Americans grow cannabis to beat the recession

guardian. ^ | 11 September 2009 | Ed Pilkington

[Lady Jag]

Not that I know anything about it.

[dalereed]

I hope you wind up in prison, doper!

[Mikey]

Do you drink any adult beverages? Now don’t give me any crap about it being legal, I’m just asking a simple question? Please answer yes or no?

[dalereed]

Absolutely not!

[Ken H]

I hope the Tea Partiers tar and feather your fedgov-loving ass and run you out of town, LOL!

[Mikey]

Have you ever seen the movie "grass" by Woody Harrelson?

[Lady Jag]

Someone else said I should watch it but I haven’t yet.

[Mikey]

Use any type of tobacco products?

[Mikey]

Quite an eye opener.

Maybe dalereed might actually learn something positive, although I believe his mind is quite closed. Sad actually.

I believe if the all knowing, all seeing BIG BROTHER told dalereed breathing was bad for him, even in the country, he'd believe it hook, line and sinker.

He'd probably fire 20 more for breathing un-approved Federal government sanctioned air. truly sad.

[dalereed]

No!

[AuntB]

Americans can’t compete with the Mexican Drug Cartels growing it on ‘public lands’.....we have to pay for water, etc. and we would get prosecuted. They just steal the water, abuse the land and burn down 88,000 acres in California last month in the process. The local sheriffs are outnumbered by the cartels.

[Lady Jag]

An eye opener? With Harrelson you never know what you’re going to get!

Is it a comedy or a documentary? Are two recommendations enough to convince me to watch it?

Are one of his lines, “This bud’s for you?”

[chris_bdba]

I know someone here who did plant a little this year. It didn’t do great because it was too cool and wet but he says next year he’s planting as much as is legal.

[airborne]

I'm a non-smoker and can't stand the smell.

But I respect the right of all Americans to their pursuit of happiness.

That includes making moonshine and growing tobacco or marijuana.

Just partake in the comfort of your home and don't endanger anyone else with your behavior.

[Lady Jag]

It was impossible to find a non-biased article about the movie, “Grass.”

I seems to be a combination light-hearted documentary by a pro-marijuana talented actor. Not that there is anything wrong with that.

“Woody Harrelson continues his pro-hemp crusade as narrator of this entertaining, informative documentary about the social history of marijuana as related to 20th century America. The film first ties early cannabis control to the institutionalized racism toward Mexican laborers in early 1900s Texas. It then trots out clips from such hysteric propaganda films as Reefer Madness (1936), profiles first drug czar Harry Anslinger, chats about celebrity users and covers the “shocking” opinions of New York Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia and President Jimmy Carter. Director Ron Mann (Twist) keeps the pacing, pop art graphics and humor humming as he charts the strategies and failure (in terms of both dollars and lives) of our national war on drugs.” http://www.newsreview.com/sacramento/content?oid=6472

[Ken H]

Americans can't compete with the Mexican Drug Cartels growing it on "public lands".....we have to pay for water, etc. and we would get prosecuted.

Quite so. A reasonably taxed and regulated market defeats a black market, as was shown with the repeal of alcohol prohibition. So the reason for national marijuana prohibition is...?

[Mikey]

"...it’s an illegal drug and a bad one!"

Hahahahahahahahahaha. There has never been ONE case, not one of anyone dying from the use of marijuana.

Annual deaths related to firearms in the United States: 29,000. Annual deaths related to prescription drugs: 32,000. Annual deaths related to alcohol: 85,000. Related to tobacco: 435,000. Marijuana? 0. Not a single case of death ever recorded in the United States, or even the world has been attributed to the use of marijuana. But there must be a reason for it’s prohibition and criminalization, correct?

One thing that most people believe is that marijuana kills brain cells, which is in fact, a myth. “The original basis of this claim was a report that, upon postmortem examinations, structural changes in several brain regions were found in two rhesus monkeys exposed to THC. Because these changes primarily involved the hippocampus, a cortical brain region known to play an important role in learning and memory, this finding suggested possible negative consequences for human marijuana users.” “In the most recently published study, rhesus monkeys were exposed through face-mask inhalation to the smoke equivalent of four to five joints per day for one year. When sacrificed seven months later, there was no observed alteration of hippocampal architecture, cell size, cell number, or synaptic configuration”

Although it may not have deaths related to it, it must have some unhealthy attributes to it though, right? Again, wrong. “Tetrahydrocannabinol is a very safe drug. Laboratory animals (rats, mice, dogs, monkeys) can tolerate doses of up to 1,000 mg/kg (milligrams per kilogram). This would be equivalent to a 70 kg person swallowing 70 grams of the drug — about 5,000 times more than is required to produce a high. Despite the widespread illicit use of cannabis there are very few if any instances of people dying from an overdose. In Britain, official government statistics listed five deaths from cannabis in the period 1993-1995 but on closer examination these proved to have been deaths due to inhalation of vomit that could not be directly attributed to cannabis (House of Lords Report, 1998). By comparison with other commonly used recreational drugs these statistics are impressive.”

It seems you’re running out of questions. I’ll help you out though, it isn’t addictive, especially compared to legally distributable drugs such as alcohol, caffeine, nicotine, and other prescription drugs. However, it can be considered habitual, meaning if you smoke everyday for a year and you stop smoking, you will notice a difference. If you smoke a cigarette everyday, though, you will feel an immense amount of withdrawal.

Another question to ask is, “what about the gateway theory?”. That is to say, once you try marijuana, you’ll want to try other hard drugs as well. The only proof of this is because of the prohibition of marijuana, that crack dealers happen to sell marijuana on the side or vice versa. This exposure makes it seem like it’d be okay to try it as well. However, there is only 1 cocaine user for ever 104 marijuana users and less than 1 heroin user for the same amount of marijuana users which is less than .96%. Not even 1%.

However if you compare two cities, such as Amsterdam and San Francisco (one where it is legal and one where it wasn’t at the time of recording) you can see that in Amsterdam it has a prodigious amount less than San Fransisco in the amount of cocaine, crack, amphetamines, ecstasy, and opiate usage.

So if this plant is worth more ounce-per-ounce than gold, isn’t addictive, harmful, or a gateway then why is it still illegal? One might claim that it may be because government officials realize if they come out and say that marijuana isn’t harmful for you then they would be considered a liar. This only leaves the average citizen to take their stance on what is right.

But why would they? All it does is make you think and cures or stabilizes several illnesses. Oh, I forgot to mention that. Many organizations have favorable positions (e.g., unimpeded research) on medical marijuana. These groups include: The Institute of Medicine, The American Cancer Society; American Medical Association; American Nurses Association; Australian Commonwealth Department of Human Services and Health; California Medical Association; Federation of American Scientists; Florida Medical Association; and the National Academy of Sciences.

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See also NORML

From NORML

NORML is proud to confirm that Mark Stepnoski
will be speaking at the 2009 NORML National Conference in San Francisco, CA.

Mr. Stepnoski is a decorated pro athlete. Mark played for thirteen years in the National Football League, during which he won two Super Bowl rings (with the Dallas Cowboys) and was nominated for the Pro Bowl on five occasions. Mark was also named second team center on the NFL ‘All-Decade team’ for the 1990s.

Since retiring from pro football in 2001, Mark has dedicated much of his energy to reforming America’s antiquated and draconian marijuana laws. He is a former President of Texas NORML and presently serves on NORML’s national advisory board. "I took great pride in my performance on and off the field, and often questioned why our culture embraces alcohol while simultaneously stigmatizing those who choose to consume a less harmful alternative, marijuana," he says.”[It] is inconsistent, both legally and socially, for our laws to punish adults who make the ’safer’ choice."

Mark will be leading an all-star panel discussion at this year’s conference pertaining to the use of cannabis among top athletes. "Since I was a kid, I wanted to play in the NFL," says Mark. "Even though I occasionally used marijuana, it never prevented me from attaining my goals."

Mark says, "Yes we cannabis" and so should you! Meet Mark and hundreds of other like-minded people at NORML’s 38th annual conference, taking place September 24-26 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in downtown San Francisco. For registration information, please visit: http://www.norml.org/conference.

More about Mark Stepnoski:

New York Daily News: Smoking Is NORML
Reason.com: Lineman for Liberty — Former Cowboys center Mark Stepnoski tackles prohibition
Valley Advocate: Tokers Got Game

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Marijuana Use By The Numbers

[dalereed]

Go to hell you god damn drug addict!

[Mikey]

Its a documentary. Although it has clips from reefer madness that will make you ROFLYAO.

I remember way back in High School in New York in the early '70s some narc came into our homeroom and showed us reefer madness. Everyone in the class was laughing their @sses off at the stupidity of the movie.
There's a clip in the movie where some dude takes one (that's 1) hit and turns into a raving lunatic. It was soooooooo ridiculous.

What really is so sad is, people back in the 40's and 50's actually believed this garbage like Dalereed obviously and quite ignorantly does.

I've read some of the stupidity written by most of the temperance leagues putting down alcohol. Demon rum and other ridiculous statements.

This buds for you is mine. I like Bud light and figured what the hell I'll do a shtick on the commercial.

[Mikey]

Well said and I applaud you.

The people of this country seem to have forgotten, we aren't a democracy where today something is legal, tomorrow it's not depending on the will of the majority (mob rule. Read Thomas Jefferson opinions on democracies ).

We are a Constitutional representative republic (we have some democratic attributes) Where an individual can do anything they please, anything, as long as they do not infringe upon the life, liberty or property of another.

If someone is drunk, half asleep, stoned (on either marijuana or prescription drugs ) and gets behind the wheel of an automobile and they either kill someone or destroy property then they're committing a crime.