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Time To Again Mobilize Against Marijuana
Posted by CN Staff on December 16, 2010 at 06:05:52 PT
The Monitor Editorial Board
Source: Christian Science Monitor
USA -- A pleasant surprise from last month’s elections was a big “no” vote in California on a ballot measure that would have created the first jurisdiction in the world to fully legalize marijuana.The state most identified with “recreational” drugs sent a strong signal to all the nation’s politicians that – maybe, just maybe – pot isn’t heading toward social, and ultimately legal, acceptance. Ah, if it were that simple.
The pro-pot lobby isn’t taking “no” for an answer. The legal buying and selling of marijuana, like alcohol or tobacco, is only a matter of when, not if, say backers.And, indeed, even though the California vote was 54 percent to 46 percent, subsequent polling showed the no vote may not reflect a solid rejection.If the pro group can write a tighter law, and if supporters can get out the youth vote (far more likely in a presidential election year), they may well succeed in 2012 – in California, Colorado, or other states.But not if opponents of pot legalization can mobilize now.  Needed: One Voice, One Message What is needed is a dominant voice with a convincing, simple message to act as a counterweight to a legalization lobby that is run by a handful of savvy, persistent, and well-coordinated organizations and donors.Who might take on that job?President Obama, as a father and political leader, must use the bully pulpit for this issue. His administration must act preemptively and be explicit about federal action against any state that moves to make pot legal. It should not wait to reveal its plan of attack until a state referendum finally passes or a legislature succumbs.The Feds have the reach. They have the funds. They have the law. If only they had the political will.In this administration, the antilegalization fight has been left largely to Mr. Obama’s “drug czar,” Gil Kerlikowske. He’s done a credible job, and his office is now wisely considering a strategy to counter Round 2 in the legalization drive. But where is the rest of the administration?It took private and public prodding from former chiefs of the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) to jolt Attorney General Eric Holder from silence on the California ballot measure, Proposition 19.The initiative was in “direct conflict” with federal law that makes production and sale of marijuana a federal crime, the DEA administrators pointed out. And the measure, if passed, would violate the Constitution’s Supremacy Clause, where federal law trumps state law.  A Hesitant Justice Department  With the crucial California election less than three weeks away, Mr. Holder responded to the former chiefs. He stated that the Department of Justice opposes Prop. 19, would enforce the law, and said the department was “considering all available legal and policy options.”It was a belated warning that left exact consequences unsaid. Those plans still haven’t been revealed, and should be. But Holder’s warning was enough of a caution that California voters began to wonder whether their state might lose federal contracts and dollars.Holder is not the only hesitant administration official in the antilegalization drive. Where is Vice President Joe Biden? As a senator, he took the lead in creating the drug-czar office. Obama, too, has shrunk from the issue, laughing it off at a town-hall meeting in 2009, then adding a one-liner that legalizing marijuana is not a good strategy to grow the economy. The kind interpretation of this tepidity is that the White House has more important matters to handle. But politics is surely at play. Do Democrats not want to alienate youthful voters who are also pot enthusiasts? And the president’s own past pot use in his youth – he wrote about it in his autobiography – could make the issue problematic for him.  Despite Dangers, Public Acceptance of Pot Marijuana has been gaining popular acceptance, led by a state-by-state drive to legalize “medical marijuana.” Voters in 15 states plus Washington, D.C., have deemed a drug that contains carcinogens, is inhaled, and is neither regulated nor approved by the Food and Drug Administration, to be medicine.And if it’s medicine, that means it’s not harmful, right?No. Studies are mounting that show marijuana’s harmful effects, especially on youths whose brains are not fully developed. The average potency of today’s marijuana is more than twice what it was in 1998. Use can lead to dependency, distort perception, and impair coordination, learning, and memory. Chronic use has been linked to suicidal thoughts and schizophrenia.Now, 46 percent of Americans favor legalizing marijuana – 58 percent in the West, according to Gallup. Fewer youths see it as risky, and use among teens again increased this year – continuing the reverse of a decade of decline, according to the Monitoring the Future Study. When asked about use in the past month, more 12th-graders used pot than cigarettes, according to the 2010 study.In 1979, the country also seemed on the verge of legalization. But the tide turned. The crack epidemic of the ’80s played a role, but so did first lady Nancy Reagan’s “just say no” campaign. It was a simple message, by a prominent person.Research by the independent group RAND Corp. puts the lie to today’s arguments that legalizing marijuana is a sure-bet revenue raiser and will drive violent Mexican drug cartels out of business. But the main message must be that marijuana is not a benign drug. And who better to make this case than the president himself?  Obama as Antipot Spokesperson Barack Obama is widely respected as a family man. His two girls are on the way to teenhood. One in 6 people who start using marijuana as an adolescent becomes addicted. Is he going to simply tell his daughters that, yes, he smoked pot and, well, he hopes they survive the experience if they follow his example?Or will the president successfully articulate a message – one that helps parents and other caring adults talk to today’s youth – by telling his children that rejecting marijuana isn’t about his past use, it’s about their future. It’s about their safety, their clarity of thought, their happiness independent of a drug.The culture of pot acceptance must be reversed in America. It was turned back after 1979, and that can happen again. But the drug czar can’t do it alone. We need the man at the top, and all of the relevant administration players, saying the same thing, and saying it often. What’s good for the president’s children is good for the country. He must tell us so.Source: Christian Science Monitor (US)Published: December 15, 2010Copyright: 2010 The Christian Science Publishing SocietyContact: letters csmonitor.comWebsite: http://www.csmonitor.com/ URL: http://drugsense.org/url/CtddRzLCCannabisNews  -- Cannabis Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/cannabis.shtml
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Comment #19 posted by rchandar on December 24, 2010 at 08:54:58 PT:
It's Time For A Change
Usually I resent these obviously GOP-leaning essays that promise to rally the faithful--against us, and clearly meaning to give nothing but their hand in return for "allegiance" to the WoD. How many times did this writer challenge Obama's manhood? Five times. Such an insulting blurb, against the leader of the free world.I only want to reiterate basic facts that CSM doesn't remember very well. Cocaine came into the US market in the 1960s, not the 1980s. Freddie Mercury sings about it in "Bicycle"--1979. Maybe this writer is a crackhead himself, because what he's saying isn't true.Oh, and so he basically admits that crack was what inflamed Ronnie's hand. That part's true; it did.Notice this anonymous author doesn't tell us how we're going to change the hearts of pot-leaning Americans. That part of his/her argument is meticulously avoided. Meaning, what do you have in store for us? A massive brainwashing campaign that would make the Soviets weep, right? Or maybe: you're going to promise us some of that "good" America that existed somewhere, before we all became corrupted? A simple point that I wish to demonstrate against GOP fabricators of the WoD. America is a free country because all walks of life are given rights and protection of the law. Not just SUV driving Bible thumpers with loads of children. Ask yourself, in 2010: what percentage of Americans have no children, and have no wish to have them? Are our lives somehow worth less than theirs? What about people who aren't Christians? Should they be less allowed to enjoy and realize what this country has to offer? The most irksome thing about this article is that it proposes no negative consequences to keeping drugs illegal. You, sir, must walk with us before we're even going to try to trust you.--rchandar
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Comment #18 posted by museman on December 17, 2010 at 08:23:19 PT
Garry Minor
Yes, I agree.The church is definitely the Anti_Messiah. The fundaments of western law are mere modifications of the Edicts of popes.We gave arrived in a new age. The time has past to reconcile the the many compounded errors that have been piled into consciousness and society since Sumeria and Babylon established their 'Right to Rule.' Clinging to the darkness of the past is one of the natures of adversity, and adverse spirit. Also spiritual laziness.It is a literal damn shame that the church and its many doctrines of false morality and subservience to the state buried the truth so well -in plain sight- and produces generation after generation of ignoramuses willing to believe myths and lies that HAVE THE TRUTH RIGHT THERE, but are negated by the interpretations of the pulpit.These 'priests' of modern religions anoint themselves with many things, but none could possibly be true annointings,..how could such deliberate ignorance and lack of understanding qualify to represent the Truth about YHWH?I think not.Yes, Yashua came to give us liberty to seek our own relationship with The Great Spirit, and freedom from false guides and false teachers who are consistently stumbling blocks in the way of the fulfillment of our total being.All the things that are important about what Yashua said, did, and left as advice and admonition for us, have been relegated to second chair to the fear, guilt, sin, and damnation of the doctrines of the Anti-Christ >the "church"And billions have died and suffered under those tenets. And none have achieved (within public record) the basic 1st and most important advice/guide/suggestion and "commandment" - "Love your neighbor as yourself."The religions and churches have failed, miserably. It is time to take the baby out of the bathwater, and throw the rest of it out the window.The 'baby' is the Truth. And it exists in purer form outside of the designs, machinations, manipulations, and controls of the Status Quo -which the church is a bastion of.Opportunity is here. All the information one could ever want is available. All that is necessary is consciousness to change this corrupted garbage heap (our human 'world') back into the original garden. All that is needed is conscious choice. Choosing love over fear. There is no compromise with Love, you either do or you don't. Halfway measures reflect another of the wisdoms spoken in church but not practiced in or out of it (except by decent people who would do it whether the church told them or not)-"Be you hot or cold, but of you are lukewarm I will spit you out of my mouth." And another word for those 'halfway measures' is "politics." Government is just another arm of the beast, the church being perhaps its 'right arm.'I believe cannabis to be "The plant of reknown,"
 used for the "healing of nations." I don't believe that its some kind of 'coincidence' that consciousness is rising at a parallel rate to the 'public awareness' of the benign nature of cannabis, I believe its all a package deal. Any form of compromise with the totality of the truth, is to attempt to slay it.LEGALIZE FREEDOM 
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Comment #17 posted by Garry Minor on December 17, 2010 at 04:53:08 PT
Christians?
The title Christ/Messiah means literally, covered in oil, Anointed. Anti means, opposed to or against. There are 250 shekels of kaneh bosm (cannabis) in the Holy oil that God instructed Moses to make in Exodus 30:22-25 to anoint all his Priests and later Kings and Prophets, for all generations to come. In the old covenant Priests were ordained to stand between God and the people. Yeshua died to begin a new covenant where all those with ears to hear can become Priests, "a chosen race, a royal Priesthood, a holy nation, a people if his own, so that you may announce the praises" of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 1Peter 2:4-10, Rev 1:6, 5:10, 20:6. Therefore, the church today is literally and Biblically opposed to or against being anointed with the oil of God. 
The churches are "antichrist."
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Comment #16 posted by Totalrod2 on December 17, 2010 at 00:55:56 PT
religion
This isn't to say whether what people believe in is either right or wrong. It's just food for thought:
http://www.fakesteve.net/2010/12/hate-spewing-christians-need-to-listen-up.html
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Comment #15 posted by FoM on December 16, 2010 at 19:54:28 PT
ekim
I kept switching the channel and saw a good deal of the documentary. Thank you for telling us that it was on. 
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Comment #14 posted by FoM on December 16, 2010 at 18:23:18 PT
ekim
I saw your post and am recording it. I am watching the last show of Larry King. 25 years is a longtime.
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Comment #13 posted by ekim on December 16, 2010 at 17:52:41 PT
Damage Done film on Link tv
dir tv ch 375 on at 9pm est
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Comment #12 posted by Vincent on December 16, 2010 at 17:33:12 PT:
The desperation of the Christian "Science" Mo
Y'know, the last time I read one of these tirades by the CSM, it really upset me. Not so this time. I could sense the desperation inthis article--they are worried. That's because they know that they are losing.
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Comment #11 posted by observer on December 16, 2010 at 12:14:08 PT
Arrests? Jail? Prison?
Time To Again Mobilize Against Marijuana
The Monitor Editorial Board ... Christian Science MonitorNo doubt about where these dangerous bozos stand, then. Notice: not one word about arrests, nothing about jail or prison. Poof. As if the whole entire point of legalization (not jailing people for pot) didn't exist, was such a tiny detail it wasn't worth talking about, etc. A huge, intentional blind-spot. This is why prohibitionists don't like to debate. Prohibitionists want it both ways: arrests and jail for pot - except when people mention it. Then it is, "Oh, why hardy anybody never ever gets arrested or imprisoned for pot!" - As prohibitionists fight tooth and nail to keep jailing you for pot. 
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Comment #10 posted by FoM on December 16, 2010 at 11:12:59 PT
Storm Crow
The one drug commercial that gets me recently is for an anti-depressant. I don't remember the name of the drug but a dark cloud follows people around. It mentions terrible possible side effects. I would need an anti-depressant if I took that drug because I would be worried about the side effects. Cannabis is an excellent anti-depressant and doesn't have any side effects except maybe a smile.
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Comment #9 posted by Storm Crow on December 16, 2010 at 10:53:00 PT
ekim,
Thank you! My hubby's family was into Christian Science. When as a child, he broke his arm, his mother encouraged him to "know the truth" that it was all an illusion that his arm was broken. Eventually, they took him to a doctor, but by that time the bone was healing (badly) and had to be re-broken to be properly set by the doctor! Ignorance must be fought! And Dutz, I agree, the "fast talk" at the end of any drug commercial is scary! I just listened to a commercial for an asthma drug that may increase the chances of dying from asthma! This "chemical wonder" was a bronchodialtor and an anti-inflammatory, funny thing is, so is cannabis, but cannabis won't kill you! I'm looking forward to the day when asthma meds are based on cannabinoids and not some possibly deadly pharmaceutical drug! 
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Comment #8 posted by ekim on December 16, 2010 at 10:08:15 PT
lets help educate The Monitor Editorial Board 
http://www.mymedicinethebook.com/
 
 Irvin Rosenfeld's long-awaited book, 
 
 
https://www.greenpassion.org/index.php?/topic/23575-new-420-page-grannys-mmj-list-july-2010/ 
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Comment #7 posted by runruff on December 16, 2010 at 09:54:05 PT
CSM on the decline.
I was just looking into the CSM and they are fading as all religions are bound to and should do! They no longer print a paper newspaper.These blood thirsty idiots advocated the War and loved Bush and the Repugs.Of course they are very historically confused. Jesus was not even a scientist. He did not even own a lab or anything? One of the disciples secretly owned a Bunsen burner but that was about it?
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Comment #6 posted by runruff on December 16, 2010 at 09:38:18 PT
CSM," Chicken Scratch Memos".
These brainwashed automatons are throwbacks as an answer to the age of Nietzsche, who said that religion is the opiate of the masses.You see these idiots are alredy on the hard stuff!
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Comment #5 posted by museman on December 16, 2010 at 09:02:34 PT
The song link
its the first selection on the 'Damn Strait' album.
They Don't Need Love
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Comment #4 posted by museman on December 16, 2010 at 08:41:35 PT
Something appropriate
Called "They Don't Need Love"All around the world, it's times of trouble,and you tell me you don't care if they break your mind, as long as the pay is good.When they turn on the light there won't be much left to see.In the middle of night they took away your freedom,and you knew they would, like a warnin' from the Book of Love.You knew they could, death-metal angels in the skies above,now it's too late, you better hurry just to save your love,cause they don't need love.They don't need love. They don't need love. Everywhere you look it's the same old tale, signs enough to see, but who's got time to look, in service to the dollar bill.When you open your eyes, you won't like what you see,if you swallowed the lies and promised you would keep them.And you knew they would, like a story from the olden days.You knew they could, they've had time to learn some special ways.The time has come, gotta run to catch the mornin's rays,cause they don't need love.They don't need love. They don't need love.They need electric trains, and aeroplanes, ...radio, and television.Nuclear power, and binary reason,digital process...they got it on the brain..And you knew they would, like a warnin' from the Book of Love.You knew they could, death-metal angels in the skies above,now it's too late, you better hurry just to save your love,cause they don't need love.The song is around somewhere, but its link isn't correct, I have to fix it. Its the words I wanted to contribute to this thread, relating to the 'IQ' of america.IQ only scores potential. The most potentially smart person in the worlds' intellect is useless if it is pre-occupied with the american dream/nightmare.Stupidity exists on all levels of IQ potential -its based on uninformed decision making -which having a large IQ is no quarantee of success in that endeavor.LEGALIZE FREEDOM 
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Comment #3 posted by Sam Adams on December 16, 2010 at 07:54:20 PT
the plight of the CSM
why, WHY, oh God can't we just have a Theocracy in America? oh, the poor persecuted Christian zealots, forced to live with the great masses of heathen "potheads"!It's hard not to agree with Bill Maher that all religion is evil when you see classist crap like this. You get a feeling for what it was like in WWII when the Vatican pretty much signed off on the Nazis' gameplan.
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Comment #2 posted by duzt on December 16, 2010 at 07:53:20 PT
medicine isn't harmful???
"And if it’s medicine, that means it’s not harmful, right?"I love to watch commercials for pharmaceuticals just to listen to the 30 seconds of side-effects from those "medicines". The vast majority cause more harm than the do good. The know-nothings of this country love to say how fda approved medicines are safe, even if they can kill you. I'm starting to think that the collective IQ of this country is around 80. 
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Comment #1 posted by The GCW on December 16, 2010 at 06:35:09 PT
BARF & Stampede
These people make Me sick.I want to help legalize the God-given plant for many reasons, one is to make these ignoids squirm funny.States should not only attempt to legalize cannabis; they should be racing to be 1st. Stampede.
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