Would Somebody Please Give the U.S. a Big Joint. Now!
Comments: 16
How fucked up is America these days? People really need to loosen up — I’m talking LSD in the water supply for a few weeks and then we’ll see how things look. Not content with threatening Syria and France, the U.S. turns its steely gaze to Canada.
U.S. warns Canada against easing pot laws
CBC NewsA top White House drug policy official is threatening retaliation from the U.S. if Canada relaxes its laws against marijuana possession.
That’s right. Pot. They’re threatening retaliation over pot.
He [David Murray, right-hand man to U.S. “drug czar” John Walters] said if marijuana becomes more widely used in Canada, it could penetrate more widely into the U.S.
Hey, why not? There’s an ex-cokehead in the White House. Let’s try something mellow for a change.
Murray tried to express the feeling in the U.S. that looser drug laws go hand-in-hand with an increase in crime and drug addiction among youth, and used some apocalyptic language to do it.
“You can’t wall this off saying, ‘We’re only talking about a little cannabis.’ Our experience is they come together like the Four Horsemen,” he said.
I don’t have the reference handy (my copy of the book is in Australia, shelved along with all the other volumes from my teenage years somewhere in my parents’ house) but I remember reading in The Marijuana Papers by Theodore Rosen (I believe) that not only was marijuana decriminalisation in The Netherlands not linked to an increase in crime, but that usage of marijuana in fact decreased. Likewise, studies showed that it was not acting as a ‘gateway’ drug to harder stuff.
Murray said Canada’s reputation in the global community would be forever altered if it decided to decriminalize pot.
This is true. Canada’s reputation would only improve further.
“It’s not just Canada’s relationship with the United States that would change; it’s Canada’s relationship with the world,” he said.
Oh, yeah … just like we shun The Netherlands now. For cryin’ out loud.
The U.S. incarcerates more of its population than any other country on earth. Imagine the savings in money and manpower that could be realised if a more sensible approach was taken to an essentially harmless past-time like smoking pot. Why, cops could actually turn their attention to more meaningful pursuits. (Yes, yes, I know that smoking anything is bad for you, but pot doesn’t exactly kill people the way booze and cigarettes and heroin do).
If anyone’s about to get shunned by the international community, it’s the U.S. Too bad they got the guns so there’s nothing we can do about it.
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Posted to General Rants 2003.05.03 (Sat) • 21:37
Comments
Posted by sam 2003.05.03, 22:45
If you are concerned about the negative health effects of marijuana smoking, then you should look into the process of ‘vaporization’. THC boils at about 280 degrees F, if I remember correctly, where plant material burns at around 450 degrees F. If you heat the marijuana up past 280F, but not all the way to 450F, then the THC will boil off, forming a thin white haze. That haze can be inhaled like smoke, but unlike smoke, it contains none of the toxic by products of burning plant material, such as tar, benzene, carbon monoxide, etc. They are also considerably more efficient, because they have a higher rate of utilization due to the fact that you aren’t destroying a portion of the THC using a hot lighter flame.
You can build a vaporizer for under 30$ using a 40W lightbulb with an aluminum foil ‘tray’ molded around it, and placed inside a large glass or plastic jar with a hose coming out of it. There are also numerous commercial varieties.
I highly recommend them for the use of marijuana, because they basically eliminate all known health problems associated with marijuana smoking. The US National Institute for Health has noted recently that they can find no evidence of long term side effects from the use of pure THC, and that the dangers of smoking marijuana are related soley to things people do while on it (like driving, which is a no no) or from the smoke itself, which is the same danger you get when you burn and inhale any plant material (including tobacco).
Peace, Sam
Posted by Ep 2003.05.03, 23:20
It’s not really the entire country. According to your post it’s just one official in the White House. Anyway, do you see us declaring holy Christian war on the Middle East because they’re on our soil?
Posted by M Sinclair Stevens 2003.05.04, 00:24
If you think fascism looks bad on the outside, think what it’s like here on the inside. So far they’ve redefined “freedom of speech” to mean “freedom to voice your opinion as long as it supports us” and democracy to mean “the majority rules only if it agrees with us; if you don’t agree with us, we’ll threaten you until you do; and if you still don’t agree with us, then we’ll just do what we want anyway.” There is no concept of equal protection under the law; both Bush governors pushed strict legislation for first time teen offenders of underage drinking and DUI—but when their own daughters ran afoul of the law, they got them off and whined that the press was “picking” on their families. And people can be held indefinitely without being charged or without access to a lawyer.
“Terrorist” is the new “Communist”, the magic word invoked whenever the government wants to chip away at what were thought to be “inalienable” rights (rights not granted by the state and so not revokable by the state). They tell is it’s all about ensuring our “safety”; I guess they’ve stopped teaching that this country was founded on the idea “Give me liberty or give me death.” Now it’s “Liberties, schmibberties…keep me safe.”
Nowadays, protection of individual rights is not as important as protection of corporate rights. And a lot of good a federal income tax reduction is going to do me when I was laid off work two years ago—so I have no income. But because the state governments have been bankrupted by federal policies, my property taxes have risen from $500 a year to $5000 a year in ten years!
Oh yeah, like the majority of Americans, I voted for Gore.
Posted by pete 2003.05.04, 01:52
i will never understand why we let these idiots in governments to control the use of a fucking natural plant… Why do we let them do it!?
Like a lot of things at the moment, I find myself just simply not understanding the thinking behind actions. I just don’t get it… Why do the ban this stuff again? And why do we let them!?
Holland is one of the most mature and chilled out country’s I’ve ever been to. They got it right.
Posted by kev 2003.05.04, 02:10
You all must be missing ads they’re running here in the states… Basically saying that marijuana use causes any number of things.. from teenage pregnacy to a teenager shooting himself in the head by accident as well as another teen accidentally running over his own brother in his car while high. Never mind that alcohol is a legal contributor to all of these things. Not to mention the myriad issues involved in the accidental-suicide-by-playing-with-a-gun ad. It’s literally a return to the 50s and the Reefer Madness days. I’ve laughed out loud a number of times at these ads, thinking they’re jokes. they are, but not intentionally. the obvious message they end up sending is that you can’t get ‘high’… unless you’re using a legal, government-controlled substance.
Posted by bob 2003.05.04, 09:49
i recently received a 1000 dollar fine, 75 hours community service, general probation (if i do anything wrong, i’m kicked out), and a book report assignment for smoking pot on my college campus.
i tried appealing it but they denied it. i find it simply amazing that punishments this harsh would be given out for a little pot. (i had well under 2oz on me so it woulda just been a class b misdeameanor). especially when my college is giving out alcohol violations left and right that are only 50 bucks.
i could drink myself silly and walk around screaming obscenities at people and be fined 50 dollars.. but if i fall asleep in my room high all hell breaks loose… i just don’t understand..
Posted by MacDara 2003.05.04, 21:03
I remember reading somewhere marijuana was only criminalised in the States as recently as the 1920’s, when the tobacco lobby got uppity due to the threat of cannabis as a more versatile crop? I mean, you can’t make a rope with tabaccy!
When you get to the root of it, these things are never about morality. They’re always about politics and power. Morality is just used as a veil or a shield to shame those who might seek the truth.
Posted by Mr. X 2003.05.05, 04:36
come on guys… You should know by know… The reason it’s illegal is $$. It’s ALWAYS about $$.
And also a control thing: it’s easier to keep drunk and numb groups of people in line than stoned and thinking ones. They don’t want the 70’s to happen again…
I always thought it would be interesting to see how a Saturday night would feel in NYC if everyone was stoned instead of drunk. Would be nice…
Posted by Kris 2003.05.06, 16:55
I live in Holland and sometimes at night you see pockets of youth gathered in the streets. Usually I go around them to avoid getting in trouble, but if I smell pot I know there is nothing to worry about and I walk right through.
Now, alcohol; that one makes people dangerous.
Posted by marijuana seeds 2003.09.21, 00:08
Kris is right. Pot makes people calm down. Check this:
Casual drug users should be taken out and shot” Darryl Gates Head of Los Angeles Police Department United States Senate Judiciary Committee (1990)
Posted by growing marijuana 2003.11.12, 06:28
i could drink myself silly and walk around screaming obscenities at people and be fined 50 dollars.. but if i fall asleep in my room high all hell breaks loose… i just don’t understand..
Yes, it’sreally silly. We need to stand up and fight but that’s the difficult part. Or we can move to sudden places in India where you are aloud to smoke pot, or go to Holland, not only Amsterdam where it is aloud.
We should be free to smoke!
Posted by Phil 2004.02.03, 04:23
Well let me start off by saying I used to smoke alot of pot when I was younger and I see what everyone is saying about we should be able to smoke it but here is the thing you gotta remember. The U.S. Goverment makes alot of money of marijuana, in fact they make alot more stoppiong it coming in the country then they would selling it.
Also people could grow their own easily therefor the gov wouldn’t make any real $$$ off it anyways.
I would prefer it too be illegal then for my taxes to double because more people started smoking then drinking…
Think about the economy…
Again just my 2 cents I’d rather more people smoke and drive thendrink and drive I guess though :)
Posted by bilbo 2004.03.22, 21:34
i think ot should be smoked all the time as wen i smoked itk, it make me feel so much better i had my first orgasm with it
Posted by Michelle 2004.08.24, 06:58
I’m an American and I absolutely love Canada! This president sickens me. Amending the constitution so that people who love each other are not allowed to marry because they happen to have the same parts! Disgraceful! How can we say we are free when we aren’t allowed to decide what we put into our bodies? Alcohol is legal, and dangerous. How many fights are started after a joint is shared? Now, how many fights are started after a bottle of Jack is shared? I’d venture to say you’re gonna have a high number in that second category and 0 in the first. Our government attempts to brainwash us with television ads on the dangers of smoking pot. BULL SHIT! The dangerous thing about smoking pot is how we’re forced to obtain it! Meeting a shady dealer in a back alley is not SAFE! I know there ARE safe dealers, but what chances we have to take to find out for ourselves! If only this country was what it claims to be…free. sigh
Posted by OUT 2 FAR 2005.10.11, 12:27
Well see, I think that America didn’t ever really want to deal with the taxes of a subtance that wasn’t ment to stick around threw the generations. They wanted to expunge this shit from Americas record, if you know what I mean. If we could get all the senetors to legalize the free trade and cultavation of marijauna, (sorry about spelling) we could skip by all the other drugs that are on those illicit lists. I say this because production of un-safe pills i.e. diet supplments need to be regulated, these people dont want to die to lose the weight. Sorry to say but I think they kinda want to be around to see the weight lose, right? The goverment needs a better check to the legislative, to relax the power that these sentors and HR have established. I ask this thread one question, what happens if no one votes? They get what they want,right? Of course. What happens when 21 million 18-30 yr. olds vote? We get a fucked up coke head! Wait lost where I was going see what pot does! Ok so… what happens if everyone that can does vote? YEaH thats right the coke head would still win. Yah know why tho? Because we had two choice one: go to war, two: Peace talks that end up with another bombing. Because when Clinton opened his yap he pissed off a small section of the world, that didn’t beleive in his ideals. You guess it, Bush is just the clean up man that everyone loves to hate.
Posted by pot man 2005.12.31, 10:30
I would have to say I agree with most of the above statements I was once an active duty us solider and also spent sometime in the national guard from witch I was given a general discharge why? Because the army piss tests everyone @ one point or another and I came up positive for THC metabolites big fucking crime right? well I guess not because they just gave me a slap on the wrist. No disonhorable discharge or any punitive actions they even told me I could come back in two years and re-enlist if my pee was clean. The thing that pisses me off the most is you can buy and drink alcohol until it rots your insides. Or you can get a hold of supposed prescribed pain killers and destroy your liver twice as fast and the government could care less because they still hand out the licences and permits to mass manufacture booze and pills! But if you want to just sit back and relax in your own home mind you and smoke some marijuana you are automatically a hardened criminal even if you have never done anything wrong and I don’t think smoking pot is. So if Canada’s citizens want to legalize marijuana let them! and fuck bush because of him more people are behind bars even though the states they live in said they had the medical right to use marijuana. this country isn’t free just think of all the liberties your promised but are denied
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