cannabisnews.com: '60s are for Sale, and Denver's Buying










  '60s are for Sale, and Denver's Buying

Posted by CN Staff on November 11, 2005 at 07:18:32 PT
By Mike Littwin, Columnist 
Source: Rocky Mountain News  

Denver, Colorado -- I don't know which bummed me out more - that Denver passed a pro-pot law or that Telluride voted one down. I mean, come on. I've got this vision of the last VW microbus - decorated with the inevitable psychedelic peace sign - pulling out of Telluride, some awful Grateful Dead song playing on the tape deck, and with a bumper sticker saying, "Denver or Bust," right above the one that says, "Don't laugh - your daughter might be in here."
The whole thing depresses me. First of all, I didn't get to see Telluride back when it was, well, Telluride, meaning long before Tom Cruise showed up. You'd think the measure would have passed in Telluride, just out of respect for the lyrics in Smugglers' Blues. Secondly, Denver? Denver? Is this another vain attempt by our town to somehow seem hip? I was walking downtown with a friend on the day after the election. He looked downcast, and being the sensitive type that I am, I asked him the problem. "Thirty years too late, man," he says, even though the last person I knew to use the word "man" was this kid in college who always wore shades and listened to . . . jazz. I nod in sympathy. Where was this law when it might have done some good - back when kids were forced to go to health class to watch a film on the dangers of killer weed? Now, killer weed is something I put on my lawn. And, in my age group, if the subject of drugs come up, it's usually about when you can enroll in the new Medicare program. The Denver law, decriminalizing simple possession of pot, doesn't really change anything because there's a state law overriding it. And you can be pretty sure that the Denver cops, who've learned it's just less hassle if they don't deal with the public, weren't chasing down too many pot smokers. They leave it to the feds to bust toked-up cancer patients for using medical marijuana. There are many possible reasons why Denver voters would approve the ballot measure. I got a few friends together; we put on some Pink Floyd and came up with a list: • No one actually knew it was on the ballot. • It lets people around the world wink when they use the phrase "Mile High City." • Just to annoy the uptight 47 percent who voted against it. • Many voters managed not to be glued to a toilet seat. And then there's the obvious reason: This is yet another instance of boomer nostalgia. Boomer nostalgia is a syndrome that dates to the day the '60s ended. It was a magical decade, if you forget that, say, in its last year Sugar Sugar was a No. 1 hit. The pot vote came one week before a Newsweek cover story about the first boomers turning 60. You can add that to your collection of cover stories marking the day when boomers first turned 50. And 40. And 30. I didn't read the story. Life is too short - and the chance of seeing the famous Pete Townshend lyric dredged up is too great. It isn't as if I'm hung up on the '60s. (OK, the hair, the mustache, but still . . .) I understood long ago that the '60s had turned into a soundtrack. That used to bother me. Now, I can laugh when they're selling Hummers to the tune of Happy Jack and Cadillacs to Zeppelin. The strangest commercial was the one Dylan did for Victoria's Secret. The image of Dylan fondling lingerie was scarier than Dick Cheney in a bustier. Once, people could be outraged. You remember when Nike briefly used John Lennon's Revolution to sell sneakers. A sample lyric: "But if you go carrying pictures of Chairman Mao, you're not gonna make it with anyone anyhow." Funny, but I always remember Mao wearing sandals. In any case, they pulled the ad, which now seems quaint. I mean, Clapton was doing beer commercials and everyone was happy. Until now. Now, they've gone too far. Now, you turn on your TV, and you see the montage of '60s protests, civil rights marches, sit-ins and, of course, surfing. And why? Let me quote from the ad: "A generation as unique as this needs a new generation of personal financial planning." In other words, here's the pitch: You changed the world, and now it's time you change your IRA account. In other words, once you cared about the Chicago 7, and now it's the Dow Jones China Offshore 50 Index. My hope - my only hope - is that a Gen Xer came up with this advertising campaign. I mean, if you can't mock your parents' hypocrisy, what's the point? And then I see Paul McCartney - yes, Paul McCartney - selling Fidelity investments. That Paul McCartney. When he and the boys played Shea Stadium, my friend who lived in Connecticut said she remembered thinking, "I'm breathing the same air as the Beatles." Paul McCartney, who's got a billion dollars, is pitching stocks. (The Stones pitched a mortgage company. Why not?) When the news broke, one British tabloid put it this way: Rubber Sold. He's got a billion dollars and he's a knight and he's selling us short. Or is it long? The vote is in. Warm up the bus. Goo goo g'joob. Mike Littwin's column appears Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. About Mike Littwin: Mike Littwin has moved back to writing a news column. He came to the Rocky Mountain News as a sports columnist from the Baltimore Sun, where he wrote a sports column for seven years and a general column for five. Before that, he worked at the Los Angeles Times as a sports and national news feature writer. Mike has contributed to many magazines, including Sports Illustrated, Esquire, TV Guide and Capital Style. Source: Denver Rocky Mountain News (CO)Author: Mike Littwin, Columnist Published: November 8, 2005Copyright: 2005 Denver Publishing Co.Contact: letters rockymountainnews.comWebsite: http://www.rockymountainnews.com/Related Articles & Web Site:Safer Choicehttp://www.saferchoice.org/Mile High Controversyhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread21292.shtmlCity Must Enforce State Pot Lawhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread21276.shtmlPot Considered 'Murder Weed' in 1937http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread21270.shtml

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Comment #26 posted by FoM on November 13, 2005 at 14:45:10 PT
Related Article: Rebellious Lit Class Offered 
By John DitzlerNovember 13, 2005 This Spring students can take an English class subtitled Literature of Rebellion. English 373R is officially titled Literature of Culture and Place. Each semester the class highlights a different culture and place.Dr. Stephen Fullmer taught the class four years ago and is looking forward to teaching it again this year, saying, "Students ate this class up the first time it was taught."Dr. Fullmer is interested in the sociological theory which explorers the seeming trend wherein roughly every 40 years, society's subculture becomes society's new dominant culture."Take for instance, Jazz, which in the '20s was considered somewhat scandalous," Fullmer said, "but by the '60s Jazz was viewed as pretty mainstream.""We'll look specifically at the '20s the '60s and 2000-2005," Fullmer said, "For each era we'll focus on at least one of the eras poets, one novelist, one musician, and we'll report on that era's drug of choice."Fullmer points out that each era of rebellion seemed to pick a new drug of choice to identify itself with. In the '20s alcohol marked the times, in the '60s marijuana and hallucinatory drugs were widespread, and currently more dangerous and addictive chemical drugs such as Meth, as well as prescription pills such as OxyContin, are being circulated.Fullmer is currently fine-tuning the reading list. Students in the class will read The Great Gatsby, look at the role of Jazz and alcohol in the '20s, read A Clockwork Orange, and Go Ask Alice, write about the music of Black Sabbath, and the poetry of Jim Morrison, debate the artistic merits of graffiti art, and look at the local cult classic Jay's Journal."Rebels are usually thought of in a disparaging light," Fullmer said, "but some rebels are wonderful people - Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Joseph Smith.""Well talk in class about the reasons different people feel the need to rebel and whether or not we feel their cause is valid," Fullmer said. "We'll debate their justifications, and we'll look at both the efficacy and the ethical implications of their tactics.""People who have taken my classes in the past know I rarely lecture. Every class is a group discussion. This is your education. We'll have a lot of group projects and student presentations in class," Fullmer said.Copyright:  2005 NetXNewshttp://www.netxnews.net/vnews/display.v/ART/2005/11/13/4376c75bb949c
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Comment #25 posted by FoM on November 11, 2005 at 18:56:07 PT
Dankhank 
They let the law stand in Ohio. I never saw any Crack in my life out here or anywhere actually. It must have been a big city drug more then out in my neck of the woods. I've been told that you better not carry over 8 ounces of marijuana on you or you might get in trouble.
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Comment #24 posted by Dankhank on November 11, 2005 at 18:49:55 PT
Ohio
so you see, FoMthat's where Ohio got it ... and they didn't recrim due to the crack epidemic
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Comment #23 posted by FoM on November 11, 2005 at 18:48:38 PT
Dankhank
Very good and so true. I never heard anyone even those who did hard drugs think they should be legal but everyone said someday and somehow marijuana will be legal.
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Comment #22 posted by Dankhank on November 11, 2005 at 18:42:48 PT
harder then?
Taylor121 wrote:What always got me was when you look at the support for legalization back when the hippie movement was at its prime, there was a much lower % of support for legalizing marijuana than what there is now, yet a much larger % of people were using the substance then. What does this tell me about this movement? Can anyone here explain it?-----------------------------------------------------It's a matter of institutional memory ... we have it and must share it ...  * 1973: Oregon decriminalizes-- $100 fine
  * 1977: President Carter suggested decriminalization.
  * During 1970's: Defacto decriminalization
  * This was at the time of nationwide peak in use.
  * Nine other States follow suit: Maine, Colorado, California (est. $95 million saved between 1976-1985), Minnesota, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, and Ohio (possession up to 100 grams: $100 fine)
  * World Health Organization 1981, and U.S. National Academy of Science 1982 Report to the Congress of the United States: Both agree that there is no evidence of marijuana being a dangerous drug.from the site : http://www.umsl.edu/~rkeel/180/pot.htmlso, you see that we were making progress until a couple of things happened ...This ....There’s also a Dr. Peter Bourne of Washington, D.C., who gave $1,000. Neither Cooper nor Richardson spokesman Billy Sparks could verify whether this is the same Peter Bourne who served as President Carter’s drug-policy adviser. Bourne resigned after being accused of snorting cocaine at a Christmas party, but he has denied that allegation.And this: ........"CRACK epidemic" ...caused most states to recriminilize Cannabis as an answer to the "Crack epidemic"
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Comment #21 posted by Hope on November 11, 2005 at 18:36:24 PT
And Heaven knows...
they've seen the expense of it all and the destruction of liberty and rights in the name of the WoD, and they're sick of supporting it and the industries that are a part of it.Prohibition has touched many more families negatively than had been in those earlier days.
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Comment #20 posted by Hope on November 11, 2005 at 18:32:22 PT
Taylor
Then many people were still afraid of it. Now that it's obvious that so many of us, Willie comes to mind, for one, have not only survived, but done well with our lives. Most of us didn't go on to harder drugs...which was a later smear campaign after the original ones failed. The "it'll lead to" propaganda also proved to be a lie like all the other lies they fed the people. A lot of the smear that was endured then just won't hold up now. People can see. They know the government and prohibitionists were obviously lieing. They've seen the abuse that so many people have had inflicted on them by the WoD. Hindsight is 20/20. More people now realize that prohibition of cannabis/marijuan has all been a big lie and a huge waste of tax resources and lives.They're waking up now, many are anyway, from the spell that the prohibs put them under for so many years.
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Comment #19 posted by FoM on November 11, 2005 at 18:26:28 PT

Taylor121 
I can answer that question. We didn't have any form of communication to pull us together like people do today with the Internet and 24 hour cable news networks. It wasn't for lack of wanting but lack of ability to connect with anyone of like mind.
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Comment #18 posted by mayan on November 11, 2005 at 18:25:39 PT

We'll Win
Here's How...Y. professor thinks bombs, not planes, toppled WTC:
http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,635160132,00.html
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Comment #17 posted by Taylor121 on November 11, 2005 at 18:11:46 PT

Boomers
What always got me was when you look at the support for legalization back when the hippie movement was at its prime, there was a much lower % of support for legalizing marijuana than what there is now, yet a much larger % of people were using the substance then. What does this tell me about this movement? Can anyone here explain it?It seems to be that it was unsuccessful at pushing cannabis reform into law. Can anyone explain this to me?
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Comment #16 posted by FoM on November 11, 2005 at 15:52:08 PT

kaptinemo 
I know you weren't talking to me but Sam but I want to say thank you for what you said.
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Comment #15 posted by kaptinemo on November 11, 2005 at 15:37:10 PT:

Sam, I beg to differ about who 'won' the culture 
wars. IMHO, the wrong side won.There's a scene in the movie "The Big Lebowski" that sums up what I believe happened, though it's said from the winning side: where the prosperous but vindictive and soulless antagonist is arguing with the middle aged stoner: "Your revolution is over, Mr. Lebowski. Condolences. The bums lost. My advice is to do what your parents did; get a job, sir. The bums will always lose. Do you hear me, Lebowski?"The 'bums' - meaning the counterculture that was not interested in material gains if it meant someone lost - had lost. The winners are what have ransacked the national treasury these past 25 years to enrich themselves and plunged this government into the latest war...after engaging in a de facto civil war against anything that might have the remotest scent of a time when their cultural dominance was in jeopardy. Like cannabis. And those who champion its' qualities. The bad guys in the black hats won the cuture wars...and our government reflects that very starkly with its' lying us into foreign military adventurism, outright propagandizing, ruthless and murderous DrugWar, its' sneering at human rights, its' acceptance of torture as legitimate means of interrogation and now, reports of forbidden weapons such as WP being used in "Eye-rack". I say without reservation I would have preferred governence by 'the bums' to what I have witnessed these past 30 years in this country. And what I fear I shall soon live to see as its' aftermath.
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Comment #14 posted by FoM on November 11, 2005 at 14:14:03 PT

Afterburner 
Thank you. I didn't know it was his birthday tomorrow. Long may he run. I'm trying again to get the station. I'm turning off different things but so far it won't work. I'll try some more. Have a great weekend. 
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Comment #13 posted by afterburner on November 11, 2005 at 13:44:38 PT

FoM & other Neil Young Fans
Today, Neil Young Classic Rock Weekend started on Q107. Songs from Buffalo Springfield, CSN&Y, Crazy Horse and more. To honor Neil's 60th birthday tomorrow. Prairie Wind tomorrow, some songs today (like The Painter). Don't miss it!Uses Javascript.
Classic Rock Q107
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Comment #12 posted by Kozmo on November 11, 2005 at 12:54:09 PT

Well said Toker00
Greed will bring the downfall of this nation. Greed is the driving force behind continuing prohibition. To much money to be made from prohibition for the greedy to just give it up.
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Comment #11 posted by FoM on November 11, 2005 at 10:42:38 PT

Toker00 
The 60s generation believes in capitalism but it looks at things differently.Mansion on The Hillhttp://www.hyperrust.org/cgi-bin/m.pl?191
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Comment #10 posted by FoM on November 11, 2005 at 09:49:42 PT

Toker00
I totally agree with you.
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Comment #9 posted by Toker00 on November 11, 2005 at 09:45:25 PT

A generational plea for humanity.
Maybe I'll be there to shake your hand,Maybe I'll be there to share the land,That they'll be giving away,When we all live together.Our generation was one of the first to realize that the earth and all it's resources are finite. Capitalism cannot continue to grind out profit from the earth without investing in the overhead. The things that are making many people rich in today's economy will be paid for by the lack of these things in the future. Not investing in alternative re-newable energy because of the greed of the oil companies will be our nightmare in the near future. Or at least our children's future. We were the generation who forced the world to see how close we are to anihilating life on this planet. Call us the alarmist generation, but we are for humanity, not profit. At least those of us who were able to stand by that ideal and survive this long. And I am not against capitalism, just greed. Everyone has to make a living, but a killing is not necesary. That is what the Elite will never understand.I guess we have been a hard act for present generations to follow.Wage peace on war. END CANNABIS PROHIBITION NOW!
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Comment #8 posted by FoM on November 11, 2005 at 09:23:27 PT

Max Flowers 
Young Republicans are just that young. They don't have any experience just a lot of attitude. Time will change that.
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Comment #7 posted by FoM on November 11, 2005 at 08:58:13 PT

Max Flowers 
It is common when a generation gets labeled by the government to be one way and they know they aren't the way they are labeled to be shunned by the powers that be. The young college kids are going to return to the idealism of the 60s because they have seen the failure of following corporations. It's all a big cycle of life. Kids will listen to Grandma but not Mom. Every generation wants to be unique.
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Comment #6 posted by Max Flowers on November 11, 2005 at 08:52:03 PT

FoM
I hope you're right about that, but I have serious doubts. What is scary to me is when I watch TV, C-SPAN for example and I see "young republicans" sitting in the halls of Congress etc., and they are very young, in their 20s etc., yet they are *totally* uptight (ha, there's a 60s word for ya!) and straight looking, wearing suits, and you can see that they're aspiring politicians... all of that tells me that it is a cultural thing that goes on. In other words, that there is a never ending supply of them, unfortunately. What I'm trying to say is that sadly, I have doubt that there will be some wonderful mass movement into government of a cooler, more compassionate segment of society when the oldsters die off, because I can see the new ones of their same ilk sitting/standing right beside the current Repugnicans waiting to move in, and I don't see any good-hearted and kind looking non-Repug looking ones their same age also waiting in the wings. I hope I'm wrong in this, but I don't think I am.I think that most young people who are good enough people to lead, won't, because they are so disgusted with what they've seen of politics. The young Repugs, though, are hungry for the power they know they will inherit.
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Comment #5 posted by FoM on November 11, 2005 at 08:27:20 PT

Dankhank
I have really tried to figure it all out why our generation seems so hated by those who are in the X generation. I think they didn't like going against the flow and wanted to follow the corporations so that they could make a lot of money since making lots of money wasn't the issue with our generation. I feel I have all I need in life and have had new cars, a new motorhome, new horse trailers. The 60s is a mind set. Finally the 60s generation is getting to a point where they will be running the government and the older generation will retire from politics. That's when change will come.
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Comment #4 posted by FoM on November 11, 2005 at 07:57:31 PT

Dankhank
I'm not sure why those a little younger don't like the 60s generation. At least we made a serious attempt at changing the course of this world that is hell bent to self destruct. I am very happy I lived turning the turbulent times. I don't even no what a generation x person is except that I think they got into investing and coke and making lots of money. I don't know what their message was or is. 
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Comment #3 posted by Dankhank on November 11, 2005 at 07:48:27 PT

boomers
I guess I are one, too ...My son complained about the oldies radio, I said that it won't go away untill all of the boomers are dead.maybe not then.It would ease me into the next realm if i knew "Incense and Peppermints will" still be played ....:-)
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Comment #2 posted by FoM on November 11, 2005 at 07:34:11 PT

Boomers
I loved that time because we wouldn't follow what the system was trying to feed us but I don't like the word boomers either. It was a time when we had hope and that is why they hate us even to this day.
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Comment #1 posted by Sam Adams on November 11, 2005 at 07:30:26 PT

Boomers
Being someone of the generation immediately following the Boomers, I am SO sick of hearing about them! I look forward to the day I die, when no one will be talking about the damn boomers anymore. No offense to people of that age, it's not your fault.The number one reason for the current campaign against cannabis, for instance what the Bush cabal is doing in California, is revenge for the cultural wars of the 60s, won by the liberal boomers. Just look at Bush's policy on Castro - Bush and the right-wing are going to try to nail Castro as much as they can until he's dead. Why? Because he made them look bad back in the 60s.Revenge is a core value of the neo-cons, just look the current CIA case. Cheney and/or his staff are probably going to be facing jail time, and the Republicans could be driven from office over this - all so they could get back at one guy who disagreed with them. Pathetic. What kind of example is this for your family & friends? Being bitter and spiteful. I wouldn't raise my kids that way.
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