cannabisnews.com: School's Fight To Censor Ensures We Won't Forget










  School's Fight To Censor Ensures We Won't Forget

Posted by CN Staff on August 30, 2006 at 12:37:00 PT
By Beth Bragg 
Source: Anchorage Daily News 

Juneau, Alaska -- When it comes to Bong Hits 4 Jesus, here's some Advice 4 Dummies: If the phrase poses such a threat to the health and future of any teenager exposed to it, then stop making a federal case out of it.If the Juneau School Board, in its infinite stubbornness, is so worried that the message waved on a banner four years ago at a nonschool event will lead high school kids down the path to illegal drug use, why does it insist on giving the message such tremendous exposure?
Google "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" and you'll get 14,100 hits. Included among them is proof positive that the message has become part of the vernacular: It has its own Wikipedia entry.And all Joe Frederick wanted was to catch the eye of a TV cameraman.Frederick is the man who, back when he was a senior at Juneau-Douglas High School, made a 10-foot banner to wave as the Olympic torch relay passed through Juneau. A true Alaska artist, he used butcher paper as his canvas and duct tape as his paint to craft the sign that now waves in perpetuity: Bong Hits 4 Jesus.The school principal, Deborah Morse, went nuts -- even though Frederick wasn't on school property, wasn't at a school-sponsored event, wasn't under direct supervision of school employees and wasn't representing the school in any way imaginable.Nor did he cause a disruption at school. School officials admitted as much to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. Lawyers for Morse and the school board argue that Morse's confiscation of the banner and suspension of Frederick were justified because the poster was inconsistent with the school's mission to teach a healthy, drug-free lifestyle.Complete Title: School's Fight To Censor Poster Ensures We'll Never Forget It  Snipped:Complete Article: http://tinyurl.com/k6td7Source: Anchorage Daily News (AK)Author: Beth BraggPublished: August 30, 2006Copyright: 2006 The Anchorage Daily News Contact: letters adn.com Website: http://www.adn.com/ Related Articles:Bong Hits 4 Jesus’ Case To U.S. Supreme Court?http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread22116.shtmlSchool Board Stands by Plans To Appeal http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread21841.shtml'Bong Hits' To Supreme Court?http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread21812.shtml

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Comment #40 posted by lombar on August 31, 2006 at 16:53:38 PT
Sentient?
Are insects sentient? Perhaps. I regret killing mosquitos but if I see one in the house, I kill it. Why? Disease. Not because of any inherent aversion to them, rather a desire to reduce suffering of myself and my own. Now I personally would be removing said ants, with regret perhaps, but removed nonetheless.Many of the descriptions of loving kindness meditations begin with "May all SENTIENT beings be free from ill will and anxiety."Insects are little machines, they may respond to external stimuli, but there is no higher mental functions. No bee thinks, "I'm too depressed to pollinate today". It is programmed by its genetics. We can overcome our reptilian hindbrain instincts.Mammals like pets and food are much closer to us. Now some people take my analogy for insects above to apply to their fellow beings and thus... war, death.. Harmlessness in their context applies to humans and animals. You also have to consider their way of life. No home to worry about ants overrunning. If there are too many ants, the bhiku moves to somewhere more conducive to meditation. So they can and do strive towards total harmlessness. Once you have possessions, you need to keep them, so you need somewhere to put them. Somewhere that others cannot just take them from you. The householder life precludes the possiblity of treading their path. If you own nothing, the ants are just in their natural habitat, nothing to weigh your spirit down.. nothing to be concerned with except penetrating the doctrines and doing the meditations.These are hard things to accept in our world of comfort and so many attachments. I am attached to a dry warm place to live, hot and cold running water, electricity, my computer, and convenient food..more to be sure!One can be harmless as long as one does not want anything nor hate anything. Just recognising what 'clinging' and 'craving' are in oneself is a tough job but once done, it is much easier to break the chain (of dependent co-origination) and stop clinging. But now we are back to representations of 'mindspace'...
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Comment #39 posted by whig on August 31, 2006 at 16:31:03 PT
observer
Oh. You just made that link on Wikipedia.Wow. Fantastic. Sorry for being slow today.
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Comment #38 posted by whig on August 31, 2006 at 16:28:37 PT
observer
Cannabis (spiritual use) was one I started. Not Bong Hits 4 Jesus. Just so I'm not confusing you or anyone else.I did have a blog post on Bong Hits 4 Jesus though:https://cannablog.wordpress.com/2006/08/28/bong-hits-4-jesus/
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Comment #37 posted by whig on August 31, 2006 at 16:21:48 PT
observer
Check the first edition of the Wikipedia entry.There's something fun about having my own work quoted to me. :)
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Comment #36 posted by observer on August 31, 2006 at 15:46:17 PT
Wikipedia entry
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bong_Hits_4_JesusSee also  * Cannabis (spiritual use)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabis_%28spiritual_use%29
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Comment #35 posted by whig on August 31, 2006 at 15:33:18 PT
Killers kill
It's pretty basic, I think. But most killers want to get away with it. And they want to keep killing. So the biggest threat to a killer is someone who wants them to stop killing and will try to find out what they've done and prevent them from doing it again.Blessed are the Peacemakers, and hated by the hateful.
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Comment #34 posted by whig on August 31, 2006 at 15:24:06 PT
lombar
I don't think I can be harmless, nor that we are supposed to be. Like cannabis, perhaps, we should try to be less harmful than the alternatives.If as happened to me a week or two ago, you left a cup out overnight, and found in the morning a line of ants, do you leave them in peace? After all, in some sense you invited them in, you fed them and sheltered them. They are like any living creature, and conscious in their way.Of course your home would be overrun by ants and you would have nowhere to rest comfortably. And your neighbors, should you live in an apartment, would be very displeased with you as well.Harmlessness is not the goal I strive for. I believe in harm reduction.
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Comment #33 posted by FoM on August 31, 2006 at 14:34:46 PT
Peacemakers
Any powerful person who represents Peace is a threat to war mongers and control of the world. There's a lot to lose if Peacemakers ruled our country. That's just my opinion. That's why they hated the Hippie pinko commies as they call them.
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Comment #32 posted by Hope on August 31, 2006 at 14:28:21 PT
Maybe
a person that would be inclined to be an assassin is aligned with the war mongers...therefore they don't target fellow killer types.
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Comment #31 posted by Hope on August 31, 2006 at 14:25:31 PT
It is really, really scary
and says so much about this world that the Peacemakers are all too often victims of assassins.Why do they become targets for mad men moreso than the war mongers or do they? It kind of seems that way, anyway.
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Comment #30 posted by Hope on August 31, 2006 at 14:17:40 PT
Storm Crow..."honest president"
I didn't say it...Truth did! :0)Jimmy Carter was probably pretty honest for a President, though. Maybe.I'd like to think he was anyway. I'd like to think they all were...but that's a bit more Pollyannaish than even I could come up with!
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Comment #29 posted by lombar on August 31, 2006 at 14:11:03 PT
The last person..
I could think of offhand. There was an American Congressperson that died under suspect circumstances not too long ago. Laying Down the Rod
by
Bhikkhu Bodhi
	The textbooks of history come into our hands bound in decorative covers and set in crisp clear types. To the discerning reader, however, their glossy pages are stained with blood and wet with streams of tears. The story of man's sojourn on this planet has generally not been a very pretty one. For sure, deeds of virtue and flashes of the sublime light up the tale like meteorites shooting across the night time sky. But the pageant of events that the records spell out for us unfolds according to a repeated pattern in which the dominant motifs are greed and ambition, deceit and distrust, aggression, destruction and revenge.Each age, when the dust of its own battles clears, tends to see itself as standing at the threshold of a new era in which peace and harmony will at last prevail. This appears to be particularly true of our own time, with its high ideals and great expectations aroused by dramatic shifts in international relations. It would be ingenuous, however, to think that a package solution to the tensions inherent in human coexistence can be devised as easily as a solution to a problem in data management. To cherish the dream that we have arrived at the brink of a new world order in which all conflict, in obedience to our good intentions, will be relegated to the past is to lose sight of the grim obstinacy of those deep dark drives that stir in the human heart: the defilements of greed, hatred and delusion. It is these drives that have brought us into this world of strife and suffering, and it is these same drives that keep the wheel of history turning, erupting periodically in orgies of senseless violence.Like any other stream, the stream of mundane existence inevitably flows in the direction of least resistance: downward. The task the Buddha sets before us is not the impossible one of reversing the direction of the flow, but the feasible one of crossing the stream, of arriving safely at the far shore where we will be free from the dangers that beset us as we are swept along by the stream. To cross the stream requires a struggle, not against the current itself, but against the forces that carry us down the current, a struggle against the defilements lodged in the depths of our own minds.Though violence, either overt or subtle, may hold sway over the world in which we are afloat, the Buddha's path to freedom requires of us that we make a total break with prevailing norms. Thus one of the essential steps in our endeavor to reach the abode of safety is to "lay down the rod," to put away violence, aggression and harmfulness toward all living beings. In the Buddha's teaching the "laying down of the rod" is not merely an ethical principle, a prescription for right action. It is a comprehensive strategy of self-training that spans all stages of the Buddhist path, enabling us to subdue our inclinations toward ill will, animosity and cruelty.The key to developing a mind of harmlessness is found in the ancient maxim stated in the Dhammapada: "Putting oneself in the place of another, one should not slay or incite others to slay." The reason we should avoid harming others is because all living beings, in their innermost nature, share the same essential concern for their own well being and happiness. When we look into our own minds, we can immediately see with intuitive certainty that the fundamental desire at the root of our being is the desire to be well and happy, to be free from all harm, danger and distress. We see at once that we wish to live, not to die; that we wish to be happy, not to suffer; that we wish to pursue our goals freely, without hindrance and obstruction by others.When we see that this wish for well being and happiness is the most basic desire at the root of our own being, by a simple imaginative projection we can then recognize, again with intuitive certainty, that the same fundamental desire animates the minds of all other living beings as well. Just as we wish to be well, so every other being wishes to be well; just as we wish to be happy, so every other being wishes to be happy; just as we wish to pursue our goals freely, so all other beings wish to pursue their goals freely, without hindrance and obstruction.This fundamental identity of aim that we share with all other beings has implications for each stage of the threefold Buddhist training in morality, mental purification and wisdom. Since all other beings, like ourselves, are intent on their welfare and happiness, by putting ourselves in their place we can recognize the need to regulate our conduct by principles of restraint that hold in check all harmful bodily and verbal deeds. Because afflictive deeds originate from the mind, from thoughts of animosity and cruelty, it becomes necessary for us to purify our minds of these taints through the practice of concentration, developing as their specific antidotes the "divine abodes" of loving-kindness and compassion. And because all defiled thoughts tending toward harm for others arise from roots lodged deep in the recesses of the mind, we need to undertake the development of wisdom, which alone can extricate the hidden roots of evil.Since the state of the world is a manifestation and reflection of the minds of its inhabitants, the achievement of a permanent universal peace would require nothing short of a radical and widespread transformation in the minds of these inhabitants — a beautiful but unrealistic fantasy. What lies within the scope of real possibility is the attainment of a lasting individual peace within ourselves, a peace that comes with the fulfillment of the Buddha's threefold training. This internal peace, however, will not remain locked up in our hearts. Overflowing its source, it will radiate outward, exercising a gentle and uplifting influence upon the lives of those who come within its range. As the old Indian adage says, one can never make the earth safe for one's feet by sweeping away all thorns and gravel, but if one wears a pair of shoes one's feet will be comfortable everywhere. One can never be free from enmity by eliminating all one's foes, but if one strikes down one thing — the thought of hate — one will see no enemies anywhere.Revised: Sunday 2006-06-18
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/bodhi/bps-essay_18.htmlSource: BPS Newsletter cover essay no. 18 (Spring 1991).
Copyright © 1991 Buddhist Publication Society
Access to Insight edition © 1998
For free distribution. This work may be republished, reformatted, reprinted, and redistributed in any medium. It is the author's wish, however, that any such republication and redistribution be made available to the public on a free and unrestricted basis and that translations and other derivative works be clearly marked as such. 
Was Paul Wellstone Murdered?
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Comment #28 posted by lombar on August 31, 2006 at 13:57:49 PT
StormCrow
Well maybe since Washington? Honest Abe? Sorry, best we get is a tricky Dicky and a rich cowboy who managed to 'fool them twice'. The president should exemplify true virtue to lead by example. Perhaps the Kennedys were honest, but look what happened to them? Why is it that any cultural icon that has ever been strong in the cause of peace has been slain? Is there not an obvious pattern? The last person that has really been huge and committed to peace and love was John Lennon...also slain. These are the ones we know of... Honest presidents become dead presidents. 
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Comment #27 posted by FoM on August 31, 2006 at 08:18:19 PT
Wayne 
I agree.
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Comment #26 posted by Storm Crow on August 31, 2006 at 08:03:27 PT
Oxymoron?
Hope, isn't "honest president" an oxymoron?
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Comment #25 posted by Truth on August 31, 2006 at 07:06:14 PT
bush
bush withheld the truth to keep it from his daughters.That, my friends, is what is referred to as "deception by omition".Time for an honest president.
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Comment #24 posted by Wayne on August 31, 2006 at 05:39:03 PT
Re: FoM
That Zachary Guiles sounds awfully bright for a 15-year-old.
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Comment #23 posted by FoM on August 30, 2006 at 22:05:01 PT
AP: Anti-Bush Shirt OK in School, Court Says
August 31, 2006MONTPELIER, Vt. - A middle school that censored the anti-drug, anti-Bush message on a student's T-shirt violated the boy's right to free speech, an appeals court ruled Wednesday.The shirt bore images of cocaine and a martini glass - in addition to messages calling President Bush a lying drunk driver who abused cocaine and marijuana, and the "chicken-hawk-in-chief" who was engaged in a "world domination tour."Complete Article: http://www.grandforks.com/mld/grandforks/news/nation/15401907.htm
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Comment #22 posted by Hope on August 30, 2006 at 19:05:25 PT
comment 20
was referring to the dispensary take down.
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Comment #21 posted by Hope on August 30, 2006 at 19:01:42 PT
BHFJ
Yup. The ones so offended and upset about it are seeing to it that the phrase turns into a regular household phrase...for a decade or two.It's crazy how stupid that is.
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Comment #20 posted by Hope on August 30, 2006 at 18:55:26 PT
Oh man...
It's so sad, horrible, and wrong.
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Comment #19 posted by FoM on August 30, 2006 at 18:49:18 PT
Hope
Yes another one. I did a search and found the name of the dispensary. It was first mentioned in my California NORML E-Mail  I get. The name is the Trichome Healing Caregivers. http://www.weedtracker.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13001
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Comment #18 posted by Hope on August 30, 2006 at 18:38:56 PT
Comment 13
Another dispensary raid?
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Comment #17 posted by mayan on August 30, 2006 at 18:28:07 PT
Bong Hits 4 Jesus
The Juneau School Board is only interested in saving face AND controlling thought, since speech is generally how we convey thought. Maybe we should all make this our new slogan in our war against oppression?THE WAY OUT IS THE WAY IN...Doubt about official version of 9/11 widespread: 
http://www.vancourier.com/issues06/084206/opinion/084206op2.htmlCharlie Sheen Making 9/11 Conspiracy Movie? 
http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Charlie-Sheen-Making-9-11-Conspiracy-Movie-3293.html9/11 Blogger:
http://911blogger.com/
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Comment #16 posted by Wayne on August 30, 2006 at 18:18:20 PT
OT: 'Jokers' abound in Minnesota!
Some news stories coming out of Duluth today...POLICE SAY JOKER PLANTED MARIJUANA PLANTS OUTSIDE - http://www.mapinc.org/norml/v06/n1148/a02.htmMARIJUANA FOUND GROWING BY MINNESOTA STATION - http://www.officer.com/article/article.jsp?id=32386&siteSection=1They've got the right idea up there... outgrow the enemy!!
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Comment #15 posted by FoM on August 30, 2006 at 18:09:41 PT
Whig
Thank you. You are doing a good job. Keep up the good work.
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Comment #14 posted by whig on August 30, 2006 at 18:02:57 PT
FoM
I agree.By the way I added Cannabis News headlines to the righthand sidebar on the cannablog.
http://cannablog.wordpress.com/
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Comment #13 posted by FoM on August 30, 2006 at 17:44:15 PT
Whig
I look at the issue of dispensaries in a way that doesn't draw any conclusions. I see all the angles. Not one angle of approach is abolutely right or absolutely wrong. The bottom line is until the laws are changed and Cannabis is brought out into the open problems will happen. I read another DEA raid is going on as I type in a dispensary in California. It's against Federal Law and yet State Law says under specific circumstances Medical Cannabis is fine. We need to change the law so this all stops.
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Comment #12 posted by whig on August 30, 2006 at 17:31:38 PT
FoM
I really don't agree that it's a bad thing the dispensaries are charging standard rates. Here's the thing. They could give it away, if that was possible. But if they have to charge for cannabis then underselling the street will cause diversion that will be traced to their patients, and creates conflict with street suppliers.Ideally everyone can grow for themselves, and give away their excess. But we're not there yet and someone who runs a dispensary has a lot of expenses we don't always consider, like in addition to their security and other visible costs they have to pay lawyers and buy lots of insurance. They are probably marking up a lot less than you might think.Maybe I'm naive about this, but here's one thing I believe. We as a community should not be divided against one another. If some people sell, then it is because they are helping strangers. I would rather buy from a stranger than a friend, and although I appreciate receiving gifts I don't believe in being an imposition unless I have no other choice.I am distinguishing against those who sell to children. That's just not acceptable.
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Comment #11 posted by FoM on August 30, 2006 at 17:10:03 PT
Ending the Medical Marijuana Gold Rush 
I didn't think posting this article was really necessary. It's more about dispensaries and that just isn't an issue for the majority of people here on CNews. We are still working on getting the laws changed in lots of states in my opinion. http://www.alternativesmagazine.com/39/ray.html
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Comment #10 posted by greenmed on August 30, 2006 at 16:32:16 PT
mbc
Thank you, mbc. We are all family here, I feel -- even those who don't post but just read with understanding.I share your hope for peace. It will come. The pendulum has swung so far to the right that, by the Laws of the Universe, it must soon if it has not already start back toward peace, compassion and freedom.Then, the healing can begin.
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Comment #9 posted by mai_bong_city on August 30, 2006 at 15:59:55 PT

bless you all
and i pray for peace soon.thank you for being my family.mbc
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Comment #8 posted by whig on August 30, 2006 at 15:47:06 PT

Max
Personally I seem to be alternating between strains, and learning their differences. Maybe he'd have done that.
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Comment #7 posted by Max Flowers on August 30, 2006 at 15:29:29 PT

WWJS?
What would Jesus smoke?My guess is that he would lean toward the familiar Afghani type strains of his home turf of the Middle East. In fact, no, I bet he would go straight for the Red Lebanese hash.
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Comment #6 posted by FoM on August 30, 2006 at 15:26:37 PT

greenmed 
Thank you. It seems like the right way to deal with drugs. If a friend said hey be careful a person listenened. If they didn't listen at the moment it was in their mind and would stay there and nag at them and in time they would most likely straighten up. Yell, scream, curse, threaten and I guarantee they wouldn't listen. It's just human nature.
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Comment #5 posted by whig on August 30, 2006 at 15:14:56 PT

Funny
"Google "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" and you'll get 14,100 hits."I come up #14 at the moment.
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Comment #4 posted by greenmed on August 30, 2006 at 15:11:13 PT

FoM
As always, your observation is worth much more than 2 cents, FoM. Young adults (I shouldn't have referred to them as "kids") are naturally drawn to new experiences as they open up to the world, and there is something about the culture of cannabis that is protecting and nurturing in just the way you said.People caring for People.Community is the greatest gift. We are bless'd.
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Comment #3 posted by FoM on August 30, 2006 at 14:24:35 PT

Drugs and Education
Back in the 70s we talked about drugs, their use and side effects. If you saw a friend going a bit too far you told them it might not be a good thing if they keep up that pace. It was always a suggestion never a threat. Suggestions always work better then threats of punishment if a person doesn't listen. Just my 2 cents.
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Comment #2 posted by Sinsemilla Jones on August 30, 2006 at 14:19:07 PT

Is Kenneth Starr a discordian?!
If he can do for pot what he did for fellatio, I might have to consider it.I wonder if anyone has ever thanked him for doing more to popularize oral sex than the movie Deep Throat.
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Comment #1 posted by greenmed on August 30, 2006 at 13:20:18 PT

stop child abuse
"The Alaska Association of School Boards, which is funded in part by dues paid by member schools, decided last month to give the Juneau School Board $15,000 to continue the fight.But if the school district loses, it will have to pay Frederick's attorney fees. Doug Mertz, Frederick's lawyer, figures each side has racked up $100,000 worth of expenses so far, with another $35,000 to come if the Supreme Court takes the case. But, he said, the district's insurance policy should cover all but about $25,000 of the various expenses."---This is such a frivolous suit and waste of money. No wonder SAT scores are dropping. That may be the objective, after all ... a docile, compliant, uninformed, unthinking Public. Who could possibly benefit from that?Each time I hear prohibitionists cry out "WHAT ABOUT THE CHILDREN?" I must say I tend to agree with the sentiment, but for entirely different reasons. Children should be educated rather than indoctrinated about drug use. Give them an accurate and (dare I say) scientific understanding of drug action, rather than propaganda, and get out of the way. Kids today see through propaganda like no generation before. Stop underestimating them - they will rise to the challenge.

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