cannabisnews.com: Going Green: An Alternative Culture Column





Going Green: An Alternative Culture Column
Posted by CN Staff on October 28, 2008 at 07:24:08 PT
Editorial
Source: Tufts Observer 
Massachusetts -- I’d like to talk about the pot market, the sixty billion dollar ($60,000,000,000!) pot market. The nature of the reefer market is the primary reason why legalization is the answer and decriminalization is not. Decriminalization would prevent hundreds of thousands from getting criminal records (last year over 800,000 people were arrested and charged for possession of marijuana; an FBI figure that drug czar, John Walters lied about at a press conference) but it won’t eliminate the actual criminal element of it, nor would it help regulate it.
Marijuana is grown by all sorts of people. Most of it in this country is produced by people growing fewer than 30 plants; we shouldn’t worry about them, they are harmless and in a world with legal pot they’d be the equivalent of microbrewers. The rest of the pot in this country is grown by organized criminal groups. Recently, due to the tightening of the Mexican border, Mexican drug cartels are now growing a lot of marijuana in US national forests, and in the process have, according to an AP report, polluted the parks with poisons and all sorts of illegal-in-the-US fertilizers, sprays, and poisons.From these growers, there are a number of intermediaries who handle the pot until it reaches someone you might know or only have have contact with for buying pot (unless you grow it, of course). Most campus dealers are small time, and only slang bangs to support their own habits, and maybe the munchies. I’d even go as far to say that almost everyone who smokes more than just occasionally has sold weed at one time or another (and sometimes not for profit) just because they had a friend who can’t get any. That’s right, I just accused the majority of Tufts’ campus of being drug dealers, and technically, a lot of us are.I believe this is actually the reason why a lot of people become marijuana “addicts.” It is extremely easy to sell pot, especially in high school and college. To a collegiate dealer, the abundance of cheap or free marijuana, combined with the fact that there are virtrually no legitimate real world worries in college, makes for a sticky situation. Many of them just lie around all day and get stoned, and from dealing they have sufficient funds to do so. I should also say here for my own protection that I do not and have never sold marijuana. You can guess: I’m either employed, a trust-fund baby, or I grow my own (whatever answer helps you sleep at night).I think we need to control marijuana, to regulate it. I don’t like the fact that for me and for most people I talk to, it was easier to get pot in high school than it was to get booze, especially considering the research that shows younger people who smoke too early (or drink or take too many prescription pills) can have certain problems in how brain development. Until regulations are put on pot such that it is OK for a 21-, or 20-, or 19-year-old to walk into a store and buy it legally, we can’t enforce stricter punishments on selling weed to underagers (I’m all for, in a weed-prohibition free world, jail time for those who sell to young kids).But pot is not regulated. It doesn’t come from a legitimate source. Does that mean people are not buying it? Look around our campus; people are buying it, and often. But where does that money go? No one can say for sure, that’s the nature of the black market, but it’s no secret that it doesn’t end up in the hands of good people.I don’t like the fact that I’ve given a lot of money to Mexican gangs, and American gangs, and terrorists. I don’t like that I support people’s addictions. More than any of that though, I don’t like the fact that a plant that helps me relax, loosen up, and laugh can get me sent to prison for possessing it. I don’t like the billions of tax dollars that go to enforce the prohibition nor do I like that those enforcements have indirectly contributed to the financing of violent gangs and the pollution of public land.Most of all, I don’t like the personal freedoms that the government takes away when it makes marijuana illegal, and I especially hate the measures that the government and police feel they need to go to in order to make sure people listen.I need to go smoke a joint. You should go smoke one too.Source: Tufts Observer (MA)Published: October 27, 2008Copyright: 2008 Tufts ObserverContact: observer tufts.edu Website: http://www.tuftsobserver.org/Related Articles & Web Site:Committee for Sensible Marijuana Policyhttp://www.sensiblemarijuanapolicy.org/2 Sides To Pot Questionhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread24262.shtmlHalf of Voters Want Marijuana Decriminalizedhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread24255.shtml
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Comment #13 posted by FoM on October 29, 2008 at 07:51:53 PT
afterburner
It is good news to see changes happening up in Canada too. 
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Comment #12 posted by FoM on October 29, 2008 at 06:32:59 PT
Paint with light
Thank You. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. 
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Comment #11 posted by Paint with light on October 28, 2008 at 23:13:17 PT
November 4th
Only one week till FoM's birthday and something else. Oh yeah, that election thingy.Let me be the first to wish FoM a happy birthday and may Obama's election be the ultimate present.Equal with alcohol, like the article suggests, is all I ask.Not free cannabis for kids.
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Comment #10 posted by afterburner on October 28, 2008 at 23:11:33 PT
Government Monopoly on Medical Cannabis Overturned
The Canadian Press: Federal gov't reviews court decision loosening grip on medical marijuana access
http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5igWzzSa3ldmuAjrz2AHnTHnqCE_Q
October 27 ,2008: Court upholds decision!!! TORONTO - A court decision that effectively loosens Ottawa's tight grip on access to medical marijuana has been upheld by the Federal Court of Appeal. Canada: Ruling Loosening Access To Pot Upheld, Globe and Mail, (28 Oct 2008) 
http://www.mapinc.org/newstcl/v08/n975/a06.html?176Health freedom is bustin' out all over. You'd think there was a US election, or something.
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Comment #9 posted by Hope on October 28, 2008 at 20:43:31 PT
 mykeyb420
Rednecks for Obama is a great site. I loved the picture of Obama going to greet them after he stopped his motorcade to get out, and go meet them. That's just so cool.Thanks so much.
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Comment #8 posted by Sam Adams on October 28, 2008 at 20:15:17 PT
free video
this is really funny if you haven't seen it yet. Send one to yourself first and then your friendshttp://www.cnnbcvideo.com/taf.shtml?hp=1
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Comment #7 posted by FoM on October 28, 2008 at 19:16:39 PT
fight_4_freedom 
He must win. If he doesn't win with all the people that have organized and worked hard to make it happen I won't have any hope left for another day. I'll go back to being cynical and I don't want to be that way. I want to believe we can change directions and aren't doomed to politics like they have been for the last 8 years.
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Comment #6 posted by fight_4_freedom on October 28, 2008 at 18:44:30 PT
I love that song
And that was the first time I have ever watched that video. I really liked it.And thanks for that "Rednecks for Obama" site Mykey. It's good to see Obama is appealing to all walks of life. Only one more week of wondering if he'll win.Good Lord I hope he does.
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Comment #5 posted by FoM on October 28, 2008 at 16:14:25 PT
 mykeyb420
I liked the ads. I'm a little bit country and a little bit rock and roll. I like little pink houses too! LOL!John Mellencamp - Pink Houseshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6q17h75pMQ4
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Comment #4 posted by mykeyb420 on October 28, 2008 at 15:42:38 PT
I'm a city boy
And I really love this website,,,
I think I'm an honorary redneck
rednecks 4 Obama
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Comment #3 posted by FoM on October 28, 2008 at 15:21:05 PT
Press Release From The Drug Policy Alliance
Prioritizing MarijuanaOctober 28, 2008URL: http://www.drugpolicy.org/news/102808marijuana.cfm
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Comment #2 posted by sam adams on October 28, 2008 at 13:19:49 PT
right on
Tufts seems like a great school
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Comment #1 posted by ripit on October 28, 2008 at 08:32:25 PT
yes i do believe
that i need to smoke one myself.i wish i could! good day to all of you!
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