cannabisnews.com: Upstanding Citizens Smoke Pot 





Upstanding Citizens Smoke Pot 
Posted by CN Staff on July 14, 2002 at 10:40:19 PT
By Jenifer Hanrahan, Copley News Service
Source: State Journal-Register
He lives with his wife and kids in a tidy, old neighborhood. His two children, both in elementary school, play soccer. He takes them to games on Saturdays in his minivan.He also has a secret: Several nights a week, when the homework is finished and the kids are in bed, he slips outside to the dark space between his garage and his neighbor's hedge.
He plucks a dried, green marijuana bud from a Ziploc bag, packs a pipe and inhales deeply. Then he goes upstairs, showers and changes his clothes so the kids won't smell smoke if they wake up and want their daddy."In my social circle, lots of people smoke pot," said the 40-something communications executive from San Diego, who asked that his name not be used because he's afraid of losing his job. "They are all professionals. Most have children. If we have a dinner party, a few of us will go outside and have a toke."Damon and Brenda van Dam's admission they smoked marijuana the night their 7-year-old daughter, Danielle, disappeared ignited a debate in the courtroom and the community about their fitness for parenthood. In his opening statement, the defense attorney for Danielle's accused killer, David Westerfield, used the van Dams' pot-smoking to create an image of a cavalier attitude toward caring for their children.But not everyone was shocked to learn a respectable telecommunications engineer earning a good living enjoyed smoking dope in the evenings.The van Dams are in the company of doctors, lawyers, stock brokers and even members of law enforcement who furtively get high in their garages and on their decks, all the while terrified they'll be found out by their neighbors, employers and children.They are America's most secretive potheads - a vast underground of otherwise upstanding citizens secretly subverting the nation's drug laws.President Bush's television commercials link buying drugs with supporting terrorism. The U.S. government spends hundreds of millions on border patrols and overseas drug interdiction.But to these upscale stoners, the drug war has nothing to do with them - it's as remote from their Neighborhood Watch-protected streets as drug cartel shootouts in Tijuana, Mexico.They believe smoking weed is about as serious as fudging on your taxes, on the level of claiming the computer you bought for your kid was a business expense.And scoring good pot is a lot like popping open a '94 reserve cabernet: a harmless little indulgence that takes the edge off a stressful day."To me, casual marijuana use is really no different than the casual drinking of hard alcohol," said the communications executive. "As long as you're doing it responsibly, at times when you're not caring for your children or driving, it's really no big deal - other than that it's illegal."Gauging the prevalence of marijuana-smoking among otherwise well-behaved, middle-class adults isn't easy. Most current research focuses on usage among teens or people arrested for other crimes.In one recent survey by Partnership for a Drug Free America, 15 percent of couples with children admitted to smoking marijuana in the last year."We see the casual use of marijuana in all socioeconomic environments," said Alex Groza, a San Diego police sergeant and member of the Drug Enforcement Agency's Narcotics Task Force. " ... It's more accepted by society than ever."A 2000 Gallup poll found 34 percent favor legalizing marijuana, up from 12 percent when the question was first asked in 1969.Voters in eight states have approved medical marijuana initiatives. And polls show that more than 70 percent support medical marijuana.Has pot smoking - once feared as a dangerous habit of the counterculture - become an unremarkable part of mainstream America?Pot smokers would have you believe it."I mow my lawn on Saturdays. I put chlorine in the pool. I put gas in my SUV. I go to my kid's plays at school and the stupid bake sales," said Bob, a Web designer in his 40s from Vista, Calif. "I also happen to enjoy marijuana. And there are a lot of people out there just like me."The National Organization to Reform Marijuana Laws (NORML) is trying to prove it. Their goal: Get 100 prominent Americans - CEOs, CPAs, MDs - to publicly proclaim they smoke pot in an open letter to major newspapers. So far, few have agreed."Once people see how common it is, you are going to see marijuana legal in very short order," said Dale Gieringer, president of the NORML's California chapter. "The stereotype will fall away and people will realize marijuana isn't the dire threat they think it is."The trend toward marijuana acceptance troubles some doctors. A marijuana joint has more cancer-causing compounds than a tobacco cigarette, said Dr. Herbert Kleber, a professor of psychiatry and director of the division of substance abuse at Columbia University in New York City. Studies show heavy use can permanently impair the memory and that people who use marijuana are more likely to try harder drugs, such as cocaine and heroin.As many as 200,000 people a year seek treatment for marijuana addiction, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.Pot smokers who contend that smoking a joint is the same as having a couple of drinks are wrong, said Dr. Daniel Valentine, director of substance abuse services at Sharp Vista Pacifica in San Diego.The reason? Marijuana is illegal. Alcohol isn't. Whether or not you agree with the law, "you're giving the message to your children that illegal drug use is OK," Valentine said.In 2000, there were 1,579,566 drug arrests nationwide, according to FBI statistics. Nearly half - 734,497 - were for marijuana.Of those, 646,042 people were arrested for possession.But upper-middle-class users aren't worried about getting busted by police. Police admit it: There's little chance they're going to arrest suburbanites quietly smoking a joint in the privacy of their own home."The police department doesn't go around snooping in people's houses to see if they're smoking a joint at the kitchen table," said Groza, the San Diego police sergeant.Upstanding stoners are discreet. They don't buy dope on street corners. They have connections - friends or business associates who deal or grow the marijuana themselves. To keep their risk down, they buy in small quantities.Nor do upscale marijuana connoisseurs smoke ordinary Mexican pot. They smoke premium strains with names such as "Chronic" and "BC Bud" - highly potent pot that's often cultivated using a sophisticated system of hybridized plants, artificial lights and a soilless growing system called hydroponics."BC Bud" takes its name from British Columbia, where much of it comes from. Premium pot can contain 15 percent to 25 percent tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), pot's psychoactive ingredient, compared with about 2 percent for the marijuana available to their hippie forebears in the '70s.Primo pot can sell for as much as $6,000 a pound.One former parole agent said he spends as much on marijuana as a car payment: $400 a month. He lights up most mornings with his cup of coffee.He and his wife frequently host parties attended by prominent members of San Diego government and business. The former parole agent supplies the pot. Whoever wants it simply smokes it discreetly in the back yard, out of respect for those who don't.Jeff Jarvis and his wife, Tracy Johnson, a 40-year-old couple from a Portland suburb, are among the few suburbanites actually trying to promote their pot smoking.They have a pro-pot Web site called -- http://www.jeffandtracy.comTheir motto: "We're your good neighbors. We smoke pot."The couple said they were turned down when they tried to buy pro-pot advertising space on city buses, park benches and in their state's largest paper, the Oregonian. Nor would any radio station in their area run their ad."We set out to counteract the propaganda being put forth by groups like the Partnership for Drug Free America that portray drugs in general and pot smokers in particular as losers and bums," said Tracy, a homemaker.Since he started his campaign, Jeff Jarvis, a self-employed software engineer, said he hasn't lost a single client.But others fear they have much to lose.The communications exec believes he'd be fired if he made it known that he smokes pot."If anyone found out, my life would be ruined," he said.His paranoia is well founded. Corporate America, largely out of liability concerns, does not tolerate drug use.In 2001, 67 percent of companies surveyed by the American Management Association tested their employees for drugs. Of those, 61 percent did pre-employment testing of job applicants and 50 percent drug-tested employees.Marijuana can be detected in the urine for two to four weeks, depending on the potency and how much was smoked, Kleber said.Phil Blair, executive officer of Manpower Staffing Services, which provides some 15,000 workers to 600 companies, said he deals with only one company that does random drug testing.However, nearly every large firm he deals with has a "for cause" drug-testing policy, enabling employers to test workers suspected of using drugs. It's also routine to drug test anyone who has an accident on the job or who files a worker's compensation claim.The punishment for people who test positive for marijuana is straightforward: "If you're caught, you are instantly fired."The communications exec believes there's almost no chance of that happening to him. His company doesn't do random tests. He said he could, and would, stop immediately if that was the case."It doesn't affect me as a husband or a father. It certainly doesn't affect my job," he said. "It's just a way to relax and kick back for the night."Source: State Journal-Register (IL)Author: Jenifer Hanrahan, Copley News ServicePublished: July 14, 2002Copyright: 2002 The State Journal-RegisterContact: letters sj-r.comWebsite: http://www.sj-r.com/NORMLhttp://www.norml.org/CannabisNews - Cannabis Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/cannabis.shtml
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Comment #9 posted by kaptinemo on July 15, 2002 at 10:59:58 PT:
A Canadian view of the abject silliness of it all:
Letter from New York
Here in New York, the last line of homeland defense is now my doorman.http://www.globeandmail.com/series/field/stories/cernetig.html
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Comment #8 posted by Zero_G on July 15, 2002 at 10:33:00 PT
Standing tall against U.S. Imperialism in Bolivia
and supporting the rights of the indegenous peoples to survive and prosper against corporate interests...Evo Morales and the MAS party, the acronym translates to Movement Toward Socialism party.http://www.narconews.comNotice that Southwest's termination of an employee for something she did in her supposedly private life is something straight out of the Soviet Communist systemUnfair termination of workers is a distinctly communist phenomenon?!?!E_J, you know a lot about the Soviet Union. I'd suggest a little U.S. labor history to put that knowledge into perspective.For example, termination for labor organizing is common practice, and labor unions generally fight for workers rights.Southwest Airlines is a capitalist entity the last time I looked.
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Comment #7 posted by John Tyler on July 15, 2002 at 09:59:10 PT
Citizens Corp
How is the Citizens Corp any different from the Neighborhood Watch Committees in Communist Cuba, China or the old Soviet Union? Informing on your family and neighbors, for signs of anti state activities, everyone distrusting everyone else. Is this what the Republicrats and the Demicans really want? 
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Comment #6 posted by kaptinemo on July 15, 2002 at 06:50:42 PT:
Life imitating Art?
The Citizen Corps...hmmmm. Reminds me of something:The Night Watch on Babylon 5. And they'll serve the exact same purpose, too. Neighborhood informants whose victims get carted off to prison, torture and other horrors...for being insufficiently demonstrative of their 'patriotism' in 'supporting' an blatantly 'illegal' regime. (I hardly hold the Supreme Court to be the highest law body in the land when they voted to disenfranchise me and everyone who did not choose Dubya and install this flaming moron as Commander in Chief.)I wonder if they'll wear armbands, too? 
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Comment #5 posted by E_Johnson on July 14, 2002 at 17:39:34 PT
Stateless Communism -- Marx's dream
Notice that Southwest's termination of an employee for something she did in her supposedly private life is something straight out of the Soviet Communist system, but without the official role of the state in a state economy.This company is enacting government policy to annihilate the private life, as if these were all seamlessly welded together. Economy, government, private life, all under seamless control of the War on (Some) Drugs.This company is trying to act like it is a government, and one without a democratic or a due process. This company is extending its authority where the government doesn't even go. You can't be legally arrested if the police just know that you have smoked marijuana.Meanwhile we have drunken pilots, I mean pilots actually showing up to work drunk.This is really perverted and wrong and needs to be fought as hard as possible.
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Comment #4 posted by Lehder on July 14, 2002 at 17:28:59 PT
What can I do? How can I help?
Yes, millions of people who fancy themselves wearing a shiny badge and glossy boots want to join the citizens corps. Thanks, Prime, for the reference. Citizens Corps brings us the nation of snitches, beginning next month. It's the ultimate expression of a police state. Hard to believe but it's happening here. The total destruction of the social fabric, just as was done in communist Eastern Europe. " If your community is not listed below, please call your local
          officials to encourage them to start a Citizen Corps Council soon."
http://www.citizencorps.gov/council_st.html"On this site, you can learn more about each of the programs that are
           currently part of Citizen Corps. Think about where your skills and
           abilities are most needed. When you sign up for information, you will be
           contacted as soon as possible to let you know what your next steps
           should be.            The programs profiled on this site are only the beginning of the Citizen
           Corps initiative. As more programs are added, there will be more ways
           for you to contribute your time, energy, and creativity to make Citizen
           Corps and America even stronger."
http://www.citizencorps.gov/
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Comment #3 posted by freedom fighter on July 14, 2002 at 16:39:45 PT
Another professional bites the dust!
Flight Attendant Fired After Testifying At Westerfield TrialDenise Kemal (pictured, right), 28, says she was fired from her job with Southwest Airlines on June 28, two weeks after she took the stand in the trial of David Westerfield in San Diego. A spokeswoman for the Dallas-based airline says company policy states use of illegal drugs while off duty may result in termination. Kemal, who is now living in Florida, said losing her job has ruined her life. "I've always wanted to fly," she said. "It took me years to get my job." A spokeswoman for the Dallas-based airline confirmed that Kemal had been fired, but declined to elaborate. She said that company policy states the "illegal use of drugs, narcotics or controlled substances off duty and off company premises is not acceptable and may result in termination." Kemal said she felt obligated to testify against Westerfield. "I want to make sure he gets convicted," she said. "Because of him, it's just ruined everyone's lives." Supervisors at Southwest Airlines learned that she had smoked marijuana from customers who mailed in newspaper articles about her testimony, Kemal said. snipped
http://www.msnbc.com/local/KNSD/A1254261.asp?0bl=-0ff
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Comment #2 posted by Prime on July 14, 2002 at 13:34:10 PT
Stay in the closet...
The next step in the "War on Some Terror", domestic informants. "A pilot program, described on the government Web site www.citizencorps.gov, is scheduled to start next month in 10 cities, with 1 million informants participating in the first stage. Assuming the program is initiated in the 10 largest US cities, that will be 1 million informants for a total population of almost 24 million, or one in 24 people."http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/07/14/1026185141232.html
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Comment #1 posted by bongathon on July 14, 2002 at 11:20:06 PT:
Pot snobs
i smoke whatever weed is offered. whether it's Kind Bud (usually killer but sometimes weak "BC Bud") or Mexican (not too tasty but sometimes quite stony). i know people who won't smoke it if it has seeds. if a joint gets resiny then its gonna hit you if you hit it.
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