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Steve Fly
Showing posts with label cannabis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cannabis. Show all posts
Monday, March 23, 2020
Tuesday, November 14, 2017
Tuesday, March 14, 2017
The backdoor remains ajar, and the regulations deregulated.
The backdoor remains ajar, and the regulations deregulated.
By Steve Fly
'...regulate so that crops are under the control of the Dutch Food Safety Authority state'
"who regulates the regulators?"--Anonymous.
The ongoing debate surrounding Dutch coffeeshops, as you might expect has ignited in 2017, an election year in Holland. This article attempts to summarise, and make sense of the different questions, and the various different answers proposed by politicians, regulators and coffeeshop owners, in unbiased and fair language. Cough cough.
There are a number of recurring themes and buzz words used in the debate, often stylized and sexed up by different reporters and various news outlets. These include, but are not limited to different degrees of regulation on both the cultivation of the cannabis sold in coffeeshops, and the so called 'back door' paradox, whereby it is technically illegal to bring cannabis into the coffeeshop. Technically. Technically?
Currently the Dutch authorities, in different municipalities exorcise various degrees of tolerance toward coffeeshops and the activities they engage in. This tolerance is difficult to describe, like Zen, or a meme, and to understand can be a real pain in the butt for those from other countries and cultures and, i think, makes up for a large part of the confusion often associated with coffeeshops and their legality. Add to this the coalition model that makes up the Dutch parliamentary system, and you can begin to see the complexity of the puzzle. M.C. Escher could see it, and share the vision.
The main points of debate, however, can be broken down into binary terms, i hesitate to say. For example. new laws to regulate cultivation, or for it to remain unregulated without laws? And new laws to regulate the 'backdoor supply chain', or, for it to remain an unregulated enigma? Another binary debate concerns the more general question of keeping coffeeshops open, or closing them all. And by extension to this question, should coffeeshops become private members clubs requiring a 'weed pass' or continue to be open to anybody with I.D proving they are over 18 years old, and, so long as long as the coffeeshops abide by the strict controls enforced on them by the authorities. Lots of questions.
The successful experiment with cannabis coffeeshops in Holland, successful based on a fall in 'hard drugs consumption' and 'drugs related crime' in Holland, leads by example in this debate. 'If it’s not broke why fix it' is a common argument here, based upon comparing statistics with surrounding countries, who still enforce the laws on scheduled substances that include cannabis, yet show higher rates of serious drug addiction and drug related crime.
There are those who wish to close all coffeeshops and those who wish to keep them open, and those who want to allow new coffeeshops to open. Those who wish to increase regulations but keep them open, and those who wish to impose regulations as a stepping stone to the closure of all of them. Those who want to legalize recreational use in separate municipalities, and those who wish to legalize country wise, and those who wish to re-criminalize, increase the punishments associated with cannabis. And each of the individuals putting forward these various positions has their own nuance and methods for strengthening their argument, and weakening that of their political opponents. This kind of dialectic has come to define political debate all over the place, and due to the coalition government in Holland the bong water can seem to be getting murkier and murkier. Free the weed!
I hope these quotes help shed some light. Forgive my opinionated introduction. I felt it best to write what i thought without much editing
--Steve Fly
--Steve Fly
14/03/2017
Amsterdam
Amsterdam
D66:
'Vera Bergkamp sees the bill as a step toward legalization, she told Steven Kompier Cannabis News Network. Bergkamp: "We're going to get it right, with a baseline, see how that goes. And when we can show that it is better for public health, public order and security, then the step to possibly legalize, although that step right now is a very big one.'https://www.rollingstoned.nl/na-de-wietwet-wat-gebeurt-er-met-thuisteelt/
MAYOR ROLE:
The mayor will have an important role not only determines who is allowed to grow, but also what the maximum stock of a coffee shop and "may also designate one or more repositories for storing the stock market." The Minister of Justice decides whether formal or professional breeder tolerated and is not prosecuted as long as the criteria are met. The law will be evaluated after periods of three and five years. -- https://www.rollingstoned.nl/na-de-wietwet-wat-gebeurt-er-met-thuisteelt/
OPIUM ACT - TOLERANCE
'And no, he says, it is not just a semantic difference. Under regulation, the municipality would have to grant a license stating that the weed grower is relieved of the Opium Act, and is therefore not punishable. By tolerating, the producer remains punishable but, he avoids prosecution if he meets the conditions of the tolerance decision. "It's the same tolerance construction already applied to the front door, so parties can be hard against it. Unless they are also against tolerating coffee shops. "--https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2017/02/13/nederlandse-oplossing-voor-een-nederlands-probleem-6677476-a1545886
SMARTER REGULATION?
'There Bergkamp hopes on the support of the VVD, which already has shifted sharply in recent years, mainly driven by Southern VVD and youth organization JOVD.
There was nothing about adapting the policy on cannabis cultivation in the draft election program of the VVD. But a motion was adopted at the party congress in November to adjust the program. Now does it say that the VVD wants to put an end to the "strange situation" that the sale of cannabis is tolerated indeed, and not purchasing. That the VVD says, we have "smarter regulation".--https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2017/02/13/nederlandse-oplossing-voor-een-nederlands-probleem-6677476-a1545886
SELF DETERMINED
'Or as Hauptabteilung writes: "Departments themselves are free to decide whether they themselves also test products in the coffee shops." http://www.geenstijl.nl/mt/archieven/2017/01/democratisch_stoned_worden_van.html
AGAINST
'VVD, CDA, SGP, Christian Union and the PVV, which Wednesday stayed away from the debate, are against the toleration of cannabis cultivation.--http://www.rd.nl/vandaag/politiek/wietwet-nog-voor-verkiezingen-door-kamer-1.1372236
BACK DOOR
'patrons may soon only be able to buy weed in legitimate businesses that are allowed to grow. However, this provision is not immediately going to enter into the force of the Law. D66 wants to include a transition period in the law; while stocks of legally grown cannabis are grown, as of now, they can continue to buy from illegal growers. "The back door remains ajar," noted CU MP Segers "But for how long then?" http://www.rd.nl/vandaag/politiek/wietwet-nog-voor-verkiezingen-door-kamer-1.1372236
MEDICAL
'The big question now is: what will happen to the home cultivation ?!--https://www.rollingstoned.nl/na-de-wietwet-wat-gebeurt-er-met-thuisteelt/
In the explanation writes Van Tongeren: "The petitioner believes that certain patients should be allowed by law to cultivate your own medicinal cannabis under strict conditions. More and more countries (including Australia and Germany) and Dutch municipalities (including Tilburg and Vlissingen) allow this, but medical home cultivation of cannabis regularly leads to evictions by landlords. An explicit legal basis to prevent this type of misunderstanding and enshrine the right to access to cannabis products.
'A majority of MPs now seem likely to back draft legislation from the Liberal democratic party D66 which would regulate legalised marijuana cultivation under government control. The bill, drawn up by MP Vera Bergkamp, was backed by Labour, GroenLinks, the Socialist and pro-animal PvdD. But now two MPs who left the anti-Islam PVV to form a breakaway right-wing party have said they too will support the measure, the AD said on Friday. Bergkamp hopes that introducing licenced marijuana production will remove the grey area between illegal cultivation and licenced cannabis cafes or coffee shops, where small amounts of marijuana can be bought for personal use. -- The Netherlands comes a step closer to legalised marijuana cultivation - http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2016/09/the-netherlands-comes-a-step-closer-to-legalised-marijuana-cultivation/
'The municipality of Amsterdam took away on January 1st of eight coffee shops the grace statement because they sold within a radius of 250 meters from a high school - http://revu.nl/nieuws/reportage-amsterdam-vs-de-coffeeshops/
The most pronounced is the Pirate Party. The Pirates are not only for the regulation of the back door, but also carry home cultivation and industrial uses of hemp, a warm heart. They also believe that the government should no longer blinded by the THC percentage and more attention should have for the relationship between cannabinoids. It is clear that experts here have participated. - https://tk2017.piratenpartij.nl/2016/12/20/piratenpartij-denk-populair-cannabisliefhebber/
Thursday, September 8, 2016
Some evidence for Cannabis cures:
- 20 Medical Studies That Prove Cannabis Can Cure Cancer
- Teenage Girl Uses Cannabis To Treat Leukaemia & Great Results Were Seen
- Molecular Biologist Explains How THC Completely Kills Cancer
- Studies Show Cannabis Relieves Symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease
- Cannabis is Key to Good Health When We Eat it vs. Smoke it
- Oregon’s Youngest Medical Cannabis Patient is Curing Her Cancer – See How She’s Doing It
Wednesday, January 20, 2016
Decline of Amsterdam Coffeeshop culture.
One of Amsterdam’s most popular coffeeshops ceased trading yesterday, as the crackdown on the red-light district continues. Gavin Haines reports.
As well as a thick cloud of smoke, there’s a sense of foreboding hanging in the air in Baba today. One of the city’s most popular coffeeshops, this institution will close its doors for the final time tonight: its misty history snuffed out like a spliff in the night.http://www.worldtravelguide.net/holidays/editorial-feature/feature/smoke-postcard-amsterdam
Most punters have no idea they are smoking in a coffeeshop that has hours to live. The group of Scottish lads sucking a bong are blissfully unaware that they’re part of Baba’s final act; the awkward young couple standing at the timeworn wooden counter are equally oblivious as they question the difference between Amnesia and Silver Haze.
There are no posters announcing Baba’s closure, no banners pleading for it to be spared; just a short, digital message rolling across the bottom of a television screen like breaking news.
Unlike British pubs, which are closing as they struggle to draw in punters, Amsterdam’s coffeeshops, particularly this one, seem to be doing a roaring trade. So what gives?
“They want to turn this street into a fancy street,” explains a female employee at Baba, who asks to remain anonymous. “And we’re not fancy enough for them.”
She’s talking about Warmoesstraat, one of the oldest streets in Amsterdam, which wends its way through the city’s notorious red-light district. Lined with sex shops, raucous bars and coffeeshops, it’s a place where you can legally indulge in psychedelics or check out the latest line in pneumatic dildos. Hookers of various shapes and sizes ply their trade just around the corner.
But for how much longer? Amsterdam is renowned for its liberal values and vice, but authorities in the city are continuing their quest to “clean up” the red-light district as part of a 10-year plan called Project 1012. The initiative began in 2007 and it aims to close 200 of the district’s 480 window brothels and 26 of its 76 coffeeshops by 2017.
“A lot of the coffeeshops along this street have closed,” explains the anonymous Baba employee, her eyes heavy with weed. “Stones, which is opposite, is also closing soon, which means there will be no coffeeshops on this street anymore.”
New businesses are ready to jump into these old premises. Florists, delis and homeware shops have all opened in the neighbourhood recently, so it’s out with the dildos and in with the dishcloths.
Baba plans to open in a new location, but its association with Warmoesstraat has almost certainly come to an end. Perhaps the building will become a restaurant or a wine bar: something to attract a “better class” of tourist.
“It’s sad,” says the girl in Baba, hopelessly. “It’s a shame for the people, it’s a shame for the tourists and it’s a shame for us because now we have no job.”
Thursday, January 30, 2014
Christian Doper's Dualism Crusade: Singing matter, shouting matter, dancing matter.
Christian Doper's Dualism Crusade: Singing matter, shouting matter, dancing matter.
By Fly Agaric 23.
Once again, thinking about the Dutch Coffeeshop politics and double-crossed language and policy involved with the operations on all sides, i return back to the language. The language of Christian Parties and Conservative politicians has a lot in common at a base level, i notice that a general monotheistic mind set often leads to generally Aristotelian language and logic, severely limited and dogmatic when based upon two valued logic, or duality.
I am no linguist, but anybody with a sharp eye and ear for similarities will recognize the linguistic traps set by these people. And anybody who has looked at the war on some people who use some drugs will recognize the language of drug war, the lack of any consistent pluralistic logic, the nihilistic imagery, and the religious overtones of puritanical crusaders.
The solution to a part of the problem, as i view it, in Holland, consists of a more focused linguistic analysis of everything published by the anti-coffeeshop and anti-drug crusaders. If i can detect many meaningless statements, and bare faced lies, surely others who are looking to defend the case for coffeeshops can too? and so what is the strategy for addressing their wrong headed criticism? how do you engage in meaningful debate with the goal of a more scientific approach to processing information, based on a widely distributed array of current data? How to communicate with monotheistic Christian crusaders and their Aristotelian either/or world view of good/evil, god/devil right/left in/out for/against white/black etc.
This is my calling for anybody interested in helping the plight of Dutch coffeeshops, and in particular those in Amsterdam affected by the recent school rule. I implore you to take what you view to be the strongest parts of your opponents argument, and start with those. Begin to provide better versions of that argument, build it up to be as strong as you can make it. Then begin to tear it apart piece by piece, syllable by syllable, and show that there are further arguments against it.
I feel that the exercise of strengthening your opponents arguments will keep you on your toes, and with luck, combined with what i have said above, and what i will link to below, encourage you to obsolete any dualistic argument with a superior, intelligent, and fair (fairer) model of the information, a pluralistic presentation of just some, of the vast array of information on the subject, in this case arguments for and against cannabis coffeeshops in Holland.
Next, when you have terse and meaningful paragraphs that describe the situation as it is, according to your own nervous system, and the information fields you have created--hopefully based on sourced documents including timebinded 'quotes' and other 'exhibits'--start to rewrite those paragraphs.
Rewrite those paragraphs in as many different styles as you can think of. As a comedian, a classical historian, a typically shallow news broadcaster, a scene from your favourite T.V series or movie, a song lyric, a limerick, a Haiku, an entire short story, a mathematical equation, a picture!
If you are still with me, you catch my drift. What we need to do is turn the process of art and poetry and spontaneous creativity into something that can address directly, the terrible ills and trickery at work in our surrounding environment, wherever that may be. Together we can break the spell, and as i said, obsolete the corrupt medieval arguments with superior scientific 21st century solutions.
Singing matter, shouting matter, dancing matter, these are the tale of the tribe. Write, paint, dance, sing, make merry with the knowledge that your research methodology is light years ahead of the opposition, and so anytime spent fighting the opposition is time spent in the past, an important consideration. There are ways to include both history and 'the long poem' together, these are the methods of study i recommend. Break on through and make it new.
--Fly Agaric 23
Damsterhom
By Fly Agaric 23.
It was 1957. I was very interested in jazz at that time, and I told a black friend about some of Korzybski's exercises to get to the non-verbal level, and he said, "Oh, I do that every time I smoke pot." I got interested. I said, "Could I buy one of these marijuana cigarettes from you?" He said, "Oh hell, I'll give it to you free." And so I smoked it. I found myself looking at a quarter I found in my pocket and realizing I hadn't looked at a quarter in twenty years or so, the way a child looks at a quarter. So I decided marijuana was doing pretty much the same thing Korzybski was trying to do with his training devices. Then shortly after that I heard a lecture by Alan Watts, and I realized that Zen, marijuana and Korzybski were all relating the same transformations of consciousness. That was the beginning.--Robert Anton Wilson, Interview, Positive Atheisim.
Once again, thinking about the Dutch Coffeeshop politics and double-crossed language and policy involved with the operations on all sides, i return back to the language. The language of Christian Parties and Conservative politicians has a lot in common at a base level, i notice that a general monotheistic mind set often leads to generally Aristotelian language and logic, severely limited and dogmatic when based upon two valued logic, or duality.
I am no linguist, but anybody with a sharp eye and ear for similarities will recognize the linguistic traps set by these people. And anybody who has looked at the war on some people who use some drugs will recognize the language of drug war, the lack of any consistent pluralistic logic, the nihilistic imagery, and the religious overtones of puritanical crusaders.
The solution to a part of the problem, as i view it, in Holland, consists of a more focused linguistic analysis of everything published by the anti-coffeeshop and anti-drug crusaders. If i can detect many meaningless statements, and bare faced lies, surely others who are looking to defend the case for coffeeshops can too? and so what is the strategy for addressing their wrong headed criticism? how do you engage in meaningful debate with the goal of a more scientific approach to processing information, based on a widely distributed array of current data? How to communicate with monotheistic Christian crusaders and their Aristotelian either/or world view of good/evil, god/devil right/left in/out for/against white/black etc.
This is my calling for anybody interested in helping the plight of Dutch coffeeshops, and in particular those in Amsterdam affected by the recent school rule. I implore you to take what you view to be the strongest parts of your opponents argument, and start with those. Begin to provide better versions of that argument, build it up to be as strong as you can make it. Then begin to tear it apart piece by piece, syllable by syllable, and show that there are further arguments against it.
"Honest disagreement is often a good sign of progress."--Gandhi
I feel that the exercise of strengthening your opponents arguments will keep you on your toes, and with luck, combined with what i have said above, and what i will link to below, encourage you to obsolete any dualistic argument with a superior, intelligent, and fair (fairer) model of the information, a pluralistic presentation of just some, of the vast array of information on the subject, in this case arguments for and against cannabis coffeeshops in Holland.
Next, when you have terse and meaningful paragraphs that describe the situation as it is, according to your own nervous system, and the information fields you have created--hopefully based on sourced documents including timebinded 'quotes' and other 'exhibits'--start to rewrite those paragraphs.
Rewrite those paragraphs in as many different styles as you can think of. As a comedian, a classical historian, a typically shallow news broadcaster, a scene from your favourite T.V series or movie, a song lyric, a limerick, a Haiku, an entire short story, a mathematical equation, a picture!
If you are still with me, you catch my drift. What we need to do is turn the process of art and poetry and spontaneous creativity into something that can address directly, the terrible ills and trickery at work in our surrounding environment, wherever that may be. Together we can break the spell, and as i said, obsolete the corrupt medieval arguments with superior scientific 21st century solutions.
Singing matter, shouting matter, dancing matter, these are the tale of the tribe. Write, paint, dance, sing, make merry with the knowledge that your research methodology is light years ahead of the opposition, and so anytime spent fighting the opposition is time spent in the past, an important consideration. There are ways to include both history and 'the long poem' together, these are the methods of study i recommend. Break on through and make it new.
“The Fundamentalist Christians have told me that I am a slave of Satan and should have my demons expelled with an exorcism. The Fundamentalist Materialists inform me that I am a liar, charlatan, fraud and scoundrel. Aside from this minor difference, the letters are astoundingly similar. Both groups share the same crusading zeal and the same lack of humor, charity and common human decency. These intolerable cults have served to confirm me in my agnosticism by presenting further evidence to support my contention that when dogma enters the brain, all intellectual activity ceases."--Robert Anton Wilson.
--Fly Agaric 23
Damsterhom
Saturday, March 16, 2013
The Tide is turning on the war on some drugs
Life after cannabis prohibition: The city announces its ambitions
March 15, 2013 - 22:53
The Copenhagen Model will see the production, sale and consumption of cannabis legalised, but many questions remain
The
conference was the latest attempt by mayor Frank Jensen
(Socialdemokraterne), centre, to legalise cannabis in Copenhagen for a
trial period (Photo: Peter Stanners)
READ ON HERE
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
#OpCannabis: Anonymous Hackers Take Up Marijuana Activism
From the crew that never sleeps over at alternet.
w/ extra video added by Fly.
#OpCannabis: Anonymous Hackers Take Up Marijuana Activism
April 21, 2012 |
Guy Fawkes mask, from V for Vendetta.
Photo Credit: Ben Fredericson at Flickr
Heroes to some and
villians to others, the “Anonymous” movement has come to symbolize much
more than just a group of rogue hackers. But far from breaking into
computer networks run by rogue governments or multinational
corporations, as they’ve come to be known for, the online hacktivists
now have their sights set on a different human rights issue entirely:
marijuana prohibition.
Members
of the hacking collective, who were at the epicenter of planning and
promoting “Occupy Wall Street” last year, announced earlier this month
that April 20, 2012 would mark the beginning of an official “Anonymous”
push-back against America’s drug laws.
Speaking to Raw Story this week, a person claiming to be a member of “Anonymous,” who watched an attack on Sony’s website from behind the scenes but did not participate, claimed responsibility for the group’s new “OpCannabis” campaign, explaining that the operation is determined to throw the collective’s weight behind drug reform.
After
launching a pitch for “OpCannabis” over one year ago, the hacker said
that their “PR text evolved into a video,” which was “translated into
German by parties unknown,” but then it fizzled.
“[S]omething
was missing,” the source explained. “For some reason my inbox wasn’t
blowing up and only a few hundred people seemed to show interest. This
may or may not have had something to do with AnonNews deciding not to carry our press release. Thankfully this has since been resolved.”
Now
that the leading “Anonymous” news account has tuned into the marijuana
campaign and began circulating the latest “OpCannabis” updates, it has gone global.
Members
of “Anonymous” plan to get outside and be vocal on Friday during
nationwide protests against America’s drug policies. Some may even be
following up with more computer hacking and website defacement. And just
earlier this month, “OpCannabis” got its own website and Twitter account, connecting hundreds of “Anonymous” activists who are now sharing ideas to foster the push-back against prohibition.
But
“OpCannabis” isn’t designed to be a hacking spree, Raw Story’s nameless
source explained. “Anyone I’ve found that is involved with marijuana
activism, I’ve told that they can e-mail any and all materials to the opcannabis@gmail.com and I’ll sort through it and get it on the site.”
“We
ask you to please educate yourself on its many benefits and share these
benefits with your sick or injured friends,” an “OpCannabis” press
release implores. “We all know somebody that has cancer or diabetes and
cannabis has helped or cured both and many other disorders!
Anonymous will begin its support for the legalization of cannabis on 4/20/12. So please show your support by educating yourselves and making your profile pic or timeline banner on your social services accts green or 420 friendly.”
Anonymous will begin its support for the legalization of cannabis on 4/20/12. So please show your support by educating yourselves and making your profile pic or timeline banner on your social services accts green or 420 friendly.”
They’ve also asked
that each chapter of the remaining “Occupy” groups around the country
participate in marijuana-related events, pointing out the billions
already spent just this year to incarcerate tens of thousands of
marijuana prisoners around the country.
Raw
Story’s source specifically pointed at the government’s hypocrisy in
declaring that the plant has no medical value when pharmaceutical
companies are practically begging for permits to research new
marijuana-based drugs that address a whole host of ailments, including possible cures for several types of cancer.
Thursday, March 1, 2012
On the Dutch Hash ban and criminal gang banging
Arab Spring Hash
A new proposition has been forwarded, as a result of the recent Dutch 'Drugs Debate', into the mainstream media, about a proposed 'Hash Ban' based, according to news reports, upon the principle that Hash is imported from other countries such as Morocco, Afghanistan and Lebanon, that constitutes an international crime.
As you may know these countries mentioned above are already engaged in internal conflict and international conflicts that blur the lines of criminality. Afghanistan in particular, or some groups of people there, seemingly know no universal laws and legal system. How do you control lunatics who live in the mountains? Lebanon also sees political and cultural revolutions at the moment, so what effect will the hash ban have, if any, on these countries?
Does this act as a sort of trade embargo, or have a similar effect by putting a large cut in the profits of whoever's making doe in this risky process? Will it just drive up the prices and make Hash a more valuable, rare, and attractively risky product, putting even more profits in the profit makers pockets. And are there any noticeable cultural signifier to you, between Netherlands, Morocco, Afghanistan and Lebanon?
Dealing and dealing?
And then, there's the argument, or my argument, that a little Hash or even a lot of hash, imported from another country is harmless and timid compared with arms, legal-drugs and intelligence shared by Dutch firms with America, the middle East and the UK, for the purposes of continuing the so called 'war on terror' which acts like a "war on some terror' as it ignores it's own brand of bombing, bankrupting and poisoning people and the environment in the name of business. See Iraq and Afghanistan and the kinds of software, electronics, intelligence and financial support provided by the Dutch private sector to help the war machine, sorry, I mean to say, defence industry.
Nothing left but Right wing?
Now, besides the chemical, biological and nuclear trade between Dutch companies and the international community, including Israel ( Prince Friso was the CEO of a Uranium Enrichment company URENCO) the Netherlands also happens to have a very scary emergent Right Wing political movement, as does Europe as a whole it seems according to some reports, headed by Gert Wilders, a truly awful character who comes off like a CIA dupe with his antagonistic, so called 'anti-immigrant' hateful and UK conservative, US Republican like speeches, films, political platforms. He's a bad apple in a pretty dull pie of Dutch Christian Democrats, and of course the media love him, and so do a bunch of dumb, non-pot smoking morons mostly from the South of Holland who voted him into the current Dutch coalition Government.
I say instead of Hash, ban Gert Wilders and his disgusting hateful moronic trade in slime outside of Dutch boarders, and make a special task force to stop the other hateful moronic parties doing way more damage than any drug: Marie Le Pen's NF, The BNP, the EDL, it's not difficult to spot them is it, OH, oh, freedom of expression. They must be allowed to have their say, the Freedom to say.... whatever hate laced double speak and straight up lies they wish, with however much financial backing and media support channel you can get. Freedom? what about the freedom to inhale some kind plant material, or eat a light Hash cake, the preferred medicine of many Medical Marijuana patients?
Aha, and now you see why Gert Wilders is head of the 'Freedom Party'. or 'Party for Freedom' Please, once again, I know you just did it, but, check George Orwell's concept of double speak: I keep thinking...that's it....doublespeak, and that too...doublespeak....rings so true of daily international news and entertainment, and most of my poetry....deliberate distortion:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doublespeak
Move to Ban, propose to ban and simply BAN
On top of the idiocy of the proposed new laws to ban hash, you have the amplified idiocy of the media channels that broadcast their daily poop-a-scoop. Within hours of the Dutch meeting coming to a close, the major news wires broadcast their best shot, a combination of dumb soundbites from a handful of members of parliament and 'the point of view of your average stoner'. But here's the center piece, the quote that defines the entire days meetings, according to the news dogs:
"Almost all of the hash that is sold in Dutch coffee shops is smuggled into the Netherlands by international criminal gangs from countries like Afghanistan, Morocco and Lebanon," said Ard van der Steur, a member of the ruling Liberal Party.--http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/03/01/netherlands-drugs-idUSL5E8E12HN20120301
What is criminal, illegal, unjust and unfair? who decides, and by what methods, do you see stark double standards and hypocrisy? why kick a hornets nest? why a total ban? how will it be enforced, what will be the punishment? why do I not hear any of these questions in the news items?
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Leaglize Marijuana in Detroit NOW! and leave them kids alone.
YES, of course POT should be decriminalized and legalized, for medical and non-medical purposes, the 'war on drugs' or more correctly 'The war on SOME drugs' has failed in every way, if you value 'life' and 'freedom' and 'tolerance' as success, the war on drugs is a failure.
However, if you happen to be a sado-masochistic authority type with the word of god in your ear that mankind must behave, abide by the law, pay taxes and not make any noise or complain, you may see the 'war on drugs' as a success, with all those dope fiends and criminals drug addicts locked up, away in Prison. Is this their sick dream, to lock peaceful folks away and live their 'drug free' life. With Nukes, Oil and Booze and guns forever?
Please ask yourself, and others around you, are these people so ill as to want this? to criminalize human beings for simply ingesting a plant based substance, and lock them away, or give them a criminal record, a stigma?
Do all the cops and law enforcement agents really believe in these 'harmful' and 'out dated' laws that we see enforced as prohibition policy around the world?
I think not, I feel that if we simply had access to all the information and could share the 'frustration' and the 'positive' attributes of marijuana in an 'open debate' without wildly wrongheaded political operations slurring and confusing the direct communications between scentists, researchers, lawyers, policy makers and well, the rest of humanity, not trying to take over everybody's lives with all pervasive rules and laws to coerce.
--Steve
Sound Off: Should Pot be Legalized in Detroit?
Updated: Friday, 18 Jun 2010, 10:48 AM EDT
Published : Friday, 18 Jun 2010, 10:47 AM EDT
(myFOXDetroit.com Staff Reports) - Detroit voters may actually get to vote on allowing the possession of small amounts of marijuana.
A group called the Coalition for a Safer Detroit is working to get the issue on November's ballot. The measure would allow adults over the age of 21 to possess, and we assume use, one ounce or less of pot on private property.
Tim Beck, a registered marijuana user who's leading the pot petition, joined FOX 2's Huel Perkins on Thursday to discuss the impact of the measure. Click the video player to watch the interview.
Information from the Coalition's Web site:
What is the Safer Detroit Initiative?
It is a ballot initiative sponsored by the Coalition for a Safer Detroit proposing to amend the Detroit City Code to decriminalize use or possession of an ounce or less of marijuana on private property, by anyone who has attained the age of 21 years.
Has this ever been done before?
Yes. The cities of Denver, CO, and Seattle, WA recently made use or possession of small amounts of marijuana their lowest law enforcement priority. Here in Michigan the City of Ann Arbor, made possession of small amounts of marijuana a minor "civil infraction" (like a traffic ticket) in the early 1970's. None of these jurisdictions has experienced any significant, negative consequences as a result. Marijuana is safer then alcohol. It is time we treat it accordingly.
What has been the result in these other cities?
All three are nationally recognized for their prosperity, quality of life, and educated, creative populations. Even more important, police and prosecutors in these cities have been freed up to focus on crimes with victims -- those that have a direct impact on the community, such as vandalism, auto theft, breaking and entering, and domestic violence.
http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/dpp/news/local/should-pot-be-legalized-in-detroit-20100618-mr
Pot legalization on track in Detroit
Published: June 17, 2010 at 6:44 PM
DETROIT, June 17 (UPI) -- Possession of small amounts of marijuana on private property could soon be legal in Detroit, organizers of a legalization effort said.
The city council's internal operations committee decided Wednesday against amending the proposed ordinance, the Detroit Free Press reported. The last step is election commission approval of the language for the November ballot.
The ordinance would allow anyone 21 or older to possess less than an ounce of marijuana on private property without fear of arrest. Medical marijuana for registered users has been legal in Detroit since a 2004 referendum.
Tim Beck, a registered medical marijuana user, spearheaded the effort to get the legalization ordinance on the ballot. He argues police will be able to focus on "crimes with actual victims."
Dennis Mazurek, an assistant corporation counsel, told the city council committee the ordinance conflicts with Michigan state law, which take precedence. But Beck is confident of victory.
"It's going to win -- I have no doubt of that," he said.
Med Grow's Nick Tennant with a marijuana plant at his school
Roy Ritchie for TIME
This is what a medical-marijuana class looks like. Twenty-five or so students — men, women, young, middle-aged — listen attentively as an instructor holds up a leafy green plant and runs down the list of nutrients it needs. Nitrogen: stimulates leaf and stem growth. Magnesium: helps leaf structure. Phosphorous: aids in the germination of seeds. Michigan's Med Grow Cannabis College is one of several unaccredited schools to have sprung up in the 14 states and the District of Columbia that have legalized medical use of marijuana. Many of its students suffer from chronic pain. Others are looking to supply those in need of relief. (See pictures of cannabis conventions.)
The Med Grow campus sits across the street from a KFC in Southfield, a relatively prosperous suburb of Detroit. Nearly one-fifth of its 90 or so students are former auto-industry workers. These recent enrollees — and the more than 1,000 people who have completed courses at Med Grow since it opened in September — are betting that studying such topics as bloom cycles and advanced pruning techniques will help them succeed in what may be one of the few growth industries in Michigan, home of the nation's highest unemployment rate: 14%. With medical marijuana fetching as much as $500 for 1 oz. (28 g), providing it to a mere five patients could generate $10,000 a month in sales.
Six-week courses at Med Grow cost $475, and the school is planning to open campuses in Colorado and New Jersey within roughly the next year. Meanwhile, the nation's first marijuana school, the three-year-old Oaksterdam University, has expanded from Oakland, Calif., to locations in Los Angeles and one in Flint, Mich., and may open more. (See TIME's photo-essay "The Great American Pot Smoke-Out.")
But as Med Grow founder Nick Tennant can attest, it's not easy being a leader of an emerging industry. Tennant, a very lean, very blond 24-year-old, grew up in the Detroit suburb of Warren and watched the auto-detailing business he started after high school founder along with the region's economy. Then, in 2008, a surprising majority of Michigan voters approved a measure to allow people with cancer, Crohn's disease, AIDS and other ailments to apply for state-issued cards to grow or obtain marijuana. He recalls thinking, "You could sit there and watch the industry evolve or step into the game."
So he wrote up a business plan for a marijuana-growers school and approached his car-detailing clients as potential investors. Many thought it was a joke, but enough took him seriously. He declines to say how much money he raised.
The next step was finding a landlord. One told him flatly, "I don't want to take on the risk." To which Tennant replied, "If you want to let your building sit vacant, go for it." He eventually settled on 5,000 sq. ft. (465 sq m) in an office building in Southfield, a half hour's drive north of downtown Detroit.
The first thing you notice when you walk into Med Grow is the pungent smell of marijuana. One of the school's two grow rooms showcases a single massive marijuana plant that, in terms of height and canopy, is about the size of a kitchen table.
Watch TIME's video "An L.A. Medical Marijuana Odyssey."
See pictures of stoner cinema.
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1997455,00.html
However, if you happen to be a sado-masochistic authority type with the word of god in your ear that mankind must behave, abide by the law, pay taxes and not make any noise or complain, you may see the 'war on drugs' as a success, with all those dope fiends and criminals drug addicts locked up, away in Prison. Is this their sick dream, to lock peaceful folks away and live their 'drug free' life. With Nukes, Oil and Booze and guns forever?
Please ask yourself, and others around you, are these people so ill as to want this? to criminalize human beings for simply ingesting a plant based substance, and lock them away, or give them a criminal record, a stigma?
Do all the cops and law enforcement agents really believe in these 'harmful' and 'out dated' laws that we see enforced as prohibition policy around the world?
I think not, I feel that if we simply had access to all the information and could share the 'frustration' and the 'positive' attributes of marijuana in an 'open debate' without wildly wrongheaded political operations slurring and confusing the direct communications between scentists, researchers, lawyers, policy makers and well, the rest of humanity, not trying to take over everybody's lives with all pervasive rules and laws to coerce.
--Steve
Sound Off: Should Pot be Legalized in Detroit?
Updated: Friday, 18 Jun 2010, 10:48 AM EDT
Published : Friday, 18 Jun 2010, 10:47 AM EDT
(myFOXDetroit.com Staff Reports) - Detroit voters may actually get to vote on allowing the possession of small amounts of marijuana.
A group called the Coalition for a Safer Detroit is working to get the issue on November's ballot. The measure would allow adults over the age of 21 to possess, and we assume use, one ounce or less of pot on private property.
Tim Beck, a registered marijuana user who's leading the pot petition, joined FOX 2's Huel Perkins on Thursday to discuss the impact of the measure. Click the video player to watch the interview.
Information from the Coalition's Web site:
What is the Safer Detroit Initiative?
It is a ballot initiative sponsored by the Coalition for a Safer Detroit proposing to amend the Detroit City Code to decriminalize use or possession of an ounce or less of marijuana on private property, by anyone who has attained the age of 21 years.
Has this ever been done before?
Yes. The cities of Denver, CO, and Seattle, WA recently made use or possession of small amounts of marijuana their lowest law enforcement priority. Here in Michigan the City of Ann Arbor, made possession of small amounts of marijuana a minor "civil infraction" (like a traffic ticket) in the early 1970's. None of these jurisdictions has experienced any significant, negative consequences as a result. Marijuana is safer then alcohol. It is time we treat it accordingly.
What has been the result in these other cities?
All three are nationally recognized for their prosperity, quality of life, and educated, creative populations. Even more important, police and prosecutors in these cities have been freed up to focus on crimes with victims -- those that have a direct impact on the community, such as vandalism, auto theft, breaking and entering, and domestic violence.
http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/dpp/news/local/should-pot-be-legalized-in-detroit-20100618-mr
Pot legalization on track in Detroit
Published: June 17, 2010 at 6:44 PM
DETROIT, June 17 (UPI) -- Possession of small amounts of marijuana on private property could soon be legal in Detroit, organizers of a legalization effort said.
The city council's internal operations committee decided Wednesday against amending the proposed ordinance, the Detroit Free Press reported. The last step is election commission approval of the language for the November ballot.
The ordinance would allow anyone 21 or older to possess less than an ounce of marijuana on private property without fear of arrest. Medical marijuana for registered users has been legal in Detroit since a 2004 referendum.
Tim Beck, a registered medical marijuana user, spearheaded the effort to get the legalization ordinance on the ballot. He argues police will be able to focus on "crimes with actual victims."
Dennis Mazurek, an assistant corporation counsel, told the city council committee the ordinance conflicts with Michigan state law, which take precedence. But Beck is confident of victory.
"It's going to win -- I have no doubt of that," he said.
Med Grow's Nick Tennant with a marijuana plant at his school
Roy Ritchie for TIME
This is what a medical-marijuana class looks like. Twenty-five or so students — men, women, young, middle-aged — listen attentively as an instructor holds up a leafy green plant and runs down the list of nutrients it needs. Nitrogen: stimulates leaf and stem growth. Magnesium: helps leaf structure. Phosphorous: aids in the germination of seeds. Michigan's Med Grow Cannabis College is one of several unaccredited schools to have sprung up in the 14 states and the District of Columbia that have legalized medical use of marijuana. Many of its students suffer from chronic pain. Others are looking to supply those in need of relief. (See pictures of cannabis conventions.)
The Med Grow campus sits across the street from a KFC in Southfield, a relatively prosperous suburb of Detroit. Nearly one-fifth of its 90 or so students are former auto-industry workers. These recent enrollees — and the more than 1,000 people who have completed courses at Med Grow since it opened in September — are betting that studying such topics as bloom cycles and advanced pruning techniques will help them succeed in what may be one of the few growth industries in Michigan, home of the nation's highest unemployment rate: 14%. With medical marijuana fetching as much as $500 for 1 oz. (28 g), providing it to a mere five patients could generate $10,000 a month in sales.
Six-week courses at Med Grow cost $475, and the school is planning to open campuses in Colorado and New Jersey within roughly the next year. Meanwhile, the nation's first marijuana school, the three-year-old Oaksterdam University, has expanded from Oakland, Calif., to locations in Los Angeles and one in Flint, Mich., and may open more. (See TIME's photo-essay "The Great American Pot Smoke-Out.")
But as Med Grow founder Nick Tennant can attest, it's not easy being a leader of an emerging industry. Tennant, a very lean, very blond 24-year-old, grew up in the Detroit suburb of Warren and watched the auto-detailing business he started after high school founder along with the region's economy. Then, in 2008, a surprising majority of Michigan voters approved a measure to allow people with cancer, Crohn's disease, AIDS and other ailments to apply for state-issued cards to grow or obtain marijuana. He recalls thinking, "You could sit there and watch the industry evolve or step into the game."
So he wrote up a business plan for a marijuana-growers school and approached his car-detailing clients as potential investors. Many thought it was a joke, but enough took him seriously. He declines to say how much money he raised.
The next step was finding a landlord. One told him flatly, "I don't want to take on the risk." To which Tennant replied, "If you want to let your building sit vacant, go for it." He eventually settled on 5,000 sq. ft. (465 sq m) in an office building in Southfield, a half hour's drive north of downtown Detroit.
The first thing you notice when you walk into Med Grow is the pungent smell of marijuana. One of the school's two grow rooms showcases a single massive marijuana plant that, in terms of height and canopy, is about the size of a kitchen table.
Watch TIME's video "An L.A. Medical Marijuana Odyssey."
See pictures of stoner cinema.
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1997455,00.html
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