The Prince of Pot Says Goodbye to Canada
July 7th, 2009 by Rick
The Prince of Pot, Marc Emery, is saying goodbye to Canada by way of a “fairwell tour”, scheduled to make its mark in 32 cities, before he is extradited to the U.S. for selling cannabis seeds to U.S. customers.
On Sunday, Emery began the tour in Calgary saying:
I’m being taken to a U.S. prison for something I did in Canada as innocuous as selling seeds, which don’t even have any drug quality, and yet I have to face a five year term for that. [...] It’s difficult to say what will happen in a U.S. federal penitentiary. It’s never very pleasant. American jails aren’t run nearly as well as Canadian jails. [...] I’m going away for a long time so I expect everybody to do their best and pick up the slack for me.
Emery is referring to the fight coming up in form of bill C-15, a federal bill that would impose mandatory minimum sentences for marijuana in Canada. The bill has already passed the House of Commons and it is now in the hands of the Senate. Emery advises activists to back the NDP, the Bloc, and the Green Party — all pro-cannabis political parties.
Emery’s fairwell tour continues in Saskatoon on Wednesday and Edmonton on Thursday.
MPP Reveals Pro-Marijuana TV Commercial in CA
July 7th, 2009 by RickThe Marijuana Policy Project Foundation is stepping up their game and launching a commercial in California that aims to help the state budget crisis by advocating the legalization of marijuana through taxation and regulation. The commercial will air Wednesday July 8th, on cable news networks:
- CNN
- CNN Headline News
- MSNBC
- CNBC
A couple of TV stations in Los Angeles (KABC) and San Francisco (KGO) refused to air the ad stating in an e-mail that “standards rejected the spot” and they were “not comfortable.”
Aaron Smith, MPP California policy director said:
We are astonished that three major California TV stations chose to censor a discussion that Governor Schwarzenegger has said our state should have on an issue supported by 56 percent of voters, according to the Field poll. [...] The 2 million Californians who use marijuana in a given month deserve to have their voices heard — and their tax dollars should help solve the fiscal emergency that threatens our schools, police and parks.
It is odd why two TV stations in two major cities in California that are pro medical marijuana would censor a commercial like this, but then again that could very well be the reason.
What Happens When Drugs Are Legalized
July 6th, 2009 by RickFinally!
Above is some video footage from a mainstream news organization, BBC, reporting the overall result of the legalization and decriminalization of drugs in Portugal. Where many experts said that drug use would go up in the country and it would become a drug safe haven for tourists, the exact opposite has occurred.
Drug use in the country has gone down and there has been no influx of drug users seeking to abuse the system. As usual, there are those that are against the policy and feel nothing has changed, but the statistics speak for themselves. Is it time for other countries to start their own experiments with legalization?
Oregon Closing in on Legalizing Hemp
July 1st, 2009 by Rick
Oregon is close to becoming the 6th U.S. state to legalize hemp. Last week the Oregon Senate voted 27-2 on Senate Bill 676, in favor of legalizing the plant cousin to cannabis. On Monday, the Oregon House of Representatives voted 46-11 on the bill.
Vote Hemp President Eric Steenstra said:
Hemp is a versatile, environmentally-friendly crop that has not been grown in the U.S. for over fifty years because of a misguided and politicized interpretation of the nation’s drug laws by the Drug Enforcement Administration. [...] While a new bill in Congress, HR 1866, is a welcome step, the hemp industry is hopeful that President Obama’s administration will recognize hemp’s myriad benefits to farmers, businesses and the environment.
Hemp has had a variety of uses, dating back 10,000 years ago. Such as:
- Building material
- Food
- Nutrition
- Dietary supplement
- Medicine
- Fiber
- Water and soil purification
- Weed control
- Fuel
The states Maine, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota and Vermont all passed legislation this year for the farming of hemp. The United States currently continues to import hemp, while other countries cultivate the plant and export it. Obviously with so many uses for this plant, it threatens more industries now than what were around back in the days when Hearst and DuPont began their campaign to try to put the hemp plant on the endangered species list.
Megan Fox Stands Behind Her Marijuana Position
June 18th, 2009 by RickLike hungry mosquitos sensing fresh blood, reporters were buzzing at a London press conference about Megan Fox and her recent comments she made in GQ magazine about smoking marijuana.
Fox said:
I wouldn’t call it recreational drug use… that makes me sound like I’m going into clubs and using cocaine. [...] I talked about the legalization of marijuana, which I think in the United States it should be. [...] If alcohol is legal, I just think marijuana should be, that’s all.
Fox also mentioned that it’s a toss up between being candid and tight lipped when it comes to interviewing:
I feel like I have the best intentions when I do these interviews and when I speak the way that I do, but it’s unfortunate when journalists choose to knowingly twist the meaning of my words. [...] And that discourages me from being outspoken and honest, but it’s something I want to do. I hate reading or watching bullshit interviews, and watching these things that have been created and presented to you on television, that are fake or manufactured. I am trying not to be one of those.
Regardless of what she says in the interviews, it definitely adds more publicity for Fox and her upcoming film, Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen, which opens June 19 of this year.
Tortoise vs. Hare: Marijuana Legalization Movement
June 17th, 2009 by Rick
Like the slow but persistent tortoise in the race in Aesop’s Fables, the marijuana decriminalization/legalization movement has been faithfully trudging along for more than two decades. Like the careless hare, cocksure and arrogant, the drug warriors have been sleeping at the tree, not overly concerned about crossing the finish line — underestimating the tortoise.
A veteran of the movement, Ethan Nadelmann of the Drug Policy Alliance said:
This is the first time I feel like the wind is at my back and not in my face.
Even people within law enforcement have begun to question the war on drugs. Norm Stamper, a former Seattle Police Chief, an active member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) said:
For the most part, what we’ve seen over the past 20 years has been incremental. [...] What we’ve seen in the past six months is an explosion of activity, fresh thinking, bold statements and penetrating questions.
More and more politicians are beginning to seriously question the drug war. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said the issue of legalization needs to be discussed, while former world leaders from Mexico and South America have formed an organization and said that the only way to stop the drug violence crossing borders is to legalize.
More and more states are pursuing a change in their laws that would decriminalize pot, as well as contemplating bills that would allow medical marijuana for registered patients. Congress, Rep. Dennis Kucinich, (D-Ohio) and Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va) are among several lawmakers that recognize the failed U.S. drug policies.
Sen. Jim Webb said:
Nothing should be off the table.
Rep. Dennis Kucinich, during a phone interview commented on the fact of two Presidents of the United States have admitted to smoking marijuana:
Apparently that didn’t stop them from achieving their goals in life. [...] We need to come at this from a point of science and research and not from mythologies or fears.
When lawmakers speak with the drug warriors, they are now more educated on the issue and actually question their tactics and claims. Rep. Steve Cohen, (D-Tenn) grilled FBI Director Robert Mueller at a House hearing last month. When asked about lives being lost to marijuana, Mueller was stumped.
Rep. Steve Cohen said:
Exactly. You can’t, because that hasn’t happened. [...] Is there some time we’re going to see that we ought to prioritize meth, crack, cocaine and heroin, and deal with the drugs that the American culture is really being affected by?
The citizens of this country have voiced their opinions through national polls and the results are disconcerting to the drug warriors, showing that half the American Public is behind legalizing marijuana. Economic experts like, Jeffrey Miron, an economist at Harvard University, have extensively studied the cost and effect of the drug war, claiming that at least $7.7 billion would be saved with law enforcement costs. Additionally, if marijuana was regulated and taxed like alcohol, it could potentially generate more than $6 billion in revenue.
According to a DEA document:
Legalization of marijuana, no matter how it begins, will come at the expense of our children and public safety. [...] It will create dependency and treatment issues, and open the door to use of other drugs, impaired health, delinquent behavior, and drugged drivers.
Bruce Mirken, communications director of the Marijuana Policy Project disagrees:
The notion that we have to keep something completely banned for adults to keep it away from kids doesn’t hold up.
Now in a day and age where once strong American corporations are now declaring bankruptcy and affecting the national economy in a negative impact, can we afford not to pursue every avenue of generating much needed revenue for this country and eliminating the sheer number of incarcerations of non-violent offenders, caused by the war on drugs?
Thomas Jefferson once said:
When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.
The fact that more and more prominent people within politics and the marijuana movement are speaking up and denouncing the myths and boldfaced lies of the drug war, shows that the people are beginning to shift gears. People have gone from fearing the repercussions from the government to seeing the rewards just on the horizon. It’s just a matter of time before the government will fear its people, and true liberty and the pursuit of happiness is attained.
THC Expo 2009 Los Angeles
June 10th, 2009 by Erin
If you haven’t seen the billboards or heard about it through word-of-mouth, the THC Expo is coming to Los Angeles!
June 13-14
Los Angeles Convention Center
1201 South Figueroa Street
Los Angeles, California, 90015
Saturday, June 13th, 2009 from 11:00 am – 9:00 pm
Sunday, June 14th, 2009 from 11:00 am – 6:00 pm
Along with a hemp fashion show and celebrity speakers talking about our favorite plant, the THC Expo will feature thousands of products for sale, vendors, exhibits, and we even heard that there might be a possibility that the Kottonmouth Kings will make a guest appearance.
At an affordable price @ $10 a day, you can’t afford to miss this event especially if you’re local — one of the first of its kind and a huge step in the right direction for the movement.
Open to people of all ages; however certain areas of the convention will be age restricted due to California law.
theFreshScent and Co. will be attending the event so if you happen to see us in our new tFS tees, be sure to say hello. We’ll be waiting. :)
Joint Smoking Teen Faces Stern Consequences
June 9th, 2009 by RickWhen Ian Barry, a 17-year old junior from Peninsula High School in Gig Harbor, WA, lit up a marijuana joint and smoked it during his presentation of his essay on the legalization of marijuana last Tuesday, he wasn’t “pulling a stunt” or trying to become a martyr for the cause. He just wanted to show that pot doesn’t warrant the negative taboo and should be legalized.
The end of Barry’s essay:
I have provided you with information, facts and statistical evidence that all point towards the legalization of marijuana. [...] But the truth is it doesn’t matter what I say until you, the people, stand up and besiege the government to re-address the litigation of marijuana.
Barry said:
I see myself as someone who holds himself to a high moral value. [...] As Sir Isaac Newton said, ‘Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. [...] I don’t think there would have been another way I could have gotten this reaction.
After the incident, he was arrested, whisked away to Tacoma and taken to the Remann Hall juvenile detention center. He was also expelled and must meet with administrators from his school to determine if he would be allowed to finish his classes. As well as academic punishment, Barry still faces misdemeanor charges of “unlawful drug possession” and he realizes this would go on his record.
