cannabisnews.com: Marijuana Legalization a Good Thing? 





Marijuana Legalization a Good Thing? 
Posted by CN Staff on October 15, 2006 at 07:01:44 PT
Editorial
Source: Nevada Appeal
Nevada -- The proponents of Question 7, marijuana legalization, would like you to believe it's a black and white issue. And it is if you believe the following:• Pot is not harmful.• Legalizing it would not lead to any more pot smokers than we have now.
• The prevalence of marijuana would not lead to any more addiction problems than we have now.• Our prisons are full of inmates guilty of no other offense than smoking pot.• Our police officers spend most of their time chasing down people guilty of no other crime than smoking an occasional joint.If you choose to do more research, be ready to process an immense number of studies from both sides. Be prepared to be "alarmed" by statistics, such as there are more arrests for pot in Nevada than rape, murder, manslaughter and robbery combined. Of course there are ... there are also more arrests for shoplifting than there are for bank robberies, but that doesn't mean there's a failed policy on petty theft.Our recommendation is that you use your common sense when you cast your vote. The Regulation of Marijuana Initiative would allow those 21 years old and older to legally possess, use, and transfer 1 ounce or less of marijuana. Penalties are also stiffened for those who drive under the influence of marijuana or sell it to minors. Use in public would be prohibited. Here's what our common sense tells us:• Pot is harmful, has addictive qualities and negatively alters behavior. Most people don't need to play the six-degrees of separation game to find friends and relatives whose lives have been changed for the worse by overuse of marijuana.• More people will use marijuana if it is legalized, and it will be more readily available in households and elsewhere to those under 21. To say that there would be no additional users of pot if it were legal seems ludicrous. There are many law abiding citizens who would use pot if it were legal. We'd have more intoxicated drivers on the roadway and more addicts in need of counseling and treatment.• We're not aware of any war on marijuana or prisons jammed with pot users. There is a war on the drug culture as a whole, however, as there should be. And, as is the case in any war, sometimes strategy changes are necessary. But in this case, we believe it would be a mistake to legalize marijuana and that it would send the wrong message.We have a litany of other concerns (e.g. no law enforcement agencies support legalization; the pot would be grown in Nevada; most of the money funding the legalization campaign is from out of state, etc.), and they all add up to a solid No on Question 7.Complete Title: Marijuana Legalization a Good Thing? We're Not Buying ItSource: Nevada Appeal (Carson City, NV)Published: October 15, 2006Copyright: 2006 Nevada AppealContact: editor nevadaappeal.comWebsite: http://www.nevadaappeal.com/Related Articles & Web Site:Regulate and Control Marijuanahttp://www.regulatemarijuana.org/ Mr. Walters Goes To Nevada http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread22284.shtmlDrug Czar Visits Two States To Slam Pot Initiativehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread22277.shtmlDrug Czar Criticizes Nevada Proposal To Legalize http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread22273.shtml
Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help




Comment #31 posted by ekim on October 15, 2006 at 19:19:09 PT
Editorial board please listen and learn something
(e.g. no law enforcement agencies support legalization; Oct 17 06 WNPR's Where We Live 09:00 AM Norm Stamper Hartford CT USA 
 LEAP speaker, former Seattle Police Chief Norm Stamper is interviewed on WNPR's Where We Live by host John Dankosky. Listen LIVE! Oct 26 06 SAFER Initiative Event 06:00 PM Norm Stamper Denver Colorado USA 
 LEAP speaker and advisory board member Norm Stamper speaks to an audience at a NORML sponsored event in conjunction with SAFER initiative. The event takes place in Boettcher Hall at the University of Denver. This event is open to the public. Oct 26 06 People Against Injustice New Haven Drug Policy Forum 06:00 PM Howard Wooldridge New Haven CT USA 
 LEAP speaker and board member Howard Wooldridge meets with the New Haven Drug Policy Forum's People Against Injustice. As a Road Officer in Michigan, Wooldridge quickly learned that alcohol killed and injured more people than all the illicit drugs combined. Soon he became known as "Hiway Howie" for his fierce efforts to combat drunk drivers, earning recognition from MADD. Location: Lincoln Bassett school auditorium located at 130 Bassett St, New Haven. Oct 26 06 KBPI 106.7 FM's The Uncle Nasty Show 03:00 PM Norm Stamper Denver CO USA 
 LEAP speaker and advisory board member Norm Stamper is interviewed on The Nasty Show. LISTEN LIVE! 
http://www.leap.cc/events
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #30 posted by FoM on October 15, 2006 at 14:26:09 PT
Hope
Carter didn't stop the Paraquat. NORML seems to have helped in stopping it. That's what I found when I did a search.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #29 posted by Hope on October 15, 2006 at 13:57:01 PT
The Paraquat cough
completely ceased after a couple of years with most people...as I recall...but we all wondered if it might do something to us down the line. I'm still hoping it caused no permanent harm.Just thinking about makes me imagine I'm feeling a gathering of congestion in the middle of my chest. Got to cough a little.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #28 posted by Hope on October 15, 2006 at 13:51:56 PT
Carter stopped the poisoning?
I'm not sure. I think a lot of the professional prohibitionists may have gotten upset about it...what with purposely allowing "the children" who might smoke pot to get poisoned. It was nasty. Brown pot I think is from plants that just died...of drought or Paraquat as was the case in the seventies, or disease or pests or something and was never actually cured...just packaged, Paraquat and all. It could be faulty curing is the cause of some brown pot...but I think it was just dead in the field when they harvested it. Lively color...even the gold...is better than brown, I would think...but brown can help if there is no other choice, I'm sure.Dead brown pot isn't as nearly as nice as lively cured pot, but probably the worst is moldy. I hate to think of a medical patient having no alternative other than something molding.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #27 posted by whig on October 15, 2006 at 13:39:51 PT
Hope
That really is awful.I wonder what the heck the brown stuff is that passes for cannabis in some places. I wonder if people just save their partially spent herb, like after one pass through a vaporizer. I dunno.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #26 posted by FoM on October 15, 2006 at 13:36:18 PT
Hope
I remember the Paraquat too. Wasn't it Jimmy Carter that stopped it from poisoning people? I'm not sure.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #25 posted by Hope on October 15, 2006 at 13:29:50 PT
Whig
I really did smoke Paraquat laden cannabis, along with many others, during the seventies. It didn't kill me, of course...but it was a bummer. I can still remember the taste and the unpleasantness of it. How do I know? The taste changed on a lot of brown Mexican pot at that time. The taste changed and the effect changed and there was lung trouble. For about three or four months it seemed to effect a very high percentage of the pot that people had assumed was from Mexico. We all noticed it and weren't happy about it...but we didn't know why or what it was until the news was released. Pot smokers had been purposely poisoned.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #24 posted by whig on October 15, 2006 at 13:11:38 PT
Celaya
You have mail.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #23 posted by whig on October 15, 2006 at 13:04:34 PT
lombar
It's insightful, and I've had enough experiences now to contextualize that. The truth is that self is fluid, it moves up and down according to how far in either direction you want or need to go. Once you can ascend you have to learn also how to control your altitude. Like learning to fly without wings.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #22 posted by whig on October 15, 2006 at 12:19:34 PT
Hope #9
Cannabis shows signs of being capable of overcoming neurotoxins. That means you can take it when you have been poisoned and it may be the antidote.http://www.mikuriya.com/cw_charas.htmlSee last paragraph of postscript: "Although the paper was an part of an unsuccessful proposal, the property of rapid dissipation of the adenosine family of high energy phosphate compounds implies possible application of cannabis as an antidote to neurotoxic poisons."
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #21 posted by lombar on October 15, 2006 at 12:14:53 PT
whig
After much digging, I found a few passages that I remembered from some of the discourses I have read that your comment dislodged... My synthesis of these things indicates that dwelling upon the nature of the self in itself is a root cause of much suffering.I have questioned my own motives many times. However, the reason to oppose prohibition is not to encourage drug usage but to encourage sensible policies and to not war upon ourselves, its ludichrist. The hypocrisy stinks to high heaven... Alcohol is dangerous, cannabis is a plant. It's greatest danger is when cops bust down your door for it.
These are the basic ground rules for interpreting the Buddha's teachings, but if we look at the way most writers treat the anatta doctrine, we find these ground rules ignored. Some writers try to qualify the no-self interpretation by saying that the Buddha denied the existence of an eternal self or a separate self, but this is to give an analytical answer to a question that the Buddha showed should be put aside. Others try to draw inferences from the few statements in the discourse that seem to imply that there is no self, but it seems safe to assume that if one forces those statements to give an answer to a question that should be put aside, one is drawing inferences where they shouldn't be drawn.So, instead of answering "no" to the question of whether or not there is a self — interconnected or separate, eternal or not — the Buddha felt that the question was misguided to begin with. Why? No matter how you define the line between "self" and "other," the notion of self involves an element of self-identification and clinging, and thus suffering and stress. This holds as much for an interconnected self, which recognizes no "other," as it does for a separate self. If one identifies with all of nature, one is pained by every felled tree. It also holds for an entirely "other" universe, in which the sense of alienation and futility would become so debilitating as to make the quest for happiness — one's own or that of others — impossible. For these reasons, the Buddha advised paying no attention to such questions as "Do I exist?" or "Don't I exist?" for however you answer them, they lead to suffering and stress.
No-self or Not-self?
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #20 posted by whig on October 15, 2006 at 12:07:55 PT
The GCW
I look at your book from time to time, and it does not help me yet, but there is a lot to learn. I cannot see how it fits now, and that is perhaps as it should be, for we do not give those who despise us our play book either, do we?First down.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #19 posted by whig on October 15, 2006 at 11:58:03 PT
The GCW
Do you ever feel like a satan? I'm just seeing it from another perspective, as I'm walking around and thinking this morning. What we're doing, we have to do when we look at the alternative. But we are going against the old testament. There are righteous people in Sodom and Gomorrah.And I have to use that analogy too, because I turn to look from the perspective of the right, the haters of all things liberal, as if liberality was opposed to righteousness. That is what they consider Berkeley and San Francisco. That is what these places are to them. Places they would sooner have turned to a pillar of salt as suffer to live.And I am here, in my robe of red fuzziness, as my wife likes to call it, and seeing myself as they would see me. I am the very devil himself if they saw me.And yet, see the fruit of the tree. Which is telling the truth here? Am I not lucifer too?All of these, and christ too. You as well. We are here and we are not divided against ourselves, so we cannot hate any of these aspects. They are part of what we need to be to unify, even if only long enough to do what has to be done to stop the world from being destroyed by madmen with nuclear weapons.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #18 posted by FoM on October 15, 2006 at 11:56:01 PT
Hope
I have followed the Amish murder case fairly closely. The Amish are showing real Christian love and are following the words of Jesus. Turn the other cheek. Forgive your enemies. Pray for those who despitely use you. We wouldn't have wars if everyone followed His words.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #17 posted by Hope on October 15, 2006 at 11:41:04 PT
Amazing Grace
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/15266663/
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #16 posted by Celaya on October 15, 2006 at 11:27:12 PT
whig
Could you drop me a line at nieblaflor hotmail.com ? Thanks.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #15 posted by whig on October 15, 2006 at 11:18:48 PT
Rainbow
I have only been in the city on a few occasions, and don't know many of the places in town to go. However, I would gladly join you for some sightseeing if you would like, since I am just across the bay.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #14 posted by Celaya on October 15, 2006 at 11:16:36 PT
Rainbow
Here's some cannabis info on San Franciscohttp://www.webehigh.com/city/detail.php?CITYID=2004
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #13 posted by Hope on October 15, 2006 at 10:10:01 PT
"seethe pottage"
Interesting phrase.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #12 posted by Hope on October 15, 2006 at 10:09:04 PT
An excellent letter...from our own Colleen McCool.
http://news.galvestondailynews.com/story.lasso?ewcd=4b080776f283e3da#rohi
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #11 posted by Hope on October 15, 2006 at 10:04:51 PT
Observer
"How this guy can say that with a straight face is beyond me."Trained, professional liars. They lie to people for a living. 
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #10 posted by Hope on October 15, 2006 at 10:03:12 PT
KJV
 38And Elisha came again to Gilgal: and there was a dearth in the land; and the sons of the prophets were sitting before him: and he said unto his servant, Set on the great pot, and seethe pottage for the sons of the prophets. 39And one went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine, and gathered thereof wild gourds his lap full, and came and shred them into the pot of pottage: for they knew them not. 40So they poured out for the men to eat. And it came to pass, as they were eating of the pottage, that they cried out, and said, O thou man of God, there is death in the pot. And they could not eat thereof. 41But he said, Then bring meal. And he cast it into the pot; and he said, Pour out for the people, that they may eat. And there was no harm in the pot. 
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #9 posted by Hope on October 15, 2006 at 09:58:55 PT
Death in the Pot ...New International Version
 38 Elisha returned to Gilgal and there was a famine in that region. While the company of the prophets was meeting with him, he said to his servant, "Put on the large pot and cook some stew for these men." 39 One of them went out into the fields to gather herbs and found a wild vine. He gathered some of its gourds and filled the fold of his cloak. When he returned, he cut them up into the pot of stew, though no one knew what they were. 40 The stew was poured out for the men, but as they began to eat it, they cried out, "O man of God, there is death in the pot!" And they could not eat it. 41 Elisha said, "Get some flour." He put it into the pot and said, "Serve it to the people to eat." And there was nothing harmful in the pot.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #8 posted by Hope on October 15, 2006 at 09:52:18 PT
Today...
I keep thinking about how the creeps with the power to do so, made cannabis illegal in the first place. Because of the effect it had on the "degenerate races".That's obscene. It actually makes me sick at my stomach.I think about how they tricked the people with made up nicknames, like "marihuana", to aid in their deception, so that the people wouldn't know it was hemp fiber and seed and cannabis medicine the "leaders" were making illegal.Where have such leaders led us?Straight to hell, it looks to me like.The Prohibitionists are just as deceived today as they were then.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #7 posted by Hope on October 15, 2006 at 09:44:08 PT
Ah!
Poison in the pot!Shades of Paraquat!
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #6 posted by observer on October 15, 2006 at 09:16:00 PT
we must jail pot users, because we never jail them
Pot is not harmful....And there was no harm in the pot. (2Kings 4:41, KJV)Our prisons are full of inmates guilty of no other offense than smoking pot.One more time. What's the problem with not jailing pot users - if no one is ever jailed for just "smoking pot"?How this guy can say that with a straight face is beyond me. I guess politicians/prosecutors/police) are used to brazenly telling bald-face lies, so they have much practice in this shady area of public speaking. "The reason we must continue to jail pot users," (they say with no hint of humor), "is because we never jail pot users."We're not aware of any war on marijuana or prisons jammed with pot users.My first inclination is to say the Editorial board of the Nevada Appeal newspaper is willfully ignorant. But, I think they do know better, but are simply lying. Sorry, O Editorial board of the Nevada Appeal newspaper. We're just not buying it. 
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #5 posted by Rainbow on October 15, 2006 at 08:59:03 PT
OT - San Francisco
Sorry for the OT but I am wondeirng if someone could direct me to cannabis related sightseeing in San Francisco.I am going to a conference next week in San Francisco and would like to walk around observing things that might be of interest to a semi-activist.Thanks,
Rainbow
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #4 posted by HempWorld on October 15, 2006 at 08:48:21 PT
Yes Marijuana Legalization Is A Good Thing!
Marijuana is a non-toxic healthy alternative to all the death causing drugs that are currently legal. Besides this, legalization of this relatively harmless herb would eliminate all deaths and social injustice caused by the current prohibition. The end result of both would be a great savings to society in terms of costs, waisted time, human lives and injustice.
Back To The Farm ...
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #3 posted by Truth on October 15, 2006 at 08:46:56 PT
geeze
"We're not aware of any war on marijuana"What part of 800,000 arrests don't they understand?idiots
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #2 posted by The GCW on October 15, 2006 at 07:39:42 PT
POLL
Should voters pass Ref. 44 legalizing possession of small amounts of marijuana?http://www.gjfreepress.com/VOTE!
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #1 posted by Toker00 on October 15, 2006 at 07:30:01 PT
Genocide should be allowed in some cases.
At lease that is what I get out of this statement:"There is a war on the DRUG CULTURE as a whole, however, as there should be." It is no longer unbelievable that our society has embraced Nazi tactics, both foreign and DOMESTIC. How about declaring Genocide on the LEGAL DRUG CULTURE TOO? It is a much larger segment of our society and far more death and damage is caused by LEGAL drug use, and even LEGAL activities, than by ILLEGAL drug use. You just hadn't thought about that, right? Because you are not being ALLOWED to think about that. Wake the F up.All three of those "BULLETS" were duds, by the way.Wage Peace on war. END CANNABIS PROHIBITION NOW!
[ Post Comment ]


Post Comment