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California Blacks May Be Swing Vote On Prop 19 Pot Legalization

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 20, 2010 Culture, News

Bishop Ron Allen: “I don’t think they understand how many lives are going to be lost. In our community, legalizing drugs — I don’t think they clearly understand the carnage.”

A group of black pastors, priests and other religious leaders has come together in recent weeks to peddle Reefer Madness and fight against Proposition 19, the California ballot measure that would legalize, tax and regulate marijuana.

Bishop Ron Allen of the International Faith Based Coalition and his followers have opened a new, potentially crucial front in the battle over Prop 19, reports Jesse McKinley of The New York Times, pitting those afraid of more widespread use of pot against those who see legalization as a sane exit strategy in the war on cannabis.

At a recent rally on the steps of the state capitol in Sacramento, several pastors allied with Allen used over-the-top language trying to inflame a tiny crowd, describing marijuana as “the most sinister drug,” and asking that “the demonic spirits be cast back into hell.”

Marijuana Advocates Cheer DEA Agent’s Exit From Colorado

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 19, 2010 Culture, News

Photo: U.S. News

Asshole DEA agent Jeffrey Sweetin is leaving Colorado. Yaaay! Unfortunately, this meth-filled Elmo is not his replacement. Boooo!

Dude, don’t let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.

That’s the message from Colorado marijuana advocates who are cheering the departure of federal Drug Enforcement Administration agent Jeffrey D. Sweetin because, they said, they believe his views are not in line with the will of Colorado voters who legalized cannabis for medical purposes, reports Felisa Cardona at The Denver Post.

The opinionated special agent in charge of the Denver office of the DEA said he understands that he’s become the “face” of the War On Pot in Colorado, but said his exit doesn’t mean the fight over marijuana is finished.

“The person who takes my place is going to have the same mission I have,” Sweetin said.

New Short Documentary Explores California’s Cannabis Culture

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 19, 2010 Culture, Products

California’s Cannabis Culture from amanda van west on Vimeo.

Amanda Van West’s Facebook

Amanda Van West: “It’s an exploration of the marijuana scene in California, and I hope it’ll create more dialogue about the issue”

In November, Californians will vote on the legalization of marijuana for recreational use.

If they approve Prop 19, the Golden State will become the first in the U.S. to take such a major step towards ending cannabis prohibition.

Amanda Van West, a 24-year-old student from California, has just produced a 12-minute documentary, California Cannabis Culture, for her final MA dissertation/project documentary as she finishes her International Broadcast Journalism degree in London.

“It’s an exploration of the marijuana scene in California, and I hope it’ll create more dialogue about the issue, in preparation for our upcoming vote in November,” Amanda told Toke of the Town.

“It’s the story of the people fighting for it, the people fighting against it, the people selling it, the people making it less taboo, and the people who were around when the whole scene started,” Van West said.

Paris Hilton Caught With Cannabis Again

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 19, 2010 Culture, News

Photo: California Rumor

Paris Hilton has been briefly detained, then released, after being caught with marijuana (again).

American socialite Paris Hilton has reportedly been caught again with marijuana.

The multi-millionaire heiress was arrested and detained shortly on the French island of Corsica after less than a gram of cannabis was found in her handbag when a drug dog alerted officers, according to police, reports Shania Stevewolsen of World Correspondents.

Hilton, 29, was detained after her arrival at the Figari Airport in Corsica, aboard a private jet from Paris, France last Friday.

She was searched in a secure area of the airport police station and an amount of cannabis that weighed less than a gram was found in her handbag, according to Corse-Matin newspaper.

Due to the small amount of marijuana found, she was warned not to travel with drugs, then released within an hour with no criminal charges, the newspaper reported.

The marijuana was confiscated and destroyed.

Hunter S. Thompson Would Have Been 73 Today

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 18, 2010 Culture, Products

Graphic: NORML

Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, the legendary creator of Gonzo journalism, would have been 73 years old today.

Thompson’s Gonzo style of reporting involved immersing himself in the action to such an extent that he became the central figure in his own stories.

He was known for his savagely uncompromising writing style; his heroic intake of marijuana, psychedelics, and other drugs; his almost complete contempt for authority and rules; and his anarchist views.

Thompson became best known for his 1971 book, Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas, a strongly autobiographical tale of a drug-fueled Hollywood-to-Sin-City road trip with his 300-pound Samoan attorney.

Educational Site Worried Students Will Visit Like-Named Pot Site

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 16, 2010 Culture, News

Graphic: Newsbowl.com

Newsbowl.com gets you a grade-school education site. Newsbowl.org gets you a medical marijuana site.

The owner of a grade-school educational website says he’s worried he’ll be run out of business by a medical marijuana site with an almost identical name.

Peter Vavak, owner of Newsbowl.com, said he fears students will mistakenly log on to marijuana site Newsbowl.org and find information on how to buy medical marijuana instead of the school quizzes they were expecting, reports Ken Contrata at Fox News.

Even worse, Vavak fears, parents could see their children go to the marijuana “dot-org” site, call their teachers, and cancel their subscriptions to his educational “dot-com” site.

Narcs Claim Sound Is Dangerous ‘Gateway Drug’ For Kids

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 16, 2010 Culture, News

Photo: blogspot

In one of the latest examples of moronic Drug War hyperbole, the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics is warning parents about a dangerous new “drug” — binaural sound.

Seems these Okie drug warriors are convinced that seemingly harmless MP3 downloads are just the latest way crazy teenagers are using to get high. They call listening to the files “i-dosing,” and claim that evil “digital dealers” are selling kids the aural equivalent of crack cocaine, reports Jason Mick at DailyTech.

“Kids are going to flock to these sites just to see what it is about and it can lead them to other places,” warned Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics spokesman Mark Woodward.

Woodward claims the “digital drugs” are leading formerly innocent children down a primrose path of self destruction and harder drugs.

Medical Marijuana & Hemp Expo Fires Up In Toronto

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 16, 2010 Culture, Global

Graphic: Medical Marijuana & Hemp Expo

A three-day expo which starts Friday in Toronto is being called the first convention ever held in Canada to promote the use of medical marijuana. Organizers said they expect as many as 30,000 attendees from around the world.

The Medical Marijuana and Hemp Show is being held at the Metro Convention Centre, the same downtown location where G20 leaders met three weeks ago, reports Linda Nguyen at The Vancouver Sun.

The event will feature exhibitors from around the planet, educational seminars with doctors and a hemp fashion and cooking show.

Seventeen Mag Tells Teens Marijuana Will ‘Make You Fat & Ugly’

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 16, 2010 Culture, News

Graphic: Style Rookie

Yes, girls, pot makes you “Fat & Ugly,” if you believe Seventeen. (look on the lower right).

Seventeen Magazine, that bastion of annoying shallowness aimed at teenage girls, has reached a new low.

The rag, which for years has plumbed the depths of journalism, exploring just how negative a self image can be foisted upon America’s anorexics-in-training, has now told its wide-eyed readership that marijuana is, and I’m quoting here, “THE PARTY DRUG THAT CAN MAKE YOU FAT & UGLY.”

Never mind, as pointed out by 13-year-old Style Rookie blogger Tavi in a righteously indignant open letter to the magazine, that the message being given to impressionable teenage girls is oh God, the worst possible thing that could ever, ever happen to them is that, heaven forbid, their appearance should fall short of Hollywood ideals!

Never mind that equating “fat” and “ugly” in such a casually cruel way — in a culture which, more and more, values artificial standards of “attractiveness” and “beauty” over all else, and defines those as being synonymous with “unhealthily skinny” — tells teenage girls that their looks define them, and that they should feel really bad about themselves if they somehow don’t “fit.”

U.S. Government Says Abuse Of Prescription Drugs Up 400%

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 16, 2010 Culture, News

Graphic: White Noise Insanity

A new U.S. government study finds a 400 percent increase in the number of people admitted to hospital emergency rooms for abusing prescription pain medication such as hydrodocone, oxycodone, and morphine.

Even with the wide popularity of prescription medication, pain pills remained the second most common type of illicit drug use in the United States in 2008, according to the study. While more than six million Americans admitted to abusing prescription painkillers in the month before the survey, more than double that amount — 15.2 million people — said they had used good old marijuana.

The increase in pill abuse among those 12 and older was recorded during the decade from 1998 to 2008. It crosses every gender, race, ethnicity, education and employment level, and all regions of the country, according to The Associated Press.

According to the study, seven of the top ten drugs reported abused by 12th graders are prescription drugs, reports the Dakota Voice.

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