Good evening all, So I finally got the nerve to sign up only because that burning zeal inside gave me the courage to finally join this ever growing group of smart people. I say smart because I'm sure you all at some point in your lives took the time to get to know the real truths associated with marijuana... Call this a rant or whatever, but I must say I hope and pray to see the day we can all toke up with complete legal support in this great country we live in to do so. What my concern is I see so much progress this movement has made and yet we are still in this era of prohibition, where the "war on drugs" has been confirmed to be an international failure on a global level. It is costing our country billions of tax dollars, drug cartels are making a killing in profits and committing mass killings on both sides of our southern borders... and I ask myself, why is our own government still so ignorant? We continue to put thousands away in over crowded prisons, screwing up families who are dealing with the everyday struggles of just getting by now with no way to maintain a decent life because dad got put away for possesion. I began to see the domino effect take place as I kept thinking how far up and down the ripples went in this process and man, it just sickens me... So now we got a family in dire straights having to adapt and struggle without a source of income, can't pay taxes (Hello, government? Talk about biting the hand that feeds you.) Dad's in jail with a permanently tainted record so that when he eventually gets out will now have an even tougher time trying to find a job with a criminal record in a job market that has over 9% if its population already unemployed fighting for those same jobs that dad needs but won't get and had to settle for anything just to survive, assuming that his family hasn't already broken up from the initial hit they took when he got put away. Bad situation with a dismal outcome. And yet more and more people are taking that same risk that dad took because at the end of the day, preferred to go the natural route knowing the real health benefits that are slowly making their cases known that this is not a narcotic that kills as we were told back in the "just say no" days, instead of being fed pharmaceuticals with adverse side effects and costs so much for those that can even afford it. So the truth is out there and we all know the true benefits of marijuana. If not, just spend a couple of hours online getting the truths of this natural plant. And yet it is still classified and rated as a illegal drug along side cocaine and heroin? So wait, using marijuana causes zero deaths, is actually good for you (being dubbed by some as the reset button to our bodies), has so many potential treatments that have been known to not only treat but cure in most cases a wide array of illnesses some of which are terminal with positive results... And it's illegal? So then I ask why? And of course you will have your conspiracy theorists go off about how the evils of capitalism are the driving force behind this. They touch on how big multi-billion dollar industries such as the petroleum big wigs, pharmaceutical giants and government officials control these laws that keep weed illegal to a degree. I won't go there and start my first thread with a discussion that is pointless or futile, however I will say in the end, if this country is to make strides of remaining a free nation, able to decide who gets put in office to govern us, then my next and only question is why do we keep putting these idiots in office? We, the people of the United States of America, need to let our voices be heard, and make 2012 our year! Otherwise, this prohibition will continue to drive our freedoms down the drain.... Wake up America!
As a veteran stoner who has been "felonized" for growing weed, I think I can answer the central question of your rant. Our system of two party gov. loves a US verses THEM issue. It allows fear and ignorance, the politico's best used tool, to rule over reason. Only money or shear numbers will change the equation. Money alone has proven to have a limited effect. One only has to look at the money poured into this administration by progressives to change the countries view of homosexuals. it's thanks for the dough, now back to the rear of the bus hop heads and homo's. Lets take a page from the crazies on the right's book....lets show up with our guns and our weed at both parties fund raisers. Do ya think the cops would try to arrest 10,000 or 20,000 armed dopers ?
That being said, do we as a nation even have a chance at real change or will we go through another 4 years of the same crap we've seen over the last couple of decades?
I have been hearing about the devils music and these very same black demon drug dealers for well over 40 years when the actual culprit was I.