The only marijuana magazine bringing you the stories of other pot smokers and smugglers.

Quick Hits (page 3)

Will Nevada Take Lid Off Pot?

By: Elliot Borin

Call it Operation Desert Smoke, aka the war to legalize marijuana in Nevada. A war, pardon the cliché, for hearts and minds. A battle of words, concepts and alliances built on common values. A war in which the Internet, as history's most potent vehicle for disseminating "facts" -- true or otherwise -- has become a significant weapon.

"Information is always the enemy of stupidity and prejudice," says Bruce Mirken, director of communications for the Marijuana Policy Project, which is providing organizational support and funding for the Nevada initiative. "The Net has played a substantial role in undermining (marijuana) prohibition."

"Is it possible that glittering websites offering what may be very biased perspectives regarding marijuana are having an impact on the decriminalization/legalization movement? Sure," retorts Howard Simon, deputy director of public affairs for the Partnership for a Drug-Free America. "Is it certain that's the cause? No. There was a widespread decriminalization movement in the 1970s which led to several states reducing penalties associated with marijuana.... It would be hard to argue that had anything to do with the Internet.

"Still, one can't discount the possible influence of the Internet in spreading a pro-drug message -- or the 'nothing's working in the fight against drugs' message that too often goes hand in hand with it. Of course, that latter message isn't biased; it's just wrong."

Anti-marijuana crusaders in the Illinois legislature are so convinced that the Internet is impeding noxious-weed-abatement efforts they've twice introduced bills to make it illegal to transmit information about marijuana over the Net. Had it not been defeated, the 2002 bill would have criminalized posting information about using or growing marijuana to websites, newsgroups, message boards, mailing lists and chat rooms.

Make no mistake, the measure on Nevada's November ballot is more about what Simon would call legalization than decriminalization. Decriminalization measures aim at reducing penalties or exempting a "special-interest" group from current laws. The Nevada bill would treat marijuana in much the same way as tobacco and alcohol. Possession (of up to three ounces) and use would be legal for adults, but not minors. Driving under the influence would be illegal and, as is increasingly the case with tobacco, smoking pot in most public places would be prohibited.

Most important, the initiative, which would have to be passed twice in two general elections to amend the state's constitution, would direct the legislature to establish a system for the sale and taxation of marijuana. This would make Nevada the only state giving black-thumbed citizens the same legal access to getting high as world-class gardeners.

Surprisingly, this ultra-radical (or, according to its supporters, ultra-rational) proposal is supported by the state's largest newspaper, the Las Vegas Review-Journal, and the state's largest law-enforcement organization, the Nevada Conference of Police and Sheriffs.

With the most recent polls indicating the vote would end in a draw if held today, the NPP's Mirken is looking toward the Internet to help persuade "undecideds."

"When you are in opposition to a dominant policy it forces you to be more creative," he says. "The Internet allows us to do huge amounts of grassroots organizing instantly, a key advantage as we head toward November."

Prior to 2000, Nevadans could draw a multi-year prison sentence for possession of one marijuana cigarette. Voters passed a medical-marijuana decriminalization bill in 2000 and the 2001 legislature eliminated incarceration as a penalty for possession of less than one ounce by first- or second-time adult offenders.

Click here for more Quick Hits.

Growin' Our Own (page 3)

Cocaine Makes Colombians Equal to the U.S.

By: An Unknown Colombian

I write to you on the internet from Colombia. S.A., from a source you can never trace back to me.

In fact I myself do not operate computers, but my associates can. I write to you not because I want any money for this story, but I feel I need to explain what the cocaine and other drugs mean to us in Colombia. Your money for a story is nothing to my riches. Drugs are our freedom. Colombia has been a poor colonized country for many centuries. Realizing that we Colombians were living in poverty has been unknown to us as we knew no different life. We see American tourists coming here and what is insulting to us, to throw coins to our poor children making them beggars.

I will tell you why I head a family of cocaine growers, smugglers, and why I want to take your American dollars from you. From old history the Spanish came and took our gold, silver, our precious emeralds and the spirit of our people and culture. Cartagena was one of four major new world ports where the Spanish extracted our riches, spirit, and culture. Trails from the interior of Colombia led to this beautiful beach colony, and the Spanish came into our lands to take whatever they could steal from us or use our slave labor to conquer. They used our natural growing cocaine against our people to make us slaves and work harder. They discovered that the cocaine gave stamina for oyster pearl diving, mining, and other slavery work. They encouraged cocaine's use by forcing our people to use it. In our history cocaine had been worshiped and was used by messengers who needed physical stamina for running important messages to the next village. It was used to deliver messages to defend our country from attack and other emergencies. Cocaine was necessary for our communication, and other work that needed stamina. The Spanish, with guns and gunpowder, made us slaves and turned our sacred natural cocaine plant against us to make us do the work of ten men in one day. Cocaine serves this purpose and is not bad like your government wants you to believe. God has made this plant for the purpose of helping us have stamina when we need it. The people and culture in our old days did not abuse cocaine. In fact many ancestors worshiped Mama Coca, the Goddess of cocaine.

Our people chewed cocaine leaves, with lime. This helps extract the alkaloid stimulant from the leaves. In early centuries many Colombians who ate the coca leaves would not live more than 40 years. Their teeth would rot out and they would work as much at ten men in a day and die. The Spaniards recognized the potency of our cocaine plants and encouraged our people to chew the leaves. This drug use became widespread by forcing our people to eat these leaves for the Spaniard's slave purposes to extract the natural riches of Colombia. We now have a 500 year history of enforced cocaine drug use. Our people, mostly the peasant native Indian people, now farm these coca plants so they can make money to buy food and make a better life. Existing on perhaps $500 a year is very difficult for our peasant farmers, while cocaine farming gives them more money and a much better life. Our rebel armies protect these peasants and their farms from our government and your army which now has a base in Colombia. Your country has spent billions of dollars to spray these crops and to have your army come to our country to set up this military base to fight with us and destroy our coca crops. Cocaine is our export and you will lose this money war. No matter how many billions of your dollars you spend our people will not give up their hope and this money crop to your military. It is their only hope for more money and for a better life.

Your own government has traded in cocaine. Remember Oliver North and the Contras? Mr. Seal was an admitted cocaine smuggler for your CIA. He was convicted for this smuggling to Mena, Arkansas. Your President Bill Clinton, as Governor of Arkansas, handled the security of this cocaine smuggling to Arkansas and it gave him the presidency. Who got this money for the approved cocaine smuggling was your government for use in an illegal undeclared war. The cocaine money was used to buy weapons to trade to Iran. When your security agencies could not get the money from your Congress they resorted to becoming drug smugglers. I tell you nothing new as this is all well documented. In Viet Nam your CIA took the printing ink and plates and printed over $200 million dollars that Congress would not give them. This is no surprise to you that when an agency wants to do something they will find a way. Suddenly President Reagan has a memory disease, Alzheimer's's, and can't be questioned about any of this cocaine trade. I find this memory problem very convenient for your President Reagan, but maybe it is true.

Why do you want your army in our drug business when it is actually a local revolutionary war? Why did President Clinton fly Air Force One to Cartagena for a visit after your Congress allocated over $1 billion dollars to stop the cocaine? Did you ever wonder if he made a purchase of cocaine delivered to Air Force One with the payment made by your Congress? This I know is true and that Air Force One had over 6,000 pounds of cocaine for President Clinton's retirement when it returned unsearched to Camp David. The rest of the Congress money went to buy off our politicians. This money too will fail as our paid for politicians and judges in Colombia do not live very long to enjoy your dollar bribes. They have a history of being blown up by bombs and being shot by assassins. This is our Colombian way of handling political corruptness. You have heard of the Colombian necktie? This is when a throat is slit and the tongue is pulled down and out through the slit in the throat. This is our sign that we have voted for political justice which is not done in the courts.

Panama was a country who handled many cartel banking transactions and, like Cuba, was a clearing house for our cocaine drug money. What was good about Panama banking was that CIA sponsored General Noriega who promised he could get our US dollars out of your country. This was very true and he was successful until he crossed your President Bush, Sr. Noriega had the political connections to retrieve our profits from the US and return them to us if we used his banks. Also the Catholic Church lost $8 billion dollars which were transferred through Panama banks. You can see this in your Godfather movie, and it is a fact.

When Noriega had a disagreement over the Iran-Contra matters with your Presidents Reagan and Bush, Sr., his powers with your government ceased to exist. Your secret army came to Panama and kidnaped Noriega to take him to a secret trial where he was convicted. There were rumors Noriega was stealing money from your security agencies' budgets, but for whatever reason he was taken out of power and our banks in Panama became a liability. We quickly solved this problem but did lose billions from our assurances in Panama. We will not be so stupid with our dollars in the future. We know that we cannot trust the assurances given by the security agencies in your government about our money.

First we cooperate to help these agencies make money and then they turned on us and stole our share of the profits. This is no way to do business, and shows no honor. Now they want to raise the price of cocaine by having your army here in Colombia. However the price for cocaine is much lower. We can produce it and bring it to you for less money even with your army here. Maybe your army planes still fly cocaine home to you. Did you ever consider your army as smugglers? The money is there in the cocaine trade and your agencies still want to make the money, and you still pay dollars to consume the drug. How do you think the War on Drugs can stop us? It can't.

I leave this thought with you. Cocaine is a high profit drug. People in your country want this cocaine drug. Coca [cocaine] Cola used this stimulant in its original formula and it has made over a trillion dollars in about 100 years from the name and product. Do you think that a few billion US dollars will stop the flow of cocaine to your country? This will not happen. The US, being our former partner and now sending in its army after it burned us, will no longer steal our profits. Our politicians and judges will continue to die and our rebel armies will continue to grow. Do you want another lost war like Viet Nam in Colombia? Colombians will continue to sell cocaine to you and your corrupt government to give you stamina which can not be used against us. We with our poor peasant farmers will win this cocaine money war and keep exporting cocaine to your ready buyers.

Click here for more Growin' Our Own.

Pipeline (page 3)

What if all drugs were legal?

By: Harry Browne

The Drug Warriors' biggest argument against medical marijuana is that it's only the opening wedge in a movement toward total legalization of drugs. So, supposedly, we have to "nip it in the bud" - in the words of Deputy Barney Fife, the nation's first Drug Czar.

What if the Drug Warriors are right?

What if legalizing medical marijuana turned out to be the first step on a journey that ended in the outright repeal of every drug law? What would America be like?

Understandably, many Americans fear that with no drug laws, we would have hundreds of thousands of addicts, crack babies, children trying drugs, and other evils. But that's what we have now.

Let's assume the worst

If all drugs were legal, addicts would no longer pay black-market prices to criminals for drugs of questionable and dangerous origin. They would get drugs produced by legitimate pharmaceutical companies and pay market prices. They would no longer die from buying toxic drugs, and they would no longer have to mug innocent people to support their habits.

If all drugs were legal, addicts could seek help by going to doctors - no longer afraid of being prosecuted for their medical problems.

If all drugs were legal, criminal drug dealers would no longer be on our streets. They couldn't compete with the low, free-market prices for drugs sold at pharmacies.

If all drugs were legal, criminal drug dealers would no longer prey upon our children - any more than distilleries and breweries try to infiltrate schools to hook kids on alcohol. When I grew up in Los Angeles in the 1940s, the worst schools were safer than L.A.'s best schools are today.

If all drugs were legal, our government would no longer be dispensing propaganda that makes children want to try the forbidden fruit.

Reducing street violence

If all drugs were legal, our prisons would be emptied of hundreds of thousands of non- violent people who have never done harm to anyone else. No longer would over-crowded prisons cause truly violent criminals to be free on early release and plea bargains to terrorize the rest of us.

If all drugs were legal, law-enforcement resources would be available to fight violent crime, instead of being used to chase people who may harm themselves but are no threat to us.

If all drugs were legal, much of the street violence would end - as it did when Alcohol Prohibition ended - because gangs of thugs would no longer be fighting over drug territories.

If all drugs were legal, police corruption would diminish, because criminals could no longer use black-market drug money to gain immunity by subverting weak policemen.

If all drugs were legal, the government could no longer use the Drug War as an excuse to tear up the Bill of Rights and pry into your bank account, strip-search you at an airport, tear your car apart, monitor your e-mail, or seize your property without even charging you with a crime.

Why do we know this?

Why do I think America would be like this if all drugs were legal?

Because that's the way it was before the drug laws were passed. Yes, there were people whose lives were destroyed by drugs then - just as some people today destroy their lives with drugs, alcohol, financial mistakes, or various character weaknesses - but far fewer people lost their lives to drugs when they were legal.

And America's streets were peaceful.

Has America changed since then? Of course it has. But cause-and-effect relationships don't change. Force still begets force. Government programs still lead to unintended and destructive consequences.

Re-legalizing drugs would put a stop to those destructive consequences - end the criminal black market, end the violence, end the incentive to hook children, and end the production of toxic drugs that kill people

We have to quit being afraid of the unknown, and instead recognize what we do know - that the Drug War is doing enormous harm to society.

If we care about our children, if we care about our cities, if we care about our country, we have to end the insane War on Drugs.

Click here for more Pipeline.

Josephine's Reptile Nail & Body Wrap - for information, write to:
P.O. Box 2536
Sun Valley, Idaho, 83353