The largest single change for the better in U.S. foreign policy, and one that could be accomplished simply by an act of political will, would be the abandonment of the socalled War on Drugs. This last relic of the Nixon era has long been a laughingstock within the borders of the United States itself (where narcotics are freely available to anybody who wants them and where the only guarantee is that all the money goes straight into criminal hands). But the same diminishing returns are now having a deplorable effect on America’s international efforts.
Consider the case of Afghanistan. Thirty years ago, it was a vinegrowing country, renowned for its raisins. It is now so deforested that a farmer planting a vine would be an optimist, while a farmer growing poppies is assured of at least some income. We burn and destroy what is in effect the Afghans’ only crop, while suffering from a shortage of analgesics in the United States. The beneficiaries of this policy are the Taliban. Why not instead buy the Afghan crop, use it to manufacture painkillers, and burn or throw away the rest (if you insist) while simultaneously offering incentives and aid to vine growers? We already pay the Turks to grow medical opium; they don’t need the money. The revenue that now goes to drug lords and terrorists could be applied straight to Afghanistan’s reconstruction, while weakening those who benefit from an artificially created monopoly. This might be termed “winwin.” And this is to speak only of opiates. The usefulness of marijuana in combating glaucoma and in helping to ease the pain of chemotherapy is now well attested.
Decriminalization of drugs could also mean fewer lethal impurities (the result of gangsters “cutting” the stuff) and a decline in the glamour associated with prohibition.
21 Solutions to Save the World: Legalize It
Legalize It, By Christopher Hitchens
Brain chemicals may aid treatment of Parkinson's
Brain chemicals may aid treatment of Parkinson's: "Marijuana-like chemicals in the brain may point to a treatment for the debilitating condition of Parkinson's disease. In a study published in the Feb. 8 issue of Nature, researchers from the School of Medicine report that endocannabinoids, naturally occurring chemicals found in the brain that are similar to the active compounds in marijuana and hashish, helped trigger a dramatic improvement in mice with a condition that mimics Parkinson's."
Nobel Prize genius was on LSD when he discovered the secret of life
Francis Crick, the Nobel Prize-winning father of modern genetics, was under the influence of LSD when he first deduced the double-helix structure of DNA nearly 50 years ago. Crick was a founder member of Soma, a legalize-Cannabis group. He even put his name to a famous letter to The Times in 1967 calling for a reform in the drugs laws.
FAQ about the Meaning of Life
FAQ about the Meaning of Life:
# If computing power doubles every two years, what happens when computers are doing the research?
# If I created a mind with no built-in desires, what would it do?
# How can I do something that will still matter in two hundred million years?
# What does this have to do with hemp?
# Who cares? Just read.
# If computing power doubles every two years, what happens when computers are doing the research?
# If I created a mind with no built-in desires, what would it do?
# How can I do something that will still matter in two hundred million years?
# What does this have to do with hemp?
# Who cares? Just read.
Contributions from The Edge
Any rational hemp activist must also be a World Hunger activist. To be otherwise, is utterly incongruent and cosmologically cataclysmic.
THE EDGE:: "A Dollar a Week Will End World Hunger
It's now a billion to a billion: Of the six billion human beings currently alive on this planet, one billion live with a daily agenda of malnutrition, hunger and polluted drinking water, while another one billion — including you and me — live lives where hunger is never really an issue.
The number of really rich and really poor people on the planet now match. That makes the following piece of arithmetics very simple indeed:
If all of us who are rich (in the sense that starvation is out of the question and has always been) want to provide the economic resources necessary to end hunger, how much should we pay? We assume that all existing government and NGO aid programs continue, but will be supplemented by a world-wide campaign for private donations to end hunger (feed your antipode).
The cost of providing one billion people with 250 kilograms of grain every year is approximately $40 billion dollars a year. That would seem to be a lot of money, but with one billion people to pay, it is no big deal: $40 a year! An even more moderate estimate is provided by the organization Netaid: Just $13 billion dollars a year and the basic health and food needs of the world's poorest people could be met."
THE EDGE:: "A Dollar a Week Will End World Hunger
It's now a billion to a billion: Of the six billion human beings currently alive on this planet, one billion live with a daily agenda of malnutrition, hunger and polluted drinking water, while another one billion — including you and me — live lives where hunger is never really an issue.
The number of really rich and really poor people on the planet now match. That makes the following piece of arithmetics very simple indeed:
If all of us who are rich (in the sense that starvation is out of the question and has always been) want to provide the economic resources necessary to end hunger, how much should we pay? We assume that all existing government and NGO aid programs continue, but will be supplemented by a world-wide campaign for private donations to end hunger (feed your antipode).
The cost of providing one billion people with 250 kilograms of grain every year is approximately $40 billion dollars a year. That would seem to be a lot of money, but with one billion people to pay, it is no big deal: $40 a year! An even more moderate estimate is provided by the organization Netaid: Just $13 billion dollars a year and the basic health and food needs of the world's poorest people could be met."
Why and how to debate charitably
When working to persuade people to change their opinions -- not to mention politics -- the more retarded the initial position, the more useful it is to consider why and how to debate charitably. Actually, calling them retards might not be the best place to start, however tempting.
Don't be SUCKERED by San Francisco Ruling!
NO MORE BULLSHIT HALF-MEASURES! WE DEMAND FULL LEGALIZATION OF HEMP NOW!Sure, talking heads on TV yap that the headlines read, SF Passes Marijuana Tolerance Law and some hyperventilating puritans whine that, "The police will have to arrest for barking dogs or spitting on the sidewalk before they get to this marijuana."
BUT KEEP ON READING !!!!
"Supervisor Tom Ammiano calls that an over-reaction. He is the sponsor of the legislation.
Chief Heather Fong, SFPD: 'When there are legitimate criminal behaviors, criminal acts that occur, officers are permitted to enforce the law as they have been.'"
Tom Ammiano: "I don't know why the neighbors, because they aren't my neighbors, keep saying that after we point out that it's not true. Whatever the police are doing now they will continue to do, it's up to them [the gestapo!]."
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE don't get sucked in to this sucker's ruling by thinking that you can now wander the streets of San Francisco bogarting a big ol' blunt without being harassed. The gestapo will still mess with anybody they can possibly mess with for any possible reason. Never trust the gestapo!
Until WEED IS LEGAL, it's just not safe. It's not good enough to say, "we won't mess with you ... unless we feel like it!"
WE DEMAND FULL LEGALIZATION OF HEMP NOW!
Smart Voter: Register to Vote
If you don't Register to Vote, then you can't vote.
If you can't or won't vote, then you won't change the law.
If you won't change the law, then nothing will ever change.
CHANGE the law.
CHANGE the world.
REGISTER. VOTE.
If you can't or won't vote, then you won't change the law.
If you won't change the law, then nothing will ever change.
CHANGE the law.
CHANGE the world.
REGISTER. VOTE.
Lieutenant Governor FOR HEMP!
Don't worry if you didn't get registered in time to Vote for Lynnette Shaw in this election. You can still REGISTER ONLINE after this general election, so check back on November 8 and don't miss the next opportunity. Only by taking the actions that we are capable of taking, can we make a difference. So don't worry if you miss one opportunity, just MAKE THE NEXT ONE and if we all do likewise, we will be victorious. Don't give up! Do WHAT YOU CAN today, and each day, and we will be the change we seek in the world.
Read more about Lynnette Shaw's campaign and objectives in the Marin Independent Journal.
Read more about Lynnette Shaw's campaign and objectives in the Marin Independent Journal.
The Top Ten of All Time
Okay, it's not a Hemp Fact, but dammit, some facts simply defy proper categorization.
June 2005: Milton Friedman and Nobel Prize Economists Call for Rational Marijuana Regulation
Costs of Marijuana Prohibition: Economic Analysis:
"Replacing marijuana prohibition with a system of taxation and regulation similar to that used for alcoholic beverages would produce combined savings and tax revenues of between $10 billion and $14 billion per year, finds a June 2005 report by Dr. Jeffrey Miron, visiting professor of economics at Harvard University.
The report has been endorsed by more than 530 distinguished economists, who have signed an open letter to President Bush and other public officials calling for 'an open and honest debate about marijuana prohibition,' adding, 'We believe such a debate will favor a regime in which marijuana is legal but taxed and regulated like other goods.'
Chief among the endorsing economists are three Nobel Laureates in economics: Dr. Milton Friedman of the Hoover Institute, Dr. George Akerlof of the University of California at Berkeley, and Dr. Vernon Smith of George Mason University."
"Replacing marijuana prohibition with a system of taxation and regulation similar to that used for alcoholic beverages would produce combined savings and tax revenues of between $10 billion and $14 billion per year, finds a June 2005 report by Dr. Jeffrey Miron, visiting professor of economics at Harvard University.
The report has been endorsed by more than 530 distinguished economists, who have signed an open letter to President Bush and other public officials calling for 'an open and honest debate about marijuana prohibition,' adding, 'We believe such a debate will favor a regime in which marijuana is legal but taxed and regulated like other goods.'
Chief among the endorsing economists are three Nobel Laureates in economics: Dr. Milton Friedman of the Hoover Institute, Dr. George Akerlof of the University of California at Berkeley, and Dr. Vernon Smith of George Mason University."
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