On November 9th, CBS News published an article entitled ‘Should Pot Be Legal?‘  Far from being just another editorial discussing the failings of our current system, it was actually the first of a two-part debate between an adviser for the Drug Free America Foundation, David Evans, and a speaker for Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, James P. Gray.  The full text is well worth reading no matter what side of the debate you are on, although if you are looking for a well-reasoned argument in favor of our current laws then you are fresh out of luck.

Instead, what we have here is a textbook case of insanity displayed by Mr. Evans.  Although the term is no longer technically used in scientific circles, it is still a legal defense which essentially argues that the accused does not have an understanding that what they have done is harmful to themselves and society.  It could also be argued that Mr. Evans knows full well the impact of his projected ignorance and delusion, but to accuse a man I’ve never met of lying seems irrational in and of itself.  Therefore, we are forced to assume that Mr. Evans actually believes that drug prohibition has been an overall success; and he actually believes that drug use forces people to automatically commit crimes which they otherwise would never dream of.

The honest questions and cold, hard facts presented by Mr. Gray are completely ignored time and time again while Mr. Evans obsesses over manufactured statistics and tired, old (and widely disproved) scare tactics.  A debate which could be helping guide our nation through necessary and beneficial changes has sadly been upended due to one side’s inability to answer simple questions or provide one tangible benefit they have brought to the table.  That he was able to keep a level head and refrain from asking the men in white coats to please get his opponent some help says volumes about the character of Judge Jim Gray–a trial judge in Orange County since 1983.

Thanks to a failed prohibition of certain mind-altering plants which have been revered throughout the world for thousands of years, we have collectively developed the ability to grow plants indoors, efficiently and without any natural sunlight or soil.  The overwhelming demand for these illicit plants, combined with our government’s attempts to disrupt the trade have led to technological and manufacturing accomplishments which will soon have a huge benefit for society as a whole.

If these plants had not been made illegal, indoor gardening would have still been relatively in the stone age (please pardon the pun.)  As it turns out, our drug war did have a purpose:  to make indoor gardening available and monetarily feasible for the majority of the population.  “Mission Accomplished”, thanks to the latest generation of LED grow lights and the corresponding advances in aeroponics (the most efficient, highest yielding form of soil-less growing.)

According to the DEA and Congress, certain plants are too dangerous for us to consume and therefore must be wiped off the face of the earth.  Never mind the gasoline I could just as easily huff or the rubber cement we all played with in elementary school; the thousands of deaths directly attributed to these dangerous substances are worth the risks, just like pharmaceutical concoctions.  But somehow, certain plants are not.  Even a plant that has scientifically been proven to be safer than tylenol, that just happens to have a ‘cousin’ which can be cheaply grown on marginal land and made into practically anything.

This absurd stance has been held by our elected leaders for a very long time now, yet the public is still largely unaware and our (now contradictory) laws remain completely unquestioned by practically all politicians.  A notable exception of late was in the UK, where the top drug adviser was fired for “claiming” that both cannabis and ecstasy are safer than alcohol.  He directly attributes this viewpoint to the results of scientific studies, which overwhelmingly show that both substances are indeed less dangerous to the user and society than alcohol.

One particular article brings up some good points, but stops short of destroying the government’s credibility by citing the actual studies. Opting instead to refer to the former drug adviser’s statement as a “claim”, the article downplays what could the biggest story of the decade:  scientists and respected leaders demanding that drug laws conform to some type of logic and common sense.   Oddly enough, the article leaves the reader to ponder the following quote from Prime Minister Gordon Brown:

“On climate change, or health, for example,” he said, “we take the best scientific advise possible. But in an area like drugs we have to look at it in the round.”

Luckily, the article also provides a list the scientist in question, David Nutt, published as part of a paper that helped lead to his termination as top drug adviser.  It is a list of drugs, ordered from most dangerous to least; and it is based entirely on the latest scientific data available.  Something that Gordon Brown appears unconcerned with, but President Obama will have a tough time convincing his supporters (much less, critics) that scientific integrity doesn’t really matter–at least not in this particular instance, which happens to dictate the use of hundreds of billions of taxpayers’ dollars every year…

The funny thing is, even if Obama refuses to end the policies which were once referred to as the “War on Drugs”; this ongoing battle against ourselves is almost over.  Laws can be quite powerful when properly enforced, but the evolution of technology is easily orders of magnitude more influential in our society today.

Thanks to an insatiable demand for mind-altering substances derived from plants, along with our nation’s attempted prohibition of said plants; the artificial lighting and related indoor gardening industries have come a very long ways just in the past few years.  They have come so far, in fact, that they have rendered law enforcement’s last best tool completely useless:  LED’s and other new, more efficient lights have made it impossible to locate indoor grow operations using electricity usage data and/or thermal imaging equipment.

In addition to making it much easier to circumvent an already unenforceable law, the rapid advance of lighting technology along with corresponding advances in soil-less growing techniques such as aeroponics have made it feasible for the average person to build their own indoor garden, where they can grow their own fresh, organic herbs and vegetables all year long.  Although self-contained, pre-manufactured systems are still relatively expensive, the recent federal policy change recognizing people with state-issued “green” cards ensures that there will be plenty of demand and healthy competition in this emerging market.

The combination of our capitalist system and moral ineptitude has enabled us to develop the tools with which we can build a sustainable society.  Although growing our own food locally, possibly even in our own homes, may seem like a trivial step–keep in mind that food in this country currently averages 1700 miles “from farm to fork”.  Plus, you’ve never tasted a better tomato than one you grew yourself.

Self-sustainability has become much more feasible, thanks entirely to a failed policy which should have scrapped decades ago.  Please be sure to call your representatives in Congress and the Senate, let them know that their ineptitude has actually paid off!  You might also want to let them know that it’s time to finally end our collective misery by following the advice of the U.N. and Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (www.leap.cc).

Then we will win the war in Afghanistan , secure our borders and rebuild our economy while creating sustainable industries (based on the incredible versatility of hemp.)  The politicians will have a field day with their speeches, going on and on about all of the prosperity and opportunity that they have created–by finally scrapping a law they all knew was bogus anyway.  At the very least, it ought to be entertaining.

On October 19,2009 the Obama Administration issued a memo to all U.S. States Attorney’s offices notifying them of a change in policy regarding the prosecution of medical marijuana users.  As stated in the memorandum, the medicinal use of marijuana will no longer be a priority due to a severe lack of resources.  The Department of Justice, however, still refuse to acknowledge that the herb actually has medical value; no doubt to ensure it’s status as a “schedule I narcotic” that must be wiped off the face of the earth.

The memo even includes one statement that is truly comical, as long as you can get past roughly 15,000 violent deaths:

“The Department of Justice is committed to the enforcement of the Controlled Substances Act in all States. Congress has determined that marijuana is a dangerous drug, and the illegal distribution and sale of marijuana is a serious crime and provides a significant source of revenue to large-scale criminal enterprises, gangs, and cartels. One timely example underscores the importance of our efforts to prosecute significant marijuana traffickers: marijuana distribution in the United States remains the single largest source of revenue for the Mexican cartels.”

Despite it’s attempted wording to the contrary, the above example is easily one of the most powerful arguments against our failed prohibition of drugs.  Our unenforceable drug policy provides the black market funds which have allowed these organizations to become so powerful and dangerous. And, as Mexican President Calderon points out:

“To get drugs into the United States, the one you need to corrupt is the American authority, the American customs, the American police – not the Mexican,” Calderón said recently. “And that’s a subject, by the way, which hasn’t been addressed with sincerity.”

Sincerity is a rare word for politicians to use, much less understand; but there is little doubt that President Calderon is onto something here (to continue putting it mildly..)  Albert Einstein once pointed out that “..nothing is more destructive of respect for the government and the law of the land than passing laws which cannot be enforced. It is an open secret that the dangerous increase of crime in this country is closely connected with this.”

He may have been referring to alcohol at the time, but this statement is nonetheless true today.  And if anyone believes that we still have federal funds to waste on this failed war of illogical morality, please consider the following:

The Bankruptcy of The United States, as presented before Congress by Rep. James Traficant, Jr. (Ohio) on March 17, 1993

For actual solutions to the myriad of problems we are now facing as a nation, check out HempUSA.org.

And, exactly why are these people being arrested for planting seeds?  Because those seeds are related to the seeds which produce the dangerous drug, marijuana. A drug that’s so dangerous, our government has NEVER proven a case where someone died from it (by comparison, over two hundred people die every year from reactions to acetametaphine–an over-the counter pain medication found in Tylenol.)

Not only is cannabis (marijuana) safe, it has also been scientifically proven as effective for a wide range of medicinal uses that include breast cancer treatment and adolescent ADD treatment.  According to experts, like the one below who recently testified before Congress, cannabis is hands-down the best treatment available for teens and adults suffering from ADD and ADHD…and somehow, our Congress still pretends that our drug policy is not contradicting it’s own rules while destroying what’s left of this great nation.

The good news is, medical marijuana is already legal in thirteen states and laws encouraging hemp farming have already been passed in seventeen states.  With our President’s assurance that no more federal raids would be conducted against medical marijuana users who are in compliance with state law, our federal government has finally recognized the medical utility of cannabis sativa.  In doing so, they have declared the prohibition against this plant illegal under the stated definition of a “Schedule I Narcotic”–which has the following three provisions:

1.  The drug or other substance has a high potential for abuse.

2.  The drug or other substance has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States.

3.  There is a lack of accepted safety for the drug or other substance under medical supervision.

Now take a look at this video, pretend you are a member of Congress (without the kickbacks from pharmaceutical companies); and tell me whether or not you think ANY of these provisions are being met by the cannabis plant.  Tell me it’s worth gunning down kids and spending hundreds of billions of dollars just to keep us “safe” from a drug that is unquestionably safer than both alcohol and tobacco.  Tell me I don’t have a right to grow my own herbal medicine, which has been scientifically proven as both safer and more effective than pharmaceutical concoctions for literally hundreds of ailments.  Tell me one single benefit to society from our current (failed) prohibition, and maybe I’ll change my mind; possibly even vote for you in the next election…

If you are a U.S. citizen, please call your congress representative today and demand accountability for this ongoing atrocity; after all, it is our money they keep wasting.  Click here to visit Congress.org, where you can find all the contact information for your representative–and even send them messages directly.

The following quote is taken from an article found at www.OregonBusiness.com–Jobs Watch:  Hemp for the masses

“NAT’s partnerships with the decidedly non-hippy powerhouses Hanes and Georgia Pacific offer hints about the company’s plans. The goal is the no-nonsense, low-cost, mass production of industrial hemp, initially for the apparel and pulp industries and eventually for natural plastics and biofuels. The company has trademarked a fiber technology called Crailar that Barker hopes to build into the next big apparel ingredient in the tradition of Lycra and Gore-Tex, but plant-based and organic.

The idea isn’t to replace the mountains of petroleum-based polyester used by Nike and Adidas, or the fields of pesticide-covered cotton gobbled up by Hanes and Levi Strauss, but rather to introduce Crailar into the existing system of textile manufacturing, as an option for manufacturers interested in going green. Thus the partnership with Hanes and textile researchers at North Carolina State.

The same general principle applies to the pulp industry, which is in deep trouble these days and could use some fresh ideas. Think paper towels and napkins without the stumps. The fact that Georgia Pacific has signed on suggests that the potential is there.

Barker calls hemp a “super-crop.” There is no disputing that hemp is a proven performer that grows like a weed without pesticides. It is also illegal, at the federal level, although Oregon recently became the seventh state to vote to legalize it at the statewide level.  Barker argues that harvesting hemp locally would make sense, but in the meantime he says it is easy to import from Canada.”

So, the moral of the story is that we will soon be importing lots more hemp from Canada–where it is quickly helping them to actually create sustainable industries which benefit local farmers.  And, at a horrific cost to the taxpayers, we are also importing one other item from Canada:  the Prince of Pot, Marc Emery.  A man whom historians and schoolchildren alike will one day celebrate–if they are not doing so already..

The Loss of a Hero (Marc Emery Farewell Speech Clip)

Drug warriors love to speculate about the potential terrors caused by a population trusted to make decisions for themselves, so why aren’t they more inclined to discuss some of this country’s most famous users of these evil substances?

Understanding the drug fiend’s mind should give us an idea of what to expect once our drug laws are repealed, at which point it is expected that half the population will immediately start shooting up heroin and, eventually, try to steal your furniture.

Please note that there is no attempt at ordering the respective effects these criminals have had on society, but as you might notice the list is far from complete.  Any additions, comments or even confessions from other evildoers are more than welcome.

Barack Obama; Bob Marley; Carl Sagan; Richard Feynman; Michael Hollingshead; Cary Grant; Woody Harrelson; John Lennon; Stephen King; Marc Emery; Clarence Thomas; Jack Herer; Allen Ginsberg; Alexander Shulgin; Charles Dodgson(a.k.a. Lewis Carroll, who might not have actually used any illicit drugs–yet practically everyone agrees he referenced both cannabis and mushrooms in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland); R. Gordon Wasson; Aldous Huxley; Philip K. Dick; Carlos Castaneda; Willie Nelson; Oliver Stone; Dennis Hopper; Joe Rogan; Dave Chappelle; Jerry Garcia; Jim Morrison;Robert Louis Stevenson; Layne Staley; Jennifer Anniston; Sigmund Freud; Kurt Cobain;Tupac Shakur;Bob Dillon;Mick Jagger; Tommy Chong; George Harrison;Paul McCartney; Matthew McConaughey; Brad Pitt; Snoop Dogg; Thomas Jefferson; George Washington; Benjamin Franklin; Louis Armstrong; Bruce Lee; Richard Alpert; Timothy Leary; Jack Kerouac; Hunter S. Thompson; Robert Anton Wilson; Terence McKenna; Adolf Hitler; Sherlock Holmes; Ken Kesey; Abbie Hoffman; Notorious B.I.G.; Ray Charles; Arnold Schwarzenegger; Al Gore; G.W. Bush; John Belushi; Robin Williams; Tim Allen; Sting; Eminem; Bill Hicks; Wynona Ryder; Neal Cassady; James Brown; David Bowie; Bob Denver; Neil Diamond; Bill Murray; Carlos Santana; Charlie Sheen; Newt Gingrich…

The following comes from an article written by Norm Stamper, which can be found here in it’s entirety.  It is truly amazing:

“..In all my years on the streets, it was an extremely rare occasion to have a night go by without an alcohol-related incident. More often than not, there were multiple alcohol-related calls during a shift. I became accustomed to the pattern (and the odor). If I was called to a part of town with a concentration of bars or to the local university, I could expect to be greeted by one or more drunks, flexing their “beer muscles,” either in the throes of a fight or looking to start one. Sadly, the same was often true when I received a domestic abuse call. More often than not, these conflicts–many having erupted into physical violence–were fueled by one or both participants having overindulged in alcohol.

In case you might be thinking my observations are unique, let me share the results of some informal research I have conducted on my own. Over the past four years, out of a general interest in this subject, I’ve been asking police officers throughout the U.S. (and Canada) two questions. First: “When’s the last time you had to fight someone under the influence of marijuana?” (And by this I mean marijuana only, not pot plus a six-pack or fifth of tequila.) My colleagues pause; they reflect. Their eyes widen as they realize that in their five or fifteen or thirty years on the job they have never had to fight a marijuana user. I then ask, “When’s the last time you had to fight a drunk?” They look at their watches. It’s telling that the booze question is answered in terms of hours, not days or weeks.

The plain and simple truth is that alcohol fuels violent behavior and marijuana does not. As described in great detail in Chapter 7, alcohol contributes to literally millions of acts of violence in the United States each year. It is a major contributing factor to crimes like domestic violence, sexual assault, and homicide. Marijuana use, on the other hand, is absent in that regard from both crime reports and the scientific literature. There is simply no causal link to be found.

As one who has been entrusted with maintaining the public’s safety, I strongly believe–and most people agree–that our laws should punish people who do harm to others. This is true whether we are talking about violent crimes like murder and assault or nonviolent crimes like shoplifting or insider trading. It is also appropriate to punish other behavior that threatens public safety such as speeding or driving through red lights. All of these laws are clearly designed to protect our citizens

But by banning the use of marijuana and punishing individuals who merely possess the substance, it is difficult to see what harm we are trying to prevent. It bears repeating: From my own work and the experiences of other members of the law enforcement community, it is abundantly clear that marijuana is rarely, if ever, the cause of harmfully disruptive or violent behavior. In fact, I would go so far as to say that marijuana use often helps to tamp down tensions where they otherwise might exist.

That marijuana causes very little social harm is reason enough in a free society to legalize it for adults. But as Steve, Paul, and Mason so brilliantly demonstrate in this book, an even more persuasive reason is that by prohibiting marijuana we are steering people toward a substance that far too many people already abuse, namely alcohol. Can marijuana be abused? Of course. But, as this book makes clear, it is a much safer product for social and recreational use than alcohol. Where is the logic, then, in allowing adults to use alcohol but arresting them and branding them as criminals if they choose to use marijuana instead?

Let me be clear. The problem does not lie with law enforcement officials. Your police officers take an oath to uphold the law and cannot simply turn their backs when they see marijuana statutes violated. What we need is to replace the current system of prohibition with new laws that permit and regulate the sale of marijuana, an excellent framework for which is provided in this extraordinary book. Read it, and you’ll agree it is time we stop driving the American people to drink. Instead, we should simply and logically allow them to use a safer alternative, if that is what they prefer.”

Norm Stamper
June 2009

I’m happy to join in a conspiracy of the authors to get this book into as many hands as possible. They would like you to consider taking part in The Great Marijuana Book Bomb of 2009 on Thursday, August 20. The authors of Marijuana is Safer are making a one-day push on Amazon.com to drive the book to #1 on the site’s rankings. Just visit the Book Bomb site, and enter your email address and you will receive a reminder on August 20. Or just make a note in your calendar to buy the book on Amazon.com that day. I hope you will support the effort.

Follow Norm Stamper on Twitter: www.twitter.com/CopsSayLegalize

“It’s been 31 years since America got its first whiff of ‘Up in Smoke’ and the herbally-enhanced comedic stylings of Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong. Now, in 2009, after decades of very high highs and some behind-bars lows, the toking duo is being heralded for their impact on culture in VH1’s ‘Lords of the Revolution’ (airing Aug. 10-14 on VH1) along with the likes of Muhammad Ali, Andy Warhol and other legends. PopEater was able to chat with Cheech and Chong about the honors, Cheech’s marriage just this past weekend and also how legalized marijuana could kill the recession..”

Click here to read the full article, which also has some interesting videos and links.

For the most powerful man in the world, that’s probably a brutal question.  Not because there’s any chance he will actually light up in front of all the cameras during Thursday’s little shindig, but–being a fellow nicotine addict–I know how great the two go together.  Just like all too many of my fellow ‘consumers’, I know these things all too well.  And, I do believe that our President fits into that same category.

Whether we like it or not, we (even those of us who don’t drink or smoke) are all a bunch of addicts to a wide variety of behaviors that are killing us.  Yet, when it comes to beer and nicotine, we often understand these risks and proceed anyway.  (Whereas, with many other bad habits, we do them without any second thoughts or understanding of their existence whatsoever.)

Let’s take the beers that they plan to drink for example:  according to medical professors at colleges such as Harvard, alcohol has been proven to be a key factor in escalating already tense situations between headstrong individuals.  Furthermore, excessive consumption of beer (or any form of alcohol) has repeatedly been proven to lead to violence and/or idiotic behavior from the participants–proof of which can be found easily by searching YouTube for clips of a drunken G.W. Bush; a guy who, by the way, was probably a riot at parties…  So, why is a guy as smart as Obama doing this?

The answer to this question is probably just a challenging as the first–and yet, it is as plain as day for anyone who enjoys beer:  mind-altering drugs can also often make tense social situations much more tolerable, and possibly even enjoyable.  Beyond this, it represents an adherence to group ritualistic behavior and often leads to at least a certain degree of “bonding” between the individuals.

Or, perhaps his logic behind the offer was as simple as acknowledging that drinking a beer helps him to take the edge off–which, honestly, seems pretty necessary for a guy who’s being asked to save this country from a depression that’s been a hundred years in the making.  Who could blame the guy for wanting to share a few beers?  And, what the hell, maybe smoke some  cigars?  How many of our great leaders, cops, professors and writers of the past have thoroughly enjoyed the taste of a good cigar–does any of us have the right to criticize what these dedicated public servants puts into their own body?  Talk about your loaded questions..

Racism is a Legitimate (and much bigger) Problem

If the President and his future drinking buddies were to research a bit more of what Harvard professors are saying about mind-altering drugs, they may well be turning those cigars into blunts.  For those unfamiliar with the term, a “blunt” is a cigar that has been hollowed out and packed with marijuana, or cannabis sativa, if you prefer not to use the racist slang term officially adopted by our federal government.

Cannabis, as it turns out, has been used throughout the world as medicine for more than four thousand years–roughly when the herb was first recorded as useful medicine in the Chinese pharmacopoeia.  Scientific data and leading researchers all point to the vast potential of this natural medicine, yet our federal government has failed to acknowledge that the plant is a legitimate medicine for any sort of ailment whatsoever.

A well-respected Harvard professor, Dr. Lester Grinspoon, first published a book about the potential of cannabis in 1971.  To date, he is still a professor at the school and is reportedly coming out with a new book detailing the seemingly infinite uses of cannabis as medicine.  The book is a much-anticipated extension of his popular website, Marijuana-Uses.com.  According to an article written by Grinspoon, and found here:  “To Smoke or not to Smoke:  A Cannabis Odyssey”, the evidence of marijuana’s effectiveness and relatively minor side-effects overwhelmed his original intent–over thirty years ago–to debunk and finally put to rest the persistent rumors that marijuana was safer and more effective than anything our pharmaceutical companies could produce.   But what, exactly, does this have to do with racism being a legitimate problem?

The reality is that we live in a world infatuated with drugs, and by ‘drugs’ I mean mind-altering substances.  I recognize that there are countless medicines which are, in fact, technically ‘drugs’–yet do not mess with your mind, however for the purposes of this document they seem irrelevant.  Or, rather, they seem much less interesting than the illegal substances which can reportedly have massive effects on our minds.  And, when we are dealing with ‘drugs’ that have been deemed illegal, these substances also have massive effects on our entire culture.

Prohibition was declared a failure over seventy years ago, so why are we still trying to make it work against indigenous cultures and various peoples who have chosen to intoxicate themselves with something other than beer and cigarettes?  Considering the disproportionate and sickening number of minority inmates doing time for involvement with illegal drugs, how can anyone deny the racial implications of our current federal policy?

How can our President ignore the bloodshed in Mexico that is a direct result of our misguided policies, and exactly how long can Congress continue to justify spending Trillions of taxpayer dollars to ensure that there will always be a healthy black market to fund terrorism and criminal activity throughout the globe?

For a much more in-depth look at the realities of our drug wars, check out this Bill Moyers interview with former journalist and creator of the acclaimed series, “The Wire”, David Simon. It is, hands down, the best interview I personally have ever seen anywyhere.  There is no doubt that prohibition continues to be a horrible failure and tremendous burden on us all, and I know that our President feels the same way.  Perhaps not because of his recent actions, but rather due to his background and statements before running for president.

Given the overwhelming endorsement–by no less than Obama’s now-famous legion of online supporters–of drug law reform despite a massive propaganda campagin that you and I continue to fund, it seems inevitable that hemp production will once again be legal and marijuana sales will soon be taxed.  In doing so, our new President will be revitalizing the American economy, helping the environment immensely and proving to the world that we are ready to face the reality we have created.  And, eventually, maybe we can even start to build cars like the Lotus Elise below, which is constructed mainly of hemp-based fibers and resins–actually making it lighter and stronger than the original production model.  With cars this green, driving may be one of the healthiest addictions there is.  Maybe not quite, but it beats the hell out of smoking a cigarette.