t forget possible injuries from (including but not limited to) rock climbing, bungee jumping, sports injuries, ultra light aircraft flying, recreational sky diving, tackle football, bagel slicing, snow/water skiing, race baiting, drag racing, roller skating, burning trash/yard debris, incompetents trying to save a few dollars on automobile repairs, road rage perpetrators, armed/strong arm robbery, daytime/nighttime burglary, intentional arson including cross burning, indecent exposure, activities resulting in anaphylaxis, adultery, Civil War battle re-enactments, engaging the services of a two bit trollop, cheering for the visiting team at a professional sporting event, driving a taxicab, defeating the safety devices on a lawn mower/tractor etc, etc, etc ad nauseam.
(Yes, bagel slicing. Doing that the wrong way causes a not insignificant number of ER visits on Sunday mornings because some not very bright people or the too early to have the brain turned on crowd slice their palms. The blood ruins the bagel too.)
I just want to make sure that I understand the “logic” used by the idiot prohibitionists:
≥≥≥”Not actively discouraging a behavior is in fact encouraging that behavior.”≤≤≤
Did I get it to fit in the proverbial nutshell? Why is it that so many people want to infantilize the citizenry? Why are so many people willing to be infantalized? One thing that is constantly in the background noise of my brain and annoying the heck out of me was that my parents did send me a message when I was just a wee lad and that message was that some things are for adults only and not for little boys. Sheesh, they wouldn’t even let me have carbonated soda because people used it to make cocktails. They probably took that one a little too far but the point is that I got the friggin’ message.
They also sent me the message that when I became an adult that I could choose to enjoy those adult pleasures. But finally when I reached my majority and now people are trying to tell me that I can’t enjoy adult pleasures because those pleasures are not for little boys or girls. I must say that I really don’t like people who try to make a liar of my mother.
Did everyone see the new “research” “study” that counted the number of children taken to the ER because of an unintentional consumption of cannabis? In Colorado that number has “skyrocketed” to 70 for the year 2014. Of course we all know that the children were never in any actual danger and that the only treatment received during that ER visit was a walletectomy for the kiddies’ parents. But try convincing someone impaired in the extreme by irrational fear and hysterical rhetoric that accidental pediatric “poisoning” by cannabis is truly of minimal importance.
Also in 2014 there were State legal cannabis transactions totaling 74 metric tons of cannabis flowers. That’s a combination of both medicinal and for enjoyment. There were 4.8 million edibles sold in 2014. 70 is 0.00146% of 4.8 million.
2/27/2015: Colorado releases trove of marijuana data
Anatomy of a Walletectomy You should see how much an air ambulance helicopter ride from western Massachusetts to eastern Massachusetts costs. I had that opportunity in 1997 when my wife had to have emergency surgery to remove a myxoma.
I believe the word GOMER is used to refer to people who present at the ER because of unintentional consumption of cannabis.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/GOMER
hey everybody. it’s CJ. I know its been awhile and I suppose its only fitting that I make my return when the post is about harm reduction. Even more fitting because it was only about 3 or 4 weeks ago that I OD’ed and wound up at Montefiorre hospital where they saved my life. I’m sorry this is a bit of a selfish post here you see I think I may have mentioned when I last posted about finally after many many years getting involved with a girl… Well, evidently that is, apparently over though it is the most bizarre thing ever. I’ve been coming to this site for years and have shared many personal things I feel like the members are friends and so I am comfortable to share this… It’s relevant in the drug sense because I can tell you all with the utmost sincerity that my heroin use began as a way to medicate emotional/psychological pain stemming from a devastating breakup like 12 years ago… It’s so strange… I think about those days now… and it’s certainly shocking to go thru something similar albeit far less time invested this time, but i would say the passion I brought wasn’t so diminished… it proved something to me, despite years of heroin use in the most abject of circumstances, really brutalized by prohibition and it’s enforcers and the establishments of prohibition, nevertheless, somehow, despite all the dirt, death, inhumane, absolutely insane things I’ve had to see and experience, somehow, when this opportunity came, I found that deep inside, the drug war and the worst aspects of drugs did not, actually, totally strip me bare because I found that a piece of me I thought long gone was still there, that ability to make someone breakfast in bed, hold their hand throughout an entire film at the cinema, being at peace with myself, being able to be intimate, even dusted off the guitar and wrote some songs… i know some of the folks here followed me on facebook and even saw some of the songs so that was awesome! well unfortuntely, things I guess didnt work out… quite shocking actually because despite a pretty awful fight, things went on to be better than ever in the last hour or so when we really were able to confess some very serious feelings, we even left it with an incredibly passionate kiss! naturally when i got back after bringing her home, i was surprised no call or text had come.. and i tried to speak to her/txt/msg and this was saturday… well today is Thursday, I’d tried hard to reach her Saturday, a little bit on Sunday and then sent my final message monday morning. I mean, I probably should have just left everything alone, you know? But I swear, wed been talking for about half a year but got very serious the past few months though wed never said any i love you or whatever that did finally happen Friday, she said it first and i was shocked. She repeated it later on twice! and even said some other very powerful things and this is a person who it is impossible to get to give the slightest compliment, a type who may be the very best ive ever seen at holding in and not expressing their feelings so it was really huge. I mean huge. Even hard for her to use the word love just to describe enjoying something like “i love that song” even. As I said though there was a big fight prior to… but again, after all the awesome stuff that got said and that awesome kiss i came home on cloud 9 thinking everything was awesome.. Nevertheless, I tried hard, definitely too hard, on Saturday to reach her.. but as I explained, I had absolutely no clue anything was wrong.. I sent only a few msgs at first… maybe… from 6am to 8pm three altogether but by evening i realized i was being intentionally ignored and thats when i really started sending alot because i didnt get it… Sunday morning id seen shed seen them all but i got no reply.. i said “seriously” then i said “well im pretty sad about all this but i hope u have a great day and be happy” then a little later on, the thought of repeating Saturdays BS got to me so I just basically wrote a huge huge message just explaining every single thing that I thought about being ignored, about what happened, about team work, about myself, about everything really.. That was like.. 8 am i did that and I didnt say another word after that all day. I went on to see shed seen it all at 12am monday morning… And again I was ignored.. So when I got up monday morning, i said the last thing which was ok i get it u dont wana talk to me or see me anymore fine but ive done alot for u id like to know 1 thing i deserve this much for all ive done can u just tell me if what u said was true or not. if not, fine, if so, can u explain y ur acting like this? im not gona curse u out or anything stupid ill just go. either way sorry for messing up ur life. so that was it, and that was monday morning… Since we first started talking this has been the longest ive gone without hearing from her. Its been over 3 days now since I tried to reach her. This person as I said feels things so deeply thats why I cannot believe it was BS but also why I cannot understand whats happening… The weekend, by her own word, was our time to be together… so with the weekend approaching im hoping, with this space im giving, we can get things fixed and be happy again… but i honestly dont know… I just cannot see the person I know not at the very least saying goodbye somehow. Either way theres tons of details obviously that I wont get into here, what I will say though is I know one frequenter of this site who was my friend on facebook and was an excellent dude, Curtis, I hope ur seeing this because I would like to speak to you, youre one of the more mature, smart people I know and Id like to get your take on this matter, if you would email me at remmyskye at gmail id really appreciate it, if you are reading this, you may or may not have noticed that i got rid of facebook, well its a culmination of the dramatics and i just got sick of it.. U see, people were already harassing me privately about different things,and when that fight happened, i deleted the girl as a friend, and when things got better or so i thought they had, i just assumed shed refriend me, but she let my request idle and i kept asking her to put it back, so when i realized i was being ignored well i just figured, all these bad people are already giving me enough grief, now shes doing this too? if shes gonna do this also then i just cant put up with this so i got rid of it. Anyway what I will say though is ive come to learn now that apparently this whole “ignoring game” as they call it is actually rather common… and although there are happy endings to them sometimes, for the most part it seems like when the ignoring game happens, endings arent too good… though in truth it seems to be because the person doesnt stop harassing the ignorer… which i admit at first i didnt but that was just because i didnt realize i was being ignored, when i did though i definitely did stop. So actually if anybody here has any experience whether being ignored or ignoring, basically experience with this “game” id love to hear from you, so you too can email me at that email address.
Uh to tie it back into drugs. I mean obviously now my use has skyrocketed again.. And in light of what happened a few weeks ago i guess its not good. I have gotten certified as a narcan user, thats great! Unfortunately I didnt know though that theres a place PAYING 20$ to certify people… unfortunately i got certified for free at a needle exchange in brooklyn. some more harm reduction news: so when u would go to needle exchange one of the awesome things u could get were this plastic tubes filled with water… well they are gone now as harm reduction tries to find a new thing… well apparently this is because some of them had gotten solution in them or something from the plastic… how f’ed up is that? Not having them has.. well, not to gross anybody out really, dont get grossed out now but whenever im doing my thing i got to pull in water from the toilet, dont worry i make sure everything is flushed and its clean of course… but this is the drug war, unfortunately i cant walk out of the stall in the public bathroom, go to the sink, fill her up then walk back in the stall. Also without carrying a backpack or a bag or basically just having some kind of carrying mechanism with me all day, which i cannot be having that because then it becomes a responsibility/liability and just yea thats a whole different thing, but point is, without something like that, cant carry a water bottle around everywhere so the toilet is what it is until they find a new tube or i find a way to carry around water. the problem with those tubes tho is they were sealed right but after u bust the seal id refill them but sitting on the train they would always leak out and itd look like i soiled mine self. not good.
OH an important thing though! the OD, it actually wasnt like because of the whole situation i discussed, actually, rather shockingly, that happened a day after the girl and i kind of got official, like, things were at an all time high (no pun intended) at that time.. so it was just a pure drug war accident. yes, usually thats how it goes… certainly if something intentional was to happen, it would not have been then, it would be now, but im not about to do that… though… i wont lie, i am very hurt and upset but especially confused.. i would love to just get a “leave me alone were done” or “screw you” or anything.. but this? its just not fair really. Especially because of how good i was.
anyway the hustle calls because im not feeling well so i will return soon, hope to hear from folks.. stay safe everybody!
CJ, sorry to hear about your OD and battle with the oldest and most powerful drug of all, love.
Wish you all the best.
It is said that the sincerest form of flattery is imitation.
I suppose we should feel flattered. NIDA is trying to sound like us reformers.
It’s finally sunk in that this new electorate is not interested in prohibition – or interested in paying for it.
Which means that Fed (and State and local) prohibition-supporting agencies are watching their relevance to that electorate fade. Soon to be followed by their paychecks.
So, yes, they are trying to sound like us. They are trying to make as if they were the only, lonely ‘voice in the wilderness’ making the case for reform for these past 40 years. As if we never existed.
Ivory-tower, low-oxy ‘thinking’. What you get from sniffing that dried angel manure. They live in a world of bureaucracy that most people have absolutely no connection to…and want none with.
And they certainly don’t want to pay for what they don’t use, or not gain any value from. And NIDA is a perfect example of just how useless such a bureaucracy is to the average taxpayer. And so they (vainly) seek to use the shibboleths of reform to mask their previous intransigence to it.
As if we’ve had our heads in the sand, just like them, these past decades. As if nobody would notice. That insular, out-of-touch bureaucratic ‘thinking’, again.
The entire article could have been described as a movie poster: “NIDA! The Hunt For Relevance!”
Pathetic, really. What NIDA is experiencing is what happens when a grifter is fresh out of ‘cons’ to run, and his former victims are now standing around him, wondering what to do with him.
Today on NPR at 11 am
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2015-06-11/a-conversation-with-michael-botticelli-the-new-white-house-drug-czar
I can’t access the Diane Rehm show at the moment, and I hope I’m wrong about this… I usually have quite a lot of time for Diane but on the subject of drug reform she comes across as gullable and inclined to believe whatever people like Nora Volkow tell her. She never asks the obvious questions of someone like Botticelli: what will he do with cannabis consumers who display no signs that they need treatment? With Botticelli it’s a case of round them up anyway because he’s the one with the problem, he doesn’t want to be tempted by the “smoke in the streets” bs. How would being busted when he was using have affected his life? Would he now be head of ONDCP if he had?
Perhaps a couchmate who heard the show can enlighten me on what was actually said…
My local NRP rebroadcasts shows in the evening so I’ll try to catch it. One thing I’ve heard many times over on NPR (especially local NPR) is the host’s tendency to give slack-jawed assent to any stupid assertion from an Establishment Drug Warrior. They’re almost like Sunday morning talk show hosts.
OT: Found a disturbing Website: Last Botched Police Raid Map
Looks like we’ll have to add more names to the Memorial Page. 🙁
The DEA tripled its number of wiretaps in the last ten years, from 3,394 in 2005 to 11,681 electronic intercepts in 2014.
The DEA finds it easier to get warrants from state judges than federal judges, which means states are accepting a lower standard of evidence from federal agents in issuing warrants. The DEA’s actions point to a need to upgrade state wiretap laws to equal federal standards to prevent wiretap abuse by a corrupted, federal drug law administration.
Despite tripling its wiretaps, DEA did not triple its effectiveness at countering drug consumption or smuggling. DEA success rates show a net negative in efficacy in all areas since 2005.
Diane Rehm show today has 84 comments at bottom of her page
on the Drug Czar show.
Big surprise!
Group against city pot-dispensary hearings has U.S. ties to Big Pharma
The prohibs cannot hide their unsavory associations any longer. The `C` in SAMC might as well stand for Clone. And that McColl lady sounds like a Canadian version of LindaT.
Sorry, Canucks. But insanity does not respect national borders.
Wow. Just wow. I would have never believed it. I almost didn’t just now, until I was able to download and view the EPA letter detailing the process for marijuana. I mean, WTF? Was I hit in the head with a piece of falling wall and knocked insensible?
Here it is…the EPA has detailed the process for approving pesticides to use on CANNABIS. Yes. Marijuana….the federal government is APPROVING PRODUCTS FOR USE ON CANNABIS CROPS.
http://www.ibtimes.com/marijuana-legalization-2015-epa-issues-guidance-marijuana-pesticides-amid-industry-1959030?utm_source=rss&utm_medium&utm_campaign=RSS
This is HUGE.
.
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Do you think it possible that it has something to do with Scotts taking out General Hydroponics? Considering their product line and the size of the company there’s no doubt in my mind that Scotts employs at least a few full time people to act as liaisons with the EPA. Since they’ve been at it for longer than the EPA has existed I’d wager that the company liaisons know exactly where to grease the wheels to make things run more smoothly.
Makes a change from EPA approval for herbicides for cannabis…. cynically designed to harm consumers and “send the right message.”
Tonight’s Radio Show Planet Green Trees #252
Talked about MI Cannabis Laws
with recent Court ruling.
Talked about Hemp farming from seed to plant in KY.
to product being processed in MI.
Talked about wording of new cannabis ballot language
for 2016.
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/planetgreentrees/2015/06/12/pgt-episode-252-paraphernalia-msc-p-v-mazur
NIDA’s approach on harm reduction amounts to supporting a bounty on adult recreational use of drugs for the sake of the children and in doing so, creating the black market that supplies the children. This agency defines the harm in terms of any use of “illegal” drugs. It creates open season on a population already used to recreating with drugs (alcohol,etc.).
If you can’t repurpose NIDA with a sense that as an agency their first responsibility is to do no harm, they will push only for methods of harm reduction that further the concept of complete abstinence – the first tenet of prohibition.
Impossible. Its not idealistic, its fatalistic. There is always a black market for kids as long as we ban instead of regulate. So NIDA can only perpetuate the destruction of the drug war while pretending to clean up the mess it creates in the first place as a mouthpiece for the Nixonian drug war philosophy at its core.
Like the DEA, re-purpose or abolish NIDA. Change the charters, the name, the purpose statements. Hell, much easier to scrap these two agencies and start over with the scientific knowledge that prohibition and abstinence as a public policy is nothing but governmental over reach and a complete failure.
Talking about harm reduction by NIDA amounts to blowing smoke up the chimney and nothing more. Helping troubled drug users has nothing to do with any of the tenets or philosophy that form the foundation of NIDA. They would first have to acknowledge the great majority of those users who do not pass into the doors of addiction.
Lets define the innocent before we try to cure or ban them all.
Helping every drug user whether they like it or not only because they say so is the equivalent of an attempt to commit brainwashing. So is NIDA’s efforts to reduce harm.
They can’t see that far without shooting themselves in the funding foot. In fact I don’t think they can see their feet past that fat full belly of congressional dollars.
Having the funds to play Santa and treat all these “abusers” is the dream of NIDA.
BRAIN Initiative
http://tinyurl.com/pn99txp
Pingback: Is the NIDA turning over a new leaf? | All Things Chronic
OT:
I’m looking for a post made here in the last 2 months that rails about the fact we should have more than enough research on medicinal cannabis already and who is to blame.
Possibly by Francis or Duncan. Need it to help me write a letter.
Cheers guys.
Hmmm, is this what you had in mind?
That is a great post but not the one I was thinking of. Was more medical cannabis oriented for memory
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It wasn’t me. We’ve got a huge quantity of extremely low quality research, almost all of it pay for results garbage. In my POV even research sponsored by CaNORML or MAPS is questionable because they’re forced to use Elsohly bunk weed. I recall someone said there are more than 22,000 studies. Well, more than 22,000 turds is still just a big pile of shit.
For crying out loud every speck of Elsohly crap weed is stripped using a CO2 extraction bath because of some asinine pathological need for form over substance. Sure, every joint that UMiss distributes has exactly the same delta-9 THC and CBD content. What about the other 5 or 6 dozen lesser known cannabinoids? Terpenoids? Flavinoids? How do they all react to CO2?
…and none of that even touches on the “scientific” studies done using the Frankensteinian synthetic cannabinoids. In less than 1/4 of a century the lab coat assholes have bastardized cannabis from a substance which has never killed anyone but which is a couple of years into having an annual body count. Over 1,000 dead per annum, coming soon. Just because they “care.”
Plenty of research? Where? The only “research” I’ve seen had prohibitionist paw prints at least somewhere in the process. The only pure, whole plant exo-cannabinoid medicine research of which I’m aware is being done by that pharmaceutical company so many here love to hate. You did know that (among other, lesser reasons) they are a British company so they could do their research without having to deal with “Dr.” Elsohly, didn’t you??
Not true Duncan. While a great many of those studies are garbage, most are solid science, even if they are preliminary and of small sample size. The excellent work being done by the Israelis I will cite for example. But good research does not HAVE to be FDA approved research.
Video of Santa Ana Police Pot-Shop Raid Shows Officers Eating ‘Edibles,’ Attorney Says
“Once you touch the Devil, you can never let go.”
The ‘Devil’ of police corruption is endemic in any substance prohibition, any era, any age, any eon. That fact was evident in the scandal that replaced the very first, original Drug Czar, Col. L. G. Nutt in 1930 (and led to Anslinger’s ascension; we all know what happened afterward).
There is only one way to stop this, and it is telling, given the appetites of the officers shown devouring the evidence, that they really don’t want that at all.
Because, then they’d have to pay for what they so (ahem) piggishly ate. Such swinish behavior must not be tolerated any longer.
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Well this is a first for me. I’m more interested in their urine than anything else. Now that’s not me saying that it’s my only concern. Do Santa Ana cops not have to submit to urine testing? Is there an exception for Santa Ana narcs because it’s legal for them to get high in pursuance of their duties? I am presuming that consumption of substances on the naughty lists is legal under California law because it is legal under the Federal Controlled Substances Act and California has adopted the Uniform Controlled Substances Act in the State criminal code.
Even if true it doesn’t give them legal license to sample the goods subsequent to execution of a search warrant. That just does not rise to the level of needed as part of their enforcement of the State’s criminal code.
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Wow, I don’t think that I’ve seen such an extreme case of foot in mouth from a cop since Mark Furman screwed the pooch in OJ Simpson case #1.
Kicking amputees. That woman should go hire a surgeon and have her tongue removed.
Santa Ana Cop In Raid Footage Recalls Party Time W/Judge Who Signed Search Warrant http://t.co/jHkkFNXWey
“You ever work with John Fish, the DA?” the officer asks.
“He was just in when I got there,” his partner responds.
“He’s the judge that signed our warrant,” the first officer continues, adding that he had just spoken with Judge Fish and had enjoyed a good laugh with him about their old times together. “He’s the fucker that pulled into a gas station on our way to the Staples Center and goes, “Let’s buy some beers and drink ’em out of a red cup.’ I go, ‘That’s not going to be obvious.’ There we are at an am/pm getting styrofoam cups and pouring our beers into them. That fucking blew me away.”
The Weekly attempted to interview Judge Fish about the footage, but after describing it to his secretary at the North Justice Center in Fullerton, she placed the call on hold and then got back on the line. “He can’t make any comment on it,” she said. “Sorry.” Then she hung up the telephone.
LOL! And they shouldn’t have to be reminded of their Miranda Rights when they are finally arrested. As their conduct makes it abundantly clear they should be, right now, and occupying space in the GrayBar Hotel.
An ‘investigation’? Hell, no! A tribunal is in order.
Hey NorCalNative thank you I saw that response. Yes indeed you are correct, it is the oldest drug and in some ways it is the very best… it may sound absurd coming from me of all people but I’d take those intimate nights and the times walking the streets of manhattan trading stories/that time seeing mad max at the cinema over a 3 bagger any day. Infact.. and, hold onto your seats, it will sound insane i know, but I actually had been entertaining the thought of… well, as i said, the weekends were our time, and I’d been assuming before things hit the fan that I’d see her this weekend and I was going to even say…. that I’d stop for her! to be the best man I could be, incase heroin was limiting my potential for her… like, can you believe that, me of all people? I was REALLY considering maybe going on methadone..!!! It’s mind blowing that I ever thought that! I don’t know if she’ll ever know I was entertaining the idea… furthermore I don’t know if she’d even be able to appreciate just what kind of statement of love/affection that would be/mean from me. It would be the ultimate sacrifice… And I know I was serious.
OK, Curtis, hey bud thanks again I did get that email by the way and I thank you for emailing me. I did read the part about how you do not check that email often, so I’m letting you know here that I did get it and that I do appreciate it and most of all that I too consider you a friend and I want to tell you that I am going to, later on today, email you so hopefully you will see that soon and I’d love to get your thoughts on what I am going to tell you. Yes you’re right, that was too much information that one bit about the way I was collecting water, sorry about that, lol, as you can imagine, I do have a lack of boundaries from all the time I’ve spent in “abnormal” living situations, LOL. But to the point, well I want to say that I actually think youre 100% correct about her being afraid, having scared herself. That was spot on I think, and I’m just hoping that she will be able to overcome it… Actually Curtis, tell you what, we both actually, in acknowledging that it was love we both said that it was a scary thing, without a doubt so it’s totally true what you said. And then there’s more but it ties into some other stuff that is drug and health related here:
so yesterday guys, well lately especially this past week since I’ve been desperate to just get my mind on other things, I’ve been at Union Square all day long and the surrounding area… Just hanging out with my fellow user friends, looking for trouble, money, etc.
Yesterday was no different and all day long I was there. So now I am in the process of trying to obtain SSI on the grounds of psychological disorder. I am seeing social workers, psychiatrists etc. Yesterday I had an appointment at 6pm right and my father was supposed to meet me at the office.
So my father has been in AA for 30 years and had abused the hell out of his body with alcohol and cocaine for a long time. He has Hep C right and it was evolving badly and rapidly in recent years, at stage 3… and he is 65 years old… Well he tried that traditional treatment years ago but the treatment by his account nearly killed him so he stopped. needless to say with things evolving badly and rapidly he had to do something, they were going to try the traditional treatment again but ultimately he qualified, and i think some of you will know about this but he qualified for that new drug that is like 1,000$ a pill right..? he qualified for a experiment or something… Anyway, it was a success, his viral load was insane and then to 0 and the key thing is in the months following the treatment he maintained the good result…
Ok so a few days ago he was feeling unwell.. And he had or has a vacation planned Sunday, a cruise. Well he was feeling very sick a few days ago…
Now something that had been discovered at some point, and i really should know the specifics here but apparently some kind of aorta artery or something, it was blowing up and its that thing where this artery blows up and they have to do this invasive surgery and put a sleeve/stint on it or something? Well hed known about this for years but they had always said it wasnt bad enough, leave it be… Well apparently a few months ago it had gotten bad enough that they wanted to schedule the surgery… it was to be done september/november.
Anyway he did some tests early this week and last night im waiting in the office, having walked up to 78th st from Union Sq (its an insane walk, ill leave it at that.) Im waiting, I keep calling him he keeps saying hes stuck in traffic… All of a sudden the therapist forgot we had an appt, cuz they were seeing their 6 oclock when id gotten there although i was supposed to be the 6 oclock… Then the 645 shows up and the therapist walks out and doesnt see me just invites the 645 in. So I go outside to call my father to see if theres been a misunderstanding right and guess what he tells me? They found out something was swollen badly, blood count is very low all this horrible stuff and that he was NOT, in fact, on his way to the therapist office but rather at the urging of his physician, going to the ER at Beth Israel on 16th street between 1 and 2 ave.
Well, 16 street between 1 and 2 ave is NOT union sq but it is so close to the heroin capital of Manhattan as to make no difference.
So I rushed down there at the speed of light. I got there and I was given a few dollars to get some food as hes waiting in the waiting room…. Well, being who I am and where I was, literally for me, I cannot walk around that area without running into dozens of people I know no matter what time of day it is. So you all no doubt know what I went out looking for… Then I got a call from him again apparently hed seen that I’d been picking up cigarette buts and half smoked cigs from the floor, which is something he loaths, so he says come back for the 15$ for cigarettes. so its like, what the heck? have i died and gone to heaven or something? No problem! i ran back got that and went back on the search.. It was not a good hour for business though, most servers arent around at that time… but i was able to arrange something but the arrival was going to take quite a while. So as I’m wandering around killing time, lo and behold I bump into one of the close friends of the girl and the whole story I talked about. This particular friend had even run into us that day wed seen the mad max. Well, they had no idea the latest news and I spoke to this friend for a very long time last night, telling them the whole story and I was so happy to hear their feedback because they know the girl very well and was able to shed some great insight and his prognosis was that things were not over, they couldnt be, that things would be better soon because as I’d thought, she would never BS about those things and i just gotta give her space. Needless to say i felt great after speaking to this person and by then the delivery if you will arrived. So then I spend a bunch of time with the friends who delivered the stuff and before you know it, a couple of hours had passed and being the selfish user I was I’d ditched my dad (though there was other family members there so its not like he was alone, I would not have done THAT if that were the case.)
Unfortunately when I got back he was insanely furious, he was absolutely all over my case being the abusive drug hater… we’d conversed about this recently and hed admitted that he didnt want to be a “policeman” anymore that it was my life and my whole thing was “treat me how i treat you” dont worry about what i do behind closed doors basically like if im being good and nice and polite and respectful and gracious to you, just treat me the same, you know?? But as soon as I appeared he was being rude, sarcastic, egocentric, demeaning etc. He was in the process of belittling me and about to tell me to go to the bathroom to see how pinned my pupils were but in the middle of him saying that I just said “you know what I dont f’n need this” and I just stormed out and left and that was it.
No question the drug war, AA dogma etc. caused the situation to be that way. I shouldve been able to walk in, apologize for being gone so long and stay to support my father however as I’ve been saying I myself am an emotional mess this week because of that whole situation. Furthermore, I felt like just even being there was bad for my fathers health so why even stay? Beyond that, as I said, I’m already upset all week and I mean badly upset, epically upset, what, I’m supposed to just sit there and be judged and verbally abused and given snide sarcastic remarks etc. ?
Ah God, anyway, yes, I blame the drug war for creating that dynamic.
Cool. I’ll just check the old inbox a little more often, then.
Try your Dad in a couple of days. He was under some stress there and no doubt feels bad too.
You know, I asked my wife to marry me way back in 1996. She said “I can’t answer you now, I have to think about it.” And then for days she didn’t say anything about it. I started getting angry,and I worked myself up real good there for awhile. But when I thought about starting to tear into her about it, something made me ask myself if I was happy with things now. I decided it was way better to have her around like now than to start pressuring her to make that commitment, ’cause I KNEW where that would lead. So I decided best if I leave that alone for awhile. So I did. Then I completely forgot about it.
Then, six and a half years later, we’re at home, eating tacos, and over a mouthful of half masticated taco meat, she pipes up: “Okay, I thought about it. Yes.” I’m like… Huh? Yes what? Did I miss something?
We were married two months later. I am one seriously lucky, lucky man.
Chin up, CJ. Take care.
hahaha!! thats so awesome, it is a perfect analogy really too… but I have GOT to tell you the details… it is critical… Maybe I am going to get to writing that email now… since I just got some coffee… but I will say, SHE FINALLY SAID SOMETHING LAST NIGHT! well… it was one thing, but still… lol. im going to write that email now!
Mexico’s Attorney General says there are “only two cartels and three drug lords left in Mexicoâ€.
Marijuana exports to the US from Mexico are down, thanks to legalization:
Mexico’s illicit drug industry continues to produce dead politicians, however. The impoverished Mexican economy is so lacking in honest politicos that dead candidates go on to win the popular vote anyway:
Congratulations are due to newly elected Mayor Enrique Hernández, a man who no longer needs to fear bullets or cartel reprisals.
I have to wonder how anyone could even estimate how much of the marijuana sold in the US is grown here by American citizens which means the money is kept here stimulating our economy instead of Mexico’s.
And not just the legal market but the green market (US grown) and the black market also,,we know from experience that the SAMSHA statistics are adjusted as they need them and I have no doubt they underestimate the number of users because the info they base the estimate on is voluntary and even today people are not going to admit to a stranger that they break a federal law.
In smalltown TX 90% of the weed is brick out of Mexico..
Most likely we’ll only know the total extent of US economic losses once marijuana is legal across the nation, and repatriated money finally lands and stays here in fat American bank accounts.
By then a lot of people in all walks of life are going to be kicking themselves for not recognizing the potential of the cannabis economy. Everything from rope to soap to clothes to structural composites to cancer medicine to whoopee-smoke minus significant negative side effects. Incredible.
OT: LEAP on the stream for WCBM radio in Baltimore June 14th, at 2000 (8PM) EDST
Details here.
Should be a good one, as the presenter is very knowledgeable about drug prohibition’s (racist, bigoted) history and effects, how it underpins so much of recent events there, and is not a supporter of prohibition. The LEAP guys should be able to make their points uninterrupted.
“Barry and Joy Lambert, who made their $320 million fortune in financial planning, have just donated $33.7 million to the University of Sydney solely for the purpose of researching the benefits of medical marijuana.
“Our vision is to make Australia a world-leader in researching how to realize the powerful medicinal potential of the cannabis plant,†Barry Lambert said in a statement.
The Lamberts know the positive effects of medical marijuana first hand.
In their statement announcing the donation, the Lamberts explained that their granddaughter suffers from Davet Syndrome, a debilitating and rare form of epilepsy.
Lambert noted that her disease “has opened our eyes to the extraordinary possibility of cannabinoids treating not only her condition but a range of chronic illnesses that often don’t respond to conventional treatments,†adding, “We believe this investment in the future of Australian science and medicine will provide the much-needed evidence to rapidly advance the use of medical cannabinoids in the treatment of childhood epilepsy and other serious illnesses.â€
The Lamberts donation will fund The Lambert Initiative, a multi-year program to build on the University’s extensive clinical and scientific cannabinoid-related expertise to ultimately produce cannabinoid-based medicines. It is the largest single donation the university has ever seen.
While their donation is certainly a positive step forward for Australia, it is also potentially a huge step forward for the rest of the world.”
http://tinyurl.com/Thudenly
Here’s a new group I haven’t heard of before: https://www.safeandsmartpolicy.org
Yeah…and WTF is Harrumphreys doing on it?
And WTF is the ACLU doing on it??? I clicked on it and Protect Our Kids almost punched me in the face. Maybe Humphries is selling band equipment in River City…
I suppose it is to supply ‘balance’, or some such drivel. We’ve heard their tripe for over a hundred years. They’ve left out open racism. But the basic content of the lies and bigotry comprising the whole of the law have not changed in that century. Dead bigoted cracker’s hands reach out from the grave to strangle us in the here-and-now.
After Ferguson and Baltimore it’s as bald-faced as it can get, now: support prohibition, and you support an inherently, demonstrably racist policy. And if you support an inherently, demonstrably racist policy…what does that make you?
The time for the gloves coming off was long ago. It’s bare-knuckle time now, rhetorical trenchknife and pistol-fighting, down and dirty, and we’re lean-and-mean masters of it by now. Evolutionary pressure; that which does not kill us makes us stronger. We’ve gotten a lot stronger.
The prohibs have gotten intellectually fat and flabby from all that champagne and caviar on the taxpayer’s dime; we beat their arses red-and-blue in every debate (few as they’ve been, the cowards). And now, electorally, we outnumber them.
The truth is, we haven’t even begun to exert the political pressure that is available to us. For example, recall what happened when Congress tried to pass SOPA and PIPA? Remember the Web shutdown? You can bet Congress does. How many who accomplished that were cannabists? I’d say quite a few. Something similar is in order.
I wonder if its time to class the Anti Cannabis groups including Straight Inc no Drug Free America Foundation and etc as religious cults which means their disinfo is liable for scrutiny:
http://culteducation.com/group/1274-straight-inc.html
As would the chief beneficiaries of that disinformation, the Semblers.
A lot of prohibs had better pass away before 2020. I will wager cannabis will be legal once more by then.
And by then, the forces that made it clear to the pols that we will not be denied any longer will demand Congressional investigations into the abuses of power and destruction of rights committed under the rubric of drug prohibition.
This country lets too much go. I knew when Tricky Dick left the White House on Marine One, instead of doing the perp walk, that every Prez afterward would get into hanky-panky, and they have. Each and every one, even Carter.
But this time the problem is so widespread, so deep, it cannot be allowed to be swept under the rug again. This deep societal cyst has to be cleaned out almost medically, by expelling the infection and dressing the wound properly.
And that means disinfecting public office by cleaning out the ‘germs’ of DrugWar-corrupted government figures, from top to bottom.
Confronting religious cults is made difficult under US laws. If the religious group is proven to be motivated strictly by their religious beliefs they sometimes can’t be touched, even if they deny their own children medical care that ultimately results in the child’s death.
Where a conflict of church and state exists, and where it can be demonstrated that an action is also motivated by a secular purpose, such as a public health policy, the secular purpose predominates legally. A legal principle called the Lemon Test kicks in. The Lemon Test currently enables the Vatican and its imitators to claim they’re motivated by their alleged concerns for mental and physical health, rather than spiritual faith, when it comes to persecuting people for drug use—even though the Vatican has for centuries viewed psychotropic drugs such as marijuana, peyote, and ayahuasca as spiritual threats that challenge the continuing existence of conventional Catholicism.
If the government were to prosecute people for merely participating in spiritual threats, it would be an unconstitutional establishment of religion by government. Injecting the health issue makes drug enforcement secular and therefore legal in the eyes of the court. In this way, it becomes an absolute imperative for the Vatican and similar anti-drug cults to maintain the belief that certain popular drugs are a health threat, lest someone take a hit of acid and see God in a tree or rock instead of myths or cathedrals.
Freedom is the distance between church and state.
Fla. woman who fled to avoid son’s circumcision still jailed
Chickenhawks… Scientology Prohibition Inc.
* Various hawks said to prey on poultry.
* An older man who seeks out young boys…
The Catholic Church has reiterated it’s support for the “War on Drugs” under the current pope, ie keeping currently illicit drugs illicit. This is unequivocably their support for a human rights abuse. I think it has already been discussed on this site, the suggestion of the Vatican bank being implicated in drug money laundering. Probably every bank is at least passively involved in money laundering. I would think it is impossible to prevent. I believe the Catholic church is exactly the same as every other capatalist institution: they are primarily concerned for their own survival and maximisation of profits.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zud-wtZbRYo
Some may say that marijuana is OK but cocaine is not. Use of that drug is widespread, too, and many on the coasts earn their bread by moving tons northward for the cartels.
We think that the United States should legalize these drugs, too, and provide a way so that users can obtain marijuana and cocaine with guaranteed purity instead of the junk that now is available.
People are responsible for their own lives. If marijuana or cocaine is the recreational escape people seek, Big Brother should not interfere. There are pitfalls that enlightened health legislation should minimize.
And if Costa Rica becomes a leader in legalization, tourism and the public treasury both would receive great benefits.
Reader opinions are invited.
— June 10, 2015
http://tinyurl.com/thudthudthud
5 Incredible Breakthroughs in Pot Science That Mainstream Media Is Finally Paying Attention To | Alternet
Marijuana Legalization Would Create 35,000 Jobs
National Geographic article on cannabis
The Ganjawar is like they see us as little kids screaming fire and then after decades finally check it out and low and behold, FIRE, We better get the kids to safety. Thanks for the warning, we’ll take care of it now. Big Pharma and the Guvmint has it all under control. Trust US.
I have been doing some testing on the Anti Cannabis groups and it seems the morality questions really hurt them, I asked the likes of CADCA, Stop Pot 2016 and etc if they condone the torture of Cannabis users at Rehab 99% of the time they prefer to leave the question blank, that really shows what they are about
Is that one arm bennett stench I smell? Research for kids Epilepsy? What happened to good old fashioned apple pie and chevrolet marijuana stigma? Shunning, ridicule and unemployment the way our forebears intended. While proceeds from his books of virtues goes into slot machines. Or tax dollars, confiscations? They continue to fight for profits over kids suffering. I can’t wrap my head around that. If I didn’t want to toke, it would be my call. I wouldn’t know how to persuade others to not do something I didn’t want to do. Spending multi trillions with scores of millions of Americans traumatized by the criminal justice system and its circumvention of the constitution if its about drugs, especially cannabis. How does one even learn how to think that’s normal?
Evil oozing out of every pore, every hair slimy with the blood of innocents condemned for eternity from his gluttony and greed. Those who lie to maintain suffering and those who blindly follow. Should not have to wait for justice from some dude in the clouds. There need be no more research than what was available in 1971 or 1894, they all draw the same conclusions. The drug thugs scam is shot full of holes by lazar beams of truth squeezing through the cracks in the wall of media censorship. No one wants to be made a fool and the tired wait for more scientific research, possible harms, gateway drug crap isn’t standing up. Those who perpetuate the Ganjawar, Profit on the Ganjawar. That is their sole motive. Time for a Tribunal and end to this farce costing us so much in so many ways.
Occasionally the light comes shining through.
Medicinal Cannabis Research Gets $33m from Grandparents of Girl with Epilepsy
Far too briefly before the stank of injustice slithers in…
What happened to the marijuana stigma?
Caution Warning: By William J. Bennett
Bill Bennett Loses $8 million on Slot Machines
Drug war thuggery
Kid disagrees with school propaganda so the thugs torment his sick mother. I must have skipped school when they taught that disgusting act as being anything American. All of this behavior should stick in the craw of everyone. Unsociable to being a menace on society and highly addictive to sheep following blindly, with no medicinal or any value. Bennett qualifies as a schedule#1 psychotic thug. Fight Back!
Stand with Shona
Sign your letter of solidarity to Shona and let her know she’s not alone.
I think if Bill Bennett had titled his op-ed “How come our lies and propaganda about marijuana aren’t working anymore?”, the answer would be self evident.
‘“A new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die, and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it.†– Max Planke
To answer his question, the stigma is literally being buried with those who believed in it. While those who know the facts about cannabis are replacing them in the electorate, and are demonstrating that superior knowledge by voting accordingly for re-legalization.
The paradigm is truly shifting by the day, right before our eyes…and those of our opponents. Whose loud, pained lamentations-during-urinations is but sweet music to a reformer’s ears.
If Bill would lay off the sauce long enough he would realize reefer propaganda isn’t working anymore because we have been warned of dire health and mental issues for over 80 years and still waiting for the dead bodies too show up is getting boring.
Marijuana reform measure clears Senate panel
http://tinyurl.com/qehv7al
Feinstein the only Dem who voted against. She’s nothing if not predictable.
What did you have for breakfast Dianne?
Are you having your dog neutered?
What are you doing for the Forth?
OK, OK, Di, the light is green…
You got that right…. she’s on auto-cue/autopilot these days… what was her funding from Big Pharma over the last ten years? That always seems to nudge her in the right direction when voting comes along.
I would like to put a list of groups that do not mind torturing Cannabis users or agree with Cannabis users being killed or tortured in rehab and this will include individuals too, here goes:
Marijuana Makes You Violent
Parents Opposed to Pot
Stop Pot 2016
No on 2
Don’t let Charlotte County go to Pot (Florida based)
Project SAM
Auntie Cannabis is Anti Pot
Pete Miller (Marijuana Makes You Violent Representative)
Josh Freeman (Marijuana Makes You Violent Representative)
Kyle Stevens (Marijuana Makes You Violent Representative)
Parents for a Healthy Colorado
Reverse Legalization Now
National Families in Action
and etc
These groups have been challenged by me and they have failed in the morality questions on torture.
Its time to investigate if a church or cult is involved in these groups inspiring them to condone torture on Cannabis Users, its basically Straight Inc 2.0 again
I’m not sure that won’t cause more harm in the future for the rest of us. We must be ever diligent about zero tolerance for minors using drugs. Other wise it may hurt the cause. The adults suffering from illegal sanctions are the most important priority. Harm reduction for adults MUST be forced, then the kids can learn from that .Any harm reduction distributed should not Wink wink be given to kids.
No one I’ve read is advocating for kids to use. Only reality that drug worrier cults torture them. Or using Ganja they would live to tell about it over the legal prescriptions and booze. Parents need to start raising their own kids and not giving us the job as babysitters. Nothing on the streets prevents kids as much as proving ID to a dispensary. Giving LEO’s more time and budget to go after the perverts selling to kids. But realistically it’s still the parents job of keeping them away from it and educated on all of the potential harms they may come across in life.
Getting all Hitlerian with zero tolerance hypocrisy and political correctness is why kids feel the need to escape with drugs in the first place. No kids should not smoke pot, but not because it will harm them. Because they need the diploma to score a job to get a place to safely toke as adults. Teachers don’t give a damn if Columbus discovered the Indians, the test says he discovered America and truth will only flunk the test. So chill out. Kids are fine. I used to bring my 20 gauge shotgun to Wood Shop to sand down the wooden parts and carried it broke down, onto the school bus. We had plenty of ways to get parents beer or get cigarettes. Without zero tolerance kicking us out of school and the repercussions that follow those who are.
The law only punishes someone. As they are. You can clearly see when overzealous fear produce harsh laws, people will migrate to the more dangerous easier to get synthetics. Or a panic in needle park scenario and a larger foothold by the black-market who don’t check ID’s or have Quality Assurance checks. Aborigines in Australia have been locking and fencing the gas pumps due to kids huffing it. Fines pay politicians but neither really teach a kid why they should not partake in risky behavior and especially leaving out the part of how to survive such encounters. Knowing what you’re doing is key to enjoying it. Surprises suck. Erowid should be required reading for all elementary schools.
Joe Biden tack-on banning test kits at RAVE’s only leaves dead kids. Politically correct but still dead. Better waking up Saturday morning than not, after doing something stupid hiding from authority. Kids have always sought ways to get high. Our great grandparents coped some Laudanum from our great great grandparents and took cocaine as toothache drops. Cannabis was given to children for 12,000 years and prohibition is still the only way to die from it. Nothing ever gets solved by becoming hysterical and then legislating from the paranoia. Nothing. Here are what is already being given to kids doing much worse harm than Ganja ever could.
Drug Worriers preferred methods of treatment…
Ambien☛Celexa☛Xanax☛Prozac☛Zoloft
delusions,dementia,lack of feeling or emotion,thoughts of killing oneself, confusion, shakiness, lack of emotion,loss of memory,Behavior change similar to drunkenness, convulsions, (seizures), changes in patterns and rhythms of speech,clumsiness or unsteadiness,difficulty with coordination,shakiness and unsteady walk,feeling sad or empty, inability to sit still,difficulty with concentration, drowsiness, mood or behavior changes, 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…
Problem drinking affects 33 million _ 14 pct. of US adults
3 million children are taking stimulant drugs for ADHD (Meth)
I’m terrible at the written word. What I meant to say is that harm reduction even mentioned without condemnation is good. We have to direct it at adults, not kids. At concerts, handing out pamphlets indiscriminately is good. Forcing the issue of harm reduction and addiction management treatment for addicts is a must. Adults who let kids get into their dope need to be checked.
http://tinyurl.com/c8dmge
HELP: verb (used with object)
1. to give or provide what is necessary to accomplish a task or satisfy a need; contribute strength or means to; render assistance to; cooperate effectively with; aid; assist:
“He planned to help me with my work. Let me help you with those packages.â€
Force does not ever equal help, leanna. If you mean forcing the issue to get harm reduction being used, that is good.
Forcing harm reduction = bad.
You are right about the adults with their recreational stashes.
OT: I hope some of you were able to listen to the program I mentioned above. Those who did will agree it was well worth it. The lady is a rarity in her field – she really does do her homework, and it shows.