cannabisnews.com: The End of Reefer Madness





The End of Reefer Madness
Posted by CN Staff on August 05, 2008 at 09:41:48 PT
By Robert Downes 
Source: Northern Express 
Michigan -- Do you believe in having the freedom to do as you choose with your own body? Or should government make those decisions for you?That’s the fundamental question in many great controversies of our time regarding smoking, prostitution, abortion, stem cell research, marijuana, wearing a motorcycle helmet, the right to die with dignity, the use of steroids, and drug use to name a few.
At least half the time, we (ie. society) decide to limit ourselves. If you want to make money by inviting strangers to enjoy your body, too bad -- it’s against the law. If you want to hit the ball farther than anyone else on the team by taking steroids, tough luck -- it’s illegal.But if you want to smoke cigarettes or have an abortion, you are still free to do so. For the time being, that is. So it's all quite arbitrary as to what you can legally do with your own body in our supposedly "free" country.That’s why this November’s vote on the Michigan Medical Marijuana Initiative seems momentous: we don’t often decide to legalize anything -- the trend is usually in the other direction. In March, members of the Michigan Coalition for Compassionate Care turned in over 300,000 signatures from state voters, securing a place on the ballot for the Michigan Marijuana Act. The act would amend state law “to allow authorized patients to use cannabis therapeutically under a doctor’s supervision.”If Michigan voters grant their approval, ours would be the 13th state to approve the use of medical marijuana since 1996, according to NORML (the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws).Medical marijuana eases the pain and symptoms of glaucoma, MS, and chemotherapy. Should these people be forced to suffer excruciating pain or be forced to pay for prescription drugs costing thousands of dollars when inexpensive, effective marijuana is available? Vote your conscience on this one, and think of that member of your own family whose pain could have been eased.Ah, but critics claim that in states where medical marijuana has been legalized, there are always a few Sneaky Petes who bend the rules so that they too can smoke pot.Fortunately, two forward-thinking congressmen have a prescription for nipping this in the bud (no pun intended). Their idea is to simply quit harassing the American people over small amounts of marijuana and let us be free to use it.What a concept! Freedom. Who could imagine?Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass) and co-sponsor Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) have offered a resolution to decriminalize the personal use of marijuana. They have proposed ending federal penalties for Americans who possess fewer than 100 grams of marijuana, or a little less than a quarter ounce.“The vast amount of human activity ought to be none of the government’s business,” Frank said last week in a Capitol Hill press conference. “I don’t think it is the government’s business to tell you how to spend your leisure time.”Rep. Frank, who doesn’t smoke marijuana, points out that billions have been spent in law enforcement to try to stop something that Americans routinely thumb their noses at -- just as they did the prohibition of alcohol in the 1920s. NORML claims there are tens of millions of pot smokers in the U.S., and that there have been 20 million marijuana-related arrests since 1965. In fact, a marijuana smoker is arrested every 38 seconds in our country.The arrests are a bonanza for law enforcement, courts and lawyers, but a real heartache for parents who’ve had to pay the legal bills for their teens, or have seen their kids sent to the county jail.Under Frank’s proposal, it would still be illegal to deal marijuana or possess more than a quarter ounce. Obviously, this would require a bit of fait accompli from the government, winking at distribution.Thus, the main problem with decriminalizing marijuana would, ironically, be a lack of government regulation. Without government regulation of trade, organized crime would still be involved in marijuana's distribution. Then too, there is the question of potency: in Amsterdam, where marijuana is legal, some strains are so potent from being refined through the years that smokers have suffered psychotic reactions. If marijuana is going to be decriminalized, then we should also consider having it regulated and taxed, to the benefit of Michigan farmers and our state treasury. Source: Northern Express (MI)Author: Robert Downes Published: August 5, 2008Copyright: 2008 Northern ExpressEmail: info northernexpress.comWebsite: http://www.northernexpress.com/CannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml
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Comment #20 posted by museman on August 14, 2008 at 15:26:05 PT
afterburner
what FoM said....
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Comment #19 posted by FoM on August 13, 2008 at 20:42:24 PT
afterburner
Thank you for the links.
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Comment #18 posted by afterburner on August 13, 2008 at 18:57:24 PT
museman #13 
Here's another link from Natural News that *does* mention hemp as a fuel source. Also, the second link contains an MP3 of an interview of Dr. Brian O'Leary by Mike Adams, discussing suppressed energy sources and the alliance of politicians and the media to prevent knowlege of these energy sources. The Many Environmental and Health Benefits of Hemp. 
Tuesday, August 12, 2008 by: Sheryl Walters (see all articles by this author)
| Key concepts: hemp, health benefits and food 
http://www.naturalnews.com/023839.html
[also mentions bio-fuel]Podcasts.
http://www.naturalnews.com/Index-Podcasts.html
Health Ranger Show #59: Interview with Dr. Brian O'Leary.
Famed physicist, astronaut and pioneering visionary Dr. Brian O'Leary joins the Health Ranger for a fascinating talk about the challenges facing human civilization. His website is www.Brian-Oleary.com. 
Click here to listen now (MP3).
http://www.naturalnews.com/podcasts/Brian-Oleary-2008.mp3
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Comment #17 posted by observer on August 07, 2008 at 22:39:48 PT
You Own Your Own Body
your own bodyI like the emphasis on one's own body here. If you do not own your own body, what meaning can the concept of ownership possibly have? 
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Comment #16 posted by The GCW on August 06, 2008 at 12:01:48 PT
Reefer Madness & Booze acceptance
What is the difference between potential future First Lady
Cindy McCain and a MARIJUANA dealer?Cindy deals a more harmful drug: ALCOHOLThat's right, Cindy McCain -- wife of presumptive presidential candidate Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) -- is an alcohol dealer. As the the chairperson and majority shareholder of Hensley & Co., one of the nation's largest distributors of Anheuser-Busch beer, she made a fortune dealing more than 23 million cases of beer last year. Whereas selling millions of dollars worth of alcohol could land Cindy in the White House, selling just a few hundred or thousand dollars worth of marijuana continues to land countless Americans in the big house (prison, that is). This is despite the fact that marijuana is FAR less harmful than alcohol both to the user and to society. "Cindy McCain: Drug Dealer" is a provocative new campaign designed to highlight this hypocrisy and spread the message that marijuana is safer than alcohol and should be treated that way. CLICK HERE to check it out or go to: www.DrugDealerCindy.comFeatured on the site is a short yet hilarious Web ad called "Drug-Deal-Er," which is a play on the old Budweiser frogs commercials. (A huge thanks goes out Paul Saurini for helping us produce this great video.) Also on the site is information on Cindy McCain's lucrative drug dealing empire, the facts about marijuana compared to alcohol, and PDFs of the Cindy "WANTED" poster that we would love to see posted everywhere! Word of the campaign has already traveled quickly, spreading from the blogosphere (such as this piece on The Raw Story) to the mainstream media (such as this story in today's Denver Post). We expect it will continue to grow, especially after our press conference today in front of the Hensley Cartel's Headquarters in Phoenix, Arizona!WE NEED YOUR HELP to spread it further!Please visit DrugDealerCindy.com today and:Sign the on-line petition and forward it to all of your friends, family, and coworkers.- Download and print Cindy "WANTED" posters to hang around your community, in your office, or simply on your refrigerator. We need to get these up EVERYWHERE!- Watch SAFER's original "Drug-Deal-Er" video and share it with everyone you can.- Contact us to find out how you can do more to spread the word in your area and/or on the Web!- Make a donation to help us buy more ads and reach a larger national audience. Cindy "WANTED" poster ads are currently featured on some major national blogs and on more than a dozen of the most popular statewide political blogs around the country (click HERE for an example). We only had enough in our budget to buy ads for one week, though, and we need your help to keep them (and new ones) up and running.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------This is NOT an attack on Cindy McCain or alcohol!SAFER certainly realizes the "Cindy McCain: Drug Dealer" campaign will raise some eyebrows. After all, that's the point. But we trust you -- and the public in general -- will understand that this is NOT a personal attack on Cindy McCain and it is certainly not a partisan thing (as you may recall, SAFER also labeled Denver's Democratic brewpub-owning mayor John Hickenlooper a "Drug Dealer"). Cindy is proud of her job and her industry, and alcohol use and sales are widely accepted in this country. Why is highlighting them an "attack" or negative in any way? In fact, we hope to get the public and the media thinking about just why it seems so crazy to call someone who sells alcohol a "drug dealer," whereas there seems to be no problem using the term for those who sell marijuana.We should also point out that SAFER is NOT attacking alcohol. As we've said time and time again, we respect the right of adults to use alcohol responsibly. We are simply standing up for the millions of Americans our government punishes and considers criminals just because they make the SAFER choice to use marijuana for relaxation and recreation. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE FORWARD this message widely!To forward this message to someone: this linkIf you do not want to receive SAFER Update: this linkTo update your preferences: this link
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Comment #15 posted by Sam Adams on August 06, 2008 at 08:14:44 PT
lynch case
the fact that state and local police officials were working on this case is an outrage! There is one person most responsible for that: The Governator. Where the hell is he? In the Cigar Tent? What a muscle-bound jerk. And the Kennedy family? Haven't heard a peep out of First Lady Shriver. Shame on all of them. The king and queen of a cruel system that makes war on their own people.The truth is that law enforcement, formed to protect the common good, is transforming into a paramilitary army right in front of our eyes. obviously the govt. leaders are obeying them instead of the people.  Even people that hate MJ should recoginize that. We have passed into territory from which we may not be able to return.I wonder what they have on Schwarzenhagger? Maybe some film of him with hookers or something?  Look at what they did to Eliot Spitzer.
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Comment #14 posted by OverwhelmSam on August 06, 2008 at 04:40:57 PT
In Case You Missed It
I love this quote:"I don't like it when people easily condemn someone who has an addiction as if he were a criminal, as if he were a person who should be persecuted," President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchnerhttp://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/americas/08/01/argentina.drugs/I wish our President would consider her views.
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Comment #13 posted by museman on August 05, 2008 at 23:27:45 PT
afterburner
I don't know about 'capturing the spirit of my world view'- but the first link provides a substantial example of a 'failed system,' centered around the created dis-ease, orchestrated health crisis, and its relationahip to big pharma - one of the pupetteers of government.Of course the glaringly unmentioned fact that cannabis hemp contains so many solutions in itself to the bio-fuel quandry, -in the second link is notable, but that is of course one of the real reasons why it is illegal. Cannabis could heal this planet, as well as humanity. A lot to put on one plant, I know, but I think that's why its here. If there is any one plant, a 'plant of reknown' a 'wonder plant' cannabis is it.To me it is also a symbol of freedom and liberty. I consider it my patriotic, and constitutional duty to promote and make use of all the wonderful properties of cannabis.Nature is the raw basis of all that is actually real. The observation of and participation in and with natural environments gives one the 'place to stand' in their perception of reality. The reality of the planet, creation, and all that lives within, and upon it is a shared consciousness. Becoming aware within that consciousness is I believe the only real way to expect real change. The mental inventions of western, medieval, backwards-looking perspectives -that we are currently struggling to rid ourselves of -like cannabis prohibition- will only cease to have power over us, will only stop binding us to behaviors and patterns that diminish our beings to the state of servants and robots, instead of sowers, harvesters, craftspersons, artists and things such as we are by nature, and design, when a significant number of conscious humans become aware, and begin to spread that awareness. Similar to what is actually happening on a parallel to the burning/quaking/flooding/ planet.Freedom is to be had, or it is not. If it is, history, experience, and I believe wisdom reveals that freedoms are held only by those who use them wisely and responsibly, but not dictated, defined, regulated, or legislated by any other body of people, outside the will and consent of the one who is actually participating in freedom and liberty. Laws aren't made to create freedom, they are made to curtail and limit them, with the customary loopholes for the ones who maintain the 'balance of power' and profit from the situation.System failed. Falling down. Who knows how many bandaids they got in secret storage, I am amazed at how far it has been allowed to go as it is.The problems are all obvious at this point, well at least to most people, but the solutions aren't in the market, or the politics, they are a simple grasp of reality; food, for example does not grow at the supermarket, nor inside diesel trucks, but it does grow in dirt, which happens to be pertty cheap at this point, though I imagine the price of dirt to go up once people realize their dirt is covered by miles of concrete and blacktop, and they have to go to the dirt store to get it. But people are going to have to start growing their food locally, and some communities are already on it."Touching the earth" is a concept that needs to be understood, and embraced by the american people, those of us whose ancestors came here, if we are to continue to live on this continent and call it 'ours.
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Comment #12 posted by afterburner on August 05, 2008 at 21:15:22 PT
museman
The following two comics seem to capture the spirit of your world view and belief that we can build a better future in harmony with mother nature instead of exploiting her and human society:The Disease Economy (comic). 
Tuesday, January 23, 2007 by: Mike Adams (see all articles by this author) | Key concepts: Big Pharma, economy and the FDA
http://www.naturalnews.com/021478.htmlThe Corn Ethanol Biofuels Sham (comic). 
Wednesday, April 23, 2008 by: Mike Adams (see all articles by this author) | Key concepts: biofuels, corn and biofuel
http://www.naturalnews.com/023092.html
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Comment #11 posted by fight_4_freedom on August 05, 2008 at 19:31:30 PT
L.A. Times article on the case
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-pot6-2008aug06,0,516054.story
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Comment #10 posted by mykeyb420 on August 05, 2008 at 19:07:02 PT
patent
Lynch received an email from a supporter today that mentioned the following information to him:“…I recently came across the fact that the US Govt. holds a patent on the medicinal use of cannabis (patent #6,630,507) for the prevention and treatment of a wide variety of diseases including stroke, trauma, auto-immune disorder, HIV dementia, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. It was based on research done at the NIH, and the assignee is the US Dept. of Health and Human Services. This patent, awarded, not by, but TO the US Government completely contradicts the official stance that cannabis has no current medical applications.”
http://safeaccessnow.org/blog/?p=120
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Comment #9 posted by fight_4_freedom on August 05, 2008 at 18:52:27 PT:
Sad News 
Here's some info from ASA."The verdict just came down and Charles Lynch was found guilty on all counts: conspiracy to possess and possession with intent to distribute marijuana and concentrated cannabis, manufacturing, knowingly maintaining a drug premises, and sales of marijuana to a person under the age of 21."We must end this madness!!!!!!
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Comment #8 posted by augustwest on August 05, 2008 at 12:38:42 PT:
thanks sam
what do they call that code pig latin.
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Comment #7 posted by Sam Adams on August 05, 2008 at 12:20:56 PT
AugustW
"We don't want any confrontation," Bertoli said. "By the time we get into an area, we want them to be gone."He's just speaking in code, I can translate for you: "By the time we get there, the growers are gone, because they won't pay us as much if we don't tip them off"
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Comment #6 posted by roza-velt parks on August 05, 2008 at 12:13:48 PT:
earth to Downes: convert 100 grms to ozs correctly
there are 2 places in your article where you use the phrase quarter-ounce. In both places, you need to replace "quarter-ounce" with quarter-pound.  Fact:100grams = 3.533ounces. For even better accuracy, replace "quarter-ounce" with 3 & one-half ounces. Otherwise,your article is excellent.
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Comment #5 posted by augustwest on August 05, 2008 at 11:53:24 PT:
from the link mykeyb420 
"We don't want any confrontation," Bertoli said. "By the time we get into an area, we want them to be gone."
 They don't want confrontation with illeagal aliens growing large scale but will kick a U.S. citizens door in with guns drawn for a couple plants personal medicinal use.
The worst part is they know they aren't making any difference and that they might be getting 30% of whats gonna hit the streets so the cartels just plant 30% more weed and it dosen't even effect their bottom line. But the cops keep their big budget and get to say look how many plants we got 60,000 the writer of these articles should always end them by saying that its only a small % and a completley futile effort thats been going on for decades that woould be real reporting, informing the public about how they waste our money but the cartels get rich cause we can't have a couple of plants in our backyard. 
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Comment #4 posted by mykeyb420 on August 05, 2008 at 11:17:57 PT
your tax $$$ hard at work
Sonoma cops take 62,000 pot plants.
http://www.ktvu.com/news/17098863/detail.html
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Comment #3 posted by museman on August 05, 2008 at 10:48:11 PT
Mind if I answer this question?
"What a concept! Freedom. Who could imagine?"I could. A few hundred thousand 'hippies' could. John Lennon did. Just about anynone who smoked cannabis -without other drugs like alcohol as chasers- could. Most poor people who have been forced to watch the fat cats get away with everything from murder to global pollution can. In fact, just about anyone who is not a card-carrying member of the status quo can 'imagine freedom.' The real question, is whether or not they can get it back from the losers who think they rule the world.
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Comment #2 posted by Sam Adams on August 05, 2008 at 10:10:56 PT
It's OK
He probably doesn't get out of Northern Michigan much. And with the local entertainment, he doesn't need to - it looks like those people are really enjoying the annual "Running of the Goats":http://www.northernexpress.com/just kidding of course
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Comment #1 posted by dongenero on August 05, 2008 at 10:03:19 PT
Whaaa?????
Then too, there is the question of potency: in Amsterdam, where marijuana is legal, some strains are so potent from being refined through the years that smokers have suffered psychotic reactions.Where does this ridiculous ascertainment come from? Seemed like a reasonable article up to that point. Had to throw in one goofy paragraph at the end I guess. And, organized crime? Organized crime is in it for the money. Take the big money out of it, make it so anyone can grow it, and organized crime will no longer have ANY interest in it. 
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