cannabisnews.com: Reefer Madness, Again Reefer Madness, Again Posted by CN Staff on May 10, 2004 at 22:55:45 PT By Joel Miller Source: WorldNetDaily The wonderful thing about having Canada as a neighbor was always knowing that its Molson-drinking, "eh"-affixing, health-care-socializing denizens were a mostly harmless bunch. Not any longer if you're U.S. drug czar John Walters. Wally is exercised about BC Bud, a high-grade, high-potency, high-price marijuana that will get smokers giggling quicker than the more mundane stuff grown in Mexico or that hollow out behind Uncle Billy's shed in Eastern Kentucky. Walters apparently has it figured that if the old-fashioned stuff could make the characters in "Reefer Madness" act so insanely, this nuevo-reefer must be, well, as bad as crack. "Canada is exporting to us the crack of marijuana and it is a dangerous problem," Walters told reporters in April, emphasizing the pot's potency. Walter's use of crack bugaboo makes sense. When most people think of marijuana, they don't think of the end of the world. An annoying problem, perhaps. Something they don't want their kids messing with, typically. But nothing so horrifying as crack, which if you didn't sleep through the latter half of the 1980s, you might recall was basically considered a bigger threat to America than Soviet nukes. Newsweek Editor In Chief Richard M. Smith even likened it to the Black Death in a signed editorial. It turned out the crack scare was mostly just that -- a scare. The drug hardly makes headlines any longer, except when Jeb Bush's daughter is caught in rehab with a rock or two. But people sure remember that it was nasty stuff; ergo, Wally's use of the spurious connection to BC Bud. So how big of a problem is this stuff, really? "It is one of the reasons why we believe ... we have seen a doubling of emergency room cases involving marijuana in the last several years from 60,000 to 120,000," Walters said. This may not be putting my best forensics foot forward, but the statistic Walters is referring to is problematic. Generated by the Drug Abuse Warning Network, the DAWN stat only tracks an examiner's mention of a patient's use of an illegal drug or misuse of a legal one; it can't fix causation. Which is why Walters has to say "involving" rather than "caused by" pot. Further, it's not like examiners are asking patients if they're toking on BC Bud, Thai Gold, Super Skunk, Hawaiian Indica, or whatever other strain of marijuana is available. They could be smoking ditchweed for all anyone knows. Next, for such a monstrous upsurge, you'd expect to find vast quantities of BC Bud coming across the border and being huffed by the bale. Not so if interdiction numbers mean anything. "Ottawa has said that Washington's own data shows that of all the illegal pot seized by U.S. agents only 1.5 percent came from Canada," reports Reuters. While Canadian-grown weed can be of higher quality and certainly of higher price than the stuff stamped "hecho en Mexico," what our Southern neighbors lack in quality, they make up for in quantity. Using U.S. Customs data, Shannon McCaffrey of the St. Paul Pioneer Press points out that in fiscal year 2002 authorities snagged 1.2 million pounds of pot coming from Mexico. By comparison, authorities seized less than 20,000 pounds of Canadian cannabis. So which is a bigger problem: high-grade pot as cost-prohibitive as powder cocaine from Canada or the doobie deluge from Mexico? How about neither? Instead, take this more cynical (but more realistic) picture for whatever it's worth: Drug laws only have public support so long as drugs are deemed extremely dangerous. Every time an effort to crack down on drugs is made with new laws, politicians hype the threat caused by narcotics and other psychoactive substances in an attempt to whip the public into a frightened tangle of angst-ridden nerves. More fear means more support for whatever is supposed to alleviate the fear, and more support means bigger budgets. Every politician knows how to exploit this peculiar form of calculus. This doesn't mean that drug abuse does not cause problems. It only means that pols have every incentive to inflate problems and stoke dread to get what they want, namely tougher prohibition measures. But as I argue in my forthcoming book, "Bad Trip," these measures amplify every problem drugs are supposedly the cause of: crime, corruption, destructive abuse, the whole nine kilos. It's a bureaucratic make-work program -- a self-justifying and self-perpetuating system that both deceives and bilks taxpayers to keep going. "We need to have political leadership in Canada that recognizes the problem," Walters said. Don't mistake this as an endorsement for Kerry, but given the wild ideas about BC Bud coming out of Washington, I'd settle for political leadership here that recognized the real problem: Itself. Editor's note: Joel Miller's new book, "Bad Trip: How the War Against Drugs is Destroying America," will be published next month and is available now in ShopNetDaily. Says Larry Elder: "Miller nails it. He powerfully and persuasively articulates the folly, the harm and the unconstitutionality of our government's War against Drugs." And Judge Andrew P. Napolitano of Fox News rules: "Read this book and send a copy to every lawmaker and judge you know." Get "Bad Trip," today in ShopNetDaily.Joel Miller is senior editor of WND Books and author of the forthcoming book, "Bad Trip: How the War Against Drugs is Destroying America." His own company, Oakdown, recently published "Drinking With Calvin and Luther! A History of Alcohol in the Church." Source: WorldNetDaily (US Web)Author: Joel MillerPublished: May 11, 2004Copyright: 2004 WorldNetDaily.com Inc.Contact: letters worldnetdaily.comWebsite: http://www.worldnetdaily.com/Related Articles: Canadian Pot a Growing Concern, U.S. Says http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread18427.shtmlLaws Have Made Our B.C. Bud a Growth Industryhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread17068.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #11 posted by FoM on May 12, 2004 at 11:31:26 PT What Can They Do To Stop Cannabis Anymore? Senior Citizen Busted for Pot Cultivation Pot cultivation is an activity for all ages, it would seem. Police in Hamburg have arrested a pensioner for growing cannabis plants in the home. The strong smell tipped authorities off. She had a green thumb, apparently, and decided to use it to grow a lucrative crop. A 68-year-old Hamburg woman was picked up by police after they discovered she'd turned her home into a pot plantation. Police discovered some 170 cannabis plants in the woman's apartment, as well as a special lighting and ventilation system. "It was very professional," said a police spokeswoman. Evidently she wasn't growing the plants just because she liked the way they looked. Officers also found five kilograms (11 pounds) of freshly harvested marijuana that had already been packaged. The woman, who shares the apartment with her 39-year-old son, said she was tending the plants and watering them, but doing it for him, according to a police spokesman. Police removed the plants and are investigating the case further. DW staff (jam) http://www.dw-world.de/english/0,3367,1430_A_1200928_1_A,00.html [ Post Comment ] Comment #10 posted by FoM on May 12, 2004 at 08:08:39 PT Treeanna I understand what you are saying. Egos don't have any place in politics at least this election year. The mess we are in needs new leadership not another 4 years of Bush. [ Post Comment ] Comment #9 posted by Treeanna on May 12, 2004 at 06:05:48 PT Nader needs to go That egotistical idiot handed Bush the election last time. I hope he gets out or gets trounced in the qualifications this time around. [ Post Comment ] Comment #8 posted by E_Johnson on May 11, 2004 at 11:06:36 PT Fox isn't all bad Fox gives drug legalization a platform whereas CNN pretty much restricts all drug war dissent to the treatment instead of incarceration realm.IT's pretty sad that the so-called liberal media turned out to be so controlling and prissy.Fox has its flaws, major ones, but censoring drug reform views is not one of them. [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by kaptinemo on May 11, 2004 at 10:36:59 PT: Let Canada be Canada Many, many years ago, at the start of the Bush1 Presidency (Reagan never counted), during the time of the Solidarnosc resistance in Poland, the US propaganda machine cranked up to full blast, demanding that the Soviets "let Poland be Poland".Well? Why not 'let Canada be Canada'? Lay off, Johnny Pee; they don't need your p**-poor DrugWar stewardship; I'd sooner ask a Skid Row wino for advice on 'social drinking'. [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by goneposthole on May 11, 2004 at 07:10:34 PT lunatics "We need to have political leadership in Canada that recognizes the problem," Walters said.once more:"We need to have political leadership in Canada that recognizes the problem," Walters said.They have. Have you ever seen someone or a picture of someone who has abused crack over a long period of time? Not a pretty picture.Not so with cannabis. It's medicine. Johnny Walters' brand of prohibition is crackpot, that's for sure. The Canadian leadership knows it. [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by TroutMask on May 11, 2004 at 06:41:32 PT if... if nader wasn't in the race, maybe Bush wouldn't be prez for 4 more years. oh well...pot.-TM [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by ekim on May 11, 2004 at 06:05:51 PT Ralph Nader on C-Span now dem call 1-202-585-3881 gop 1202-585-3880 others 1-202-5853882 http://www.mmdetroit.org [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by Jose Melendez on May 11, 2004 at 05:36:26 PT Cypress Hill Paintball Peace A MUST listen:http://www.npr.org/features/feature.php?wfId=1890794 - - - http://65.18.211.65/rx/vote [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by OverwhelmSam on May 11, 2004 at 04:58:10 PT I Like It Very well written article and right on target. It blows me away that Judge Napolitano of "Fox News" suggests sending this book to every Legislator and Judge. Might just change the views of some of those with the power to effect change. Judge Andrew P. Napolitano of Fox News rules: "Read this book and send a copy to every lawmaker and judge you know."I like it. [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by kaptinemo on May 11, 2004 at 04:46:36 PT: Mr. Miller does it again He must have been the kind of kid they didn't let near hairpins and balloons; he's so *good* at puncturing government gasbags. Better not let antis get within 20 feet of him, or they're done for... [ Post Comment ] Post Comment