cannabisnews.com: Smoked Out: The Great Debate Of Legalization





Smoked Out: The Great Debate Of Legalization
Posted by CN Staff on April 18, 2007 at 20:21:43 PT
Opinion: Mary Jane's Last Dance
Source: Fairfield Mirror
Connecticut -- The thing about marijuana is that it wasn't always the (literally) garden-variety psychoactive herb that it is today. Back in the day, it was the stuff of inspiration.In the 1950s and 1960s, everything had been politically dichotomized through the Cold War. The U.S. was constantly staring at the USSR right in the eye; both superpowers sponsored violent dictatorships everywhere they could, and the Vietnam War was gaining momentum.
To be blunt (pun intended), things sucked. And, unfortunately, to make note of this meant having to challenge the status quo, as well as question the point of fighting a cold war, both of which might as well have been tantamount to treason. Regardless, there were still people out there who questioned the whole point of violence that revolved around the 'isms' of the world. And do you know what a good deal of these people had in common?Why, the good old fashioned grass, of course.Marijuana used to be the drug of your standard political revolutionary. The type of person who would spark up also challenged actions that came into conflict with traditional values, instead of just conveniently redefining those values to agree with the actions. It was not uncommon to find a young, educated intellectual in the United States who disagreed with the state of the world, and also took the time to burn a few. The reason for this being that if one could look past the indiscretions of a government, then one could also probably look past how using a plant could be labeled as 'dangerous' and even 'evil.'Hope you didn't think that "expand your mind" was a term to be taken literally.As the Cold War became more and more unpopular, the number of people who opposed it grew. They were not all of the same stock of their founders, however. These were people who knew that they were against the violence of the world, but didn't know why. They preached change without knowing the reasons for change. Worse yet, they were posers. They played the role, smoked the hash and eventually took over the image and the movement. This was how the first generation of hippies was spawned. Through them, the concept of just smoking weed without any purpose, besides that of just getting high, led to people such as Charles Manson, who officially ruined marijuana, as well as every other drug on the planet, for everyone. As the users of marijuana changed hands from that of the bold to those who didn't know how to be bold, weed was raped of its iconic status.The preceding generations, including this one, haven't really done too much to help out weed. It's not a tool as much as it is a toy nowadays. And because of this, any attempt to make marijuana useful, such as medicinal legalization, isn't going to happen. Why? Because a good number of people who would support that are the same people that want to get high in their basement. As such, serious efforts to try and make sick people feel better are swept aside as an underhanded maneuver by potheads. It's an absolutely pathetic reason, but no more so than the support that these propositions get. And that's why legalization isn't ever taken seriously. If it is the responsibility of the government to create and enforce laws based on the will of the people then, in this case, the federal government is doing a bang-up job.What point is there in legalizing, or even decriminalizing, a substance whose advocates don't treat the issue with nearly as much importance as they believe it to have?Legalization or not, it doesn't really matter. The marijuana debate isn't that serious because its users aren't that serious either.The cannabis culture has fallen far past its glory days. What was once something that a significant movement for ideological change could be mounted around has become just something else that you can smoke. Source: Fairfield Mirror (CT)Published: April 19, 2007Copyright: 2007 Fairfield MirrorWebsite: http://www.fairfieldmirror.com/Contact: themirror stagweb.fairfield.eduCannabisNews -- Cannabis Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/cannabis.shtml
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Comment #9 posted by mayan on April 19, 2007 at 17:14:53 PT
Anonymous
I wouldn't claim writing such mindless drivel either!
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Comment #8 posted by FoM on April 19, 2007 at 09:59:25 PT
Convictions
The same convictions that I had back in the Hippie Days is the same convictions I have now. I am older and wiser now that's all. Reason, concern, caring for the earth, caring for those less fortunate, turning the other cheek when the radical right puffs up to get us, knowing that no person has all the answers and I still have a desire to continue to learn more. The one thing that I won't do is stoop to the level of the right wing. I won't compromise on that and I am rather bull headed. 
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Comment #7 posted by whig on April 19, 2007 at 09:48:04 PT
We have a good sense of humor
To the Fairfield mirror, and the authoritarians for which it stands, having good humor means you aren't serious.Dark humor is acceptable to them, of course. Looking under the desk for the WMDs, that kind of thing. Mocking is hilarious, and we do it to them too, but they do it badly, because their entire schtick relies upon them being able to take on defenseless targets.God, the hippies are such fun, because they don't even fight back! They love to pick on people who turn the other cheek.But they don't understand our humor. They don't get why the joke is on them, yet. They have been picking on the defenseless, but the defenseless are not defenseless anymore.
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Comment #6 posted by FoM on April 19, 2007 at 08:25:15 PT
Related Article from The Fairfield Mirror 
http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread22884.shtml
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Comment #5 posted by dongenero on April 19, 2007 at 08:23:23 PT
MJ's last dance? right.
After enjoying 5,000-10,000 years of continuous use and popularity both medicinally and recreationally, cannabis is now in it's last dance. 
Thanks to the Fairfield Mirror for this incredible insight.No really, it's incredible...no credibility, just a waste of disk space on various servers. I propose that the Fairfield Mirror is likely in it's last dance and will be long survived by cannabis.
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Comment #4 posted by Hope on April 19, 2007 at 08:02:35 PT
Then....
On the other hand. The onerous smugness and judgement of this piece, could anger some people who are inactive about all this and maybe give them a kick start towards standing up with the rest of us who have openly screamed that the Emperor is really as naked as a wild jaybird! The piece is right in that too many people are too quiet about this punishment and incarceration setup the prohibs have going.
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Comment #3 posted by Hope on April 19, 2007 at 07:54:14 PT
What is this?
Not an editorial...but an "opinion" with nobody's name on it?I wouldn't want my name on it either.Somebody needs "Love" here...but what my natural nature wants to do is to deliver a "serious" B-slap to those behind this smug, arrogant, lie of an "opinion".I'm fighting the "natural" nature and trying to follow my beliefs and at least...not hate the sorts of opiniated puppets who are behind crap like this "opinion".
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Comment #2 posted by Zandor on April 19, 2007 at 07:51:41 PT
Strange
I went on a hunt to who wrote up this crap. I found several postings from one person but there were pro and this one I could not view the writer and why it was given so much more importance then the other ones by that site/paper?This leaves me to think this is just another round of propaganda from the Bush White house.This guy needs to be impeached ASAP to save what little respect we have left in the world.
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Comment #1 posted by potpal on April 19, 2007 at 04:33:53 PT
Cannabis Culture - Waxing or waning
You decide...a quick Google of 'cannabis' whipped up...Results 1 - 10 of about 14,500,000 for cannabis [definition]. (0.03 seconds) .03 seconds - do you believe in magic?
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