cannabisnews.com: Medical Marijuana Debated in N.J.










  Medical Marijuana Debated in N.J.

Posted by CN Staff on June 09, 2006 at 08:47:06 PT
By Elisa Ung, Philadelphia Inquirer  
Source: Philadelphia Inquirer  

New Jersey -- TV-talk-show host Montel Williams and the parents of a now-dead cancer patient urged state senators yesterday to make New Jersey the 12th state to enact a medical marijuana law.Opponents, including a federal drug enforcement official, said that there was no proof marijuana is safe as medicine and that the proposal could increase teenage drug use.
Legislation in the Senate and Assembly would allow New Jersey's doctors to prescribe small amounts of marijuana as relief for patients suffering from cancer, AIDS, or other debilitating diseases. The Senate's Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee took testimony on the issue yesterday but did not vote.In emotional remarks, Williams, who has multiple sclerosis and is a registered medical marijuana user in California, said he resented being stigmatized as a 'dopehead.''I'm not only the poster child for MS now around the world, I'm the poster child for pot... . All I'm trying to do is get up in the morning and go to work pain-free,' Williams said, choking back tears.Gerry McGrath, a registered nurse, said her son Sean had been severely weakened by cancer when his doctors suggested he try marijuana, ' 'off the record,' of course,' she said.'It was remarkable. For the first time since he was diagnosed, Sean had a smile on his face, and he was able to eat something that didn't come out of a tube,' McGrath said. Marijuana eased her son's pain and spirits until the Robbinsville resident died in 2004 at 28, she said.Scott Burns, deputy director of the Office of National Drug Control policy, testified that 'smoked marijuana is not an approved medicine,' and that anecdotes were not enough for the Food and Drug Administration to declare the drug safe.In states that legalize the drug for medical purposes, Burns said, 'the perception of its danger is grossly reduced among young people.'Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the federal Controlled Substances Act, which bans marijuana, superseded state laws. But the vast majority of drug arrests are made by state and local police under state law, said the bill's sponsor, Sen. Nicholas Scutari (D., Union).'We are talking about very sick people who are in desperate need of relief,' he said. 'These people are not criminals.'Under his bill, the state would monitor the program and issue identification cards to approved patients, who would be allowed to possess no more than 1 ounce of usable marijuana and six plants.The legislation is supported by the New Jersey Academy of Family Physicians and the New Jersey State Nurses Association. Gov. Corzine also supports the concept of medical marijuana, spokesman Brendan Gilfillan said.Source: Philadelphia Inquirer (PA)Author: Elisa Ung , Inquirer Staff WriterPublished: June 9, 2006Copyright: 2006 Philadelphia Newspapers Inc.Contact: Inquirer.Letters phillynews.comWebsite: http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/Related Articles & Web Sites:CMMNJ http://www.cmmnj.orgThe Cherylheart Foundationhttp://www.cherylheart.org/MMJ Hearing Pits Talk Show Host, Drug Officialshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread21899.shtmlWhite House Official Opposes NJ's MMJ Lawhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread21898.shtmlTV Host Pushes N.J. on Medical Marijuanahttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread21896.shtml

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Comment #81 posted by FoM on June 15, 2006 at 13:09:43 PT
afterburner
That is good to know. Thanks.
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Comment #80 posted by afterburner on June 15, 2006 at 13:01:48 PT
OT #78: Alzheimer's - Another Herb Helps
Is This the New Anti-Aging Beverage?
http://tinyurl.com/qe6a9
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Comment #79 posted by kaptinemo on June 13, 2006 at 16:37:40 PT:
Good to see ya back, Siege
As you can tell, you've been missed :)
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Comment #78 posted by afterburner on June 13, 2006 at 05:15:24 PT
OT: New drug offers hope against Alzheimer's
New drug offers hope against Alzheimer's.
AZD-103 found by U of T researchers Shown to reverse some
damage from disease.
Jun. 13, 2006. 01:00 AM.
ELAINE CAREY,
HEALTH REPORTER.
"University of Toronto researchers have found a drug that could halt the progression of Alzheimer's disease and may reverse some of its damage, bringing them one step closer to a cure for the devastating degenerative brain disorder."
http://tinyurl.com/h6b2t Very technical and secretive and commercial. How does it work? What are the brain pathways involved? Is it derived from any natural medicines? We need a David Suzuki or Carl Sagan to break it down for us.
Marijuana Ingredient May Help Alzheimer's
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Comment #77 posted by afterburner on June 13, 2006 at 04:17:08 PT
OT: Coffee cuts damage from alcohol: Study
Welcome back, siege.Coffee cuts damage from alcohol: Study.
Jun. 13, 2006. 05:25 AM.
"Coffee may counteract alcohol's poisonous effects on the liver and help prevent cirrhosis, researchers say."
http://tinyurl.com/jsmyr
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Comment #76 posted by Hope on June 12, 2006 at 23:44:31 PT
Hey, Siege!
I've been wondering where you where. Good to see you back.
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Comment #75 posted by FoM on June 12, 2006 at 20:17:01 PT
siege
I've really been worried about you. I don't mention it publically but I have been concerned. I'm glad you are back and ok.
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Comment #74 posted by siege on June 12, 2006 at 20:13:30 PT
hi FOM
hi just got the puter back 
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Comment #73 posted by FoM on June 11, 2006 at 20:36:53 PT
John Tyler
I liked what you said. Jesus is just alright with me was one of my favorite songs way back in those days of Peace, Love and Understanding.
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Comment #72 posted by John Tyler on June 11, 2006 at 19:04:59 PT
stray thoughts
Waite a minute. The Doobie Brothers said, “Jesus is just all right with me”. And another thing the neocons sure are strange with their hippie fantasies. (Hippies, it makes me smile to think of them.) Why are the neocons so “hung up” (whoops, another old term) with peace, love and understanding? I think their time would be better spent getting drunk at the country club. 
There was a show on NOVA the other night about Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, other explosives, and the prize too. He became very wealthy, but in his later years his soul was tormented by the fact that his inventions were the cause of countless thousands of deaths. In the movie “Zechariah” a young gunslinger takes up residence with an old stagecoach station operator.  The old man tells the young gunslinger that he can find peace at this place. The young gunslinger says he wasn’t looking for peace. The old stagecoach station operator looks him in the eye and says then you have been looking for the wrong thing. 
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Comment #71 posted by global_warming on June 11, 2006 at 18:21:29 PT
then of course
there is those subversives, un-Americanz.Well we just have to round them up, you know what the evangelical cowboy would say, hee haw, Jesus is just all right with me.
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Comment #70 posted by whig on June 11, 2006 at 13:24:16 PT
kaptinemo
They hate goodness. It shames them.
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Comment #69 posted by FoM on June 11, 2006 at 12:41:06 PT
kaptinemo
I have seen a few real hippies in my life and some I consider friends but all in all there aren't many as far as appearance goes but what is a Hippie that scares them so? It's a Spirit. It transcends ages and appearances. We are in essence the neo-cons conscience and they don't like what they see when they see our Spirit.It's the Hippie Spirit that is hard to take for them.
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Comment #68 posted by kaptinemo on June 11, 2006 at 12:30:13 PT:
JT, the problem is the mindset follows the words
I've gone onto neo (as opposed to paleo-) conservative websites and seen a strange thing: Bumperstickers, buttons, all manner of politically oriented stuff, with a curious bent. Many of them show a picture of Mr. Bush threatening to punch the observer, with the caption, "Take that, hippie!" or "Bet you'll vote next time, hippie!" on them. I look around. high and low, and have not found any hippies in my area. I doubt that most of those reading here have ever seen a real, live hippie in the wild; a museum would be a more likely place, but I haven't found any such exhibits, either. I've come to the conclusion that real live honest-to-God hippies are an extinct species. Like the dodo and the passenger pidgeon, they died out long before the Endangered Species Act could have protected them.Yet...these neocons and their supporters deem hippies to be, not only alive and well, but politically dangerous enough to warrant their being treated in this way.Like the boogeyman, the hippie just isn't something anyone should be concerned about. Yet these people evidently have worked themselves up into a froth about them. Like they have about cannabis...and what they believe all cannabists to be liike, namely, a subspecies of Hippius Americanus. I sure don't fit the bill. Talk about being stuck in the past.
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Comment #67 posted by Richard Zuckerman on June 11, 2006 at 12:23:46 PT:
POST- EVENT COMMENT AGAINST CHAIRMAN VITALE!
Keep in mind that this hearing was only for the Chairman of the Senate Health Committee to decide whether to post this S.B. 88 for a vote! A newspaper article the next day has him stating the issue is too controversial and refusing to post this Bill for a vote. New Jersey State Senator Joseph Vitale sounds alot like Congressman Frank Pallone, who has an office in this neighborhood, directly across the street from Johnson & Johnson, in New Brunswick, N.J., one of the only members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee Subcommittee on Health, who also opposes Medical Marijuana.Chairman Vitale has received $150,000 over the past three years from medical/pharmaceutical companies. It thus comes as no surprise that he wants to protect the interests of his campaign contributors by refusing to even post this Bill for a vote!!!Note that Chairman Vitale's office is located in Woodbridge, N.J., less than a block away from the police station. Woodbridge, New Jersey, and the State of New Jersey, is notoriously CORRUPT! Disgraced N.J. Governor James McGreevey is from Woodbridge, New Jersey!Unfortunately, the people of New Jersey have a blindfold on to vote Democrat at every election, regardless of who is running! New Jersey Health Committee member Thomas Kean, Jr., a Republican, is running for U.S. Senator against temporary fill-in U.S. Senator Menendez. The Campaign commercial running on television for Thomas Kean, Jr., refers to Mr. Kean as a "proven success." Hah! What a laugh! Just a couple of days prior to seeing his campaign commercial on television, a tenant in the house owned by a prior landlord told me he worked under Thomas Kean, Jr., and that Kean ran Elizabethtown Gas and NUI (some investment company), both companies, into the ground!!! Some "proven success"! Like President Bush, who drove at least one oil company into the ground!! Thomas Kean, Jr., does have a hard nose stance against illegal immigration, which I like, but I do not trust him, especially since the other day the television began running news that Laura Bush, the "First Lady", is coming to New Jersey to endorse Thomas Kean, Jr., for his U.S. Senatorial campaign! I do not trust either Republicans or Democrats! They are more like proven LIARS than proven success!! I am a registered LIBERTARIAN and will continue to vote for LIBERTARIAN AND GREEN PARTY CANDIDATES, EXCLUSIVELY!!!!!Richard Paul Zuckerman, Post Office Box 159, Metuchen, New Jersey, 08840-0159, (Cell telephone number)(848) 250-8879.
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Comment #66 posted by John Tyler on June 11, 2006 at 07:17:22 PT
out of date terms
“Pothead” seems so antiquated and old fashioned like “23 skido”, “bula bula”, “jalopy”, “pinko”, or “fellow traveler”, or even farther back “Nancy boy”. They are all words from the past and have lost most or all of their original meaning. I never see or hear the term “pothead”. Cannabis detractors may use this term pejoratively, but it shows their age and lack of another more contemporary term (because there is no negative contemporary term is there?). 
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Comment #65 posted by global_warming on June 11, 2006 at 07:16:14 PT
Hear Ye Hear Ye
Senator Mike Gravel
Announces His Candidacyhttp://www.gravel2008.us/Opinions Please,
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Comment #64 posted by Hope on June 11, 2006 at 06:59:13 PT
Kap
I really appreciate how you and Sukoi have gone out there into the cyber wilderness to spread our word of truth beyond the "Choir". I tried it, but just couldn't keep up with all of it, timewise. I see what you guys are doing, and I think it's helping...tremendously.
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Comment #63 posted by Hope on June 11, 2006 at 06:56:16 PT
Kaptinemo
You give me courage just standing beside you.
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Comment #62 posted by Hope on June 11, 2006 at 06:53:32 PT
Montel
He's not really a kind man, to my estimation. I don't trust him any farther than I can throw him. I can understand his frustration with getting a medicinal herb that makes his life so much better and does him no harm.Legalize it. Set Montel, and everyone who wants to use cannabis, free, to use it. Legalize it.
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Comment #61 posted by kaptinemo on June 11, 2006 at 06:46:00 PT:
Thanks, Toker, but I don't merit it
In the final analysis, I'm just a wordy spleen-venter. All I am saying is a verbose way is what I daresay a lot of us think, feel and experience. And that comes from having lived long enough to see behind the masks that are put up in front of us all, to keep what we should be seeing hidden.As to books, the truth is, I can't say anything that hasn't already been said. As Isaac Newton put it, "If I have seen so far, it is because I have stood on the shoulders of giants." We have unacknowledged giants in the reform community, and always have. The late Rufus King (who went toe-to-toe with Anslinger, himself), Arnold Trebach, Fiorello LaGuardia (who also, with his report, enraged Anslinger), so many, so very many, and from the heights of society down to you and me, we have had and continue to have so many brave people risking so much in speaking Truth to Power, like Loretta Nall, who's being punished byThe State for exercising her rights as an American to speak out against the insanity and shameful waste of the DrugWar. (The warrant used to invade her home noted her LTE specifically as an excuse to do so!) It's why when I have spare coin, I send it her way for her campaign. These are our 'giants', and we should recognize that and help them when we can. I'm not doing anywhere near enough, thanks to always skirting fiscal disaster, and it shames me. Nothing I do here can truly compensate...but I try with my words and few deeds. As should we all...
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Comment #60 posted by Toker00 on June 11, 2006 at 03:47:44 PT
Kaptinemo
Don't you ever die! For someone as rough and tough as you seem to be, your written words have an elegance about them that reflects deep thought and high wisdom. It's as if you have conquered both ends of the spectrum, or at least see a way to. You may already have, but you really should write a book. I know I would buy it.Toke.
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Comment #59 posted by whig on June 10, 2006 at 19:35:00 PT
Sometimes I get angry...
And then I get too serious.And then I start saying angry things.And then my friends remind me.We're all friends here.Love.
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Comment #58 posted by whig on June 10, 2006 at 19:31:54 PT
Hope
That's brilliant. Thanks! It's great to see another way of looking at things that avoids being hurt and also avoids being angry.I have to say that when I was introduced to cannabis my then-girlfriend was very openly a pothead by her own definition, and there was no shame in it at all. It was something she just was and something I felt comfortable becoming because I didn't see anything derogatory about it. In fact one of my favorite musical bands, Gong, openly writes songs about being potheads. It's all fun, though as with all things cannabis-related there is a serious side which we prefer to laugh about than express with anger.I take it lightly, in that spirit, which is why I perceive it differently than many others do. Nobody has ever used the term "pothead" as a term of disparagement around me. Most everyone I know has used cannabis at some time or another or knows of close family members who have, and it may not be something that people talk about but there's no real room for the kind of condemnation that the evil "moralists" use. That's not my family, that's not my community. One thing about having been raised in Reform Judaism is there cannot be that kind of thing.But I see that in other places and situations it is really used to people as a hateful slur and to someone's face. So a kind word turns away wrath, and you've demonstrated it again so well.Bless you, Hope.
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Comment #57 posted by Hope on June 10, 2006 at 18:48:02 PT
Cannabis Head?
Just "Head"?Is a fat person a "Fat Head"?You can call me "Pot Head" if I can call you "Dunder Head".:0)
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Comment #56 posted by global_warming on June 10, 2006 at 14:12:29 PT
They are not
Any less,Look into the the mirror,See your Face,
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Comment #55 posted by global_warming on June 10, 2006 at 13:46:22 PT
#53 How do you say pothead
Can you remember the first time you felt this way?It felt like saying commie red bastard or niggar and in this days shakeup "liberal", I hope your illumination remains another place in your heart, for it is your heart and soul that stands in this madness, and persecution, regarding the users of cannabis, for can they be any less value at the foot of God?
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Comment #54 posted by FoM on June 10, 2006 at 13:45:25 PT
charmed quark 
I never heard of medical marijuana until 94. Then it wasn't even called medical marijuana just marijuana. I was told how it was helping Aids patients live longer and more productive lives. Before that I thought Cannabis was like a fine glass of wine to relax in the evening. I never thought of it as a party drug. I think of alcohol as a party drug though.
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Comment #53 posted by charmed quark on June 10, 2006 at 13:06:47 PT
Re:Change of Heart
I didn't believe in the medical properties of cannabis either. Back in the 70's I knew a paraplegic who siad he smoked marijuana to reduce tremors and pain in his limbs. I thought he was making it up and just said it to justify being a "pot head". Another guy said he used it to prevent ulcers he was getting from a parasitic infection. I thought the same thing. They found a cure for the parasitic infection and that guy quit smoking. That started to make me think. It wasn't until my illness that I really started to understand cannabis' medical properties. Now I know that cannabis is actually very effective for the spasms and neuropathic pain associated with paraplegia. So I'm a lot like these people - I didn't realize the ture medicinal properties until my own illness forced me to.OTOH - I never thought either of these guys should be penalized for using cannabis.Back them, I figured I might become a pot head, too, if I was a paraplegic. And I never had anything against recreational use ( although I was worried about overuse by people I knew - I didn't want them to mess up their lives). I figured people should be allowed to do what they want. And I never saw any evidence that low to moderate use of cannabis caused any physical or social problems. So why should the government concern itself with it?And in any case, it was readily apparent that even if there were harms in cannabis use, the drug war was totally the wrong way to go about fixing it.
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Comment #52 posted by global_warming on June 10, 2006 at 13:04:43 PT
re: they are spinning themselves into the ground
I sure wish that was true, as long as they don't take the rest of us along with them.I wrestle with constant anxiety that ownership problem, who owns me, where did I go wrong, how did I get owned?I thought that the God of this world, made all of us, to partake of the fruits in the Garden, yet who is that who whispers in my ear, of bargains and treaties, that are so dim in the mists of time?Yet I can hear my name called, and I do not want to answer, for it is time to pay the rent on this old house, I sure wish I was the owner of my little house, I could plant a garden of sweet smelling herbs, that fragrance that would remind me that my destiny is above all this confusion, and the higher questions can be resolved.
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Comment #51 posted by John Tyler on June 10, 2006 at 12:54:29 PT
change of heart
I’m sorry for Montel’s illness. But isn’t it interesting how even the most ardent anti cannabis advocate has a change of heart about this wonderful plant when it is only thing that can relieve their suffering or the suffering of one of their loved ones? It’s a tough way to prove a point. I wish they would just believe us in the first place.  
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Comment #50 posted by FoM on June 10, 2006 at 11:07:29 PT
Whig
You're right but I respect myself and don't bother with them. I figure they are spinning themselves into the ground. True colors are showing real fine these days. That's why I say I am not political but will vote against them. 
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Comment #49 posted by whig on June 10, 2006 at 10:52:15 PT
FoM
But they won't respect your kind request, that's the problem. They will continue to call you names as long as you don't inflict some sort of shame upon them. We need to be willing to use shame. Shame is important. The right-wing is shameless and they hypocritically use shame against us.
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Comment #48 posted by FoM on June 10, 2006 at 10:47:08 PT
Whig
This is what I would say to Republicans if they would listen. I won't call you names unless being a neo-con is bad. In turn don't call me names for caring about people instead of government powers.
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Comment #47 posted by whig on June 10, 2006 at 10:43:36 PT
FoM
They use those kinds of insults because they think we're too respectful to respond in kind. And we should be careful because we don't want to use terms that insult our friends but why shouldn't we call a spade a spade or even a goddamn shovel when appropriate?Someone wants to insult you, you can let it hurt you, or you can just laugh and give it back with more precision. I don't believe in violence but as long as someone's just using words to hurt me I'm not going to give that to them, because words are my weapon of choice. Like any weapon, choosing them and using them with care.Should we be so nice and kind and decent to people who are hateful and mean and offensive to us? If a Bush-licking goose-stepping brownshirt Nazi prohibitionist wants to call us names, well we can't let that bother us too much, eh?
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Comment #46 posted by kaptinemo on June 10, 2006 at 10:35:46 PT:
Whig, Toker, and all who are interested
How each of us deals with the issue is the purview of each individual. I do not expect anyone to think that I am demanding that anyone accept, adhere to or follow my stated opinion, for that is all it is...an opinion.But I recall one of Richard Pryor's later programs, where, in having traveled to Africa, he realized that there were no 'niggers' there. He had an epiphany, what the Buddhists call a satori, realizing the the very nature of the word was a weapon, and one used with terrible effect upon his people. He resolved not to use it again.I learned early on about the power of connotations of words, thanks to, of all things, a sci-fi novel. It showed how one can use words with positive and negative connotations to describe the same thing but do so in such a way that it stirs emotions, and reduces critical thought. This, needless to say, is the core of all propaganda. It's why I watch so little TV anymore, for those same dynamics are constantly at work on your Tube's screen, trying to persuade, cajole or condemn the target audience. In a word, to manipulate them. A concept abhorrent to a free people, as we are supposed to be. For a manipulable people, no matter how free they think themselves, are not truly free, but slaves. Slaves, not with chains on their wrists, but wrapped around their brains. You don't need a whip to control such people, once the machinery is in place; the lightest of nudges and taps is all you need.Most supporters of drug prohibition fit that latter category, and parrot the words and phrases, the memes, of those manipulating them. By throwing that epithet "pothead" back in their teeth by pointing out that they have swallowed and regurgitated uncritically a stereotype, and telling them why someone wants them to use it unthinkingly, I also throw a wrench into their mental machinery, causing gear jams. Upset the smooth flow of the machine, and get some dissonance going, and cause doubt to form, and the whole sequence spirals out of control. Meaning, some of those so discombobulated start to wonder at their assumptions, seemingly so solid and perfect before. That is where real freedom begins...with doubt. And it's also why prohibs are so terrified of debating us, for just pointing out that there exists another viewpoint to counter theirs is damaging to their carefully constructed machine of control. It doesn't take much to make it break down, just a few words. 
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Comment #45 posted by FoM on June 10, 2006 at 10:35:15 PT
Nixon
He said something about Jews, Potheads and Gays ruling the world or something like that. Maybe that's where that expression came from.
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Comment #44 posted by FoM on June 10, 2006 at 10:32:18 PT
Whig
That comment about pot-smoking hippie pinko fag I have seen used to keep people down. It's a terrible expression. Why do they call people communists if they are more social issue oriented?
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Comment #43 posted by whig on June 10, 2006 at 10:28:05 PT
Hippie
I'm not ashamed of this word either and it really does matter where you are and how people are around you so I get why it can be very hurtful in a conservative environment. It's used to dismiss people, call them a pot-smoking hippie pinko fag. Well, I'm not taking pinko or fag for myself but only because they aren't self-descriptive, so it's just incorrect and I'd correct someone on that. But pot-smoking hippie? As if it's better to be a goose-stepping nazi? See, I can give it right back if that's how someone wants to go.Does this lower the level of dialogue? Sure. But if people want to try to smear us with gutteral phrases we shouldn't insist on treating them with more respect.Yeah, I'll respect anyone if he or she will respect me. And if I can give it back I'll still try to do so with a sense of humor and immediately offer to bring things to a more civil level on both sides. I won't escalate it, but sometimes I'll have to walk away. Such is life.
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Comment #42 posted by FoM on June 10, 2006 at 10:16:19 PT
Toker00
I know that I am very sensitive to people using the word Hippie. They don't mean it in a good way when they use it. What Did the Hippies Want? http://www.hippiemuseum.org/intamacy.html
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Comment #41 posted by FoM on June 10, 2006 at 10:12:19 PT

kaptinemo 
I believe that what we do with what we know is very important. You are political and I'm more looking at issues along social lines. It's all important.
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Comment #40 posted by Toker00 on June 10, 2006 at 10:04:43 PT

Word
The only time I use the word "pothead" in conversation is when I have just totally torn up some one's negative argument about government or cannabis. Then I say: "But what the hell does a pothead know?" It burns them, but only for a second. I guess it's so negative that it really has NO place in conversation. I'll have to stop using it at all.Toke.
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Comment #39 posted by kaptinemo on June 10, 2006 at 10:02:27 PT:

FoM, it's just my nature
I was once described by a fellow grunt as looking like a bulldog walking on it's hind legs. I consider that a compliment, as I know the breed well. Normally, despite it's appearence, it has a gentle, friendly, outgoing disposition. The ones I've known were great with kids....but threaten a family member, and you see why they bred those animals to fight bulls to the death. You do not want those jaws clamped on anything vital, as the animal will not let go unless a piece of what it is biting comes away with it.A trait I make no bones about finding admirable...I don't actually go looking for trouble, as it finds me all too easily. But I cannot stand hypocrisy and lies, and these forums provide a perfect way to both inform the unknowing about illicit drug issues...and chastise the blindly or (even more satisfying) the wilfully ignorant and mean-spirited amongst the opposition. Of which there are far too many. If I can plant the seed of doubt in at least one of their minds with my postings, then I will have accomplished what no amount of money ever could. I certainly do not consider myself a missionary. But I do ask that people think for themselves, rather than accept blindly the dictates of those who have self-serving ulterior motives. Which sums up the DrugWar very nicely, I think. Getting people to just think for a moment if what they have always assumed as true might be false, that is a real accomplishment. One worth risking rhetorical brickbats hurled at my ego in retaliation. 
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Comment #38 posted by whig on June 10, 2006 at 09:47:54 PT

kaptinemo
You gave me a lot to think about and I was just discussing it with Mrs. Whig because I wanted to get her opinion too.Here's what I think. Words have the power we give them over us. We can allow words to be used to denigrate us and make us feel bad, or we can wear them as a badge of honor. There is a good argument (and you made one) that we shouldn't take pride in derogatory words because they were intended to give offense and we should demand to be treated with more respect. But we cannot make people stop using the words we don't like, it's only in how we respond to them that we can exercise some control.Different groups have been called names at different times and have responded differently. There is a lot more emphasis on political correctness on some than on others. Yesterday I gave the historical example of "yankees" being used for the rebellious colonists. You just gave the example of "nigger" being used for blacks. Neither term stopped being used, but one of them stopped being used hatefully (well, south of the border they still use Yanqui as an epithet but it doesn't probably bother most Americans).Or consider the gay community that proudly use the word "queer" in certain contexts. Yes, it's intended as a hurtful word but I think it carries less power when gays themselves will chant that they are "here, queer, get used to it."We can be victimized by "pothead" if we let ourselves be. If we own it for ourselves, I think we can take away most of its hurtful power. That isn't to say it should be our first choice of self-descriptive word, but we cannot censor what other people will call us. If we get upset and angry they'll be more encouraged not less.
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Comment #37 posted by FoM on June 10, 2006 at 09:36:30 PT

kaptinemo 
I checked out the forum. That's where you and I are so different. You jump into issues and when I see politics I turn and walk away. I'll vote but that's about the extent of it for me. 
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Comment #36 posted by kaptinemo on June 10, 2006 at 09:35:18 PT:

A few other good places to congregate
Pete Guither's site DrugWarRant http://blogs.salon.com/0002762/ is always good for bleeding edge commentary, and he now has a Messageboard http://blogs.salon.com/0002762/ where many of the reformers I mentioned previously as debaters hang out. Come one, come all.And Libby at LastOneSpeaks http://lastonespeaks.blogspot.com/ often scoops me by a day or two. She finds some items and has insights on them that I often miss, so I stop by every day. And Radley Balko of The Agitator http://www.theagitator.com/ can always be counted on for roasting the prohibs over the coals as they so richly deserve. If you like your libertarianism straight up with some tabasco, I suggest you take a look. I'd comment there, but he's had problems with spammers and turned it off.For more of the same, with a Southern flair, try Hammer of Truth http://hammeroftruth.com/ Stephen Gordon doesn't pull any punches and takes no prisoners when it comes to the DrugWar and libertarian (Upper and lower case "l") opposition to it. You'll find my poor efforts at commentary showing up there, as well.Lots of interesting, spicy dishes on the table; dig in.
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Comment #35 posted by kaptinemo on June 10, 2006 at 09:17:06 PT:

Hope, I'm not around as much as I want to be
But I stop by as often as I can.For the curious, at Sukoi's invitation, I've been posting at Political Crossfire http://www.politicalcrossfire.com/forum/index.php in the "Politics and Government" section (as my usual Net persona) and a few other places http://thehive.modbee.com/?q=blog/236 (as "Nichivo") where the opportunity exists to mix it up with prohibs.Most of whom are verging on either mental deficiency (given their apparent inability to engage in rational discussion) or rabidity.Needless to say, true to their nature, they rarely last more than a few postings before they either stick their fingers in their ears and scream over and over "You're wrong! I can't hear you! You're wrong!" ...or run with their tails between their legs, yelping all the way http://www.politicalcrossfire.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=56447 (I didn't post anything on the last link, as I was on vacation for two weeks, but many excellent debaters such as Sukoi, Malcolm, J, MalignantPoodle and others did a bang-up job on a classic narrow-minded prohib, and sent her wailing away). It's been singularly gratifying to watch my theories about the prohibs' seeming inability to defend their positions - and why - be vindicated. It's especially heartening to see that they read what I write and it usually sends them into a 'hissy fit'. Good clean fun.For those of us who would like to sharpen their rhetorical swords and try their hand at gasbag perforation, the links I offer make for an excellent practice arena. Have at it! :)

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Comment #34 posted by Hope on June 10, 2006 at 06:26:36 PT

C-News family
I always like it when Kap's home.:0)
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Comment #33 posted by Hope on June 10, 2006 at 05:48:11 PT

'The perception of its danger" Danger?
I know! I know! I know what the "Dangers" are!Persecution from real and dangerous idiots!
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Comment #32 posted by Hope on June 10, 2006 at 05:44:58 PT

he resented being stigmatized as a 'dopehead.'
Ain't fun. Is it, Montel?Don't guess you'd ever do that to anyone. Would you?
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Comment #31 posted by Hope on June 10, 2006 at 05:43:24 PT

Montel
"Compassion seems lacking."A regular thing on his show was to send kids to those awful boot camps or something VERY harsh to "break" the kids. He would parade in military, big brute looking loud talking types and they would get in the children's faces and scream at them and take them away, forcibly to Straight like BootCamps...but with professionals to belittle and humiliate them.I didn't like him AT ALL. Some of those kids were sent off for smoking pot. I would bet that he was in the Semblars back packet and "aspiring" to more Semblar cocktail parties.
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Comment #30 posted by kaptinemo on June 10, 2006 at 05:29:08 PT:

Why I place the word in quotation marks
"Pothead"This is an epithet, a curse, an attempt to make you less than what you are, to rob you of your dignity and humanity. . Ask any Black man how the word 'nigger' makes him feel when it is said harshly. Ask any Gay person how they feel when someone meanly uses the word 'faggot' or 'dyke'. The same dynamics are at work, here. Words do have power; as I pointed out, every person here can conjure up a negative stereotype in their minds when they hear or read that word. That was deliberate, as deliberate as someone swinging a hammer at your head with intent to crush it. That's why I never use the word unless I explain its' connotations. I am a cannabist, somone who chooses for personal and medicinal purposes to use and consume elements of the most beneficial plant known to our species. I refuse to accept the implication of the word that our opponents have chosen to degrade us with. I refuse to participate in, to enable, that degradation. 
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Comment #29 posted by global_warming on June 10, 2006 at 05:02:03 PT

re: comment 23
The Plantation, I wonder what broke the back of the Southern plantations? To my understanding, it was just another plantation, it was a much larger plantation, which had its roots in the North. The North was well funded, as you have said they had many and big guns.Its difficult to see any way that the persecuted can ever communicate with their oppressors, yet it is a complex thing, this world or plantation and history does reveal that of the many large plantations and empires, they all fell to ruin. It should be understood that these faded empires actually were absorbed by the emerging forces in the new empires.Perhaps we might consider ourselves as an emerging force an empire that is growing in the heart of the big empire, as someone once said, the kingdom of god is within.I sometimes get a glimpse of this new empire, fueled by hemp oil, with incredible hemp clothing, hemp building materials sustaining our homes, cars, paper, medicines the list is long and the idea though it is only an idea, sometimes it only takes a good idea to start a revolution.
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Comment #28 posted by charmed quark on June 10, 2006 at 04:53:10 PT

medicinal vs. recreational use
I've dealt with this issue for years without resorting to calling the recreational users potheads. Although I think a lot of recreational users ARE using it in a medicinal manner - relaxing and trying to feel better IS a medicinal use. However, that's not a use that is considered "worthy" by states allowing medicinal use.I simply say that the recreational use and medicinal use are two entirely different areas that has no need on conflation, just like the medicinal use of many drugs that are also popular recreational drugs.
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Comment #27 posted by whig on June 10, 2006 at 01:33:15 PT

Music
I need this right now. Maybe some of you do too.http://youtube.com/watch?v=kgy1VGA2BE8
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Comment #26 posted by afterburner on June 10, 2006 at 00:59:20 PT

I Am Still Upset...
with the Canadian Supreme Court and the United States Supreme Court. They both had a chance to overrule the lies that cannabis was prohibited because of the "harm" it causes to individuals and to society. We know now that the prohibition occurred because of racist fears and sensationalized lies about madness and violence. These so-called "harms" and many others spun by the prohibitionists have been disproved by science, despite the prohibitionists' vindictive attempts to even prohibit scientific studies themselves. By refusing to rule on "the harm principle" in Canada and twisting the Commerce clause to include non-Commercial activity in the United States, the Supreme Courts of both countries have dropped the ball. They essentially ruled that Parliament or Congress has the right to make arbitrary laws based on whim and disregard for scientific facts. This is a dishonest and egregious violation of their Constitutional responsibilities for oversight of the laws. I can only assume that the Justices were more afraid of an FDR-style court-packing, than the consequences of violating their primary mission of legal oversight!Enough is enough. Stop the madness. Repeal cannabis prohibition. Let the kind herb grow. 
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Comment #25 posted by whig on June 09, 2006 at 21:06:50 PT

FoM
I know what you mean sometimes I switch frame too and start doubting everything I believed, but I always judge the tree by the fruit and if the fruit is death then it is not my tree.
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Comment #24 posted by FoM on June 09, 2006 at 19:38:31 PT

Whig
I appreciate how you say what you feel. When I doubt myself and think maybe I'm wrong I wonder if I have worn rose colored glasses too long. Maybe Bush was right and Iraq was necessary. Maybe kill them all and let God sort them out is right. Maybe we should rule the world.Those thoughts don't really happen to me because war is self defeating. Someone will always be angry with someone for killing someone so on the war goes. The only way to stop war is to talk and listen. Wars end ultimately but how many people die until then? What's their worth? Cannabis would help people live more peacefully with others. That would be such a good thing.
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Comment #23 posted by whig on June 09, 2006 at 19:21:57 PT

Plantation
I keep thinking about this context because it works and it's true and it is what I need to focus on to understand what we're doing and why we need to do it this way. Okay, I say need and you might read this and say something different, but it's what I think and you can think differently and say so.This is a revolution but we are peaceful. We will not offer violence. We will not take up arms. We will not do these things because they will be done to us forever if we do not stop picking them up. No more swords. Not a single blow.You want to defend yourself against the attacker? He is stronger than you. He has more guns. He will kill you.You cannot fight this with force. You cannot prevail in arms.But what we can do is speak. Speak true and sing strong and be steadfast.Give us some pot, man. Give us some pot. It costs you nothing. We can grow it on our own window sills. It's not so much to ask. Is it?
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Comment #22 posted by whig on June 09, 2006 at 19:03:52 PT

gw 
My family is waking up and we will see when we have all opened our eyes. I am trying to think about how things should go, and every time it comes back to the basic need for people to be free to think and understand how we are. I can write economic treatises, or political polemics, or social commentaries, and they will not reach the hearts and minds of those whose eyes and ears are closed. You despair that the people will sleep forever, that we will not wake in time. I am sure of it, it began forty years ago and then we seemed to sleep again but we were just not ready to get out of bed yet. We could not do what we must while most of us still sleep, so we wake the rest and soon.Give us some pot, man. Give us some pot. We don't want to fight. We don't want a war. Give us some pot and let us be free. We won't take what's not ours. We just want what is.
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Comment #21 posted by global_warming on June 09, 2006 at 17:13:21 PT

when you can 
wake up and becomea whole human beingand can see and be witnessin your world, your city,your village, your family,
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Comment #20 posted by global_warming on June 09, 2006 at 16:54:50 PT

re: old Montel
When the diseases of old age come upon our flesh,We can spend all of our money,To find some way to keep our eyes open,The process of Life and Growth,Are mutually connected to Understanding,That all of us exist,In this reality,Our songs and moans of painWe act out before the stage of these Principalities,It is requiredIt is an abomination,The roots of prohibition,Have as an underlying base,That most dreaded fear,That realization,
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Comment #19 posted by FoM on June 09, 2006 at 16:45:44 PT

lombar
The divide is great. This isn't what I thought it would be. When a society feels cornered and no way out it can cause anger. The greater the divide the greater the fear and then anger. We can't forget groups of people along the way. Revolutions start that way. It's just what happens.
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Comment #18 posted by lombar on June 09, 2006 at 16:34:46 PT

FoM
I have been feeling rather daunted by the whole thing myself. So many fight so hard, much more so than I... better men have tried and spent whole lives trying to defang these bureucrats.... The system works great for those who can excel in it, wealth is relatively easy to procure with good health (and wise habits). It is only when you have some obstacles that it becomes more difficult. Health obstacles we may not choose but artificial constructs of law we need not tolerate when they definately do not serve the greater good... or lend any dignity to the notion of liberty. What is overlooked is the disproportionate effect that the disparity of wealth has. The cheap easy plant that anyone can cultivate is forbidden yet expensive concotions are allowed. Rich people can afford the pharmas and guess who fills the jails? It is PATHETIC that we even have to fight for such basic stuff. It's just depressing.
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Comment #17 posted by lombar on June 09, 2006 at 16:14:49 PT

I was really sketching at....
It's hard to be happy for someone like Montel to speak up when the cost is that he has MS. The stigma of being 'a dopehead' is created by false beliefs and bad information.I had not listened to the hearings that Taylor121 posted a few threads ago but I reccomend everyone listen to the people before him, the doctor particularly."Allowing marinol while cannabis is illegal is like saying it's ok to have vitamin c but we are going to outlaw orange juice."(paraphrase)Montel should get a Volcano, ... he can afford $2400 worth of pharmas per month... Anyone who can sit there and say morphine, oxycodone, hydromorphone(dilaudid) is ok and on the other hand says cannabis is too dangerous and addictive has a screw loose.
NJ Hearing - Repost
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Comment #16 posted by FoM on June 09, 2006 at 16:09:52 PT

Montel
I think Montel gets overwhelmed by how hard this battle is we have been fighting for a long time. I also believe he is seeing more clearly about things in general. I believe Montel held our system in high regard and he must be terribly disappointed now.
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Comment #15 posted by whig on June 09, 2006 at 16:09:47 PT

Potheads
Should we really be ashamed of this label? Is it something that we should protest or maybe it would be better to celebrate it. There's a long history of proudly claiming labels in this country. Yankee was used by the revolutionary colonists after the British had used that term (Yankee Doodle) to make fun of them. Maybe we should claim pothead for our own.
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Comment #14 posted by lombar on June 09, 2006 at 15:15:16 PT

Dope is perfectly legal.
Dope is a substance used in model making, a surface protector or something. If someone really is a 'dope' head then they are using inhalants which will lead to serious brain damage. The word dope is mistakenly applied to drugs, as we all know, to further demonize the offically hated group: drug users.On one hand we have medical use advocates like Montel who still believe that the state should 'control' drugs with doctors as the 'guadians'. On the other there are those of us who push for full legalization knowing that the medical usage would be also facilitated once the prohibition is gone. I have seen some debate on the notion that medical usage advocates are actually blocking progress on cannabis law reform.The state (et al) does not stand between the citizen and what he consumes, that is the first underlying assumption that needs to be addressed. The attempted control of vice via the justice system is a throwback from less enlightened times.(maybe not ... ) The continual push of 'drug control', prohibition, as the only means to deal with non-sanction pleasure seeking activities, totally undermines the states authority because it is selling us delusions. Only those who believe the delusion(s) actually support prohibition.The second is the paternalistic nature of the drug laws. We, the adult citizens, are not 'children' of the 'big daddy' (brother) state who never reach true adulthood. The notion that laws can be made to protect us from ourselves subjugates us in a way that we are naturally conditioned to accept. After all, your daddy has your best interest at heart right?The third and worst is the belief that prohibition prevents suffering. The opposite is actually true. We all share the same uncertainty with respect to life, the same emotional states with respect to its uncertainty (and impermanence), and share similar desires. Who, leader, peasant, business man, would deny their loved ones relief from horrible suffering because the 'law is the law'? Only the hard-ass who beleives himself 'strong and principled' because he is willing to suffer for the benefit of a few ill-placed words in a musty old book? Many of the drug warriors are more than willing to be the cause of much suffering for millions because it is not they who will suffer.Montel is chipping at the wall in his own way. If we all pick up one grain, how much faster will the wall be removed? So Montel does not beleive we have the right to puff rockets till we feel fine unless we are sick... fine, what he thinks has absolutely no bearing on my activities anyway, he is not my parent, guardian, or master. Nor is the ever shifting patterns in the sand that our governments really are.
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Comment #13 posted by FoM on June 09, 2006 at 10:54:44 PT

kaptinemo
I know you are so right. I feel so bad that this is even an issue. Politicians are just a bunch of people role playing. No one can be straight forward honest. It's a down right sin.
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Comment #12 posted by kaptinemo on June 09, 2006 at 10:48:04 PT:

FoM, I'll venture a guess
Because he doesn't want to seem in bed with the full-on legalization movement.Call it cognitive dissonance, if you want to. He's stated he's only for medicinal use. Seeing that cannabists in general are members of an offically despised group (See our Observer's DrugSenseBot page http://drugpolicycentral.com/bot/pg/propaganda/ for an explanation) Mr. Williams is knowingly distancing himself from cannabists in general to ensure that he doesn't get slapped with the sobriquet of being a 'pothead', a stereotype he seeks to avoid being used against him by trying to make the distinction. If that happens and is not sufficiently and successfully repelled, his chances of being taken seriously are diminshed.Think about it. What is the mental image that comes to mind of a 'pothead'? The one that society has been conditioned through the propaganda process to accept as a reality, when vanishingly few cannabists actually match it. There is no countering stereotype to use against it...save that of the legitimate medicinal user.However, the fact is, even though I'd venture a guess the less politically savvy prohibs would like to 'tar' him with the 'pothead' stereotype, Mr. Williams has the race card to hold them in check if they try. If the prohibs try to pull that stunt, they will be called out immediately on it, and it won't make them look good. It's why, ever since he had Andrea Barthwell on his show (and practically ripped her a new one publicly) the prohibs have been assiduously avoiding any possible confrontation with him, as he's proven to be both knowledgeable and combative. The issue is intensely personal, not an academic one for him as it largely is for the prohibs, and Mr. Williams has shown how quickly he would repeat what happened to Barthwell on his show with any prohib who tried. The ferocity of his counterattack left Barthwell diminshed, and they know it. They're scared of him, and rightly so.But in order to be effective, he must avoid any pitfalls such as being labeled a member of a subgroup that society has been taught to be contemptuous of and discriminate against. Hence his use of an epithet that grates on our teeth. 

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Comment #11 posted by FoM on June 09, 2006 at 10:41:57 PT

Speaking of Irv
 Bahamas: User Must Leave Pot at HomeFlorida -- Irvin Rosenfeld hesitated when his company rewarded him with a vacation this weekend to the Bahamas. Before accepting, the stockbroker from Lauderhill wanted to clear his medical prescription with the Bahamian government.But he never got the official OK because his medicine is illegal there. The drug he uses? Marijuana.http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread21903.shtml
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Comment #10 posted by FoM on June 09, 2006 at 10:39:22 PT

whig 
That wasn't good I agree. They could try to cut him off but I sure hope not.
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Comment #9 posted by whig on June 09, 2006 at 10:36:14 PT

FoM
My main concern with Montel's testimony was when he mentioned Irv sharing meds. I don't think he should have said that.
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Comment #8 posted by FoM on June 09, 2006 at 10:31:44 PT

Taylor121
I don't know if Montel knows he is insulting people who aren't as sick as he is and just want to use Cannabis to relax. I think everyone should stop using certain terms and rise to a higher standard. If someone calls us a dopehead consider the source and forget it.Quote: "I'm not only the poster child for MS around the world, I'm the poster child for pot,"Williams said. "What angers me so much is that all people consider me a dopehead when all I want to do is wake up in the morning and go to work without pain."
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Comment #7 posted by FoM on June 09, 2006 at 10:24:56 PT

Taylor121
No one should be called a dopehead.
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Comment #6 posted by Taylor121 on June 09, 2006 at 10:23:29 PT

Dopehead I think
is what he called himself. I think it's a negative term personally, although I can see that some would beg to differ. Montel is just a sick person who consumes cannabis as medicine, he doesn't need to be called a dopehead.
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Comment #5 posted by FoM on June 09, 2006 at 10:19:41 PT

Pothead
Why does Montel talk down and use the word pothead?
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Comment #4 posted by FoM on June 09, 2006 at 10:18:22 PT

About Montel
I think he does a good job representing medical marijuana but I can't figure out if he is a Republican because he sounds like he is one. There is a disconnect or something. Compassion seems lacking. 
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Comment #3 posted by whig on June 09, 2006 at 09:16:23 PT

kaptinemo
Of course we can make our own liquid extracts just as well. So they have to maintain some pretense about standardized processes and dose delivery devices as if titration doesn't work just fine.
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Comment #2 posted by kaptinemo on June 09, 2006 at 09:08:23 PT:

There it is again: "Smoked marijuana"
As opposed, of course, to the plastic-bottled (and hughly inflationary priced!) version soon to be available from your pharmacist, that is.The Party Line has been given, and all good little aparatchiks must disseminate the Party Line throughout the land. Because, the old Party Line ("Marijuana has NO medical uses!") is no longer in play. Can't be, now that people like Andrea Barthwell, who once made the old Party Line her mantra, are now working for liquid marijuana producing companies. Kinda embarassing, isn't it? These people are sooooo transparent you could use them as replacements for windowpanes and car windshields... 
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Comment #1 posted by FoM on June 09, 2006 at 08:50:26 PT

Snipped Source: Ocean County Observer
Senators Debate Medical Marijuana***June 9, 2006TRENTON — Before he was a famous TV personality, Montel Williams had a career in the Navy and started an anti-drug program for children.So Williams choked up yesterday while testifying before the Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee about how only marijuana — not prescribed painkillers — have helped ease the pain multiple sclerosis has dealt him since 1999."I'm not only the poster child for MS around the world, I'm the poster child for pot," Williams said. " ... What angers me so much is that all people consider me a dopehead when all I want to do is wake up in the morning and go to work without pain."Snipped: Complete Article: http://www.ocobserver.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060609/NEWS/606090324
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