cannabisnews.com: Marijuana Legalizers Not Giving Up Yet





Marijuana Legalizers Not Giving Up Yet
Posted by CN Staff on June 21, 2004 at 10:04:14 PT
By Guy W. Farmer
Source: Nevada Appeal 
I'll say this for the drug legalizers - at least they're persistent in their single-minded pursuit of legal marijuana in Nevada. But my hope is that Nevada voters still aren't buying what they're selling. We'll have the answer in early November. Despite a humiliating 61-39 percent defeat in 2002, following a victory on the "medical marijuana" issue in the 1990s, the Las Vegas-based Committee to Regulate and Control Marijuana - Committee to Legalize Marijuana would be more like it - announced last Wednesday that it had obtained 70,000 signatures to put its latest drug legalization measure on the November ballot.
This committee is an offshoot of the Washington, D.C.-based Marijuana Policy Project , which is funded in large measure by Hungarian-American billionaire George Soros, who has already spent more than $13 million to legalize drugs and defeat President Bush in November. The current marijuana legalization campaign - which has nothing to do with medical marijuana - began last year with TV spots showing happy teenagers in the Netherlands, where drugs are legal, and sad Nevada teenagers, who are the alleged victims of Nevada's tough anti-drug laws. The ad posited that marijuana use among Nevada teenagers is higher than it is in Holland, but the statistics utilized to support this shaky assertion are highly suspect, and Dutch authorities are re-thinking their pro-drug policies. Nevada MPP spokesman Bruce Mirkin told veteran journalist Dennis Myers of the Reno News & Review early this month that "the fact that an initiative went forward can be taken as an indication that we had reason to believe another effort was merited." When it comes to obfuscation, John Kerry couldn't have said it any better. For his part, Myers observed that "the (TV) argument seemed to confuse some Nevada reporters ...." No kidding! But then, that's the idea.In recent months the MPP conducted a low-key campaign in Northern Nevada, paying volunteers to collect signatures at shopping malls and gas stations. Personally, I had the pleasure of declining to sign their petition at a local cheapo gas outlet last weekend. Although drug legalizers always argue that marijuana is "harmless," recent medical research takes issue with that claim. In May, the Los Angeles Times (not exactly a right-wing journal) reported that "the high-potency marijuana now widely available in cities and some small towns is causing an increasing number of teenagers - and some pre-teens - to land in drug treatment centers or emergency rooms." The Times quoted Michael Dennis, a research psychologist in Bloomington, Ill., who found that kids "are not only smoking stronger stuff at a younger age but their pattern of use might be three to six 'blunts' - the equivalent of three or four joints each - just for themselves, in a day." Moreover, an analysis published by Columbia University's National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse revealed that the treatment rate for cannabis (marijuana) dependence or habitual use in youngsters had more than doubled in the last decade. And recent (2001) data from the U.S. Health and Human Services Department show that marijuana or hashish use "is by far the most common reason why children aged 12 to 17 were placed in licensed public or private (drug) treatment centers, accounting for more than 60 percent of reported cases." As if those statistics aren't worrisome enough, the American Academy of Pediatrics just came out against marijuana legalization, declaring that the consequences of acute and/or long-term marijuana use "include negative effects on short-term memory, concentration, attention span, motivation and problem solving." The Academy also noted that marijuana is now classified as a "schedule one" drug, "which means that it has a high potential for abuse, has no currently accepted medical use in the U.S. and lacks accepted safety standards for use under supervision by a physician." Does that sound "harmless" to you? The current ballot measure would legalize possession of "only" one ounce of marijuana at a time and increase penalties for providing pot to minors and for driving under the influence of the drug. But it would also make marijuana even more widely available throughout our state, further exacerbating enforcement problems for police and school officials. As White House Drug Czar John Walters told members of the National Association of Drug Court Professionals in Milwaukee earlier this month, "The belief that marijuana is a 'soft' drug is a myth. Marijuana is the single biggest treatment need .... We're living in the past if we believe marijuana is not a serious drug of abuse." And I haven't even mentioned the deaths caused by marijuana-smoking drivers; recent victims of drugged drivers include Las Vegas Sun executive Sandy Thompson and Reno police officer Mike Scofield. In 2002 we had the deadly case of a retired California firefighter who was high on marijuana and booze when he drove the wrong way on I-80 east of Reno before smashing head-on into a van and killing five members of a Utah family, including four young children. I could go on and on, but I'll spare you the gory details because this is a family newspaper. Marijuana a "harmless" drug? Forget about it!Guy W. Farmer, of Carson City, spent more than 20 years in the front lines of the War on Drugs in several Latin American countries.Source: Nevada Appeal (NV)Author: Guy W. FarmerPublished: June 20, 2004Copyright: 2004 Nevada AppealContact: appeal tahoe.comWebsite: http://www.nevadaappeal.com/Related Articles & Web Sites: Marijuana Policy Projecthttp://www.mpp.org/Regulate Marijuanahttp://www.regulatemarijuana.org/Another Try at Legalizing Marijuanahttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread17928.shtmlThe Drug Legalizers Are At It Againhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13321.shtml
Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help




Comment #12 posted by Max Flowers on June 23, 2004 at 09:34:26 PT
Farmer is ex-DEA eh?
The front lines of the WOD in Latin America, eh? Those were more like the playground of the CIA, where the objective wasn't exactly eradicating drugs at all. In fact, if Farmer was on those front lines as DEA then he was probably a stooge for the CIA, who with GHW Bush's guidance were smuggling coke out of there and bringing it back to the US in treasonous, treacherous violation of USA's own drug laws and selling it with CIA/mafia/gang connections. What an idiot, he probably doesn't even have a clue that while he was being paid to look for the little 2-acre plantations, the CIA was working with the big fish in evil conspiracy to bring the same garbage into the country where the DEA would bust people for having it.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #11 posted by fearfull on June 22, 2004 at 08:26:24 PT
From the Title on...
I get the feeling of an old bulldog barking at you as you walk by, all growling and fierce like, but still chained to a pole. damn those legalizers! Legalizers!!!
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #10 posted by OverwhelmSam on June 22, 2004 at 06:55:58 PT
This Guy Sounds Like A Robot
Only able to repeat what he's been programed to say with the inability for original thought or analysis.Oakland is planning to legalize and regulate marijuana in November: http://www.drugpolicy.org/news/pressroom/pressrelease/pr062104.cfmThe reason that the DEA's Schedule is a joke is because marijuana is listed as a schedule I drug, with a high potential for abuse. Heck, anything has a high potential for abuse.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #9 posted by observer on June 22, 2004 at 04:48:24 PT
re: BuWahahahahaha
You got it, BigDawg. Prohibitionists offer us such stock reasons why drug users (read: pot smokers) must be jailed. They hand us the same lame reasons for their jail-lust over and over and over. They are so predictable and formulaic, a robot could answer them. In fact a robot did answer them below.Those (numbered) themes come, ironically, from NIDA report. Yes that's the same National Institute on Drug Abuse NIDA that we know and love.
(See http://drugpolicycentral.com/bot/pg/propaganda/#toc for a list of themes.) There must be a real story on how that report came to be written and published in 1979.The bot looks for key words and phrases and sorts it all out, by drug war propaganda theme. This article is "drug war propaganda", even the robot seems 100% certain of it.asserted: $drugwar_propaganda at 100% ("campaign" $propaganda_theme2 $propaganda_theme3 $propaganda_theme5 $propaganda_theme6 $propaganda_theme7 $propaganda_theme8 $propaganda_theme4), 2 hitsasserted: $propaganda_theme2 at 100% ("Addiction" "problem" "problems" "drugged drivers"), 4 hitsasserted: $propaganda_theme3 at 50% ("American"), 3 hitsasserted: $use_is_abuse at 100% ("Substance Abuse" "marijuana use"), 3 hitsasserted: $propaganda_theme4 at 100% ($use_is_abuse)asserted: $propaganda_theme5 at 70% ("children" "kids" "teenagers" "teens"), 12 hitsasserted: $propaganda_theme6 at 90% ("War on Drugs"), 1 hitsasserted: $propaganda_theme7 at 100% ("legalize drugs" "legalizers" "Legalize" "legalization" $legalization), 10 hitsasserted: $propaganda_theme8 at 100% ("George Soros" "pro-drug" "drug legalizers" "legalizers" "billionaire"), 8 hits
http://drugpolicycentral.com/bot/propaganda
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #8 posted by cloud7 on June 21, 2004 at 18:38:08 PT
Richard Paul Zuckerm
I've been following this also and just to be clear you only have to give them your name and are not required to have your id on you, though the difference is minimal. How much longer before we are required to "show our papers" to any lord of the state who asks?
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #7 posted by Richard Paul Zuckerm on June 21, 2004 at 17:16:42 PT:
DESCRIBE THE NEW CONVICTED FELON VOTING LAW?
Would somebody please explain that new law in Nevada that allows certain convicted felons who have completed probation/supervised release/parole to vote?
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #6 posted by Richard Paul Zuckerm on June 21, 2004 at 17:11:26 PT:
WE MUST SHOW OUR IDENTIFICATION
Unfortunately, today, Monday, June 21, 2004, the United States Supreme New World Order Court upheld Nevada State Law requiring citizens to produce identification to demanding police. Note, however, that some states do not have laws specifically requiring the production of identification! This day represents a cloudy day in the history of civil liberties!
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #5 posted by BigDawg on June 21, 2004 at 15:01:52 PT
BuWahahahahaha
Thanks for the laugh observer.I've been wondering when someone was going to give the prohib bs chapters and verse.Theme numbers seem quite appropriate as well ;)
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #4 posted by observer on June 21, 2004 at 14:17:28 PT
standard fare
I'll say this for the drug legalizers - at least they're persistent in their single-minded pursuit of legal marijuana in Nevada.re: "legalizers" - Drug policy options are presented as either total prohibition, or as total "legalization." No middle ground is contemplated in the "zero-tolerance" world of prohibitionism. Absolute prohibition executed with religious fervor and purpose! (Total Prohibition or Access (propaganda theme 7) ) re: "drug legalizers", "legalizers" - Anyone who disagrees with prohibitionism is attacked as part of the problem. No dissent is permitted. (Dissent Attacked (propaganda theme 8) )Despite a humiliating 61-39 percent defeat in 2002, following a victory on the "medical marijuana" issue in the 1990s, the Las Vegas-based Committee to Regulate and Control Marijuana - Committee to Legalize Marijuana would be more like it - announced last Wednesday that it had obtained 70,000 signatures to put its latest drug legalization measure on the November ballot.re: "Legalize", "legalization" - Any mention of lessening the harshness of drug laws is portrayed as a sinful "legalization". Only total prohibition (or more jailings) will be righteous. (Total Prohibition or Access (propaganda theme 7) )This committee is an offshoot of the Washington, D.C.-based Marijuana Policy Project , which is funded in large measure by Hungarian-American billionaire George Soros, who has already spent more than $13 million to legalize drugs and defeat President Bush in November.re: "legalize drugs", "legalize" - With God on Their Side (prohibitionists assure us), only the continued rooting out of the sinful drug users (total prohibition) will do. All else is portrayed as the slippery slope to total legalization of all drugs for toddlers. (Total Prohibition or Access (propaganda theme 7) ) re: "George Soros", "billionaire" - Because they hold differing opinions on drug policy, say prohibitionists, "legalizers" should be silenced or jailed. (Dissent Attacked (propaganda theme 8) )The current marijuana legalization campaign - which has nothing to do with medical marijuana - began last year with TV spots showing happy teenagers in the Netherlands, where drugs are legal, and sad Nevada teenagers, who are the alleged victims of Nevada's tough anti-drug laws.re: "teenagers" - Prohibitionists are champions of "the child", "kids", "children", etc. Only continued or increased punishments of all adults caught using "drugs" will send the correct "message" to children. (Children Corrupted (propaganda theme 5) ) re: "legalization" - Any mention of lessening the harshness of drug laws is portrayed as a sinful "legalization". Only total prohibition (or more jailings) will be righteous. (Total Prohibition or Access (propaganda theme 7) )The ad posited that marijuana use among Nevada teenagers is higher than it is in Holland, but the statistics utilized to support this shaky assertion are highly suspect, and Dutch authorities are re-thinking their pro-drug policies.re: "marijuana use" - The rhetoric of prohibition will assume that "use" and "abuse" are identical. (Use is Abuse (propaganda theme 4) ) re: "teenagers" - Prohibitionists forever claim that children are corrupted by drugs, and this is why adult users must be punished harshly. (Children Corrupted (propaganda theme 5) ) re: "pro-drug" - People who step forward in disagreement with prohibition are attacked and sometimes jailed. (Dissent Attacked (propaganda theme 8) )
http://drugpolicycentral.com/bot
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #3 posted by dididadadidit on June 21, 2004 at 13:32:27 PT
Cloud7: Same Old ONDCP "News" Release
This L.A. Times story shows up here every week or two from a different newspaper. People, being willing to take the easier way more often than not (me too), just take this free ONDCP story and run it without modification. It's a column filler and the "reporter" doesn't have to do anything but copy and paste, a half dozen key strokes and it's time for coffee break.It doesn't matter that E R admissions for any reason are counted as a marijuana admission if marijuana is mentioned at all. It doesn't matter that increased drug treatment for marijuana is due to the choice of jail or treatment, not any particular change in potency (the feds own stats put the lie to the potency crap).Keep an eye out, you'll see this story (ONDCP propaganda handout) crop up again next week in another paper. It is as predictable as Chaney/Bush telling us one more time (or more loudly and every week) of the close relationship between Saddam and al Queda.Another topic. Gotta share. Steve Bradenton had a cartoon where Bush is dressed up as a preacher, speaking to the congregation from a presidential lectern, and he says, "God sent me to torture them Saddamites before they turn Trent Lott's wife into a pillow of salt...and my lawyers said it was OK, too."Look him up on the net for some laughs, he has some great cartoons.Cheers 
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #2 posted by kaptinemo on June 21, 2004 at 12:58:12 PT:
I love reading this stuff
In my Father's day, they called behavior like that illustrated in this article "Whistling past the graveyard." The practice of those making brave noises while secretly fearing the worst.It's Mr. Farmer who needs to 'forget about it'. We won't stop until we win. Again and again and again, year after year, until we triumph...as we HAVE been, in the courts, the legislatures and in public opinion. Unlike Mr. Farmer and his ilk, we have next to nothing to lose, particularly those suffering from deadly or debilitating illnesses.Keep whistling, Mr. Farmer. But I can't help but notice the quaver in your brave tune getting more and more pronounced. Why else make this (pathetic) attempt to sway public opinion?
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #1 posted by cloud7 on June 21, 2004 at 10:17:01 PT
....
"Los Angeles Times (not exactly a right-wing journal) reported that "the high-potency marijuana now widely available in cities and some small towns is causing an increasing number of teenagers - and some pre-teens - to land in drug treatment centers or emergency rooms.""Right/Left wing has nothing to do with how the drug war is reported. Nearly all major newspapers suck at the teat of the easy scare stories and "heroic" actions of police "making a dent in the supply of drugs.""Guy W. Farmer, of Carson City, spent more than 20 years in the front lines of the War on Drugs in several Latin American countries."This about says it all. Nothing like unbiased commentary from someone whose livelihood comes directly from destroying others.
[ Post Comment ]


Post Comment