cannabisnews.com: High Society High Society Posted by CN Staff on November 07, 2002 at 22:30:32 PT By Kevin McAbee Source: Technician Online America's attitude toward marijuana is being brought to the forefront of a national discussion. A recent Time magazine cover article, voter initiatives for marijuana legalization and a possible Canadian restriction of marijuana laws have America closing in on a crossroads. Should we continue to criminalize a drug that many people believe is less dangerous than alcohol? Or should we legalize a drug that can be mentally addictive and many believe is a gateway to harsher substances? According to Time, the majority of Americans have decided: they want pot to be illegal, but not really enforced. However, both pro- and anti-pot advocates are forcing the issue upon America, with the hopes of making Americans pick a side. The fight over legalization was centralized in Nevada this election day, where Question 9 was placed before voters. Question 9 would have allowed citizens to possess up to three ounces of marijuana legally. However, the initiative was defeated this Tuesday by a 61 to 39 percent margin. This vote is a disheartening event. Keeping pot illegal is a blatantly hypocritical stance for lawmakers. A careful analysis of the situation shows that marijuana is illegal solely because of its poor reputation. Pot is demonized and disparaged because of its association with the counter culture. It is associated with cocaine and heroin rather than beer and cigarettes because of governmental bans. Respectable, hard working cowboys smoke Marlboros; true red-blooded Americans drink Budweiser; but only hippies and dropouts smoke pot. This is the stereotype that is portrayed by government propaganda.Let us analyze the facts. According to Time, pot is less addictive (9% of users become addicted) than either alcohol (15%) or cigarettes (33%). The same article showed that participants in a controlled study who smoked pot almost daily for 10 years fared significantly worse on only 2 of 40 cognitive tests. This shows that even near constant smoking does not turn your brain into mush, like the "This Is Your Brain on Drugs" ad campaign from the 1980s would want us to believe. Furthermore, no one can overdose on marijuana, unless the smoker lights up over 900 joints in one sitting. One can easily get alcohol poisoning and die from drinking a fifth of liquor too quickly, yet this is a readily available amount.So we can see that pot is far less of an overdose danger than alcohol, is 25% less addicting than cigarettes and will not turn you into a vegetable. So by what merits is pot illegal? Pot is illegal because the government does not believe we can use it responsibly. The government believes that by banning a substance, they can solve the all the problems that can result from that substance. This is an obviously flawed system. Why not simply make smoking underage, driving while high, and stealing to support your habit illegal? The answer is because the government is scared of change and the possible bad PR from this change. Pot opponents have a new advertisement in which a joint is traced back to a cartel that has killed a little girl's family. This is a better argument for the legalization of pot than the continued outlawing of it. When prohibition was enacted, mob violence was the norm. Everyone had to get their beer illegally, and men like Al Capone were kings. Similarly, if you eliminate the ban on pot, you eliminate the cartels. If we simply made marijuana legal, imagine the profits that could be reaped by America's farmers and tax system. Those who would balk at having their children's schools funded by drug money are idealistic. The money is already being spent, so why should cartels and other countries receive it solely because our government doesn't want us smoking what we already are?The final point that many like to use for legalization is that pot is a gateway drug. People who get high will want to keep getting better and better highs, and therefore move on to more dangerous drugs. This is ridiculous. Those who smoke responsibly will not move onto more dangerous drugs, and those who are not responsible will. It is not a matter of whether or not pot is legal.If nothing else, why not compromise and continue to make pot illegal, but only fine those that possess small amounts? By making it a fined offense, you lose overly harsh consequences of pot possession while keeping it illegal and not sanctioned by the government. This debate is too complicated to be completely addressed in my meager column. This is a debate that should rely on common sense. The only reason pot is illegal is because it has been illegal. Yes, there are drawbacks to its widespread usage. However, smoking pot is a harmless activity that infringes on no one else's rights and therefore should be legal and taxed. Let's tell our government that we are responsible enough to use this substance without them banning us from it. Kevin wants everyone who agrees with him to analyze the libertarian philosophy. They are the only party that understands the situation. E-mail: ktmcabee unity.ncsu.edu -- to find out more.Source: Technician, The (NC State University)Author: Kevin McAbeePublished: November 8, 2002Copyright: 2002 The TechnicianWebsite: http://technicianonline.com/Contact: opinion technicianstaff.comRelated Articles & Web Site:What's New in Drug Policy Reformhttp://freedomtoexhale.com/whatsnew.htmIs Pot Good For You? http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14575.shtmlThe New Politics of Pot http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14574.shtmlMedical Marijuana: A History http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14573.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #3 posted by SamFox on December 19, 2006 at 20:40:40 PT: Vito, of Potfather seeds I got an E-mailing from a site called The Potfather. Does any one know if this is a real site? If so, how to contact them? Thank you very much for any help. I need to straighten out a mis-understanding about an order.medMUser [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by DdC on November 08, 2002 at 14:26:08 PT American High Society Before Fascist Took It! American High Society http://pub3.ezboard.com/fendingcannabisprohibitionwhyitstimetolegalize.showMessage?topicID=323.topicThe Elkhorn Manifesto http://www.sumeria.net/politics/shadv3.htmlCannabis Hemp: The Invisible Prohibition Revealed http://www.sumeria.net/politics/invpro.html [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by p4me on November 08, 2002 at 09:23:07 PT 30 years of Dutch coffeeshops- Nol's notice PARTYTIME in Haarlem!!Press message:Cannabis coffeeshops in the Netherlands celebrate their 30th anniversary on November 29, 2002.Dutch coffeeshop entrepreneurs honour their pioneers!When Wernard Bruining and a few hippie friends started to sell hash from a former bakery in Amsterdam, in1972, he could not foresee his initiative would develop into the industry it is now, 30 years later.Wernard’s Mellow Yellow was the first place to serve their customers with pre-bagged deals of hash, from a regular address.This example was followed up in the following years; the famous Bulldog concern opened its first coffeeshop in 1975, in the middle of the Red Light district, in business for 27 years already! Henk de Vries, the founder, is now the managing director of a chain of Bulldog coffeeshops, bars and a traveller’s hotel. He is the longest active coffeeshop-entrepreneur in the world.It was Wernard who introduced the technique of sinsemilla growing to the Netherlands, in 1979, and produced the first harvest of the renowned ‘Nederweed’ in 1980. He developed this technique in close cooperation with an American expert, Old Ed, who came over from California to share his knowledge with Wernard. This shows that the famous Dutch sinsemilla originates from the USA.After setting up hundreds of sinsemilla growers in the Netherlands, and founding the Lowlands Seed Company in 1981, Wernard went on to other projects.In 1986, Wernard opened the first growshop of Europe, serving his members with the equipment, nutrition, seeds and cuttings, and with expert advice, to start up their own ‘homegrow’ operation to produce sinsemilla, the demand for the potent marihuana grew faster than the plants!Coffeeshops became accepted in Dutch society, their numbers went up to 1450, around 1994, the current count is 805 coffeeshops, in 105 out of the 504 Municipal Counties in the Netherlands.Wernard was and is the ultimate cannabis pioneer, he initiated the first medical marihuana project in 1996, “Mediweed”, meant to serve sick and disabled people with first class cannabis, for a reduced price. The system still works, and serves thousands of people.Positronics went bankrupt in 1997, theft and fraud in his company left him with a 1.5 million guilders in bills, and pushed him into a state of depression, after exactly 25 years in the business he gave birth too.The cannabis entrepreneurs of the Netherlands are about to pay tribute to Wernard, the Potfather of Cannabis, for his career as a pioneer, for thirty years now!The Global Hempmuseum, in cooperation with a number of coffeeshops and other cannabis related businesses, organise a special event for and around Wernard: ‘The 30th Anniversary of Coffeeshops Celebration’This event is meant as a fundraiser for Wernard Bruining, and to pay tribute to him and other greats of the cannabis culture, in a relaxed setting, with video’s, demo’s, artists and a special bingo, with a two week trip to Jamaica as a grand prize.During the event there will be a book presentation, Wernard will be handed the first copy of ‘The Dutch Experience’, by the author, Nol van Schaik. The book describes the developments of Wernard’s initiatives and the explosive follow up, over the past 30 years, and the political changes and motivation that lead to the current status of cannabis in the Netherlands. Wernard and other prominent cannabis pioneers were involved in supplying authentic material and pictures, making this book a unique chronicle of the history of cannabis, the coffeeshops and the policy around the controversial topics.After the Anniversary Celebration, we clear the floor for Wernard again, he launches the Haarlem Hash & Weed Festival on Saturday, November 30. This event is organised to taste cannabis, and then cast a vote on the quality of the tested product, in the most democratic manner possible. Old Ed, the Sinsemilla Man from the USA, 86 years old now, will be our special guest, throughout the events, he will be available for a meet and greet in the Global Hempmuseum, from 14.00 – 17.00 hrs. The closure of this ‘best cannabis competition’ is on Sunday, December 1, the winners will be announced and handed a suitable trophy on Sunday evening, from 21.00 hrs.More info on The Anniversary celebration, and the Haarlem Hash & Weed Festival, is available on: www.wwwshop.nl/30More info on “The Dutch Experience” book: www.realdealpublishing.comcontacts: The Global Hempmuseum, Tel/fax: 0031(0)235349939Maruska de Blaauw: Kim van Schaik: 0031 (0) 653666921 0031 (0) 6184990641 [ Post Comment ] Post Comment