Quick Hits (page 4)
U.S. fears change in marijuana laws
By: Kim Lunman (Globe and mail)
Ottawa -- The man known as President George W. Bush's "Drug Czar" in the U.S. war against drugs said Canada will pose a "dangerous threat" south of the border if it brings in laws to decriminalize marijuana.
John Walters, Director of the National Drug Control Policy in Washington, D.C., made the comments at a news conference in Buffalo hours after a special parliamentary committee in Ottawa recommended decriminalizing possession and cultivation of small amounts of marijuana for personal use.
Mr. Walters said any moves to liberalize marijuana laws in Canada could result in longer waits and tougher scrutiny at the border, already heightened in the wake of the U.S. terrorist attacks last year.
"It's not my job to judge Canadian policy," Mr. Walters said. "But it is my job to protect Americans from dangerous threats, and right now Canada is a dangerous staging area for some of the most potent and dangerous marijuana at a time when marijuana is the single biggest source of dependency-production in the United States.
"That's a problem. We have to make security at the border tougher because this is a dangerous threat to our young people and it makes the problem of patrolling the border more difficult."
The report by the special parliamentary committee on the use of non-medical drugs recommends decriminalizing the possession and cultivation of up to 30 grams of cannabis for personal use.
In its list of 41 recommendations, the committee of MPs concluded marijuana be treated as a regulatory offence and not land someone a criminal record.
It recommends the possession of cannabis continue to be illegal and trafficking of marijuana remain a crime.
"Smoking any amount of marijuana is unhealthy, but the consequences of conviction for a small amount of marijuana for personal use are disproportionate to the potential harm," said Liberal MP Paddy Torsney, who chaired the committee.
Ms. Torsney said nearly one-third of Canadians have admitted to using marijuana and that it makes sense to redirect policing resources to the prosecution of more serious crimes.
Possession of 30 grams or less of marijuana would still be considered illegal but would not result in a criminal record under the recommendation.
It would be treated instead like a traffic ticket and punishable by fines.
Martin Cauchon, the Liberal Minister of Justice, said earlier this week that he would be introducing legislation in the new year to decriminalize marijuana.
In September, a Senate report called on Ottawa to legalize and regulate the distribution of marijuana.
At the time, Mr. Walters said such a move could strain relations between Canada and the United States, which has a zero-tolerance policy toward drugs.
"I think Mr. Walters should not worry about Canada," said Senator Pierre Claude Nolin, a Progressive Conservative who chaired the Senate report on illegal drugs.
Mr. Nolin said the report "stopped short" of and will not result in any meaningful change in Canada's drug policy.
"It's going to be business as usual," he said. "Prohibition all the way."
Mr. Cauchon brushed off Mr. Walters' comments. "Other countries are actually living in a situation where they have decriminalized . . . in small quantities."
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Tan 'n' Trends
Growin' Our Own (page 4)
My First Time
By: Bea Gentle
I was over-protected as a child. Waaaaay over-protected. Like wrapped in cotton batting. I was still playing with dolls when I was thirteen. I was damned near emotionally retarded. I had two older brothers, much older. I was the only girl, and sickly. I was protected by not only my parents, but also by those older brothers ... to a point. Everyone conspired to make sure that big, bad ol' world didn't hurt poor little me. Yeesh! It's a wonder I'm not in therapy to this day.
Folks who know me now don't believe it when I tell them how I used to be, though many will say I look 'frail'. How I despise that word! Don't call me that to my face lest I rip your lungs out through your nose and feed them to you!
At any rate, you get the picture ... I was the last person anyone would suspect of using drugs of any kind. To be perfectly honest, I was the last person I would suspect of using drugs. It just never occurred to me to try them.
Remember the overly protective big brothers? HAH! Guess who gave me my first taste of marijuana? Righty-o! Eldest brother. By the time I was nineteen he had been married, had kids, divorced and was living with a gal with whom I had gone to high school. He also rode a chopper (independent) and tried every drug he could find at least once, several times if he liked them.
He and his girlfriend had an apartment in a large city. I lived in a small town about 30 miles south. Remember 30 miles - it is important. I used to visit my brother, I'll call him Adalbert, and his girlfriend, Hepzibah, fairly often. After all, what's driving a mere 30 miles to visit family, right? (There's that '30 miles' again - are you paying attention?)
Well, Adalbert has a wild streak about a mile and a half wide. Hepzibah's was only slightly less. One time when I went to visit they decided I should start growing up. Their definition of growing up. When I arrived there was a tray on the coffee table I'd never seen before. Beautiful carved wood, shiny, slick, full of dried green stuff that looked like the herbs in my kitchen. I asked them what they were going to cook. That was met with gales of laughter, which confused me all to hell. They told me to smell the stuff, and then asked if I knew what it was. I told them it wasn't basil, oregano or thyme - was it an exotic herb? They said it was probably the most exotic herb I had ever run across. They told me it was pot. I almost shit! "That's ILLEGAL" I yelled. Adalbert said: "Shut up. We know what it is and you don't, and it is time you did. It IS an herb, so it won't hurt you a bit. We're going to teach you how to roll a joint." Poor bastard, he did try, too. Hepzibah tried. A friend of theirs that happened by after they'd been trying for about an hour tried. His girlfriend tried. I don't recall how many papers I ruined, but Hepzibah had to go to the zip 'n' rip to get some more.
They finally gave up in utter disgust. After Adalbert snidely asked if I was able to tie my own shoes yet, he broke out a pipe. He said I had better stick to using a pipe or I might die of old age before I could get around to getting stoned. That's when I asked him the question that had been nagging quietly in the back of my mind since the whole shebang had started "Why do I want to get stoned?" He explained in great detail and at great length how being stoned was far preferable to being drunk both in feeling and damage to the body. He said it was totally different from anything I had experienced while drunk. That's when I told him I didn't drink, I wasn't 21 yet.
He came over very close to me, peered intently into my eyes, and asked if I had 'anything resembling a life in there'. He packed the pipe full, tamped it down a little, and fired it up. Hepzibah told me to watch how Adalbert smoked the pipe because I had to do it the same way. He drew the smoke in deeply, held his breath for a couple of seconds and began to cough violently. I thought "Golly gee whiz, what fun!". Hepzibah smoked next, then Their friend and his girlfriend, then they passed the pipe to me. It smelled AWFUL! They all stared at me like I was an exhibit in a side show while I tried to imitate what I had seen them do, except the coughing part anyway. When I let my breath out I felt as though all my muscles went with it. I felt more relaxed than I thought was possible. Hey ... this isn't too bad! Adalbert told me to stop bogarting the pipe and pass it around again. After I had a few more hits I found that I was laughing at all the rude comments they were making about my inability to roll a joint (and laughing, and laughing). Adallbert was doing a regular monologue about that.
As the night grew later I decided I was ready to go home. Adalbert and Hepzibah asked if I thought I was all right to drive. I said I certainly was. Stupid, stupid, stupid. I should have known better when I stood up from the sofa I'd been planted on all evening and nearly fell on my nose. I made it to my car just fine, I even got it started and backed out of the parking place. Then came the adventure of driving home. 30 miles, remember? 30 FUCKING MILES! Took me about two hours. I followed the prettiest pair of red halos for the longest time. Then I realized I was one town east of where I lived, so I found another pair of pretty red halos to follow. Then I was at the main north-south freeway. I finally found a set going to my town I guess, because eventually I realized I was parked in my driveway. I managed to get into my apartment and to bed through some kind of magic that I still don't understand.
The next day I called Adalbert and Hepzibah. I asked them exactly what I had smoked the night before. Adalbert proudly told me we had been smoking 'Hercules' - a plant he had grown himself. He went on to tell me he had been injecting that particular plant with LSD while it was growing. He wasn't sure that had affected the potency of the plant, but said it had produced huge, very sticky buds. Then he asked how I felt and how my trip home had been. When I told him about following the pretty red halos, he turned from the telephone and called to Hepzibah "The stupid little shit followed tail lights all over the valley last night!". Then they wanted all the details. They made me go out and look at my car to see if there were dents, or paint, or blood on it anywhere. All of a sudden Adalbert reverted to the protective big brother syndrome. I could hear Hepzibah in the background trying to calm him down. He is a kind of skinny guy, I didn't know he could pull so much air into his lungs to yell so loud! And Hepzibah, all five foot nothing of her, was yelling just as loudly telling him to chill out. I thought they were both going to have strokes.
I finally convinced Adalbert that I was okay, the car was okay, no cops had shown up at my place yet, no one had been hurt, yadda, yadda, yadda. Then I reminded him that the entire experiment had been his idea. That was good for another couple of blood curdling screams. When I asked him when we were going to smoke some more, I do believe he may have passed out. At any rate Hepzibah suddenly came on the phone in his stead. She began to give me all kinds of reasons why I should never, ever, ever smoke again. I repeated back to her all the kind things Adalbert had said about marijuana the night before. She finally just told me she thought I couldn't handle being high, and I would probably do something really stupid. I hung up on her.
You know, even though they were the ones so hell bent on getting me stoned, they never invited me to smoke with them again?
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Pipeline (page 4)
0013 hundred hours....... Communique from..........
By: General Lee Doofy
Happy New Year, soldiers and soldierettes.
That is about as much pleasantry as I can muster here at my desk on the last Saturday of 2002.
What are we going to do in 2003? That is an interesting question, is it not?
We are, with out a doubt, losing the drug war. The examples of our loss abound. One only needs to scan any local newspaper. The unfortunate odd man or woman out is usually found on the local news pages.
Here, where I have my headquarters, some of the local arrests of 2002 have been remarkable for their severity and lack of compassion.
Our local courts have sentenced individuals to what amounts to life sentences for the sale and distribution of marijuana. Our local judges have seen fit to incarcerate low end dealers for lengthy sentences. One low end dealer was allowed enough time out to donate a kidney to his ailing and possibly dying son. He was then, of course, returned to finish his sentence. This was about as compassionate as it got in my section of the northwest quadrant.
Things were not any better, if not actually markedly worse, in the rest of the country. The year 2002 passed without any significant publicity about the two gay men (in Michigan I believe) that were harassed and ultimately shot for their alternative life style prior to the terrorist attacks of 9/11/01.
The lobbyists lost on most if not all initiatives.
We are left to bullshit ourselves with lines like this: "It isn't so bad. I know a cop that turns his head." Yeah, well big fuckin' deal. When you are caught maybe he will testify on your behalf. Be sure and mention his name when some other pig is throwing you to the ground and slapping the cuffs onto your wrists.
Pig! Now there is a dated term. It is, however, becoming more applicable. In the sixties when the term pig was used we had such things as the Chicago Seven. Their type of dissent preceded the Kent State shootings. We are, at this time, eclipsing those years and entering a phase of government and local police control that is unprecedented since the days McCarthyism ran rampant in our country.
Start taking a good look at what we are up against by viewing the government's anti-drug commercials that are presently being aired on broadcast television.
The one with the early teen girl that is buying a bag of pot is a real piece of work. Where is the disclaimer that says maybe, just maybe, it is possible to buy from a local organic grower? No, you will not see that. The idea is to build fear and outrage in the minds of the uninformed.
The award, however, has to go to the anti-drug commercial that just plain says "When you buy drugs you are supporting terrorism and that is all there is to that." There is no distinction being made between types of drugs. I do not see where importing Canadian bud, buying California bud or growing my own bud is supporting terrorism. Of course none of this matters to the government. Their intent is to mold society to what they see as right without leaving any room for dissent.
I am an officer in the drug war because I am fifty six years old and have not been busted. I have smoked pot for thirty six years without getting busted for it. When I make that statement I then knock on wood for luck, which in this case is my head. I must truly have a wooden head to still be concerned about this issue.
This brings us to - what are we going to do? Are we going to continue keeping our heads down and ducking and running? Or are we going to take some solid ground?
The budlife420 web site is supposed to be "by smokers for smokers" If that is the case, it is now time to turn our attention to doing something for the cause or abandoning the cause.
Where to start? Right here is where to start. Pull out your wallet or your checkbook and find a way to contribute to the viability of this site. Work to make this site the open forum for discussion that it is intended to be.
I have a close friend known to me as Spiritmann. He tells me that there is going to be a lot going on in 2003. I do not need him to tell me that 2003 is the one hundredth year of Harley Davidson. That will certainly have the bikers, 1% and otherwise, out there partying.
If we, as pot smokers, were organized, like any biker brotherhood with colors, we would be a force to be reckoned with. This is my last attempt to organize an army of drug warriors.
My thought is to issue patches and colors similar to what the 1% MC clubs wear.
Here are some of the ways that you earn your colors:
1. If you have a newspaper article showing that you have a drug bust, that will be worth a patch.
2. If you are known as a dealer that is certainly worth a patch.
3. If you are known as a grower that is worth a patch.
4. 1% of the motorcycle riders wear the 1% patch because 1% are outlaws. Well listen up. Any of you that are smoking dope are outlaws. What is our percentage of the population? What percentage of us are or have been dealers?
These are just a few of the ideas. Ws = www. weed, whites, and wine. Ms =mmm. meth, mushrooms, and marijuana.
That is where I stand. I want an idea of the person to whom I am talking. We are going to need each other, and soon.
This is the bottom line my friends. The budlife420.com page - use it or lose it.
Smoke it if ya got it... grow it if ya need it.
I can be reached at Gen L Doofy@aol.com
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