cannabisnews.com: Blowing Illegal Smoke





Blowing Illegal Smoke
Posted by CN Staff on November 16, 2002 at 12:18:14 PT
By Kaffie Sledge
Source: Ledger-Enquirer 
When we talk about substance use - abuse, those whose drug of choice -- alcohol -- is legal are immediately at odds with people who prefer marijuana."I smoked pot for 10 years and never had the slightest inclination to try another drug except alcohol and tobacco, the worst two drugs on the planet," a reader wrote. He continued his testimony:
"When faced with such an ending, an intelligent man sent by a not-so-intelligent government to 'protect' a people who had absolutely no use for us, a people who considered the American Army their enemy. Our panacea was to smoke their potent plant, marijuana."Thanks to an above-average sense of survival, I talked my way into a job at an NCO club, serving alcohol to the lucky soldiers who made it back from a two-week 'field trip' killing whomever they thought was the enemy -- sometimes women and children, since it was difficult to tell the difference between the innocent and the 'enemy.' "Other readers called to ask if I'd ever known anybody who smoked pot.Yes, we all know people who currently smoke pot, or have smoked in the past. And we also know that one of the contraindications of marijuana is that prolonged use tends to severely impair the judgment of the rich and famous.Anyone who doesn't actually know a person who smokes, can always watch the headlines or the evening news and the latest pot-induced stupid celebrity tricks.This week, Bobby "Mr. Whitney Houston" Brown in the news once again. This time on traffic charges and possessing less than an ounce of marijuana. He can't leave Georgia for a couple more weeks until his trial from a 1996 traffic stop. In '97 he missed a hearing on charges of driving under the influence.Bobby's cousin-in-law, Dionne Warwick, was caught with pot in her luggage earlier this year by airport police in Miami. Stashed among her belongings was a silver case containing 11 marijuana cigarettes.Hello? Tightened post-Sept. 11 airport security has nabbed more than a few people in possession of illegal drugs.A few years ago, Whitney was busted with one-half ounce of pot at Keahole-Kona Airport in Hawaii. For years, rumors have circulated about Whitney's and Bobby's drug use, which seems to include a fondness for pot.Saying anything about marijuana, other than calling for its legalization, falls on quite a few deaf ears.I can't see myself joining any effort to call for the legalization of marijuana. My reasons, however, differ from those of some of the pro-pot readers. I do not think drug use should be classified as criminal behavior.Incarceration is not comparable to rehabilitation. It simply keeps some users in environments where they don't have access to drugs. It does nothing to prepare them for the stresses, trials and temptations of life in what they call "the free world."But we know to de-criminalize drug use would empty too many prison cells -- and subsequently, too many wallets and too many bank accounts.Source: Ledger-Enquirer (GA)Author: Kaffie SledgePublished: November 16, 2002Copyright: 2002 Ledger-EnquirerContact: letters Ledger-Enquirer.comWebsite: http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/Related Articles:Grammy Winner Arrested for Pot Possession http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread12827.shtmlHouston Pot Fiasco Finishedhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread8949.shtmlHouston Lawyer Says Marijuana Case Resolvedhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread7542.shtmlThe Whitney Houston Rules http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread5578.shtml
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Comment #3 posted by delariand on November 18, 2002 at 16:04:56 PT
Incarceration does what now?
'Incarceration is not comparable to rehabilitation. It simply keeps some users in environments where they don't have access to drugs.'Since when does incarceration keep users from their drugs? Ask any inmate how difficult it is to acquire drugs in prison. And as for jail time doing absolutely ANYTHING to help a drug addict with his problem, how bout the levels of stress generated by jail time? Most of my friends started using by smoking pot to deal with adolescent stress, in absence of decent parenting to help with the problem. Now, marijuana isn't chemically addictive, but using any drug as a response to emotional pain can lead to dependence. Put this type of user in jail, and suddenly they've got more problems than they ever had to deal with as a kid, and they're surrounded by hardened criminals with hard drugs. Now your occasional pot smoker becomes a heroin junkie, and when his prison term is up, he's stranded on the streets with a criminal record and an addiction. See where this is going?Show me one marijuana user who was arrested, convicted, and jailed, and then returned to society a better person for the experience. C'mon, show me just one, I D.A.R.E. you.
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Comment #2 posted by DdC on November 16, 2002 at 23:45:32 PT
Booze Creates Jobs in Liver Damage Treatment... 
"Puritanism: the haunting fear that somebody, somewhere, might be having a good time." --H.L. Mencken "Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God."
Thomas JeffersonIt's a joke. Greed and the desire to take drugs are two separate things. If you want to separate the two, the thing you do is make drugs legal. Accept the reality that people do want to change their consciousness, and make an effort to make safer, healthier drugs." Jerry Garcia Rolling Stone Nov. 30, 1989 "In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act." George Orwell"Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and never will." Frederick DouglassMadison once remarked that hemp gave him insight to create a new and democratic nation. Cannabis was twice as popular among American soldiers in the Mexican War as in Vietnam: Pierce wrote to his family that it was "about the only good thing" about that war.American High Society
http://www.pdxnorml.org/7_presidents.htmlHistory of Cannabis Intoxicant Use
http://www.a1b2c3.com/drugs/mj003.htmGalen wrote in the second century that it was customary to promote hilarity and happiness at banquets by giving the guests hemp (Reininger, 1967: 14-15).The 1933 Report of the "Military Surgeon" stated, regarding marijuana use among the soldiers in the Canal Zone, that:
marijuana as grown and used on the Isthmus of Panama is a mild stimulant and intoxicant. It is not a "habit forming" drug in the sense that the derivatives of opium, cocaine, and such drugs, are as there are no symptoms of deprivation following its withdrawal.Delinquencies due to marijuana smoking which result in trial by military court are negligible in number when compared with delinquencies resulting from the use of alcohol drinks, which is also classed as a stimulant and intoxicant(Geller and Boas, 1969: 147).The report went on to say that marijuana presented no threat to military discipline, and "that no recommendations to prevent the sale or use of marijuana are deemed advisable."Eat, drink, smoke and be happy Police are quietly hoping that rowdy supporters will be pacified by a few puffs on Dutch-made marijuana. 
http://news6.thdo.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk/newsid_784000/784433.stmAmerican High Society
http://pub3.ezboard.com/fendingcannabisprohibitionwhyitstimetolegalize.showMessage?topicID=323.topic
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Comment #1 posted by afterburner on November 16, 2002 at 12:55:16 PT:
Why I'm against Cannabis Prohibition.
I have several relatives, some dead, some alive, who have serious drinking problems. Alcohol impairs both their reasoning and their health. Some of these relatives are also fond of cannabis, but due to prohibition either have to hide their use or cannot afford it. I am convinced that they would be much healthier in body and mind if they could obtain and use in the privacy of their own homes legal cannabis, instead of the legal tobacco and alcohol they abuse. Alcohol and tobacco have a long military history, a dubious social "respectability," and industry lobbyists who influence the government representatives and senators. Meanwhile, a plant, with a medical history prior to 1937, is continually dismissed as having no medical value by political appointees, without medical training, just because national and international politicians scheduled it so without medical evidence. ego destruction or ego transcendence, that is the question.
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