By Rayner Ramirez, NBC News
and Adam Yamaguchi, Current TV on assignment for Rock Center
California's San Joaquin Valley is one of the most productive agricultural regions in the country. It is also where, among the fresh fruits and vegetables, an estimated half-a-million plants of marijuana are growing openly, some allegedly being sold for non-medicinal purposes.
"In the last two years, we've seen large-scale commercial farming operations of marijuana and explosions of backyard marijuana grows," said Lieutenant Rick Ko of the Fresno County Sheriff's Office. Ko says the spike in cannabis cultivation is a result of California's booming medical marijuana trade.
California was the first state to legalize medical marijuana almost 16 years ago to help people manage the nausea and pain associated with serious illnesses such as cancer and HIV.
Law enforcement authorities say traffickers are hiding behind California's medical marijuana laws and distributing the drug illegally. Although medical marijuana is prohibited under federal law, 16 states and the District of Columbia have legalized use and enforcement of federal law is often limited to the worst offenders.
In California, Lt. Ko's team is attempting to limit the abuse of state and local medical marijuana regulations.
"We're looking for the people that are diverting medical marijuana from legitimate uses to either organized crime or profiteering activities," Ko said.
Some patients in California are getting doctors' recommendations to grow up to 99 plants of medical marijuana.
Federal sentencing guidelines are stiff for those caught growing more than 100 plants. However, Lt. Ko says even the lower amount is more than any single patient could ever need for personal use. Cannabis plants cultivated in the San Joaquin Valley can grow up to 18 feet high and yield up to three pounds of medical grade marijuana.
"Let's just take a conservative estimate of a pound per plant. And if you have 99 pounds then you are looking at over 89,000 doses in a year," Ko said. "So you would have to smoke a joint every six minutes of every hour of every day for a year to use the 99 plants."
What's more, some patients form growing collectives, amassing numerous state-sanctioned medical marijuana cards to grow multi-acre fields of marijuana. Last year, the Fresno County Sheriff's Office along with federal agents raided a 54-acre farm with more than 25,000 marijuana plants.
"There's kind of uncontrolled, explosive growth of huge cultivation operations here which are resulting in marijuana being sold in huge amounts being shipped all over the country," says U.S. Attorney Benjamin Wagner, whose region includes the San Joaquin Valley.
Last fall, U.S. Attorneys in California vowed to work with local authorities to crack down on medical marijuana, targeting growers and dispensaries alike. Last year, Wagner prosecuted traffickers who moved more than half a million dollars worth of marijuana from a Fresno farm all the way to Massachusetts.
The federal crackdown on medical marijuana has sparked critics like Ethan Nadelmann, the Executive Director of the Drug Policy Alliance, an organization based in New York City that advocates for the decriminalization of drugs.
Nadelmann says that the raids on medical marijuana farms and dispensaries are a waste of government resources in a time when, according to recent Gallup polls, fifty percent of Americans are in favor of legalizing marijuana.
"When the gangsters are making billions of dollars off of providing a commodity that tens of millions of Americans want, you make it legal and you tax it and control it and regulate it," Nadelmann said.
California State Assemblyman Tom Ammiano is sponsoring a bill that would do just that. A long-time proponent of medical marijuana, Ammiano now wants to tax the $14-$15 billion dollar illegal marijuana trade in California.
"We estimated that if marijuana were legalized, it may result in maybe two billion bucks more ... in California's budget," the Democratic assemblyman representing San Francisco said.
Law enforcement authorities disapprove of efforts to expand marijuana's legalization. During an interview conducted in a Fresno residential neighborhood, Lt. Ko argued that marijuana cultivation in California has already spiraled out of control.
"Right now, you can hear an ice cream truck. You can hear kids playing. You have, probably, kids next door, kids in this house, school kids walking down the street," he said. "Right around a marijuana grow."
Leave a Comment:
Legalize it already...... I mean, for christs' sake.
Whatever you do, don't legalize pot in America!
Think of all the part time jobs for your kids that would be eliminated! Let's not put it in a store where someone would check ID's, like liquor and cigarettes. Let's not eliminate the violence of our gun toting south of the border friends by allowing America to produce it's own legal product and eliminate these nice people from the market place. Let's not stop crowding our prisons with these people so we have to let the violent criminals out to make room for these horrible pot smokers. Let's not begin collecting taxes on a multibillion dollar industry. After all, it's working so well like it is, and America doesn't need the money. Oh! I forgot to mention that Billions of Dollars that are leaving this country and headed South, would stay in this country! Economics anyone?
Whatever you do, don't legalize pot in America!
Legalize it! For crying out loud! If alcohol and tobacco are legal, it is the ultimate hypocrisy to outlaw marijuana. We learned in the failed experiment of Prohibition that,criminalizing a substance that people want just puts money in the criminals hands. Al Capone today would be a drug cartel leader.We need to stop putting non-violent people in jail. It does nothing to stop the problem and costs million of dollars a year.The "War on Drugs" has been COMPLETELY INEFFECTIVE. It is time to make the smart choice.Legalization =new jobs= more tax revenue and less people in prison. Sounds like a win-win to me.
My only problem with legalizing pot is that it is so easy to produce and use by children. In contrast, alcohol is difficult to distill and takes specialized equipment. Tabacco is also not easy to grow or harvest and does require processing. Pot is called "weed" for a reason--that's how it grows. Please don't go on about kids getting booze or cigarettes from an adult or around the house. That is still illegal and punishable.
i agree with you. how in the world would they regulate it?
Well most kids I know of live at home with mom and dad so to grow pot they are going to have to have a garden out back or a grow room set up in the house somewhere so I really think that the parents would be quite aware of their efforts. If they do it on the sly then making it legal won't change that either. They will still do it where mom and dad cannot see it so that argument just doesn't hold water.
Yes you are correct in noting that it grows like a weed. However in order to get a product that is capable of producing a modest high there is some knowledge and effort required. There are several different strains of this plant each having their own specific properties and you also have to 'sex' your plants and keep the males away from the females in order to obtain a higher THC content. I have learned this tidbit of info just from reading the comments for this article. Also some processing is required before it is consumed because you have to seperate out the seeds and stems to get the best product.
Also for the best use medically many people extract and concentrate the oils in much the same way Jesus Christ did to produce his holy annointment oil that they were forever rubbing all over each other. That is then used in one or two drop doses taken orally for treatment of cancers and other internal maladies and it is also used as an ointment to treat the effects in the extremities of diabetes.
A research scientist in Spain has been totally successful in curing brain cancer in mice with cannabis extract. I haven't heard if it has moved into human trials yet but it sounded very promising. It destroys the cancer cells while leaving all normal healthy cells totally undamaged. This would be an amazing discovery for those with inoperable brain tumors. It also tends to lend credence to the claims of the publisher of a site called "Phoenix Tears" in which a Mr. Simpson claims to have cured terminal lung cancer in a patient that doctors had sent home to die. Frankly I thought that might have been a bit of a stretch but after the Spanish findings I now think their might be some validity to it.
If I am ever diagnosed with any cancer I certainly would try Mr. Simpson's 30 cure using a pound of fine Indica before I would submit to chemical poisoning and being burned up and scarred by massive doses of radiation. When you are diagnosed with cancer another month either way isn't going to make that much difference in the scheme of things and if it works then you saved a lot of suffering and a ton of money. Frankly it seems to me the medical insurance companies would be all over this because it would have the potential to save them a lot of money.
It's less work to make wine than to grow pot. I've done both.
Every health care professionals, most law enforcement are either neutral or in favor of legalizing MJ, the funny thing is many of my lawyer friends uses MJ but not too enthuse of its legalization....lmao!
I forgot to mention another group that hate the idea to legalization are bar owners as their customers would probably chill at home instead, but dance clubs are in favor because their patrons get really thirsty!
emenot-
Everything you read in High times is not true. Most healthcare professionals say that it is just as bad as tobacco...it is not endorsed by the majority of physicians.
ConcernedByStupidity I do believe that you have some old information regarding the medical profession's take on marijuana. That has changed in light of much research that has taken place in other countries with more liberal policies regarding cannabis. In some ways it is like stem cell research. We deny ourselves the benefits of discoveries that could save lives and reduce suffering simply because we have been indoctrinated with false information for political and financial reasons. Check this out.
http://www.cannabisculture.com/content/ama-ends-72-year-policy-says-marijuana-has-medical-benefits
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-5614233-503544.html
Here are a couple of links about the American Medical Association's retraction on their previous position regarding cannabis. I listed two because the first one was clearly a biased publication but the second one came from CBS news. Also there were several others with the same information presented so you can take your pick.
Concerned I understand your attitude because you, like so many others, are victims of over 70 years worth of negative propaganda based upon lies. The movie "Reefer Madness" was originally presented as a kind of documentary/educational film but has since been reduced to being a cult classic for its comedic value. What it presents is so far from the truth that most people who really knew the effects of cannabis branded it as hilariously ludacrous the first day it came out. LOL
emenot,
You are simply "blowing smoke" (pun deliberate). Healthcare Pros are not in a majority in favor of legalization, any doctor worth his/her salt knows that even if there were no chemical compounds involved (Pot carried a hefty dose of THC) smoking anything is not healthy since doing so even pot, deposits oxidized carbon particles in the lungs, inhibiting O2 transport.
If your "Lawyer friends" are using pot, then they are apparently not too enamored with their chosen profession and very likely fall into the category of "ambulance chaser" rather than "reputable attorney".
Bar owners, are no more or less in favor of legalization than the general public since they more than most understand the liabilities involved in use of any intoxicant and would rather have a customer who stops in for a single beer than the drunk who comes in for a 12 pack then goes out and wraps his car around a phone pole then sues the bar owner for allowing them to drink too much.
As I am a casual drinker, bar owners probably dislike me as much as anyone since I typically buy the booze at the liquor store, then have a single drink (beer) with dinner, or a Toddie before bed. So I am as likely a target for the ire of the bar owner as your mythical "chiller".
haha!
The AMA eases its stance on marijuana
Now, the American Medical Association (AMA) has called for the federal government to go one step further in easing restrictions, the Los Angeles Times reported last week.
With its recommendation, the AMA joins the American College of Physicians in encouraging studies of the medical benefits of marijuana. The AMA noted in the report on its new policy that it had actually opposed the first federal restrictions on citizen access to marijuana in 1937.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=the-american-medical-association-ea-2009-11-17
AMA Calls for Feds to Review Marijuana Restrictions
"Our American Medical Association (AMA) urges that marijuana's status as a federal Schedule I controlled substance be reviewed with the goal of facilitating the conduct of clinical research and development of cannabinoid-based medicines," the AMA's statement (PDF) reads.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-5614233-503544.html
The owner of a bar I worked at, kept a baggie in the desk drawer, in his office in case one of his bartenders needed an attitude adjustment. Most bar staff smoke pot. How do you think they keep their cool, dealing with obnoxious drunks? They take a couple of hits in the walk-in cooler when they're getting more beer, or in the liquor room, or hauling a load of trash out to the dumpster, or taking a break. Bar owners have no problem with legalizing pot. they'll just sell that too. Mellow customers with cotton mouth, are not to be discouraged.
To use the argument that there is a "gateway" to drugs is ignorant. If someone wants to experiment they will. Their curiosity or need to escape or need to have a new experience will drive them to the next step, whatever that step may be. If you really want to suggest that there is such a thing as a "gateway drug", (which I don't), why not ask every subject in the pole if the first thing they tried was to smoke a cigarette? Why aren't cigarette's the gateway? I am willing to bet a very high percentage of drug addicted youth tried cigrette's before they ever tried anything else. Except possibly alcohol. It's almost like since those are legal, they don't count. That is wrong. They count. Count them first, and stop using marijuana as the "scapegoat drug". That agrument does not hold water.
In fact, there are "gateways" in smoking as well as drinking, A cigarette leads to a pack and a pack leads to a carton, in the area of tobacco there are few "up the line choices", not so with drugs, pot users who progress to harder drugs often do so in pursuit of the higher more intense "high".
Even with food (leading to obesity) people do not eat with the intent of getting fat, nor do alcoholics start on beer with the intent of moving on to Whiskey. But the fact remains that people do over eat and get fat as a result, they eat for a variety of reasons that have nothing to do with hunger (stress, boredom, etc.), and most hard corps alcoholics that suck down several gallons of hard liquor each week, started out on beer.
Marijuana is not something that people try and then say, "Wow that was great I think I'll jump on to Coke tomorrow", but some do exactly that, very few people start using coke or meth as their first drug of choice.
in fact, prescription drugs are becoming our era's gateway drug now...here's an excerpt from a local paper here showing what i mean...
Cheap, easy-to-get heroin leads to spike in Oregon overdose deaths
Lt. Derek Rodrigues with the Portland Police Bureau's drugs and vice division said the uptick in heroin overdoses in Portland can also be linked to the steep price and scarcity of the prescription painkiller oxycodone.
"A hit of oxy is hard to get and can go for $30, $40 But a hit of heroin is only $10," Rodrigues said. "Same high, cheaper price. And if it's a bad batch..."
http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/2012/04/cheap_readily_available_heroin.html
Your story has the facts right, except one. The use of prescription drugs as a gateway is not new, I was living in Eugene in the 60's/70's and it was prevalent even then.
sorry, way before my time...shoulda known it wasn't really something new...but that makes me wonder why nobody has ever said that prescription drugs were the gateway drugs if it's been seen throughout our history...?
The really really ironic thing about all of this is that we never had a "drug problem" per se before prohibition. Unlike alcohol most drug use was limited to musicians and other folks in the entertainment industry. Even though marijuana had been illegal since the late 30s the DEA didn't come into existence until 1973. That is when the ATF finally became overhelmed with the requirements of enforcement due to the explosion in popularity of its use.
Coca Cola originally contained traces of cocaine which is how Coca became part of the product name. Morphine could be legally purchased over the counter at most pharmacies as laudenum and was used to comfort people dying in extreme pain. It wasn't until the 1950s when the beatniks of the beat generation began using drugs such as marijuana and heroine that the public even became aware of it. They morphed into the hippies of the 1960s and people like Timothy Leary gave drugs a kind of legitimacy and a mystique with their notions that it was mind expanding and a road to enlightenment. After that the cat was out of the bag.
In much the same way that tobacco use burgeoned in society through first word of mouth then major advertising drugs acquired a sort of cachet in the social milieu. The only difference was the advertising came from the news stories about those being arrested and prosecuted. It became the cool thing to do to get away with snorting some coke and toking a joint despite the wary eye of john law.
My point is that sometimes you are just better served to take the time to address a social problem correctly from the very beginning rather than just take the knee jerk approach and simply outlaw it. That is the lazy and incompetent way and, as has repeatedly been the case, that is how you create even bigger problems in the long run.
I believe all drugs should be legal and then taxed accordingly. The extra taxes and there will be extra, should be put in a fund for rehab for the ones that want it and need it. I believe alcohol addiction would eat most of that up. Its funny how alcohol, the most accepted of legal drugs is also the most dangerous to ones that don't drink. I am an alcohol and drug counselor and the majority of my clients are there for alcohol offensives.
How could you tax and regualte something people are just going to grow and use for their selves? I guarentee that sales wouldn't be that great due to people just using their own stuff.
From the perspective of one who grows tomatoes, just because people can, or are allowed to, grow anything doesn't mean they will.
Very few people who use agricultural produce of any kind have the space, time, or knowhow to do so.
Further, when it comes to cannabis, sure, it's a weed, but in most locales is strictly seasonal in terms of outdoor production. Indoor production is costly even after considering the upfront costs related to startup. This is not to mention the potential for robbery and police raids.
The fact is that no, most people will not grow cannabis on any scale close to what they will use, much like they don't do it with tomatoes or broccoli or anything else, for that matter.
Again! 95% of people who smoke pot are not going to grow it. Quit thinking it's as easy as tomatoes to grow. It Isn't! See, you anti-pot people don't even know what you're talking about.
LOL. Tomatoes aren't even all that easy to grow well...
Agreed. Obviously.
I think we should just shoot these idiots that cannot follow the law. Forget about prosecuting them if they are found with drugs shoot them in the head with a 30 cent bullet . that would save millions of dollars and open up space in our prisions.
You are a moron. Great contribution to the discussion!
Wow man. I burnt one an hour ago. No way could I have read this
thread unless I did. Wasted time. Wasted.
Personally, I don't care if pot is legal or not, I don't use it and do not approve of those who do, but I accept the fact that there are some who do. That being said, IF we are going to have it legalized then we need to end ALL taxpayer subsidies for drug rehab and addiction treatment. If we are going to legalize the problem, we don't need to compound the stupidity by paying double for the effects.
You pay for rehab with ALL the tax money marijuana will bring in. Don't worry your taxes won't go up! It will more than pay for itself.
If pot were legal, potheads would not be commonly seen in rehab since they would no longer need to defer sentencing for simple possession.
I wouldn't say the same for any real drug, but to stop wasting my tax dollars on rehab for weed, sounds like a darn good idea.
good this need to happen already. no need for this to be illegal any longer
OMG, Are you all serious ? Have you smoked weed? I smoked plenty when I was in my teens or early 20s. Im glad I do not anymore. I would have never made it to where i am today if I had continued. It takes the wind out of you, it causes you to not be motivated to strive to meet your dreams. They say for medical purposes ? I agree it is like a pain killer in its own way. So for those who do not need it for medical purposes.... It is like a drug that will take you know where, but to being unmotivated to excell at something. Do not get me wrong, I know people who can smoke and still excell at what they want , but if legal it will be 2 easy to obtain ( abuse) and soon you will find it taking over your life. You can not compare it to alclohol, it has not been as easy to obtain, but once it is......we will see how bad it really is for you. trust me
hahaha! it's already easy to obtain, hell, you could get it in elementary schools! ha! it's already shown that kids can get some herb faster and easier than alcohol or even cigarettes...this is it at its worse right now, believe me, since it's more available than without regulation...with legalization and regulation, things would be better...go figure.
old man
o_q,
Sweetie, you were just smoking the wrong KIND of pot. There are some kinds that make you relaxed, some might even say lazy, but many others enhance your productivity and creativity. Try the AK47 or White Widow. You will find that you can blaze away at your work without experiencing all the stress and irritation that comes from operating in this forsaken world.
Solace I too have heard good things about White Widow and Northen Light but I can't say that I have ever heard of AK47. Is that a fairly recent hybird?
To o_q you say that making cannabis legal would make it easier to obtain. I dispute that because I can buy a lid right now at a local middle school and so can the kids because some of them are dealing. Sadly some of them appear to be branching into coke and heroine. Once legalized the market would be flattened taking the criminal element out of the picture. The sources would dry up due to lack of income (not enough money for taking the risks) and kids would be less likely to get their hands on it just like tobacco and alcohol today.
Attitudes like yours are part of the problem with the drug issues. You speak and vote based upon the propaganda and lies that you have been fed over the years coupled with your own experiences whether bad or good. What you tried a few years ago may have been a certain variety that does produce a rather lethargic response but you didn't use it all day every day now did you? The effects were usually short termed were they not? There were no adverse after effects were there? So basically you were very very relaxed for a short period of time, got over it and when back to what you were doing before you ever used it. I don't see a probem with that. It is really no different from popping a secanol just to get some rest but secanol gives me a terrible headache afterward. Marijuana does not.
look at this one story from a 13 year old girl who got some through her school...see how easy it is to get it in this day and age? good work, prohibition! legalize it and then regulate the herb so that kids find it harder to obtain just like alcohol and cigarettes!
http://teeengirl.newsvine.com/_news/2012/05/22/11818075-the-drug-dilemma?last=1337818423&threadId=3425912&sp=0&pc=25#last_1
Joe that was indeed an interesting link. I presently have a 16 year old living in my home and she impresses me daily with her intelligence and maturity. She has told me that almost everyone seems to have at least tried pot and many in her junior class have turned up pregnant. This is a "just say no" school on both drugs and sex. Obviously that tactic is not working.
So far she says that she has not seen it in her school but it is rumored that in some schools in the area (middle schools and high schools) kids are even dealing crack cocaine, meth, and heroine. If that is true then I am really frightened about our kids in this area. I know there is a drug problem here because there is a state run methadone treatment facility about a mile from my house. So if the parents are strung out it would not suprise me if their kids are selling it in the schools.
About a year ago we had a group of 12 and 13 year old girls hanging out around the local mall peddling their young bodies for money to buy stuff in the mall. These girls were not from minorities either. Most came from middle class working families in this area. Fortunately the mall security people discovered what was going on and notified the local police who busted the kids and locked up their customers for child molestation and soliciting a prostitute.
It would be one thing if we were in total poverty like Somalia or parts of India and had to sell ourselves in order to survive but these kids came from normal middle class families for goodness sakes. We talk about family values and then have things like this happening in our neighborhoods and local schools and we live in a predominantly republican state. Meanwhile Ms. Nopolitano tells us that we are safer now than ever before and that the drug war is being won. Hmmm. I wonder what defeat looks like then?
Just because it did those thing to you doesn't mean it does those things to everyone. Pot does not make me lazy or unmotivated. Must be your personality. You better not smoke. Why does that give you the right to tell me not to smoke. I'm sure you like something that I can't stand but I don't tell you that you can't have it do I?
Shepard,
In the past I'd have said the little girl was a "drama queen" and prone to exaggeration. Her descriptions of everything, like how red her eyes were, are extremely overblown, to the point of fantasy. The part about her paranoia clicked it for me.
In the past few years I've had some experience with someone with extreme bi-polar disorder, and seen how it is passed along in a family. I even read a story by another little girl, which had freaked her teacher out. I wasn't surprised to reach the end of this story and discover that she had had a horrid younger childhood. Sadly, her tale of the consequences of half a marijuana cookie is reality in only very minor part. It's mostly paranoid delusion. Bolstered by a desire to blame her father's death on drugs, rather than on him. I'm willing to bet there was a lot more wrong with him than just drugs. And that she had reason to be glad, when he died. I hope for her sake I'm wrong, but if the parallels I'm seeing are accurate, this young lady is in for a really hard time, if she doesn't get the proper help.
It sounds to me like you on the other hand, are more of a real parent than she had. Keep talking to your daughter, and keep listening. You are her best hope.
If you people think that legalizing Pot is the answer to tax problems you need to stop smoking now.. Cutting spending is the ONLY answer that has a chance of working.. Now whether pot should be legal is another story all together.
If alcohol is legal, I cannot figure out why marijuana should not be... Except taxing it would be very difficult, and our Government has a hard time with things they cannot tax.. Growing marijuana is not at all like making wine or beer, or hard liquor for that matter. Any idiot can set up a grow room and make a decent crop of pot.
It would lessen the burden our prisons are under considerably though...
yeah, we're all going to immediately rush out and get $800-1000 worth of grow lights and equipment and fertilizer and stock up on shotguns and handguns so we can defend our gardens. yep. or we're gonna walk down the block to the market where we can just say "pack of marlbud's, bro." and pay like ten bucks. and walk back home. hmmm, yeah, sure, we're all gonna grow, no matter what...(i'm rolling my eyes...)...any idiot can set up a tomato garden and make a decent crop of tomatos. don't see the tomato industry hurting any, though...
Ahem.
I grow tomatoes, and I can attest to the fact that MOST people do NOT grow anything, regardless of whether or not they can.
Most people have not the time, motivation, nor knowhow to grow much of anything. Maybe because they don't have to, most Americans would simply rather not deal with the hassle, investment, and necessary patience to grow ANYTHING.
Cannabis, being strictly seasonal in much of North America, is an exceptional crop to grow, in terms of upfront and long-term investment (think lights, good soil, fertilizer, expensive seeds OR plants), attention and knowhow. Sure, it's a weed and will grow just about anywhere, but it would not be of any interest to anyone seeking "medicinal" benefit without the above mentioned factors in play. This is not even to mention things like powdery mildew (the scourge of growing ANY plant indoors) mites, aphids (cannabis is candy for pests of many types), proper curing and pruning of the end product, and any number of other considerations requiring seemingly endless trial and error in perfecting the process.
Seriously, most folks can't even handle a tomato plant properly.
I totally disagree! It is much harder to grow good weed than it is to make home brew or wine. You obviously don't know what your talking about. Anyone can make a plant grow but you have to know what you're doing to grow GOOD weed!
Well if you quit prosecuting people for marijuana and let all the marijuana people out of jail, that will will drastically cut spending. Now and in the future.
Wine's less work than pot, I've done both. I look forward to the opportunity to combine the two hobbies and make wine from pot, legally. Most people will just continue to buy both, like they always have.
legalize it. don't criticize it yeaaaa ;P
I think people in higher positions are getting paid off by the illegal drug rings that woul loose a lot of money if it was legal. imagine how many people getting kickbacks would loose major money coming to them under the table.
They've been getting paid off for 70 years by the chemical companies, oil companies, paper companies and the cotton growers, then cigarette and alcohol companies joined in and more recently, the Pharma companies. The Mexican Cartels contributing to a superpac or two, now that that's legal, is a no-brainer.
Dear o_q,
Sweetie, you were just smoking the wrong KIND of pot. Some strains give a mellow, relaxing high that, admittedly, may make you feel lazy. However, there are many strains that will give a high that makes you feel more motivated, increase your productivity, and enhance your creativity. I suggest either AK47 or the White Widdow.
Timing is important too. If it makes you feel lazy, don't smoke until you do what you need to do, or at least till you get started. Don't smoke when you study, do smoke to take the test. You can do too much of most anything, even work. You have to mix it up.
Sorry for repeating my earlier post, this is my first time commenting, and when I didn't see my comment, I thought I messed up....I'm not using any MJ, so please don't blame the weed!
no problem. i'm blaming sobriety.
Solace,
I'm sorry.
Legalize marijuana. Really? All of you put the joint down and take three step back.
Steps? You know my PC has been mounted to my recliner since 95, right?
Some years go Michael Pollan (The Omnivore's Dillema et. al) wrote a fascinating article for Harper's - not about marijuana - but about poppies. It illustrated the same bizarre and double-standard regarding opium from poppies as the government's stand on cannibas cultivation and consumption. He pointed out that poppies are sold and grown throughout the US, apparently (as far as anyone can tell) completely legally. You can buy the same poppies that produce opium from major seed companies, and on the street from flower vendors. Yet, IF the government wishes to prosecute anyone for "opium cultivation," they can, at their discretion. Pollan compared it to having a hidden bu universal speed limit - completely unposted anywhere - they would allow the government (if and when they wished) to arrest anyone driving over 25 mph (or some such draconianly restrictive speed - I don't remember the exact details of his). In the same way the government and its largest contributing corpoations have managed to take away form us almost all of our personal free will and our ability to self-medicate . . . all in the name of protecting us.
It would be worthwhile for anyone to research this issue (not that many here seem to need to - they're pretty enlightened already) and realize for themselves how their freedoms are artificially and gratuitously restricted, whether it is injesting cannibas, or even getting appropriate antibiotic treatments for Lyme disease, or cancer curing and preventive treatments from Dr. Burzenski . . . etc. etc.
so obama is slipping a 1% tax for bank deposites so he can get the 20 billion dollars he blew off on stupid crap like this and honestly if this is supossed to be the land of the free then y in holland did i feel like i was free( this is where a time machine would be in handy so we can undo these dumb laws) yes im american not dutch
What a load. Who cares if a hippy sneaks a bong hit off the "medical" plant. Legalize the stuff already, and quit spending my money chasing the hippies around.
Please write your senators and congressman and tell them that enough is enough! Too many lives being ruined by prosecution. There is nothing harmful about marijuana! I've smoked marijuana for 40 years and I am as healthy as can be. No prescriptions! I look 50. ( so I'm told by many) I won't be giving my retirement money to the pharmaceutical companies. They may as well legalize because they are stopping nothing! Just propping up the alcohol industry and the big pharmaceutical companies. They do not want marijuana legalized!
The majority rules -- like hell it does !
I am hoping it will before too long. A recent poll shows 56% of Americans favor legalizing weed, with 47% against. All we we need is a few politicians to make it an issue when they're pandering for votes, and we're in there.
103%?... Interesting. Are the additional 3% Puerto Ricans? And which side of the debate. LOL. Just kidding.
How many marijuana users are on some form of government assistance? I will bet that it is a very high percentage. How many drug users cant make it without government support??? How many Pro marijuana posters here get their money from the government?
JA what difference does that make? You are trying to make it appear that "all" marijuana users are suspect as social misfits when in reality nothing could be farther from the truth. Certainly there will be a percentage that are barely getting by in society just as there are non-users in the same boat. Really I find it rather unbecoming to try and make a point by using a "guilt by association" technique.
Many of those "drug users" that you talk about were put there by our society and our medical profession and have to have government support to pay for the artificial drugs that the medical profession put them on because they are outrageously expensive courtesy of the pharmaceutical industry. You see marijuana can be grown and made available cheaply so being on government assistance has nothing to do with getting it and since it is capable of curing many forms of cancer there is no reason to pay huge ransoms to our government and the pharmaceutical industry to get it for curative purposes.
If you or others simply refuse to accept the science that is literally scattered all over the internet and refuse to accept the final admission of our own AMA and FDA then please do not insult those who do accept it and are fighting to get our government to decriminalize it for the benefit of all.
I see....You simply believe that it is all someone elses fault. Society, medical profession and pharmaceutical industry are the culprits.....Druggies themselves are innocent....in fact they are the victims....Yea, I get it....How do I sign up for gov assistance??
"I see....You simply believe that it is all someone else's fault. Society, medical profession and pharmaceutical industry are the culprits"
In a word J.A. yes I do. Actually it is more than just a belief it is documented fact. What amounted to a harmless herb was declared illegal and labeled potentially a killer because of corporate pressure on a corrupt Congress who caved and allowed this travesty to take place. Now it is being discovered (or I should say re-discovered) that this plant, that used to be a common medication prior to 1937, is turning out to be the modern equivalent of a miracle drug. It is proving to be very effective as a cure for cancer and our government has known about it since 1974. Thousands of people have suffered and died because of corporate greed and governmental corruption.
The facts and details supporting this are scattered all over the net and are available for anyone who wishes to know the truth. We simply did not have a drug problem in the United State prior to the prohibition of marijuana. What we had was a very minor use mostly by people in the entertainment industry and some usage of heroine. Cocaine and methamphetamines mostly only existed in the medical profession and were not commonly available on the streets.
Just as with alcohol in the 1920s we created a monster by prohibiting it and making it profitable as a black market product. Once alcohol was re-legalized and regulated the massive enforcement organization that had been created to fight it needed a new direction so when DuPont, Hearst, and some pharmaceutical companies started campaigning to eradicate hemp/marijuana/cannabis they found a new reason to continue to exist. They just switched from the war on alcohol to the new war on drugs.
Now you asked about assistance and I am certain that you did so sarcastically so I will respond in kind. To obtain it you simply apply at your nearest office of Health and Human Services. However they will not provide you with any drugs or alcohol unless you are already hooked. Then they will hook you up with some very expensive product called methadone and bill our medicare/medicaid system for it. Yours and my tax dollars at work brought to us by our demand for a war on drugs. LOL
My guess is that you are a staunch Republican like my late father and uncles. They would sell their own mother if it reaped them another dollar. In fact one of my uncles did. Argh! Sold her farm right out from under her and kept the profits from the coal that was under it. Yep that is the Republican way. So if you want to continue to blame the poor and indigent I suppose you can do so but it simply is not supported by any facts. It has to remain purely your opinion. Welcome to it.
Yea, lets all smoke pot, use other drugs, get high....and sign up for for government assistance.....If we all do it, that will show them. ....We should all live off of the government....Yea, that will work....
J.A., have you been drinking? I can see little other reasonable explanation for your behavior in this forum...
PS- The government that claims it will give you everything you need, is most capable of taking everything you have.
Oh yeah, and I have a better idea. Let's all chain smoke cigarettes and get drunk and drive around in cars! That $hit is FUN! (Hmmm... somehow I figured that strawman argument would work out, but I was wrong, too...).
Night.
:)
diatribe...yea, you missed the sarcasm...go back and read the posts leading up to that sarcasm and you will see it. Start with post 551.....very similar to your last sentence...