supersmallgiant
Member
Please, please, please don't call it the "weed bill". That will do more harm than good. Call it by its name, HR 2306: Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act of 2011.
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Paul/Frank co-sponsoring legalization bill
- Thread starter igrowone
- Start date
Please, please, please don't call it the "weed bill". That will do more harm than good. Call it by its name, HR 2306: Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act of 2011.
ProfGerbik
Active member
sadly i agree with you, as nice as things like this seem. ive always known the bigger picture is very distorted, i dont think one man can do something on that scale, every one acts like cannabis main counter point is how bad it is, or its a gate way when the only reason its illegal is for profit of companies that have been raping the public blindly for more than centuries, its very obvious when every state supporting cannabis is making tons of money yet its constantly being ignored.
i just ask myself how rich is ron paul and how much power does he have in a world filled with sadistic sharks like ours? sadly not much money or power.. and like you said unless every cannabis user says "Fuck This! guns blazing to make a dramatic point that would probably cost lives or riots on the streets will they ever consider making a change throughout the whole U.S...? probably not, slavery did not change by people sitting on their asses talking in forums or on the news or even with bills. people fought hard and made sure the country saw how horrible it was, they struggled a shit load but look how much they changed for just a little struggle, no one in this country will ever be treated that way or laws like that will ever exist here again.
people have to make this country see the dramatic truth of what its really become on a large scale otherwise i dont think things like this will ever stop, even if its legalized i know there will still be many problems.
many states have their own tycoons just waiting to stop anything that can potentially change their business, if marijuana was legalized many businesses that have been stuck in the ages for something as simple as stupidity will not exist or nearly make what they did, this is the biggest problem with our country and the corrupted ideal of sacrificing peoples health for something as meaningless as profit.
to me its nothing different than gas, there have been free energy sources for as long as i can remember, very easy to make as well, but for some reason no one ever mentions it or ever really realizes how fucked it is for us to be even paying for things like water, electricity and gasoline when free energy has existed forever and it easily could be applied to everything we use today even cars.
that is just the icing on the cake of how corrupt this country has been money wise, i can understand when the technology didnt exist but thats one major problem with this country and many others is no one is willing to change for something truly better instead they all just want money or control, ill let the next generation of people suffer while i sit in my mansion living the life.. who cares.. thats the mindset of millions of people with the power to change things who instead give to faulty charities thinking they do their part for this nation.
all these car companies still only push for products they make or advancements they see fit to produce profit not produce a better future, all though they try to act like it with Green and hydro driven cars or that stupid corn fuel.. which ive never been to one gas station that offered either of these alternative fuels.. so people are still putting gas in their hybrids thinking they are making the world a better place... this is how vague our perception on how screwed things really are for millions if not too many americans has become, when all that needs to be done is for every cannabis user in the U.S. to gather and make it known that this needs to be changed as the same with any injustice our country wrongly promotes on us.
food industry is no different either, im so down for cannabis laws but the picture to me is and always has been a bigger problem.
everyone is too lazy and comfortable, we are like house pets we get fed good enough and most of us never question to even want more in life or see whats really outside the house.
id love for things to change but like you stated history always repeats itself and will as long as humanity exists and has the ability to think on their own, so as history has shown time and time again change on such a massive scale like this does not come so easily.
i wish it luck though, maybe enough are getting tired of things and just dont care and will let it pass, who knows anything is possible but knowing the nature of humanity i always hold my doubts for any significant change.
G
guest86120975
Well, it's nice to know that NY now allows gay couples to get married. I wonder how much longer we'll remain 2nd class citizens?
Treetops
Active member
https://secure2.convio.net/mpp/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=985
I sent mine, lets all do the same...We have a start with these two on our side..
I sent mine, lets all do the same...We have a start with these two on our side..
StevenSteve
Member
I wrote to the congressman... and here is what i wrote....
I have recently heard about the new bill in congress to more or less legalize marijuana.. I just wanted to let you know I support this, and many of my friends support it too. I am a good kid, and would just like to be able to concentrate on important things and not worry about getting in trouble for something as stupid as smoking marijuana. I have been diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder bipolar type and marijuana is one of the very few medicines that actually really make a positive difference in my life.. while the stigma and law make a negative difference in my life. Please support this, it really is a good thing.. and i know i am not alone
I have recently heard about the new bill in congress to more or less legalize marijuana.. I just wanted to let you know I support this, and many of my friends support it too. I am a good kid, and would just like to be able to concentrate on important things and not worry about getting in trouble for something as stupid as smoking marijuana. I have been diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder bipolar type and marijuana is one of the very few medicines that actually really make a positive difference in my life.. while the stigma and law make a negative difference in my life. Please support this, it really is a good thing.. and i know i am not alone
StevenSteve
Member
i encourage you guys to post what you wrote too, it may be encouraging... and the form to contact your congressman is so simple, it took me 2 minutes and most of that 2 minutes was figuring out what to write LOL hahha so please contact them!!!!
Write here....
https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml
Write here....
https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml
StevenSteve
Member
the truth is, that the people in power, who are satisfied with the way things are and dont want change, will do anything to keep their status quo... I was harassed, incarcerated, brainwashed (an attempt to convert me to their thinking so i would no longer be an opposition to them), and drugged up with multiple powerful psychiatric meds that actually are dangerous (unlike marijuana) because i saw something about the way things were in this country and was an activist... it was discouraging but i have never been so furious about the way things are and never so fervent to do something about it. it is not just a drug war, it is a psychological war... the lies they say about marijuana are influencing people who dont know better (about marijuana) to hate and demonize it... its terrible
StevenSteve
Member
and that hate and demonization is the same old stuff, nothing new.... i dont understand why one group of people has to decide for another person weather he can use marijuana, especially when they are benefiting from it healthwise. Its not fair, even if the CNN polls say 41 percent in favor (which i dont believe is accurate) thats too big of a number to ignore even if it is below 50 percent... the slaves were less than 50 percent i wager but they still deserved their rights...
StevenSteve
Member
If you don't like it, choose for yourself, but don't ruin it for the rest of us who actually benefit and get something out of smoking marijuana... like a self terminating loop they are examining things now and making decisions based on observations, instead of ideals.. this then leads nowhere and they become complacent with the flawed corrupt system, and the only thing they do then is keep their status quo of complacency.. observations make "sense" but because it makes "sense" it doesnt make sense... because it is perfect in its scientific method, it is flawed.. just like communism... perfect in theory, disaster in real life
Z
zen_trikester
I agree with this but you are not seeing the siver lining in all of this! These atrocities of how our government is funded and maintained is clearly showing in their rhetoric about marijuana! Did you realize how this country works before you became aware of the hypocrisies of prohibition? I didn't! I saw some of it, but I didn't know the full extent untill I became more activist minded and more aware of the mj culture. It used to be a lot easier to put the blinders on!
These things that we are seeing. These lies and calculated chess moves of deceit are going to show others what is really going on. the number of americans who think mj should be regulated like alcohol now, must be 2 or 3 times the number of only a few years ago. People in more progressive states like Cali, Oregon, Maine, or Colorado likely don't see any of this since your cultures are far more progressive in this regard than most parts of the county. To a midwesterner this is huge news I promise you and it is enough to make more people aware of the atrocities than there were yesterday.
You guys can throw wet blankets all over this but I am excited of everything that has happened and am hopeful that this can still stem a change. This bill isn't likely going to pass but it can still do a lot of good. There is going to come a time when somebody is going to have to answer to the call without a bunch of lies. Our government is being hit from a lot of angles right now and THAT is the strength in the movement. People talking about history repeating and whatnot... This is new to history! We are writing it as we go. Marijuana has never been this close to freedom since the 30's.
krustytheclown
Member
I remember about 5-10 years ago Barney Frank stated on whatever show Bill was hosting that he was working on introducing a bill to legalize marijuana. He was doing to to, and I quote "see what can get away with"
It's good to see his efforts directed toward something good for America, unlike the last 20+ years of his tenure in Congress and that abomination called the Frank-Dodd Act. IF he can legalize pot, he will almost make up for all the damage he has done.
It's good to see his efforts directed toward something good for America, unlike the last 20+ years of his tenure in Congress and that abomination called the Frank-Dodd Act. IF he can legalize pot, he will almost make up for all the damage he has done.
IMO, voting for lawmakers on the mj issue alone misses a big point. We don't want the economy wrecked any more than the non-mj consumer. But the folks that are lobbying to undo Dodd-Frank want to go back to the same pre-recession practices that helped produced the housing bubble.
The stripe may conflict but the policies are in place to help prevent the systemic risk we sustained. IMO, lawmakers like Frank help us reach mj reform, (if only incrementally) in addition to the economic reforms we need to help prevent greed from ripping us off.
The stripe may conflict but the policies are in place to help prevent the systemic risk we sustained. IMO, lawmakers like Frank help us reach mj reform, (if only incrementally) in addition to the economic reforms we need to help prevent greed from ripping us off.
zen_trikester is 100% correct. Let's not forget another powerful factor working in our favor here. It's the trump card: the economy.
Regardless of rhetoric and spin, when you get down to it the truth is drug prohibition costs us (as a nation) billions. From arrests, to prosecution, to imprisonment, law enforcement salaries, probation/parole officers, etc etc. It's expensive. Let's not forget the resulting destroyed lives, and empowerment of organized crime which also cost us in ways we cannot quantify and measure, but it's all huge. It's true that certain groups of people make a lot of money from this racket, and in good times when everyone was swimming in dollars and public opinion was largely against drugs, politicians generally didn't care. But with the economy in the shitter with no sign of relief for possibly years to come, the politicians are searching high and low for any way to scrape up a nickel or two. Meanwhile there sits the DEA living high on the hog, rich and prosperous as ever and suddenly looking like a big fat target. They are growing more and more vulnerable with all the truth that has been coming out about cannabis lately, and with the vast sway in public opinion in our favor over the past few years.
The public debate all started with Tom Ammiano's bill in California back in Feb 2009 and has snowballed ever since. Just look at all that has happened over the past two years and tell me we haven't made huge strides in public awareness. We've had, what, two or three additional states pass MMJ bills with more considering it? We've had more legalization and decriminalization bills pop up in the past two years than in decades prior. Even my home state Alabama, Heart of Dixie, headquarters and stomping grounds of hardcore right wing Republicans and fundamentalist Christians alike, is considering its own MMJ bill. Kentucky just decriminalized it. The public is growing more and more disillusioned with the drug war all the time and at an ever increasing rate.
The DEA might be a big dog in this government, but do they fund Congress or is it the other way around? Put them side by side with Congress and tell me who's the boss of whom? You and I might be ants to be stomped on in the DEA's eyes, but it works both ways. If Congress wants that tax money they are getting it, period, and if that means the unemployment line for DEA and police, well, tough luck. The only power and money they possess is what the upper levels of government allows them to have, and it's just as easily taken as given. Politicians might give lip service to the idea of keeping police jobs and all that, but when it comes down to it the police are just hired thugs, tools who can be disposed with at any time. Everyone wants job creation but nobody except corrections officers (who have little real power or influence) really cares if a prison loses jobs, or if there are fewer cops out pulling mother fuckers over and harassing them instead of out investigating actual crimes.
How exactly does arresting innocent upstanding citizens contribute to the economy? What exactly do police departments and courts manufacture or produce that adds value to our economy? Any economist will tell you the answer is: NOTHING. Anyone who has heard of the broken window fallacy knows that if a kid throws a rock through a window, it might at first appear to be beneficial because it creates business for the glass company, but in truth the economy as a whole suffers because real value was lost. Likewise the arrest and successful prosecution of a MJ grower might be beneficial to the prosecutor and prison staff, but it costs everyone else. When you get down to the accounting and start crunching the numbers, the DEA/police/courts are financially a vast liability--a useful one in many ways, but a liability nonetheless. When times are tough liabilities are first on the chopping block.
The whole system (i.e. human civilization) is corrupt from the top down. There's no getting around it, it's human nature. To throw one's hands up and refuse to participate out of some misguided morality or whatever is stupid--and worse, ineffective at accomplishing anything. It's all well and good to bitch about corruption and the ills of the world, but if you want to actually get shit done and make good things happen your only real choice is to soberly analyze the situation, figure out which persons/groups are going in a direction which will most likely help your cause, and support them. Ron Paul might have a few nutty ideas on some things but he is on target about the drug war. Like him or not, if you enjoy freedom he is one of your biggest allies.
These legislators just put their careers and reputations on the line by putting this bill out there to help change things for the better. They did their part, ICMag, and now it's our turn. Get off your asses and support this bill. Don't send a stupid form letter email from some web site. Spend a dollar and 20 mins to write an ACTUAL letter or make a 5 minute PHONE CALL. Tell all your FRIENDS to do the same. Put up POSTERS around town. Whatever. The only way things change is if enough people complain loudly and often enough. Layout there on your futon and finding fault in everything accomplishes nothing. So get out there and get to it! What's the alternative? Continuing the status quo? Get real and use your damn brains, ICMag.
"Opportunity is missed by most people because it's dressed in overalls and looks like work." -- Thomas Jefferson
Regardless of rhetoric and spin, when you get down to it the truth is drug prohibition costs us (as a nation) billions. From arrests, to prosecution, to imprisonment, law enforcement salaries, probation/parole officers, etc etc. It's expensive. Let's not forget the resulting destroyed lives, and empowerment of organized crime which also cost us in ways we cannot quantify and measure, but it's all huge. It's true that certain groups of people make a lot of money from this racket, and in good times when everyone was swimming in dollars and public opinion was largely against drugs, politicians generally didn't care. But with the economy in the shitter with no sign of relief for possibly years to come, the politicians are searching high and low for any way to scrape up a nickel or two. Meanwhile there sits the DEA living high on the hog, rich and prosperous as ever and suddenly looking like a big fat target. They are growing more and more vulnerable with all the truth that has been coming out about cannabis lately, and with the vast sway in public opinion in our favor over the past few years.
The public debate all started with Tom Ammiano's bill in California back in Feb 2009 and has snowballed ever since. Just look at all that has happened over the past two years and tell me we haven't made huge strides in public awareness. We've had, what, two or three additional states pass MMJ bills with more considering it? We've had more legalization and decriminalization bills pop up in the past two years than in decades prior. Even my home state Alabama, Heart of Dixie, headquarters and stomping grounds of hardcore right wing Republicans and fundamentalist Christians alike, is considering its own MMJ bill. Kentucky just decriminalized it. The public is growing more and more disillusioned with the drug war all the time and at an ever increasing rate.
The DEA might be a big dog in this government, but do they fund Congress or is it the other way around? Put them side by side with Congress and tell me who's the boss of whom? You and I might be ants to be stomped on in the DEA's eyes, but it works both ways. If Congress wants that tax money they are getting it, period, and if that means the unemployment line for DEA and police, well, tough luck. The only power and money they possess is what the upper levels of government allows them to have, and it's just as easily taken as given. Politicians might give lip service to the idea of keeping police jobs and all that, but when it comes down to it the police are just hired thugs, tools who can be disposed with at any time. Everyone wants job creation but nobody except corrections officers (who have little real power or influence) really cares if a prison loses jobs, or if there are fewer cops out pulling mother fuckers over and harassing them instead of out investigating actual crimes.
How exactly does arresting innocent upstanding citizens contribute to the economy? What exactly do police departments and courts manufacture or produce that adds value to our economy? Any economist will tell you the answer is: NOTHING. Anyone who has heard of the broken window fallacy knows that if a kid throws a rock through a window, it might at first appear to be beneficial because it creates business for the glass company, but in truth the economy as a whole suffers because real value was lost. Likewise the arrest and successful prosecution of a MJ grower might be beneficial to the prosecutor and prison staff, but it costs everyone else. When you get down to the accounting and start crunching the numbers, the DEA/police/courts are financially a vast liability--a useful one in many ways, but a liability nonetheless. When times are tough liabilities are first on the chopping block.
The whole system (i.e. human civilization) is corrupt from the top down. There's no getting around it, it's human nature. To throw one's hands up and refuse to participate out of some misguided morality or whatever is stupid--and worse, ineffective at accomplishing anything. It's all well and good to bitch about corruption and the ills of the world, but if you want to actually get shit done and make good things happen your only real choice is to soberly analyze the situation, figure out which persons/groups are going in a direction which will most likely help your cause, and support them. Ron Paul might have a few nutty ideas on some things but he is on target about the drug war. Like him or not, if you enjoy freedom he is one of your biggest allies.
These legislators just put their careers and reputations on the line by putting this bill out there to help change things for the better. They did their part, ICMag, and now it's our turn. Get off your asses and support this bill. Don't send a stupid form letter email from some web site. Spend a dollar and 20 mins to write an ACTUAL letter or make a 5 minute PHONE CALL. Tell all your FRIENDS to do the same. Put up POSTERS around town. Whatever. The only way things change is if enough people complain loudly and often enough. Layout there on your futon and finding fault in everything accomplishes nothing. So get out there and get to it! What's the alternative? Continuing the status quo? Get real and use your damn brains, ICMag.
"Opportunity is missed by most people because it's dressed in overalls and looks like work." -- Thomas Jefferson
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEXas-EJWmo&feature=player_embedded
A little about this act and then a pretty good defense against the BS lies.
A little about this act and then a pretty good defense against the BS lies.
My rep is typical of lawmakers who vote no to reforms yet pander to constituents in town hall meetings... my rep has voted no to Hinchey Rohrabacher consistently since 2007.
I'm paraphrasing but here's how the exchange goes. My rep doesn't address this exchange from the podium and instead speaks in relative private (after the town hall meeting ends.)
Constituent - Do you plan to vote yes to H/R?
Rep - I don't typically vote on issues I'm uneducated.
Constituent - Then why did you consistently vote no on an issue you're uneducated?
Rep - I don't like flip-floppers - uncomfortable pause - and I don't like lawmakers who continue to vote no on issues they're educated. I consider them bullheaded.
Constituent - Will you read the literature we provided in order to make an educated vote on H/R?
Rep - I'm amazed as many of my constituents have educated themselves on this issue. - walks away
There's no way in hell this bastard coinkydinked answers like that. Absolutely nothing from his perspective, just bullshit words strung together.
I'm paraphrasing but here's how the exchange goes. My rep doesn't address this exchange from the podium and instead speaks in relative private (after the town hall meeting ends.)
Constituent - Do you plan to vote yes to H/R?
Rep - I don't typically vote on issues I'm uneducated.
Constituent - Then why did you consistently vote no on an issue you're uneducated?
Rep - I don't like flip-floppers - uncomfortable pause - and I don't like lawmakers who continue to vote no on issues they're educated. I consider them bullheaded.
Constituent - Will you read the literature we provided in order to make an educated vote on H/R?
Rep - I'm amazed as many of my constituents have educated themselves on this issue. - walks away
There's no way in hell this bastard coinkydinked answers like that. Absolutely nothing from his perspective, just bullshit words strung together.
budlover123
Member
It might be OK to "flip-flop" on an issue that you made a decision on when completely ignorant of the facts.
he's like "I don't care if I'm wrong, I'm sticking to it" what a jackass
did the phrase "I don't like flip-floppers" really come up?
Yep, flip-floppers.
