cannabisnews.com: Pot Provokes Paranoia Pot Provokes Paranoia Posted by CN Staff on September 19, 2002 at 10:40:40 PT By J.R. Reynolds Source: Reno News & Review One thing is for sure, Question 9, the marijuana initiative, is contentious. If I had any doubts about how black and white this issue was before my public debate with District Attorney Dick Gammick, they were quickly dispelled by the time we'd finished a two-hour show on KBDB-AM, which was broadcast live about a week ago. I swear, there were moments I felt as though I might be an alien trying vainly to communicate with earthlings. There is so much fear-mongering and misinformation thrown around by the "anti" forces that I get the feeling we are still living in the Stone Age.In this "age of reason," I find it hard to understand how any intelligent person would continue to believe that marijuana is anything but medicinal. We frequently hear government propagandists like Donna Shalala say that the "latest research" proves that marijuana "isn't harmless" like everyone has been saying. This would lead one to believe that it is indeed harmful to anyone who would partake of the "evil weed." As I tried in vain to point out to Mr. Gammick, there is no such thing as "harmless." Children die from swallowing a harmless toy or gumball or whatever. These are tragic occurrences, but are they preventable? Only if you put the kid in a bubble and keep him in there for life perhaps. Drinking pure water is surely harmless, and yet, a few people die every year from drinking too much water. (The body's electrolytic balance is upset, and the heart stops beating.) In this context, compared to other substances, marijuana is clearly not dangerous, but does not mean that it is absolutely "harmless". The unasked question: is being arrested "harmless?" Actually, it can be quite "dangerous." What is the latest research on that? In a perfect world, "we the people" might write legislation without all the legal verbiage that would simply say: "The people revoke, repeal and rescind all laws, statutes and regulations regarding the prohibition of marijuana and associated paraphernalia, order released all previous non-violent offenders convicted under these laws, and apologize for our stupidity." We have the opportunity here in Nevada to send a message to the rest of the country, that we are taking a big step toward restoring individual liberty and personal responsibility. Vote your conscience in November. But most importantly, vote! I highly (pardon the pun) recommend a book by Dr. Mitchell Earlywine, associate professor of psychology, University of Southern California, who wrote Understanding Marijuana. If you'd like to cut through the witch-hunt rhetoric and learn something about this very useful plant, do some research on your own. Do not rely on baseless information tossed about by the establishment. Make up your own mind on facts you have gathered through your own research. You'll be a better and more informed person for it. J.R. Reynolds lives in Reno. Source: Reno News & Review (NV)Author: J.R. ReynoldsPublished: September 19, 2002Copyright: 2002 Chico Community Publishing, Inc. Contact: webguy newsreview.comWebsite: http://www.newsreview.com/issues/reno/Related Articles & Web Sites:NRLEhttp://www.nrle.org/Marijuana Policy Projecthttp://www.mpp.org/Czar Plans Nevada Visit To Fight Pot Questionhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14162.shtmlDrug Czar To Lobby in Nevada http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14161.shtmlGoing to Pot: Nevada Plan to Legalize Marijuana http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14104.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #17 posted by afterburner on September 19, 2002 at 22:23:19 PT: Well said, JR If someone would collect all these anti-MMJ politicians, it would be a great aid to the voters in November. And kudos for your courageous letter. If more antis get this kind of well-reasoned info, they may stop hiding from the truth and do the right thing. Peace. [ Post Comment ] Comment #16 posted by FoM on September 19, 2002 at 16:51:10 PT Just Got This Posted! This is Good! Pot Initiative Leader Challenges Drug Czar http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread14179.shtml [ Post Comment ] Comment #15 posted by The GCW on September 19, 2002 at 16:46:09 PT Poll at 47%no, 53%yes... & REGISTER TO VOTE.The deadlline to register to vote is in app. 2 weeks, on Oct. 5th, (30 days before the election to RE-legalize using the cannabis plant).This Reno article ROCKS.Bribe, push, and drag Your friends and family in to help bring the most basic common sense to cannabis laws in NV.Register even the mice used in the government experiments... Register Register Register Nevada, will not hear that great sucking sound Ross Perot was talking about. KaCHING, will be more like it!Instead of Nv. LYNCHMEN getting a piece of their cut using the CAGE, NV. will get it the old fashion way. They will tax it. [ Post Comment ] Comment #14 posted by mayan on September 19, 2002 at 16:22:29 PT Billy Rogers on Art Bell! Last night Billy Rogers from Nevadans for Responsible Law Enforcement(NRLE)was on "Coast to Coast" - Art Bell's radio show(broadcast from Parumph,Nevada)!!! He was on for the first full hour discussing Question 9. "Coast to Coast" is by far the most widely listened to night-time radio show, broadcast world-wide. Art is all for Question 9 & has tens of thousands of hard-core fans in Nevada alone. Art said that according to the latest poll he had seen it was a dead heat & it's proponents seemed to have the momentum! It was awesome! Rogers was very articulate & Art asked very good questions. This was great publicity! Rogers said it was critical that NRLE keeps airing commercials through October to counter the government's propaganda. If anyone would like to support Question 9 & donate to NRLE or just view the commercials, go to:http://www.nrle.org/I couldn't find transcripts to the show & you have to pay to listen to past shows. Here is Art's site though: http://artbell.com/ [ Post Comment ] Comment #13 posted by JR Bob Dobbs on September 19, 2002 at 14:27:03 PT "Marijuana Causes Insanity... In Non-Smokers" That's telling them where to stick it! That's very inspirational. Since I've had most of a day to get used to the idea that my Libertarian gubernatorial candidate Cal Skinner isn't against the drug war, I took your lead and composed Mr. Skinner a letter describing what I see as a missed opportunity.-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-Mr. Skinner, I read with great dismay your recent comments regarding the marijuana issue. I feel you missed an opportunity to show the voters how the Libertarians are dramatically different from the Demo-publicans. In my opinion, Rod Blagojevich's admitting to his past marijuana use while continuing to support laws against that same activity smack of hypocrisy. The issue is not whether he successfully took smoke into his lungs, but that he supports clogging the courts and the prisons with non-violent marijuana offenders. More succintly: the problem is incarceration, not inhalation. He supports funneling money to terrorist organizations because he is in favor of prohibition and the black market it creates. (Surely you remember the full-page ads the Libertarian party ran earlier this year?) Do your opponents support DEA raids on sick and dying people such as the recent WAMM raids in California? Do you? Now, I read that you're new to this Libertarian thing, and you came from the Republican party. There are a number of people in both parties who would be glad to talk this issue over with you. There are problems inherent in various drugs, which people will use whether they are legal or not - and then there are problems caused by our attempts to block access to these drugs. Alcohol kills 150,000 people per year, yet nobody wishes a return to the days of Al Capone. Talk to Lyn Nofziger, Harry Browne, Gary Johnson, or Judge James Gray. There are a lot of sensible conservatives who support an end to the war on drugs with many good reasons to back them up. I would also like to add that I do not condone what your artist friend did in the least. Sneaking psychoactive substances into someone else's bloodstream is the wrong thing to do, and could still be illegal even if marijuana were legalized. For an idea of the regulations which could be involved in legal marijuana, take a look at the recent Canadian Senate Committee report:http://www.parl.gc.ca/37/1/parlbus/commbus/senate/com-e/ille-e/rep-e/summary-e.pdf I think one of the strongest planks of the Libertarian party is their call for an end to the drug war. I'll bet it's also one of their biggest vote-getters. Had you come out against the drug war, you could have shown Illinois voters a choice many people think they'll never be given a chance to make. All without being invited to a debate or paying for a single ad. Cal Skinner For Governor of Illinois [ Post Comment ] Comment #12 posted by DdC on September 19, 2002 at 14:03:10 PT Pisstasting for Profits and Political Gain!!! Last result was 290 for pisstasting and 227 against!!!Official Corruption: Carlton Turner webmaster lubbockonline.comIn all the research this author has done about the misapplication of public funds and trusts, nothing, it seems, compares with the either totally ignorant or willful manslaughter of fellow Americans by the bureaucrats and politicians of the following story: One Man & His Drug ScamsPhony Paraquat Kits During the 1978 Mexican marijuana paraquat scare, and while still a private citizen working for the state of Mississippi marijuana farm, this same Carlton Turner called High Times magazine to advertise a paraquat tester. Unknown to Turner, High Times was not accepting ads for any paraquat testers because all evidence showed the testers didn't work. Dean Latimer then a High Times associate editor, strung Turner along in virtually daily phone conversations for a month, listening to Turner talk about how much money Turner was going to make from sales of the device. High Times wanted to see a sample. When Turner delivered his prototype version of the paraquat test kit to High Times, it was a total "Rube Goldberg" type rip-off, "just like the dozen or so phony kits other companies tried to buy ad space for at this time," wrote Latimer in an article published in 1984. Turner apparently never thought High Times was ethical enough to check the contraption out. He assumed they would just take the ad money and run print the ad and make Turner rich. He didn't care if some kid died or was bilked out of money believing in his bogus paraquat test kit. After this attempted mail fraud, this man became President Reagan's national drug czar in 1981, recommended by George Bush and Nancy Reagan. Poisoning Pot Smokers In August and September, 1983, Turner went on national television to justify the illegal marijuana spraying (by plane) of paraquat in Georgia, Kentucky, and Tennessee by the DEA. He said it would teach a lesson to any kid who died from paraquat-poisoned pot. Turner was forced to resign after announcing his conclusions in public that marijuana caused homosexuality, the breakdown of the immune system, and, therefore, AIDS. Looking into the therapeutic potential of cannabis is the most controlled and discouraged research, but any tests pursuing negative or harmful effects of cannabis are promoted. Since these tests often backfire or are inconclusive, even this research is rare. Turner quoted "The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire" to show how jazz (rock) singers are eroding the America "he" loves with this hallucinogenic drug marijuana! Which he meant to stamp out. A Wanton Disregard For Life Turner even said that he doesn't even care if hundreds of kids die from smoking pot the federal government has deliberately sprayed with paraquat. Then at the April 25, 1985, PRIDE conference in Atlanta, Georgia, with Nancy Reagan and 16 foreign First Ladies in attendance (including Imelda Marcos), Turner called for the death penalty for drug dealers. Turner was, after all, Reagan's, Bush's, and the pharmaceutical companies' own hired gun, who saw his entire mission as not against heroin, PCP, or cocaine, but to wipe out pot and jazz/rock music Urine Testing Company After his resignation, Turner joined with Robert DuPont and former head of NIDA, Peter Bensinger, to corner the market on urine testing. They contracted as advisors to 250 of the largest corporations to develop drug diversion, detection, and urine testing programs. After his resignation, Turner joined with Robert L. DuPont and former head of NIDA, Peter Bensinger to corner the market on urine testing. Meet the New Czar Same as The Old CzarsPhilanthropy Roundtable John P. Walters President http://www.philanthropyroundtable.org/1.1/pubnote1.htmlACS - Division of Analytical Chemistry John P. Walters 1980 ... http://www.acs-analytical.duq.edu/dac_awards.html America’s New Drug Pushers/John P Walters http://pub3.ezboard.com/fendingcannabisprohibitionprohibitionistwodjunkies.showMessage?topicID=42.topicHypocristy http://www.cannabinoid.com/boards/politics/media/36/36306.gifWod Junkies http://pub3.ezboard.com/fendingcannabisprohibitionprohibitionistwodjunkiesSoon after Turner left office, Nancy Reagan recommended that no corporation be permitted to do business with the Federal government without having a urine purity policy in place to show their loyalty. Just as G. Gordon Liddy went into high-tech corporate security after his disgrace, Carlton Turner became a rich man in what has now become a huge growth industry: urine-testing. This kind of business denies the basic rights of privacy, self-incrimination (Fifth Amendment) rights, unreasonable search and seizure, and the presumption of innocence (until proven guilty). Submission to the humiliation of having your most private body parts and functions observed by a hired voyeur is now the test of eligibility for private employment, or to contract for a living wage. Turner's new money-making scheme demands that all other Americans relinquish their fundamental right to privacy and self-respect. Bush Strikes AgainPresident Ronald Reagan, at the urging of then Vice President George Bush, appointed Carlton Turner as the White House Drug (czar) Advisor in 1981. At conventions (1981-1986) of pharmaceutical companies and their lobbyist the American Chemical Manufacturers, Turner promised to continue the research ban on the 400 chemical compounds of cannabis. Bush managed to continue to direct this effort, simply by not allowing any grants for private or public research with a positive implication to be issued by NIDA or NIH, or approved any recent FDA applications unless they pursued negative results. As of this writing (July 1998) President Clinton's policy has remained the same. The Ultimate Hypocrasy http://www.jackherer.com/book/ch14.html Scroll to Bottom [ Post Comment ] Comment #11 posted by FoM on September 19, 2002 at 13:54:06 PT Windminstrel Do you know if any Libertarians are running for election in Ohio? I really would like to know. [ Post Comment ] Comment #10 posted by Windminstrel on September 19, 2002 at 13:47:35 PT VitaminT As a Libertarian, I hear the same thing from my Republican friends. "Stop stealing the election", as if I were being fickle or something. They're not representing my wishes, so to hell with 'em! [ Post Comment ] Comment #9 posted by FoM on September 19, 2002 at 13:45:21 PT VitaminT I think it is good to write like you and others are. That's how change happens. I don't follow who is running for what because I am always looking for news about Cannabis. Has any one politican that is running for election stood against the drug war seriously? I really don't know. [ Post Comment ] Comment #8 posted by VitaminT on September 19, 2002 at 13:37:37 PT I just got this letter . . . asking me to . . . Urge Greens Not to Sabotage Senate ControlApparently Paul Wellstone can't fend for himself in his Senate race and as usual it's somebody else's fault! AAAAWWW! Last I heard he was still riding on the Drug War Bandwagon. Below is my response Trash me if you like! ___________________________________________________________ Hate to see the Republicans gain control but. . . .Mr. Wellstone could wake up and call for an end to the failed War on Drugs or make a few statements critical of it and win the race on his own merits. So why won't he do it? You want ME to tell the GREENS to shut up? If the Democrats want my vote again they're gonna have to show a little spine and STOP ARRESTING POT SMOKERS AND MEDICAL CANNABIS PATIENTS! If you value your narrow little majority I suggest you re-evaluate your party line!And yes, I've been DYING to tell you that! [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by FoM on September 19, 2002 at 13:00:34 PT ariel With a little practice we all figure it out. Welcome to Cannabis News. [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by VitaminT on September 19, 2002 at 13:00:30 PT Posted earlier - we're still gettin' spanked! Go to the link below and let your voice be heard! For now at least we're gettin' spanked! GO VOTE!Do you support a drug testing policy for students who participate in extracurricular activities? Yes. ----------------------------------(59%) = 282 No. -----------------------------------(40%) = 192 I don't know enough about the subject. (0%) = 2TOTAL 476 Scroll to the bottom [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by ariel on September 19, 2002 at 12:48:05 PT: medical weed, hemp sorry, i meant DdC's--and others'--comments BELOW! in this unfamiliar format. good reading here anyway. paso again talkin' [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by ariel on September 19, 2002 at 12:44:40 PT: medical weed, hemp what a brilliant comment above by DdC about the current state of medical weed and hemp as it pits itself in its noble role against the corrupt sectors of american industrial, political and cultural society. a paso robles, california observer [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by st1r_dude on September 19, 2002 at 12:44:02 PT journalism at its finest - again... good to see common sense in the media -In a perfect world, "we the people" might write legislation without all the legal verbiage that would simply say: "The people revoke, repeal and rescind all laws, statutes and regulations regarding the prohibition of marijuana and associated paraphernalia, order released all previous non-violent offenders convicted under these laws, and apologize for our stupidity." something like this would make me proud of our lawmakers, unfortunately, it most likely won't happen - (not in my lifetime, for sure)prerequisite for becoming a politician: throw away all common sense, and suck up to big business as hard as humanly possible...take a look at washington, and that's what you'll see. [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by krutch on September 19, 2002 at 11:05:03 PT: We Mirror our Superiors G.W. Bush is a moron, so is Donna Shalala. If MJ has to be harmless to be used as medicine, then all medicines that are not harmless should be taken off the market. The author astutely points out that nothing is harmless. I have never heard anyone on the legalization side of the issue say it is harmless. Not being able to eat is harmful. I don';t think even Donna Shalala would argue that point. If MJ helps people on chemotherapy eat then the relatively minor side effects of smoking MJ should not be an impement to them getting this drug. We are a country that allows old men to take a dangerous drug to get erections again. Why can't people who are critically or terminally ill get their medicine? [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by DdC on September 19, 2002 at 10:59:10 PT I Was Wondering...Still! Cannabis, is it or is it not medicine. Is cannabis as harmful as tobacco or alcohol. Does tobacco contain over 600 undisclosed additives? Were these additives discussed by the Congress as possibly effecting the health of a smoker? Would these chemicals have an effect when comparing tobacco to cannabis? Do the prohibitionist ever disclose this when they compare tobacco to cannabis? Is it competition out of the way under prohibition? Is prohibition more costly to society in monetary terms and human suffering? Does it provide the prison industry (construction, linen, food, vehicles, guards, uniforms, etc) huge profits and the government taxes on these profits? Are there 2 million prisoners? Are 60% of these non-violent drug offenders? Does the Bush family have stock in the prison food supply industry? Cannabis in its hemp stage has or has not the greatest mass of any plant or animal? Does cotton require 270 million tons of chemicals, does flax destroy the soil and is soybeans hard on seniors digestive tracts? Can cannabis sativa (helpful hemp)grow almost anywhere, aerating the soil, without the chemicals (growing wild in many states providing 99.28% of the cannabis eradications in the US) replace cotton? Is it competition out of the way under prohibition? Do living trees filter up to 5000 gallons of water each day? Do they require more chemicals than any process in paper making? Is hemp stronger than trees? Does it have greter yield? Do tree's provide oxygen? Do they remove carbon dioxide? Do they support thousands of living species in a co-operation that can not survive when they are hewn down? Can hemp replace the industrial use of trees? Is it competition out of the way under prohibition? Is meat the best source of protein? Does it cause health problems? Do poor countries without meat have the same diseases as countries using meat? Do cows require 80% of the US agriculture in grains? Have these corporate grain farms half emptied the Midwest fresh water underground reservoir called Ogalala with irrigation? Are dairy products nutritional? Do waste from daily cow bathings run off into the drinking water? Are corporations burning tropical rain forest to graze cows? Is Hemp Seed the most nutritionally complete food source known to man? Is it used by cultures? Is it competition out of the way under prohibition? Is the use of fossil fuels the most devastating thing to ever hit humanity? Do 15,000 gallons leak into lakes rivers and streams each year? Do crude oil gasoline fueled cars emit harmful emissions? Do they contain lead and sulfur adding to the acid rain? Do they burn as clean as biomass? Could all of the nuclear, coal, crude and natural gas fossil fuels be replace with hemp biomass? Does Bush have crude oil interest? Did Henry Ford shelve a hemp/soybean biomass fueled automobile in the 30's? Did he produce and shelve an auto body from hemp and soybean fiber steel? Is petroleum carcinogenic? Is asphalt from crude tar breaking down and contaminating the soil and water? Do we really have to "protect" our oil rights with wars in South America, Vietnam, Kuwait, Iraq, Albania, and do states producing oil have the harshest cannabis sentencing? Are the herbicides pesticides made from crude oil? Can Hemp replace crude oil and fossil fuels? Is it a lubricant? Does hemp plastic biodegrade in compost? Is it legal? Is it grown in over 30 countries worldwide? Is it imported at higher cost? Is it on the list of things to become illegal? Can hemp produce paint. Can hemp make paper without the crude chemicals used in process the less cellulose tree paper? Can hemp grow without the crude oil pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers? Is it competition out of the way under prohibition? Many have passionate reasons for choosing the side they stand on, many will profit from prohibition on both sides. The urine tester labs and the labs that make the antidotes to urine testing. The lawyers defending and prosecuting. The Bars and Taverns, Tobacco and hard drug dealers. The growers and the cops, the prisons, peddlers and pharmacies. The drunks released if they snitch and the prohibitionist propagandist receiving corporate funding. And they all spend it on everything advertised putting a big smily face on the tax collector.Is it competition out of the way under prohibition? Who makes money growing it for personal use at home? No one, and maybe thats also why its illegal. No taxes, and it doesn't raise the GDP. Peace,Love and Liberty or the Merchants of D.E.A.th! DdCRelease Petition 90 Years for 5 plants! http://hr95.org/geddes.petition.htm Free James Geddes http://hr95.org/Geddes,J.htmlI LOST MY FREEDOM Linx http://pub3.ezboard.com/fendingcannabisprohibitionlinx.showMessage?topicID=22.topicThe Real Price of Prisons http://www.motherjones.com/prisonsDubya and Me: We've Got No Idea http://www.motherjones.com/magazine/MJ01/dubya.htmlDefrauding America http://www.defraudingamerica.comPower concedes nothing without a demand. It never did, and it never will. Find out just what people will submit to, and you have found out the exact amount of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them; and these will continue until they are resisted with either words or blows, or with both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress. Frederick Douglass, August 4, 1857 Nazism or WoD [ Post Comment ] Post Comment