ASU Marijuana Debate

I found a great professional debate on marijuana legalization and by professional I mean a debate you won't find on FOX or MSNBC where the person who yells the loudest wins. Each person is given a time to present their opinions without interruption and in a civil manner.I must warn you it is a rather long video but it is definitely worth watching. As always feel free to leave comments. Enjoy!

Obama and Marijuana

I don't like to throw greater political discussions into my blog posts such as who I'm voting for in the election or why I think Obama is a good or bad President. I feel this takes focus away from the issues at hand. In this short post I will not give my opinion on the Obama administration, however I will leave some links to articles that speak of his policy on medical marijuana. None of these are glowing praises of the President but the facts within them are true. The Obama administration has cracked down on medical marijuana dispensaries more than any other administration in history. All I wish to do is share the facts of what is occurring in America and within my home state of California. Knowledge is power people!!! The more we know the less likely we are to be taken advantage of.

High: The True Tale of American Marijuana

I figured for this post I would let someone else do the talking just to make all of you aware how many people believe that legalizing marijuana would benefit the country. In the video below this post is a documentary titled “High: The True Tale of American Marijuana”. This is a great documentary that addresses a lot of the myths surrounding the plant and discusses what positive impacts it could possibly have on America. It’s documentaries like these and other sources of information that made me change my views on marijuana. That’s right I didn’t always believe in legalizing this plant (shocking I know). I constantly believed that we were winning the war on drugs and that legalizing marijuana would lead to more crime. But if you looked at all the people, sources, and money that was spent to push these ideas on me, then how could I believe any different. Now that more and more people are questioning marijuana prohibition it’s easier to have access to other ideas, and this is what allows the individual to make an educated decision about the issue. This is what this debate is really all about. Giving people all of the information necessary to make their own decision based on facts, not myths or scare tactics that have been so prevalent surrounding this issue. This is my ultimate goal with this blog. To educate! To give people the information necessary to make their own decisions and then hopefully they will share my point of view. I hope you all enjoy the documentary as much as I did and please don’t limit yourself and view this movie with an open mind.   

What Convinced Me to End Marijuana Prohibition?

There is a more complex answer that addresses this question but I’ll delve into that deeper in another post, but I would like to reveal an important turning point in my journey to end prohibition. The video that I have included in this post was a major junction in my ideological development. The video takes a look at an organization known as L.E.A.P. (Law Enforcement Against Prohibition). This organization is made of active and retired law enforcement members who have fought on the front lines of the war on drugs only to discover that it is a loosing battle. Now they travel to schools and hold seminars that promote ending prohibition based on their personal experiences. I highly recommend listening to what these people have to say since they understand the drug war from a viewpoint many of us do not possess. What I hope this video highlights for you is that people who support ending prohibition come from many different backgrounds and differ greatly from the common stereotypical perception of an anti-prohibitionist (the common degenerate pothead). I felt that it was the right time to showcase this video since my last post addressed the topic of our law enforcement in relation to the drug war. Now you get to experience this same topic through the eyes of these very same individuals. Like I mentioned before this was a video that really resonated with me and contributed a great deal toward my activist ambitions. Enjoy the video and feel free to leave comments on it.        

America is Being Denied the Right to Information

A few months ago I wrote my most popular blog to date entitled “Don’t Tell Me What I Can Do To My Body!” which argued that the Government has no right dictating what substance I willfully choose to consume. Now I wish to discuss another topic which is just as important and directly parallels this argument, which is the right to information. Not only are we being denied the right to govern our own bodies as we wish but we are also being denied our most sacred right of information and education. It is an absolute travesty that our Government is withholding the facts about marijuana by not allowing scientific research to examine both the positive and negative aspects of this plant. Instead we are force fed half truths and outright myths about cannabis in substitute.

                Education is the foundation of our ideals and personal opinions and this applies not just in America but the world. Every country that employs public education at the national level is always a more developed country. Every country that denies education to its people or feeds them misinformation will always be a third world country and or a country that is ruled over by dictators whether they be national or local (such as warlords). Education is the very element that makes us free! The ability to analyze and apply critical thinking to make judgments and form opinions is the most powerful weapon we posses against tyranny, injustice, and exploitation. To deny people of education is to steal life itself from them. It is one of the worst human rights offenses and yet we as Americans are experiencing this very offense, albeit on a small scale. This seems blasphemous to say but as we take a closer look and you will find that the Government has limited the research of cannabis thereby denying us our right to the proper information.

                There was an attempt to study marijuana and its effects on personal and social issues that was initiated by the government. This study was known as the “Shafer Commission” in which president Nixon launched in order to support the war on drugs. However this plan back fired and instead of a scathing report on marijuana Nixon received a report which dispelled many of the widely accepted myths about the plant. This report was not surprisingly rejected and the “Controlled Substance Act” (which this commission was intended to support) was passed through Congress and signed into law. This is the first major case of information (concerning marijuana) which was denied to the public because the outcome was the opposite of what the Government wanted. We were denied the right to information and as such we continued to believe all of the common myths associated with marijuana. We are still feeling the effects of this outcome from the slew of misinformation we receive about this plant. Every day we are bombarded by public service announcements and political scare tactics that pounds outdated and incorrect information into our heads. This bombardment is amplified by the fact that the Government does not fund additional studies about marijuana so that we might learn more about it. God forbid the information discovered would counter what has previously been believed as true. It is this denial of additional studies and information that stagnates us from discovering the truth about marijuana.

                We cannot and should not allow the government to dictate our right to information and education. We have to demand more unbiased scientific studies involving marijuana so that we as a country can make a more informed decision in the case of prohibition. The more informed decision is the right decision.      

Marijuana doesn't harm lung function

I thought this was an interesting piece on the subject so I decided to put it up. As always the link is at the bottom of the post. Let me know what you think by commenting on this post.





Marijuana doesn't harm lung function, study found

The Fed Defies the Will of the People

Some of you may have noticed that I have not posted anything in a while and I assure you most earnestly that I have not abandoned my activist ambitions. Quite the contrary I have been more evolved than any time before. Since mid October I have been trying to fight the Fed from closing many of the medical marijuana dispensaries throughout my home state of California. The Federal Government’s war on marijuana has spilled over from originally targeting criminals, such as cartels and gangs, to fixing its sights on state legitimate medical marijuana dispensaries that were voter approved by Californian citizens. Instead of pursuing the illegal drug trade, which was the allegedly sole purpose of the war on drugs, federal prosecutors have turned their attention to state authorized and taxpaying medical dispensaries. They are attempting to take away the legitimate marijuana market instead of focusing on the real violent threat to the south. The Government’s focus on dismantling California approved/Federal Government disapproved marijuana businesses, accomplishes nothing except that it hands over a super monopoly to illegal traffickers and defecates on the tenth amendment. It’s absolutely deplorable that our government can defy the will of the people with such ease and unopposed resistance.

                Our voices have been ripped from our throats and our votes have been discarded as an inconvenient nuisance. What’s more is that the Government is getting away with all of it. There is very little talk about this event in the media. It is constantly over shadowed by other “more important” and “pressing” news such as the Occupy movement or the election. We can no longer allow Government to intrude upon matters that the people have established through the democratic system. It makes the system meaningless and dishonors the very foundation of the country. It gives me a very intense feeling of trepidation that the Government can rewrite the rules like a school yard bully who is unhappy with the outcome of a playground game. We cannot allow this to happen! This may be easy for the Government to accomplish since marijuana is still a taboo political subject but if the Government can so easily usurp the voice of citizens over marijuana then it makes you wonder what other issues the Government will intervene in. There must be a definitive line established that puts limits on government intervention and I suggest that the line should start with the marijuana issue.

                I have put up a link to the story about what is occurring in California. It has more information on the issue and shows just how much the Government is cracking down on the medical marijuana dispensaries in California.

http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/article/745016/feds_force_hundreds_of_california%27s_medical_marijuana_dispensaries_to_close/

Drug Crazy

If you haven’t read this book yet I highly recommended you pick it up as soon as possible. The book is entitled “Drug Crazy How We Got Into This Mess and How We Can Get Out” by Mike Gray. This book discusses all the arguments for prohibition and dispels them. Many of the issues addressed in this book are the same issues I have discussed on my blog. This book can be very eye opening whether you are new to the anti prohibition movement or a seasoned veteran. Everyone who reads this book will benefit from it. Keep educating yourselves on the subject and don’t allow years of propaganda blind you from the facts.     

I Told You So

Crime is on the increase and gangs are growing stronger. How are they making their money? The drug trade of course! I have said it a hundred times, crime will go down if we take away the revenue gangs acquire from drugs like marijuana. Here is a link to the story below.


http://news.yahoo.com/feds-gang-membership-crime-alliances-grow-180417395.html

Mexican Cartels Target Children

Whoever argued that children would be put in more danger if marijuana was legal neglected to notice this. It has now been discovered that drug cartels are recruiting kids to help smuggle and move drugs. This is nothing really new but it’s gaining more national attention now than ever. I have been saying this all along; legitimate businesses will not sell your kids marijuana or involve them with the plant in any way. Gangs are always going to target your kids, so let’s put them out of business by making marijuana legal. The whole story can be found at the link below.

http://news.yahoo.com/mexican-drug-cartels-recruiting-texas-children-173402030.html 

A Conversation with a Friend

This is a conversation I had with one of my friends via Facebook. I wanted to put this up because it shows a different point of view and I believe it is important to know what the other side of the conversation has to say. This is in response to my post Are You Telling Me The Government Can’t Tax Something? The link to this post can be found here:http://legalizeit-ryan.blogspot.com/2011/10/are-you-telling-me-government-cant-tax.html

I would like to point out that our discussion was civil and that neither of us got out of control. I pride myself on having intelligent conversations. Here is the discussion we had. Enjoy!

Friend: How would you tax it when anyone can grow it? There is no way to track the plant, so I see it being pointless. If the government can't track it how can they tax it?

Me: Good question. Granted anyone can grow a plant, but the goal would be to mass produce it and regulate it like any other U.S. crop. This way it can be processed and sold much like tobacco is today for example. I doubt that every user would try to grow it in their houses when it would be easier to buy it from a store that is licensed to sell it. Thank you for the comment I really appreciate any sort of feedback you have.

Friend: Yes I see your point but with all the pot smokers in the U.S. I think the smokers would just have one plant that they would use. You could grow the thing in your house. Corn and other plants are much larger and is grown for food. I just don't see how the government will get any money from it. All you need is to have your buddy give you a seed and then you grow it. How would the government know about that transaction? Or your buddy has a couple plants and he is selling some weed and you say hey could I get some weed from you and he charges you a couple hundred bucks for the pot. How is the government going to know you bought the stuff? Do you get my drift? I personally pot smokers are using the "taxation" as a means to legalize it and the government won’t be able to collect.

Me: I get ya. But someone would have to grow a lot of plants to produce enough for recreational use, and I don't think a lot of pot smokers would put the effort into to growing their own supply.

Friend: You would be surprised what people do for pot. I have seen false walls for a pot room in an apartment, garages, attics, and a bedroom. I have heard of people putting a sea container underground to grow pot in. Imagine it being legal.

Me: Yes this happens, but most pot smokers get there product from it being smuggled a crossed the border. Not all of them grow it themselves. And I don't see individual growing ever meeting the national demand.

The more we have discussions about marijuana the more people we will be able to reach out to. We need to keep the conversation alive in order to continue the movement. I urge all of you to go out and start talking about marijuana more so that we can affect more people.