cannabisnews.com: Dope





Dope
Posted by CN Staff on May 16, 2002 at 20:41:05 PT
By Dan Savage
Source: The Stranger.com 
After a teenager in Covington, Washington, turned his father in for growing marijuana, local TV news reporters and daily newspapers fell all over themselves calling him a hero. Was I the only pot-smoking parent who was horrified?KIRO 7 Eyewitness News reporter Karen O'Leary does sanctimonious piety better than anyone else in local television news--and that's saying something. As a group, TV news reporters excel at sanctimonious piety, especially when a story involves drugs. 
Last week O'Leary, a.k.a. Our Lady of the Pursed Lips, reported on "a drug bust turned into a family affair." Aaron Palmer of Covington, Washington, was turned in to the police by his 17-year-old son for growing pot in his garage. "Neighbors say the kid is responsible and hardworking, a member of the ROTC program," the scowling O'Leary intoned at the beginning of KIRO's coverage. Palmer was arrested late Tuesday night, and O'Leary was on the air Thursday with an exclusive interview with Trevor, "who told me about his gut-wrenching decision and the fallout from it." Cut to Trevor, the busted dad's clean-cut 17-year-old son. Trevor showed O'Leary and her camera crew around his father's garage, the spot where his father was allegedly growing pot. "It's messed-up," Trevor said, complaining about the King County cops who busted his father, tearing his house apart in the process. "They trashed it too thrashed."Apparently no one warned Trevor that cops called out on a drug bust don't tiptoe through the grow room, or any other room in a suspect's house. Like all kids his age in Covington, Trevor is likely to be a "graduate" of Drug Awareness Resistance Education (DARE), a class taught by smiling uniformed police officers. In DARE classes, cops tell kids that marijuana destroys lives, people who smoke marijuana need help, and cops are the good guys who can provide that help. DARE doesn't warn kids that calling the police on their own parents--as DARE graduates all over the country have done--can result in their homes being torn apart. Trevor shook his head and looked grim. "It was affecting his behavior. It was starting to take over his life," Trevor said, sounding like a DARE pamphlet. "One of Trevor's biggest concerns now," O'Leary broke in, "is that he knows his dad will find out that he was the one who turned him in. That's because the sheriff's department reported it in a press release." "He's going to blame me," said Trevor, who does a pretty good version of sanctimonious piety himself. "It's one of those fatherhood things. You want your kids to look up to you, not turn you in." "A very strong young man," O'Leary said at the end of her report. There's so much wrong with the story of the Covington teenager who turned in his dad for growing pot that I hardly know where to begin. O'Leary's performance on KIRO seems as good a place as any to start: People who work in mainstream media like to brag about their objectivity, their fair and balanced reporting. Over here in the alternative press, we get both sides of a story but we're allowed to take positions (repeal the Teen Dance Ordinance) and we're not afraid to grind our favored axes (build the monorail), unlike the men and women at daily papers and on television news broadcasts who pride themselves on being objective and balanced. Except when it comes to drugs. O'Leary's reporting on KIRO was a lot of things--hysterical, melodramatic, sensationalistic--but balanced wasn't one of them. The police said Aaron Palmer had "at least 40 plants," "bags of dried and ready-to-sell marijuana," and "scales to measure the crop." But Aaron Palmer's lawyer disputes the police account. "Forty plants is a gross exaggeration of the actual number of plants recovered or seized," said Lisa Podell, the criminal defense attorney representing Aaron Palmer. Also missing from O'Leary's report was the reason why Aaron Palmer was growing pot. "Mr. Palmer uses marijuana for medicinal purposes," Podell told me. "He's got bad arthritis, knee problems, and back problems." Palmer's doctors were aware that he was using marijuana to treat his pain, according to Podell. Also missing from O'Leary's report was the fact that Washington state voters approved a medical marijuana initiative in 1998. Confronted with a chilling account of a kid turning in his own father to the police, KIRO, KING 5, KOMO, Q13, and both daily papers stuck to the drug war script: People who use pot, very bad; people who grow pot, even worse. Aaron Palmer, Drug Lord. His son Trevor, Brave Young Man. If the cops say it was a commercial operation, it was a commercial operation. If the police praise a teenager for turning in his parent, then turning in your parents for having pot in the house is praiseworthy. The mainstream media is terrified of deviating from the drug war script, but is it too much to ask the mainstream media to get its facts straight? For instance, The Seattle Times reported that Aaron Palmer had been previously convicted of a drug felony, which isn't true, according to Palmer's lawyer. Guns were found in Palmer's home, as was widely reported, but they were locked in a safe and may yet prove to have been legally registered. So where's the other side of the story the mainstream media is always promising us? Not just Aaron Palmer's denials that he was selling marijuana, but the other side of the pot story? Comments from people who don't think marijuana is a dangerous drug were missing from every local news report I saw about Aaron Palmer's arrest. News "consumers" in Seattle and Washington state who rely solely on the mainstream media for information may not even be aware that there is another side to the pot story. So I suppose I shouldn't have been shocked when Keith Stroup, the executive director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), told me I was the first reporter to call from Washington state seeking a comment about Trevor and Aaron Palmer. "Whenever the public hears about someone who has kids having pot in the house, they get their backs up," said Stroup from NORML's Washington, D.C. offices. "But just because you smoke a joint doesn't mean you're not a good, loving, concerned parent." Had the daily papers or TV "journalists" bothered to call someone like Stroup, they would've been able to offer their viewers and readers some balance and a little context: "Seventy-six million Americans, one out of three adults, have smoked marijuana," Stroup told me. "The vast majority of these people are good citizens, people who work hard and take care of their families. The problem is our laws, not good, responsible people who like to smoke marijuana." Stroup told me of other cases in which children turned in their parents for growing or smoking pot. "These thing are always sad," said Stroup. "When I hear of one of these cases where a child turns in his parent, I'm distressed by the damage done to the family." Fifty-seven years old, Stroup went to grade school during some of the darkest moments of the Cold War. "We were constantly told how bad it was in the Soviet Union," said Stroup, "and one of the things that was so awful about the Soviet Union was that Soviet kids were encouraged to report their parents to the police. A police officer was quoted in regards to the Covington story saying that the kid 'did the right thing.' Similar things were no doubt said about children in the Soviet Union who got their parents arrested. The result is, you've got a single father locked up, and a family fractured forever. It's hard to imagine why this should be the case. Who's been helped by this?" Like me, Stroup suspects that Aaron Palmer's son was exposed to DARE propaganda at an impressionable age. Seven years ago, when Trevor was in fifth grade, the schools in Covington had DARE programs. "A law-enforcement officer comes into a fifth-grade classroom and tells children how bad marijuana is," said Stroup. "DARE tends to place a special emphasis on marijuana, since that is the drug school-age children are most likely to experiment with." Instead of telling kids the truth about the drug--the truth is far too positive, and we'll get to it in a moment--DARE officers are free to say what they like, and many, if not most, fill kids' heads with lies and horror stories: Marijuana is addictive; smoke marijuana on Monday and you'll be addicted to heroin by Thursday; all marijuana users wind up in jail; pot will ruin your life. "Then they ask kids to be on the lookout for things in their own homes," said Stroup. "Every year in this country, a handful of kids, many meaning well, find rolling papers or a roach clip in their parents' rooms, and they become frightened to death that their parents are drug addicts, and they turn their parents in to the 'friendly' officer who lectured them about the dangers of drugs." The DARE kids who turn their parents into the police--some have been as young as 10--expect their parents to get a lecture from a friendly DARE officer about the dangers of marijuana, just like they did at school. "What the parents get, however, is arrested," said Stroup. "People who are good parents--good parents who happen to smoke marijuana--have lost custody of their children. Families have been torn apart." Kitty Tucker's family was torn apart in 1999 when her 16-year-old daughter turned her in to the police for growing marijuana in her home. Tucker and her family lived in Takoma Park, Maryland, a suburb of Washington, D.C., and one morning she had a confrontation with her daughter. The girl had stayed out all night, so her mother grounded her. Furious, Tucker's daughter called the police to retaliate. "My daughter was scolded for misbehavior," Tucker told me on the phone from her home, "so she called the cops, thinking they would scold us." "Our home was invaded by policemen without a warrant," said Tucker, "and they took away my plants." Tucker suffers from debilitating migraines and a painful neurological disorder called fibromyalgia, and smoked marijuana to treat her pain. Tucker's husband, who didn't smoke marijuana, was fired from his job with the Department of Energy. Both were prosecuted for growing marijuana. Tucker and her husband eventually pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor, and were placed on probation. Four years ago, when I was about to adopt my son, I worried that he would wind up in DARE classes when he reached the fifth grade. What if he found out I occasionally smoked pot and turned me in? What if he found pot growing in the basement of some friend's house and turned the friend in? Thankfully, in the last four years DARE programs have fallen from favor. Research into DARE's programs found them to be ineffective at best. A University of Kentucky study found that DARE had no measurable impact on later drug use; a six-year study at the University of Illinois found that children who had been subjected to DARE's scare tactics were more likely to use drugs in high school than kids who hadn't. The Seattle Police Department got out of the DARE program in 1998; Covington Elementary School (part of the Kent School District) dropped out of DARE two years ago. Of course, DARE might not be to blame. Trevor is a 17-year-old high-school senior after all, not a 10-year-old fifth grader. It could be that Aaron Palmer's son, like Kitty Tucker's daughter, was simply pissed at his dad for something and called the cops out of spite. The mainstream reporters in Seattle were too busy falling all over themselves praising Trevor to pause and consider his motives. Couldn't he be a vengeful adolescent lashing out at his full-time parent? Many of us who don't fit the pot-smoking stereotype are reluctant to be open about our pot use. Considering pot's illegality and the stigma associated with its use, it's understandable that the average user might not want to go public. Unfortunately, the silence of casual pot smokers when other marijuana users or dealers get busted is helping to keep the War on Drugs roaring along. So I'm going to risk telling the truth: I am a pot smoker--and I don't fit the stereotype. I don't wear hemp; I don't have dreads; I don't think deodorant is a plot; I don't smoke pot on a daily basis; I don't have glaucoma; and I didn't vote for Ralph Nader. And unlike most people who've "experimented" with pot, I didn't start in my teens. I didn't smoke pot for the first time until I was in my 30s. (Note to The Seattle Times: One of the very first times I smoked pot was with one of your reporters.) Here's what my pot use looks like: Every once in a great while, when my son is spending the night with his grandparents or sleeping over at a friend's house, my boyfriend and I rent some videos, lay in some ice cream and potato chips, and obtain one--one!--measly joint from a close friend. We put in a video, crawl into bed, get baked, and eat Doritos. We do this once or twice a year. We don't grow pot, we don't keep it in the house. Did I say I don't smoke pot daily? It would be more accurate to say that I sometimes don't even get around to smoking pot biannually. According to the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, I'm one of the 20 million Americans who use marijuana at least once a year; 6 million use it at least once a week, and 3 million Americans smoke marijuana daily. The NHSDA puts current national consumption of marijuana at 7 to 10 million joints per day, or 1,200 to 1,800 metric tons per year. These figures may be low, since most researchers believe the NHSDA underestimated actual drug use. ("Hello, I'm from the federal government. Maybe you've heard of our War on Drugs? Hey, we were just wondering how much dope you guys have been smoking lately?") According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Americans spent more than $11 billion on pot in 1998. Marijuana is the fourth largest cash crop in the United States, behind corn, soybeans, and hay. It's the biggest cash crop in Alabama, California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Kentucky, Maine, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia--and apparently Covington, Washington. "Marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug in America today, and is readily available throughout all metropolitan, suburban, and rural areas of the continental United States," according to the U.S. Department of Justice. The federal government and state governments will spend $40 billion this year in the war on drugs, with billions spent on the fight against marijuana, which the government insists is a dangerous drug. The only trouble with the United States' war on pot is that pot is neither addictive nor dangerous--especially when compared with other, legal drugs. The government's anti-pot message is undermined by the life experiences of millions of Americans who have used pot and suffered no negative consequences. Meanwhile, 50,000 Americans die every year from alcohol poisoning; 16,653 people were killed by drunk drivers in 2000, according to Mothers Against Drunk Driving; 25,000 Americans die every year of cirrhosis of the liver. Cigarette-related illnesses kill 400,000 Americans every year. Despite what the Partnership for a Drug-Free America would have us believe, it's simply impossible to overdose on marijuana. According to the Lancet, a European medical journal, "the smoking of cannabis, even long-term, is not harmful to health.... It would be reasonable to judge cannabis as less of a threat than alcohol or cigarettes." While the mainstream media in the United States is inclined to praise a kid like Trevor ("hardworking," "a very strong young man," "brave"), mainstream media outlets in Canada are actively encouraging their government's moves toward marijuana decriminalization. When British Prime Minister Tony Blair's Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) recommended that "all cannabis preparations" be essentially decriminalized, the report was greeted with enthusiasm by the media. "The high use of cannabis is not associated with major health problems for the individual or society," says the British government, "[and] the occasional use of cannabis is only rarely associated with significant problems in otherwise healthy individuals." According to London's Evening Standard, "[the ACMD] makes it clear that alcohol is far more damaging than cannabis to health and society at large because it encourages risk-taking and leads to aggressive and violent behavior." The Brits haven't discovered something we don't already know. In 1972, Richard Nixon's National Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse recommended that marijuana use and possession be decriminalized; in 1982, the National Academy of Sciences not only recommended that marijuana use and possession be decriminalized, but that lawmakers "give serious consideration to creating a system of regulated distribution." In 2000, a long-term study conducted by Kaiser Permanente found that not only was there no link between regular marijuana use and death, but that "marijuana prohibition presented the only significant health risk to the user." (Don't believe Kaiser? Ask anyone who was raped in a holding cell after being picked up for marijuana possession.) Kaiser recommended that "medical guidelines regarding prudent use... be established, akin to the common-sense guidelines that apply to alcohol use." So here's the story that KIRO, KING, KOMO, Q13, The Seattle Times and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer all missed: Pot isn't a threat to our health. The pot plants growing in Aaron Palmer's garage were less of a threat to his son Trevor than the case of beer in his fridge or the cigarettes for sale down the street. Here's the story the mainstream media wanted to sell us about Aaron Palmer: He's a drug dealer. Never mind that Palmer denies dealing pot, never mind that he may have been growing pot for a legitimate and voter-approved medicinal use, and never mind that the recreational use of pot is harmless. But suppose for a moment that Aaron Palmer was selling pot for profit--is that so awful? If using pot is harmless, why is dealing pot so awful? If there's no harm in consumption, how can there be harm in production and distribution? "There's this absurd distinction," said Keith Stroup of NORML. "If you have an ounce or less, that's okay. But, my goodness, if you buy two ounces and sell one to a friend, you're an evil dealer.... But the reality is, if someone didn't take the risk of selling, none of us could buy." That drug warriors are eager to lock up pot dealers comes as no surprise; what is surprising is the passivity of marijuana smokers when our dealers get busted. For pot smokers, the dealer is a Very Important Person, someone who vastly improves a pot smoker's quality of life. So how come there isn't more anger from everyday users when dealers get busted? "Selling is different from buying," a daily pot smoker told me. Although he works in a field in which drug use can be assumed, the daily pot smoker would only speak to me if I promised not to use his name. We'll call him Henry. "Dealers run a much bigger risk, and they know it." And there's always another pot dealer out there, Henry points out. When one dealer gets busted, you move on to a new source. "I might get attached to a coffee shop in my neighborhood, but when it goes out of business, I move on to some other coffee shop. I don't mourn the shop." Valid point, as far as it goes--which isn't far. When a coffee shop goes under, its owners aren't sent to prison for 10 or 20 years for meeting your cravings for caffeine. To the hundreds of thousands of people in Seattle and across Washington state who smoke dope, I'd like to say this: Pot doesn't appear under our pillows in the middle of the night, left there for us by the Pot Fairy. Someone has to grow it and someone has to sell it, or no one can smoke it. In an ideal world, there would be a safe, legal, regulated marijuana market, and we could buy pot in cafés or state-run stores. But unfortunately, we don't live in an ideal world--we live in the United States of America. While a legal, safe, regulated marijuana supply would be nice, no one I know who smokes pot is willing to wait on decriminalization. We want our pot, and we want it now, and we're quick to anger when people get busted for smoking pot or possessing small quantities for "personal use." (704,812 Americans were arrested for pot offenses in 1999, the most recent year that figures are available.) But none of us makes a peep when someone gets arrested for selling pot. This is, in a word, crap. When pot dealers get busted, pot smokers shrug and move on to the next dealer, and sanctimonious TV newscasters cluck their tongues, purse their lips, and shake their heads. (Does anyone for a moment doubt that someone in the KIRO newsroom is a pothead? Or that there isn't at least one small pipe hidden in someone's desk at The Seattle Times?) If I may borrow a catchphrase from the 1996 Dole for President campaign: Where's the outrage? Every day in the United States people who sell a harmless "drug" (and a plant that grows wild all over North America), a drug that's much less destructive than alcohol, are arrested, prosecuted, and sent to prison for 10 or 20 years, or even longer. If American pot smokers had any integrity--if we were willing to put some of our money where our mouths are--we would create legal defense funds for busted pot dealers. "No kid should have to grow up that fast," Trevor told KIRO's Karen O'Leary. Watching Trevor on the news, I wanted to reach through the television set and choke him. Trevor was the picture of the preening, tormented adolescent, equal parts self-righteousness and self-pity. "This sucks," Trevor told Q13 news. "Everyone I'm related to thinks I'm the bad guy. But everyone else... thinks I'm a hero." Not everyone outside your family thinks you're a hero, Trevor. Sure, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer published an editorial on Monday praising your bravery and suggesting that "a local civic or service organization" offer you a scholarship (and once again mentioned your dad's guns without mentioning the safe they were in), but there are a lot of us out here who think you're a complete asshole. Oh, there may be situations in which a father or a son or a brother is morally obligated to turn in a family member: The father of Luke Helder, the Midwestern smiley-face pipe bomber, did the right thing; David Kaczynski did the right thing when he helped lead the police to his brother Ted, the Unabomber. But in both those instances lives were at stake. Despite what you were told in your DARE classes, Trevor, your dad wasn't hurting anyone--not even himself. All your dad was doing, Trevor, was growing some pot--harmless, non-addictive pot. He wasn't forcing it on you, your siblings, or anyone else. Although what your dad was doing was against the law, the law in this case is unjust and idiotic. We have a moral right to resist and break unjust laws, something they may not have covered in your ROTC classes. "He's going to blame me, I know it," Trevor whined. Yeah, well, I suppose so. You are the one who called the cops on your father, after all. Who's he supposed to blame? Osama? You could've called your mother, you could've moved out. If you felt your dad was smoking too much dope, you could've called some of his friends over to stage an intervention. There were other options. But you called the cops, turned in your dad, and then watched as cops burst into your home, tore the place apart, and hauled your father--and your 15-year-old sister's father, and your seven-year-old brother's father--away. Your dad was a single parent; while you're old enough to be on your own, your seven-year-old brother isn't. So you not only forever fucked your relationship with your father, but you may have fucked your siblings out of a father. Nice work, Trev. Maybe the DARE people will send you a T-shirt. Source: The Stranger.com (WA) Author: Dan SavagePublished: Vol 11 No. 35, May 16 - May 22 2002Copyright: 2002 TheStranger.com Website: http://www.thestranger.com/Contact: http://www.thestranger.com/contact/DL: http://www.thestranger.com/2002-05-16/feature.htmlRelated Articles & Web Site:NORMLhttp://www.norml.org/Teen Turns in Dad for Growing Pot http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread12788.shtmlSon Turns Dad in for Growing Pot http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread12780.shtml 
Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help




Comment #21 posted by el_toonces on May 18, 2002 at 05:45:45 PT:
Savage civility....
I always like Dan Savage's writing, except his column in the Village Voice, which is fun but a bit wierd [it's a sex advice column for those who did not know:)]. But this piece just RULES because it covers media bias, DARE, social attitudes and, above all, tells the truth! 
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #20 posted by Nuevo Mexican on May 17, 2002 at 22:37:37 PT
Thanks for being here, Ddc!
I've enjoyed your insights and comments and look forward to running into in Americas first cannabis cafes, as they are around the corner. Just as I predicted, bushpuppet would plummet sooner than anyone expected and things would change overnite! The truth will prevail and the war on terror is discredited, like the war on drugs was before 911! War is over, let everyone know, lite a bowl! Peace Ddc!
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #19 posted by ekim on May 17, 2002 at 19:15:06 PT
In the Land of Lincoln, African-Americans comprise
Pubdate: Thu, 16 May 2002
Source: Illinois Times (IL)
Copyright: 2002 Yesse Communications
Contact: editor i...
Website: http://www.illinoistimes.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/206
Author: Stephen Young
Note: Stephen Young is the author of Maximizing Harm: Losers and Winners in
the Drug War (http://maximizingharm.com/), an editor with DrugSense Weekly,
and a member of the Drug Policy Forum of Illinois.DRUG MONEYFighting Drugs on a Tight BudgetLike a weed that thrives in drought, the drug war continues to grow in
Illinois. The state is facing a $1.2 billion budget deficit, but
legislators are supporting increased funding for drug prohibition.Last week, State Senate members approved a measure to increase penalties
for possession of small amounts of heroin. The legislation calls for felony
possession of a single gram of heroin to be punished with up to 15 years in
prison. House members had already approved the bill, so now it goes to the
governor. A single senator voted against the bill, citing concerns about
prison crowding, already a problem in the state.Other legislators think it's a good idea. The logic is impeccable. Just ask
Sen. David Sullivan, the sponsor of the plan."We are trying to take away the tactical advantage of selling heroin,"
Sullivan said. "This is a logical step of bringing penalties for heroin in
line with cocaine."After decades of drug war, one might think that Sen. Sullivan could
understand that new pools of dealers and drugs always fill any tiny hole
that might be caused by tougher penalties. But when the state's just a
little over a billion in the red, why consider the actual effects of
legislation? Maybe Sullivan will do just that when there's a real budget
crisis -- say a $2 billion deficit.That same principle must have been at play last month when the House
approved a bill that would limit time for good behavior for some convicted
marijuana growers. The cost of the bill was estimated at $3.3 million per
year. Could there be a better place in the state budget for a few million
dollars?Gov. George Ryan recently recognized that punishing non-violent drug
offenders may not be the most fiscally wise policy. Ryan proposed the early
release of some non-violent prisoners, in hopes of reducing prison costs.
Of course, Ryan is a lame duck. Perpetually hounded by allegations of
corruption, he dared not run for a second term. Now Ryan has little to lose
by occasionally stating the obvious. It wasn't always so.Back when he was still theoretically viable for a second term, Ryan vetoed
not one, but two bills that would have allowed the study of hemp as a crop
in Illinois. Of course, now that Ryan's actually talking some sense on drug
policy, other politicians don't want to hear it. Cook County State's
Attorney Richard Devine called Ryan's early release plan "reprehensible."What's really reprehensible is what the drug war has done to Illinois and
its prison system. In the Land of Lincoln, African-Americans comprise 90
percent of drug offenders admitted into prison. A black man is fifty-seven
times more likely to be sent to prison on drug charges than a white man,
despite similar rates of use between races. Similar racial disparities
exist in other state prison systems, but according to Human Rights Watch,
Illinois leads the nation in rates of disparity. The recent heroin
legislation can only make the gap wider.The budget crisis offers a perfect chance for legislators to quietly back
away from decades of terrible prohibitionist policy. It's a shame lawmakers
don't seem to recognize their opportunity.To describe the Illinois drug war as a drought-resistant weed actually
understates the case. Prohibition is more like the mutant plant in "Little
Shop of Horrors" -- constantly growing, and ready to devour any resources
within reach.It's time to stop the feeding beast with money we don't have, and lives we
can't afford to waste.Stephen Young is the author of Maximizing Harm: Losers and Winners in the
Drug War (http://maximizingharm.com/), an editor with DrugSense Weekly, and
a member of the Drug Policy Forum of Illinois.
_____________________________
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #18 posted by idbsne1 on May 17, 2002 at 15:20:34 PT
Ddc.....
Stay safe brother... hope to see you soon!I hope soon that we can all hang together... maybe we can go to Canada? Would any of you be interested in meeting up in Canada when they decrim?I spoke to Steve Tuck last night... and the buzz going around right now is that MJ will be decrimmed within a year.....it seems that...get this.... the Canadian people want this...And EVEN MORE AMAZING...lol....the Canadian politicians seem to be listening....:)I agree with Dick Cowan, without the media to help us, the sheep won't realize they are people?GREAT idea Lehder....the truth is, I hope soon, I can do the same thing... I got some links from Jose, and am planning on working on a flyer to pass out at colleges and high schools....The cool thing is, being a Drum and Bugle Corps veteran, I know many people throughout the US from touring and the members... and they teach music... as I do. This is a little different than being a "teacher"....we crack dirty jokes and talk about "taboo" things all the time...This was motivated by the fact that kids ARE really getting brainwashed... this story just provides more evidence....Reading a Time magazine this morning, the letters to the editor were about Enron...the majority of the letters, sounded like they were written by people like us......we need to unify!!!I think it would be a great idea to start an advertising campaign for cannabisnews.com....again FoM... thanks for everything!!!!!Trevor....you are a spiteful, self-righteous, ignoramus; and I'm glad your relatives are dissing you....I only hope your father and siblings recover from this....and if your father forgives you, I hope you become a fierce ANTI-DRUG WAR "hero"....idbsne1
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #17 posted by FoM on May 17, 2002 at 12:03:00 PT
DdC
I wish you the best! You know that. When you can drop in and say hi please do! Your're embarking on a new adventure and I hope it will be the best adventure you have ever had!Peace & Love, Martha and always FoM!
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #16 posted by DdC on May 17, 2002 at 11:41:46 PT
Great article to depart on...for a while!
As life unfolds our path's,
sometimes the direction must change,
and take us from those we enjoy and care about,
That time has come...
I can only say its been a treat to read the comments and articles posted at cannabis news with Martha's never tiring comittment to provide us a balanced report when most of the other news agencies maintain their dysfunctional agenda's. And although I won't be online a while, rest assured I have not stopped fighting to remove these stupid cannabis laws from the books. We are changing the attitudes of the people and leaders will emerge out of that change to stop this war on some drugs Bushit Cheney and Rumsfeld don't sell. And the people will see the value of Sacramental cannabis food, fuel, fiber, FARM-aceuticals and an alternative to the chemical deadlies the Fascist provide. I have no doubt. Until we meet again...
Peace, Love and Liberty or the Merchants of D.E.A.th!
Be Well All,
DdCand always remember...
http://www.cannabinoid.com/boards/politics/media/35/35028.gif
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #15 posted by Lehder on May 17, 2002 at 07:57:35 PT
wave to me
Maybe you read the excerpt that I posted yesterday from an article on DARE in Amish schools. Well, I spent part of yesterday afternoon printing the entirety of 30 cnews articles on DARE complete with comments. Then I had them all photocopied. Well, if I do nothing else, the copy clerks now know all about DARE and cnews. Today I'll have them bound for distribution to Amish schools and church bishops. I just printed this article too, and am adding it to the stack. I wonder if even one article will be read beyond the first line or two, and if the articles are considered then will it be perceived that cannabis has caused Dan Savage to use words like "fuck" and "asshole." Don't know. I'm going to find one good article here on hemp too, which ought to be of interest to these peaceful and self-reliant farmers. Now that I've said all this I guess I'll have to do it. It's not too late to press the RESET button and move on. If I don't show up for a while it will be because I've been killed by the police. But I'll be back.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #14 posted by Sam Adams on May 17, 2002 at 06:15:20 PT
Great article
Check out the author's name: it's guy, so he's gay. No surprise there. Gays and Jews always poll out at 85% in favor of legalization. This whole country's build on "f*uck over the other guy", it's the primary tenet of capitalism. To "succeed" you get into a position where you're exploiting the work of as many other people as possible. But, once you've been on the receiving end of persecution, all of a sudden all the BS becomes transparent.NEVER underestimate the power of the media. RIchard Cowan is absolutely right, shoddy media and the resulting lack of public attention is the biggest reason that the drug war goes on. One has only to look at the constant stream of balanced articles coming from Canada and England to see how this whole thing works. Without positive media coverage, there is ZERO risk for politicians that support a rabid drug war. It's like the old line "if a tree falls in the forest....". If there's no media coverage, the issue won't even exist in the minds of the politicians.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #13 posted by kaptinemo on May 17, 2002 at 05:52:18 PT:
If anything proves the dangerousness of DARE
to democratic principles, this does.Many of the commetators here don't have to be lectured to about history; I'd wager a half-month's pay that we have more real scholars here than most universties. (A real scholar looks at the grungy underside of historical veracity, rather than the sanitized, purfumed lies that get passed off as orthodoxy.)The tale of Pavel Morozov, which Mr. Savage refers to, is well known to most of us here - if only because it has been brought up. The story may actually be somewhat apocryphal, but the impact cannot be denied. Morozov sold his father out to the NKVD (the forerunners of the KGB) goons...and Pappy Morozov died in the Gulag. He did so because the nice (secret) policeman told him that it was his duty to point out counter-revolutionaries to the authorities so that they could be 'corrected'. Like this sad product of the American educational system, Morozov was also proclaimed a 'hero'...who was probably murdered in retaliation by his neighbors...who simply coudn't trust a 'grass' (as Brit underworld types refer to informers) to not rat on them, too.Trevor Palmer has ruined the lives of those around him...just as Morozov did. The stupid brat can expect a reasonably long life. However, he is just beginning to realize the fallout from his actions. It will be very interesting to see what employment opportunities present themselves in the future...when prospective employers realize he is the 'boy hero'...who can't be trusted with anything confidential because he has no friggin' horse sense!Being a Frank Herbert afficiando, I am reminded of a line from DUNE: "Never trust a traitor...even one you create.". DARE created this boy - now, let DARE raise and care for him. But I doubt very strongly that they will...precisely because they did create him and know him for what he is. They deserve each other...
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #12 posted by Patrick on May 17, 2002 at 05:44:45 PT
Right on!
Awesome article. I especially agree when the author says…We have a moral right to resist and break unjust laws, something they may not have covered in your ROTC classes.Just don't get caught doing it!I agree BGreen that when cannabis gets re-legalized it will be a glorious day indeed to celebrate openly instead of hiding from the evil prohibition empire.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #11 posted by goneposthole on May 17, 2002 at 05:43:44 PT
Another day
Of obfuscationOf aimless, tiring, grueling, senseless bickeringOf the media priests and media levites protecting the great media sanctuaryOf more righteous indignationOf dreaded drug war drudgeryOf no end in sight-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Someone please convice Robin Prosser to break her fast. A fresh salad and some dried figs, no cooked foods. Plenty of water and juices.  
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #10 posted by kaptinemo on May 17, 2002 at 05:26:24 PT:
ROTC...or Young Pioneers?
Evidently, in this young fool's case, there was no distinction.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #9 posted by BGreen on May 17, 2002 at 04:50:22 PT
I love the internet
I also love this quote:"It was then and only then that I took off my Dare - I turned in my parents and all I got was this lousy t-shirt top and put on my FUCK THE POLICE t-shirt."
1st Annual International Anti-Prohibition Day
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #8 posted by BGreen on May 17, 2002 at 04:41:49 PT
Dare T-shirt
I want the one some guy was selling which had the DARE logo and the comment: "I turned in my parents and all I got was this lousy T-shirt."
The Best Damned D.A.R.E. T-shirt Ever!
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #7 posted by mayan on May 17, 2002 at 04:28:33 PT
Dare T-Shirt!!!
How can I get one? Just kidding! Actually, I know a guy who wears one & he never leaves the house without a big fatty! Maybe he thinks he is fooling the cops or something. Kinda' like some of them folks who have the little stickers on their car windows that say,"I Support the State Police"... yeah,right!!! Actually, anyone who pays taxes supports them. That thought really pisses me off. Here's a little piece by my favorite ex-cop.The Lies Won't Stand:
http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/051602_liewontstand.html
 
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #6 posted by BGreen on May 17, 2002 at 01:24:47 PT
Robbie
We'll have a C-News celebration when we relegalize. I think some of us will end up with long lasting friendships brought about by our participation on this board.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #5 posted by Robbie on May 17, 2002 at 01:02:53 PT
BGreen
You can trust me.I try not to judge anyone, and I'm sure as hell no narc.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #4 posted by BGreen on May 16, 2002 at 23:56:32 PT
Turning friends against friends
Those of us who were fortunate enough to have been alive in the 60's and 70's know how open it used to be. You could smoke with a stranger without worry. Concerts were incredible. People would pass joints and pipes, sharing was commonplace.Now, you can't even trust your kids. It's not their fault, but sadly it's true.The WOD has turned everybody into a potential snitch. When the gestapo is threatening to send your loved ones away for life if you don't cooperate, it takes more willpower than most people have not to cave in.I trust my wife with my life. Everybody else is suspect.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #3 posted by p4me on May 16, 2002 at 23:38:26 PT
a bad decision of youth
The new FBI plan to prevent the Colombine type shootings at school was unveiled on television this week. The premise of the plan relies on the fact that someone planning such a thing usually tells somebody. It relies on getting people to report suspicious activity and threats. Fred Thompson was on Charlie Rose and said about the same thing on the Effort against terrorism- informants are key. Same thing here with DARE recruiting informants. Same ol', same ol'.I will briefly mention that Dan Rather was on the 11PM BBC News talking about the current situation regarding censorship. He says in no war have things been so secret. I have it on tape but details don't much matter maybe. It is strange that he had to be interviewed on BBC and could not say what he said on the CBS Evening News or some other CBS program. He says the desire to feel patriotic may hurt the core American values they think they are helping protect. The conglomerate media sucks.
VAAI
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #2 posted by RavingDave on May 16, 2002 at 22:12:58 PT
Amen, Brother
What a great article. I couldn't possibly have said it better myself. After ranting and raving for so long, it's refreshing to be able to offer a complement. Way to go, Mr. Savage.Well, I don't have anything to add, so I'll sign off now.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #1 posted by MDG on May 16, 2002 at 22:01:17 PT
Nice.
That was truly a great article, full of great points. I wonder if Trevor thought his dad wouldn't go to jail because he knew he used it for medicinal reasons? Well, if he did, he was wrong, obviously. It's no surprise all his relatives are pissed! He ratted-out his blood...you just don't do that...unless you're a DARE sheep.
[ Post Comment ]


Post Comment