cannabisnews.com: Travel Writer Rick Steves To Speak for Hemp





Travel Writer Rick Steves To Speak for Hemp
Posted by CN Staff on August 18, 2007 at 09:35:02 PT
By David Chircop, Herald Writer
Source: HeraldNet
Seattle, WA -- Edmonds-based travel expert Rick Steves wants to give Americans a little dose of European drug policy this weekend. The best-selling author, Herald columnist and public television star is scheduled to take the main stage at Seattle's Hempfest today and Sunday, where he will talk about Europe's approach to fighting drug addiction.Organizers of the free political rally against America's laws criminalizing cannabis say they are expecting a crowd of 80,000 to 100,000 people.
Steves' squeaky-clean image stands in stark contrast to someone you might expect to be drawn to a public pro-pot rally."That's why he is interested in participating in Hempfest, to break those uninformed stereotypes," said his publicist, Ashley Southwick.The respected head of a $30 million travel empire, which includes guide books, a tour company and a popular public television show, has said he still smokes marijuana.He said treatment for drug addiction is far more effective than criminalization, and argues that American courts and prisons are unnecessarily clogged with nonviolent drug offenders.While he said he does not advocate the legalization of hard drugs, Steves does believe marijuana should be treated like alcohol or tobacco."I've studied the European Union's drug policy pages, and - while America tends to treat drug use as a moral and legal issue - the goal in Europe is simple: pragmatic harm reduction, starting with the premise that drug addiction is an illness, not a crime," he stated in a press release.Steves hosts, writes and produces the popular public television series "Rick Steves' Europe," authors more than 30 European travel books, hosts the public radio program "Travel with Rick Steves," and operates an extensive European tour company.He is also an active member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and a board member of NORML, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.In 2005, he and his wife, Anne, bought a 24-unit apartment building in Lynnwood, which they turned over to the YWCA to house homeless mothers.Source: Herald, The (Everett, WA)Author: David Chircop, Herald WriterPublished: August 18, 2007Copyright: 2007 The Daily Herald Co.Contact: letters heraldnet.comWebsite: http://www.heraldnet.com/Related Article & Web Site:Seattle Hempfesthttp://www.hempfest.org Where There's Smoke, There's Hempfesthttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread23264.shtml
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Comment #15 posted by whig on August 20, 2007 at 10:11:11 PT
Hope
Thank you. I agree.Even animals have senses that most humans are unaware of. Do you think we lack any internal capacities we have not measured?Science is a way of understanding our world, it is not our world. Our world existed before science, and will exist without science. Religion is how we know some things without having to know how we know. This is not imagination, this is how we survive, it is historical memory, the recapitulation of how we became who and what and where we are today.
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Comment #14 posted by Toker00 on August 20, 2007 at 09:49:02 PT
Reality 
So much is an illusion. Take the U.S. Government for example. Of the People, By the People, For the People, OR an illusion? Another. The Iraq war. Liberating the Iraqi People, or an Illusion? Lies are not reality, though they are VERY real. Lies are Irresponsibility. Should we, in Reality, be Responsible or Irresponsible? Responsible of course. That is Reality. We don't live in Reality. We must strive to. What we live in is an illusion created and forced on us by the Laws and Will of Mankind. This is NOT the Reality we seek. We should be living by the Laws of Nature. If you consciously do the wrong thing to benefit yourself and it hurts others, then you have broken the Law of Responsibility. To be Responsible you must first Love. If you don't Love, then you are being Irresponsible. The Elite are the MOST Irresponsible People on the planet. They believe that Ownership is Love. They may own us, but they DO NOT Love us. Very Irresponsible. Very Evil. Our Reality will be living in a forced Illusion of Irresponsibility until we create our OWN Reality by following the Natural Law of Responsibility.Or something similar. ;)Toke. 
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Comment #13 posted by Hope on August 20, 2007 at 04:31:34 PT
Reality
Reality being what you can see with your own eye to brain system? Reality is in the eye of the beholder?So much that is intangible and invisible is reality.Thought and imagination are a part of reality.Religion itself is a part of reality.Even ignorance and cruelty and injustice are a part of reality.Hatred, fear, greed and jealousy are a part of reality. Love, thankfully, can be a part of what is real.You can't separate emotion, imagination, and thought from reality.So religion is a part of reality, isn't it? Just like all ideas are. Some ideas and religions are so detrimental and destructive and dark, though."Not everything is beneficial."Craziness and insanity are part of reality.I don't know. Maybe I'm being purposely dense and obstinate. I sort of feel that way this morning.Talk to Him? I do. But then again, the reality is that some people think I'm demented because of that. Sometimes I wonder about that myself.Life is hard. It's all hard. The only thing to do is just do it and do it the best we can and make the best choices we can and try not to hurt anyone or be hurt and to protect and help those who need protecting and helping and to do it without harming them. To live and to love... and to live and love the best we can...until we can't.Oh boy. It's going to be quite a week.Is it brain fog or brain sensitivity? Is the fog a balm when sensitivity becomes rawness?I don't know. But I know I love and even though it can be so painful, I'm glad of that most of the time. 
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Comment #12 posted by Toker00 on August 20, 2007 at 03:52:57 PT
Whig
Thanks, man. Great clip. I am a Patriot.Toke.
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Comment #11 posted by Toker00 on August 20, 2007 at 03:51:26 PT
Hope, we ARE Rome.
"The huge amount of society that support these harsh punishments and prohibitions seem, to me, to be like the Romans in the coliseum giving the thumbs down, without a shred of pity or compassion, to those they got sport of watching die and suffer in the arena. It's outrageous. It's hideous." It sure is. And it's Evil. Bad laws bring the crowds to the arena. The only consolation we have is that evil eventually consumes itself. If people would understand the difference between Reality and Religion, they would see they are not the same thing. I agree with Bill Maher that most Religions are Ridiculous, thus the word in his book: Religulous.Do any of you think there will ever be a possibility that humanity might one day exchange Religion for Reality? Maybe call it Realitology: The study of what is REAL. As far as Religions go, NO ONE knows who, what, or where this Entity, GOD, is. That tells me right there that ALL religions are based on ABSOLUTELY NO EVIDENCE, or reality, only brute enforcement of limited, ridiculous beliefs involving some Human-Like Entity. Did Man create God? Yes. In an attempt to understand Reality? Yes. In an attempt to find sanity in an insane world? Yes. God is a DEFENSE mechanism, not the Creator of the Universe. THAT is something entirely different, IMHO.Do I believe in a Creator? Damn right I do. I sure didn't put me here. I sure didn't create the Universe. Have I talked to Him? NO. Have I seen Him? NO. But I have the awareness that this planet is my responsibility as well as the welfare of the inhabitants. That is Natural Law. All goodness springs from the Law of Responsibility.If we all believed only what is Real and True and could get rid of the rest, we could have "Heaven/Peace" on Earth. Because what happens when people believe lies? WAR.Toke.
   
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Comment #10 posted by whig on August 19, 2007 at 22:19:54 PT
Little Steven Van Zant
Just had to pass this along for those who have the bandwidth to be able to listen to music. It's worth it.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nzguf7WBIM0
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Comment #9 posted by Hope on August 19, 2007 at 21:52:43 PT
It's really horrible
and most people don't even seem to have a clue as to how horrible it is and what's happening. I guess it's the abundance of "Bread and games" that keep people unaware of what is happening around them.I didn't realize the wrong of it all myself, for quite a long time, but incidents just kept piling up and piling up and eventually I had to notice that something was really wrong. I just don't understand why everyone hasn't noticed yet. How can they keep denying and ignoring the inhumanity of it all? It's simply unbelievable how long it's gone on and with no real end in sight. It's horrible. I just can't understand how mass hysteria and ignorance and cruelty on such a huge scale and in modern society can go on this long without more people being upset.How can they be so cruel?The huge amount of society that support these harsh punishments and prohibitions seem, to me, to be like the Romans in the coliseum giving the thumbs down, without a shred of pity or compassion, to those they got sport of watching die and suffer in the arena. It's outrageous. It's hideous. 
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Comment #8 posted by whig on August 19, 2007 at 21:22:05 PT
Hope
Do you think maybe it's like people who have condemned something for so long don't know how to stop? They condemned cannabis because they were told lies about cannabis, and they believed those lies. But those lies have torn apart families, done real harm, and to then say, oops, I goofed? It's hard.
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Comment #7 posted by Hope on August 19, 2007 at 19:59:51 PT
A really depressing day...
Been over to November Coalition. It's so hard. I don't understand the cruelty and insanity of the so called "good" people who are behind this horrible treatment of people in the name of a so called "War on Drugs". The prohibition and it's insane punishments destroy more lives than drugs or cannabis ever could.What makes them so crazy? It's not drugs is it? It's certainly not cannabis.History will view this time of persecution of substance consumers as a very dark and insane era.It just gives me rigors that this can keep happening.It's inhuman. It's unbelievable that it's still going, still destroying, everyday, everywhere. 
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Comment #6 posted by Hope on August 19, 2007 at 19:32:33 PT
ekim
You have the question pretty close...only maybe it was, "What percentage of Americans"...instead of just "people". Maybe. I just heard it once and just happened to notice it.
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Comment #5 posted by Hope on August 19, 2007 at 19:29:40 PT
Drew Carey Quiz Show
As little as I pay attention to the TV, I actually saw that ad for the TV show.We should know the answer to that question. Anyone know the answer?
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Comment #4 posted by FoM on August 19, 2007 at 17:48:13 PT
Related Article: Hempfest Turns Sweet 16
http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread23268.shtml
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Comment #3 posted by FoM on August 19, 2007 at 17:32:19 PT
ekim
An ad? On a tv show? I've never watched that particular show but maybe someone will see it and let us know who put it on. 
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Comment #2 posted by ekim on August 19, 2007 at 17:24:21 PT
Drew Carey CBS show on Wed at 8:00PM/7:00PM CT
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_of_10Drew Carey CBS show on Wed at 8:00PM/7:00PM CTad running on CBS for the show is Question is something about what is the percentage of people that think Marijuana is less harmful than alcohol
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Comment #1 posted by FoM on August 18, 2007 at 19:20:17 PT
Pot Advocates Gather for Hempfest
August 18, 2007Organizers bill the event as a human rights movement -- and thousands of people showed up along the Seattle waterfront Saturday to support it.Wearing T-shirts with images of marijuana leaves, an array of advocates -- including teens, young adults, mothers and the middle-aged -- descended on Myrtle Edwards Park for the annual Hempfest.About 150,000 people were expected at the two-day event, which calls for greater tolerance of marijuana and hemp use. Organizers say the gathering, which costs about $200,000 to produce, is the largest legal reform rally of its kind in the country.As smoke filled the air, people relaxed and listened to reggae and folk music. Edmonds travel guru Rick Steves returned from Europe for the event and proclaimed that responsible marijuana use by adults is a civil liberty.He referred to the Declaration of Independence and its call for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. "I think that's what America is about," he said.Snipped:Complete Article: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/328218_hempfest19.html
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