cannabisnews.com: Petitions in for Pot Legalization Measure Petitions in for Pot Legalization Measure Posted by CN Staff on June 22, 2004 at 09:58:38 PT By Angela Hill, Staff Writer Source: Alameda Times-Star Oakland -- It may be awhile before you can pick up some party pot at the store when you stop for cigarettes, tomatoes and milk in the city of Oakland. But that's the ultimate vision held by advocates for the legalization of marijuana -- for recreational use, not just medical. And they're hoping Oakland voters will nudge it closer to reality. On Monday, members of the Oakland Civil Liberties Alliance turned in more than 32,000 signatures to city election officials to get the Oakland Cannabis Initiative on the November ballot. With at least 12,000 more than the required 20,000 signatures for ballot initiatives, Alliance members are feeling pretty confident of the measure's success. Officials at the City Clerk's Office confirmed the signatures were turned in Monday but said the names must still be certified in the next 14 business days before the item can proceed to the voters. "It makes us feel really good and confident that we're headed to the ballot in November," said Alliance member Joe DeVries. The measure would not decriminalize pot in Oakland until cannabis is legalized by state officials, but it would prepare the city for the possibility, outlining ways to tax and regulate sales when the time comes. Until that happens, the measure, if passed, would merely direct the Oakland Police Department to treat the private adult use of marijuana as its lowest priority. "The measure would ultimately have the city tax and regulate the private adult use of cannabis in Oakland for people 21 and over," DeVries said. "It would help us keep cannabis under control, keep the city from wasting law-enforcement resources on it and keep cannabis out of the hands of children." DeVries said the Alliance is perfectly aware that the city can't legalize marijuana on its own. "We know this. That's why, in the text of the initiative, we're giving the city an out," DeVries said. "It says the city needs to do this as soon as it is possible under state law. And we believe in the next couple of years there will be state legislation allowing local jurisdictions to legalize and regulate cannabis sales. "And that would get rid of the street dealing of marijuana," he said. "If you put it behind the counter, put it in a store -- it's basically a substance up there with caffeine, tobacco and over-the-counter medicines -- then you basically take it off the black market, take away the profit for the dealers and get it off the street corners," he said. Police, however, dispute the assertion that being able to buy pot legally in the store would get dealers off the street. "It's not going to solve all the problems they say it's going to solve," said Oakland police narcotics Lt. Rick Hart. "How much would it cost in stores? How difficult will it be to get it? There's still going to be a black market if it's too expensive in the store and you can get it for less on the street. "Also, you'll still have the under-21 folks interested in purchasing it, and where are they going to get it?" Hart said. "Because stores would presumably be carding, young people couldn't get it there and would still buy it on the street. So you won't have less dealers. As long as it's a lucrative business on the street, it's gonna be out there." And Hart said personal adult use of marijuana is already a pretty low priority in Oakland. "Currently, if we stop someone and they have less than an ounce, if they have one joint in the car, they only get a citation anyway," he said. "Even now, we're not handcuffing people and taking them to jail for that. So the only thing that would change would be the amount they could have." Aside from law-enforcement issues, advocates of the measure say money generated by taxing marijuana sales would help fund vital city services. "The revenue it could generate for the city is phenomenal," DeVries said. While proponents of the measure say it is completely separate from the medical marijuana issue, some people in the medical marijuana movement are concerned it might discredit medical users, DeVries said. "They're afraid people will say, 'See, we told you that's what they were all after in the first place. They weren't really using it for medical.' But that's not going to happen. That's why we don't want to associate this with medical use. This is an economic issue, a law-enforcement issue. It's entirely separate." Richard Lee of the Bulldog Cafe on Broadway, one of Oakland's medical marijuana dispensaries, said he didn't know of anyone on the medical side who is opposed to the measure. "If anything, it should help get the prices down for medical users and raise availability, and we could increase hours," Lee said. "Plus, you wouldn't have cops saying, 'You don't look sick to me.' "Exactly how this is going to play out has yet to be seen, but I do think there's a lot to be learned from how medical marijuana laws have developed, which could apply to laws for private recreational use," Lee said. "The city of Oakland is already permitting clubs, while the federal government still considers them illegal. That says a lot." Indeed, the Oakland City Council recently voted to issue permits to medical marijuana dispensaries -- but only four permits, forcing a handful of others to close and bringing both praise and objections from the medical community. "Medical marijuana started with a local movement, with San Francisco's Proposition P in 1991, five years before the statewide Prop. 215," Lee said. "Personal-use laws could happen like that too, if we get another few cities in the next few years to pass similar ballot measures as this one, and get more and more support for it -- we'll see what happens." Note: Cannabis proponents say they collected 12,000 more than the 20,000 signatures required for a city vote. Source: Alameda Times-Star (CA) Author: Angela Hill, Staff WriterPublished: Tuesday, June 22, 2004 Copyright: 2004 MediaNews Group, Inc. Website: http://www.timesstar.com/Contact: triblet angnewspapers.com Related Articles & Web Site:Medicinal Cannabis Research Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/research.htmPot Initiative Backers Turn in 32,000 Signatures http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19043.shtmlOakland Pot Measure Seeks a Shift in Priorities http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19042.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #34 posted by Hope on June 24, 2004 at 03:58:41 PT Thanks Got it. [ Post Comment ] Comment #33 posted by afterburner on June 23, 2004 at 15:09:45 PT Hope, Here's a Direct Link The Pot Cops http://www.sfbg.com/38/37/news_ed_potcops.html [ Post Comment ] Comment #32 posted by kaptinemo on June 23, 2004 at 12:15:21 PT: AB, about that dropped case A friend of mine up there informed me that a very mysterious death of a suspect occured in that case...while the police were present...about which the police are keeping very quiet. The death was ruled a 'suicide'. (As in 'assisted', maybe?) Hence the 'not in the public's interest'. A trial would have made it a bit too obvious, it seems... [ Post Comment ] Comment #31 posted by Hope on June 23, 2004 at 11:10:01 PT Afterburner I couldn't find that editorial in the sfbg from the url I got. Why am I not seeing it? [ Post Comment ] Comment #30 posted by afterburner on June 23, 2004 at 10:40:05 PT Richard Cowan Comments on Oakland & San Francisco Once Upon A Time In the West: The Rise, and Fall, and Rise Again of “Oaksterdam.” Across the Bay In San Francisco, There Is Trouble In Paradise. Posted by Richard Cowan on 2004-06-21 16:20:00 Source: ' If Oakland can regulate illegal medical dispensaries, why can’ it “tax and regulate” illegal adult use/sales? Richard Lee files petitions for initiative. ' If San Francisco can’t control its police, DEAland’s police problem is even worse than we feared. And 60% of Police Chiefs oppose medical cannabis! ' Read Full Story... http://www.marijuananews.com/news.php3?sid=750 Maybe, San Francisco should take a page out of the Ronald Reagan playbook and fire any local narcs who are defying the will of the people and the government of the City of San Francisco (if the narcs won't agree to a negotiated cease fire on medical cannabis grow busts). Or, ' the city ought to grow its own pot, under the jurisdiction of the Department of Public Health, and distribute it free to the medical marijuana providers. ' --The Pot Cops, an editorial in The San Francisco Bay Guardian describing the absurd situation http://www.sfbg.com/ [ Post Comment ] Comment #29 posted by Hope on June 23, 2004 at 10:24:32 PT Very interesting This is very interesting. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3826857.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3826857.stm [ Post Comment ] Comment #28 posted by afterburner on June 23, 2004 at 10:08:04 PT But Cannabis Prohibition Still 'Legal,' Yeh Right! Enforcement continues, but charges keep getting dropped by the Canadian federal Department of Justice with no reason given:1 CN ON: Crown Drops Charges Tue, 22 Jun 2004 Excerpt http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v04/n898/a04.html?1802 CN ON: Charges Dropped Against Marijuana 'Compassion Club' Tue, 22 Jun 2004 Excerpt http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v04/n897/a05.html?1803 CN ON: Case Against Compassion Club Up In Smoke Tue, 22 Jun 2004 Excerpt http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v04/n897/a06.html?180 Details [ Post Comment ] Comment #27 posted by Hope on June 23, 2004 at 08:38:43 PT My, how familiar it sounds Good morning, Kaptin, Afterburner, FoM and all.You're so right, Kap. What I'm reading more and more lately in mainstream media, at that...all over the main stream...are the words our community has shared sadly, angrily, and bitterly for many years. That's the full circle I was sensing lately. We are hearing, finally, the truths we all have been saying for years and years.We've been spurned. We've been castigated. We've been despised, hated, arrested, mocked and ignored. Now the reasonable, sensible, true things we've been saying for years, against all odds, are finally echoing from high places for all to hear. We felt muffled. We felt no one but the choir was hearing us. Our truth pushed out quietly anyway and soon it will be a deafening peal in the ears of prohibitionists and the ignorant.When I read this…I rejoiced. I felt like God had finally managed to penetrate the consciences of the misled and I rejoiced. My rejoicing is that the ugly tree of prohibition with it’s deadly fruit is finally being seen for what it is. As I see us and what we’ve been saying being vindicated by God and Mankind I don’t rejoice in the downfall of the prohibitionists, but I do rejoice in the rise of truth.Truth. Maybe it will become “stylish” again. [ Post Comment ] Comment #26 posted by afterburner on June 23, 2004 at 06:47:46 PT Vote for the Herb! Two related Canadian perspectives regarding comments #21-25:share: Canada's largest ethnic newspaper. June 17, 2004, Volume 27, Issue 113Editorial ·Make your vote count http://www.sharenews.com/editor1.htm ·The real genius of Ray Charles http://www.sharenews.com/editor4.htm ·Vote anyway http://www.sharenews.com/editor5.htmNatural Health Product Regulations: A Hidden Agenda? By Thomson Lawrie [other articles by this author] Pages: 1 http://www.thenaturalhealer.ca/mag/04/01/natural-health-regulations.php [ Post Comment ] Comment #25 posted by kaptinemo on June 23, 2004 at 04:52:58 PT: My, how familiar it sounds *"It's time to intervene in this war and share a compelling vision of policies that abstain from the addictive and damaging habits of punishment and coercion," Rev. Howard continued. "I understand that total abstinence from punitive approaches to drugs is not ready to be fully embraced by the powers that be." Still, he said, the church has "a moral imperative" to fight the "unconscionable excesses" of the drug war, first among them the attacks on medical marijuana. "If we are going to have a war on drugs, can we at least remove the sick and dying from the battlefield? Marijuana provides symptom relief for people suffering from the effects of chemotherapy, AIDS Wasting syndrome, multiple sclerosis, sickle cell anemia and other serious illnesses. If a doctor and a patient decide that marijuana is the best medicine for them, let's have some mercy on these people."*Looks like somebody else has been reading here, as this theme has been something written about again and again and again. It's also why this site gets so many hits. This is a major, major event. An African American religious leader is speaking out against the laws which negatively affect so many citizens. Finally, this country's minority leaderships' 'wall of silence' about the unjust laws that affect so many of their respective groups has been shattered. We can expect more voices attached to collars and yarmulkes to join them.Winning in the courts. Winning in the legislatures. Winning in the arena of public opinion. And now, winning in the churches and the temples. If the antis weren't so vicious, I'd be tempted to feel sorry for them. [ Post Comment ] Comment #24 posted by Hope on June 22, 2004 at 22:55:27 PT That's soooo good, I want to post it again. But I'll refrain and just read it again and go to bed happier. It's a good piece. [ Post Comment ] Comment #23 posted by FoM on June 22, 2004 at 22:45:29 PT Hope That's good news. Thanks for posting it. I really don't have any specific rules. Everyone seems to add good information. I like that. [ Post Comment ] Comment #22 posted by Hope on June 22, 2004 at 22:44:21 PT Here's a url http://www.idpi.us [ Post Comment ] Comment #21 posted by Hope on June 22, 2004 at 22:42:05 PT One more thing If this is against your posting rules, FoM...I'm sorry...I think you can unpost it...if you wish. Otherwise, it is very interesting. It came on one of my drug policy lists today and I'm sure a lot of other people got it, too, and I don't see a url to go to it so here it is anyway:Major Religious Denominations Increase Pressure on Congress for Medical Marijuana6/18/04 Six major religious denominations have joined the fray over medical marijuana in the US Congress. In letters sent out to targeted congressmen and women this week by the Interfaith Drug Policy Initiative (http://www.idpi.us), the churches are calling on Congress to end the Bush administration's persecution of medical marijuana patients. The letters target representatives belonging to the six denominations, and while they delineate the positions adopted by each of the denominations, each letter leads with the position of the targeted representative's own church. The United Methodist Church's General Board of Church and Society, the Progressive National Baptist Convention, and the Unitarian Universalist Association have all signed on to a statement proclaiming that "seriously ill people should not be subject to criminal sanctions for using marijuana if the patient's physician has told the patient that such use is likely to be beneficial," IDPI reported. The Union for Reform Judaism, the Episcopal Church, and the United Church of Christ have all adopted similar position statements. Two other major denominations, the Evangelical Lutherans and the Presbyterians, while not adopting specific statements on medical marijuana, have signed a 2002 statement calling for a broad array of drug policy reforms consistent with support for medical marijuana. "The politicians who oppose medical marijuana often make 'morality' arguments," said Charles Thomas, IDPI's executi! ve director. "Yet six major denominations advocate legal medical marijuana, and no denominations have taken a position against it. Where did these politicians get their concepts of morality?" Not from the holy writings, suggested Rabbi Peter Schaktman, president of the Greater New York Council of Reform Synagogues, which is in turn part of the Union of Reform Judaism, one of the denominations that has pronounced in favor of medical marijuana. "We are in the morality business," he told DRCNet.. "At least in Jewish tradition, the duty to heal the sick and alleviate suffering is very much a moral issue. We've come to realize that when medical marijuana can be used in an appropriate fashion, it is probably immoral not to allow it to be so used," he said. "The relief of suffering and alleviation of pain is a very high value; our duty is to do whatever we can to comfort and cure the sick." According to IDPI, one thing that Congress can do is pass a bill that would pr! ohibit the use of federal funds to arrest and prosecute medical marijuana patients and providers in those states where it is legal under state law. Last year, a similar bill, the Hinchey-Rohrabacher Amendment, named after its initial sponsors, Reps. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) and Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), failed to pass. This year, the bill is likely to be introduced as an amendment to the Commerce-Justice-State appropriations bill. "Medical marijuana is an issue of mercy," said Thomas. "Being seriously ill is stressful enough already. Patients who follow their doctors' advice to use marijuana shouldn't have to live in constant fear of arrest and jail. It is the duty of religious denominations to stand up for vulnerable people who are being wronged. We pray that Congress will have the compassion to stop the Bush Administration's War on Patients." "The facts show that the plant has medicinal uses," said the Rev. Greg Stewart of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of No! rthern Nevada, "especially for people with HIV/AIDS, as well as other diseases. There is real relief for people who cannot find relief any other way, and that ought to be the government's priority. It is certainly the church's priority, and we need to take the lead instead of supporting the current regime," he told DRCNet. "If the church does not stand up for people unable to stand up for themselves, who will? As we have seen, certainly not the government." Rev. Stewart's position is grounded in a deeper critique of drug policy. "This war on drugs has been dragging on for years and it hasn't been effective and it may even stimulate drug use, particularly among teens and young adults," he argued. "Personally, I would rather see a system of legalization, where there could be some accountability about how it is distributed. There are many of us looking for very intentional and wide-reaching reforms of these laws." The letter to members of Congress is notable for the presence of the nation's largest African American denomination. "We got the Progressive National Baptist Convention to sign on," Thomas said. "This is the denomination Martin Luther King belonged to, this is Jesse Jackson's church, and the convention is still one of the main social justice-oriented denominations in the country," he pointed out. And with it, they got the powerful rhetoric of the Rev. Dr. Arnold W. Howard of the Enon Baptist Church in Baltimore. In remarks prepared for a Baltimore press conference, the reverend constructed an elaborate metaphor of society addicted to the war on drugs, then drove it home: "Just like an addict can spiral out of control and begin to exhibit bizarre behavior, the federal government, in a despicable show of bravado to maintain this drug war addiction, is even arresting legitimate seriously ill patients who use medical marijuana with the approval of their doctor," he said. "The drug war mongers are in denial. They come out every year with a drug war battle plan that is basically the same as the year before. My brothers and sisters, it is time for an intervention," Rev. Howard declaimed. "It's time to intervene in this war and share a compelling vision of policies that abstain from the addictive and damaging habits of punishment and coercion," Rev. Howard continued. "I understand that total abstinence from punitive approaches to drugs is not ready to be fully embraced by the powers that be." Still, he said, the church has "a moral imperative" to fight the "unconscionable excesses" of the drug war, first among them the attacks on medical marijuana. "If we are going to have a war on drugs, can we at least remove the sick and dying from the battlefield? Marijuana provides symptom relief for people suffering from the effects of chemotherapy, AIDS Wasting syndrome, multiple sclerosis, sickle cell anemia and other serious illnesses. If a doctor and a patient decide that marijuana is the best medicine for them! , let's have some mercy on these people." Some 180 legislators are receiving the lobbying letters, Thomas said. "Building support for medical marijuana among religious denominations and channeling it into specific federal legislative efforts already underway by different reform groups is one of our top priorities," he added. The group is also working on Higher Education Act and federal mandatory minimum sentence reform this summer, Thomas said. In the fall, IDPI will turn its focus to the states. "Ultimately," said Thomas, "medical marijuana is an issue of mercy. It is the duty of religious denominations to stand up for people who are seriously ill and already suffering enough without having to live with the constant fear of being arrested. In Christianity, Jesus broke the law of his day by healing people on the Sabbath," Thomas said. "And as Martin Luther King said, when the law is unjust, it is no law at all." _-END -PERMISSION to reprint or redist! ribute any or all of the contents of Drug War Chronicle (formerly The Week Online with DRCNet is hereby granted. We ask that any use of these materials include proper credit and, where appropriate, a link to one or more of our web sites. If your publication customarily pays for publication, DRCNet requests checks payable to the organization. If your publication does not pay for materials, you are free to use the materials gratis. In all cases, we request notification for our records, including physical copies where material has appeared in print. Contact: StoptheDrugWar.org: the Drug Reform Coordination Network, P.O. Box 18402, Washington, DC 20036, (202) 293-8340 (voice), (202) 293-8344 (fax), e-mail drcnet drcnet.org. Thank you. [ Post Comment ] Comment #20 posted by Hope on June 22, 2004 at 22:23:34 PT Goodnight to you, too. May tomorrow be a better day...even if today is/was good...may tomorrow be even better. [ Post Comment ] Comment #19 posted by Hope on June 22, 2004 at 22:21:12 PT Joy There have been an extra lot of children here since school is out. One thing I enjoy hearing...that runs over from them...is their peals and squeals of pure joy. Pure joy...and it overflows and touches those around them. It's good. [ Post Comment ] Comment #18 posted by FoM on June 22, 2004 at 22:17:48 PT Hope Me too. I'm calling it a day. The " quotation marks " probably are the problem in the subject line. They make it tempermental! Good Night and Have a Pleasant Tomorrow! LOL! [ Post Comment ] Comment #17 posted by Hope on June 22, 2004 at 22:16:27 PT childlike ways are good You mean clearly and untainted, with a sense of hope, trust and joy against all odds. Freshness and purity that hasn't been destroyed by the many joy killers of life. That's childlike...I guess.Part of it, anyway. [ Post Comment ] Comment #16 posted by Hope on June 22, 2004 at 22:11:58 PT "child like ways" and a "perfect plan" is what I meant to say.I'm having a bit of trouble getting my subject to post right with the quotes in it for some reason. Probably need to get to bed now and get some rest. It's been a long busy day and I sort of expect tomorrow to be another if all goes well. [ Post Comment ] Comment #15 posted by FoM on June 22, 2004 at 22:06:05 PT Hope I'm glad you understood what I was trying to say. I get very deep about how I look at life sometimes. [ Post Comment ] Comment #14 posted by Hope on June 22, 2004 at 22:02:49 PT "child like ways" and a "perfect" "I don't want to ever lose the child like way I think about somethings."I know what you mean, FoM, and I agree. Worse than losing it yourself is seeing a child lose it. The song is touching and it does seem true, that somehow, perfection has to embody imperfections to be perfect. [ Post Comment ] Comment #13 posted by FoM on June 22, 2004 at 21:38:23 PT Hope I get angry. I don't like being angry. I sometimes turn off the news and listen to music or watch a nature or pet channel. The world is in upheaval and I don't want to ever lose the child like way I think about somethings. Too much war can hurt us. Some people can handle alot and some people can't handle much. As long as we recognize what I call the trip trigger and see it approaching and turn it off we can keep hopeful even in the middle of the chaos I believe.I really like this song. It hasn't ever been released but it says a lot about life to me. I wish it was on a CD that we could buy. Nothing is Perfect: http://hyperrust.org/OLD-Lyrics/OW.html#Perfect [ Post Comment ] Comment #12 posted by Hope on June 22, 2004 at 21:21:05 PT Angry Thank you, FoM. I was thinking a bit ago with reading all the promising news of efforts being made to right wrongs, that I could go to bed happy, up, and in a good mood. Just thinking about some of those old Cops and Cops type shows, which I don't watch if I can avoid them, I'm angry again now. Guess I need to go back and reread some of the better news and try to be more forgiving of people I see as hypocritical, self righteous, enemies of true morality. [ Post Comment ] Comment #11 posted by FoM on June 22, 2004 at 20:49:34 PT Hope That was very good. I don't know what to say but thanks for sharing. Sometimes I'm at a loss for words. My mind gets all caught up in emotion and I can't write it down that fast. [ Post Comment ] Comment #10 posted by Hope on June 22, 2004 at 20:41:36 PT changes When I was a child, I know that some people were abused by some law enforcement, but now EVERYONE stands a damn good chance of being abused by law enforcement. That's NOT an improvement.I remember when you saw arrests happen in the news. (at that time, hardly anyone knew anyone who had been to jail much less to prison in the average community). They took people by the arm most of the time and said, basically, "You are under arrest. Come on." and they put them in their car...or told them to meet them at City Hall. Yes...they did. Now they cuff their hands behind their back. Scream at them. Strip-search them. Search their body "cavities" and call them insulting and degrading names. They scare and intimidate and just generally terrorize some people. (In the papers released by the government about interrogation techniques, I guess that all qualifies as "stress level" enhancement.)On Cops or something like that, many years ago, I saw officers throw a barefoot teenage boy on the ground in gravel; he was wearing nothing but baggy floral swim trunks. They forced him to the ground and held him down with a knee in his back and generally taunted and degraded him as they cuffed him. They intimidated the poor kid with their snarling German shepherd. They were cruel and stupid...and they were so proud of themselves that they had to show it on TV. That was one of the major turning points for me. It was one of the revelatory moments when I knew something had to be done. Some one had to speak up. Even at the risk of getting knocked upside the head with a baton themselves. I saw "jack booted thugs". It will be a long time and a lot of changes before I will be able to look at police in general with respect again. [ Post Comment ] Comment #9 posted by FoM on June 22, 2004 at 18:40:48 PT Hope It really is depressing what has happened. I watched a tv show about Cuba last night. In one scene the farmers were afraid of any foreigner being near their crops. They were afraid that they would try to poison their crops. This bothered me. I would never hurt anyones plants or property but that's what they think we will do to them. Hurt them. I know it is true because our country has and is doing just that in different countries. I am ashamed for what we have become as a Nation. [ Post Comment ] Comment #8 posted by Hope on June 22, 2004 at 18:12:17 PT Common practice in our law enforcement system "President Bush claimed the right to waive anti-torture laws and treaties covering prisoners of war after the invasion of Afghanistan, and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld authorized guards to strip detainees and threaten them with dogs, according to documents released Tuesday." [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by Hope on June 22, 2004 at 18:06:52 PT Off topic but important and applicable to us I haven't read all the posts this evening, and you guys may have already discussed this, but I'm so mad about something I was reading over at drudge report I just have to mention it.http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1087373195356&p=1012571727085http://apnews.myway.com/article/20040622/D83CC3P80.html [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by Hope on June 22, 2004 at 17:54:26 PT Konagold That is a great summation of possibilities. [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by FoM on June 22, 2004 at 13:04:50 PT Nuevo Mexican Good to see you. I know that when I pay attention to the non cannabis current news I get to thinking about it all and conclusions I sometimes reach scare me. I hope that my concerns are just that and no more. [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by FoM on June 22, 2004 at 12:57:11 PT Thanks kapt!!! http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread19045.shtml [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by Nuevo Mexican on June 22, 2004 at 12:16:44 PT More good news, CIA controls the media: UPI!!!! Mainstream media starts to wake up from its' slumber, now that it is safe to be a journalist again! (Not really, but does anyone have a choice, we are ALL in harms way when we stand up for our beliefs, as the Cannabis Community well knows!)Does anyone question the effect that Cannabis News and the constant drip, drip, drip of truth is having on journalists', as well as people like Marc Emery taking courageous stands against prohibition? The tide has turned!Just like the tide has turned against bush. But remember, these fools stop at nothing, even his best friends, the Saudis were involved in the beheading of Paul Johnson, just in time for Powell to point the finger at 'these terrorists' that we support. Go figure! He assumes Americans will take the bait, but will they?Back to the 'Mighty Wurlitzer': It's actually nothing new. Beginning in the 1950s, more than 800 news and public information organizations and individuals carried out assignments for the CIA, according to The New York Times. By the mid-'80s, CIA Director Bill Casey had taken the practice to the next level: an organized, covert public diplomacy apparatus designed to sell a new product -- Central America -- while stoking fear of communism, the Sandinistas, Gadhafi and others. Sometimes this involved so-called white propaganda, stories and editorials secretly financed by the government. But they also went black, pushing false story lines. http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20040617-023717-5511rMore good news:Tuesday 22nd June 2004 : National Lawyers Guild Calls for Prosecution of President Bush for Role in Torture 2003 State of the Union Address Contained Implicit AdmissionThe National Lawyers Guild calls for the prosecution of President George W. Bush with a "command responsibility" theory of liability under the War Crimes Act. Bush can be prosecuted under the War Crimes Act or the Torture Statute, if he knew or should have known about the U.S. military's use of torture and failed to stop or prevent it. http://bellaciao.org/en/article.php3?id_article=1515 [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by kaptinemo on June 22, 2004 at 11:57:00 PT: Unrelated, but very important! A link gleaned from TalkLeft (http://www.talkleft.com/) :The Politics of CrimeJudge: Federal Sentencing Unconstitutional http://apnews.myway.com/article/20040622/D83BO0BG0.html A Federal judge...proclaims mandatory minimum sentencing is unConstitutional. The Revolt of The Black Robes gains momentum... [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by konagold on June 22, 2004 at 11:27:44 PT: price of legal pot the high revenue predicted for the tax on legal pot does not reflect its real value in the 'white' market.were I able to legally grow pot the way I legally grow coffee and Mac Nuts and were I to use clones and length of day control using artificial light allong with sunlight I believe a 5 acre farm lot at a 900 foot elevation here in Hawaii could prouduce $100,000 per year if the pot were sold at $2 per pound for unmanicured buds.Aloha Rev. Dennis [Jesus in me loves Jesus in you] Shields http://thereligionofjesuschurch.org [ Post Comment ] Post Comment