Post Secret

I found this at PostSecret. What a great site! I don't feel alone anymore.

RCMP seize medical pot users' plants

We must have far too many police officers in this fine country of ours. The RCMP have once again proven their uselessness by raiding the house of a medical patient that did not have the proper paperwork in place.

An Evansburg man who takes pot for his pain fears he's about to get sicker after police seized his weed yesterday.

Steve Chorney, 39, has been on painkillers for years, but over time they've started to damage his liver.

As an alternative, he started smoking pot under Health Canada's medical-marijuana program, but yesterday's police raid at his farm means he'll have to go back on his other pain medication.

"If I don't get off these pills, I'm going to die," he said.

I feel safer knowing this guy doesn't have his medicine. Go RCMP!

Family Values Up in Smoke

Mrs. Lovejoy is not pleased. Parents are a bad influence on their children when they smoke marijuana together. Won't someone please think of the children???

The only thing is, the children in this article all happen to be adults with the exception of the 8 year old kid whose mom gave him marijuana to treat his ADHD. But I guess telling the truth wouldn't sell very many papers, would it?

I have a terrible, terrible confession to make. This one time when my mom had a back-ache, I rolled her a joint and we smoked it together. I am a bad influence on parents! I must be stopped.

I also have to wonder why it is acceptable to give your pre-pubescent children crystal meth Desoxyn but it's not OK to give your kids marijuana. In a sane world, no parent would go to jail or be derided in a major newspaper for giving a kid a substance that is safer than sugar. It boggles the mind!

Even more puzzling, the Chatham Daily News published this glowing editorial about marijuana last week. What gives?

Dumbass du jour

Campbell just wants to give up

By JIM HARRISON

Jul 15 2007

At the risk of making a character judgment, Larry Campbell is a few cards short of a full deck.

The former Vancouver, mayor, one-time coroner and now Liberal lackey — er, senator — has been known for his harebrained thinking.

The injection centre for downtown eastside junkies in Vancouver is one of his favorites. But Campbell is going too far calling for the legalization of marijuana.

Too many resources wasted on too many people, he says, using small quanitities of the drug.

Well, if law enforcement can’t do the job as effectively as some people would like, the answer, according to this guy, is to throw one’s hands up and legalize the crime.

Can’t get people to buy into the notion that marijuana is a problem? Let’s legalize it, tax the hell out of it and at least get some benefit for health care, or some other program that might benefit society, instead of letting organized crime in on all the big money.

For those who are weak-willed, perhaps it’s a way out. But illicit drugs aren’t good for people, regardless of how harmless some might think they are.

If marijuana doesn’t impair, it can’t be much good for the respiratory system, or what few brain cells those who smoke it have left.

If it’s marijuana today, why not auto theft tomorrow?

People like Campbell seem to want to take the path of least resistance — no matter how wrong it might be for the common good.

Why do these intellectually lazy prohibitionists try to compare smoking a joint with CRIMES like auto theft? Oh right, I forgot, because morons keep falling for it. Unbelievable.

Loretta Nall on Hannity and Colmes

Go Loretta! It was a great segment on a Fox "news" program. Well done.

The Ultimate Green Machine: A Car Made of Hemp

I have a few problems with the environmental movement. I do believe that global warming is happening, however the "solution" to the global warming problem is always the same. Tell the people that they are responsible for global warming and lay a massive guilt trip for every incandescent light bulb in their homes or unrecycled piece of newspaper. I am not saying that it is bad to reduce, reuse or recycle. Those are great things to do. I just feel that the solution to global warming must come from systemic changes. Even if every single incandescent light bulb is replaced with fluorescent bulbs, it is a tiny dent in our over-consuming ways.

What we need is for people like Al Gore to push the repeal of drug prohibition as an environmental issue. We have been hearing a lot about Canada being the number one consumer of marijuana in the industrialized world. We also know that the majority of that marijuana is being grown under high-powered lights. Imagine how many watts of electricity could be saved if all of that BC Bud was grown outdoors instead of under 1000 watt lights.

So I was very happy to read about a hemp car being built in the UK. At least somebody is noticing that the prohibition of cannabis has had a great environmental impact. Even if the article did include the following reefer madness nonsense:

Tony Juniper, the director of Friends of the Earth, said schemes such as the hemp trial could make a small contribution to sustainability but failed to address the real issue.

"This is the same old problem that so many politicians have of thinking climate change can be solved simply by new technologies," he said. "The real problem is that there are too many cars on the road burning too much fuel. It doesn't make much difference just making a few components more sustainable. The only real benefit is that if it crashes you might breathe in the smoke to help you relax."

The ignorance displayed by this so-called environmentalist is appalling. Hemp is an extremely useful plant for fuel, food, paper, plastics and bio-mass. Get with the program.

A Long hiatus

I just got back from a long vacation and I will resume posting tomorrow. My vacation was fabulous and wonderful and very energizing. I sure did miss the internet! I have so much reading to catch up on! See you tomorrow.

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.