I remember when this bust happened, and the mention of the books, etc., but I don’t think I commented on it then. This article in DCist reminded me, and some of the wording really hit me.
Capitol Hemp Stops Selling Books Over Fears of Another Raid
If you walked into Capitol Hemp’s Adams Morgan location today, you could buy yourself a “Make Hemp Not War” t-shirt. Or a bottle of Dr. Bronner’s peppermint soap. Or hemp oatmeal, loose-leaf tobacco and even the very water pipes that got the store raided by police last October. But you won’t be able to find a copy of Andrew Sullivan’s “The Cannabis Closet,” a book that focuses on mainstream marijuana use.
Sullivan’s book, along with many others, were quietly removed from shelves in recent weeks over concerns that they could be used to justify another police raid on the store. According to a source close to the store, lawyers for co-owners Adam Eidinger and Alan Amsterdam advised them to stop selling the books for fear that they could be used as pretext for another raid while the two negotiate with prosecutors over charges stemming from October’s raids.
That’s pretty surreal in itself, but it gets worse…
One DVD that police singled out was “10 Rules for Dealing With Police,” part of the Flex Your Rights series. According to the affidavit, police questioned the value of such a DVD unless someone wanted to do something illegal. “The typical citizen would not need to know detailed information as to US Supreme Court case law regarding search and seizure because they are not transporting illegal substances in fear of being caught,” it stated.
Yep. No need to know the Constitution. We’ll take care of it for you. The Constitution is only for criminals to use. If you’re a law-abiding citizen, you don’t need to know it. In fact, maybe we should start getting the records of anyone who downloads the text of the Constitution and search their homes. If they want to read the Constitution, they must be doing something wrong. Too bad we couldn’t get the framers to write it in Latin. The priests had the right idea.
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This would be a good time to promote 10 Rules for Dealing with Police and also to mention Scott Morgan’s recent article in the Huffington Post: 5 Reasons You Should Never Agree to a Police Search (Even if You Have Nothing to Hide) to which I added a sixth:
Here’s reason 6. You are the employer and the police officer is the employee, being paid with your tax dollars. As an employer, why would you want him wasting his time searching for something that isn’t there when he should be doing his job? Be the employer, not the victim.
Constitutions and Bills Of Rights are for aware citizens, not consumers. Consumers don’t have any rights. I have that Busted:Citizens Guide to Surviving Police Encounters on my offline machine. Whoops I just admitted to thoughtcrime comrades.
We have assumed control. We have assumed control.
As a native to the DC area (Northern Virginia), and a daily commuter into the city for decades, I can say with confidence:
The DC police department is the largest collection of thieves, thugs, perverts, liars, and low-lifes this country has ever seen.
The Chicago police are more honest.
Mexican drug lords are less sadistic.
Corrupt, greedy politicians are of higher character.
Tourists, save yourselves! Avoid DC at all costs.
DC police are the inspiration for this motto:
Protect & Serve (Themselves!)
This is really beyond the pale.
To add to this blatant mockery of our rights as people of this country, your rights as outlined within the constitution only really apply if you have the the massive sums of money necessary for an attorney to defend them in a court of law.
I found myself in an IL attorney’s office not so long ago attempting to defend my rights against illegal search and seizure. I did my own review of similar cases in the supreme court on the federal level and, after providing them to my attorney, I was shocked by his response.
His question was, “Do you have any transcripts of cases that took place in IL?”
My response was, “Why? Doesn’t the constitution apply to IL?”
He laughed.
$13,000 later, they remembered that dusty old piece of antiquity we refer to as the constitution and suddenly I became a citizen with constitutional rights.
You’ll have to pardon me, this is the sort of thing that causes my blood pressure to spike. I can think of a thousand things to say about this, but the only thing that comes out is an unbroken stream of profanity. Next thing you know, posession of a copy of the constitution will be ruled probable cause for a search, and they’ll start a data base with the names of anybody who has knowledge of the ten ammendments. It does NOT get more totalitarian than this, folks. We’re there. I think I might hafta go buy another gun. After the stroke risk subsides.
On the plus side, the comments on that article are worth a read.
I have a copy of the DoI and the Constitution on my desk, plus a bookmark to each on both computers (for quick access), and still another copy in my purse, and I am one of those “will NOT vote for anyone but Ron Paul” people. I am surprised I haven’t been whisked off to some dungeon for secret indefinite detention, yet. Hope I never am, hubby cannot fend for himself without me, he can’t even remember whether or not he uses Miracle Whip or mayonnaise on his sandwiches; my 46 yo daughter still needs to talk to me once a day, and my 1 yo dog would be bereft without me (and I without her, and I’m already grieving enough about our other dog whom we had to have put down a week ago).
Oh Windy, I’m sorry. She didn’t like me much, but then, I smell like my dog…
WE didn’t know how old she was as we rescued her, we think she was about 5 when we got her and we’d only had her for 6 years. But the Cushing’s had stolen most of the calcium from the bones in her back legs and spine and placed in her skin, it was like a shell around her body in the Xray. And I’m sure there was other stuff going on inside. She stopped eating a week before, we tried force feeding her (tho it tore both of us up to do that to her) until she also stopped drinking water, at that point we knew it was time, we could not allow her to die the painful death of dehydration, so we called the vet made an appointment and took her there in the motorhome, our vet came out to us do the job, so we did not have to expose our grief to others in the vet’s office. She died quietly in hubby’s arms and is buried next to my old dog who died last year, right under the window in my library. A friend of ours had made her a very nice coffin, which made it easier for hubby as he didn’t have to throw dirt directly on her little body. Just writing this has brought me to tears again, but I felt compelled to write the tale, anyway, even tho this is not really the place for it. Sorry, Pete, for this ot post.
One more thing:
Today, on the local news, the Chief of DC Police is seen explaining the recent 106% increase in street robberies. She tells the assembled crowd that her officers are doing a “great” job, but that she needs more money, more officers, blah blah blah.
So, to review: Street crime is up 106%, she doesn’t have enough manpower to handle it……
and the police continue to raid (with 10-20 officers per raid) non-violent, law-abiding shops.
Why? Because they cannot seize the proceeds of street crime. There is no money in it, so they don’t enforce it. They only enforce “drug crimes” so they can steal, uh, confiscate money. Always the money, never the safety of citizens. Always.
Protect & Serve (Themselves!)
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The owners of Capitol Hemp are (were?) significantly involved in lobbying the regulations for DC’s nascent medicinal cannabis patient protection law. They’re good people and there’s little doubt in my mind that their harassment is purely politically based with the intent of making them shut up and stop providing funding.
It’s always just a bit sadder when you actually have met the people that are being harassed.
Amazon.com sells these books and rolling papers, too. Are the DC police going to place and order for delivery to The District and bust them as well?
It’s common knowledge that Amazon (eBay as well) employs a team who’s only purpose is to coordinate with police during investigations. They frequently report suspicious chemical and labware purchases. It’s not a significant stretch of the imagination to assume that they would report on the purchase of questionable books as well.
Getting warrants to obtain information from a business is a lot easier than getting warrants to search a home.
Out of all the utter stupidity that is said in defending authoritarians or authoritarian methods, tactics and laws. It’s the sentiment that “Only guilty people have something to hide/want to use their rights/want to protect their privacy.” which always leaves me so utterly speechless (and feeling helpless).
I just can’t help it. The mind set and personality on display is such a slap in the face of all things sane, logical, and healthy. All I am left with is the ability to stare at the person thinking and/or yelling, “Where is your damned brain?!”
I’ll admit that this reaction hasn’t won me any arguments…
speaking of books that will get you in to trouble w/ some authorities, this seems a fine time to encourage those of you w/ eReaders to check out “Drug War Propaganda”, from another grunt in the drug war, Doug Snead of MAP/DrugSense. Here’s the Amazon description:
Doug is another FINM (Friend I’ve Never Met) that I’ve known for over a decade, does great work.
Hopefully he’ll come up w/ a print version for Luddites like myself.
He just released it yesterday. Pete (or anybody else w/ a heartbeat or that can write and spell), you might add to your rising Amazon reviewer’s profile by doing a review for him…
I second the motion. The book is a detailed take-down of just about every propaganda tactic the prohibs use, and does it with some style. A great primer on how to short-circuit some purveyor of ONDCP-sired DrugWarrior BS…when they’re fool enough to mouth off in front of a reformer, that is.
Thanks for the link Allan. I bought it. It looks like it will be more than worth the $2.99 I paid for it. I’ve been wanting to try out Amazon’s new Cloud Reader anyway, this will be perfect!
my pleasure John… thanks for supporting Doug’s efforts. He’s a keen observer of the propaganda tide…
… and I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Bot.
Doug’s creation, Bot provides a constant feed of drug policy related news and analyses drug news for propaganda content, themes, etc. Very cool, check Bot out:
http://drugpolicycentral.com/bot/
This is kind bud, metaphorically speaking. This is another piece to the how of prohibition’s coming dismantling.
The only way we lose is by doing nothing… but every well stated posted comment by one of us is another hammer blow, every LTE another pneumatic hammer bite…
Off-topic meandering warning! (Be thankful I don’t drink and write…)
I get tired of this. I’ve said it before. I’d much rather be smoking a bowl standing in the middle of my favorite stretch of the upper Willamette River trying not very hard to catch a fish. But Damitol®, we’ve so much energy invested.
My dad was a WWII army vet, combat grunt in the Battle of the Bulge and he didn’t talk much about it but when he did, talking about being dog tired, marching at a walking sleep, days of hell… and were he alive? He’d tell me to keep on marching.
I was a rebellious kid, prolly a tad ADHD, but I was a smart kid and was good at mostly dodging trouble. Moved out right after I graduated HS… didn’t appreciate my folks like I prolly should have for some of my young adult years. But as I got older my dad and I developed a good, deep friendship. We still didn’t agree on a lot… but being a patriot and standing up for what is right and against gross wrongs, we saw eye to eye. He’d want me to keep fighting. “The fish’ll still be there when you’re really done… give ’em hell.”
You bet pop.
Isn’t it amazing how smart our dumb parents became the older we got?
Thanks for the tip! It seems comprehensive, if a bit overwhelming at first. Nevertheless, this piece of stock market related news from MarketWatch.com caught my eye:
Imagine, opening industrial hemp farming to handle the current fuel crisis. Imagine, a crop that could grow anywhere for less than pennies and yield 4 harvests per year. Imagine. Oh, that’s right. Congress and the Administration DON’T CARE! Obama wants biofuel yet he overlooks the greatest potential of supply. He oughta kick Biden’s ass over that one!
Hi Ezy! – It just so happens, I’ve dedicated my latest boilerplate to that exact same miracle plant:
Hemp is absolutely one of the most valuable resources yet waiting to be fully developed!
* Hemp can provide us with most of our needs; clean burning bio-fuels (due to the rapid growth cycle it requires less land than corn); Hemp foods (arguably the most nutritious food-source on the planet and presently one of the hottest health food trends in North America); clothing fibers; healthy cooking oils; paper; building materials (from a musical instrument to the body of a stealth bomber) It’s even stronger than cement at one sixth the weight. – You don’t need fertilizers or chemicals to grow hemp. And there is absolutely no part of the hemp plant that cannot be easily utilized.
* While the United States is one of the few industrialized nations on the planet to prohibit it’s farmers from growing Hemp, China has become the world’s largest producer (75% of world production) and the biggest exporter of hemp derived textile and paper products.
* World trade for hemp seed, hemp oil, hemp fiber, textiles and other products of this amazing resource are rapidly expanding. The United States, as a consumer but not a producer of hemp, is one of the very few nations not profiting – similar to what happened in soviet Russia, the apparatchiks of the DEA are dictating to US farmers what they may, or may not, grow.
“It is impolitic. The fact well established in the system of agriculture is that the best hemp and the best tobacco grow on the same kind of soil. The former article is of first necessity to the commerce and marine, in other words to the wealth and protection of the country. The latter, never useful and sometimes pernicious, derives its estimation from caprice, and its value from the taxes to which it was formerly exposed. The preference to be given will result from a comparison of them: Hemp employs in its rudest state more labor than tobacco, but being a material for manufactures of various sorts, becomes afterwards the means of support to numbers of people, hence it is to be preferred in a populous country.”
— Thomas Jefferson, Farm Journal (16 March 1791)
“What was done with the seed saved from the India Hemp last summer? It ought, all of it, to have been sewn again; that not only a stock of seed sufficient for my own purposes might have been raised, but to have disseminated the seed to others; as it is more valuable than the common Hemp.â€
— George Washington, Writings of Washington, Vol. 35, pg. 72
* Until the 1880s, 80% of all textiles and fabrics used for clothing, tents, bed sheets, rugs, drapes, quilts, towels, diapers, etc., and even the flag, “Old Glory,” were principally made from hemp fibers. Additionally, hemp, due to its extreme durability and color-fastness, was used for 80% of all paper in the world, including Bibles, newspapers, maps, paper money, stocks and bonds, etc.
* The paintings of Van Gogh, Gainsborough, Rembrandt, etc., were primarily painted on hemp canvas, as were practically all canvas paintings of that period.
* In one year alone (1935), 116 million pounds (58,000 tons*) of hempseed were used in America just for paint and varnish.
* Until 1937 an estimated 80% of all rope, twine, and cordage was made from hemp.
* All American farmers were legally bound to grow hemp during the Colonial Era and Early Republic.
*** At the cusp of an impending Hemp renaissance, the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 – which effectively made the cultivation of hemp illegal – was due largely to the efforts of the following businessmen/entities:
Andrew Mellon – As chairman of the Mellon Bank he was Dupont’s primary investor and treasurer (1921-1932). He was also responsible for the appointment, in 1930, of his future nephew-in-law, Harry J. Anslinger, as head of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics (FBN).
William Randolph Hearst – Competition from hemp was a threat to Hearst’s paper-manufacturing company, and he believed that hemp’s renaissance would also significantly lower the value of his land, enormous timber acreage in both California and Mexico, and best suited for conventional pulp. He used his publishing empire (28 newspapers in 18 key American cities with an estimated 20 million readers) to run stories claiming that marijuana was responsible for everything from murder to loose morality.
The DuPont family – In 1935, two years before the prohibitive hemp tax act, DuPont developed a new synthetic fiber, nylon, a direct competitor to hemp in the textile and cordage industries. DuPont was also in the process of patenting a new sulfuric acid process for producing wood-pulp paper. According to the company’s own records, wood-pulp products accounted for more than 80% of all DuPont’s railroad car loadings for the next 50 years.
For their billion dollar dynasties to remain intact, these unconscionable tycoons decided that hemp had to go. Taking an obscure Mexican slang word, “marihuana,†they vehemently tarnished the good image and phenomenal history of one of God’s most loving gifts to humanity. Undoubtably, one of their most effective tools was the use of Goebel-esque cinematography – Films like ‘Marihuana: Assassin of Youth’ (1935) ‘Marihuana: The Devil’s Weed’ (1936) and ‘Reefer Madness’ (1936). Using such underhanded tactics, these industrialists were able to swoon an unsuspecting American public into helping them completely kill off the competition.
“Marihuana makes fiends of boys in thirty days : Hashish goads users to bloodlust.”
— Hearst newspapers, nationwide, circa 1936.
Hearst’s company slogan, BTW, was: Truth, Justice, and Public Service!
Let’s put our foolish reefer-madness behind us; let’s make commercial hemp, once again, the greatest economic engine of the human race!
Thomas Regnier – “Civilizing†Drug Paraphernalia Policy: http://www.law.nyu.edu/ecm_dlv1/groups/public/@nyu_law_website__journals__journal_of_legislation_and_public_policy/documents/documents/ecm_pro_068492.pdf
This place is fairly enlightened, but may need further encouragement: http://www.policymic.com/articles/4595/time-to-end-the-war-on-drugs-and-legalize-meth
I’m off to bed!
Hell, I’ve got a lot more subversive stuff than that on my shelf. Too bad Loompanics isn’t around anymore.
Hey, does anyone have a boilerplate about medical marijuana? I’m going to write a letter to the editor and it’d be great to have a place to start. MalcolmKyle?
while not a boilerplate, here’s Wisconsin’s Gary Storck’s published LTEs:
http://www.mapinc.org/writer/Storck+Gary
Gary is #6 on Map’s writer’s list w/ 258 letters published, going back to 1997. He’s been at it a long time (yes, another old guy) and his efforts are directed at medical.
Don’t copy, but the points have been sharpened and the letters make great templates.
Where do you want to focus, addy? Passing a medical law? Benefits of medical cannabis? Safe access for patients? Facing crazy people with arguments against “Californication”? Reasons to reschedule? Gee, thats a big spread of potential topics and tactics.
I like pointing out that the DEA loves cancer and is willing to hide potential effective treatments:
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n572/a11.html?310095
“Storm Crow’s List”. Google is your friend.
A few great places to start are Granny Storm Crow’s List (already mentioned), Dr Phillip Leveque, and Dr Donald Tashkin.
Here’s my boiler plate on Marinol (often needed):
Reducing cannabis to just THC, minimizes efficacy and greatly increases side effects.
Many people, including scientists, believe that Marinol/dronabinol lacks the beneficial properties of marijuana/cannabis, which contains more than 60 cannabinoids, including cannabidiol (CBD), thought to be the major anticonvulsant that helps multiple sclerosis patients, and cannabichromene (CBC), an anti-inflammatory which may contribute to the pain-killing effect of cannabis.
It takes over one hour for Marinol to reach full effect, compared to minutes for smoked or vaporized cannabis. Patients accustomed to inhaling just enough cannabis smoke to manage symptoms have complained of too-intense intoxication from Marinol’s predetermined dosages. It’s also difficult to keep a pill down when one is nauseated. Many have also said that Marinol even produces a far more acute psychedelic effect than cannabis.
Cannabis vs Marinol http://tiny.cc/alxy0
Marinol (Dronabinol) = 1344 USD per month
Marijuana = practically free if you grow your own outdoors.
NC is considering passing a medical marijuana bill and I want to write a letter on behalf of some members of the legal community. I agree, it’s a huge spread of possible topics but I think focusing on 1) the medical benefits of marijuana and 2) the importance of protecting the doctor-patient relationship are the most important points.
Allan, the letters you link to are helpful. Thanks!
yah mon…
Well, one of the things I like to point out is that marijuana, by virtue of it’s lack of side effects, no overdose risk and zero drug interactions, could and should be used as a frontline medication. 100% safetey is something no medicine in the current pharmacopea can boast. At least a four thousand year record of safe use is hard to argue with. I also like to point out that marijuana has become arguably the most studied medicine on the planet, 20,000 research studies and counting, with many of these studies specifically geared to find the slightest adverse effect. Pot has been under a microscope for forty years by people desperate to link it to ANYTHING, and it continues to dissappoint.
Safe access is also a winner. I also like to take a whack at opponents (because that’s me) of such laws pointing out that I don’t go to a politician or a police officer when I am ill, I go to a doctor. Duncan has a fine example, but when I try his tack my tongue flays my cheek. Hope that helps, there’s more where that comes from.
Today when someone says “we just don’t have enough research” what they really mean is “we just don’t have enough research that supports our conclusions.”
Also, Rick – excellent suggestion!
“All this is unmistakable progress in the ”war.” A year ago, some liberals predicted defeat because the emphasis was on law enforcement rather than addict treatment. Some conservative economists joined in the defeatism, waving the white flag of legalization – a route that would put cheap, mind-destroying chemicals in millions of school knapsacks.”
http://www.nytimes.com/1990/01/22/opinion/essay-state-of-the-drug-war.html
That was William Safire (1929-2009) – the same guy who wrote (concerning Irak) that “freed scientists” would lead coalition forces to “caches [of weapons of mass destruction] no inspectors could find”
Holy Nellie that must have been the only man in DC to actually defend former Mayor for Life Barry. I must admit that life in DC was never quite as amusing after the bitch set him up.
Doug’s book is only Kindle? When you said ereader, I thought you meant “eReader,” which I use on my smartphone all the time. I have no way, that I’m aware of, to read it now.
I would gladly convert it for him if he’s interested. That way, he could also offer on “eReader.com” and “Mobi-Pocket.com.” Expand the coverage.
sorry ez… I’m in the dark, it’s all g[r]eek to me! I thought eReader was generic and that all devices were able to see anything/everything.
So thanks, I’ll pass the offer along to Doug.
You shouldn’t need a kindle. You can get a Kindle app for the Apple and Android ecosystems (not sure about Microsoft or Blackberry. Also for the PC
Addycat…
In 1977 Carl Sagan proposes that marijuana may have been the world’s first agricultural crop, leading to the development of civilization itself: “It would be wryly interesting if in human history the cultivation of marijuana led generally to the invention of agriculture, and thereby to civilization.” Carl Sagan, The Dragons of Eden, Speculations on the Origin of Human Intelligence p 191 footnote.
It’s pretty easy to imagine some cave dwellers separating out the seeds and throwing away near the cave mouth, then finding they had a ready supply.
i have always figured that is when humans started using hemp,,,when a caveman threw a funny looking bush on the fire and they ate a mammoth in one night instead of a week.
If cannabis cultivation is synonymous with civilization, then what is cannabis prohibition synonymous with?
Capitalism?
It is not fucking capitalism when you kidnap and murder people for owning, buying, selling and trading.
theocracy
Present-day Democracy
Somewhat OT but in reference to Addycat’s letter I was wondering how much the Obama administration’s decision to go after medical cannabis after Nov 2010 was based on the permanent appointment that month of Michelle Leonhart to be chief of the DEA. Also that month the Republicans gained control in Congress. I’m just at a loss as to why the administration would want to alienate a huge piece of its base, but whatever the reason, Nov 2010 seems to be something of a watershed for Obama’s policies on cannabis.
I think Obama or the Dems in congress will announce(around 4,20)that there will be another panel to look at marijuana or mmj for possible reform..that will center the entire prez race and a lot of congressional debates on ending prohibition,,,not that they will do anything but it will be their attempt to get Obama’s support back.
If that actually happens, it will give Ron Paul the edge. He has promised to end the fed gov’s war on drugs and anyone who has looked at him at all knows he has always kept his promises, but Obama will just make noises about reviewing the arguments re: legalization (because he really is a coward when it comes to this subject, because he doesn’t really support it because his owners don’t want it, ever!)
BTW, slightly off topic and re: WA’s I-502:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GQpdcCQRuQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyjsaY6ol9U&feature=related
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I’m still of the opinion that Mr. Obama knew he was (at that instant) very unlikely to be re-elected. As a result, he made a deal with a behind the scenes ‘king maker’ for support for re-election. Part of the price he paid was to throw us under the bus.
Nope I can’t prove it. I could be all wet as far as the mechanics of what happened but there’s no doubt in my mind that there was a significant event that we’re not privy to. With the exception of a dark horse nomination for Ron Paul neither am I likely to support Mr. Obama’s dismissal in November.
I really would like to see Dr. Paul take the Libertarian nomination with Gary Johnson as VP. Our re-legalization initiatives would get the little bump they need to put them over the top. But that scenario is actually less likely that Dr Paul getting the Republican nomination and is probably just a passing pipe dream.
huh? What? You’re passing the pipe? … s’bout time…
Based on Obama’s handling of every major issue of comcern to me, from the weed policy backstabbing, to guantanamo, to the banksters, I’ve reached the conclusion that Obama needs to be removed from office. He was a worthy successor to Bush. Now I want him GONE every bit as badly, perhaps more.
And it is very telling that the only thing the “O-bots” in the democratic party have to sell is fear of whatever Repugnican gets the nomination. You won’t hear them crowing over any “victories” this time around. And the words “Hope” and “Change” have been quietly purged from thier vocabulary. My disgust for them is overwhelming.
Lately I’ve been wondering about the cost of firing him. IMO unless we can send a clear message that he was voted out rather than the Republican nominee being voted in, the Republican will claim a mandate from the people. But re-electing him as a byproduct of giving the Libertarian candidate at least 15% of the vote would send the message to both parties. Dr. Paul is the only (potential) candidate who has a prayer of achieving that number.
But seriously, if the Republican nominee is Newt are you sure you wouldn’t even consider voting for Mr. Obama? Frankly I think that we could achieve that 15% without killing the Republican candidate’s chances. The trick is to get enough of our people to understand how the electoral college works and to concentrate the “protest” vote in States where either side has a significant lead. But that would require that very elusive talent of herding cats in addition to having to give a significant remedial civics lesson in the process.
My dream would be Ron Paul for pres, Dennis Kucinich VP. They could attract huge numbers from libertarians and progressives with a laser focus on bipartisan issues such as civil liberties, ending the war on drugs, auditing the fed and stopping the banks from forcing us all into debt slavery, stopping the wars, etc. I have said before and I’ll say it again, the only real divide in this country is between authoritarians, who root for teams instead of policies (like despicable Obama supporters that cheer on the extension of Bush’s policies), and non-authoritarians, who believe in liberty and dignity for the individual. There are far more non-authoritarians in this country than authoritarians, so I think an explicitly non-authoritarian ticket might be enough to win the presidency.
I have been offering this suggestion to all and sundry who are perplexed about Mr. O’s seeming volteface regarding cannabis.
It’s very simple and doesn’t take more than a few seconds of your time. All you have to do is google the following terms:
Chantilly Virginia June 6 2008
See? Not even a mention of the people involved. Just that, a date and the name of a town and a State. Yet with such meager information, a potentially huge window opens for the politically astute.
And if, after going there, you feel like you’ve drawn a blank, well, I’ll spell it out for you: These people that Obama and Clinton met with secretly are the real power behind cannabis prohibition. Everything they do is to maintain their control on the heavily centralized (and petro-chemically derived) energy and banking systems of the entire planet. Which are directly threatened by an decentralized agrarian, cannabis-based economy. This is why when it comes to elections, it’s always “Close, but no cigar!” for the American people as well as the rest of the world. As the famous sign at #OWS said, “The system is not broke; it’s ‘fixed’. And they did the ‘fixing’.
Oh, not perplexed kapn’, chagrinned. I was a reluctant Obama supporter, and campaigned for Kucinich right up until he dropped out. I half expected this all along. I’m wayyy too cynical to buy into hopey-changey. That doesn’t mean I’m not going to hold him to his campaign rhetoric, though.
It’s possible Obama doesn’t want to end the marijuana prohibition crisis because of the negative stereotypes about minorities and drugs.
A survey among authoritarians would probably reveal they still believe blacks use more drugs than whites. This false belief certainly seems to be the case in New York City under Mayor Mike Bloomberg, as petty arrests for pot continue against minorities. Obama may fear the racist authoritarians who would revive a soft-on-soft-drugs attack on future black political candidates for president, or other offices, were he to act positively and progressively on the drug issue to legalize weed.
If that’s the case, Obama’s policy is a double-edged sword. It really works against all future black political candidates if it appears to too many people that this is how black candidates will conduct themselves in office once they get elected.
It may be true that only Nixon could go to China. But that doesn’t mean Obama should fear to address the menace of prohibition and its authoritarians. Perhaps Obama could get Joe Biden to go to the DEA and meet with Mao Leonhart.
What good would Biden visiting with Leonhart do? Biden is the one who wrote (and bulldozed thru congress) the act that created the ONDCP and the position of drug czar with its mandate to lie about drugs and to (at all costs) do all it can to nip legalization efforts in the bud (no pun intended). He’s as big a prohibitionist as she.
I think Servetus meant that just as Nixon was the only one who could get away with going to China because he was perceived as a staunch anti-communist, so there was no suggestion of him harboring communist sympathies… likewise Biden is such a staunch drug warrior that he could might be immune to the usual republican accusations that democrats are soft on drugs. Whether he does anything about reforming drug laws is of course open to question. For me, his appointment as V.P. was the first sign that Obama would do nothing about changing drug policy.
Thanks, Peter, that’s exactly what I meant.
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Investigation into illegal drinking alcohol transactions results in the arrest of a cannabis dealer.
The Indiana State Excise Police?
The Indiana Alcohol & Tobacco Commission? What, Indiana doesn’t let them play with firearms like the Feds?
Intensified College Enforcement (ICE)? Well, now the people’s love of acronyms is starting to generate confusion on the playing field.
Illegal transportation of an alcoholic beverage??
Inducing a minor to possess an alcoholic beverage???
It certainly sounds as if using drinking alcohol makes one stupid:
here’s a dandy:
Study: suicide rates fall when states legalize medical marijuana
“They offer evidence that marijuana acts as an antidepressant when used moderately, but also note that using marijuana in larger amounts can actually lead to depression.”
Anyone familiar with the evidence that “using marijuana in larger amounts can actually lead to depression”? Are we sure they’re not getting their causality backwards?
I noticed that too… my thought is that it’s a CYA kinda statement, showing they’re not just a buncha hopheads with an agenda of addicting lil Johnny and Suzie to the demon weed
I know I find it hard to be depressed when I am giggling.
I believe this claim can be traced back to the Gobbi et al study from 2007. Here’s the press release:
Thanks, that’s interesting. So a particular synthetic cannabinoid may cause “depression” in rats who are not allowed to self-titrate but are instead forcibly injected with mega-doses. That’s certainly compelling evidence for the claim that was made regarding voluntary human use of whole-plant cannabis.
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Well, I can testify that overdoing cocaine actually causes depression. It simply saps all the happy from your brain. I still recall that I was certain that I’d never smile again when I quit way back there in May of 1989. I also recall how shocked I was about 6 months later when I finally got a chance to have a genuine belly laugh. I’m actually a bit puzzled because I can’t recall what broke me up that day, but I do recall the overwhelming feeling of relief that I experienced. By now the regulars here should be well aware of how much a part of me humor is.
The studies of cannabis “causing” depression that I’ve examined have all used freshly probationed victims of the law, arrested, tried, convicted, and sent into
re-educationrehab. Hey, let’s prove that family gatherings cause people to be depressed! We’ll interview the families that are gathering at the funeral home for a wake!Medicating here with marijuana:
1>2 tokes,,good for depression and as tension relief.
3>4 tokes,,good for appetite and stress removal.
5>6 tokes,,pain relief,arthritis and after work cocktail.
7>8 tokes,,It’s either bedtime or your sitting on the couch between dark and allen.
well now… take a look at that. What comprehensive treatment can be had just sitting on a couch! A few minutes and you’ve relieved your depression, reduced your tension, increased your appetite, removed stress, relieved some of those aches and pains, made the ol’ arthritis take a break, had your evening libation and… where has all the time gone? It’s already bedtime!
To quote a favorite old tune, “took a trip and never left the farm.”
Written in 1964 no less.
What is wrong with yore eyes?
http://wikileaks.org/the-gifiles.html?nocache
Pete, not commenting on this present article, but would like you to look at this youtube video, what 3 organizations came together on this, can’t read the paper….I’m thinking its a good thing, but would like to know more of whats going on…have any leads?!http://www.youtube.com/watch?v…
“This video is unavailable”