Good News for Kieran!

He won't be required to rewrite his final exams and his marks will be unaffected by his suspension. Who would have thought that a fifteen year old kid could cause so much trouble, eh? Good job!

The Fruits of Activism

There are many days when I am pounding away at my blog, organizing a fundraising event, knee-deep in bookkeeping or manufacturing a protest sign, that I wonder why I bother. Does anything that I do or say really make an impact on this world? Is anybody going to change their mind about the war on drugs based on anything that I say or do? Maybe I should just get a new hobby.

The recent events in Wawota have given me hope that we can make a difference and reach more people. A carful of activists brandishing signs and video cameras can make a difference. All it cost was a few sheets of bristol board and a tank full of gas.

The media attention to this story has all been overwhelmingly positive. Take this editorial written by Colby Cosh.

What fascinates me about the case of Kieran King, the Saskatchewan high school student who was threatened, punished and slandered by various officials over the past three weeks for talking with some pals about the health effects of marijuana, is that it explodes almost every single utopian cliche about public schools that has been ever propounded by their employees and admirers. It's almost glorious, in a way. Ever heard an educator say "We're not here to teach students what to think -- we're here to teach them how to think"? BLAMMO! "We encourage children to make learning a lifelong process." KAPOW! Poor Kieran didn't even make it to age 16 before someone called the cops.

"Diversity is one of our most cherished values." But express a factually true opinion that diverges from what you've been taught and -- WHOOMP! "Public schools aren't crude instruments of social control, they're places where we lay the foundation for an informed citizenry." BOOM!

I could go on, but I'm running out of sound effects and I really don't have time to fire up an old Batman episode on You-Tube to gather more.

Go ahead and read the whole thing. Cosh articulates what I have been thinking all week and explains why I have been so disgruntled by the state of public education. I am one of the indoctrinators and I know that reefer madness runs rampant through the school system. I want to fight it and challenge it but I am not sure how to do that. Supporting Kieran King was a great thing to do and it surely will be a tiny babystep forward to the cause of ending reefer madness and instituting a sensible drug policy.

The school system needs to be shaken up further but I am not sure how to do that. If we can not prevent our childrens' minds from being warped by reefer madness, what hope do we have of ending it? I was wondering if focussing our activism on the school system (and annoying all my co-workers) is not the best use of our limited time and resources.

For example, maybe I should try to raise some money in order to donate pro-cannabis literature to the Saskatoon Public School Division. Why not give the local high schools a few copies of BUD INC or The Emperor Wears no Clothes? If the school board bans it, we can picket the school board office downtown and get all kinds of publicity out of it. If the schools allow the literature in the schools, then high school students will be exposed to pro-drug reform books. Either scenario is very win-win. Maybe we should find a way to start a Students for Sensible Drug Policy chapter.

Wawota goes National

MONTREAL, The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws in Canada (NORML) and Canadian Students for Sensible Drug Policy (CSSDP) today called for an immediate investigation into the actions of Wawota Parkland School's Principal Susan Wilson in the case of 15 year old Kieran King, who was threatened with police action and ultimately suspended for talking to his fellow students about the relative harmfulness of marijuana. Libby Davies, while not calling for the investigation, expressed support for Kieran's right to debate the issue. Link

CTV has picked up this story. Who would have thought that a bunch of potheads could have such an impact? This is awesome!

Barry Cooper is at it again

Remember him? The cop peddling the DVD full of terrible advice called "Never Get Busted"? Remember when Loretta Nall chastised him for sending the DVD in an envelope with the words "Never Get Busted" placed as the return address? Well, now he is planning to sue Loretta.

What a tool.

Speaking of liars

While composing my previous post I stumbled upon "The Best Anti-Pot Campaign Ever." I figured that a campaign that Slate gave an A rating would at least be somewhat interesting, funny or true to life. But it is the same stupid nonsense that even the most stoned teenager is going to laugh at. I can't figure out how to embed the video so I am just going to post a link to the Slate article. Here it is and here is the description of the video as posted on Slate:

A cartoon guy and gal are hanging out in a crudely drawn landscape. The guy puffs on a joint and exhales a jet of smoke. "Not again," says the disappointed girl. Suddenly, a UFO descends from the sky. A small alien emerges and walks over to the couple. The guy politely offers the alien a toke, but the creature declines—and at this, the girl swoons. We see the alien and the girl fly off together in the spaceship, leaving the jilted stoner alone with his thoughts.

Hmmm, females are passive and need to be rescued by strong, handsome aliens. I know what I do when I am hanging around with my friends and they want to get stoned while I have better or more interesting things to do: I leave. Just what we need is the government reinforcing stupid stereotypes.

"It's easy to do ads about drugs like heroin and meth, and the awful consequences that manifest," says Tom Riley, director of public affairs at the Office of National Drug Control Policy. "It's harder to make ads about marijuana. 'Marijuana's gonna melt your face off' isn't really a credible thing to say to teens."

It's great when the ONDCP admits in so many words that the truth is interfering in their anti-drug campaigns.

The second ad was just as stupid. We have a pot-smoker being chastized by his dog to stop smoking. When the pothead decides to "Wait 'til next week", the dog expresses his disappointment. Here is Stevenson raving about the greatness of the ad:

Of all the legitimate fears that gnaw at the average marijuana user, two of the more troubling are 1) the fear that nonsmoker friends, or lovers, might find them tiresome and pathetic, and 2) the fear that they might be growing dependent on the drug. This campaign effectively picks at both of these insecurities. Just as important (when it comes to reaching too-cool teens), it does so in a low-key, unembellished manner.

The only legitimate fears a pot-smoker has are getting busted or failing a drug test. If your friends judge you for choosing a far safer recreatonal substance than alcohol or tobacco, you need new friends.

Re-do the ad but replace marijuana with other addictive substances like potato chips, chocolate bars, take-out food and candy. See if your ad still seems brilliant.

I expected a lot better from Slate than cheerleading the drug warriors while they waste more money on pointless anti-drug ads. This is especially infuriating when you consider that it comes from a supposed former pot smoker. Thanks a lot, Uncle Tom.

Won't Somebody PLEASE Think of the Children?

A study being released today of more than 10 million online messages written by teens in the past year shows they regularly chat about drinking alcohol, smoking pot, partying and hooking up. The Caron Treatment Centers, a non-profit program in Wernersville, Pa., that also funds research into drug addiction, commissioned the study by Nielsen BuzzMetrics.

Nielsen analysts used a computer program to search blogs, public chat rooms, message boards and other places that attract teens. About 2% of the posts specifically mentioned drugs or alcohol.

The study offers insight into what teens talk about online and classifies the messages into common themes. Many of the teens who posted messages about drugs or alcohol often traded information about using illicit substances without getting hurt or caught. Some teens debated drug legalization and the drinking age. Other teens recounted their partying experiences, including sexual liaisons while drunk or high, the study says.

Now kids are talking about drinking and partying on the internet instead of just talking about it while they are drinking and partying. NOOOOO!!!!!

This was my favorite part:

The misinformation on the Internet about drugs is staggering, says Carol Falkowski, director of research communications for Hazelden Foundation, an addiction treatment, education and research center in Center City, Minn. "What kids used to learn about drugs on street corners, they now learn online," Falkowski says. The Internet "erases geographic and social boundaries," she says. "Kids who live in remote areas can develop a camaraderie online of drug-abusing kids. They can share stories about drug experiences."

Better stay away from Pushing Back. The drug czar lies constantly. I would trust the dopiest myspace teen over THAT guy.

Should I feel sorry for this guy?

Talk about irony. An anti-narcotics consultant is being sentenced for possession after being caught with 2 poppy bulbs and 0.6 grams of hashish. Apparently, Damian over at Small Dead Animals thinks we should sympathize because of the overwhelming evidence of his innocence of the "crime" of possessing the wrong and politically incorrect plants. However, it is difficult for me to feel sympathy for somebody that earns money by being part of the corrupt WAR ON DRUGS in the first place.

Another of my crummy LTE's

I got this published on Saturday:

PROTECT CHILDREN BY ENDING UNPRODUCTIVE WAR ON DRUGS

The article, Drug house parents face charges ( SP, June 5 ), illustrates perfectly what a complete disaster our drug policy has been for families.

In response to the dangers posed by "toxic marijuana grow operations," Alberta passed legislation that allows removing children from dangerous situations posed by drugs.

The Drug Endangered Children Act is a Band-Aid. If we are truly sincere in our desire to protect children from the dangers of a house full of plants, legalizing marijuana would be the best way to achieve that goal.

In the same way that ending the prohibition of alcohol put an end to stills and bootlegging, legalizing marijuana would put an end to grow-ops.

The war on drugs has made it very profitable to grow plants indoors under heat lamps that waste a lot of electricity. In a legal market, nobody would choose to grow marijuana indoors. The only way to eliminate the environmental impact of grow-ops is to legislate them out of existence.

We claim to care about children and the environment, yet the government continues the war on drugs. Exaggerating the risks posed by marijuana grow-ops gives readers what they expect in a story about drug house parents. But it does not tell the whole story.

There are better ways to save the children.

Wawota and Reefer Madness

Latest News: Star Phoenix Article

I am finding the situation in Wawota is hitting a little too close to home for me these days. I work for the Saskatoon Public School division and a tiny part of me identifies with the reefer madness indoctrinated school principal who probably still believes that she was just doing the right thing for her students. Knowing and understanding reefer madness as well as I do, as well as the nature of small communities, it was only a matter of time before a situation like this blew up. I remember how I felt when I discovered that the school system taught kids some pretty hyped up exaggerations and lies, all in the name of keeping kids away from drugs.

When the RCMP came to our school when I was in about grade 6 or 7 with glass suitcases filled with illegal drugs that I had never heard of, it did make me curious to try them. “Marijuana causes hallucinations and temporary insanity? That sounds like fun!“ I remember bragging to my friends that I had used marijuana to increase my street cred, (I was lying). My favorite question to ask authority figures about drugs was “Why do people use drugs if they cause all these bad things?” The explanations that I was given were not convincing. I did not believe that people used drugs because they were addicts. Why did they become addicts? My questions made people uncomfortable, so pretty soon I learned to stop asking. Public school for me was nothing more than a giant indoctrination camp from start to finish. I was an atheist that repeated the Lord's Prayer every single day!

It sounds like Kieran did not learn to properly submit to needless authority. I did not learn the truth about the war on drugs until I was in my adulthood. And I have to tell you that learning that our educational and health care professionals lied about the risks of illegal drugs on a regular basis was very disconcerting. If I had figured this out during my troublesome teen years I can assure you that I would have wished I had the courage to do what Kieran did.

Standing up to your peers in your school is a pretty difficult thing to do and has resulted in some bad feelings in Wawota. This is apparent from the emails in my inbox and the posts on CC from members of the community. It sounds like he will be dragged through the small town rumor mill. I know how much fun that is. When I lived in a certain unnameable small town, I was often referred to as an outspoken, attractive young woman with a generous sexual appetite. These compliments were often bestowed upon me in slightly more vulgar terms but I certainly got the gist of what the frustrated, hormonal teenage boys were saying. They were displeased because I politely declined their requests for sexual servicing. Being a sexually frustrated teenage boy is an unbearably difficult fate. I get that. Some of the things I have been hearing about Kieran behind the scenes are equally as stupid. The accusations are pure guttersnipe and not worth repeating.

According to Kieran’s post on Cannabis Culture, he was doing some informal research about the nature of illegal and legal drug use within Wawota and Carlyle schools. Here is the attachment detailing his research. It seems unbelievable that the school would have over-reacted to this situation to such a degree. To be dragged through the mud and to be accused of being a drug dealer based on asking some direct questions about drug use amazes me. I hope that this situation will be rectified and Kieran won't have a black mark on his school record. At the very least, this situation has gotten members of the community to engage in some debate about this subject.

Let's just say that right now I am feeling very unhappy with the public education system that I am a part of. I agree with the quote at the end of the Star Phoenix article:

An education institution whose objective should be to foster independent thinking and research to mold bright young minds shouldn't be trying to herd kids' behind some line of intellectual conformity.

I am very proud of Kieran for standing up for democracy.

Totally Random

Ferrets for Freedom!

More about Wawota

Here is the article that appeared in the National Post. It is a pretty cool read.

If there is anybody in Wawota that has a story to tell, please email it or leave it in the comments. I would love to hear what other people in Wawota have to say about this story, whether you choose to be anonymous or publish under your real name.

I got this letter in my inbox (reprinted with permission):

Subject : Kieran King and discussion on the topic of marijuana

As reported on the websites of the CBC and an independent blogger, (www.cbc.ca and www.blamethedrugwar.blogspot.com , respectively) I understand that there was an incident at your school in regards to the suspension of a student for disseminating information on the medicinal uses of marijuana.

While I do not presume to be privy to all of the relevant details in this context, I am aware of the medicinal use of marijuana, and its approval for such use, with certain conditions, by Health Canada. On the face of it, a discussion acknowledging the truth of this information along with a cautioning against drug abuse would seem to have been a much more appropriate response to the situation than that which was taken.

A lockdowns and suspensions are not an acceptable responses and are not conducive to the development of critical thinking in this country’s children. In addition, taking such a forceful, one-sided, and narrow minded approach to any regulated substance whether it be alcohol marijuana is not conducive to dialogue. Such an approach is often what causes authority figures to lose credibility and the ability to influence youth in a positive way. For these reasons I suggest your school take a more enlightened approach to situations like this should they arise in the future.

I also suggest that a research project be given to the class, perhaps divided into two groups. One to compile the health risks of abuse and the other to compile the medicinal use of the substance. Each group could present their information to the other and dialogue could ensue. I wish you the all the best in your continuing educational management and supervisory roles.


Respectfully,


Corey Roland Turnbull

Tommy Chong on Comedy Central

I have to disagree with Peter on this one. Sure, the response to Colbert's question "Are you high right now?" was funny. But the whole Paris Hilton deserves a licking thing was just plain gross. I don't see anything funny about dirty old men lusting after women half their age. I found it quite pukeworthy.

If this is the best representative for the drug policy reform movement that we can find, we are in a huge amount of trouble.

Link

Protest anti-free speech Sask schools - call or write today!

A student from Wawota, Saskatchewan, received threats after talking to his fellow classmates about marijuana. As a result, members of the Saskatchewan Marijuana Party took a trip to Wawota to show their support. The students were planning to walk out to protest the infringements on free speech. So the principal put the school in lockdown mode and told the kids they would be suspended if they left the building. Kieran and his brother left and they are both suspended for three days. Kieran's mother's take on the situation, is posted in the comments section on Saskboy's blog. To summarize, Kieran is suspended because he disobeyed the lockdown order, not because he protested. I wonder what excuse the school division is going to give for authorizing the lockdown. Are a couple of dudes with a megaphone and a few signs really that scary?

News Talk Radio 980 asks the burning question:

Is it freedom of speech, or spreading the wrong message?

I guess it is wrong for a student in a public school to think that he should be allowed to examine an idea and engage in intelligent debate in order to advance his knowledge and understanding of a topic. Instead, if his opinion diverges from the mainstream, he can look forward to empty threats of police action from authority figures. If this is so-called public education, I say, burn the schools down. Without intelligent debate, public schools are nothing more than indoctrination camps.

I could understand this gross over-reaction if we were dealing with a holocaust denier or flat-earth creationist.* But Kieran has taken a position that is supported by a large number of educational and law enforcement groups.

Out of respect for the school administration I have taken the information down.

* I would not condone police action against flat-earth creationists. A little mocking from PZ would be sufficient.

Crack Babies are a Myth

I thought this might interest "InsanityRules". Crack babies are a myth. Here are some links that prove I'm right.

I promise this is my last Hilton post

I just have to wonder, why is it that people always find God during a stay in jail? Doesn't this just prove how pointless and stupid religion truly is? "Oh look at me, I am on death row/ in the clink for drinking and driving/ in trouble for molesting kittens but now I found the LORD so forgive me!"

I really should not have written this post because this is a truly great scam and a wonderful way of gaining sympathy. So now, if I ever wind up in jail, I won't be able to claim I have been born again PRAISE JESUS HALLELUJAH! because there is googleable proof that I am lying. I guess I better stay out of jail. That means shutting down the grow-op, packing up all the gigolos and cleaning out my deep freeze!

Some Really Terrible Parenting Advice

Q: My daughter swore me to secrecy before telling me her girlfriend is still smoking pot even though her parents think otherwise. Her parents knew she used to smoke pot. My daughter thinks she can handle it better now. Should I tell the girl's parents and break my promise to my daughter?

A: I advise parents to err on the side of safety and well-being. Assuming the girlfriend's parents are reasonable and nonabusive, I would certainly go ahead and tell them.

Worrying about her parents getting angry or upset is not the same as being abusive and you may have to help your daughter understand this difference.

Further, even though you promised your daughter otherwise, her friend is at risk and needs help. You cannot be held to secrecy on a bad promise when someone's well-being is at risk.

In case your daughter thinks smoking pot is innocuous, consider this: cannabis alters perceptions of reality and judgment.

Not only is this child at risk from many issues associated with smoking alone, but also, statistically, those who do smoke pot have more school-related problems and social problems. Girls are at greater risk of pregnancy as a result of poor decision making and being with the wrong crowd while intoxicated.

Therefore, the risk of smoking pot extends far beyond what your daughter may consider. Knowing this now, wouldn't you want to be told if your child were smoking pot?

Gary Direnfeld is a Dundas social worker specializing in parent-child relationships.

Are you kidding me? The kid should be congratulated for being smart enough to stay away from tobacco, alcohol and caffeine. It never ceases to amaze me how rampant reefer madness truly is. I wonder if, statistically speaking, social workers are more likely to suffer from reefer madness than the rest of the population.

If you need a laugh

Have fun watching Rick Mercer make Americans look stupid.

It really isn't that hard. When I was in the States a few years ago I had an argument with a guy that insisted that Canada doesn't have highways or cops. I got tired of arguing with him so I smiled and nodded. I found this over at Pharyngula.

Why I hate Paris Hilton

I was not surprised to get a commenter that reffered to Paris Hilton as a rich slut. But I do think it reveals a lot about how we view women that this is such a common criticism of her. Amanda at Pandagon wrote a really interesting post about this very subject. People hate Paris Hilton because she is an unapologetically sexual woman.

People probably don’t even know what Hilton did to run afoul of the law; all they know is she’s an unapologetically sexual woman and her money cushions her from the usual punishments dished out to women who have the nerve not to feel horribly ashamed that they have sex. Link

Personally my hate of Paris Hilton should be directed at the non-stop coverage of her and her escapades. Our fixation on her says a lot about the media and our priorities. So what if we are blowing up brown people halfway across the world? Paris Hilton had the nerve to party and have sex and forget to wear underpants.

I know, I know she was drinking and driving and endangering the lives of other people. But is that really why everybody is so happy to see her go to jail?

Al Gore has recently written a book called The Assault on Reason. Via Digby here is an interesting quote:

It is simply no longer possible to ignore the strangeness of our public discourse. I know I'm not alone in feeling that something has gone fundamentally wrong. In 2001, I had hopes it was an aberration when polls showed that three-quarters of Americans believed that Saddam Hussein was responsible for attacking us on September 11. More than five years later, however, nearly half the American people still believes that Saddam was connected to the attack.

At first I thought the exhaustive, nonstop coverage of the O.J. Simpson trial was just unfortunate excess --- an unwelcome departure from the normal good sense and judgment of our news media. Now we know that it was merely an early example of a new pattern of serial obsession that periodically take over the airwaves for weeks at a time.

Late in the summer of 2006, American news coverage was saturated with the bizarre false confession of a man who claimed to have been present at the death of JonBenet Ramsey --- the six-year-old beauty queen whose unsolved murder eleven years before was responsible for another long-running obsession. A few months prior to John Mark Karr's arrest in Bangkok, the disappearance of a high school senior in Aruba and the intensive search for her body and her presumed murderer consumed thousands of hours of television coverage. Both cases remain unsolved as of this writing, and neither had any appreciable impact on the fate of the Republic.

Like JonBenet Ramsey, O.J. has recently been back at the center of another fit of obsessive-compulsive news, when his hypothetical confession wasn't published and his interviews on television wasn't aired. This particular explosion of "news" was truncated only when a former television sitcom star used racist insults in a night club. And before that we focus on the "Runaway Bride" in Georgia. And before that there was the Michael Jackson trial and the Robert Blake trial, the Laci Peterson tragedy and the Chandra Levy tragedy. And of course we can't forget Britney and KFed, and Lindsay and Paris and Nicole, Tom Cruise jumped on Oprah's couch and married Katie Holmes, who gave birth to Suri. And Russell Crowe apparently threw a phone at a hotel concierge.

In early 2007, the wall-to-wall coverage of Anna Nicole Smith's death, embalming, and funeral plans and the legal wrangling over the paternity and custody of her child and disposition of her estate, served as yet another particularly bizarre example of the new priorities in America's news coverage.

And while American television watchers were collectively devoting a hundred million hours of their lives each week to these and other similar stories, our nation was in the process of more quietly making what future historians will certainly describe as a series of catastrophically mistaken decisions on issues of war and peace, the global climate and human survival, freedom and barbarity, justice and fairness.

Gore's book has prompted some interesting discussions about the tabloidization (is that a word?) of our public discourse. Maybe it isn't as shallow and pointless as we think. For example, the coverage of the murder of Jon-Benet could reflect our collective discomfort of the training of little girls to become pornified sexbots. Here is the alternet article about Gore's book.

Anyway, feel free to tell me why I am wrong.

I hate Paris Hilton

I detest and despise her for clogging the airways and the series of tubes with her boring life. And I hate her for whining until they let her out of jail. I agree with 1337haxor:

Wow… 3 days in jail. I wonder if the unspecified medical condition was “I’m-too-richitis”, perhaps a bad case of “I-have-too-much-money-for-thisoccocus”, or maybe “daddy-paid-off-the-doctorenza”. Either way, there are a lot of people who are in jail with sicknesses in the states, in fact a good number of them shouldn’t be in jail either because of their illnesses (that is, if Paris doesn’t have to stay in jail), yet because mommy and daddy aren’t rich they end up suffering through their huge sentences for things as trivial as having a joint on their person (As opposed to driving around drunk and threatening every man, woman and child on the road.) Nope, Paris was there for 3 whole days and somehow was able to scam her way out of jail. If a young poor man has to go to jail for far more than 30 days for having weed on his person and suffers through whatever “illnesses” he has while he is in jail, then Paris Hilton should have to make it her 23 days for threatening the lives of everyone on the road that night by driving intoxicated. Anything less is pure aristocratic entitlement, and nothing less.

Pregnancy Sucks

I have no qualms admitting that pregnancy was torture. The physical changes to your body make you feel like an alien has taken over. Spending months eating nothing but spaghetti noodles due to uncontrollable nausea is even less fun than it sounds. And why can't people quit telling me to eat healthy food and quit drinking coffee? Coffee causes miscarriages. And forget about smoking weed! If I had been able to overcome my own guilt at the idea of irreparably damaging my fine, little fetus with marijuana smoke, the condemnation of friends and family would have been enough to keep me from wanting a smoke. Luckily, the idea of smoking a joint had no appeal for me while I was pregnant. But the fact is that carrying a fetus does not make it any easier to abstain from doing the things you love, even for the sake of the baby. Beer and coffee taste just as good (unless you are spending all your free time puking).

But the know-it-all busybodies have no qualms about reminding you that everything is bad for the fetus. Better not have a drink or your kid will end up with fetal alcohol syndrome. Better not change the cat litter box or you will get toxoplasmosis and your baby will die or be born blind. Better not drink coffee. Or eat cheese.

I recently found a great new blog called DoseNation with an excellent post about pregnancy hysteria. Apparently there is no good reason for medical professionals to tell pregnant women to completely abstain from alcohol. One glass a wine a day will not harm the unborn fetus. But you will never, ever hear that from a health professional or well-intentioned busybody. Better safe than sorry, you know.

I remember trying to convince one of my pregnant friends that the toxoplasmosis fears are over-stated and changing the litterbox is not dangerous. I can understand that she needed a reason to make her man clean up after the cats but there is no reason to fear changing the litterbox while pregnant.

Besides, if a pregnant woman had to abstain from every activity that is just as dangerous as changing the litter box she had better not drive a car, use a cell phone or go ice skating. I used to ice skate while pregnant just to annoy people. Since I can skate better than I can walk my fetus was never in danger. But you would never know it by listening to my ridiculous friends and family.

Maybe we should just make it illegal for a pregnant woman to leave the house. For the sake of the fetus. Because women can't be trusted to do what is best for their health.

Speaking of awesome pregnant women, check out preggers Jenna Elfman in a game of basketball. This video made my day. This video is not work safe.

Let's buy Afghanistan's poppies

I agree wholeheartedly with this editorial that states that we should buy up Afghanistan's opium crop. But the funny part comes at the end.

Stephane Dion has come out in favour of looking at the Senlis plan, but when he notices that it implies seeing the war through to the end, as Ms. MacDonald has emphasized, he is likely to get cold feet. It's the Conservatives, the party of victory, that ought to give it the consideration it deserves.

Party of victory! I love it.

Link Dump

I am feeling pretty guilty about neglecting my blogular activities for so long. I had sworn to write a post everyday and I have failed to live up to my self-imposed obligation. I have a few rants that are dying to get out but I am as articulate as a hungry dog these days. Blogging is supposed to be fun, not a chore. Anyway, there are some really interesting things in the news these days, so let me link away.

We have a fabulous editorial that gives an excellent explanation of all the things that are wrong with the DARE program. I also have an update on the story of the teacher that got busted when she accidentally sent a text message to a police officer instead of her dealer. She gets to keep her job if she goes through rehab and passes four random drug tests. Whoopee! The all-use-is-abuse model succeeds at railroading another faithful government employee. This teacher was such a drug losing deadbeat that nobody was even aware that she was a drug user until she was busted! It's a good thing for rehab programs or this teacher would continue to use the wrong drugs on her own time without the interference of the nanny state.

Finally, Stop the drug war has an excellent article outlining the looming, upcoming battle facing drug policy reformers as we gear up to oppose Stephen Harper's foolish plan to follow the US failed drug war policy. Look forward to ridiculous anti-drug advertising, more crackdowns on plants grow-ops, the end of Insite and mandatory minimum sentencing. The one thing we can guarantee is the same number of people using, buying and selling drugs. I will look for a better place to hide my stash.