Kicking you when you are down

Marc Emery has done an amazing amount of work and is the face of the cannabis reform movement. He was busted by the DEA back in 2005 and is facing extradition to the United States for selling seeds. If he is extradited, he will probably die in an American jail. Those aren't his only problems! Revenue Canada wants their money from his now-defunct seed business. It's a damn shame what Marc is going through and I wish I had a big wad of cash to give him to help him fight his battles. If you can afford to help him out, go ahead and give him a few dollars.

Here is the link to his story on Orato.

Activism is hard, hard work. We have a huge uphill battle to climb. We are fighting 80 years of reefer madness, against a heavily funded government. When I think of what we are up against, it makes me sad. But then I get all fired up and angry and I realize that if good people like us don't fight against this insanity, who will?

I am feeling inspired

Welcome to all of you coming from Pharyngula. The traffic boost is inflating my already enormous ego to epic proportions. Anyway, I have been feeling very inspired to become more politically active. I blog, I write letters, and I help organize activist events. These things are great and a lot of fun but I feel like there is so much more that I could be doing to get the word out. The Freewayblogger has some great ideas:



All of those signs have been appearing all over the place, on freeways and overpasses. Look at all that free advertising! I do not have to despair anymore at the fact that the drug policy reform angle seems to be losing the propaganda war. I suppose that makes logical sense when you have unscrupulous hacks like John Walters touring the country and getting paid money to tell blatant lies about medical marijuana.* I feel the same way that PZ must feel when school board presidents that run on a platform that seeks to reinstate the sodomy laws get over a third of the vote.

I have already made some pretty cool rally and protest signs, all inspired by FrankD. I am thinking that with a bit of spraypaint and cardboard, I could make some really cool signs. How about a giant cannabis leaf with the word "REPEAL" in capital letters? Here is my attempt:



*After reading that bit of unscrupulous propaganda that I am going to have to spend more time repudiating all those lies on the Drug Czar's "Pushing Back" blog.

Big Brother is Watching

Student activists are accusing University Police of violating students' privacy with overly aggressive drug enforcement tactics in the wake of several incidents in which officers posed as students or drug dealers.

Undercover officers frequently patrol hallways in dorms searching for would-be narcotics buyers, University Police spokeswoman Maj. Cathy Atwell said. But the activist group Students for Sensible Drug Policy said police crossed the line when an officer attempted to join their Facebook group under an assumed name. The students discovered the officer when they cross-referenced her e-mail address in the university directory.

Atwell said she did not know of the Facebook incident SSDP mentioned, but she defended officers' approach to busting students for drugs in student housing.

"This has always been a tactic that we've used," she said, noting that drug enforcement is a particular priority for University Police because drug use often leads to other types of crime. "Our police are committed to upholding the drug and alcohol policy. ... What's unreasonable about upholding the law?"

Why would the police want to give up nice, safe and easy drug busts? They might be forced to fight crimes that have victims.

Police infiltrating organizations is a great political tactic. It is a barrier to building trust between members. After all, if narcs infiltrate student organizations, they are capable of infiltrating any organization. For all that I know, narcs have infiltrated the Saskatchewan Marijuana Party. Maybe the president is a dirty narc, ready and willing to report us if we dare pass joints around. I heard that he doesn't even smoke marijuana. How can we trust him? Infighting and a lack of trust can be a real barrier to achieving the goals and aims of activist organizations. If members of Students for Sensible Drug Policy are busy pointing fingers and trying to figure out who the narc is, they will have a much more difficult time raising money, printing and handing out flyers, organizing rallies, blogging or writing letters to the editor. Militant drug legalizers will be less effective. Divide and conquer!

I wonder if Martin Luther King or Ghandi had to deal with narcs.

We're the Government--and You're Not

I made the mistake of accepting a half-time contract with the school board so now I have every morning to waste on frivolous nonsense like posting on my blog. I shouldn't complain but I have to say that three hours of work every day just isn't enough for me to do. *ZzzzZZzzz* I suppose I will just have to spend my free time working on the Martensville by-election. It's too bad that reading the elections act gives me a bigger headache than smoking all the schwaggy weed in Mexico.

I found the following video via Loretta Nall, the former gubernatorial candidate in Alabama. It is a great video and it coincides with some thoughts I had last night about the state of Canada-U.S. relations.



Yesterday, as I was listening to the teacher discuss culture during a social studies class, she got on the subject of ethnocentrism. She discussed with the kids all the harms caused by the Europeans' attempts to assimilate Native people into their culture. Native children were taken away from their families and sent to residential schools. They were not allowed to speak their traditional languages or participate in their cultural ceremonies. The abuse inflicted on Aboriginal peoples' is a scar on Canadian society. This is not much different than what I was taught as a young'un about the history of relations between Aboriginal people and the Europeans they welcomed with open arms.

But then the teacher asked the class for another example of ethnocentrism. A student raised his hand and said, "What about the United States invading Iraq?". The teacher was impressed by his insight and went on to explain that the people in the United States feel that their way of life and government is the best way to live. They have invaded other governments to impose democracy on them and there have been a lot of negative consequences. "Iraq is a mess."

This takes me way back in time when I was a young, impressionable grade 8 student learning about the world. I recall learning that Canada and the United States have the World's longest undefended border. Having friendly relations with a world superpower was part of being Canadian. Because we consume and are part of the same popular culture as the States, we have a lot in common. I remember thinking that that was a great part of being Canadian. The times sure have changed. Sitting in a class with a teacher discussing the failings of the States openly and not mentioning our "friendly relationship" made me kind of sad.

I want to go back there! I don't want to live next door to the George Bush Americans, invading and blowing things up. I don't want to be "friendly neighbours" with a country that cares more about what their politicians and citizens do with their wee-wees and hoo-has than foreign policy, health care or education. I just hope that if any Americans are reading this that you will do your best to make me proud to be your neighbour again. Fight the system and make your voice heard.

More Bad News for Marc Emery

Looks like Marc is going to end up with an even more rightwing Godbag as a prosecutor when he faces his extradition trial for being a marijuana kingpin. Really shitty.

For the whole story head on over to Reload

SKMP Founding Convention Report

The convention was quite the exhilarating experience. We ratified and amended the founding constitution of the party, we debated resolutions, we gave speeches and we talked politics. Helping build a political party is every political nerd’s dream. I was never all that interested in politics until I got involved in the SKMP (Saskatchewan Marijuana Party), but I have to tell you that I have now become a devoted political wonk. I even want to become a candidate in the upcoming provincial election. Having my name on the ballot would be great! Running as a candidate in the future is something to think about and look forward to. The convention lit up enthusiasm for the political process in a huge way. I even ran for and won a position on the executive council as a vice president. I had absolutely no intention of running until I was at the convention. While I have supported the party by flipping burgers and making displays, I have never taken part in meetings or event planning. I am looking forward to making a bigger contribution to the party.

In the past I thought of the various provincial and federal marijuana parties with some disdain. I considered it hopeless and futile to run under a marijuana party banner because a marijuana party candidate will never get elected. This is a hopelessly pessimistic view of the situation and I have definitely changed my mind.

Even if no marijuana party candidate ever gets elected, marijuana parties serve some very important functions. When the voter is in the polling booth, the name of the marijuana party candidate on their ballot is a distinct reminder that there are a dedicated group of activists that want to see drug prohibition come to an end. Hopefully, this will encourage the public to become more aware of the gross injustice that marijuana users have endured for the past eighty years. I believe that public education of all the evil wrongness of the war on drugs is one of our most important functions. We need to let the public know about the expense and the ineffectiveness of the war on drugs. It is a fact that our rates of adolescent drug use are higher than in the liberal Netherlands despite the "but what about the children" rhetoric of the drug warriors. Voting for a marijuana party candidate is a very bold statement: I want to end the drug war. Every vote for a marijuana party candidate is a vote taken away from a Sask Party or NDP candidate. It is a very bold act of civil disobedience and sends a strong message that the voters want drug law reform.

A lot of excellent thoughts and ideas were put forward by members of the SKMP. The public has the same attitude towards drug use as the Victorians had about sex. During the Victorian era, there were many misconceptions about sex because people could not talk about it. Masturbation was thought to cause blindness and hairy palms. Women were considered asexual creatures. Boys were circumcised to prevent masturbation. The same thing has happened with drugs. Science-based information about drugs is sorely lacking and the demonization of marijuana and marijuana users has been the result. Most people think that marijuana causes cancer despite all the scientific information that shows that marijuana does not cause cancer and may actually reduce the risk of cancer. Despite all the research that proves that the gateway theory is bullshit, many people still believe the gateway theory.

The real drug problem in our society is alcohol. Alcohol is highly addictive and causes many overdose deaths yet our drug education efforts are aimed at reducing the use of marijuana. The way society deals with drugs is highly illogical. Even people living within the drug culture are not immune to the Victorian attitudes towards marijuana. There are many marijuana users that think that its’ bad and should stay illegal. There are many marijuana users that use marijuana excessively. There has to be a middle ground and showing the public that marijuana can be used properly has to be a priority.

The prohibition of marijuana is a perfect example of the tyranny of the majority of a minority. When the substance was banned there were very few users of marijuana in Canada. Taking away the civil rights of a non-existent group of Canadians was done in 1923 without parliamentary discussion or debate. If those parlimentarians could have looked into a crystal ball and seen the immense social and economic costs of prohibition, there is no way they would have done it.

I am basically preaching to the choir by posting this on my blog. Hopefully I can work within the SKMP to bring this message to a broader audience. I have a lot of ideas and I hope I can bring them to fruition.

Sincerely,


Tanya Derbowka
Vice-President, Saskatchewan Marijuana Party

Saskatchewan Marijuana Party Convention

I am going to be attending the very first convention tomorrow. If any Saskatoonians actually read this blog (yeah right!) you can meet me there tomorrow. My babysitter cancelled so I might not be able to make it but I am going to phone some people and beg them to make the little ankle-biters off of my hands for the day. For information about the convention, go to the SKMP web-site. You just can't rely on teenagers for anything!

I hope to see you there!

The NDP: Out of the frying pan and into the fire

Some interesting remarks were made in the legislature on Nov.23, 2006.

Ms. Draude: — Mr. Speaker, the NDP went to great lengths to ensure that you can’t smoke a cigarette in a café in Saskatchewan. Yet the federal leader of the NDP Party says you should be able to smoke a joint in a café.

Mr. Speaker, does the Premier support this leader? To the Premier: should you be able to smoke up in a Saskatchewan café where other people including children may be present and harmed by second-hand smoke?

I would invite Ms. Draude to read the resolution that was passed by the NDP. It reads as follows:

WHEREAS cannabis has a long history of social, religious and medicinal use in a wide variety of cultures around the world;

WHEREAS government figures estimate 3 million Canadians or 14% of Canada's population are current cannabis users, and about 45% of Canadians have used cannabis during their lifetime, and that virtually all these people are otherwise law-abiding citizens;

WHEREAS numerous public opinion polls conducted since 2000 show that most Canadians support eliminating criminal penalties for cannabis;

WHEREAS the value of the Canadian cannabis industry is estimated at between 5 and 20 billion dollars, and that if taxed and regulated this industry would generate substantial revenues for provincial and court time and resources,

WHEREAS the two major Canadian studies into the effects of cannabis and cannabis law, the 1971 LeDain Commission and the 2002 Canadian Senate Report, both recommended removing punishment for personal cultivation and possession, with the Senate report also recommending that cannabis should be regulated and made legally available to adults,

WHEREAS Canada's federal NDP advocates for non-punitive cannabis legislation, and in February 2006, the BC NDP passed a resolution showing their support for non-punitive marijuana laws,

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Saskatchewan NDP support the Federal NDP's call for a non-punitive approach to cannabis law, including elimination of all penalties for personal cultivation and possession by adults, and actively work to institute non-punitive cannabis policies at the provincial level.

I read the resolution a few times. I did not see any mention of allowing cannabis cafes or smoking in public. The resolution merely acknowledges the futility of the prohibition of cannabis.

I think I better write a letter to both Ms. Draude, for her ill-informed remarks. And to Mr. Addley for the weak ineffectual response to Ms. Draude's ill-informed remarks. I'll post them if I get around to writing them.


Hat tip SKMP

The ICSF opposes Amendment 44

A body composed of student government representatives from each of the University of Colorado's three statewide campuses, the ICSF (University of Colorado Intercampus Student Forum) unanimously drafted an anti-Amendment 44 resolution during an Oct. 16 meeting, and will be addressing the public Thursday, Nov. 2 at 10 a.m. on the Auraria campus to demonstrate their stance.

“[The ICSF's] primary interest is fostering excellence in the academic and social environment at the University of Colorado, and we do not feel the passage of Amendment 44 would be compatible with that in any way,” said ICSF member Colin Rose, vice president of the student government Association for the University of Colorado at Denver. “Therefore, we feel compelled to voice our opposition by way of this resolution.”

The reasons that the ICSF gives for opposing the resolution are the comfortable, well-worn rationales that have been spewed forth ever since this inane, expensive and corrupt drug war began.

"There is a clear correlation between marijuana use and schizophrenia," said Evans, citing a study conducted by Patrick Skosnik of Indiana University that was printed in the American Journal of Psychiatry.

They can no longer make racist claims such as "Reefer makes darkies think they are as good as white men" or claim a link between violent crimes and use of the demon weed. So they have toned it down by "proving" that schizophrenia is linked to marijuana use.

I am not a scientist but I do know that correlation does not equal causation. What if marijuana users are self-medicating for undiagnosed schizophrenia? I wonder how many studies are being done about the link between schizophrenia and marijuana from a completely unbiased point of view. It's amazing the number of studies that are being done to "prove" that women are less intelligent than men and that some races are less intelligent than other races, just for starters. You would think that scientists would have better things to do than justify bigotry. Is this really the best way to advance the human race?

I eye the claims about schizophrenia with a lot of suspicion. Science can be abused and manipulated in a way to push a political agenda. Did you know that "Intelligent Design"* is scientific?

Oh here I am going on about the abuse of science when there are prohibitionists to make fun of. ICSF wants to cast doubt on SAFER's assertion that alcohol is more dangerous than marijuana. Do they do this by stating the facts about marijuana? They certainly would have to refrain from comparing the number of overdose deaths due to marijuana and alcohol, since marijuana has never killed anyone. Do they mention that there is no correlation between marijuana and violent crime? Can the same be said for alcohol? No, the facts are no friends of the ICSF and they have to fall back on a dose of good-ole reefer madness with a side order of classic stoner stereotypes.

“I think that [the university students] understand the issue,” said Evans. “Kids that are smoking pot aren't going to do well in school, and [people] don't associate marijuana with academic excellence.”

Everybody "knows" that stoners don't do well in school.

"A lie, repeated often enough, will end up as truth." Dr Paul Joseph Goebbels, Hitler's Minister of Propaganda (1933-1945)

Luckily we have Mason Tvert to counterbalance this insanity.

For Mason Tvert, supporter of Amendment 44 and representative for the Alcohol-MJ Equalization Initiative, the anti-amendment resolution is “disgusting.”

Tvert said that a majority of students, 68 percent of CU's student body, voted in favor of the non-profit Safer Alternative for Enjoyable Recreation's (SAFER) initiative that promotes marijuana as a safer alternative to alcohol.

SAFER's supporters say marijuana is far less addictive than other narcotics and alcohol, and that is safer for long-term use.

“Simply said, [that percentage of students] didn't think that the penalties for marijuana should be any greater than the penalties for alcoholŠand it's unfortunate to see student representatives acting in direct opposition to their student body,” said Tvert during an interview with the Colorado Daily Tuesday. “Right now our policies are pushing students and adults to drink, and I don't think it makes sense to punish those adults who make the rational, safer choice to use marijuana instead of alcohol.”

SAFER has done an incredible job of campaigning for this issue. The way they have defended marijuana with facts and have put this issue forward as a way to try to prevent marijuana from getting into the hands of minors has been outstanding. They are doing a fantastic job of pushing drug law reform and I hope that other activists (including myself) can learn from them. I wonder how these tactics could be used in Saskatchewan.

*Intelligent Design is my very favorite oxymoron!

I want to protest something

The situation in Colorado interests me greatly. It has been a pretty ugly fight so far, with lies being thrown around by prohibitionists. In the following video, take note of the high horse that the governor of Colorado is sitting on. He says to the camera, "Look at the people standing up here with me and the people shouting us down and not allowing us to speak."

Yes, governor, you are right that pot people are angry. We are shouting and acting inappropriately. Prohibitionists have been lying to the public for years, pulling at the public heart strings and pandering to the publics' fear in a bitter attempt to justify a horribly flawed law. They have indoctrinated school children and locked up so many people all in the name of the War on Drugs. They have demonized marijuana. Harry Ainslinger, the very first US Drug Czar used to claim that "Marijuana makes a negro look at a white woman twice." He also said "Marijuana makes darkies think they are as good as white men." He said it like equality is a bad thing!

Racist, heartless, non-thinking government officials get to have their say and ignore the opinions of the people that they represent. Why doesn't the Governor ask himself why so many people are angry? Why is this so important to so many people? It's just marijuana, surely there are more important things in the world than legalizing this plant.

I get that all the time. "Why do you care so much? It's so easy to get anyway." That is true and it shows the strength of my position. We have been following the same tactics for years and we still have 90% of high school seniors telling us that marijuana is easy to get. Let's cut the bullshit and legalize already.

I wish I could have been there protesting with them. I feel so useless sometimes, writing a shitty blog that nobody reads and feeling like I have no idea how to be an activist. At least waving signs around and yelling would be lots of fun. I just wonder what the public would think after watching that video clip. Would they understand why pot people are angry or is this issue going to get written off as only effecting a small number of people and not very important in the whole grand scheme of things.

Video Link