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Been doing some reading. Visited Petes blog at Drug WarRant. A guy that goes by malcolmkyle left a comment about stirring the hornet’s nest. It’s over at NewsBusters about Arianna Huffington: Drug War a ‘War on Our Own People’
Submitted by malcolmkyle on Wed, 02/15/2012 – 8:04am.
* Colombia, Peru, Mexico or Afghanistan with their coca leaves, marijuana buds or poppy sap are not igniting temptation in the minds of our weak, innocent citizens. These countries are duly responding to the enormous demand that comes from within our own borders. Invading or destroying these countries, thus creating more hate, violence, instability, injustice and corruption, will not fix our problem.
* A rather large majority of people will always feel the need to use drugs such as heroin, opium, nicotine, amphetamines, alcohol, sugar, or caffeine.
* The massive majority of adults who use drugs do so recreationally – getting high at the weekend then up for work on a Monday morning.
* Apart from the huge percentage of people addicted to both sugar and caffeine, a small minority of adults (nearly 5%) will always experience the use of drugs as problematic. – approx. 3% are dependent on alcohol and approx. 1.5% are dependent on other drugs such as methamphetamine, cocaine, heroine etc.
* Just as it was impossible to prevent alcohol from being produced and used in the U.S. in the 1920s, so too, it is equally impossible to prevent any of the aforementioned drugs from being produced, distributed and widely used by those who desire to do so.
* Prohibition kills more people and ruins more lives than the drugs it prohibits.
* Prescription drugs kill over 200,000 Americans every year– even when taken as directed and not abused.
* Due to Prohibition (historically proven to be an utter failure at every level), the availability of most of these mood-altering drugs has become so universal and unfettered that in any city of the civilized world, any one of us would be able to procure practically any drug we wish within an hour.
* Throughout history, the prohibition of any mind-altering substance has always exploded usage rates, overcrowded jails, fueled organized crime, created rampant corruption of law-enforcement – even whole governments, while inducing an incalculable amount of suffering and death.
* Apart from the fact that the DEA is the de facto enforcement wing of the pharmaceutical industry, the involvement of the CIA in running Heroin from Vietnam, Southeast Asia and Afghanistan and Cocaine from Central America has been well documented by the 1989 Kerry Committee report, academic researchers Alfred McCoy and Peter Dale Scott, and the late journalist Gary Webb.
* It’s not even possible to keep drugs out of prisons, but prohibitionists wish to waste trillions of dollars in an utterly futile attempt to keep them off our streets.
* The United States jails a larger percentage of its own citizens than any other country in the world, including those run by the worst totalitarian regimes, yet it has far higher use/addiction rates than most other countries.
* Prohibition is the “Goose that laid the golden egg” and the lifeblood of terrorists as well as drug cartels. Both the Taliban and the terrorists of al Qaeda derive their main income from the prohibition-inflated value of the opium poppy. An estimated 44 % of the heroin produced in Afghanistan, with an estimated annual destination value of US $ 27 Billion, transits through Pakistan. Prohibition has essentially destroyed Pakistan’s legal economy and social fabric. – We may be about to witness the planet’s first civil war in a nation with nuclear capabilities. – Kindly Google: ‘A GLOBAL OVERVIEW OF NARCOTICS-FUNDED TERRORIST GROUPS’ Only those opposed, or willing to ignore these facts, want things the way they are.
* The future depends on whether or not enough of us are willing to take a long look at the tragic results of prohibition. If we continue to skirt the primary issue while refusing to address the root problem then we can expect no other result than a worsening of the current dire situation. – Good intentions, wishful thinking and pseudoscience are no match for the immutable realities of human nature.
Never have so many been endangered and impoverished by so few so quickly!
* The urge to save humanity is almost always a false-face for the urge to rule it. – H. L. Mencken (1880-1956) American editor, essayist and philologist.
Submitted by robert108 on Mon, 02/13/2012 – 5:22pm.
Exactly. Essentially, drugs are as if they were legal in the entertainment industry and the music business. If you want to see what would happen to the general population under drug legalization, just look at those two industries.
Submitted by malcolmkyle on Wed, 02/15/2012 – 8:11am.
You Prohibitionists dance hand in hand with every possible type of criminal one can imagine.
An unholy alliance of ignorance, greed and hate which works to destroy all our hard fought freedoms, wealth and security.
We will always have adults who are too immature to responsibly deal with tobacco alcohol, heroin amphetamines, cocaine, various prescription drugs and even food. Our answer to them should always be: “Get a Nanny, and stop turning the government into one for the rest of us!”
Nobody wants to see an end to prohibition because they want to use drugs. They wish to see proper legalized regulation because they are witnessing, on a daily basis, the dangers and futility of prohibition. ‘Legalized Regulation’ won’t be the complete answer to all our drug problems, but it’ll greatly ameliorate the crime and violence on our streets, and only then can we provide effective education and treatment.
The whole nonsense of ‘a disaster will happen if we end prohibition’ sentiment sums up the delusional ‘chicken little’ stance of those who foolishly insist on continuing down this blind alley. As if a disaster isn’t already happening. As if prohibition has ever worked.
To support prohibition is such a strange mind-set. In fact, It’s outrageous insanity! –Literally not one prohibitionist argument survives scrutiny. Not one!
The only people that believe prohibition is working are the ones making a living by enforcing laws in it’s name, and those amassing huge fortunes on the black market profits. This situation is wholly unsustainable, and as history has shown us, conditions will continue to deteriorate until we finally, just like our forefathers, see sense and revert back to tried and tested methods of regulation. None of these substances, legal or illegal, are ever going to go away, but we CAN decide to implement policies that do far more good than harm.
During alcohol prohibition in the 1920s, all profits went to enrich thugs and criminals. Young men died every day on inner-city streets while battling over turf. A fortune was wasted on enforcement that could have gone on treatment. On top of the budget-busting prosecution and incarceration costs, billions in taxes were lost. Finally the economy collapsed. Sound familiar?
So should the safety and freedom of the rest of us be compromised because of the few who cannot control themselves?
If a vast majority of the public were aware of these facts, the drug war( and much more) would be over in a hurry. Thats the reason it’s not. TPTB depend on ignorance and poor information to continue their little Empire games.
Time to put an end to it all. Get the information out there, inform your self, inform those around you.
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It appears that we have a politician that made a promise and (EGAD) kept it. Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes beat out the incumbent by promising to stop marijuana arrests/prosecutions.
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I’m sure most of you that have been following and/or debating America’s Drug War have heard about the recent expose’ by CBS where a new hero has stepped up to admit that the US ATF dictated that they allow guns to be sent from complicit American gun shops across the border. If not watch this:
March 3, 2011. CBS Evening News. Gun Walking. Interview with ATF Federal agent John Dodson. ATF was intentionally sending heavy weaponry to Mexican drug cartels. The secret operation was called Fast and Furious.
Some suggest that this is simply being used to make a case for a gun ban in the US. You can see that argument here and see how the government propaganda machine does lie to propagate this attempt:
I am not suggesting there is no truth, whatsoever in that claim (for I believe that many in our government would love to strip us of our second amendment to be able to control us completely). What I am suggesting is that this latest ATF sponsored gun-running has another agenda. The perpetuation of the lie that is the War on Drugs (especially marijuana).
There have been more than 35,000 people who have been killed since President Felipe Calderón began following his puppet master’s directive to bolster Mexico’s version of the War on Drugs. But to assume that it is America’s fault or the lie that “90% of those guns come from America” is not seeing the picture and simply believing the attempts to continue what is a totally failed policy.
Sane voices understand that the militarization of the drug war in Mexico is a key reason for “extortions, kidnappings, and murders“. To me this seems obvious.
But not to America’s puppets. It takes decency and truth. It takes leaders who refuse to be our puppet; People like Bolivia’s President Evo Morales to discuss “The Big White Lie” openly.
But let me ask you, why would the ATF not only condone the gun-running, but also try to cover up their own participation?
It’s not like Americans aren’t waking up to the outright lies and it is crucial to note that Americans are more and more convinced that marijuana legalization is what we need to do. The Pew Research Center For The People and the Press polls prove this:
During a Sept. 16 raid by the Weber-Morgan Narcotics Strike Force, Todd Blair was shot and killed in his home. The Weber County District Attorney’s Office has ruled the shooting justified under Utah law. Blair’s family believes he was shot unnecessarily. Read the entire story at http://bit.ly/hlawOF or www.sltrib.com
Justified? These criminals with badges didn’t adequately plan this invasion, didn’t warn this man to “put down your weapon” (which was a freaking golf club) and then murdered him in cold blood. Not even a slap on the wrist. Condoned murder, plain and simple.
In addition to two medical marijuana regulation bills being considered in Hawaii, a separate bill that would remove criminal penalties for possession of small amounts of marijuana is moving through the state Senate. Last week, it passed through two Senate committees and is now headed to the full Senate for a vote before advancing further. Considering that 20 of 25 members of the Senate are co-sponsors, it should be a breeze.
Even other countries are seeing the light. The UK’s former Drug Czar, Bob Ainsworth, is advocating the only sane pursuit, which is legalization (and mind you, he is talking about legalizing ALL drugs). The Transform Drug Policy Foundation explains and shares Mr Ainsworth’s position:
However, prohibition has failed to protect us. Leaving the drugs market in the hands of criminals causes huge and unnecessary harms to individuals, communities and entire countries, with the poor the hardest hit. We spend billions of pounds without preventing the wide availability of drugs. It is time to replace our failed war on drugs with a strict system of legal regulation, to make the world a safer, healthier place, especially for our children. We must take the trade away from organised criminals and hand it to the control of doctors and pharmacists.
Wow! Isn’t that amazing? But it takes a “former” Drug Czar to make this kind of sensible statement. Can you imagine “why” that is? To the contrary, for some reason, any current Drug Czar (like the US’s Gil Kerlikowske) cannot be allowed to say such a thing (even tho the predecessor of his previous position as chief of police in Seattle, Norm Stamper, has come out in favor of a more sensible and sane policy of total drug legalization):
Retired Seattle Police Chief Norm Stamper thinks we should legalize drugs after what he witnessed fighting on the front lines of the “war on drugs.” Norm is a member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, which any citizen can join at http://www.CopsSayLegalizeDrugs.com.
“What I think is horrible about all of this, is that we criminalize young people. And we use so many of our excellent resources … for things that aren’t really causing any problems,” said Elders. “It’s not a toxic substance.”
The fact is that once these guys leave their job, they are able to pronounce the dismal failure of the Drug War. They are able to admit that it is all a lie. But not the current internal puppets. Maybe that is why it angers Gil that his hometown paper, The Seattle Times ran an article that is pro-legalization. Thank God they aren’t intimidated and are sticking to their guns.
So, what is he forced to do? Lie, of course (that is his only recourse):
http://KCTS9.org
Gil Kerlikowske, Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, discusses legalizing marijuana, the epidemic of prescription drug abuse, and comments on recent problems within the Seattle Police Department.
To put it simply, it is time to stop listening to those that are paid to keep Americans in bondage and listen to the sane ones; the ones that speak truth and understand the very nature of this bogus affront to our liberties (not to mention keeping miracle drugs from doing their miracles). It is time for Americans to understand the “why’s” (Big Meds, Big Prison and Big Money) and to call for an end. The truth is out there, but you won’t get it from those, like Kerlikowske, whose very livelihood depend upon the lies (and this includes small time cops and legislators). They gain from this corrupt and evil system.
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I look back over my lifetime (nearing 50 years) and except for very early on in the late 60′s and early 70′s (I was much too young) weed was no big deal to the country boys in Alabama (my cousins that were a bit older). They knew it back then and told me that what was being said was lies. It was many years later that I really understood for myself when I was confronted by my Dad and his friends (the Chief of Police, in one occasion) about the stuff (they were drinking a scotch and water and smoking a cigar when they took me into the room for the “talking to”).
I even had an old man (Curly Aldridge) tell me, while barely able to stand because of all the moonshine he had drunk, that weed would kill me and how bad it was. From what I understand, the alcohol ate Curly up long ago. I can’t tell you how many drunks have told me how bad the stuff is.
I had countless teachers, advisers, police officers, employers, preachers, parents (mine and friends’), strangers (the vast majority having never even TRIED the stuff) tell me how bad and evil marijuana was, the whole time me using and knowing for myself that they were full of shit or simply had no idea what they were talking about and operated in fear and control from others. I shrugged it off because I knew it was a lie. I had personally disproved almost every lie they told about it.
But now the time is right for people to speak up. I have very close family members, one that recently died, that would have benefited from that miracle drug. In my mother-in-law’s case, it could have likely saved her life. I know so many people who’s lives would immediately become better by a measured, controlled medical use. It is absolutely the most insane thing that this country could have ever done by demonizing this substance.
Read this article from Sam Smith at Undernews. It was originally published in “the November 1970 edition of the DC Gazette, the former name of the Progressive Review” (Undernews is the online presence of Progressive review). Imagine how little has changed. Think about how much money spent and lives horribly wronged by such a crazy socially debilitating approach.
[The following story appeared in the November 1970 edition of the DC Gazette, the former name of the Progressive Review. What's amazing about this account is not only the rational handling of the matter and the striking testimony of the Surgeon General - but this occurred at a time when 84% of the public opposed legalization. Today only 50% do.]
DC Gazette, November 1970 - The Public Safety Committee of the DC City Council held two days of hearings this month to hear scientific and public testimony about marijuana. Most of what it heard was expectable: scientifically, marijuana is a mild conscious-altering drug; it is not addictive, nor does it lead to the use of addicting drugs; it has been known and used and studied for literally thousands of years, and no physiological damage whatsoever has been discovered; instances of adverse mental effects from its use are extremely rare.
Most significant to the council’s hearing — and to a good number of kids who are in prison on pot convictions — was the fact, reiterated by Surgeon General Jesse L. Steinfeld, that “in the case of marijuana, legal penalties were originally assigned with total disregard for medical and scientific evidence of the properties of the drug or its effects. I know of no clearer instance in which the punishment for infraction of the law is more harmful than the crime.” . . .
Activist Petey Greene “testified” on behalf of his grandmother, whose opinions on marijuana are based on practical experience. She once told her grandson to quit: “Petey, you gotta stop smoking those reefers because they make you too hungry, and I can’t buy all that extra food.” Later, on comparing its effects with those of alcohol, “She said she’d rather me smoke reefers and just sit and smile at people than drink that old wine and come in throwing chairs around. ” . . .
The testimony of representatives of the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs was notable for its meekness. Although the narcs still refer to marijuana as a killer drug before high school audiences, and still try to imply that pot inevitably and immediately leads to heroin, and still pass out 1930′s posters of marijuana as the Grim Reaper — they backed off under Council questioning. The narc’s Dr. Milton Joffe even allowed that although “legalizing simply for hedonistic purposes” was not warranted, “I’m not against pleasure. . .”
Judge Charles Halleck recommended more realistic penalties, since present laws tend to cause the community “to lose faith in the entire system of justice.” James H. Heller of the National Capital Area Civil Liberties Union called for the legalization of pot. He said he saw no reason that it should be treated any different from alcohol. (He admitted to having tried grass once, “but it didn’t have any effect.” (“Maybe you just didn’t know how to smoke it,” Councilwoman Polly Shackleton consoled him) . . .
Terry Becker, a Quicksilver Times reporter, surprised everyone by calling for more stringent penalties and stricter enforcement. Becked wanted “everyone to turn on everyone to get busted;” it would hasten the revolution, he said . . .
Noting that Surgeon General Steinfeld had referred to the famous Alice B. Toklas marijuana or hash brownies but claimed the recipe was not to be found Alice’s cookbook, the Council’s Republican chairman Gilbert Hahn opened the second day of hearings by setting the record straight. “You will find the recipe on page 273 of Alice B. Toklas,” announced Hahn and, having fulfilled his public responsibility, he ordered the proceedings to proceed.
Now:
Pete at DrugWarRant shares a letter from Robert F. Hickey, published in the Vail Daily that shows the perspective (again from a medical opinion, it appears) after dealing with it since 1970 (the same year Sam’s article above was first presented). The same stinking lies told for decades:
First, from a professional perspective, let me say that in treating thousands of people who have become victims of their use of alcohol and other drugs since 1970, I have never treated a marijuana addict. I have never been called to an emergency room to treat an out-of-control or violent marijuana user. I have never completed a court-ordered evaluation for a defendant who was accused of domestic violence as a result of marijuana use. I have never heard of five or six law enforcement officers being needed to tackle, control or otherwise subdue a crazed marijuana user.
Marijuana is not a narcotic! That is a law enforcement characterization, not a medical, biological or chemical classification.
Contrary to quotes in Mr. Sims’ letter by Kevin Sabet, special adviser, Office of National Drug Control Policy, marijuana is not a dangerous drug which causes documented health and social problems.
Where is the documentation? The only documentation of social problems are those which arise from the prohibition of marijuana and the 750,000 subsequent arrests for possession of small amounts of the plant each year.
The social problems come as a result of the billions of dollars spent each year by law enforcement agencies across the country.
The social problems come from the inequities of law enforcement against minorities in the country. African-Americans are five to 10 times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than whites, yet on a per capita basis, whites use marijuana in greater numbers than all minorities. As Alice Huffman, president of the California NAACP said recently, “ … being caught up in the criminal justice system does more harm to young people than marijuana itself.”
And by what authority does Sabet dictate that marijuana “should not be subject to voter approval for its use”?
After Tuesday:
There is no doubt that Prop 19 is important. Not just for California, but for the rest of the country. I believe that the numbers Tuesday will show that most Californians see the idiocy in the current laws and Drug War and they will vote change. But there are some Big Money folks that are fighting this, you can bet. Big Prison has a shitload of money to lose. As I mentioned in this post, even small local law enforcement agencies have a big amount to lose when they can’t set up road blocks primarily to catch these non-violent, law-abiding (except for holding a small amount of a grass), peaceful and enlightened “thugs”.
But even if Prop 19 passes, I think that is only the beginning of the fight. State’s rights issues will immediately flare up when Holder carries out his promise. In defiance to a state’s right, he wrote a letter to a gathering of former heads of the US DEA who had voiced their concerns over losing such a cash cow and said that Prop 19 “will greatly complicate federal drug enforcement efforts to the detriment of our citizens“. “Accordingly, we will vigorously enforce the (Controlled Substances Act) against those individuals and organizations that possess, manufacture or distribute marijuana for recreational use, even if such activities are permitted under state law“.
Leaking the letter was a way to instill some fear into the population, but I don’t think it will change the Yes win. However, Californians would be foolish to think that the Feds WON’T do exactly what Holder says he will do. And there we will have the makings of a sure ’nuff piss off electorate. When their own vote doesn’t count and people are STILL being carried away by Big Gubment Thugs.
And looky here. I have gone many years at a time without touching the stuff. This is not so much a personal use issue with me. As a matter of fact, at the time I don’t use because I won’t spend money on anything except essentials. I will likely not use any for a long time and I am cool with that.
But when I think of my loved ones whose lives would be made so much better but never would even consider it because it is illegal, I realize the tragedy of the policy (even if they do not fully appreciate it). It is the craziest approach that could have ever been implemented and it is time to change it. It seems, however, that the canary in the coal mine (California) will have to fight Big Brother first.
Vote Yes on Prop 19 and bring it on, my California Brothers and Sisters.
At least we got Dogg on the up and up:
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SOME of The Globes Worst “ONGOING” Ecological Disasters
NIGERIA
Disaster: Oil spills
Going since: Around 1966
Damage done: The Deepwater Horizon incident may have been the worst oil spill in U.S. history, but it pales in comparison to the ongoing catastrophe that has afflicted Nigeria’s Niger River Delta over the last five decades. As many as 546 million gallons of oil are believed to have spilled since oil exploration began in this region — the equivalent of an Exxon Valdez spill every year. There are around 2,000 official spill sites in the region, some of them decades old.
Oil companies operating in the region blame thieves and sabotage for the majority of the spills, though local activists say aging equipment and lax safety are the cause of many of them. The number of severity of the spills may actually increase in coming years as the industry moves into more remote and difficult terrain in the delta.
It’s not just the spilled oil that can be dangerous. Pipeline explosions, like in the one that killed more than 100 people outside Lagos in 2008, are increasingly frequent as well.
CHINA
Disaster: Coal fires
Going since: 1962
Damage done: China’s recent industrial growth depends heavily on coal — the source of 70 percent of the country’s energy — a major reason why it recently became the world’s largest carbon emitter. The country’s mining sector is also extremely dangerous, killing as many as 13 miners every day. But nowhere is the danger of China’s out-of-control coal addiction more evident than in the 62 raging underground coal fires that have burned in Inner Mongolia since the early 1960s.
Covering an area more than 3,000 miles long, China’s northern coal fires are estimated to destroy as many as 20 million tons of coal per year, more than the entire annual production of Germany. According to some estimates, these fires could be the cause of up to 2 to 3 percent of the world’s carbon emissions from burning fossil fuels. A new initiative by the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region aims to put half the fires out by 2012.
Inner Mongolia’s coal fires may be the most severe, but they are hardly unique. An underground fire in Centralia, Pa., begun the same year as many of China’s, is also still burning.
[remember they are battling an enormous oil spill in the China Sea currently]
HAITI
Disaster: Deforestation
Going since: 1492
Damage done: Haiti and the Dominican Republic share an island, as well as similar geographic and climate conditions. So why do severe storms and hurricanes — not to mention earthquakes — only cause horrific human tragedy on the Haitian side? One large reason is the almost complete destruction of Haiti’s trees.
When explorer Christopher Columbus first landed in what was then dubbed Hispañola, around three-fourths of it was covered in trees. Today, 98 percent of its forests are gone — one of the worst cases of deforestation in human history.
The main culprit is charcoal, by far the country’s most popular fuel source, which consumes up to 30 million trees per year. The Dominican Republic has banned cutting down trees for charcoal and subsidized propane as a substitute, and the contrast can be seen in satellite photographs of the border.
Without roots to hold the soil together, hurricanes and earthquakes are much more likely to case deadly landslides. The erosion of high-quality topsoil has also devastated Haiti’s agricultural sector, exacerbating its endemic poverty.
The list of challenges confronting Haiti following this year’s earthquake is long and daunting, but if the country is ever going to stand a fighting chance, what it needs more than anything else is more trees.
UZBEKISTAN/KAZAKHSTAN
Disaster: The shrinking of the Aral Sea
Going since: The 1960s
Damage done: Straddling the border of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, the Aral Sea was once the world’s fourth-largest inland water body and home to at least 20 species of fish and a thriving coastal economy in the surrounding towns. In the early 1960s, the Soviet government built more than 45 dams and 20,000 miles of canals in an effort to create a cotton industry on the desert plains of Uzbekistan, depriving the sea of its main sources.
Over the next three decades, the sea shrank to two-fifths its original size, turning fishing villages into barren desert outposts. Thanks to the high salt content in the remaining water, all 20 fish species are now extinct. Drinking water supplies in the area are dangerously low and the ground contains dangerous pesticides from the cotton farms. When the wind sweeps across the now-dry sea bed, it spreads up to 75 million tons of toxic dust and salt across Central Asia every year.
Thankfully, dams constructed in the last decade on the Kazakh side seem to be leading to a partial recovery. The Northern Aral’s surface span has grown by 20 percent and fish and bird species are starting to return. The Southern Ara
PACIFIC OCEAN
Disaster: The Eastern Garbage Patch
Going since: Discovered in 1997
Damage done: Somewhere between California and Hawaii lies the world’s largest garbage dump — a massive soup of plastic and debris one-and-a-half times the size of the United States and 100 feet deep. The “patch” is the product of the North Pacific Gyre, a loop of currents that picks up trash from the West Coast of the United States and East Asia and funnels it into an endless loop in the North Pacific.
Within the patch, pieces of plastic outweigh zooplankton by a factor of 6 to 1, and are often mistaken by fish and birds for food. Chemicals from the plastic can also make their way into the food chain, including fish consumed by humans.
The patch is the most widely publicized example, but this is a global problem. According to the U.N. Environment Program the world’s oceans contain 46,000 pieces of plastic per square mile. These plastics are responsible for the deaths of more than a million seabirds and 100,000 marine mammals every year.
The world is going to be close to it’s breaking point very very soon!
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I know from vast personal experience (7 DUI charges before 1986) that alcohol is far more debilitating than weed when driving (or doing ANYTHING else, for that matter). I won’t get into tall the details of my DUI’s, but suffice it to say that it makes me far more careless and unable to drive in a safe method.
Compare that to weed and the thousands of miles I have traveled under that influence and not only do I not have a DUI for it, I have not had an accident in many years because it ENHANCES my driving abilities. This isn’t a dream or a wish… it is imperative fact proven after years and many hundreds of thousands of miles of driving. When someone tells you that it limits or hinders your response times, you are being fed a line of heavy duty shit.
There simply is NO comparison in the effects of these two substances. Period. If you have tried it, you know what I say is true.
Now, I am not here telling you to get high and drive. I am telling you that in my case, the lies are obvious. It is possible that I am some sort of exceptional person who handles the substance differently than every other human on earth (Kelso believes that certain ethnic backgrounds can lead a person to be able to tolerate the stuff or not). I am not convinced, but I won’t argue. He claims that cocaine is metabolized differently in S Americans than N Americans and that the “war on drugs” is about fighting something that many S Americans have no addictive issues with.
IF this is true, then it only stands to reason that THC may act differently, as well.
I don’t know, so I can only speak for myself and the many others I know who partake. Of all the friends I have who partake (or once did), I cannot find a single one that agrees that weed is as bad as alcohol in effect. (There is one caveat to this statement, I know of a couple of folks who have since become extremely religious who won’t make the claim about it being as bad as alcohol, but suggest that ANY mind-altering substance is a sin, so they won’t use. To this, I say, “To each his own”. But, do not, even for a second, think that you can debate me on this subject with that as your sole informational source. (Do so at your verbal-spanking peril)
The media puts a quick bag over the head of ugly news (anything that goes against the government controlled meme), hoping to keep the truth from an ever-increasingly learned public. But the truth of the matter is that marijuana is one of the MOST-Studied substances on the face of the earth. Paul Armentano, NORML‘s Deputy Director, explains that even as the talking heads and other government asswipes call for more investigations and study into this plant, there is ample evidence to disprove nearly each and every bogus “war on drugs” scare tactic claims there are.
I have mentioned the FACT that marijuana inhibits and KILLS cancer cell growth in a variety of cancers (see here, here and here, as just a few examples). But Paul points out that all the talking heads up in arms about more research conveniently disregard all the information and studies already done. Its as if as long as the news doesn’t fit the lie, do not repeat it and call for even more studies in hopes of finding one that will agree with the lie those who profit from the war on drugs gain from.
For example, researchers at the State University of New York (SUNY), Upstate Medical University in Syracuse published data in the June issue of the journal Pharmacology concluding that the administration of the plant cannabinoids delta-8-THC and delta-9-THC halted cellular respiration and tumor growth in human oral cancer cells. Specifically, investigators reported that cannabinoids were a “potent inhibitor” of Tu183 human cancer cells, a notoriously difficult to treat type of oral cancer.
Of course, this is hardly the first time that pot’s compounds have been demonstrated to possess anti-cancer properties. As has been widely reported here and elsewhere, US government researchers were first aware of this finding over 35 years ago, and today there exist published scientific studies demonstrating that cannabinoids can inhibit the proliferation of a wide range of cancers — including brain cancer, prostate cancer, breast cancer, lung cancer, skin cancer, pancreatic cancer, biliary tract cancer, and lymphoma. Nonetheless, abstract prohibitionist concerns regarding marijuana’s supposed cancer risk continue to dominate the headlines while actual scientific studies debunking these allegations tend to go unnoticed.
Similarly, preclinical data published online last week in the journal Cell Communication and Signaling reported that the administration of the non-psychoactive cannabinoid cannabidiol (CBD) increases adult neurogenesis (the active production of new neurons) in laboratory animals. Authors speculated that cannabis’ pro-neurogenic effects may explain why the plant appears to be useful in the treatment of certain neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer’s disease or ALS.
As I wrote last week, to date there are now over 20,000 published studies or reviews in the scientific literature pertaining to marijuana and its active compounds — making marijuana the most studied plant on Earth. But what’s the point in further research if nobody even bothers to pay attention to the research that’s already been done?
All posts are opinions meant to foster comment, reporting, teaching & study under the “fair use doctrine” in Sec. 107 of U.S. Code Title 17. No statement of fact is made or should be implied. Ads appearing on this blog are solely the product of the advertiser and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of BuehlahMan’s Redstate Revolt or WordPress.com
Ya know– I hate ‘sound-bites’ and I sure am wise enough to know when I end up listening to something in pieces, that I do not nor will I ever have the entire history regarding anything that I just heard. Now– I do know the following–
1] This woman was in control of the call and dialoge
2] I do not believe he knew it was being taped
3] She said what she wanted said on the tape
4] If we taped anyone of us during a domestic tyrate it would not be pretty
5] He sounds like every Biker [sorry bikers] I ever knew
6] IF domestic violence did happen, he is wrong– flat out wrong
7] I am not a shrink, so there can be no diagnosis from me while I sit in my armcahir
8] I have used almost every word he used at one time in my life
9] I actually don’t think this tape is any of our business
10] Obviously he is out of control about something way past what we are aware of… in their life together
11]… He should never ever hit nor threated to put her [or anyone] under.
12] Can anyone one of us look back honestly in our own lives and say that we or someone we knew had never ever gotten into a heated screaming match? Would you want it recorded for all to hear out of contents??
AGAIN== Mel is wrong with his rage and violence… I am just speaking to the ‘taping’.
The media is having a hayday with this… Mel needs help, counceling…. something. And she needs to just do what she has to do in court, get to court and settle whatever she wants to settle– but ya know, somewhere in the nasty oh-so-wrong shit is a bid for money– and tons of it. I am not saying Mel didn’t do terrible stuff, he most likely sure as hell did– but I am just not excusing her or the media on this one either. The Radar Online folks stated that she personally did not give them the tapes. I am sure she sure as hell had a hand in it– she needed public outrage, or so she thinks. Screw this mess… I want to hear the well is capped and the clean-up is going well, and the troops are coming home [which will add to millions of more unemployed Americans because WHERE ARE OUR TROOPS GONNA WORK?? So there ya have it– this story is not a news worthy story!!! Jobs, Troops, Wars, Unemploymeny, healthcare, enviornment are true stories!!!
All posts are opinions meant to foster comment, reporting, teaching & study under the “fair use doctrine” in Sec. 107 of U.S. Code Title 17. No statement of fact is made or should be implied. Ads appearing on this blog are solely the product of the advertiser and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of BuehlahMan’s Redstate Revolt or WordPress.com
Nation building in Afghanistan is not our job— it is theirs.
By Eugene Robinson
Friday, June 25, 2010
Washington Post
The good news? Nobody has to pretend anymore that Gen. Stanley McChrystal knew how to fix Afghanistan within a year. The bad news? No
President Obama was absolutely right to sack the preening McChrystal, whose inner circle, as portrayed in Rolling Stone magazine, had all the seriousness and decorum of a frat house keg party. And it was a brilliant political move to turn to Petraeus, who is made of purest Teflon. Critics who might have been tempted to blast the president for changing horses in midstream can hardly object when he has given the reins to the man who averted a humiliating U.S. defeat in Iraq.
Note that I didn’t credit Petraeus with “winning” in Iraq. He didn’t. What he managed to do was redeem the situation to the point where the United States could begin bringing home its combat troops. If the Obama administration’s aims in Afghanistan are recalibrated to accommodate objective reality, then Petraeus can succeed there, too. But this means that the general’s assignment should be a narrow one: Lay the groundwork for a U.S. withdrawal to begin next summer, as Obama has pledged.
After relieving McChrystal of his command Wednesday, Obama called in his national security team and read the riot act. No more bickering, sniping, backbiting or name-calling, the president ordered. Play nice.
But all the comity in the world doesn’t resolve the essential tension between those who believe our goal in Afghanistan should be defined as “victory” and those who believe it should be defined as “finding the exit.” Two thousand years of history are on the side of the “exit” camp, and the fact is that at some point we’re going to leave. The question is how much time will pass — and how many more young Americans will be killed or wounded — before that inevitable day comes.
McChrystal, who designed the counterinsurgency strategy being attempted in Afghanistan, didn’t disguise his opposition to administration officials such as Vice President Biden, Ambassador Karl Eikenberry and special envoy Richard Holbrooke, who questioned whether the strategy could work. Petraeus is far too good a politician to fall into that trap. He won’t allow any daylight between himself and the civilian leadership.
But ultimately, there’s going to be no way to avoid the central question: What kind of Afghanistan will we leave behind?
One answer would be that we have to leave in place a durable, functional central government that has full legitimacy and control within the nation’s borders. This would provide the United States with a reliable ally in a dangerous region and also ensure that Afghanistan would never again be used as a launching pad for attacks by al-Qaeda. But to get the country to that point, given where it is now, could take a decade or more of sustained, concentrated attention. It would mean not just defeating the Taliban but molding the regime of Afghan President Hamid Karzai into a reasonably honest, effective government. This would be a tall order even if Karzai were a stable, consistent, loyal partner. Does anybody believe that he is?
A better answer would be that it’s enough to leave behind an Afghanistan that no longer poses a serious threat to the United States or its vital interests. Nation-building would be the Afghans’ problem, not ours.
Petraeus was successful in Iraq because he realized that he couldn’t create an Athenian democracy in Baghdad. But the highly imperfect Iraqi government is light-years beyond what the general is likely to be able to achieve in Kabul. Even after the war, Iraq was left with modern infrastructure, a highly educated and sophisticated population, and a sizable percentage of the world’s proven oil reserves. Afghanistan has none of these advantages. The political culture is stubbornly medieval; the populace is poor, uneducated and wary of foreign influences. Afghanistan does have great mineral wealth, apparently, but no mining industry to dig it out and no railroads to get it to the marketplace.
In recent testimony before Congress, Petraeus was less than definitive when asked about Obama’s July 2011 deadline. Because he has such credibility and standing in Washington, his view on when we can begin to leave Afghanistan will be more important than McChrystal’s ever was. I hope that by putting Petraeus in charge of the war, President Obama hasn’t consigned us to a longer stay. His comments Thursday seem to indicate the possibility.
Oh– and I can bet you that Petraeus told the President that he would accept this position with a few conditions– Like ‘Hey I am a Battle Field General.. And I want to WIN, [ like there is such a thing as win] not mandy-pandy around. I am going to make a few changes to your rules of combat– LIKE allow the men to shoot!!!!!” “ Oh and by the way, Rolling Stone Mag, set up McChrystal!”
From LEAP’s “Dispatches from the Front Line”… March 2010 Newsletter
Slowly, Limits On Pot Are Fading USA Today speaks to Judge Jim Gray in a front-page feature article
James Gray once saw himself as a drug warrior, a former federal prosecutor and county judge who sent people to prison for dealing pot and other drug offenses. Gradually, though, he became convinced that the ban on marijuana was making it more accessible to young people, not less.
“I ask kids all the time, and they’ll tell you it is easier to get marijuana than a six-pack of beer because that is controlled by the government,” he said, noting that drug dealers don’t ask for IDs or honor minimum age requirements.
So Gray — who spent two decades as a superior court judge in Orange County, Calif., and once ran for Congress as a Republican — switched sides in the war on drugs, becoming an advocate for legalizing marijuana.
To continue reading the article on Judge Jim Gray, please click here.
Or watch this to see who profits from this travesty of justice called prohibition:
Vote to Change Drug Policy in America
LEAP speaker and former U.S. Navy Intelligence Specialist Larry Talley’s idea – legalize the medicinal and recreational use of marijuana – is currently in first place in Change.org’s Top 10 Ideas for Change in America, a national competition to select the best ideas from across the country and turn them into reality. Please take a moment to read Larry’s idea and cast your vote! Voting ends on March 12.
Fighting a Losing Battle
Peter Christ in The Leader-Herald
After 20 years in law enforcement, Peter Christ is familiar with the war on drugs.
Christ said as a police officer, drug arrests were the only arrests that made no difference to his community. When the media speaks of drug-related violence, he said, what’s really happening is money-related violence. Eliminate one kingpin of the drug trade in a certain area and violence escalates until a new one is found, he said.
“It’s a failed policy,” he said. “You arrest one, but the market is so big and there’s so much money there that their spot gets filled quick.”
Christ pointed out that even prisons are not drug-free. He said the war on drugs is simply another word for prohibition, and because of free choice, prohibition simply does not work.
“If people want to do something, they’re going to find a way to do it,” he said. “If we can’t even keep drugs out of prison, how can we keep them out of a free society?”
To read the complete article on Peter Christ, please click here.
The Fake Weed Fight
The American Prospect speaks to Norm Stamper
The Prospect asked LEAP member and former Seattle police chief Norm Stamper a few questions about liberalizing drug policy, K2, and what fake pot suggests about a misguided war on drugs.
When people think about police chiefs, liberalization of drug policy is probably not the first thing that jumps to mind. So why are you against drug prohibition, and what prompted you to join LEAP?
My first epiphany was back when I was a rookie beat cop back in San Diego. I had arrested a 19-year-old, a young man who was in possession of marijuana, not a saleable amount, in his own home. But given the circumstances, I kicked in his door, I chased him to his toilet, I scooped up a handful of soggy seeds and stems and a few leaves. And I took him to jail.
On the way to jail, he’s sitting in the backseat, and I’m thinking, “My God, I could be doing real police work.” And it kind of hit me like a ton of bricks. I’m going to spend a couple hours, minimum, writing case reports, an arrest report, impounding the pot, and booking him into jail. . .
To continue reading Norm Stamper’s interview, please click here.
Even Republicans should should be able to get stoned, according to a Fox News anchor. While interviewing Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong, Fox News’ Gretchen Carlson found herself in the curious position of advocating for marijuana rights Friday.
Chong told Carlson that he wants to see marijuana legalized — but not for Republicans. “We want to legalize pot for everyone that wants to smoke it. You know, we don’t want to legalize it for Republicans.”
Carlson quickly came to the defense of stoners in the GOP. “That wouldn’t be fair. Would it?” asked Carlson. “I mean being fair and balanced, if you want to legalize it shouldn’t you want to legalize it for everyone?”
“I want to legalize it for everyone,” answered Cheech Marin.
This video is from Fox News’ Fox & Friends, broadcast Jan. 22, 2010.
The Massachusetts election Tuesday was the last one conducted under rules that had been in place for over a century to protect the right of the people to choose their government free from enormous expenditures of corporate wealth. Next time voters want to send us a message at the ballot box, they may find their voices drowned out by wealthy corporations with their own special-interest agendas.
This Supreme Court decision takes us back a century to a legal framework that fostered a golden era of corporate influence. While the core of the McCain-Feingold law, the ban on unlimited “soft money” contributions by corporations, unions and wealthy individuals directly to the political parties remains intact for now, the reasoning of this decision undermines the foundation of a host of laws enacted to strengthen our democracy and curb corruption in government. Indeed, the soft-money ban could very well be the next target of those who want to see our political system dominated by corporate influence.
This decision gives a green light to corporations to unleash their massive coffers on the political system. The profits of Fortune 500 companies in 2008 alone were 350 times the entire amount spent on the last presidential election.
Oil companies, with virtually no harm to their balance sheets, can now try to “take out” members of Congress who don’t toe their company line on energy policy. Foreign-owned companies–even those owned and controlled by other governments are free to underwrite the candidates of their choice.
Because of the scope of the Citizens United decision, it will take close examination to see what can be done to restore the voice of the average citizen in elections. We must not stand by as corporations threaten to dominate our democratic process. If the race in Massachusetts showed us anything, it’s the power of voters. In our democracy, that power not the power of corporate wealth should decide our elections.
Pete at DrugWarRant shared these two stories of elections that prove many more Americans are gaining some sanity (as of 8:45AM CST DrugWarRant’s website is down). The tide turns:
Medical marijuana users in Maine will be able to buy their pot at licensed dispensaries after voters approved a bill that expands the state’s existing medical marijuana law.
The new law allows patients to buy marijuana at nonprofit dispensaries. It also expands the medical conditions under which people can be prescribed the drug.
In unofficial returns, Question 5 was leading 60 percent to 40 percent with half of precincts reporting.
BRECKENRIDGE, Colo. — The skiing town of Breckenridge voted Tuesday night by a margin of nearly 3 to 1 to legalize the adult possession of marijuana.
Breckenridge voters passed Measure 2F, which removes criminal penalties from the town code for the private possession of up to one ounce of marijuana by adults 21 and older. The ordinance also removes criminal penalties for the possession of bongs, pipes and other drug paraphernalia.
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