cannabisnews.com: Thompson Family Feels the Impact of Marijuana





Thompson Family Feels the Impact of Marijuana
Posted by CN Staff on October 28, 2002 at 13:02:29 PT
By Erica D. Johnson, Las Vegas Sun
Source: Las Vegas Sun 
Kelly Thompson used to think that marijuana should be legalized. Then her mother, Sun Associate Editor and Vice President Sandy Thompson, was killed in August in a car crash caused by a driver under the influence of pot.Now Kelly Thompson has become a vocal opponent of a state ballot measure to make possession of 3 ounces or less legal. "Before any of this happened, I thought, 'Why not? It doesn't hurt anybody. It's all about the right to freedom,' " she said Friday.
"But now I think, 'What about my mother's freedom to live?' "Kelly Thompson and her father, Gary, spoke at a rally outside the Las Vegas Sun building along with other opponents of Question 9, the marijuana initiative.The rally was taped for a television ad, which will air this week. Several community leaders, law enforcement officials and area pastors attended.Most people who attended the rally listed safety on Las Vegas Valley roadways as the primary reason voters should defeat the initiative."Most of the people who would vote yes already use marijuana, even though it's against the law," Kelly Thompson said. "What makes us think these people would obey the law by not driving under the influence?"Police said the driver of the car that crashed into Sandy Thompson had a large amount of marijuana in his system and was traveling at least 20 mph over the speed limit.John Simbrat, 21, has pleaded guilty to driving under the influence of a controlled or prohibited substance causing death and is scheduled to be sentenced to four to 20 years in prison on Dec. 9.Gary Thompson said it angers him that most of the proponents of the initiatives don't even live in Nevada."If this passes, they will go home, and Nevada will be left to deal with the financial, physical and emotional costs this will cause," he said. "We don't want anyone else to go through what we went through since Sandy's death."Proponents of Question 9 say the initiative provides for strict penalties for those who drive under the influence of the drug.But Chief Deputy District Attorney Gary Booker, who attended the rally, said his job would be a lot more difficult if the initiative were to pass."There will be a lot more incidents of people being killed on the roads, and I will have no tools with which to prosecute these people," he said.Booker, who is in charge of the district attorney's Vehicular Crimes Unit, said Clark County sees about 8,000 DUIs each year. About 20 to 30 percent of those accidents involve marijuana or other drugs, he said.Representatives of law enforcement agencies including Metro Police, Nevada Highway Patrol and North Las Vegas Police also attended the rally.NHP spokesman Jim Olschlager said legalized marijuana would cause local law enforcement agencies to be even more short-staffed than they already are because there will be more accidents."We're already short-manned enough," he said. "We respond from accident to accident as it is. We see fatal accidents every day for a living. Many of them are caused by DUI. If Question 9 were to pass, it would be a lot worse."Source: Las Vegas Sun (NV)Author: Erica D. Johnson, Las Vegas SunPublished: October 28, 2002 Copyright: 2002 Las Vegas Sun, Inc.Contact: letters lasvegassun.comWebsite: http://www.lasvegassun.com/Related Articles & Web Sites:NRLEhttp://www.nrle.org/Marijuana Policy Projecthttp://www.mpp.org/Thompsons Make Arguments Against Pot Initiative http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14577.shtmlEmotions Run High Over Marijuana Initiative http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14569.shtmlPot Initiative Opponents Plan Rally at Newspaperhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14558.shtml 
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Comment #22 posted by p4me on October 30, 2002 at 19:52:11 PT
The guy lacked good sense
You just have to do some basic thinking on the subject of speed to know that speed kills. It is something so basic that it hardly seems worth mentioning. Maybe the fact that people routinely speed in Las Vegas would be addressed by the police authoritiues if they were not so busy politicing for continued marijuana prohibition. People that have good sense do not do 20 miles an hour over the speed limit because they have made a decision on the issue and integrate it into their lives.There are millions of those speed demons out their and it is a mania that needs addressing. It would be addressed but the faster people drive the more gas they consume and we all know that the all powerful want gas consumed.I have given lectures to people and made conditions that they not drive like an idiot while I am in the car. People just don't think about what a difference of 5 miles an hour makes in whether a crash results in a fatality or not.I say the guy made a display of poor judgement by speeding and it was an idiotic thing to do. I am on the same roads as everyone else and I have a problem with speeders because speed kills.Now this guy is just 21 years old and has a lot to learn and hopefully he will learn to control his speeding. Everything is about living and learning. But that is a lot of what people think about marijuana. Now the two demons that plawue society are of course alcohol and tobacco and all you have to do to know that the war on drugs is a big farce is to look at the way the government attacks the problems caused by these demons. Now personally, if I had a kid coming up I would want him to have marijuana , because it is not addictive when seen in the light of T&A andit is a habit that can be dropped.The problem with the demon drugs is that they areso addictive and damaging to a person's health. A young person might well learn what addiction is after one pack of cigarettes and it may be a habit he cn never quit even though the habit may be abandoned several times in hopes of permanent escape. Tabacco is one drug that needs to be held up as the poster child of addiction. That is not the way children should learn about addiction.There is not enough plain talk about what alcohol can do to a person either as we all know. There are plenty of people that have lived and learned about the dangers of alcohol. I have. I do not let people drink on my property and I no longer crutch people that have been broken by alcohol. On tabacco, I say whatever you do don't start. On alcohol, I say beware. On marijuana, Isay that is the way to go. Have your life lesson's with that and at least you can escape it.And having formed an opinion of the state of the drivers on the road, I surely wish people would slow down. I wonder how many people get killed because someone does not know how ro use a VCR. If you want more time in your life, you could eliminate the 16 minutes of commercials in an hour of television watching.1
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Comment #21 posted by Lilsislv on October 30, 2002 at 15:07:18 PT:
Replying to Krutch
I do agree with you that he was speeding. But I'd also like to say you don't know him therefore you dont know that he is truly an idiot. Have you EVER driven on these roads out here in Vegas, there are far more idiots on the road who are driving either EXTREMELY fast or EXTREMELY slow. I must say I agree with most of what you said - except him being an idiot. John has never been to jail/prison before and our jails out here are overcrowded anyways. Personally, I think he'll get out alot sooner then what most think, just because he's never had anything but speeding tickets. 
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Comment #20 posted by lilsislv on October 30, 2002 at 15:02:11 PT:
Agreeing with mayan
I am replying to your comment because it caught my eye. I am "the drivers"  exgirlfriend. I drove with John many of times while he was under the influence of marijauna. The Highway Patrol guy said that John had 7 times the legal limit of marijuana in his blood, but here's my questions.. How long does marijuana stay in your system?! I know him & his family. As hard as it is for the family of Ms. Thompson maybe they should open their eyes and see more people die from drunk drivers then drivers under the influence of drugs. But, yeah automoblies should be banned - especially here in Vegas.
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Comment #19 posted by whatever on October 29, 2002 at 07:50:08 PT
yawn
just another tactic by the W.O.D to confuse the issue on question 9 and emotionalize it in a negative light in a (hopefully) vain attempt to sway the voters who are swaying around the middle.
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Comment #18 posted by Sam Adams on October 29, 2002 at 06:52:34 PT
scary
....they can use one sensationalized death to justify taking away the freedom of thousands.Just think what they can do with Sept. 11th!
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Comment #17 posted by DdC on October 29, 2002 at 01:52:17 PT
Now they are Looking down from above...
To Stop the war on people using cannabis...Many die needlessly...Many children lose parents. Some die and some are caged. Because of Buzzards and Chickenhawks molesting children in mourning to seek vengeance. To protect the cops from the citizens choosing a plant over chemicals. Wake up and see what is really going on Kelly. Its not the pot. Thats a red herring. I think Sandy has a good vantage point now to see the bigger picture. Maybe she can guide her family to the truth...D.E.A.th robbed them of Life. As this Fascism coup is robbing all of us. Here is what your WoD Hysteria produces!!! D.E.A.th & Taxes...DdC"In a civilised society, it is the duty of all citizens to obey just laws. But at the same time it is the duty of all citizens to disobey unjust laws." - Martin Luther King Jr.War on Drugs Can Claim a Deadly Victory
http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread14389.shtmlRelax Your Muscles as Much as Possible'
http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread14571.shtmlSPR - Stop Prisoner Rape
http://www.spr.org/The Real Price of Prisons 
http://www.motherjones.com/prisonsPLAN COLOMBIA TARGETS OIL, NOT DRUGS
The U.S. imports more oil from Latin America than from the Persian Gulf, so it makes sense that Plan Colombia is as much about oil and trade as it is about drugs.
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=11242AGENT ORANGE ALL OVER AGAIN
U.S. spraying of potent herbicides in Colombia is causing serious environmental and health consequences while doing nothing to curb drug production. 
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=11269FLEEING FROM THE DRUG WAR
Renee Boje, a medical marijuana advocate caught up in the drug war, has fled to Canada for asylum. Will Canadian authorities turn her over to U.S. cops?
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=11240THE OTHER DRUG WAR
The pharmaceutical industry is making record profits thanks to research subsidies, patent protection, and unregulated pricing. Result: the U.S. is the world leader in drug development, yet has the highest prescription drug prices.
http://www.prospect.org/print/V4/14/love-j.htmlDRUG WAR TAKES A STRANGE TURN OVER THE COUNTER
One store owner has been locked up for selling legal, over-the-counter diet aids to an undercover DEA agent because they can be made into methamphetamines.
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n1330/a05.htmlTAINTED THINKING
Drug tests are becoming a class ritual. Workplace testing is increasingly an indignity reserved for the poor.
http://www.laweekly.com/ink/01/33/independence-ehrenreich.shtmlDRUG WAR BRIEFS: U.S. AND THEM
This week in the drug war: Can't grow in Colombia? Just move to Peru ... Vietnam II building in South America ... NY Cops doled out drugs to addicts ... Canada vs. United States.
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=11239THE POLICE STATE COMETH by Rep.Ron PaulThe emotional frenzy surrounding the war on drugs has allowed Federal police powers to escalate rapidly into the areas of financial privacy, gun ownership, border controls and virtually all
other aspects of law enforcement. Many see this trend as dangerous to our liberties while doing little or nothing to solve the problems of violence, gang wars, deterioration of the inner cities
or the decline of the public educational system. http://www.house.gov/paul/congrec/congrec97/cr062597b.htm"Not One Tear Forgotten"
http://www.letfreedomgrow.com/articles/not_one_tear_forgotten.htmConstitutional Patriots Opposing Prohibition Http://www.cpop.orgGreenpanthers http://www.greenpanthers.org"Behind Czarist 'Truths' - Deception No Way To Wage Drug War,"
http://www.n-jcenter.com/2002/Sep/26/OPN2.htmPeter McWilliams: 1950 Đ> 2000
"As a result, his AIDS viral load, which had been "undetectable," soared to dangerous levels. Peter was also very fragile psychologically. Aggravated by his health and legal problems, he often suffered from debilitating bouts of depression. Certainly, he was badly damaged by being in federal detention, and he knew from that experience that he could not
survive very long if he were sent to prison. Peter McWilliam's Memorial Page http://www.freedomtoexhale.com/Peterm.htmThe Murder of Peter McWilliams
http://pub3.ezboard.com/fendingcannabisprohibitionwhyitstimetolegalize.showMessage?topicID=293.topicRainbow Farm Massacre articles and websites
http://pub3.ezboard.com/fendingcannabisprohibitionwhyitstimetolegalize.showMessage?topicID=292.topicRainbow Farm Massacre http://www.mapinc.org/find?200Fatal Ending: Vandalia Standoff Claims 2nd Life
http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread10827.shtmlWhite Plume Hemp Crop Destroyed Again
http://pub3.ezboard.com/fendingcannabisprohibitionwhyitstimetolegalize.showMessage?topicID=290.topicL.A. Forfeiture Squads Kill California Millionaire
http://pub3.ezboard.com/fendingcannabisprohibitionwhyitstimetolegalize.showMessage?topicID=29.topicU.S. vs Boyll Native American Church
http://pub3.ezboard.com/fendingcannabisprohibitionstuff.showMessage?topicID=76.topicEd Rosenthal Raided and Arrested by DEA/New King George
http://pub3.ezboard.com/fendingcannabisprohibitionprohibitionistwodjunkies.showMessage?topicID=52.topicDEA implements US police state
http://www.cannabisculture.com/articles/2281.htmlDrug Czar Accused of Supporting Terror
http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread12099.shtmlNASA GISS: Tracking Carbon Dioxide Emissions from Fossil Fuel Burning
http://www.giss.nasa.gov/research/intro/matthews.01/Judge Orders Cheney Records Released 
http://www.truthout.com/02.28AA.Judge.Cheney.htmBush Flatly Refuses to Hand Over Energy Papers       http://www.truthout.com/docs_02/03.15A.Bush.Refuses.htmBush's Stealth Policy on Nuclear Arms            http://www.truthout.com/docs_02/03.13H.Bush.Stealth.NMD.htmCannabis Fuel            
http://www.angelfire.com/ca7/ddc/Fuel.htmlhttp://www.hempcar.org Bushit Cheneynagans D.E.A.th & Oil!
http://pub3.ezboard.com/fendingcannabisprohibitionprohibitionistwodjunkies.showMessage?topicID=53.topicWalters the Tzarrorist
http://boards.marihemp.com/boards/politics/media/39/39850.jpg"No class or group or party in Germany could escape its share of responsibility for the abandonment of the democratic Republic and the advent of Adolf Hitler. The cardinal error of the Germans who opposed Nazism was their failure to unite against it. ....the 63% of the German people who expressed their opposition to Hitler were much too divided and shortsighted to combine against a common danger which they must have known would overwhelm them unless they united, HOWEVER TEMPORARY, to stamp it out." -William L. Shirer,
Rolling Stone: America's War on Drugs
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Comment #16 posted by CorvallisEric on October 29, 2002 at 00:55:13 PT
Candidate apologizes for very horrible accusation
>>> Assembly candidate Larry Martin said he will mail a notice to 12,500 Reno voters correcting an earlier mailer erroneously stating that Assemblywoman Sheila Leslie supports Nevada’s controversial marijuana initiative.Leslie, a Democrat, asked that her Republican opponent apologize to voters after she received a mailer that claimed she supports Question 9, the ballot measure that would legalize possession of up to 3 ounces of marijuana by people over 21.Martin said he based that claim on Leslie’s votes on other marijuana measures previously considered by the Legislature and by statements made to him by other people that he now acknowledges to be incorrect.“There is an apology coming,” said Martin, 64. “If there was a mistake made, I’m willing to admit it.” More in linked article. I'm being flooded by mail for a Republican candidate for State Senate who makes his Democratic opponent look really good. "The pledge of allegiance is under attack" "opposes mandatory minimum ..." etc.
Assembly candidate to correct mistakes in mailer
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Comment #15 posted by DdC on October 29, 2002 at 00:21:30 PT
Bad Link?...ouweeeeeou...
Comment #13 posted by DdC on October 28, 2002 at 22:37:18 PT Knockout Gas Proves Deadly in MoscowLink Is collapsing my screen. 7 times.I can reach http://www.cognitiveliberty.org, then it collapses trying to reach the story. Spooks? 
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Comment #14 posted by DdC on October 28, 2002 at 22:38:53 PT
Bad Moon Rising
From: ARON KAY
Date: Sun Oct 27, 2002 1:19 pmthe article is by stew albert who was a member of the yippies....if you have any questions re: the article....please contact stew via stewa aol.comBad Moon RisingPaul Wellstone's plane went down on Oct 25. His wife, pilot, daughter and campaign aides perished with him. Nobody knows why it went down, but I'm betting Ashcroft put on a curse on the plane. Wellstone is the second individual on Ashcroft's enemies list to perish in a private plane crash. The first was his opponent in the Senatorial election, who went on to run as a corpse and beat him.Wellstone in the Senate was an impossible dream. Imagine a left-wing Jewish college professor with an amateur wrestling background getting elected to the US Senate, forget about it, it's not going to happen, but it did. He won two terms in office and was on his way to a third. This despite the White House handpicking his opponent and shadowy right wing foundations spending millions on a slander Wellstone campaign. Appropriately, Paul Wellstone's last vote was against war with Iraq.Wellstone's death forces me to think how dangerous it is to become an influential liberal in America. There doesn't seem to be much longevity in it. Remember JFK and RFK and Martin Luther King? Who all fell by assassination. And labor leader Walter Reuther who went down in a plane crash? And Allard Lowenstein who was murdered? The death of these very powerful liberals helped change the political face of America. With these people gone, it was a lot easier for the right-wing to take power. Wellstone's passing makes it that much easier for the Bush gang. And of course big shot conservatives all seem to die rich, old and in their beds surrounded by greedy relatives. On Oct 26 people all over the world demonstrated against the Bush war with Iraq. And many thousands were in the streets of St. Paul. Minnesota, Wellstone's hometown. The extremely large crowd was a passionate tribute to Paul Wellstone and his fighting dream...Stew"This legislation is terrible for working families and it rewards the predatory and irresponsible lending by banks and credit card companies which fed the crisis in the first place. For that reason, a broad coalition of consumer groups, unions, women's and children's groups, civil rights organizations, and religious groups have united in opposition to this bill." --Senator Paul WellstoneARON KAY- http://www.pieman.orgRelated...DdCColombia Report
http://www.colombiareport.orgCritics Detail Risks of Colombian Coca Spraying
http://www.corpwatch.org/news/PND.jsp?articleid=4229Toxic Drift: Monsanto and the Drug War in Colombia
http://www.corpwatch.org/issues/PID.jsp?articleid=669
June 21, 2001  A prominent U.S. Senator and other government officials from both Washington and Bogotá stood on a Colombian mountainside above fields of lime-green coca -- the plant sacred to Andean Indians, but also the source of the troublesome drug cocaine. They were awaiting a demonstration of aerial herbicide spraying, part of the U.S. drug war in Colombia. The spectacle, put on by the U.S. embassy in Bogotá last December, was supposed to address Senator Paul Wellstone's doubts about the accuracy and safety of the U.S.-sponsored drug fumigation program. Wellstone, a Democrat from Minnesota, is a fierce critic of military aid to Colombia and the demonstration needed to come off without a hitch, to win him over to the use of aerially sprayed herbicides. The night before, U.S. officials had responded to the Senator's skeptical questions by assuring him that the spraying would target coca fields without harming food crops. "They had said that by using satellite images they could hit very precisely targets without any chance of danger to surrounding crops" said Jim Farrell, Wellstone's spokesperson, who was also there. However that turned out not to be the case. "On the very first flyover by the cropduster, the U.S. Senator, the U.S. Ambassador to Colombia, the Lieutenant Colonel of the Colombian National Police, and other Embassy and congressional staffers were fully doused -- drenched, in fact -- with the sticky, possibly dangerous (herbicide) Roundup.""Imagine what is happening when a high-level congressional delegation is not present," Farrell noted, pointing out that careful preparation had gone into the botched flyover. Wellstone left Colombia completely unconvinced by the Embassy.Sen. Paul Wellstone killed in a plane crash
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/25/politics/25CND-CRASH.htmlSen. Paul Wellstone
http://wellstone.senate.govSen. Paul Wellstone Killed in Plane Crash 
http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14557.shtmlFighting The Drug War from The Treatment Front
http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread8897.shtmlBomb Discovered Before Visit of Senator
http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread7838.shtml 'Passionate and Principled'
http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/14/thread14563.shtml"Bomb discovered in Colombia before visit of U.S. senator, ambassador December 1, 2000
http://www.cnn.com/2000/WORLD/americas/12/01/colombia.wellstone.03/ ""Police Thwart Assassination Attempt on Senator Paul Wellstone 
http://mediafilter.org/caq/BushFamilyPreys.html "The Family That Preys Together by Jack Colhoun
http://www.krcg.com/now/story/0,1597,167370-324,00.shtmlHERBICIDE DOUSES U.S. SENATOR
http://www.americas.org/news/nir/20001210_herbicide_douses_u_s_senator.aspMonsanto Bush Carlucci
http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A39001-2000Dec21.html "Monsanto Company, an 85 percent owned subsidiary of Pharmacia Corporation." 
http://microrim.samovar.ru "On April 3, 2000, a new first-tier competitor in the global pharmaceutical industry was created. Pharmacia Corporation is the result of a merger between Pharmacia and Upjohn and Monsanto. http://www.pharmacia.com http://www.pnu.com/ http://www.monsanto.co.uk/news/2000/january2000/27012000_monsanto.html
           
"Pharmacia and Upjohn's board of directors is comprised of Frank C. Carlucci (and others)
http://www.nortelnetworks.com/corporate/news/newsreleases/1999b/4_29_9999298_Carlucci_appt.html ARTICLES ON WELLSTONE POURING IN AND PAINTING A VERY CLEAR PICTURE"The man who began burning bridges with the Bush family when he challenged then-President Bush's Persian Gulf War preparations on their first meeting ("Who is this chickenshit?" Bush Sr. asked) From the Nation, May 9, 2002: http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20020527&s=nichols
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Comment #13 posted by DdC on October 28, 2002 at 22:37:18 PT
Knockout Gas Proves Deadly in Moscow
--- CCLE  wrote:The two-day hostage siege in a Moscow theatre, where 50 Chechen rebels held 750 people captive in a desperate act to draw public attention to the ongoing war in their province, ended in a cloud of knockout gas. The military rescue authorized by Russian President Putin began the raid by pumping an unidentified gas into the theatre ventilation system, which debilitated or rendered unconscious almost everyone exposed to it.
 
The question of when and where such psychochemical weapons should be applied, particularly when civilians are at risk, raises serious cognitive liberty concerns.Read More at: http://www.cognitiveliberty.org/topnews.htmlYou received this message because you joined the Center for Cognitive Liberty & Ethics (CCLE) e-mail alerts and announcements list.Please forward this message to others who may be interested. To Subscribe send a blank e-mail to: cognitiveliberty-subscribe igc.topica.com
 
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Comment #12 posted by mayan on October 28, 2002 at 18:23:40 PT
Ban People...
That was great Dan B! I couldn't have put it better!Do they know for a fact that the driver was "under the influence" of cannabis at the time of the accident? Maybe we should just ban automibiles, or better yet...just ban people!unrelated -Gore Vidal claims 'Bush junta' complicit in 9/11:
http://www.observer.co.uk/review/story/0,6903,819932,00.html"What was happening just prior to 9-11?" 
http://www.bankindex.com/read.asp?ID=1380New study says weak single-bolts contributed to WTC collapse
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/ny-bc-ny--attacks-collapsea1027oct27,0,206016.story?coll=ny-ap-regional-wireTHE WORLD TRADE CENTER DEMOLITION:
http://www.nerdcities.com/guardian/WTC/wtc-demolition.htmPaul Thompson's Complete 9/11 Timeline:
http://cooperativeresearch.org/completetimeline/The People's Investigation of 9/11:
http://www.911pi.com/Anti-War Demonstrations: 
http://www.interventionmag.com/cms/modules.php?
op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=226US-British strategy on Iraq close to collapse:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-460985,00.htmlComes a Time - by William Rivers Pitt:
http://www.scoop.co.nz/archive/scoop/stories/82/b6/200210282128.e77a32f0.htmlMarines Ordered into Colombia:February 2003 is Target Date -
http://www.narconews.com/article.php3?ArticleID=19Senator Wellstone murdered?
http://www.congress.org/congressorg/issues/alert/?alertid=769001&content_dir=ua_congressorgDemocratic Senator to be Assassinated Soon(May 25th,2001)
http://www.voxnyc.com/archives/senator-assassination.htmlIt could take long time to determine cause of crash: 
http://www.startribune.com/stories/1752/3391129.html
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Comment #11 posted by AlvinCool on October 28, 2002 at 16:50:39 PT
Another letter to an editor
"Most of the people who would vote yes already use marijuana, even though it's against the law," Kelly Thompson said. "What makes us think these people would obey the law by not driving under the influence?"I'm sorry about Sandy Thompson, but I'm also sorry about all the alcohol deaths in the US. The problem is you just don't understand how socialized marijuana works. Its very different from socialized alcohol. Let me explain why you should turn around and vote for question 9 instead of opposing it.Socialized marijuana usage involves people, regular ordinary people, using marijuana in social settings. During this time people gather in groups and talk about a very wide variety of issues and ideas. If someone tries to leave stoned, and I've seen this myself dozens of times, people will talk to them in a responsible and not condescending manner and talk them into staying for a time. Soon this becomes a learned experience. There isn't any shouting and yelling or any of that. Contrary to what you believe people who use marijuana can easily do so responsibly in standard social settings. However by keeping marijuana use out of social settings you cause people to use marijuana and have nobody to learn responsible use from, leading to stupid use and accidents.Take the same setting and substitute alcohol use. You can't argue with a drunk they will probably hit you and will definitely argue loudly and boorishly. They say horrible things about you later and never think you did them a favor by taking their keys. Alcohol users are the major force for accidents and fights in the US but I don't see you out there opposing them at the top of your lungs.I guess it's always been the human way to fear what we don't know. By supporting marijuana prohibition you can guarantee irresponsible use of marijuana that could be avoided.
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Comment #10 posted by DdC on October 28, 2002 at 16:45:52 PT
Naha's Prescription for Bloated Police Budges...
This is the same Dr. Nahas who claimed his studies showed pot created chromosome, testosterone (male hormone) damage, and countless other horrible effects which suggested the breaking down of the immune system. Nahas' background is in the OSS/CIA and later the U.S. where he worked closely with Lyndon LaRouche and Kurt Waldheim.Old, discredited Nahas studies are still trotted out by the Drug Enforcement Administration today, and deliberately given to unknowledgeable parents' groups, churches, and PTAs as valid research regarding the evils of pot.The dissemination of Nahas'* dangerous horror stories is paid for with your tax dollars, even years after the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in 1976 specifically forbade Nahas from getting another penny of U.S. government money for cannabis studies because of his embarrassing research in the early 1970s.* Nahas, in December 1983, under ridicule from his peers and a funding cut-off from NIDA renounced all his old THC metabolite build-up and unique chromosome petri dish tissue damage studies, conclusions, and extrapolations.
The Hype: Brain Damage and Dead Monkeys 
http://www.jackherer.com/book/ch15.htmlHarry J. Anslinger
http://www.bright.net/~fixit/anslingr.htmIndustrial Hemp Production and US Marijuana Prohibition
http://www.supak.com/hemp/hemp.htmDuring the years 1916-1937, William Randolph Hearst created a yellow journalism campaign to associate hemp with marijuana. Even though smoking hemp, like most fibers, will just make you sick, Hearst, along with his friend Pierre Dupont, succeeded in outlawing hemp in America. They actually robbed the world of an environmental cash crop. Why would they do such a thing? Because instead of using hemp for paper, clothing, fuel, oils, resins, medicines, and many other uses, we now use paper and synthetic petrochemicals. Hearst owned huge forests and interests in lumber mills. Dupont made synthetic fuels and fibers (nylon, rayon, plastics) from petroleum. Marijuana Misinformation
http://www.mapinc.org/letters/2000/07/lte110.htmlCitizen Kane
http://www.pagan.net/~randl/tban.htm
In the 1920's and 1930's Cannabis hemp was transformed into Marijuana like Jekyll into Hyde. Newspaper owner/publisher Willian Randolph Hearst was one of the leaders in the drive to make cannibis illegal. Hearst, through his newspaper's articles, brought the word 'Marijuana' into the English language, associating it sensationally with crime and violence. Partnership for a Drug-Free America? 
http://www.angelfire.com/boybands/mindfuk/war.htmlProhibitionist Deceptions 
http://pub3.ezboard.com/fendingcannabisprohibitionprohibitionistwodjunkies.showMessage?topicID=43.topicAmerica’s New Drug Pushers: John P Walters 
http://pub3.ezboard.com/fendingcannabisprohibitionprohibitionistwodjunkies.showMessage?topicID=42.topicWoD Articles Liberty Removal 
http://pub3.ezboard.com/fendingcannabisprohibitionprohibitionistwodjunkies.showMessage?topicID=37.topicWoD Junkie DEAth Worshipers
http://pub3.ezboard.com/fendingcannabisprohibitionprohibitionistwodjunkiesMAKING THE WALLS TRANSPARENT
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Comment #9 posted by canaman on October 28, 2002 at 16:34:35 PT
It might negative politicin' but maybe,
we need a few testamonials from people whose lives where ruined by prohibition. I don't know, I do like the positive ads put out by NRLE. But there must be someone who wants to tell their horror story to the Las Vegas Sun.
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Comment #8 posted by Nasarius on October 28, 2002 at 16:17:44 PT
What scares me...
is that most people can't immediately see the illogic in this sort of thinking. *sigh*
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Comment #7 posted by FoM on October 28, 2002 at 15:26:20 PT
My Comment
I honestly feel very sorry for Kelly Thompson. I know how she must feel losing her Mother. It is a normal emotion to want to blame something or someone in a case like this. I've said it before that people who have suffered a sudden, tragic, loss of a loved one shouldn't be involved in politics because they aren't in a mental position to make a clear judgment. Grieving is a strange thing and people need space and time to heal. She might find out in a few years that she was too hasty and feel bad then.
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Comment #6 posted by canaman on October 28, 2002 at 15:03:02 PT
Is Booker going to quote Lyndon LaRouch again?
--"There will be a lot more incidents of people being killed on the roads, and I will have no tools with which to prosecute these people," he said.--You'll have the same tools you have now.--Booker, who is in charge of the district attorney's Vehicular Crimes Unit, said Clark County sees about 8,000 DUIs each year. About 20 to 30 percent of those accidents involve marijuana or other drugs, he said.--Well is it marijuana or other drugs? We would REALLY like to know!
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Comment #5 posted by krutch on October 28, 2002 at 14:46:35 PT:
Pot did not kill Sandy Thompson
An idiot killed her. He will pay for it with a long prison sentence. As long as MJ is illegal innicent people will also go to jail or have their lives ruined, people who's only crime was to possession of a bunch of leaves. A user who grows his own and has only one plant faces a federal minimum sentence of 5 years in prison. The guy who killed Thompson might be able to get out in 4 years.Instead of blaming everything on the drug let's blame it on the reckless driver. He was speeding at 20 mph over the speed limit. Lots of people do that, but if they are not high or drunk all they get is a traffic ticket. Drunk drivers cause far more accidents than high drivers. If Thompson was killed by a drunk driver would they want the use and possession of alcohol criminalized? What if he was sleep deprived but not high on anything? Would they want not getting 8 hours sleep criminalized?
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Comment #4 posted by BigDawg on October 28, 2002 at 14:15:09 PT
Well said DanB
I had the same thoughts as I read the article. The tragic accident happened under prohibition. How does this translate to a "NO" vote against legalization? And yet she doesn't want to outlaw automobiles because of people speeding. There is no logic in her response to such tragic and emotional event.
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Comment #3 posted by Sam Adams on October 28, 2002 at 14:06:36 PT
Good letter Dan B
Let's see; I had two close friends die in a horrible drunk driving accident. Therefore, I now want the laws to change so that SWAT teams can kick in the door of anyone with a six-pack in the fridge. And if there are repeated beer violations, I want the government to seize the person's property and, if necessary, kill them.Yeah, that makes sense. I'm going to go call the local newspaper.
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Comment #2 posted by Dan B on October 28, 2002 at 13:43:56 PT
With All Due Respect
Kelly Thompson, you are throwing the baby out with the bathwater. You have failed to recognize the most basic aspect of your mother's automobile acident: it happened under the current system of prohibition. Tell me again how prohibition saves lives because, and I hate to say this while you are clearly grieving, it did not save your mother's life. The fact is that Question 9 accounts for the possibility that people might drive under the influence by explicitly stating that it would still be illegal to drive under the influence of marijuana. Further, Question 9 would insure that adults can have access, but children cannot, and this measure alone will go a lot further than prohibition ever could to keep cannabis out of the hands of irresponsible drivers. Think how unsafe our roads would be if alcohol were still a prohibited substance! If alcohol were prohibited, anyone would have access to it. At least we have safeguards in place for that substance, which is the root cause of most accidents where cannabis is also involved.Time and time again, we have provided links to studies that show cannabis drivers are safer than alcohol drivers--and may even be safer than those who drive with no substances at all! Very few accidents occur because someone is under the influence of cannabis. Even when the driver is under the influence of cannabis, often alcohol is also involved, and in many cases the driver is irresponsible and reckless to begin with. Cannabis has been shown to have very little effect on driving safety. Here is what killed Sandy Thompson: "Police said the driver of the car that crashed into Sandy Thompson had a large amount of marijuana in his system and was traveling at least 20 mph over the speed limit."I wonder if Kelly Thompson is going to start a campaign against speeding because that is what caused this accident: a reckless, speeding driver. It does not matter how much cannabis a person has in his or her system, if that person is speeding down the road, he or she is risking the lives of those around him or her. This driver would have killed someone eventually whether he had cannabis in his system or not. He was speeding. There's your culprit, Kelly Thompson. Dan B
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Comment #1 posted by mrherbalwarrior on October 28, 2002 at 13:14:51 PT:
Truely a compelling story
Thats very sad, that her mother was killed by someone who was high and drove
BUT, driving under the influence of marijuana is covered in the proposed laws, and this dude was speeding, so we're the person obviously had disregard for more laws then just the fact that marijuana was illegal. 
People getting high and driving will always happen, just like drunk driving will always happen, but hey its still legal to drink, so why shouldn't it be legal to smoke?
im not trying to downplay what happened to this poor women, the loss of someones mother is horrible, but come on, drunk drivers kill people everyday, and no one says alcohol should be illegal(again) and one person gets killed by someone driving high and oh my god its the end of the world.
how bout you look at the other side of pot, the medical benefits, the MILLIONS of things that can be made from hemp(which one would assume should become legal after pot is), hemp which was called a billon dollar cash crop DURING THE GREAT DEPRESSION!!! and if you also consider the fact that every law against marijuana has been based on complete bull plop, all the way back to the marijuana tax act of 1937 where articles from a KNOWN yellow journalist were used in senate hearings and the advice of the american medical association was ignored. 
after considering all this, who could really still think marijuana should be illegal, the problem is the gov't says so and hey big brother is awlays right and avg american joe doesn't need to waste his limited brain capacity thinkin otherwise, and good lord of joe were to get high and expand his mind... wow, thats just to much
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