We don’t talk much about politics here, I think mostly because we’re apathetic and/or disillusioned. There are precisely two politicians I genuinely think would be appropriate leaders of our fair country. One of them is the highly polarizing Ron Paul. No, I do not think he’s the second coming of Jesus, and I definitely don’t approve of his views on church and state or abortion. But overall, there’s probably not a more sincere, consistent and honest politician that actually has a chance at becoming president.

The other is the largely unknown former governor of New Mexico: Gary Johnson. A young, active, perhaps more progressive version of Ron Paul, Johnson has gained notoriety (and respect) for having climbed Mts. Everest, Elbrus, McKinley and Kilimanjaro, performing impressive 140+ mile triathlons, and a 100 mile run through the Rocky Mountains. He also survived a 50 foot fall from a paragliding accident and treated his pain with medicinal marijuana.

No, he is not a myth, though he might sound too good to be true. He is highly vocal about his disdain for the War on Drugs, specifically the War on Marijuana. In fact, he has been firmly (and loudly) of this opinion as far back as 1999, long before the argument was part of public discourse.

Nowadays, he is trying to gain footing to stage a serious presidential run, likely in 2016. Just today an op-ed piece authored by none other than Johnson was published in Big Government – a strictly right-leaning website. In the article Johnson argues for the end of the War on Drugs, citing the fiscal, social and international benefits that could come with it. And… well, I’ll let you read it for yourself:

http://biggovernment.com/gjohnson/2012/01/16/its-time-to-end-the-war-on-drugs/#more-408344

Every anti-weed advocate just lost possibly their most valuable argument.

“The researchers followed more than 5,000 people over two decades and found that regularly smoking marijuana — the equivalent of up to a joint a day over seven years — did not impair performance on a lung function test.

“In something of a twist, the researchers found that compared to nonsmokers, marijuana users performed slightly better on the lung function test, though the improvement was minuscule.”

Epic. I think I’ll go take some puffs of this finely crafted BHO in celebration! While I do that, check out the rest of the article:

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/11/marijuana-smoking-does-not-harm-lungs-study-finds/

A new survey reports that a majority of Americans support the legalization of marijuana. Angus Reid Public Opinion has found that 55% of Americans support legalization of marijuana. This is higher than both their 2009 and 2010 surveys, in which Americans favored it 53% and 52%, respectively.
(more…)

In this passionate open letter to Americans, writing staff of “The Wire” point out some of the obvious flaws with the drug war, and make a suggestion of what the average, broke, well-meaning American can do to help. The authors do suggest that perhaps the role of TV writer is not the best suited for social commentary. I wholeheartedly disagree. If there is a better suited role than the most universal form of American entertainment to shed light on an issue, I’d love to hear it. Obviously this can go wrong, in the form of Fox News, for example, but when it goes right, I’ll be damned if it isn’t spectacular.

As an avid “The Wire” enthusiast, I was excited to read this. It wasn’t too surprising, however, given the nature of the show, to learn of their opinions on the matter. Regardless, I think it could be a very beneficial, and perhaps enlightening, read to the less “involved” in our culture.

Without further ado: The Wire’s War on the Drug War

Apparently the DEA really doesn’t discriminate. I suppose this is a good thing, since blacks outnumber whites 4-1 in American jails, and they are outnumbered 6-1 in the population of the US. But once again, the lack of oversight and general lack of interest in gathering worthwhile evidence tacks on another repetitive mark under “failed police raid on innocent American’s home.” This time, however, the victim of the raid was not an average American. Where most people would have neither the time nor resources to pursue any type of restitution, this UC Hastings professor vows to take his case as far as possible. At one time even being quoted saying he will not stop until “I see [the agents'] houses sold at auction and their kids’ college tuitions taken away from them.”

While it’s fairly unlikely that any repercussions will befall the individual officers involved in this case, it is possible that the infuriated professor, Clark Freshman, will see some sort of monetary compensation. It is historically a fruitless venture to take on any wing of the American government, especially the judicial sect. And for obvious reasons. But then again, this is not the ordinary citizen, and he probably has some friends in high places. I’ll be interested to see how this one turns out.

You can view the full story here.

Well, what can I say America? You are, once again, a complete disappointment. I became disillusioned with American politics in general long ago, so to be honest it wasn’t too surprising or upsetting to find that one of the most important pieces of drug legislation was shot down by voters today. Even though I privately assumed this would happen months ago, when I first learned about Prop 19, the possible failure was an unspeakable opinion for most marijuana reform advocates.

(more…)

All credit goes to VladTemplar for originally writing this.

So you want to know the state of the law eh? Then listen up.

(more…)

Written by a contributor who goes by the name of Zephyr.

——————————

I feel the need to report here an egregious error on the part of the United States government concerning the scheduling of certain substances.  As many of you probably know, marijuana is a Schedule I Drug. This means that it has been determined that:

1. The drug or other substance has high potential for abuse.

2. The drug or other substance has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States.

3. There is a lack of accepted safety for use of the drug or other substance under medical supervision.

I will address these issues individually, starting with potential for abuse. Mosby’s Medical, Nursing, & Allied Health Dictionary tells us “Substance abuse is the overindulgence in and dependence of a drug or other chemical leading to effects that are detrimental to the individual’s physical and mental health, or the welfare of others.”  So, from this definition, we can establish three things as requisite. Overindulgence, dependence, and detrimental effects to one’s self or others.  The most important word there is “and.”

(more…)