Comments on: War On Weed's End In Sight

By: Michale

Michale — Wed, 13 Jul 2016 18:43:06 +0000

The Democratic Platform’s Sharp Left Turn
This isn’t Bill Clinton’s party anymore. It isn’t even Barack Obama’s.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-democratic-platforms-sharp-left-turn-1468363295

This guarantees a Trump presidency....

Michale

By: Michale

Michale — Wed, 13 Jul 2016 18:37:14 +0000

Norman Lear said yesterday that Trump is "the extended middle finger of the American right hand."

Lear is a well known liberal stooge..

Why would you think his words have any more relevance than the words of Rush Limbaugh??

Oh that's right. Because you AGREE with Lear....

He says what you want to hear, so you lap it up...

Michale

By: Michale

Michale — Wed, 13 Jul 2016 18:35:07 +0000

Oh. So now you're saying, 'both sides do it, so why hide the bias?', while earlier posts stated that liberals were unfairly calling out the law for being biased. No, I am saying both sides do it but you only castigate ONE side for doing and applaud and support the OTHER side who ALSO does it.. This goes to bias.... You seem to support this extreme division, this new 'status quo', this neo-anarchy. And you support the the OTHER side of the extreme division.. How does that make you any different than what you accuse me of?? Michale

By: Balthasar

Balthasar — Wed, 13 Jul 2016 18:17:05 +0000

Oh. So now you're saying, 'both sides do it, so why hide the bias?', while earlier posts stated that liberals were unfairly calling out the law for being biased. This is an interesting observation on a day in which the Republicans have passed the most conservative platform possible, and Bernie bragged that the Democratic platform was 'the most progressive in history'. Norman Lear said yesterday that Trump is "the extended middle finger of the American right hand." You seem to support this extreme division, this new 'status quo', this neo-anarchy. So the extremists are having fun this year in both parties. But the middle will have their way in November, and they will be ignored at the peril of either candidate.

By: Michale

Michale — Wed, 13 Jul 2016 17:32:24 +0000

Unfortunately for you, Michale, there are some folks around here who remember Nixon and the way the Drug War began in earnest on his watch. Yea... I am one of them.. Your point??? . There are (unfortunately for his allies) tapes of him discussing stricter penalties for pot use as a way of 'getting at' the anti-war protestors who dogged him. You mean like Odumbo and the Demcorats do as a way of "getting at" the Republicans who dogged them?? You mean, like that??? The right-wingery would have us believe that the left is paranoid about biased laws, when the truth is that the law can be, and is, sometimes written in such a way as to punish left-leaning and minority constituencies specifically. Just as Odumbo and the Demcorats have crafted biased laws to punish right leaning constituencies.. WHAT is your point??? As S. Stills wrote: Paranoia runs deep. "Of course, I'm paranoid!! They're out to kill me!!" -Garak, DEEP SPACE NINE :D Michale

By: Balthasar

Balthasar — Wed, 13 Jul 2016 17:01:59 +0000

Unfortunately for you, Michale, there are some folks around here who remember Nixon and the way the Drug War began in earnest on his watch. There are (unfortunately for his allies) tapes of him discussing stricter penalties for pot use as a way of 'getting at' the anti-war protestors who dogged him. I could dig that out, if you'd like.

The right-wingery would have us believe that the left is paranoid about biased laws, when the truth is that the law can be, and is, sometimes written in such a way as to punish left-leaning and minority constituencies specifically.

As S. Stills wrote: Paranoia runs deep.

By: Michale

Michale — Wed, 13 Jul 2016 11:13:27 +0000

It's a sad commentary on the Left Wingery that they believe that we shouldn't criminalize criminal behavior because it makes people into criminals..

N.E.N...

Michale

By: Michale

Michale — Wed, 13 Jul 2016 09:27:28 +0000

It's a sad commentary on the Left Wingery that they believe that we shouldn't criminalize criminal behavior because it makes people into criminals..

The illogic and irrationality is utterly mind-blowing..

Michale

By: Michale

Michale — Wed, 13 Jul 2016 00:46:54 +0000

Yea, that's what I asked..

Seriously!???

Criminalizing things is just a way to criminalize and disenfranchise groups of people...
-Speak

Well, here's a thought.. DON'T do the crime and you won't be criminalized or disenfranchised..

I mean, seriously... DUH.....

Michale

By: Speak2

Speak2 — Wed, 13 Jul 2016 00:26:03 +0000

Seriously?

By: Michale

Michale — Wed, 13 Jul 2016 00:19:12 +0000

The War on Drugs was not, primarily, about hippies, college kids, or other anti-war protesters. It began and still continues as a means of criminalizing and disenfranchising a large minority of the population. Seriously... Do ya'all actually BELIEVE such utter spewage and bullshit??? REALLY!!???? Here's a really REALLY wild and crazy idea... DON'T DO ILLEGAL DRUGS AND YOU WON"T BE "CRIMINALIZED" AND "DISENFRANCHISED" Oh wait!! Oh!! Oh!!! I know!!! "Let's criminalize MURDER so that we can 'disenfranchise' people who commit murder!!" jeezus H christ, the world ya'all live in... Do ya'all HEAR yerselves??? It's mind-blowing... :^/ Michale

By: Michale

Michale — Wed, 13 Jul 2016 00:14:59 +0000

The final straw was, again, not Latino-based. Marijuana prohibitions were a way to "keep the [expletive deleted, but referring to Black/African-American folk] down".

Amazing how the Left Wingery can tie alleged racism into EVERYTHING.

EVERYTHING is racist.. :^/

Gimme a frakin' break....

Michale

By: Speak2

Speak2 — Wed, 13 Jul 2016 00:10:03 +0000

Second post The second part of the history has almost nothing to do with that. It occurred a few decades later and focused on hemp. The burgeoning wood/paper industries saw hemp as a powerful rival that could be defeated by linking it to the buzz/marijuana movement. Those "corporatist" interests saw to it that all things related to the family of plants was "forever" off limits. The final straw was, again, not Latino-based. Marijuana prohibitions were a way to "keep the [expletive deleted, but referring to Black/African-American folk] down". The prohibitions gave greater leeway to the nation to keep this group "in their place." The War on Drugs was not, primarily, about hippies, college kids, or other anti-war protesters. It began and still continues as a means of criminalizing and disenfranchising a large minority of the population. That was it's big purpose to begin with. The other affected groups (hippies, etc) are an "ancillary benefit" for those espousing such positions.

By: Speak2

Speak2 — Wed, 13 Jul 2016 00:09:43 +0000

Two posts Hey CW: Fell behind again. Let's start with Monday's War on Weeds article. You make most of the good points: IRS treatment and Banking restrictions, in particular. For me, it isn't travel restrictions, it's these two points that are the most important. In an earlier column's Comments section, I linked to a Willamette Week article that compared the IRS treatment of two hypothetical Brownie manufacturers, one selling pot brownies. As much as I like the local-sustainable model, the push to keep things local and sustainable is preventing these issues from being addressed. Unfortunately, we need larger/national investment dollars because we need their lobbying to make those changes. Let's face it, there's a reason Organic/Sustainable food keeps losing in DC. They've/We've built up next to no lobbying apparatus to influence DC. All that said, I take issue with your first paragraph. I think you miss the history completely. This had nothing to do with 100-year-ago Latino workers. There was the anti-buzz religious movements which did several things, culminating in the prohibition disaster. However, the weren't thinking about how Latinos relaxed. There was the East Coast, white people, cocaine issues that had come over from Europe. On the West Coast, there were white people succumbing to the "evils of opium" that were part of the culture brought over by the Chinese who initially did railroad work. All over, there was the influence of absinthe. Marijuana simply got included and caught up in this movement.

By: Michale

Michale — Tue, 12 Jul 2016 19:40:38 +0000

Steedo,

"Welcome to the party, pal!!!"
-John McClane, DIE HARD

Don't worry.. If ya stick around, you get used to it... :D

Michale

By: Steedo

Steedo — Tue, 12 Jul 2016 16:37:04 +0000

First, major props to CW for continuing to keep this issue on the front line, even back when greater political courage was required. I offer a minor quibble but an important distinction: the term War on Weed has an alliterative quality but does not serve the cause as it could. Let's get away from the terms weed, pot, herb, and reefer which tend to de-legitimize the discussion. What we are talking about is legalizing CANNABIS. Call it cannabis every chance you get. This covers smoking, edibles, oils and anti-convulsants as well as hemp for rope and fabric. It might give off an aroma of legitimacy to those on the fence.
Also unmentioned among the benefits of state legalization is the support infrastructure. We are not only collecting tax revenue and redirecting law enforcement assets, we are creating JOBS, running trucks and renting commercial property. Eventually a reasonable capitalist should see how much money is being left on the table.

By: Michale

Michale — Tue, 12 Jul 2016 08:50:23 +0000

There is nothing to add...

Except, of course, to note that there is nothing to note.. :D

Michale

By: Michale

Michale — Tue, 12 Jul 2016 08:45:26 +0000

Boy howdy, can't wait to see the argie and bargie coming...I am sure that there is something us'all won't get.

Sorry to disappoint ya..

But my thoughts on this subject are well-known and my recent temperance on this subject, due to my grandson and his epilepsy, is ALSO well known..

There is nothing to add...

Michale

By: Chris Weigant

Chris Weigant — Tue, 12 Jul 2016 08:16:41 +0000

Balthasar -

Mark Twain:

"...there is no distinctly native American criminal class, except Congress."

Heh.

HawkOwl -

Yeah, everybody remembers Yossarian, but few remember Doc Daneeka...

:-)

goode trickle -

My influemce with HuffPost seems to be waning...

-CW

By: goode trickle

goode trickle — Tue, 12 Jul 2016 06:44:48 +0000

Bsar-

Boy howdy, can't wait to see the argie and bargie coming...I am sure that there is something us'all won't get.

Putting the idealogic slave bong aside...

Hey CW-

You gotta speak to the folks at HP about the photo selection...the post should have had a nice big fat cola bud, instead you got the leaf...

I hate bad photo editing decisions.

By: Hawk Owl

Hawk Owl — Tue, 12 Jul 2016 05:11:25 +0000

Thanks for the cogent & detailed analysis of this irrational, crazy history. "The times they are a changing" has never been more apt. Thanks, too, for the "quote" from Doc Daneeka to Yossarian which made me smile . . . Hawkowl

By: Balthasar

Balthasar — Tue, 12 Jul 2016 03:16:48 +0000

P.S.: He said, "if being lazy and stupid was a crime, they'd have to arrest congress first."

By: Balthasar

Balthasar — Tue, 12 Jul 2016 03:09:39 +0000

CW, I couldn't agree more with this one.

True story: I was having a smoke once with a prominent Mensan after having spent a grueling weekend staging a convention, when we happened to see Bill Bennett say on CNN that pot 'makes people lazy and stupid'. That was a good laugh.

Particularly when the Republican sitting across from him would eventually support Climate Denial, Creationism, denying the CDC from researching gun deaths, opposing Stem Cell research, and of course, research on the very subject he was talking about. If that isn't intellectually lazy (beliefs are easier to process than facts), it borders on the monumentally stupid to believe that sticking our collective heads in sand could have any good result.

By: Paula

Paula — Tue, 12 Jul 2016 00:53:13 +0000

Chris, can you release my comment on the last thread?