cannabisnews.com: Voters Asked To Legalize Marijuana 










  Voters Asked To Legalize Marijuana 

Posted by CN Staff on October 27, 2004 at 18:28:26 PT
By Phil Hermanek, Peninsula Clarion  
Source: Kenai Peninsula  

Voters throughout Alaska will be asked to decriminalize marijuana Nov. 2, but Kenai Peninsula alcohol and drug abuse treatment professionals aren't backing the measure.Ballot Measure 2 an initiative to legalize marijuana seeks to remove civil and criminal penalties for people 21 years and older who grow, use, sell or give away marijuana.
If approved, the bill also would allow the state to regulate marijuana as it does alcohol and tobacco, and would allow for laws limiting marijuana use in public and to protect public safety."Unfortunately, the message we send out to our youth is that marijuana is a soft drug," said Henry Novak, director of Cook Inlet Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse."Casting it as a harmless drug sends a bad message to young people," he said. "It's not. It has harmful effects on the body. Much like tobacco, marijuana causes cancer and heart trouble. And the method of inhaling very deep and holding it in, does damage to the lungs."A Kenai Peninsula proponent of legalizing marijuana, Georgia Mario, who resides near Nikolaevsk, said, "To my knowledge, nobody ever died from smoking marijuana."A part-time nursing assistant student at the Kachemak Bay Campus of Kenai Peninsula College, Mario said she first became interested in legalizing marijuana when it was a ballot initiative in 2000, and she advocates "compassionate medical use" of marijuana as well as its recreational use."Hopefully, patients will have easier access to marijuana," she said.Mario also said she would rather see the government spend money on the prosecution of more violent crime than on prosecuting marijuana users."My interest is that police and resources can be better spent on crimes against women," she said.When asked why people use marijuana, Matthew Dammeyer, director of behavioral health for Central Peninsula General Hospital, said, "The actual perception among the public is it does not have the negative side effects of other things."Unlike alcohol use, marijuana does not bring on such after effects as vomiting, seizures, tremors and blackouts, he said."There is a general understanding that it is not addicting," Dammeyer said.Serenity House, the central Kenai Peninsula alcohol and drug abuse treatment center, sees a large number of marijuana users among those seeking treatment, said Dammeyer, who oversees the facility's programs."Over half of our population (are marijuana users)," he said. "Among adolescents, it's even higher.""When people have poly-addictions, (marijuana is) often the last addiction to go," Dammeyer said. "For some reason, heavy marijuana users think it is not addictive."According to Novak, heavy users of marijuana don't realize their dependence on the drug until they try to quit."If they're hot for marijuana, we tell them to get clean. Only then do they find out how tough it is to get off marijuana," Novak said. "We've had people lose jobs they really wanted just because they can't stop marijuana use."Proponents of the ballot measure, known as "Yes on 2," state in the election booklet prepared for voters that "... marijuana use itself causes very few problems for individual users or for society.""We would save state funds by not arresting peaceful, otherwise law-abiding citizens who exercise their constitutionally protected right to use marijuana," the proponent's statement says.Novak said he believes young people who use marijuana in school do poorly because of the effects of the drug THC, which is contained in marijuana."Basically THC coats the receptor cells in the brain and impairs memory," Novak said."Synapses are not clicking as they should, and the kids are unable to remember and keep a train of thought," he said.In a training video used at CICADA, titled, "Marijuana in the new millennium," Dr. David Ohlms states marijuana in use in the mid-1960s contained 1 to 5 percent THC.Marijuana today averages 10 percent and as high as 17 to 18 percent THC, Ohlms states.Unlike alcohol, which dissolves in water, THC dissolves in fat, and brain cells are 99.99 percent fat, according to Ohlms."THC thickens the wall of brain cells 400 times," he states.To illustrate the point, Ohlms asked that people imagine the brain cell wall being as thick as a sheet of paper. THC makes the cell wall as thick as 400 sheets, he said.Because chemical reactions in the brain must move from one cell to another, the movement is impaired by the thickening, causing impaired short-term memory, amotivational syndrome, increased appetite, altered time perception and panic or a paranoid state, according to Ohlms.Alaskans have voted on the marijuana issue before.In 1990, they voted to re-criminalize marijuana possession after a state Supreme Court decision said adults could possess pot for personal possession in the home.In 1998, voters allowed medical use of marijuana and in 2000, voters rejected a ballot initiative asking for a return to unregulated marijuana use.If approved Nov. 2, Ballot Measure 2 would make Alaska the first state to decriminalize marijuana entirely.Source: Kenai Peninsula Online (AK)Author: Phil Hermanek, Peninsula Clarion Published: Wednesday, October 27, 2004 Copyright: 2004 Peninsula ClarionContact: news peninsulaclarion.comWebsite: http://www.peninsulaclarion.com/Related Articles & Web Site:Yes on 2 Alaskahttp://www.yeson2alaska.com/Alaska’s Marijuana Measure Bucks Fedshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19714.shtmlAdvocates Push Groundbreaking Measure in Alaska http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19709.shtmlYes: Measure 2: MJ Initiative Will Restore Orderhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19698.shtmlProposition 2 Would Help Fight Alaska's Warhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19620.shtml 

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Comment #59 posted by FoM on October 29, 2004 at 14:32:36 PT
Nuevo Mexican 
Here's another article about the video.***Eminem, Anti-HeroBy Davina Baum, AlterNetPosted October 29, 2004With a new video proudly declaring war on Bush, Eminem steps into the political fray, perhaps the least likely – and most effective – generational leader imaginable.  
There was merely a ripple in the cultural zeitgeist when Bruce Springsteen put aside his genial nonpartisan everyman stance and headlined the Vote for Change concerts, benefiting America Coming Together (ACT), and ultimately, John Kerry. No one blinked when Ani diFranco set off on her own tour, boldly titled Vote Dammit. Same with Moby, who has worn his politics on his sleeve from day one. And no eyebrows were raised when P. Diddy, in typical Diddy style, came out big and loud with his Vote or Die campaign – which as usual seemed to be more about Diddy than anything else.But Eminem – the man who George Bush once called "the most dangerous threat to American children since polio" – could be the true October surprise.Complete Article: http://www.alternet.org/wiretap/20345/
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Comment #58 posted by FoM on October 29, 2004 at 11:01:29 PT
Nuevo Mexican 
Last night on The Daily Show the guest was the man who owns Zogby. He predicted a Kerry win and he is usually right they said. That was great to hear.
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Comment #57 posted by FoM on October 29, 2004 at 10:57:48 PT

Nuevo Mexican 
You're welcome and thank you too. There sure will be a lot of interesting news and programs on TV this weekend and Monday. We are really wide eyed and hopeful for change. Did you see Springstein in Wisconsin yesterday? It was so beautiful to see that many people come together for this rally. There was about 100,000 people and the largest rally ever in Madison. It seemed peaceful and orderly from what I saw. It made me have a moment of feeling proud to be an American.I have watched the video a couple of times. Each time I watch it I see and understand more. It grows on a person. It is so deep and it is scary and then in the end you aren't scared anymore. Awesome video. 
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Comment #56 posted by Nuevo Mexican on October 29, 2004 at 10:33:53 PT

Thanks for all of the heads up FOM!
From the LA Times on Eminem:In the animated video, which had its debut on the Internet this week, Eminem leads an army of young people in hooded sweatshirts who march through the streets of a police-state America. As the ominous, martial cadence of the song builds, the hooded legion gains new members — a single mom who receives an eviction notice, a soldier who returns home from war only to be ordered back to Iraq, and rapper Lloyd Bankschafes under the harsh authority of police.The disaffected army makes it past police and soldiers to storm a government building, but inside they don't riot — the video climaxes with the mob in an orderly line at a table with a placard that reads, "Sign in to vote." The fade shot at the end reads simply: "Vote Tuesday, November 2."In the lyrics, Eminem savages the president as a liar and a thief of American honor. "Strap him with an AK-47 / Let him go fight his own war / Let him impress daddy that way," the song chides. "Mosh" implores young America to unite for the election. "Let us beg to differ / As we set aside our differences / And assemble our own army / To disarm this weapon of mass destruction / That we call our president / For the present."Eminem's rhymes have veered to the political before — notably in the song "White America" — but "Mosh" has the usually antisocial firebrand calling for activism instead of anarchy. There are still plenty of hot-button moments, among them a combat knife driven through a portrait of Bush and a sequence that suggests that some of Osama bin Laden's messages have been faked on federal soundstages.http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/2004/la-na-mosh28oct28,0,7423987.story?coll=la-home-headlines
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Comment #55 posted by FoM on October 28, 2004 at 17:59:19 PT

Re-Broadcast of The Vote For Change Finale in DC
ENCORE PRESENTATION OCTOBER 30 AT 6:30PM Documented earlier this month from Albert Maysles and D A Pennebaker, including behind the scene footage from the complete tour. Albert Maysles and D.A. Pennebaker have long been considered two of America's most influential documentary filmmakers. In the early 60s, Maysles and Pennebaker were part of documentary movement called direct cinema, which used the new technology of portable cameras to capture life as it unfolded. This technique proved essential in capturing America's burgeoning counter culture, especially as it related to music. In 1967, D.A. Pennebaker shadowed a relatively unknown folk singer by the name of Bob Dylan during a three week concert tour of England for his documentary DON'T LOOK BACK. Three years later, in GIMME SHELTER, Albert Maysles and his late brother David captured the violent reality of the Rolling Stones ill-fated concert at Altamont Speedway.In the tradition of these legendary works, Maysles and Pennebaker unite to take America's social pulse with a new documentary project, "National Anthem: Inside the Vote for Change Concert Tour." This film marks their first collaboration in forty years. Conceived by a loose coalition of musicians six months ago, "Vote for Change" is a multi-city, multi-artist swing-state tour taking place in early October. The "National Anthem" special captures this pivotal moment in US history through informal footage of musicians (including Bruce Springsteen, Dixie Chicks, and R.E.M) and their audiences in intimate moments from the tour. The documentary will be followed by a live broadcast of the final "Vote for Change" concert in Washington D.C. http://www.sundancechannel.com/national_anthem/?PHPSESSID=d076692f712ab06685d18efd37301fbc
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Comment #54 posted by FoM on October 28, 2004 at 17:51:30 PT

Heads Up: Fahrenheit 9/11 Tribute on IFC 
Fahrenheit 9/11: A Movement in Time   Show Time: Friday, Oct 29 10:00 PM  
 
  IFC presents a tribute to the most provocative documentary of our time. Featuring interviews with Mario Cuomo, Richard Gere, Susan Sarandon, Wyclef Jean, Bonnie Raitt, Michael Stipe and others. 
 
http://www.ifctv.com/ifc/whatson?CAT0=0&MO=10&DA=29&YR=2004&TZ=ET&DW=0&CLR=blue&BCLR=0099CC&SID=48622
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Comment #53 posted by FoM on October 28, 2004 at 16:32:51 PT

Off Topic
FBI Investigating How Halliburton Got Bush Administration ContractsOctober 28, 2004WASHINGTON (AP) — The FBI has begun investigating whether the Pentagon improperly awarded no-bid contracts to Halliburton Co., seeking an interview with a top Army contracting officer and collecting documents from several government offices. The line of inquiry expands an earlier FBI investigation into whether Halliburton overcharged taxpayers for fuel in Iraq, and it elevates to a criminal matter the election-year question of whether the Bush administration showed favoritism to Vice President Dick Cheney's former company. Complete Article: http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/2004-10-28-fbi-halliburton_x.htm
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Comment #52 posted by Hope on October 28, 2004 at 11:39:55 PT

The holidays
My daughter and I were just discussing whether or not, instead of Black Tie, we should make all our special holiday gatherings, Black Hoodie...only.My skateboarder grandson would go for that.
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Comment #51 posted by Hope on October 28, 2004 at 11:37:38 PT

Mosh
I don't like Mosh pit type "dancing"...but he's right...we sort of Mosh through this life in some ways. Sort of a marching mosh to the voting booth thing, I guess.
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Comment #50 posted by Hope on October 28, 2004 at 11:33:51 PT

Siege....This last line?
[Eminem speaking angrily]
And as we proceed, to mosh through this desert storm, in these closing statements, if they should argue, let us beg to differ, as we set aside our differences, and assemble our own army, to disarm this weapon of mass destruction that we call our president, for the present, and mosh for the future of our next generation, to speak and be heard, Mr. President, Mr. Senator http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/1027-04.htm
 

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Comment #49 posted by Hope on October 28, 2004 at 11:28:25 PT

Seige
I'm so sorry. I don't understand.You don't have to try to explain to me...I just felt that I should tell you that I don't fully grasp what you are trying to say.A shrink once told me...diagnosed me?...that I was a "little dinghy". That was as opposed to "totally nuts".Sorry.
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Comment #48 posted by siege on October 28, 2004 at 11:23:30 PT

Hope  Mosh
Yes! it goes way deeper then that. last line have your eyes opened
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Comment #47 posted by Hope on October 28, 2004 at 10:44:50 PT

Siege
You have so knitted my brows!
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Comment #46 posted by Hope on October 28, 2004 at 10:42:32 PT

Siege
Do you mean that someone tried to keep you from voting? That you've just experienced some sort of major voter harrassment today?I'm sorry. Sometimes I am so dense.
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Comment #45 posted by siege on October 28, 2004 at 10:11:13 PT

Hope
I'm Fine they just run into something they do not understand.
 I don't think they get it the Republicans don't understand that live doze not revalve on there say so. they said they worked for Bushie but that did not help them, the Fed said he heared them ask about the eyes and sayed no bail and they to see the Judge.
and she the Judge is out of town till the 2 of Nov. she go and plays every 120 days for a week.

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Comment #44 posted by Hope on October 28, 2004 at 09:58:31 PT

FoM
My first choice in music, any music is music that makes me want to get up and dance.I like to listen to different things. I guess I like the Blues the best if I had to choose one.
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Comment #43 posted by Hope on October 28, 2004 at 09:53:52 PT

Souder
Souder was on my prayer list...for not being re-elected. It doesn't look possible though. His opponent couldn't debate him. She froze up.Major bummer.
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Comment #42 posted by Hope on October 28, 2004 at 09:46:13 PT

Ah-nold
He's never struck me as exceptionally trustworthy.
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Comment #41 posted by FoM on October 28, 2004 at 09:45:59 PT

kapt
I bet Arnold jumps ship and becomes a Democrat sometime in the future after he realizes that he is pushed aside for being progressive in his thinking as a Republican or he won't ever get any sex! LOL! I had to add that! 
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Comment #40 posted by FoM on October 28, 2004 at 09:43:44 PT

Hope
I just like what I like but know everyone has preferences too. I'm not against any music or style I just like different music. I have enough music to keep me happy and inspired for a lifetime.
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Comment #39 posted by Hope on October 28, 2004 at 09:39:05 PT

FoM
There's no reason you can't sit down and watch a few episodes of Sponge Bog Squarepants and watch some MTV2 and stuff like that for a bit. It's good for you. Don't get set in your ways...amble on in there and have a look around.:0(It might help to go back and watch the first Aladdin about two hundred times and The Lion King and about 50 episodes of Rugrats and Barney at least two hundred times. You must learn the Barney song by heart...that ought to get you up to speed on what's happening with the children today.Oh yes...and Arthur is an aardvarrk.
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Comment #38 posted by kaptinemo on October 28, 2004 at 09:37:17 PT:

I said before Ah-nold couldn't be trusted
Many's the time I hate being right; this is one of them. He married into a political family connected with the Power Elite very coldly and calculatedly, and insinuated himself into the graces of the Republican Party purely for access to money and power...and here's the result. He knows damn well what damage the DrugWar causes, and that his State can't afford the tax-supported largesse of a DrugWar any longer, but sees an opportunity to show his fealty to his masters - and is doing so with this.Since he was filmed toking on a joint before a contest, and his 'criminal' (and therefore punishable) behavior verified, someone should ask him if he would like to remanded to one of the hell-holes he wants to continue funding for. Sauce for the goose, and all that...
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Comment #37 posted by Hope on October 28, 2004 at 09:33:49 PT

FoM
I've seen the names Eminem and Steve Earle in the same sentence in articles about Mosh.
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Comment #36 posted by Hope on October 28, 2004 at 09:29:06 PT

Siege!
That sounds serious!Are you ok?
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Comment #35 posted by FoM on October 28, 2004 at 09:26:06 PT

About The Video
I agree it has a poweful message. I don't have any young people to be around but I know how times and youth are always different then the adult world and they are expressing their views like we did during the 60s revolution. Stand and be counted and use the tools that connect so that we can end this madness and get a new president. What I could really relate to was Fahrenheit 9/11. It's still in the top ten DVDs on Amazon. The loop Michael Moore used in the beginning of the movie will show how much Bush didn't care to respond that terrible day. We've watched it at least 3 times and will watch it again this weekend just because it is so good. The movie Uncovered - The Whole Truth About the Iraq War was awesome too. We'll watch this one too on our countdown to elections weekend my husband and I will be doing if the news gets slow. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00005JNEI/ref=cm_ea_pl_prod_4/002-2879460-5245619
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Comment #34 posted by Hope on October 28, 2004 at 09:25:29 PT

"this type of music or the darkness" 
Mosh is not something to dance to. Maybe a sort of march, but not dance.
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Comment #33 posted by Hope on October 28, 2004 at 09:22:27 PT

"took over our sound system" 
That's the same grand daughter that was the only child in her third grade class that knew what a phonograph was. Her favorite groups back then were Hot Chocolate and the Beach Boys. She knew all the words to giddy up giddy up 409 and my little deuce coupe.She's also the same grand daughter that liked to join me in chats at MAP. You may remember her, Kap.She's the one that worried so about the Kubbys. She lay in bed one night after her prayers and asked me if the government was watching us because we sent emails to the Kubbys. I said, "Probably not, but they might be watching the Kubbys."She was silent for awhile. Then, out of the darkness, she said, "It's scary to think the government is watching you."
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Comment #32 posted by Hope on October 28, 2004 at 09:09:08 PT

FoM
Keep children in your life. You'll eventually be forced to be “in to it”. I love the music but get a bit skittish about some of the words.I kept thinking about what my children used to say to me when I fussed at them about music..."It's the music, Mama...we don't pay any attention to the words."Anyway...since this is a very into music household...my husband and I gave up watching reruns of King of Queens and that seventies show to participate in a bit and keep an eye on that 2004 show. A whole crew of 14 and 15 year old girls took over our sound system under the leadership of a grand daughter. And we had it LOUD, Led Zepplin Loud, and we didn't even frown or grimace. We had a lot of fun sharing our views with the girls about what we thought "Here's some of that stuff that makes you move" might refer to. We talked some about old rock and roll and music in general. We laughed and danced...this granny can get down...occasionally.Anyway...I enjoyed a few weeks of teenage girls and their lives and music last summer. It was enlightening and invigorating and tiring? It was loud though...and it was happy and I think it was good.We never make em "turn that stuff off!" We listen and tend to our chores and projects while they listen to their music...I did force them to listen to Bible CDs (for me really) at least one cd a day while they were still in bed in the morning and I was up. I told em it would be a good antidote to whatever harm might have come to their spirits from the nasty rap. They monopolized the computer and the refrigerator and the microwave and the telephone...but it was cool. They squealed over boys and were so silly and painted their nails and did their faces and hair. It was thoroughly enjoyable...except I had to beg off them coming to stay with me a couple or three times...it was fun but hey...I have to have quiet time, too.Oh yes…and when the boys visited…they played the Eagles…my least favorite CD though. The only Eagles album I didn’t love….Hotel F…….California. I received that as gift in the form of records and cds so many times that I could puke…Sorry that’s a whole other story.

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Comment #31 posted by siege on October 28, 2004 at 09:06:03 PT

 Mosh... was playing the hole time!!
I have burned it to CD and have passed out 100 copies free The message is powerful, He gets his point across to the youth of today, and a lot of old geezers here they don't like the music but got the massage. It could help change the tide for the good.went and voted today before I every got out of the truck two people come up and started to ask me sh*t who I was and what I did for a living and said I could not vote here it was 8 miles down the road they where not NICE about it [My two ghosts come up and ask what was going on I said they ask me what I did for a live and to go 8 miles down the road to vote, the two Big REP's jumped into the ghosts that was it the FED busted them and there in jail and won't be get out soon. the shariff  come to see me and ask me what they said I said they ask me about IBM's he L.his.a.o and left. I voted and come home.
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Comment #30 posted by Hope on October 28, 2004 at 08:41:37 PT

I've got to share something
that I think is very funny.I was telling my daughter about the Mosh video. I also sent the Common Dreams piece to my grandaughter. Anyway....My daughter responded with,"Yes! Oh my gosh! We saw that video yesterday!" She said it really shocked her. Shocked was the word she used.She had watched it with my fourteen year old (first grandchild) grand daughter (very grand grand daughter).My daughter said that my grand daughter said, "I would vote for eminem and then we could live in EMERICA

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Comment #29 posted by FoM on October 28, 2004 at 08:31:38 PT

Hope 
How do you like the message about Bush in the Video? I'm not into this type of music or the darkness of it but the message is powerful. He gets his point across to the youth of today.
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Comment #28 posted by FoM on October 28, 2004 at 08:27:13 PT

afterburner 
I wondered what he was doing this when I saw the commercial on TV. I don't understand Republicans.
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Comment #27 posted by afterburner on October 28, 2004 at 08:17:21 PT

Alarming News for California's Hopes for Arnold
EMAIL: "From : Ethan Nadelmann, DPAlliance 
"ExecDir actioncenter.drugpolicy.org 
"Sent : October 26, 2004 
"Subject : Urgent - CA Reform Up Against Opponents Millions "Help Overcome 3 Strikes Reform Opponents' Millions"Two weeks ago I sent you a plea to help pass California's Proposition 66, reforming the state's Three Strikes law and ending the harshest mandatory minimum sentence law in the nation for those convicted of nonviolent drug offenses. Dozens of donors - including those of you receiving this message - responded with donations large and small. I'm consistently inspired and grateful that so many of you are willing to support meaningful drug policy reforms like Prop. 66."Today, because of a gathering storm in California, I come to you again with an urgent appeal for support."Donate Now "We just learned that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has pledged $1 million from one of his political funds to pay for advertising to defeat Prop. 66. According to today's Sacramento Bee, the Governor "has already filmed a television spot and will purchase airtime over the next week" in hopes of defeating Prop. 66. The state's prison guards' union, the economic engine of the opposition, is kicking in another $500,000 to ensure that California keeps its worst-in-the-nation Three Strikes laws on the books. This is the same union that has contributed millions of dollars to politicians to keep the state's prisons bulging."Independent polls consistently show that most Californians support - by roughly a 2:1 margin - Prop 66. But this week the Governor, the prison guards and their cronies are spending $2 million on a series of ads designed to scare and deceive voters. One of their ads falsely claims that Prop 66 will let rapists and murderers out of prison. They know they can't win by telling the truth, so they're resorting to lies and deceptions."We need your support right now if we're to respond effectively. We have to put the facts out there. We have to respond to their lies. And we have to overcome our opponents' crude appeals to fear and prejudice. Please support the Yes on 66 campaign - by contributing whatever you can right now:"Donate Now"A victory for Prop. 66 would represent a major step forward for drug policy reform, not just in California but around the country. It will put the wind to our sails as we build momentum for reforming unjust drug laws in other states. And just like California's 1996 medical marijuana initiative and the 2000 "treatment instead of incarceration" initiative, a victory for Prop. 66 will resonate nationally."If you have not already donated - but are excited at the prospect of countering our well-financed opposition and advancing a modest and reasonable effort to amend one of the nation's worst laws - I urge you to do so today. If you have already donated but can give more, I hope you will do so again."Thanks to you, we're making huge waves in this election season. And with your help, the fight to reform California's Three Strikes law is a battle we can win."Sincerely,"Ethan"To Contact or Make a Donation by Mail to the Drug Policy Alliance:"Drug Policy Alliance[,] 
70 West 36th Street, 16th Floor[,]
New York, NY 10018"Get a PDF copy of the Donation Form. For subscription problems please contact Jeanette Irwin, Director, Internet Communications jirwin drugpolicy.org, 202.216.0035"Please consider joining the Drug Policy Alliance: http://www.drugpolicy.org/join "Different Governor, same bedfellows. Shame, shame... It’s up to the citizens of California to take back their own state. The leadership is *still* corrupt!
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Comment #26 posted by Hope on October 28, 2004 at 07:47:59 PT

Whew....it's warm here today
I need a light weight black hoodie to go moshing around in today.Get down! Brother! Get down...get loud, Brother! Get loud!
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Comment #25 posted by Hope on October 28, 2004 at 07:44:31 PT

Electric Turkey Carving Knife
My Kaptin! Whooo hooo....I actually woke up this morning thinking about the whirr of your carving knife. I was needing to hear that Whirrr.Good job!Another surprise this morning...I got another Zogby poll. The first in months! 
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Comment #24 posted by FoM on October 28, 2004 at 07:38:58 PT

Jose
It's good to see you. I'm glad you got the message. 
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Comment #23 posted by kaptinemo on October 28, 2004 at 05:28:39 PT:

Turkey Day came early! (Whirrrrr! Whiiiirrrrrrrr!)
(Electric turkey carver blades sharp? Check. Battery at full charge? Check. Safety off? Check. Noncombatants clear of carving zone? Check. Commence evisceration! WHIIIIRRRRRRR!)Oh, jeez, I can't believe the smorgasboard we've been handed. I haven't had so much bloviated turkey to carve in a long time. They have really pulled out the stops.*"Much like tobacco, marijuana causes cancer and heart trouble. And the method of inhaling very deep and holding it in, does damage to the lungs."*Proof, good sir? *Not a single case of cannabis induced fatalites of ANY kind has ever been proven.* None. Zero. Zip. Nada. Nichivo. Nevah happin'd. This was just the first of really stupid lies.*Serenity House, the central Kenai Peninsula alcohol and drug abuse treatment center, sees a large number of marijuana users among those seeking treatment, said Dammeyer, who oversees the facility's programs. "Over half of our population (are marijuana users)," he said. "Among adolescents, it's even higher." "When people have poly-addictions, (marijuana is) often the last addiction to go," Dammeyer said. "For some reason, heavy marijuana users think it is not addictive."Oh, man. This is getting tedious. First off, most if not ALL of those in the custody (I refuse to say 'care'; the staff is more interested in making money that they are in caring for you) of your facility for cannabis use were not 'seeking' treatment, they were REMANDED to it. When the choice is a bed & bullsh*t (as opposed to 'bed & breakfast') 'treatment' or being homosexually raped in jail and getting HIV in the process, the choice is a no-brainer.Secondly, the 'addiction' point: *"When people have poly-addictions, (marijuana is) often the last addiction to go," Dammeyer said. "For some reason, heavy marijuana users think it is not addictive."*If this were true, then there would be uncontrovertable reports from all over the planet about the symptoms of cannabis 'addiction'. Why then hasn't there been any peer-reviewed studies suggesting such a STANDARDIZED scale of symptoms? Why then is the very nature of the PARAMETERS of so-called cannabis 'addiction' a matter of scientific controversy and argument? This is just more grasping for straws.*"Basically THC coats the receptor cells in the brain and impairs memory," Novak said. "Synapses are not clicking as they should, and the kids are unable to remember and keep a train of thought," he said...Marijuana today averages 10 percent and as high as 17 to 18 percent...THC thickens the wall of brain cells 400 times," he states. Because chemical reactions in the brain must move from one cell to another, the movement is impaired by the thickening, causing impaired short-term memory, amotivational syndrome, increased appetite, altered time perception and panic or a paranoid state, according to Ohlms.*I see. So that's why one of the greatest astrophysicists of the last Century, one Carl Sagan, wasn't able to come up with the theory of 'nuclear winter', which scared the superpowers so bad they backed away from the nuclear precipice? He was just too 'thick', huh?Oh, excuse me; he DID come up with the theory. While toking every freakin' day of his life. As do many of us in the technical and scientific fields. Whose musings while so 'debilitated' and 'thickened' produced things like the wonder you have before you, allowing you to read this. Not all the haze in Silicon Valley was produced by car exhaust. But that particular 'pollution' produced the Information Age.Dammit, I almost burned the motor out again. (Putting carver down). I gotta call the neighbor; he's got a chain saw... 
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Comment #22 posted by Jose Melendez on October 28, 2004 at 03:08:50 PT

leap of faith
ekim and FoM, I think Mike Smithson of leap.cc found me already, and he probably knows quite a few phD's . . .
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Comment #21 posted by lombar on October 28, 2004 at 01:31:54 PT

Heres the kind of 'damage' THC does...
MARIJUANA-LIKE COMPOUNDS MAY AID ARRAY OF DEBILIATIING CONDITIONS RANGING FROM PARKINSON'S DISEASE TO PAINNo longer a pipe dream, new animal research now indicates that marijuana-like compounds can aid a bevy of debilitating conditions, ranging from brain disorders such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and Parkinson's disease, to pain and obesity.In past studies, researchers determined that the main active chemicals in the drug marijuana produce a variety of effects by connecting to specific sites on nerve cells, called cannabinoid receptors. Researchers also discovered that these receptors normally bind to natural internal chemicals, dubbed cannabinoids.“Understanding how marijuana and the brain's own natural cannabinoid system works is helping researchers design new medicines,” says cannabinoid expert Daniele Piomelli, PhD, of the University of California in Irvine. “It's believed that the controlled therapies that come out of this research might provide select benefits to patients while avoiding some of the unwanted effects seen with the drug.”Research from California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco points to the promise of marijuana-like treatments for those with the fatal brain disorder ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.“Our research indicates that select marijuana compounds, including THC, significantly slow the disease process and extend the life of mice with ALS,” says study author Mary Abood, PhD.The study extends earlier work from Abood's group that found that THC also can alleviate some ALS symptoms, like muscle spasms, in patients.ALS wreaks its havoc by harming nerve cells that control muscles. As a consequence of the damage, an estimated 5,000 Americans afflicted annually experience progressive muscle weakness that can hinder movement, speech, even swallowing and breathing. New treatments for ALS are desperately needed.“The only FDA approved drug for ALS, riluzole, extends life on average by about two months,” says Abood. “Evidence from our study suggests that a marijuana-based therapy could create a much greater effect, perhaps extending life by three years or more.”In the study, ALS mouse models were given either the marijuana compound THC, the marijuana compound cannabidiol, cannabidiol plus THC, or a placebo daily following the onset of disease signs. The researchers measured disease progression by testing how long the mice could stand on a slowly rotating rod. The more severe their nerve cell degeneration, the less time the mice can balance on the rod. In addition, two conditions of ALS, the loss of movement ability and survival time, were analyzed using a mathematical model.“We found that treatment with THC delayed disease progression by seven days and extended survival by six days in the mouse model,” says Abood. “This corresponds to three years in human terms.”Results also indicate that the combination of THC and cannabidiol further delays disease progression. Treatment with cannabidiol alone, however, had no effect.Another part of the study determined that the marijuana compounds create their benefits by reducing two molecular processes, known as oxidative stress and glutamate excitotoxicity. These processes have been implicated in ALS and are thought to harm nerve cells.As a next step, the researchers will further decipher the mechanisms of action of THC and cannabidiol.[clipped]Schedule one? I think not. 
http://apu.sfn.org/content/AboutSFN1/NewsReleases/am2004_cannabinoids.html
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Comment #20 posted by Nuevo Mexican on October 28, 2004 at 00:46:43 PT

Common Dreams article plus lyrics to Mosh...
Pop Culture Icon wants you to vote bush out! Michael Moore gets a little help from Famous Rapper!
 Eminem Aims at Bush
Mosh Could be one of the Most Overtly Political Pop Music Videos Ever Produced
 
by Sam Graham-Felsen Has Eminem--the poster child of American disenchantment--become the new face of activism? Those who are accustomed to Eminem's gay-bashing, gun-toting antics will hardly believe their eyes, as they watch his new video in which the top-selling rapper and his posse file into the voting booths, the words "Vote Tuesday, November 2" fading into the screen. http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/1027-04.htm
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Comment #19 posted by FoM on October 27, 2004 at 22:48:53 PT

Nuevo Mexican 
I watched it again. That is very powerful. 
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Comment #18 posted by Hope on October 27, 2004 at 22:37:07 PT

Black hoodies
I wouldn't mind owning some stock in black hoodie production. Their sales are likely going to increase. I want one myself.
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Comment #17 posted by Nuevo Mexican on October 27, 2004 at 22:25:19 PT

Mosh is already Number One! And in the News!
That was instant! It has had a Huge effect on the media, just read this review and notice the controversy it will generate. 
Time has come today! 
It is happening, right now, and we are in the times of yore that we call the sixties.Except this is 2004! They showed excerpts on MSNBC's Keith Oberman, and boy is this guy scared of Eminem! This will affect the youth vote to turnout, and help secure Kerrys LANDSLIDE!
It's not the horserace as the media portrays, just the opposite. And has to be. Thanks to people like Eminem and FOM, we find our voice.http://mosh.eminem.com/video/the politics of Mosh
by kid oakland 
Wed Oct 27th, 2004 at 05:47:03 GMTThere is a pivot moment in Mosh that defines the entire video for me....it comes about one third of the way in, cartoon Eminem is rapping to a huge audience of men...and as the camera pulls back we see that they are soldiers in desert fatigues...All you can see is a sea of people, some white and some black
Don't matter what color, all that matters is we gathered together
To celebrate for the same cause, no matter the weatherthe camera zooms in on one soldier who is not nodding his head like the others. He is morose, angry, he is thinking as he listens to the music. This is our introduction to Private Kelly. And, as strong as the other depictions are....of Eminem himself, of Swift, of Tenant 508...I think that Private Kelly at this moment is the core of the video. Mosh is a polemic that is intended to make you think about strong feelings; strong feelings that you have because of the political situation you find yourself living in. Quite specifically, Mosh is intended to allow you to internalize the anger, the hate, and the rage that the videos' young protagonists feel...and yet, Mosh gets you to channel it, gets you to think about what you and they might do with that anger and hate and rage, to think about why you and they feel that anger and hate and rage.Private Kelly's sunken-cheeked, grimaced face, angrily meditating on the music, alone in the crowd, is at the core of the politics of this video.http://www.dailykos.com/story/2004/10/27/1473/8436
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Comment #16 posted by FoM on October 27, 2004 at 22:05:54 PT

It's The Eclipse
That's what should be illegal. It's making us all silly and laughing and dreaming. It just must be bad because we all feel so nice!Ain't that a shame!PS: I watched the Eclipse and it was pretty and chocolate in color and I also watched the end of the World Series and smiled. Mind you I don't like Baseball but it has been a long time since the Red Sox have won the World Series.
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Comment #15 posted by Hope on October 27, 2004 at 21:53:36 PT

FoM...comment #7...Funny!
lolI hesitate to use the term, "I don't recall" in any discussion of cannabis. The antis eyebrows probably all fly up, "Ah ha...I knew it...brain damage!" It must be those dang brain cell walls that got thickened to four hundred times their natural thickness by cannabis use. Four hundred times? If that happened to every cell...things must get crowded in the skull while that's taking place.
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Comment #14 posted by siege on October 27, 2004 at 21:50:50 PT

///
you say it is time for HIP BOOTS, o oh it is way passed that. if they had a Brain they would take it out and play Cop and Doc. or Doc. and Cop. 

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Comment #13 posted by siege on October 27, 2004 at 21:43:02 PT

FoM
fields of marijuana sell the Flowers, seed and then oil for cooking and then sell the rest for what every 4 crops in 1 that would be nice. 
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Comment #12 posted by ekim on October 27, 2004 at 21:41:06 PT

nice moon tonight too
yes it will be time to have good thoughts -- thanks to all-- will try to get some shut eye.
http://www, bioneers.org
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Comment #11 posted by Hope on October 27, 2004 at 21:39:01 PT

Siege and FoM
I think they've passed from trying to "astound us with their brilliance" to just trying to "baffle us with their BS".
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Comment #10 posted by FoM on October 27, 2004 at 21:27:06 PT

ekim
You said: All across the nation theres a new virbration people in motion.I agree with you and I feel it too. It's a good good good vibration. My husband and I were talking about how nice it would be to be able to have a grain trailer filled with hemp seed to be delivered to some place. Dreams are what make us keep going. Hope for maybe a better tomorrow. 
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Comment #9 posted by ekim on October 27, 2004 at 21:22:50 PT

no FoM
i hope all is well. i want to see his dvd on the drug war. man i have been doing a lot of san fran thinking latly. you know the one that says all across the nation theres a new virbration people in motion --- thanks to all the Hemp Industry folks that have stood tall. With these brave souls the hope for new jobs and new food are here. 
http://www.thehia,org
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Comment #8 posted by siege on October 27, 2004 at 21:17:50 PT

hope
you know that every time they get the chances they stick there foot in there face, or there head where the sun don't shine. 
O O o o h I should respec my elders but I is probable as old or older then they are.
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Comment #7 posted by FoM on October 27, 2004 at 21:09:21 PT

Hope
Maybe we saw it before but forgot! LOL!I couldn't resist. I saw that too and just had to laugh to myself.
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Comment #6 posted by Hope on October 27, 2004 at 20:54:57 PT

Seems like a new one
"THC thickens the wall of brain cells 400 times," I don't recall ever hearing that one before.
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Comment #5 posted by FoM on October 27, 2004 at 20:44:48 PT

ekim
Have you talked to Jose? Someone from LEAP wanted to get in touch with him but I haven't seen him to pass on the message.
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Comment #4 posted by ekim on October 27, 2004 at 20:36:08 PT

hey jose does Leap have a PHD to counter this
If they're hot for marijuana, we tell them to get clean. Only then do they find out how tough it is to get off marijuana," Novak said. "We've had people lose jobs they really wanted just because they can't stop marijuana use."wow can you imagine that"Basically THC coats the receptor cells in the brain and impairs memory," Novak said.its not wrong or right to edit oneself its being human"Synapses are not clicking as they should, and the kids are unable to remember and keep a train of thought," he said.encouragement does wonders for ones "clicking""Unfortunately, the message we send out to our youth is that marijuana is a soft drug," said Henry Novak, director of Cook Inlet Council on Alcohol and Drug Abusetreat others as you would like to be treated has always been the messageIn a training video used at CICADA, titled, "Marijuana in the new millennium," Dr. David Ohlms states marijuana in use in the mid-1960s contained 1 to 5 percent THC.soMarijuana today averages 10 percent and as high as 17 to 18 percent THC, Ohlms states.come on prove itUnlike alcohol, which dissolves in water, THC dissolves in fat, and brain cells are 99.99 percent fat, according to Ohlms.amazing how many benefits are in hemp oil for the brain tooTo illustrate the point, Ohlms asked that people imagine the brain cell wall being as thick as a sheet of paper. THC makes the cell wall as thick as 400 sheets, he said.
 
ingenious how plants can offer help to usBecause chemical reactions in the brain must move from one cell to another, the movement is impaired by the thickening, causing impaired short-term memory, amotivational syndrome, increased appetite, altered time perception and panic or a paranoid state, according to Ohlms.to make someone so fearful that they panic or in a paranoid state is criminal as it induces chemical reactions in the brain that the human does not invite smoking a joint is not a disease
http://www.leap.cc/events
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Comment #3 posted by FoM on October 27, 2004 at 18:57:24 PT

MikeEEEEE 
That's great. Is there a link so we can vote?
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Comment #2 posted by MikeEEEEE on October 27, 2004 at 18:51:40 PT

AOL Vote
Would you vote to decriminalize marijuana? Yes 60% 
No 40% Total Votes: 231,848 

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Comment #1 posted by FoM on October 27, 2004 at 18:35:05 PT

A Comment About Registration
Someone named DeAnne tried to register and I hit the wrong button. I'm really sorry but I have no way of fixing my mistake. Hopefully she will try to register again. 
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