cannabisnews.com: It's Time To Ease Nation's Laws on Marijuana It's Time To Ease Nation's Laws on Marijuana Posted by CN Staff on August 05, 2003 at 11:15:28 PT By Paul Ruschmann, Special to The Detroit News Source: Detroit News The Canadian government recently introduced legislation that would ease penalties for marijuana possession. The Bush administration's response was swift and heavy-handed. U.S. drug czar John Walters warned Canada that if the bill passed, the result would be increased security and lengthy delays at the border. Never mind that such a step would hurt American manufacturers -- especially the Big Three automakers -- far more than Canada's pot growers. Judging from Washington's reaction, one might think Canada is about to become the Netherlands of North America, complete with "coffee shops" on Windsor's Ouellette Avenue and rolling papers and water pipes at duty-free boutiques. But Canada's proposal is hardly radical. It would decriminalize possession of half an ounce or less; violators would be fined $150 in Canadian currency (about $115 U.S.), and would not be given a criminal record. That is a far cry from a Canadian Senate panel's recommendation last year that marijuana be legalized like alcohol and tobacco, with a minimum legal age of 16. Canada's approach is also in step with much of the industrialized world. A number of European countries, including Italy and Spain, have eliminated or reduced penalties for possessing small amounts. For years, the Netherlands has had an official policy of tolerating small-time users. Several Australian states have effectively decriminalized the drug. And on July 1, a law downgrading possession to a non-arrestable offense took effect in Britain. Even some U.S. states have decriminalized possession of small amounts; California, for instance, classifies it as a violation punishable by a $100 fine. States that relaxed their marijuana laws did so in the wake of the Shafer Commission's recommendation, in 1972, that penalties for possession of small amounts be eliminated. The panel found that harsh marijuana laws were the result of racial prejudice (the nation's earliest users were Chinese, Mexicans and blacks) and based on the mistaken belief that the drug was highly addictive, drove users to commit violent crimes and inevitably led to harder substances like heroin. The commissioners were hardly soft-on-crime liberals; they were appointed by President Richard Nixon and chaired by a former GOP governor. For a while, it appeared that lawmakers might follow the commission's advice and make marijuana penalties more proportional to the crime. In 1977, President Jimmy Carter asked Congress to ease penalties for possession. But after Ronald Reagan's election, the debate over marijuana came to an abrupt halt. The national policy became "just say no" and has remained that way under both Republican and Democratic administrations. While other countries moved toward decriminalization, penalties in the United States have become harsher; they now include loss of student financial aid, suspension of driving privileges, and the forfeiture of assets such as cars and boats. The Bush administration has taken the anti-marijuana crusade even further. It has run ads linking pot use to the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks; brought federal charges against providers of medical marijuana, which is legal in a number of states; and staged a nationwide crackdown on paraphernalia dealers. State and local authorities are also taking a tough stance: Last year, more than 600,000 Americans were arrested on marijuana charges, most for simple possession. Administration officials reject decriminalization because they view marijuana as a moral issue. They are determined to eliminate its use, regardless of what it costs to catch and punish offenders or how much Americans' lives and careers are disrupted and their civil liberties curtailed. Other countries have concluded such an approach is impractical. Rather than aim for zero use, they are trying to eliminate the worst consequences, such as impaired driving and use by young teenagers. Despite the ongoing anti-marijuana crusade, a growing number of Americans are starting to question their government's hard-line approach. Opinion polls show overwhelming support for medical marijuana, and even a majority in favor of decriminalizing the drug. Support for outright legalization is higher now than it was during the 1970s; and, in recent years, proposals to legalize pot for adults won almost 40 percent of the vote in Alaska and Nevada. If Canada decriminalizes marijuana, criticism of America's zero-tolerance policy is likely to intensify. That is the last thing the Bush administration wants to happen. In opposing Canada's move to liberalize its laws, Washington warns of a flood of drugs across our borders. But what it really fears is a renewed debate at home over marijuana policy, and it seems willing to go to great lengths to stop that debate before it starts. Note: Heavy-handed law creates backlash as United States falls behind the rest of the world, which is moving toward decriminalizing the drug.Paul Ruschmann is a Canton Township freelance writer.Source: Detroit News (MI)Author: Paul RuschmannPublished: July 29, 2003Copyright: 2003 The Detroit News Contact: letters detnews.com Website: http://www.detnews.com/ CannabisNews -- Cannabis Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/cannabis.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #33 posted by kaptinemo on August 07, 2003 at 05:06:19 PT: "TV News" is more than just a diversion, FoM Anyone who wishes to learn more of how the news media was subborned over 50 years ago by intelligence agencies should do a google on "The Mighty Wurlitzer"...and keep in mind, the target was NEVER the Communists, but our our populace.Here, I'll make it easy for you: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=The+Mighty+WurlitzerIn 1995, it was disclosed that many 'journalists' were little more than highly paid mouthpieces or *worse* for the intelligence agencies; does anyone here think that the practice ended? Just look at the strident, relentless drumbeating and uncritical (save for the peace movement) 'reportage' we saw before and during both invasions. Nothing but cheerleading for the wars in Afghanistan and especially Iraq.Particularly Iraq, after it was learned that the Afghan pipeline would be connecting to a much smaller oil patch in the Caspian area than had been originally predicted.Lies, lies, lies, 24/7 lies...brought to you by our corporate sponsors who, when they aren't robbing you blind or choking you with pollution, are pushing for wars for your children to die in, to make them even more obscenely rich...and politically powerful.I've gotten to the point that I rarely watch The Tube at all, and when I watch the news, I don't watch anything but foreign news programs...and even then, they have their own agendas. Reading between the lines has become almost subconscious act for me, now. I get most of my information nowadays from the Web. When you switch back and forth, from the deadly serious online articles of national and international importance, and then flip on Duh BoobBox and see chatty-chatty newsreaders blathering on about such earthshaking subjects of national interest as some celebrity's "bling-bling" collection, it's no contest. [ Post Comment ] Comment #32 posted by FoM on August 06, 2003 at 17:15:36 PT mayan I believe that tv news is a diversion. It's for entertainment purposes only practically. The only thing tv news is good for in my opinion is when something major happens. Thank goodness for the Internet! [ Post Comment ] Comment #31 posted by goneposthole on August 06, 2003 at 17:03:16 PT I can spell (sometimes) My dyslexia was on when rereading the word 'fundamentalist'. A thousand pardons and not a thousand cuts. [ Post Comment ] Comment #30 posted by goneposthole on August 06, 2003 at 16:55:44 PT far rightwing fudamentalist Christian Dinosaurs glad they're being cut to ribbons by Kaptinemo's pen, and not me. Uff da. Although, I may be deserving of the same and in kind, I'll hold my breath. Just the same, the tar pit will swallow them before the final cut. The neocon fundamentalist far-rightwing Christian 'ethic' does appear to be doomed. It has gone too far, and will be too little, too late for them in the end. What they have done to the least of the brethren has been too much. The myopic 'fettered' flat earth dogma will take its toll. The reflection in the mirror reveals an ugliness too wretched to behold. Their vanity can't see it. enough said. [ Post Comment ] Comment #29 posted by mayan on August 06, 2003 at 16:45:22 PT FoM... That Lou Dobb's poll should have as a choice..."To distract from the President's lies"I bet that would score well! [ Post Comment ] Comment #28 posted by FoM on August 06, 2003 at 15:25:21 PT Lou Dobbs Current Poll Results Why do you think the media is so focused on the Kobe Bryant case? National interest - 0% - 1 votes A legitimate story - 3% - 8 votes To drive circulation and ratings - 72% - 214 votes All of the above - 25% - 76 votes Total: 299 votes http://www.cnn.com/POLLSERVER/results/5109.html [ Post Comment ] Comment #27 posted by FoM on August 06, 2003 at 13:02:39 PT kapt and EJ I can't say it as well as you both did and I agree. I get angry, bummed out, discouraged but most times happy again! I ran out of my St. John's Wort. I need to get more! LOL! [ Post Comment ] Comment #26 posted by kaptinemo on August 06, 2003 at 12:38:24 PT: FoM and Friends, I get depressed too. You can't look at the sorry 'State of the Union' and not be...not if you have three brains cells to click together.I have no doubt that some neurotic neo-Puritan is having the time of his life, right now: religous nutcases dictating domestic and foreign policy, practically wetting themselves with excitement at the prospect of unleashing Armageddon to fullfil their twisted view of Christianity. They have gotten what they have always wanted: their hot little mits on the levers and buttons of government. Especially the (choke, gag, cough!) "Justice" Department. That has been their target all along, in order to impose their ideology upon the rest of the nation because they certainly could not do it by plebiscite. So they have now got the chance to wear the jackboots they have been secretly, lovingly polishing in their closets for decades.But the worm WILL turn; opposition groups around the country are beginning to arise, and their anger is matched by their activism. As FoM pointed out in another posting, when there is oppression, there's a sort of natural balancing act that takes place when people begin to see the ugly side of that form of extremism and react to it with 'liberal' (look up the original meaning of the word, instead of accepting the pejorative it has become) actions that cause the would-be moral proctors no end of heartburn.so, yeah, I get down, too. I get the feeling sometimes that the b*****ds will win...then I think of how far we have come since 1995. I think of how, when a social movement finally breaks through into at least the discussion point, the opposition becomes ever more nasty and vicious.Believe it or not, when I see that, I am fortified again. Because that's the next-to-the-last step in the process of their capitulation. The future will be 'ours'...the national and international cannabis community. If only because Father Time is using that scythe of his on all the old dunderheads who still believe Ansliger's lies. So hang in there folks: the dinosaurs are trapped in the tar pit, and are sinking fast. The lower they sink (in more ways than one; stealing sick people's medicine and causing their premature deaths is as low as it goes) the more frantic they become. Thrashing about and bellowing, swinging those dangerous tails and claws, but they are doomed all the same. [ Post Comment ] Comment #25 posted by E_Johnson on August 06, 2003 at 12:22:08 PT It's TV news-porn FoM The extreme attention around the Kobe case is because TV news has turned into idea porn. That's part of the War on Drugs too. It's like porn without sex. Look here -- lurid thrills! Human degradation! Feast your eye on the flesh! Flashy colors and upbeat music! We think you're stupid so we'll outline every detail! Stop thinking about humanity, it's time to get your thrill on! I think of Joyce Nalepka as a kind of porn merchant. Let's keep kids free from drugs! She has a lurid fascination with drug abuse. It's not the humanistic level of attention from someone who actually works with children and pays attention to the real needs that they have. Her fascination is a more pornographic kind of fascination that is fixated on the lurid thrill of a child presumed to be in danger. Her type of fixation is borderline porn as far as I'm concerned.Not to say that sexual porn is evil.But I'm talking about idea porn, where it is evil, because it distracts people from real news and real needs of children and real concerns of humanity.There should never be zingy music or flashy graphics on a criminal case of any kind. That kind of display like they are putting on with the Kopbe case turns human suffering into a cheap thrill.We're the potheads, we're supposed to be the morally bereft ones. How ironic. [ Post Comment ] Comment #24 posted by FoM on August 06, 2003 at 09:33:26 PT ekim I read that Arianna will run as an Independent. Maybe she will get air time and talk about the war on drugs in the future. [ Post Comment ] Comment #23 posted by FoM on August 06, 2003 at 08:37:50 PT Just a Comment Another day and no news to post. All that's on the news is about someone named Kobe. I have no idea who he is nor care about what this is about. I wish news would stop wasting our time with issue that don't deserve air time. If there's a crime try the case but why tell us all these details? [ Post Comment ] Comment #22 posted by mike2003 on August 06, 2003 at 06:47:35 PT: black market&unemployment The u.s government will never let marijuana be legal unless many major companies can create jobs.If you was to do away with the black market drug dealers and those in prison for selling marijuana can you imagine the unemployment rate? People deal marijuana because its money easily made, don't get me wrong we need a place to get marijuana, it just sucks i have to do it illegally!No president wants a 20% unemployment rate. Thanks! Mike [ Post Comment ] Comment #21 posted by goneposthole on August 05, 2003 at 22:33:37 PT forget the Darwin award The US gov receives the Mike Tyson Award. Fighting all of the time and broke. I need to get a copyright on this one. I will contribute all proceeds to the cannabis legalization fund. [ Post Comment ] Comment #20 posted by FoM on August 05, 2003 at 21:43:15 PT kaptinemo I've lived with a sadness since 9-11. It doesn't change my life but it wasn't there before. It's a sadness that I know I shouldn't have because things shouldn't be like they are. We've locked the barn doors but the horse was already stolen. We are remarkable creatures. We can adapt to hard situations but sometimes the situation can get the best of us. I sense that same feeling in many peoples lives. Like we are doomed. I'm not ready to live with this sadness and sense of doom. When I think how about a half a million people had a great time at the Stones concert I realize wanting to do good things for others, enjoy life and be free are the most precious gifts of all. [ Post Comment ] Comment #19 posted by FoM on August 05, 2003 at 20:50:17 PT DeVoHawk Thank You! I forgot but I recognized the location now that you said it. [ Post Comment ] Comment #18 posted by DeVoHawk on August 05, 2003 at 20:44:23 PT: Anniston Alabama The City where they are burning old WMD is Anniston Alabama. It has many terrible problems this just the tip of the iceberg. Today they issued gas masks to thousands of citizens but spokesman said there is nothing to worry about. An army military base is located there. It is 60 miles east of Birmingham on I-20. [ Post Comment ] Comment #17 posted by FoM on August 05, 2003 at 20:11:46 PT Thanks afterburner! ekim, I read where she might run but I haven't seen anything either way recently or on the news today. We'll know tomorrow. It could be very interesting. [ Post Comment ] Comment #16 posted by afterburner on August 05, 2003 at 20:08:30 PT: Master Marijauna Grower & Activist Nol Van Schaik Pete Brady Gets the Latest On The European Pot Scene From Nol Van Schaik http://www.pot-tv.net/archive/shows/pottvshowse-2102.html Pete Brady Show with Pot-TV http://www.pot-tv.net/ram/pottvshowse2102.ram Running Time: 37 min Date Entered: 05 Aug 2003 Viewer Rating: 0.00 (0 votes) Number of Views: 8 "Pete Brady gets the latest on European Pot News from Master Marijauna Grower and Activist Nol Van Schaik." Colin Davies, who "opened the 'Dutch Experience' cafe in the northern England town of Stockport," released on the 4th of July with restrictions. Dutch Justice Minister wants illegal growers to reduce the THC content to 6%. Cannabis growing in Spain with Nol and Maruska. A brief history of Dutch coffeeshops. And more. Lighten your day![Background on Colin Davies: Owner Of British Cannabis Cafe Sentenced http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/14/thread14351.shtml ]Info re Nol Van Schaik and Dutch coffeeshops of Haarlem, The Netherlands http://www.hempcity.netego transcendence follows ego destruction, the compassionate alternative to zero-tolerance. [ Post Comment ] Comment #15 posted by ekim on August 05, 2003 at 19:53:35 PT earth to Paul ck out 32 years of Ann Arbors law has anyone said anything about Tommorow Arianna Huffington will place her name on the California ballot. so i have heard. [ Post Comment ] Comment #14 posted by FoM on August 05, 2003 at 18:54:38 PT kapt and everyone Did you see on the news today how they want to incinerate toxic substances like nerve gas? When I saw the news about this incineration I thought that place is a WMD right in a town. I can't remember the name of the town. I remember points about what I see but that's about all. News overload sometimes. [ Post Comment ] Comment #13 posted by kaptinemo on August 05, 2003 at 18:37:45 PT: We're beyond hairline cracks, now, FoM More like the beginning of fissures. You said it yourself: "Society can't take this." Truly, it can't. States are finding out just how hard things can get when then they play along with the Busch Cabal's DrugWar lunacy in return for pie-in-the-sky promises of assistance...or threats of that chimerical assistance being withheld. The States are totally strapped, and the only reason they haven't cut many police forces is the fear many legislators and their Republican-allied factory boss cronies have for their own skins; things are truly that bad. The Buschies are fervently saying, with the forced, false confidence of the Ponzi schemer about to take his last sucker before he runs off with the money, that recovery is just around the corner; President Herbert Hoover said the same thing in the beginning of the Great Depression, and kept saying all while things went to Hell.Needless to say, the fact that he was a Republican, too, doesn't help his modern contemporaries any.So, unfortunately, it would seem that that despite all the hard work by exceptional people of sterling character, it will take, as usual, the nod to the beancounters that may spell the end of cannabis prohibition.And there's millions of us who'd happily administer the *coups de grace*. [ Post Comment ] Comment #12 posted by FoM on August 05, 2003 at 18:34:08 PT SoberStoner I see they haven't ruled out The Plague. With Pneumonic Plague I'm not sure if they would have external lesions. That's what I thought it could be. [ Post Comment ] Comment #11 posted by SoberStoner on August 05, 2003 at 18:22:51 PT offtopic, but some of you may be interested There is finally a story about the 'illness' our children in Iraq are suddenly catching.http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&e=8&u=/ap/20030805/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/soldier_illness_3Granted, it's only Yahoo, but a lot of people visit it every second, and it's posted right on the front page..SS [ Post Comment ] Comment #10 posted by FoM on August 05, 2003 at 18:03:11 PT Just What Is Going On Here? mayan said it and kapt you are right. I watch news closely when I'm not bummed out about it. Just kidding. There's a strange feeling in the air. They just approved a Gay Bishops appointment in the Episcopal Church. I know that isn't our issue but it's a sign of the times. People have felt strong oppression and 9-11 has push everyone down even more. We can't live our lives in fear of what ifs. Society can't take it. Cracks are forming and they are getting much bigger day after day. [ Post Comment ] Comment #9 posted by mayan on August 05, 2003 at 17:54:09 PT Also... Just wanted to say that overall this was a good article considering it is from a U.S. Newspaper! Detroit is probably losing some money to it's neighbors in Ontario. The Northeast has been watching shipments of Industrial hemp coming south over the border for several years now. Now they are witnessing fellow Americans going north to enjoy the legal cannabis in Ontario. Even the ignorant & oppressed have to be wondering, "Just what is going on here"? [ Post Comment ] Comment #8 posted by kaptinemo on August 05, 2003 at 17:51:28 PT: A major paper finally said it! The importance of this cannot be understated. It's been mentioned here before that cross-border trade is all that is keeping many US businesses alive. Threaten that trade, and all those entrepeneurs who happily gave their donations to DARE will be facing Chapter 11 as unexpected 'blowback' for their support. But here's something just as important:the REAL reason behind the Busch Regime's shaking-in-their-boots fear of what a real debate would mean:*If Canada decriminalizes marijuana, criticism of America's zero-tolerance policy is likely to intensify. That is the last thing the Bush administration wants to happen...what it really fears is a renewed debate at home over marijuana policy, and it seems willing to go to great lengths to stop that debate before it starts.*Which it and every previous Administration have sought mightily, with our tax dollars, no less, to do: stop the debate as forcefully as it could. Blanket our airwaves with lies paid for by us. Tell children falsehoods, thinking that they'll be accepted mindlessly when the opposite has been the case. Travel at our expense and stump for candidates that sheep-bleat the party line. On and on, unConstitutional act after another, one ruined life after another. Pretend there is no other side to a debate, and pillory those who would dare suggest so as being in league with child molestors, rapists and murderers.But like children forced to uncover their eyes, their are having their hands slowly forced. This article is both proof and a warning from border States just hanging on by a thread: mess with this, and there will be political consequences.That a major paper is taking the stand and calling for an examination of the underpinnings and effectiveness of the war against cannabis, particularly a paper representing millions of people living in a border city heavily dependent upon cross border trade, is proof that the border States cannot survive Washington's madness much longer. It would seem to be an almost typically American view: compassion and common sense are not enough incentives to end this war. But a threatened jab to the wallet has woken many to the real possibility of them being put on an already overburdened unemployment line. THAT'S gotten some people's attention. [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by mayan on August 05, 2003 at 17:37:52 PT $$$ morals $$$ "Administration officials reject decriminalization because they view marijuana as a moral issue."Yeah, right! Like the current administration has any morals! The current administration is afraid of industrial hemp & mmj. If cannabis becomes decriminalized or legalized then there would be no justification to maintain the ban on industrial hemp or mmj. There would then be great competition for the petrochemical & pharmaceutical companies who own the RepubliCrats. They don't want competition from a plant that anyone can grow. It's as simple as that. Morals don't have anything to do with the lying,treasonous swine who sits in the White House(or in Crawford,Texas).The way out is the way in...Foreknowledge of 9/11: http://globalresearch.ca/articles/CRG204A.htmlWhy Did Bush Not Act On 9/11? http://www.btinternet.com/~nlpwessex/Documents/WATlearjet.htm9/11: Did you know...? http://www.cosmosleft.com/pages/7/index.htmExposing NORAD's Wag The 9/11 Window Dressing Tale: http://www.standdown.net/index.htm9/11: Guilt in High Places http://emperors-clothes.com/indict/911page1&2.htmThe truth about 9/11: http://perso.wanadoo.fr/jpdesm/pentagon/investigation77.htmWas 9/11 Allowed to Happen? http://www.wanttoknow.info/911timeline2pg9/11 Film Draws Overflow Crowd: http://onlinejournal.com/Media/050703Lynn/050703lynn.html9/11 Prior Knowledge/Government Involvement Archive: http://www.propagandamatrix.com/archiveprior_knowledge [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by DeVoHawk on August 05, 2003 at 17:21:09 PT: Stolen from RENICK TAYLOR Biloxi I found the following LTE at MAPINC.ORG and substituted Rep. Dennis Moore for Rep. Gene Taylor. I sent it to the Lawrence Journal World and Kansas City Star but I wanted to give credit to the actual author, Renick Taylor.Dennis wrote me two letters stating he supported medical marijuana but then voted against Hinchey-Rohrabacher amendment."He did not believe that smoking was the preferred method to administer a drug based on the IOM report findings". No other sources were listed and we all know the truth of the IOM report. He does support synthetic products he informed me and that is why he says he claims he supports medical marijuana, the mistake was in my understanding of MMJ. He must call masturbation sex too. Needless to say I am pissed as I have supported this Piece-O-Sh__.I am very disappointed that Rep. Dennis Moore voted against the Hinchey-Rohrabacher amendment to the Commerce-Justice-State Appropriations bill. I wish he had made an effort to stop the Department of Justice's raids, arrests and prosecutions of medical marijuana patients. This amendment would have prevented the federal government from targeting people who use marijuana to treat serious illnesses with their doctors' recommendations and in accordance with state laws. By casting this vote, Rep. Moore has aligned himself with a small and diminishing segment of society. According to a Time/CNN poll taken in October of last year, 80 percent of the American people "think adults should be able to use marijuana legally for medical purposes." The vote also directly contradicts the position of the 2.6 million-member American Nurses Association, which recently passed a resolution supporting "legislation to remove criminal penalties including arrest and imprisonment for bona fide [medical marijuana] patients." I wish Rep. Moore had voted to take patients out of the state-federal conflict over laws regulating marijuana's medical use. Patients should not bear the burden of this conflict. I hope Rep. Moore will reconsider his position in the future so that patients do not have to fear the federal government when they use a state and doctor-approved medicine that relieves their suffering and extends their lives.Rennick, I fully want to give you credit for your work which I could not muster in an eloquent way but I could not find your e-mail address on the www to ask your permission, forgive me.I am sure they will not publish the letters as only 1 in 100 that I write seems to make the LTE but if they do I want to give credit were it is due.Peace and Love from Kansas [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by billos on August 05, 2003 at 16:51:52 PT: Thou Shall Not Use Drugs That is it in a nutshell. If the religious goody two-shoes that rule the U.S. could rule the entire world, they would make this the 11 commandment. [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by Jose Melendez on August 05, 2003 at 16:07:12 PT Hypcrisy: Stupid. THOU SHALL NOT USE DRUGS. HOW UNWRITTEN RULES CAN BE MORE SEVERE THAN CRIMINAL CODESIn democratic Israel, as part of the process of obtaining a permanent permit to enter the legislative assembly called the Knesset, parliamentary aids, journalists and others are asked about past drug use and if such use occurred, concerned individuals are then requested to oblige to abstain so long as they work in the Knesset. This unwritten rule was challenged last week by Dan Goldenblatt, a new parliamentary aid and political advisor to Mr. Roman Bronfman , MK, and former head of the pro-legalization and environmental political party, The Green Leaf Party. The issue is currently before the Legal Advisor of the Knesset and of the Internal Security Agency. In the meantime, Goldenblatt is subjected to routine security checks as any other visitor to the Parliament. Goldenblatt is quoted as saying: "It is strange that I was not asked to commit not to rob, rape, murder or go through a red light. It is also disturbing that that coming to work each day having downed a bottle of Vodka the previous night would not have precluded me from getting the entry permit but smoking a Joint from time to time does." Law Enforcement: click here [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by Petard on August 05, 2003 at 15:00:15 PT The Real Fear of Government Loss of control over the lives of their subjects, not citizens, subjects. Government of, by, and for, the corporations with the subjects being docile workers producing and consuming only products others produce and consume for a profit. That's the new Americn Dream. Now who's more foolish, the common dog chasing it's tail or the common American chasing their dream? Work to make money to spend money to make money for someone else to spend. Round and round we go, where we'll stop nobody knows. [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by BGreen on August 05, 2003 at 12:58:34 PT The REAL Numbers There's no way they arrest even 1% of all of the cannabis users in the police states. That means the real number of users is more like 6 million and I'd bet the actual number is much higher based on my own observations.The Rev. Bud Green [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by goneposthole on August 05, 2003 at 12:18:07 PT 600 thousand arrests 300 million population of souls... one in every five hundred people living in the US arrested for cannabis. Lots of folks smoking kind bud, me thinks. [ Post Comment ] Post Comment