cannabisnews.com: A Pox On Bush Pot Policy 





A Pox On Bush Pot Policy 
Posted by CN Staff on February 01, 2007 at 12:56:45 PT
By Paul Koretz
Source: WeHoNews.com 
West Hollywood, CA -- Just when we thought they couldn't go any lower...Another inhumane action by the Bush Administration? I guess I shouldn’t have been so surprised. This is the same President who lied to get us into the disastrous war in Iraq for his own purposes, and whose use of torture has embarrassed us in the eyes of the world.
Since there doesn’t seem to be a way to win in Iraq, he has declared war on a target less able to fight back—the sick and the dying. Shutting down medical marijuana dispensaries is shockingly pointless and cruel. Have you no shame, Mr. President? What happened to the “compassionate conservative” you promised to be when you ran for President?The action was especially painful to have taken place in West Hollywood. There are not many places in this country as hard hit by HIV and AIDS. I personally knew a couple of hundred people who died, including some very dear friends. Unfortunately, that was not a unique experience in a city which at one point had a person with AIDS in one out of every ten housing units. However Prop. 215 passed, SB 420 passed (which I co-authored), and we have worked to create medical marijuana guidelines in LA County. As a result, we have made access to marijuana for medical purposes much easier and safer. I can’t overstate the importance of this. The ability of marijuana to restore appetite, to reduce nausea, to ease pain for those fighting AIDS and the side effects of AIDS drugs is the difference between life and death. I remember in the 80’s and early 90’s when sometimes West Hollywood City Council meetings were adjourned in the memory of two or three notable community leaders who had died of AIDS in the previous week or two. Such an occurrence is now a rarity. What a difference the drug cocktails and marijuana have made!Yes, it is true that these marijuana dispensaries have not been trouble-free. Some have impacted their neighbors. Some doctors have given marijuana prescriptions to people who were not ill enough to warrant it. Some have forged their own prescriptions. Some places did not check very carefully. Some even had guns on the premises for their protection—something ironically one would expect this NRA-driven Administration to applaud, but still not a good idea. Few observers would say the system was perfect, but that had not gone unnoticed by local officials. Local government has been establishing clearer laws and guidelines for operation to deal with these difficulties. Punishing the sick by shutting down the dispensaries and removing access for critically ill patients is not the way to do it. They also did it with considerable aggression, and it was not reserved for the operators of these businesses, but also the patients who were there to get their prescriptions. I don’t believe the Bush Administration did this with any kind of pure motive. I think they just wanted to be able to show they were “tough on crime” by going after folks who couldn’t put up a fight and who were just trying to help seriously ill patients, or who were those patients themselves. They are the 800-pound-gorilla, and they can go wherever they want and do what they want. The only way to fight this battle is with shame. We need to shine a bright light on this administration’s mean-spirited actions with protests like that which took place last week at West Hollywood City Hall. We need to write letters and editorials. We need to make this a public relations black eye for an administration that hardly needs more bad publicity. With any luck, we can get them to go back to what they do best—getting us in unnecessary wars, destroying our environment and ruining our educational system.Right now, it is 727 days, 11 hours, 48 minutes and 10 seconds until President Bush’s last day. Not that anyone is counting. Paul Koretz is a former West Hollywood City Council member and CA State Assembly member for the 42nd district. While assembly member, he introduced a resolution that would have put the CA Legislature on record as supporting and urging the impeachment of President Bush. Source: WeHoNews.com (CA)Author: Paul KoretzPublished: February 1, 2007Copyright: 2007 WeHoNews.comWebsite: http://wehonews.com/Contact:  communityresponse wehonews.com CannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml
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Comment #10 posted by paulnz on February 06, 2007 at 01:36:53 PT
Marihuana
Is not marihuana a Mexican word meaning good feeling? With regard to its use, surely it's for Mexicans to say whether we should use it* or not?*the word not the plant!
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Comment #9 posted by FoM on February 02, 2007 at 14:55:20 PT
Toker00
Here's a little information on HPV. I know that vaccines shouldn't be taken lightly. I guess it seems wrong to me because it is being mandated for a person's child. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_papillomavirus
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Comment #8 posted by Toker00 on February 02, 2007 at 14:53:22 PT
museman
Money is the heart of the Beast. Even the Beast has to Pay for his protection. How do we make war and violence unpopular, even for unlimited money? How do we convince mankind that Hurting is the opposite of Healing? That Ego is the opposite of Unity? And most importantly, that racist and cultural Hatred is the opposite of eternal Love? That Denying is the opposite of Sharing? We have to somehow re-construct Human Education. How? How do we stop the bombs and the bullets long enough to re-construct anything? Will it take the Near Annialation of our planet or the Complete Annialation of it to tear at the heart of the Beast?Toke.
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Comment #7 posted by Toker00 on February 02, 2007 at 14:39:15 PT
FoM
I wish they had a way to vote on this. Would be nice to see what the general public thinks about it. Apparently there is much objection to this already. I'm not sure, but it seems to be a way Merck can guarantee profits far into the future. I'm for anything that helps without causing harm in other areas. How many tests have been run of this drug? Does this drug also effect the male during unprotected sex? I just don't trust modern medicine and it may wind up killing me, but I don't want these pharma-criminals getting ANY of my money. You always hear about the bad side of drugs years after they have been widely used. If we take one thing back from the Feds, I pray it is our right to have the best, safest medicine, regardless of the cost to corporate America. Screw the Profits, give us Good Health! Naturally, preferably.Toke.
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Comment #6 posted by FoM on February 02, 2007 at 13:36:12 PT
Off Topic: Is This a Good Thing?
Texas Governor Orders Anti-Cancer Vaccine for Schoolgirlshttp://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/02/02/america/NA-GEN-US-Cervical-Cancer.php
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Comment #5 posted by Toker00 on February 02, 2007 at 08:52:58 PT
Yes sir, Kapt.
That point was made years ago, and though I have tried to use the word cannabis exclusively, except to describe the racist nature and origin of the word marijuana, it's easy to get slack. And it was the Aztec Indians Anslinger originally wanted to tie cannabis use to, historically. The Mexicans and Blacks were good enough for him, though, when he learned it could sustain his budget, and further his racist agenda.Thanks for the Tightening.CANNABIS CANNABIS CANNABIS CANNABISToke.  
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Comment #4 posted by kaptinemo on February 02, 2007 at 04:28:48 PT:
One complaint: Stop saying 'marijuana'!
By doing so, we use the opposition's methods of 'framing' the argument in such a way as to defeat ourselves, every time. Stop using their definitions, turn it around, call it by its' proper - and scientific - name. Then point out the reason why you do so is because William Randolph Hearst was a racist bigot who had it in for Hispanics, and used a slang term for cannabis in order to slap Hispanics with a negative stereotype. Then explain you don't want to follow in his footsteps. The implication should be obvious at that point: if someone continues using Hearst's slang term, then they are as much a racist bigot as he was. If the people you are talking with are still not getting it, ask them how they think Black folks like being associated with watermelons; an old stereotype regarding African-Americans implied that they were supposed to find watermelons irresistable. It's a 'fighting-words' insult to African-Americans of a certain age group, as they felt the sting of that on a daily basis prior to the rise of the civil rights movement, and had every reason to resent it.The entire DrugWar is based upon stereotypes: The cocaine-crazed, rampaging Black rapist; mad Mexicans driven to frenzy by 'mair-ee-wanna'; cunning Asians seeking to ensnare White women in opium dens, etc. All total bull. But that's what it was all predicated upon. Point out the roots of this nonsense, then ask people point blank if they honestly believe that crap. Watch their faces get red. This is how we got the media to refer to drug prohibition as prohibition. Which is having the desired effect of causing people who never looked at it that way to make the obvious - and damning - comparison to the failed alcohol Prohibition. It's time to take this to the next level. But if we don't stop using the self-defeating terminolgy of the opposition and challenge it for the racist crud it is, we will continue to have the media engage in it's "tee-hee, lookit the dumb stoners!" attitude towards a deadly serious subject. 
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Comment #3 posted by museman on February 01, 2007 at 17:56:26 PT
you don't know how lucky you are boy
Back in the U.S., Back in the U.S., Back inthe U.S.S.R.
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Comment #2 posted by museman on February 01, 2007 at 17:42:26 PT
the many headed beast
"I don’t believe the Bush Administration did this with any kind of pure motive. I think they just wanted to be able to show they were “tough on crime” by going after folks who couldn’t put up a fight and who were just trying to help seriously ill patients, or who were those patients themselves. They are the 800-pound-gorilla, and they can go wherever they want and do what they want."Malice, and forethought. Furthering the agenda of the corporate rich, and engendering support of malignant-minded thugs and enforcers. Testing the willngness of our 'public servants' to commit crimes against humanity, so that appropriate measures can be taken to compensate for potential reluctance on the part of some leos to act unconstituionally against their neighbors and fellow citizens. A test, because there is currently a mandate to prepare for martial law. Funding for more law enforcement, and more departments of law enforcement is at an all time high. - these are the real reasons.We stand on a threshold of political reform, but that line is very tenuous and unstable, and could just as easily result in a total collapse of the few freedoms and liberties we have left to exercize, as actually laying down solid foundations for real change.While the majority of the population is vocalizing strongly about the war, just as they should, the 'shadow government' is already at work testing the systems they have in place to establish firm control over the population. As the people come to realize in more and more numbers that their government is all about an exclusive class of society gaining and holding power, Imperialisticly, and not about any of the lofty ideals of 'American Democracy and Freedom' that is the words that their mouths speak, without any relative action to back it up, or make it real, they will offer more protest. Like the protests against Iraq, these protests will be ignored by the true political power -which is wealth, propriety, and bloodlines. The prisons will fill.As more and more prisons are built, refurbished, and populated with patriots- the real ones -those who value truth over money, the people will begin to see. At some point in the near future, all the facts concerning 9/11 will be nothing more than probable cause to disappear if one happens to possess them.Our country is in the hands of demonic lunatics, and the entire world is infected with their psychosis, however the 'old world' is starting to shake of the spell. This is not a new development that walked in by the name of 'bush,' this is a condition that started long ago, and has been imposed and insuated (at this point in history) into every strata of American life. The beast is like a Hydra. You may succeed in 'cutting off one head' only to have three more grow back in its place. It only seems logical to me then, that one has to find the heart of the beast in order to strike the fatal, final blow. All other attempts, though heroic, and inspiring even, still only amount to a band-aid on an arterial wound.
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Comment #1 posted by greenfox on February 01, 2007 at 17:38:50 PT
yeah right
What else is new..
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