cannabisnews.com: Nelson's Freedom Fest Focuses On Marijuana










  Nelson's Freedom Fest Focuses On Marijuana

Posted by CN Staff on August 08, 2007 at 05:58:40 PT
KXAN-TV - Austin, TX 
Source: MSNBC 

USA -- A fundraising concert this week focuses on the benefits of marijuana, and Willie Nelson is using music and some star power to push for relaxing the laws related to usage. Nelson sat down with KXAN Austin News' Michelle Valles at his Pedernales studio to discuss the Austin Freedom Fest.He is still recording music and still touring with his band, but Nelson's latest project is a first. Nelson came up with the idea for a concert at the Backyard on Friday.
He's the headliner and will give the proceeds to four marijuana policy reform groups.Nelson helped bring the groups together for the first time to strengthen their lobbying efforts to legalize marijuana."I'd like to see it taxed and regulated and looked upon as nothing more or less dangerous than alcohol or cigarettes," Nelson said.Concert promoters focused on the music and barely mentioned the marijuana benefit. Still, advertisers shied away."Because it's illegal, and once you admit smoking it, you have committed to a crime," Nelson said. "Somewhere there's a stigma attached to it."Today Nelson stands up against that stigma. He said he's given up alcohol and cigarettes but not the pot, but he wasn't always this forthright, especially in his days as a budding musician."With age you get a little more nerve," he said. "What's a guy like me who smoked for 50 years. If I'm running into the walls or making a lot of bad decisions, but I do a two-hour show every night and remember 40 or 50 songs, so I challenge anyone out there. You might tie it, but I doubt you can beat it."Nelson's argument is far from getting the attention of Texas lawmakers.Twelve states have legalized marijuana for medicinal use since 1995, and Texas is not one of them. State Rep. Elliot Naishtat sponsored a medicinal marijuana bill for patients with a medical condition such as AIDS, glaucoma or multiple sclerosis.State Rep. Diane Delisi, the chairwoman of the Public Health Committee, denied the bill a hearing."Making it available for medicinal use won't make it any safer than any other drug," said Laurie DeLong, a drug treatment counselor at the Phoenix Academy. DeLong agrees with Delisi's decision and said making marijuana legal, even for ailing patients, gives it a perception that it's safe."I know that any given day I may have 60 kids in my program, and that's what they started with, and that's really hard for me to reconcile," DeLong said. "They started first with marijuana."Nelson said ditto with any other drug, legal or illegal."I don't recommend anything for children, cause you need to let your lungs and mind develop, but once you get to be 74 years old, I don't think anyone should tell you what to do," Nelson said.Austin Freedom Fest is Friday at the Backyard.Knowing they have an uphill battle in Texas, marijuana activists plan to spend the concert's proceeds in New York, Illinois and other states that are closer to legalizing medical marijuana.Complete Title: Nelson's Freedom Fest Focuses On Benefits Of MarijuanaSource: MSNBC (US Web)Published: August 8, 2007Copyright: 2007 MSNBCContact: letters msnbc.comWebsite: http://msnbc.com/news/Austin Freedom Festhttp://www.austinfreedomfest.com/CannabisNews -- Cannabis Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/cannabis.shtml

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Comment #25 posted by Had Enough on August 10, 2007 at 06:11:29 PT
Toker00
Go here.http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/22/thread22941.shtml
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Comment #24 posted by Toker00 on August 09, 2007 at 09:33:54 PT
Brother, have you Had Enough?
How selfish of me. Elvis is doing great! I have to admit animal pharms pulled him out of THE GRIP. He still claims his yard and dares the beasts beyond. We've gotten closer, if that was possible. Molly is beautiful and Black all over after her bought with dermatitis. She's gettin' Fat, too! How's the Family?Toke.
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Comment #23 posted by FoM on August 09, 2007 at 08:43:40 PT
Had Enough 
Have a good day at work. Not all people from that era care and we must separate ourselves from those who hated so much because in some ways people never change.
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Comment #22 posted by Had Enough on August 09, 2007 at 08:40:50 PT
Comment 19 & 21
Thats what I was thinkin' too... :)Off to the grind to pay for the grid…
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Comment #21 posted by FoM on August 09, 2007 at 08:34:09 PT
dongenero 
Exactly! We were thinking along the same line. 
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Comment #20 posted by FoM on August 09, 2007 at 08:19:02 PT
afterburner
That doesn't surprise me. The CSNY concert you, Stick and I saw was good and all seemed fine but the one in Columbus was not pretty. I saw people stand up when Neil sang Let's Impeach the President and I saw a fight in the parking lot. Someone threw a beer on stage at Neil. There are republicans that like good music but that doesn't qualify them as being on the wise side of the 60s movement. What I'm saying is age has nothing to do with a person's heart.
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Comment #19 posted by dongenero on August 09, 2007 at 08:14:27 PT
Oped posted afterburner's comment # 18
I think this article is just a way of disparaging the idealism of the 60's.Who ever assumes that everyone who grew up in the 60's was a part of the counter culture? The 60 year old d!cks throwing beer on joint smoking concert goer are probably the same d!cks they were in 1968.Look at DICK Cheney's age....do you think he was ever a part of the 60's counterculture and the Summer of Love. Hardly.The hypocrites are not those who truly embraced the ideals of the 60's counter culture, the hypocrites are those in power who flirted with aspects of that counterculture, smoking cannabis and getting away with it, who now persecute those who behave the same way. George Bush is one of many who come to mind.
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Comment #18 posted by afterburner on August 09, 2007 at 07:57:30 PT
OT: Bizzare Happening at a John Fogerty Concert
CN BC: OPED: Too Bad The Hippie Generation Has Turned Into A BUNCH OF HYPOCRITES, The Province, (08 Aug 2007) 
http://www.mapinc.org/newstcl/v07/n942/a05.html?176Good thing we still have the dedicated folks at cannabisnews!
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Comment #17 posted by DjLoTi on August 08, 2007 at 21:34:11 PT
hehe
I told you he was ok :)
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Comment #16 posted by Dankhank on August 08, 2007 at 20:48:25 PT
Kansas
could be a problem for outdoor grows ... a lot of feral hemp growing 'round ....a great hemp state, no doubt ....when I arrived in kansas in 1982 it was still a dry state.supposedly, it was illegal to sell liquor on airplanes flying over the state ...let them grow hemp ...
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Comment #15 posted by Hope on August 08, 2007 at 19:46:27 PT
ADHD
In most cases...it's the parents and/or the teachers or caregivers that might benefit from a stimulant...not the child.It's also obscene to punish and make them miserable over using pot on one hand, and actually forcing them to use hard drugs, pharmaceutically pure, of course, on the other hand.It's very disturbing.
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Comment #14 posted by smoknjoe on August 08, 2007 at 19:12:13 PT:

Kanass
Kansas could grow some good weed. Go Jayhawkers.
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Comment #13 posted by FoM on August 08, 2007 at 19:08:32 PT

News Article from WIBW Kansas
Group Advocates for Medical Marijuana Patients in Kansas 
 ***August 8, 2007 
 A new, grassroots organization has been created in Kansas to advocate for legal protection of patients who use medical marijuana and for physicians who recommend the drug as part of a treatment program.The group, known as the Kansas Compassionate Care Coalition, is committed to supporting those who use marijuana as a last resort when more traditional medications prove ineffective in addressing the effects of chronic pain, cancer, chemotherapy, AIDS, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, glaucoma and other serious conditions.“Our objectives are simple: To allow physicians – not politicians – to make decisions about what is best for patients and to protect citizens from the risk of arrest simply because they’re trying to gain relief from a major medical problem,” said Coalition Director Laura Green. A nationwide Gallup Poll conducted in 1999 found that 73 percent of American adults favor “making marijuana legally available for doctors to prescribe in order to reduce pain and suffering.” Complete Article: http://www.wibw.com/home/headlines/9045022.html
 
 

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Comment #12 posted by smoknjoe on August 08, 2007 at 19:05:08 PT:

Willie
Willie,Willie smoke one for me. I sure hope so. Keep on token Willie.
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Comment #11 posted by Hope on August 08, 2007 at 11:48:44 PT

One of many links
http://www.austinfreedomfest.com/Search: Willie-Nelson Freedom-fest
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Comment #10 posted by Hope on August 08, 2007 at 11:41:29 PT

Museman
I'm pretty sure there will be many locals. Many. And there are many "locals". We're talking Austin and the Austin area. What they're calling Texas music...which includes, I think, a good bit of New Mexico, Old Mexico, Arizona, and Oklahoma music, too, is just so hot here, right now.I hope it's good....and very, very successful.

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Comment #9 posted by Hope on August 08, 2007 at 11:32:06 PT

Willie Nelson
What a man.Bless him.
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Comment #8 posted by museman on August 08, 2007 at 11:27:17 PT

Willie
Go Willie. Break it out of Texas. Invite your local musicians.
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Comment #7 posted by FoM on August 08, 2007 at 08:54:26 PT

BGreen
When the term Speed Freak was floating around back in the 70s most people got their start on very legal prescription Diet Pills like Eskatrol, Dexedrine or Black Beauties. I was 10 years old when I was given Eskatrol by my Doctor and I didn't look back until I was close to 30 to understand that I had become one of those Speed Freaks. Thank goodness I got over that or I wouldn't be here now I don't think.
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Comment #6 posted by BGreen on August 08, 2007 at 08:38:42 PT

Where is the outrage of the "drug counselors?"
They have to know the dangers of pumping kids full of speed. It should be obvious every time they look at ravaged bodies of the speed addicts they're treating, but they disingenuously blame the gentle cannabis plant for all of the damage done by chemicals.The Reverend Bud Green
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Comment #5 posted by FoM on August 08, 2007 at 08:26:18 PT

BGreen
I have always believed that any CNS stimulant given to any young person can often trip the brain into wanting more of the same thing.
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Comment #4 posted by BGreen on August 08, 2007 at 08:22:22 PT

How about this?
I read this on Expatica.com, translated from the Dutch paper De Pers:http://www.expatica.com/actual/article.asp?subchannel_id=19&story_id=42320Taking Ritalin first step to using drugsRitalin helps, but children suffering from ADHD who take this medicine, are liable to start experimenting with drugs and tend to show criminal behaviour more often than their peers. Ritalin, nevertheless, remains a popular medicine in the Netherlands.It makes me wonder just how many of our current meth addicts were weaned on Ritalin and other CNS stimulants?The Reverend Bud Green
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Comment #3 posted by FoM on August 08, 2007 at 08:12:56 PT

Willie Said: Running Into The Walls
The only walls we run into are the anti-marijuana politicians. A mind is a terrible thing to waste.
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Comment #2 posted by potpal on August 08, 2007 at 07:35:31 PT

Brave man, smart man, good man
I love Willie Nelson. What a great idea! Hope other muzzicians follow suit and stand up and confront this war on cannabis users. Willie is da man.DeLong agrees with Delisi's decision and said making marijuana legal, even for ailing patients, gives it a perception that it's safe. That is ridiculous. Oxycotin is legal and given to ailing patients, is it perceived as safe? Oh yeah, and the fact remains cannabis is safe.They started with marijuana, eh? Dig a little deeper. I'm sure caffiene, tobacco and alcohol preceeded that.-------------[11] Source: US Department of Justice, Drug Enforcement Agency, "In the Matter of Marijuana Rescheduling Petition," [Docket #86-22] (September 6, 1988), p. 57. On September 6, 1988, the Drug Enforcement Administration's Chief Administrative Law Judge, Francis L. Young, ruled: "Marijuana, in its natural form, is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known....[T]he provisions of the [Controlled Substances] Act permit and require the transfer of marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule II. It would be unreasonable, arbitrary and capricious for the DEA to continue to stand between those sufferers and the benefits of this substance." The DEA's Administrative Law Judge, Francis Young concluded: "In strict medical terms marijuana is far safer than many foods we commonly consume. For example, eating 10 raw potatoes can result in a toxic response. By comparison, it is physically impossible to eat enough marijuana to induce death. Marijuana in its natural form is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man. By any measure of rational analysis marijuana can be safely used within the supervised routine of medical care."
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Comment #1 posted by FoM on August 08, 2007 at 06:02:26 PT

Go Willie! You're The Best!
Quote: "With age you get a little more nerve," he said. "What's a guy like me who smoked for 50 years. If I'm running into the walls or making a lot of bad decisions, but I do a two-hour show every night and remember 40 or 50 songs, so I challenge anyone out there. You might tie it, but I doubt you can beat it."
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