cannabisnews.com: High Hopes for Legalizing Marijuana in Maine
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High Hopes for Legalizing Marijuana in Maine
Posted by CN Staff on October 13, 2013 at 06:22:05 PT
By Randy Billings, Staff Writer
Source: Portland Press Herald 
Portland -- Melissa Thomas is a 38-year-old interior designer for a local paint company. She has a 5-year-old son, and she is engaged to be married. She shows up to work on time, and belongs to a book club and mothers groups. She pays her bills and is closing on the purchase of a house in South Portland next month. And like an increasing number of Americans, she likes to smoke marijuana – not for its medical benefits but because she enjoys it.“Alcohol makes me sleepy,” said Thomas, a well-dressed, well-spoken woman with long curly hair and an engaging smile. “Marijuana does the opposite – it tends to kick-start me, especially creatively.”
Thomas believes she uses marijuana responsibly, limiting her use to the occasional weeknight or weekend. She says she doesn’t drive after smoking and never uses marijuana around her son or before going to work. She firmly believes that children and teenagers, whose brains are still developing, should never use the drug.But, she says, marijuana use by a responsible adult should be legal. And she is far from alone. After decades of shifting attitudes, more Americans now support legalizing marijuana than oppose it, according to national surveys.On Nov. 5, Portland voters will try to make it so, at least within city limits. Voters are widely expected to pass a citizen-led referendum and enact an ordinance to legalize recreational marijuana for adults over the age of 21.However, the proposal would not allow people to use marijuana in public or operate a vehicle after smoking. Landlords could prohibit its use on their property. And there would still be no legal way for people to obtain marijuana – selling it will still be banned.And, no matter what Portland voters say next month, marijuana use will still be illegal under federal law, which classifies pot as being in the same group as heroin.Thomas said she decided to step forward publicly about her marijuana use – essentially admitting to illegal activity – to combat the fear and misconception about marijuana. She said her habit is known and accepted by her employer and her more conservative friends.Even so, speaking publicly about her marijuana use carries some social risks.“I don’t think anyone wants to be labeled for the vices they have,” Thomas said, adding that for some the vice might be gambling or drinking or sex. “That’s the most difficult thing about coming out.”She is also stepping forward because of her son. “I don’t want my son growing up and thinking I’m a criminal,” she said.SnippedComplete Article: http://drugsense.org/url/FscAVyOgSource: Portland Press Herald (ME)Author: Randy Billings, Staff WriterPublished: October 13, 2013Copyright: 2013 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.Contact: letters pressherald.comWebsite: http://www.pressherald.com/CannabisNews -- Cannabis Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/cannabis.shtml 
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Comment #10 posted by Hope on October 15, 2013 at 11:25:25 PT
"Sweet Jamaica"
Some years ago, I got a letter printed in a Jamaican newspaper. They printed my email address, too. That was interesting and , seemingly, fairly futile, too.A lady with a Jamaican restaurant started writing to me and for years sent me the weekly menu at her restaurant.But it's still illegal in "Sweet Jamaica".Sorry, Peter and Bob. Many, many people are trying to end the terrible injustice of it all.This particular injustice has gone on so long. It shouldn't be this hard to stop people from perpetrating an obvious injustice on others.... even if it is a government rule. RELFVING, you mentioned 1967. Here's a Life Magazine cover from 1969 
http://www.barewalls.com/pv-394442_Marijuana.htmlThe lives and the property and the futures lost are just stunning. Sickening. They are lost. They are gone. We have to end this debacle of injustice and insanity so that more won't be lost. The lives and property are gone... but they will be remembered to always remind us of what a few self righteous, self prideful, morally defective, self styled dictators with way more money, time, and power than they needed, can do to a country... it's people... and even the world. I shudder at the resources wasted, our resources, and am heart broken at the very thought of the people, families, and lives wasted so that some crazy rich people could have their way on dominating the less powerful people of the earth. They are hard to stop. 
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Comment #9 posted by afterburner on October 14, 2013 at 19:01:13 PT
From the Man who Lived & Died to Legalize
Peter Tosh knew the spiritual guidance of ganja & the real meaning of Legalize It!Peter Tosh, original band mate of Bob Marley & the Wailers.Peter Tosh - Mystic man
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8od_UP0omgPeter Tosh - Bush Doctor 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mhptre0a-kBush Doctor lyrics 
http://audiko.net/lyrics/Peter+Tosh/Bush+Doctor?lyric_id=78776Excerpts { "Then legalize marijuana Right here in Jamaica yeah""So there'll be no more Smokin' and feeling tense When I see dem a come I don't have to jump no fence Legalize marijuana Down here in Jamaica yeah""So there'll be no more Police brutality No more disrespect for humanity Legalize marijuana yeah Down here in Jamaica yeah It can build up a failing economy yeah Eliminate the slavish mentality So there'll be no more Illegal humiliation And no more police Interrogation Legalize marijuana Down here in sweet Jamaica""And there'll be no more need To smoke and hide When you know you're takin' A legal ride Legalize marijuana Down here in Jamaica " }I too learned about spiritual enlightenment before medicinal properties of cannabis back in the '60's.
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Comment #8 posted by The GCW on October 14, 2013 at 16:33:16 PT
RELFVING, Gary Minor, museman,
Cannabis (keneh bosm) has helped Me know the Christ and the spirit of truth more than anything else, in My life.-0-The only Biblical restriction to using cannabis is to use it with thankfulness. -see 1 Tim. 4:1-5. Apostasy4 But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will [a]fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, 2 by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron, 3 men who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth. 4 For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude; 5 for it is sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer.http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20timothy%204:1-5&version=NASB-0-And if cannabis helps bring Us closer to the Christ, the following verse (written in red) helps Us understand Our potential.John 14:12, Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father.
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Comment #7 posted by museman on October 14, 2013 at 10:50:07 PT
4 & 5
I concur. The fact that cannabis is also, perhaps even foremost, a Spiritual Sacrament is not even on the table.Every time I have been busted, I have raised the issue of religious freedom, but every judge -including the one that agreed with me- and lawyers stated emphatically that "It can't go that way." because cannabis prohibition did away with the constitutional rights, and they all knew it, even if they wouldn't admit the facts.Cannabis is the Herb Renown, given for the Healing of Nations.But the Nations currently do not want to be healed, they want to serve their mammon masters. So its up to the people themselves to get conscious. And cannabis can surely help with that. I was an LSD tripper of many years, (many years ago) and I had access to the real deal, not that street stuff that was mostly speed. My reasons for experimenting in the first place had to do with Spiritual Truth, and Revelation.It worked some, and I learned a lot. But since most of my peers could not get past the party stage or worse the prankster mind-fuck stage, that medium of Spiritual Seeking -like everything else to come to the people as a consciousness raiser, got hi-jacked. The psychedelic environments got increasingly corrupted to the point that there was no point any more. And then what had been a fledgling movement to expand consciousness stopped moving, and morphed into the dma, mdma, and lately dmt. Its still about the party.Cannabis and I stuck together during all those years, and come to find out, cannabis is more of a Sacrament, and has everything a Spiritual Seeker might need in helping to relax the mind so the consciousness can come through, than LSD, Psychedelic mushrooms, peyote, or any drug (drug = chemically manufactured) to be 'leaked' to the public by the CIA and other agencies of our shadow government.We have rights to cannabis that have been immorally, unethically, and illegally withheld -by force- instituted by the so called 'government of the people.'Well those people, aren't really people, most of 'em. These days they are all corporate entities that seem to have more rights than any citizen, and the others are all either just plain evil and not deserving of the title of human or the most ignorant fools to be genetically modified since Sumeria started selective breeding of stupid, docile slaves.Cannabis, and the Rainbow taught me about liberty, freedom, and justice. The US Military taught me that everything I was told in school and american media about this government was pure crap!When wash DC is a ghost town, cannabis will grow in the cracks in the concrete, and like the perseverance of the mustard seed, will turn it back into the garden that was systematically, raped and pillaged by the WASPs that brought their European corruption here and made war on anything that moves.The cracks are already appearing in the infrastructure of this bogus nation. Those cracks are directly related to the amount of consciousness that has been raised in the past 3 decades. (not discounting the centuries of sacrifice by the few who had the guts to stand up and speak the truth.)They do not want the people to smoke cannabis -not for a single reason that has ever been quoted by them, but because cannabis can, and does promote consciousness, sometimes in those who weren't even planning on becoming conscious.People would do good to wise up and realize that there is nothing to the current scheme of "governing" that is anything but corrupt.
Thinking that the also corrupted (and controlled) system of 'majority rules- by election' is going to do much except push the bureaucracies around a little, give the lawyers something to do while circumnavigating the electoral 'will of the people' to their own advantage, and that of their real constituents -the wealthy, is a real problem, and a stumbling block in the way of true liberty and justice for all.It would be nice if people realized that this internet has not been utilized to the extent it could be in organizing alternatives than the hi-jacked constitution which is little more than a historical artifact at this point.We could unite in other ways than facebook and forums. We could have a people's constitutional convention -we supposedly have 'the right'- but personally I think that even with all the inflated opinions and easy-to-say-not-so-easy-to-do sentiments about liberty being stated in many places on the internet there simply aren't enough people with enough fortitude to pull it off -yet. After a few more years of the 'austerity' that the rich are beginning to lay on us, maybe then.LEGALIZE FREEDOM
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Comment #6 posted by Sam Adams on October 14, 2013 at 10:15:42 PT
bad clause
>>>Landlords could prohibit its use on their propertyWhy is this in there? You can see that the national movement and their well-heeled funders continue to throw poor people under the bus. This continues prohibition for a huge chunk of society. The poor, blacks, and latinos will just live under privatized prohibition, living in fear of being run from their homes for taking a little medicine.
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Comment #5 posted by Garry Minor on October 14, 2013 at 07:36:59 PT:
RELFVING
You're correct!I too use Cannabis for Spiritual purposes! Ever since my first experience in '71! Long before I knew its fabulous history! Who'd of thought then that it also cured cancers, Alzheimer's and all of ailments that it does, .... but, it does! Hallelujah! The Tree of Life!As you are probably aware, Cannabis wasn't just used by the Hebrews and early Christians, but Muslims and all earlier faiths as well, for millennia, from Egypt to Japan!What if the churches and people of today were aware of their heritage? Different world?However, calamus has a long history of ritual usage as well, used by ancient people, native Americans and even today as an aphrodisiac and stimulant. I purchase it at a health food store and occasionally make tea with it! It can also be smoked or burned as incense. It's very pungent and aromatic. It's easy to see how the translation error occurred!Thanks for spreading the Word!kaneh bosm קְנֵה-בֹשֶׂם
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Comment #4 posted by RELFVING on October 13, 2013 at 22:56:33 PT:
Cannabis Use
  In 1967 when I was on a Navy Cruiser in the Viet Nam war, I read in Playboy magazine that scientists reported that they found that Marijuana was less harmful than alcohol. I decided I would try some. I found two hippie friends on ship and we asked a taxi driver to drive us to a place where we could buy it in Bangkok, Thailand. We got 4 oz. bags of pure Ganja for only $4 a bag. We put it in a pipe while in the taxi and I got so high it was like an LSD trip. I have never tried LSD. I recently discovered that there is a brand of cannabis called LSD that I hope to get seeds for. 
  Alcohol dulls my senses while cannabis strengthens my senses. I have physic experiences while on it an even a few days afterwords there are occasions. Today I always use a Budbomb. It has a cubic 1/4 inch space for pot. It cools the smoke and gets me very high with only 5 tokes. It makes my marijuana last forever because it uses so little. I would never roll a joint or use a water pipe because it uses ten times as much pot to get high. 
  Now 4 states have signature campaigns to get pot legalized on the ballot. Texas has terrible penalties for possession yet most Texans now favor legalization. California is one of those. I hope it passes for all states in 2014. 
The Pot book by Julie Holland, M.D. It has many chapters written by doctors and scientists, among them Dr. Weiss. Historically Exodus 30:23 has the incorrect translation of calamus as one of the ingredients. Before the Greek translation of the old testament in 300 A.D., the word was Kaneh bos in the singular in the Hebrew. Very similar to cannabis. Calamus is very toxic and could not have been in the anointing oil. It appears five times in the Old Testament. In the apocryphal books of the New Testament, Christ has his disciples use this oil to heal people. This information is all in the beginning of the Pot Book where it covers the history. 
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Comment #3 posted by mexweed on October 13, 2013 at 11:57:12 PT:
"Responsible" vs Informed (Vape Literate)
"She firmly believes that children and teenagers, whose brains are still developing, should never use the drug."(Pray (if that's what it takes) that the HUGE SHIFT  HempWorld mentions will soon sweep news writers along with it and that old prejudiced words like "pot" and "the drug" will disappear from articles which are seen by children.)Does anyone corresponding at Cannabis News agree with me that total denial to youngsters is irrelevant, rather they should learn One-hitter Literacy (Sobriety and Moderation built into the utensil)? The present prohib regime almost guarantees that the initial acquaintance with cannabis herb occurs among dubiously-informed peers rather than parents, and results in H-ot B-urning O-verdose M-onoxide indoctrination with risk of $igarette addiction. (A) the joint is easier to HIDE than a long-stemmed vape toke device, so till now a majority never learned how to use the latter (and harmlessly pinscratch the screen between tokes etc.). (B) Irrational choices are made based on false beliefs, such as "If we use it all up right now, instead of saving some for later and getting caught with it on us, that's o.k. we're getting it all anyway." Using it up hurriedly means more monoxide to kill off the Rieferforestation Intelligence (prophetic ideas about positive things to do for the planet) and cause Depression ("stoned!") instead.(C) Someone has to urge researchers (and their funding agencies) to bring about true measurement of cannabinoid vs monoxide harvest in different ingestion methods, i.e. vape toke vs. joint "smoking", and determine what really causes risk, if any, to developing brain. (Oh yes, a little thing about allowing Prof. Craker to use some officially approved herb for the experiments?) 
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Comment #2 posted by runruff on October 13, 2013 at 08:34:06 PT
Meet: Mary Jane Sativa!
The new superhero!She can; Heal the forest...Fuel the planet...Help deal with debilitating stress...Ease human suffering...Feed and clothe the poor...Build homes and cars...Feed livestock...provide jobs and sustenance for millions...Even provide a little shade where to sip your lemonade when you got it made!
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Comment #1 posted by HempWorld on October 13, 2013 at 08:09:34 PT
Marijuana is the recreational drug of now and the
future!There is a huge shift going on in the world, less cigarettes, less alcohol and more mary jane!This is a good thing! This is huge now, it's going to get even bigger, nobody can stop this!
Marijuana Cafe
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