OP/ED: Reefer Madness

DH and I are drug free...but we both had our problems in the past (I've been clean for 30 years...he for about 8) I have never seen in my entire life anyone, get high and turn mean and/or nasty! That usually comes with alcohol, which DH and I do not do either, I have never gotten into drinking......people get high, get hungry and go to sleep....anyone that thinks otherwise has no experience with it or around it what-so-ever! IF I had to pick one or the other to be around, I'd pick to have be with a pot head over someone drinking hands down! Look at the people alchol ruins....

More than 100,000 deaths are caused by excessive alcohol consumption each year in the U.S. Direct and indirect causes of death include drunk driving, cirrhosis of the liver, falls, cancer, and stroke. 1

At least once a year, the guidelines for low risk drinking are exceeded by an estimated 74% of male drinkers and 72% of female drinkers aged 21 and older. 9

Nearly 14 million Americans meet diagnostic criteria for alcohol use disorders. 7

Youth who drink alcohol are 50 times more likely to use coc aine than young people who never drink alcohol. 4

Among current adult drinkers, more than half say they have a blood relative who is or was an alcoholic or problem drinker. 1

Across people of all ages, males are four times as likely as females to be heavy drinkers. 1

More than 18% of Americans experience alcohol abuse or alcohol dependence at some time in their lives. 8

Traffic crashes are the greatest single cause of death for persons ages 6�33. About 45% of these fatalities are in alcohol-related crashes. 5

Underage drinking costs the United States more than $58 billion every year � enough to buy every public school student a state-of-the-art computer. 3

Alcohol is the most commonly used drug among young people. 1

Problem drinkers average four times as many days in the hospital as nondrinkers � mostly because of drinking-related injuries. 1

Alcohol kills 6� times more youth than all other illicit drugs combined. 3

Concerning the past 30 days, 50% of high school seniors report drinking, with 32% report being drunk at least once.

And that's not taking into account the broken homes, and spousal abuse due to alcohol

Sources
1 Substance Abuse: The Nations Number One Health Problem, Feb. 2001
2 US Dept. of Health & Human Services
3 Mothers Against Drunk Driving
4 National Center on Addiction & Substance Abuse
5 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
6 Alliance Against Underage Drinking
7 Grant B, Harford TC, Dawson DA, et al. Prevalence of DSM-IV alcohol abuse and dependence, United States 1992. Alcohol Health & Research World 18(3). 1994.
8 National Institute on Alcohol Abuse & Alcoholism analysis based on U.S. Alcohol Epidemiologic Data Reference Manual, Vol. 6, 1st Edition. Drinking in the United States : Main Findings from the 1992 National Longitudinal Alcohol Epidemiologic Survey. Bethesda , MD : NIAAA (in press).
9 National Institute on Drug Abuse and National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. The Economic Costs of Alcohol and Drug Abuse in the United States, 1995. 1998.
10 U.S. Dept. of Agriculture and U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services. Home and Garden Bulletin No. 232. Nutrition and Your Health. Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 1995.

Originally posted by dubiousone

If we are so free than why does the government have a problem with a plant?

It's widely understood that elements of the government in the U.S. profit from the drug trade. If there truly was a war on drugs, you'd expect to see some results. There have been no results. Drugs are more available now than before the "war" on drugs began. There is only one explanation. It's obvious to anyone who has grown past the conditioned attitude that government, like your parents, can do no wrong.

You're absolutely right. If any of the so-called "controlled substances" were legalized then an entire industry would collapse here in the states. Some may argue that if legalized, pot could be just as profitable if not more so, however legalization would open the market. The black-market providers would no longer have a corner on the market, and that wouldn't be very profitable for those politicians and government officials who are willing to look the other way. Also, let us not forget the prison industry. A large portion of the prison system's population is composed of drug "offenders". If pot were legalized they'd have to start arresting more CRIMINALS lol. We also have to remember the probation and parole systems... half the probation officers in the country would have to be laid off. We've created a rather large industry around the persecution of stoners here.

LadyV .... I love to read your posts .... PLEASE PLEASE PRETTY PLEASE ... Post for the other side ... to make all of these people understand why it is not legal. Thanks ... Brandon

ALL:

I believe it is "high time" for the world to legalize Marijuana. If
not completely legalize it, then at least decriminalize it.

Empty the prisons of simple pot smokers and fill the cells with
murderers, rapists, baby molesters, CEO's of companies that
steel the money of their hard working employees, bank robbers,
and the thiefs of the world. They seem to be on the street while
the week-end pot smoker is locked up in a cold cell.

Start growing high quality weed that is controlled by the government.
This will get rid of the street corner weed peddlers, overnight.

Tax this crop and the national debt will disappear very soon.

Put to work literally millions of people growing and cultivating pot.
The tax money alone will pay for low cost medical and prescription
drugs for the elderly and everyone else alike.

It will provide quality education in our schools.

There will be plenty of money to keep open clinics for the ones that
need help with their addiction, if they decide they want help.

Stop the ridiculous so-called war on drugs. It will never be won by
ANY law enforcement agency. Take the Billions and Billions spent on
this scam, and feed our hungry people.

I propose a national mellowing out day. We can celebrate Colombus
and Martin Luther King days, but let's have a day set aside where
everyone (excluding children of course) is required to light up a big fat
doob and mellow out. A total peace and harmony effect for everyone
all at once. See what it will be like for everyone to put a smile on their
face. Just ONE day per year.

And we don't need any more stupid studies by the PTB on the issues
of Marijuana. We have been studying this for 40 years or more. It has
been studied to death. When they give us the excuse that they need more
studies, it is just that, AN EXCUSE to delay the legalization of a weed that
God put on this Earth, has been here for thousands of years, and is not
the Devils drug such as Cocaine and Crack.

PEACE TO ALL.

ZOOMER

Originally posted by bet555
LadyV .... I love to read your posts .... PLEASE PLEASE PRETTY PLEASE ... Post for the other side ... to make all of these people understand why it is not legal. Thanks ... Brandon

Most of the history of marijuana's criminalization has been based on lies. The actual reasons why marijuana is illegal are:

Racism
Fear
Protection of Corporate Profits
Yellow Journalism
Ignorant, Incompetent, and/or Corrupt Legislators
Personal Career Advancement and Greed

For most of human history, marijuana has been completely legal. It's not a recently discovered plant, nor is it a long-standing law. Marijuana has been illegal for less than 1% of the time that it's been in use. Its known uses go back further than 7,000 B.C. and it was legal as recently as when Ronald Reagan was a boy.

The marijuana (hemp) plant, of course, has an incredible number of uses. The earliest known woven fabric was apparently of hemp, and over the centuries the plant was used for food, incense, cloth, rope, and much more. This adds to some of the confusion over its introduction in the United States, as the plant was well known from the early 1600's, but did not reach public awareness as a recreational drug until the early 1900's.

America's first marijuana law was enacted at Jamestown Colony, Virginia in 1619. It was a law "ordering" all farmers to grow Indian hempseed. There were several other "must grow" laws over the next 200 years (you could be jailed for not growing hemp during times of shortage in Virginia between 1763 and 1767), and during most of that time, hemp was legal tender (you could even pay your taxes with hemp -- try that today!) Hemp was such a critical crop for a number of purposes (including essential war requirements - rope, etc.) that the government went out of its way to encourage growth.

The United States Census of 1850 counted 8,327 hemp "plantations" (minimum 2,000-acre farm) growing cannabis hemp for cloth, canvas and even the cordage used for baling cotton.

The Mexican Connection

In the early 1900s, the western states developed significant tensions regarding the influx of Mexican-Americans. The revolution in Mexico in 1910 spilled over the border, with General Pershing's army clashing with bandit Pancho Villa. Later in that decade, bad feelings developed between the small farmer and the large farms that used cheaper Mexican labor. Then, the depression came and increased tensions, as jobs and welfare resources became scarce.

One of the "differences" seized upon during this time was the fact that many Mexicans smoked marijuana and had brought the plant with them.

However, the first state law outlawing marijuana did so not because of Mexicans using the drug. Oddly enough, it was because of Mormons using it. Mormons who traveled to Mexico in 1910 came back to Salt Lake City with marijuana. The church was not pleased and ruled against use of the drug. Since the state of Utah automatically enshrined church doctrine into law, the first state marijuana prohibition was established in 1915. (Today, Senator Orrin Hatch serves as the prohibition arm of this heavily church-influenced state.)

Other states quickly followed suit with marijuana prohibition laws, including Wyoming (1915), Texas (1919), Iowa (1923), Nevada (1923), Oregon (1923), Washington (1923), Arkansas (1923), and Nebraska (1927). These laws tended to be specifically targeted against the Mexican-American population.

When Montana outlawed marijuana in 1927, the Butte Montana Standard reported a legislator's comment: "When some beet field peon takes a few traces of this stuff... he thinks he has just been elected president of Mexico, so he starts out to execute all his political enemies." In Texas, a senator said on the floor of the Senate: "All Mexicans are crazy, and this stuff [marijuana] is what makes them crazy."

Jazz and Assassins

In the eastern states, the "problem" was attributed to a combination of Latin Americans and black jazz musicians. Marijuana and jazz traveled from New Orleans to Chicago, and then to Harlem, where marijuana became an indispensable part of the music scene, even entering the language of the black hits of the time (Louis Armstrong's "Muggles", Cab Calloway's "That Funny Reefer Man", Fats Waller's "Viper's Drag").

Again, racism was part of the charge against marijuana, as newspapers in 1934 editorialized: "Marihuana influences Negroes to look at white people in the eye, step on white men's shadows and look at a white woman twice."

Two other fear-tactic rumors started to spread: one, that Mexicans, Blacks and other foreigners were snaring white children with marijuana; and two, the story of the "assassins." Early stories of Marco Polo had told of "hasheesh-eaters" or hashashin, from which derived the term "assassin." In the original stories, these professional killers were given large doses of hashish and brought to the ruler's garden (to give them a glimpse of the paradise that awaited them upon successful completion of their mission). Then, after the effects of the drug disappeared, the assassin would fulfill his ruler's wishes with cool, calculating loyalty.

By the 1930s, the story had changed. Dr. A. E. Fossier wrote in the 1931 New Orleans Medical and Surgical Journal: "Under the influence of hashish those fanatics would madly rush at their enemies, and ruthlessly massacre every one within their grasp." Within a very short time, marijuana started being linked to violent behavior.

Alcohol Prohibition and Federal Approaches to Drug Prohibition

During this time, the United States was also dealing with alcohol prohibition, which lasted from 1919 to 1933. Alcohol prohibition was extremely visible and debated at all levels, while drug laws were passed without the general public's knowledge. National alcohol prohibition happened through the mechanism of an amendment to the constitution.

Earlier (1914), the Harrison Act was passed, which provided federal tax penalties for opiates and coc aine.

The federal approach is important. It was considered at the time that the federal government did not have the constitutional power to outlaw alcohol or drugs. It is because of this that alcohol prohibition required a constitutional amendment.

At that time in our country's history, the judiciary regularly placed the tenth amendment in the path of congressional regulation of "local" affairs, and direct regulation of medical practice was considered beyond congressional power under the commerce clause (since then, both provisions have been weakened so far as to have almost no meaning).

Since drugs could not be outlawed at the federal level, the decision was made to use federal taxes as a way around the restriction. In the Harrison Act, legal uses of opiates and coc aine were taxed (supposedly as a revenue need by the federal government, which is the only way it would hold up in the courts), and those who didn't follow the law found themselves in trouble with the treasury department.

In 1930, a new division in the Treasury Department was established -- the Federal Bureau of Narcotics -- and Harry J. Anslinger was named director. This, if anything, marked the beginning of the all-out war against marijuana.

Harry J. Anslinger

Anslinger was an extremely ambitious man, and he recognized the Bureau of Narcotics as an amazing career opportunity -- a new government agency with the opportunity to define both the problem and the solution. He immediately realized that opiates and coc aine wouldn't be enough to help build his agency, so he latched on to marijuana and started to work on making it illegal at the federal level.

Anslinger immediately drew upon the themes of racism and violence to draw national attention to the problem he wanted to create. Some of his quotes regarding marijuana...

"There are 100,000 total marijuana smokers in the US, and most are Negroes, Hispanics, Filipinos, and entertainers. Their Satanic music, jazz, and swing, result from marijuana use. This marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers, and any others."

"...the primary reason to outlaw marijuana is its effect on the degenerate races."

"Marijuana is an addictive drug which produces in its users insanity, criminality, and death."

"Reefer makes darkies think they're as good as white men."

"Marihuana leads to pacifism and communist brainwashing"

"You smoke a joint and you're likely to kill your brother."

"Marijuana is the most violence-causing drug in the history of mankind."
And he loved to pull out his own version of the "assassin" definition:

"In the year 1090, there was founded in Persia the religious and military order of the Assassins, whose history is one of cruelty, barbarity, and murder, and for good reason: the members were confirmed users of hashish, or marihuana, and it is from the Arabs' 'hashashin' that we have the English word 'assassin.'"
Yellow Journalism

Harry Anslinger got some additional help from William Randolf Hearst, owner of a huge chain of newspapers. Hearst had lots of reasons to help. First, he hated Mexicans. Second, he had invested heavily in the timber industry to support his newspaper chain and didn't want to see the development of hemp paper in competition. Third, he had lost 800,000 acres of timberland to Pancho Villa, so he hated Mexicans. Fourth, telling lurid lies about Mexicans (and the devil marijuana weed causing violence) sold newspapers, making him rich.

Some samples from the San Francisco Examiner:

"Marihuana makes fiends of boys in thirty days -- Hashish goads users to bloodlust."

"By the tons it is coming into this country -- the deadly, dreadful poison that racks and tears not only the body, but the very heart and soul of every human being who once becomes a slave to it in any of its cruel and devastating forms.... Marihuana is a short cut to the insane asylum. Smoke marihuana cigarettes for a month and what was once your brain will be nothing but a storehouse of horrid specters. Hasheesh makes a murderer who kills for the love of killing out of the mildest mannered man who ever laughed at the idea that any habit could ever get him...."
And other nationwide columns...

"Users of marijuana become STIMULATED as they inhale the drug and are LIKELY TO DO ANYTHING. Most crimes of violence in this section, especially in country districts are laid to users of that drug."

"Was it marijuana, the new Mexican drug, that nerved the murderous arm of Clara Phillips when she hammered out her victim's life in Los Angeles?... THREE-FOURTHS OF THE CRIMES of violence in this country today are committed by DOPE SLAVES -- that is a matter of cold record."
Hearst and Anslinger were then supported by Dupont chemical company and various pharmaceutical companies in the effort to outlaw cannabis. Dupont had patented nylon, and wanted hemp removed as competition. The pharmaceutical companies could neither identify nor standardize cannabis dosages, and besides, with cannabis, folks could grow their own medicine and not have to purchase it from large companies.

This all set the stage for...

The Marijuana Tax Act of 1937.

After two years of secret planning, Anslinger brought his plan to Congress -- complete with a scrapbook full of sensational Hearst editorials, stories of ax murderers who had supposedly smoked marijuana, and racial slurs.

It was a remarkably short set of hearings.

The one fly in Anslinger's ointment was the appearance by Dr. William C. Woodward, Legislative Council of the American Medical Association.

Woodward started by slamming Harry Anslinger and the Bureau of Narcotics for distorting earlier AMA statements that had nothing to do with marijuana and making them appear to be AMA endorsement for Anslinger's view.

He also reproached the legislature and the Bureau for using the term marijuana in the legislation and not publicizing it as a bill about cannabis or hemp. At this point, marijuana (or marihuana) was a sensationalist word used to refer to Mexicans smoking a drug and had not been connected in most people's minds to the existing cannabis/hemp plant. Thus, many who had legitimate reasons to oppose the bill weren't even aware of it.

Woodward went on to state that the AMA was opposed to the legislation and further questioned the approach of the hearings, coming close to outright accusation of misconduct by Anslinger and the committee:

"That there is a certain amount of narcotic addiction of an objectionable character no one will deny. The newspapers have called attention to it so prominently that there must be some grounds for there statements [even Woodward was partially taken in by Hearst's propaganda]. It has surprised me, however, that the facts on which these statements have been based have not been brought before this committee by competent primary evidence. We are referred to newspaper publications concerning the prevalence of marihuana addiction. We are told that the use of marihuana causes crime.

But yet no one has been produced from the Bureau of Prisons to show the number of prisoners who have been found addicted to the marihuana habit. An informed inquiry shows that the Bureau of Prisons has no evidence on that point.

You have been told that school children are great users of marihuana cigarettes. No one has been summoned from the Children's Bureau to show the nature and extent of the habit, among children.

Inquiry of the Children's Bureau shows that they have had no occasion to investigate it and know nothing particularly of it.

Inquiry of the Office of Education--- and they certainly should know something of the prevalence of the habit among the school children of the country, if there is a prevalent habit--- indicates that they have had no occasion to investigate and know nothing of it.

Moreover, there is in the Treasury Department itself, the Public Health Service, with its Division of Mental Hygiene. The Division of Mental Hygiene was, in the first place, the Division of Narcotics. It was converted into the Division of Mental Hygiene, I think, about 1930. That particular Bureau has control at the present time of the narcotics farms that were created about 1929 or 1930 and came into operation a few years later. No one has been summoned from that Bureau to give evidence on that point.

Informal inquiry by me indicates that they have had no record of any marihuana of Cannabis addicts who have ever been committed to those farms.

The bureau of Public Health Service has also a division of pharmacology. If you desire evidence as to the pharmacology of Cannabis, that obviously is the place where you can get direct and primary evidence, rather than the indirect hearsay evidence."
Committee members then proceeded to attack Dr. Woodward, questioning his motives in opposing the legislation. Even the Chairman joined in:

The Chairman: If you want to advise us on legislation, you ought to come here with some constructive proposals, rather than criticism, rather than trying to throw obstacles in the way of something that the Federal Government is trying to do. It has not only an unselfish motive in this, but they have a serious responsibility.

Dr. Woodward: We cannot understand yet, Mr. Chairman, why this bill should have been prepared in secret for 2 years without any intimation, even, to the profession, that it was being prepared.
After some further bantering...

The Chairman: I would like to read a quotation from a recent editorial in the Washington Times:
The marihuana cigarette is one of the most insidious of all forms of dope, largely because of the failure of the public to understand its fatal qualities.

The Nation is almost defenseless against it, having no Federal laws to cope with it and virtually no organized campaign for combating it.

The result is tragic.

School children are the prey of peddlers who infest school neighborhoods.

High school boys and girls buy the destructive weed without knowledge of its capacity of harm, and conscienceless dealers sell it with impunity.

This is a national problem, and it must have national attention.

The fatal marihuana cigarette must be recognized as a deadly drug, and American children must be protected against it.
That is a pretty severe indictment. They say it is a national question and that it requires effective legislation. Of course, in a general way, you have responded to all of these statements; but that indicates very clearly that it is an evil of such magnitude that it is recognized by the press of the country as such.
And that was basically it. Yellow journalism won over medical science.

The committee passed the legislation on. And on the floor of the house, the entire discussion was:

Member from upstate New York: "Mr. Speaker, what is this bill about?"

Speaker Rayburn: "I don't know. It has something to do with a thing called marihuana. I think it's a narcotic of some kind."

"Mr. Speaker, does the American Medical Association support this bill?"

Member on the committee jumps up and says: "Their Doctor Wentworth[sic] came down here. They support this bill 100 percent."
And on the basis of that lie, on August 2, 1937, marijuana became illegal at the federal level.

The entire coverage in the New York Times: "President Roosevelt signed today a bill to curb traffic in the narcotic, marihuana, through heavy taxes on transactions."

Anslinger as precursor to the Drug Czars

Anslinger was essentially the first Drug Czar. Even though the term didn't exist until William Bennett's position as director of the White House Office of National Drug Policy, Anslinger acted in a similar fashion. In fact, there are some amazing parallels between Anslinger and the current Drug Czar John Walters. Both had kind of a carte blanche to go around demonizing drugs and drug users. Both had resources and a large public podium for their voice to be heard and to promote their personal agenda. Both lied constantly, often when it was unnecessary. Both were racists. Both had the ear of lawmakers, and both realized that they could persuade legislators and others based on lies, particularly if they could co-opt the media into squelching or downplaying any opposition views.

Anslinger even had the ability to circumvent the First Amendment. He banned the Canadian movie "Drug Addict," a 1946 documentary that realistically depicted the drug addicts and law enforcement efforts. He even tried to get Canada to ban the movie in their own country, or failing that, to prevent U.S. citizens from seeing the movie in Canada. Canada refused. (Today, Drug Czar John Walters is trying to bully Canada into keeping harsh marijuana laws.)

Anslinger had 37 years to solidify the propaganda and stifle opposition. The lies continued the entire time (although the stories would adjust -- the 21 year old Florida boy who killed his family of five got younger each time he told it). In 1961, he looked back at his efforts:


"Much of the most irrational juvenile violence and that has written a new chapter of shame and tragedy is traceable directly to this hemp intoxication. A gang of boys tear the clothes from two school girls and rape the screaming girls, one boy after the other. A sixteen-year-old kills his entire family of five in Florida, a man in Minnesota puts a bullet through the head of a stranger on the road; in Colorado husband tries to shoot his wife, kills her grandmother instead and then kills himself. Every one of these crimes had been proceeded [sic] by the smoking of one or more marijuana "reefers." As the marijuana situation grew worse, I knew action had to be taken to get the proper legislation passed. By 1937 under my direction, the Bureau launched two important steps First, a legislative plan to seek from Congress a new law that would place marijuana and its distribution directly under federal control. Second, on radio and at major forums, such that presented annually by the New York Herald Tribune, I told the story of this evil weed of the fields and river beds and roadsides. I wrote articles for magazines; our agents gave hundreds of lectures to parents, educators, social and civic leaders. In network broadcasts I reported on the growing list of crimes, including murder and rape. I described the nature of marijuana and its close kinship to hashish. I continued to hammer at the facts.

I believe we did a thorough job, for the public was alerted and the laws to protect them were passed, both nationally and at the state level. We also brought under control the wild growing marijuana in this country. Working with local authorities, we cleaned up hundreds of acres of marijuana and we uprooted plants sprouting along the roadsides."
After Anslinger

On a break from college in the 70s, I was visiting a church in rural Illinois. There in the literature racks in the back of the church was a lurid pamphlet about the evils of marijuana -- all the old reefer madness propaganda about how it caused insanity and murder. I approached the minister and said "You can't have this in your church. It's all lies, and the church shouldn't be about promoting lies." Fortunately, my dad believed me, and he had the material removed. He didn't even know how it got there. But without me speaking up, neither he nor the other members of the church had any reason NOT to believe what the pamphlet said. The propaganda machine had been that effective.

The story since then has been a continual litany of:

Politicians wanting to appear tough on crime and passing tougher penalties
Constant increases in spending on law enforcement and prisons
Racist application of drug laws
Taxpayer funded propaganda
Stifling of opposition speech
Political contributions from corporations that profit from marijuana being illegal (pharmaceuticals, alcohol, etc.)

Wheeeeeeeeew...and "that's" why it's illegal!

www.druglibrary.org...

www.druglibrary.org...

www.druglibrary.org...

www.druglibrary.org...

www.druglibrary.org...

www.druglibrary.org...

www.druglibrary.org...

That's worth a Way Above vote in my book... damned good work, LadyV

Originally posted by bet555
The guy that said marijuana makes you want to kill your brother. IS OUTSIDE OF HIS HEAD. ALL I HAVE TO SAY IS .... CHILL ......................and smoke some pot .

Keep in mind that this quote was from the mid thirties...

LadyV ... You single ... LoL .... I am just kidding .... But for real ... THANKS !!!! That is an amazing post thanks ...

Very nice MacKiller. Well thought out and well writen . But Drugs r bad mmmmmmmk ?

You notice that people do not go around saying .... STIMULANTS are bad .. althought for your body they are HORRIBLE .... Whether it be Caffeine , Sugar, Fatty meats. Cigarretees , Fast Food ... Would you rather your children go behind your back and go to some "Drug Dealers" house to get simple Marijuana .. That is exactly the reason that it is the Gateway drug .. is be/c everyone smokes pot ... But when they walk into thier dealers house and 100 Xanax are laid all over the table and he says eat one ... then the person likes it then they start buying them .. Same thing with .... Coaine .. Methamphetomines . Ecstacy .. Or whatever other drugs these dealers may have laying around their house that they are trying to find a different high on .. That your children and you are supplying them money to do so on ... By buying pot from them ...

Originally posted by MacKiller
"Marijuana is the most violence-causing drug in the history of mankind."

Sure...... This statment just brings a smile to my face. I always feel like killing some twinkes when I have smoked.


Reefer Madness: is one of the funniest movies I have ever seen.

[edit on 18-10-2004 by SpittinCobra]

Originally posted by bet555
But when they walk into thier dealers house and 100 Xanax are laid all over the table and he says eat one ... then the person likes it then they start buying them .. Same thing with .... Coaine .. Methamphetomines . Ecstacy .. Or whatever other drugs these dealers may have laying around their house that they are trying to find a different high on .. That your children and you are supplying them money to do so on ... By buying pot from them ...

Ah, but the thing is, you see, if they sold marijuana in stores, legally, people, especially children, wouldn't even be confronted with these other drugs unless they really wanted to be.

I've never bought pot from anybody that asked me for ID... but there are still some places where I can't get a pack of cigarettes. Ask any 15-year-old which is easier to get, booze or weed, and he'll tell you weed... because the drug war is keeping it on the black market, and in the hands of the people that really belong in jail.

Your right .... That is why Weed is the Gateway drug ... it is because all of these people that have the weed are illegal or have other illegal GUNS ... COCAINE ... Whatever .. pills ... if we keep them away from .. the Weed ... then we keep then away from everythign else ...

Originally posted by earthtone
Man brewed the beer , Mother Earth made the herb....Who do you trust

Mother Earth!!! Has anyone OD'd on marijuana? What about alcohol?

Originally posted by AntiPolitrix

Originally posted by earthtone
Man brewed the beer , Mother Earth made the herb....Who do you trust

Mother Earth!!! Has anyone OD'd on marijuana? What about alcohol?

I think he was trying to say .. .MOTHEREARTH IS SMARTER THAN MAN LoL .... not sure ... if everyone got that .. Peace ...

Originally posted by bet555
I think he was trying to say .. .MOTHEREARTH IS SMARTER THAN MAN LoL .... not sure ... if everyone got that .. Peace ...

Safer i would think. Man-made marijuana "kindbud" and "hydro" are much stronger than the earth-made maijuana. Well it is not man made but maybe man inhanced. When humans get involved we always have to make it stronger.

Fact-no one ever died from a overdoce of marijuana
Fact- your buddies never started a fight high, high and drunk maybe, but not high
Fact- The only gateway is having to be AROUND the other drugs trying to get pot. Why hsould an old women go to a bad part of town to try to cop some pot. Horrible

This is what we need to do. The avg person smokes a 1/4 per week, or 7 to 10 joints. Lets see, that is 40 bucks a week, or a little over 2000 a year. Now, what if you could grow your own for that much a year. Sell a licnese to gropw, and make the laws for trafficing very stern with money and LOTS of community service. YOu see, lotterires and taxes are great, but wouldn't you like to help Education.

I have read anywhere between 5 to 35% of AMericans get high, so lets go with 10% purchasing a license. 300,000,000 Americans means 30,000,000 grow it. Do the math...that is 60,000,000,000 dollars for Education... 60 Billion Dollars....I mean, c'mon, look around you at work.You think 1 of every ten people gets high? There are 2 reasons that there is no legalizatiion, it makes the courts too much money, and I would love to know how much alchohol companies donate to say no to drug campaigns....

Lots of apathy, and rightly so. But larger issues concerning the greatest bio-mass on this planet should be looked at too. I know, you have all seen or heard about the USDA film "Hemp for Victory", or maybe some dredged up exerpts from old Popular Science. Perhaps some of you are enlightened enough to have read Jack Herer's book: The Emperor wears no clothes"
Your Grandparents could tell you a thing or two about it too. They may have items made from hemp that have lasted 50 or more years.
the important thing is this: The "Hemp" plant, Marijuana, is the ONLY plant on this Earth that has a wide range of multiple uses. Much of the world goes about their lives using products made from Hemp without all the
hoo-haw and malarky that the USA tries to shove down our throats.
Would you like to have bio-degradable plastics? Hemp can make it so.
Would you like to have inexpensive, fireproof building materials? Hemp again.
The medical aspects are a complete sham, as it's only about how to make use of it at the highest profit.
Every President has rejected every laboratory testing, and created their own tests the way they wanted the results to be.
A good friend of mine did 7 yrs on the UCLA study, as the subject!
Conclusive, finite proof of this study REJECTED by the government.
Jack Herer is a good friend of mine too. I was an original Reefer Raider when we started the whole legalization thing in California. I have worked for twenty years pushing [no pun!] these initiatives, and now leave it to the young informed people that have grown out of the effort.
I am thankful, and applaud all the Hempsters who will one day make that change we strive for. Oh yeah, I have smoked pot for 40 years, I smoke pot now, I will smoke pot later, and no man, or law, will do a damn thing about it!

Sorry, didn't even go into the medical and industrial uses. Well, we could run our cars on it and get high at the same time. No more carbon monoxide poisoning.

It is all about the almighty dollar. If there was more profit in selling than criminalizing I am sure the Phillip Morris would be lobbying Congress right now.

Now, I do not support a 15 y/o getting high everyday in his basement and taking 10 dollars from is mom to go to Taco Bell. I do not support the jock or the brain that blows his scholarship because he starts getting high. It usually atarts at home, that is the gateway to drgus and alchohol for the youth.

I do support a 72 y/o glaucoma patient using daily, or a group of 23 y/o grad students smoking out after finals. What is so different than buying the Devils juice known as alchohol. Never got a hangover from a joint...

Originally posted by bet555
Your right .... That is why Weed is the Gateway drug ... it is because all of these people that have the weed are illegal or have other illegal GUNS ... COCAINE ... Whatever .. pills ... if we keep them away from .. the Weed ... then we keep then away from everythign else ...

that's ridiculous. it is not a gateway drug. different personality types have affinities with different drug types. some smoke cigarettes, but don't drink. some smoke, but don't drink. some people who are naturally hyper, like to smoke to slow the pace. other hyper types, like being hyper and prefer coke. some people like percodans. xtc. acid. mushrooms. speed. heroin. crack. some do every drug they can get their veins on. people CHOOSE using FREE WILL which drugs they would like to use to self medicate themselves.

people will not be stopped. not even in a complete police state could you stop it. there is great power in desire. it is the basis of all markets. it is a natural human drive to get high. all cultures that know how, do it. there has been a BIG ZERO DECREASE in the amount of drug use since the day they made it illegal(choose your drug and day). it is harder to get legal prescription drugs than it is to get illegal drugs. think about THAT.

being a human is the gateway drug.