Advice for the Holidays

It’s the time of year for family, and carols, and eating, and football on widescreen, and a whole lot more.

I’m spending the week on the road — currently with my Mom in Indianola Iowa, and later with my Dad in Quincy, Illinois (both are 87). These are important trips — time with family is precious.

Perhaps you’ll have some time with family this week as well. So I’d like to give you two seemingly contradictory pieces of advice.

  1. Talk to them about drug policy. If you’re afraid to talk to your family about drug policy, then who can you convince? They’ll take it easier than you think. They’re already partway there, they may just need the extra push – that bit of data, that story about the environment, or the drug war victim, or the violence in Mexico, or Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. (Show them the video below if you’re afraid to start things off.) You’ll be glad you did.
  2. Stop talking about drug policy. You come here every day and get worked up. Sometimes that gets overwhelming and the frustration builds that you can’t solve it as quickly as you’d like, and nobody will listen to the plan of action you have. It’s true, and it’s important, but it’s also important to put it aside and take some time to breathe. Go look at the Avenue of Lights. Watch one of those silly Christmas movies that make you cry even though you know it shouldn’t. Play a board game with the step-nieces you don’t know that well. Sit down at the piano and work out how to play that Christmas carol with the wicked chord structure by Liz Story that sounds so damned cool. Maybe a couple of days this week, you don’t even stop by Drug WarRant. You have my permission. Who knows, maybe I won’t either.

Happy Holidays.

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21 Responses to Advice for the Holidays

  1. Steve Rolles says:

    Happy Christmas Peter. thanks for all your efforts as ever!

  2. ezrydn says:

    Many thanks to Pete and all for the involvement here. Christmas and New Years are normally slow on this couch so think nothing of it. Like Pete said, and I agree with, it’s time for relaxation and reenergizing. We’ve got a big year ahead of us in 2010.

    We’ve come a long way and our destination is now in view. They know it and they know we know it. It ought to be an interesting year. So, Pete, you deserve some quality time off, even if we don’t have our “fix” for a week or so. Tell Mom and Dad we all send our best for having such a son as they produced.

  3. Happy Christmas and a good New Year to everyone.

    It’s kinda decided for me that I’ll have to think a bit about the drug war during the vacation, because we’re getting Jack Cole from LEAP and Danny Kushlick as visitors here in Denmark as soon as January 7. I guess conspiracy never sleeps 🙂 🙂

    So I’m going with number one.

  4. claygooding says:

    It is also time too prepare your ground for next spring.
    Get your bone meal and blood meal in your dirt now and add worm castings when you plant.
    Merry Christmas to all,and may we all plant our own crop next year and do more damage too the cartels with a hoe and a water can than all the bullets,law enforcement and billions of dollars wasted have.

    “Marijuana is addictive to people the same way sex is,anything that good needs repeating!”

  5. allan420 says:

    I have to echo EZ’s sentiments about you Pete. Give your mom and dad a big “Thanks!”

    Enjoy!

  6. jayrollinhippy says:

    Thank you Pete for the sound advice.
    As for me this is a very sad season my first cousin died yesterday. She was more like my older sister than A cousin and stood by me when I got busted A couple of years back and was responsible for me being able to pay the bailbondsma to get out of jail. yesterday I engaged her son in a conversation on drug policy reform. He was telling about the many people he knew who smoked pot in his affluent neighbor hood in a suburb of Charlotte N.C. he said there was Dr.s ,lawyers and bankers and many others in his neighbor hood he knew who smoked. And we agreed that many more people indulge than the Govt sats indicate.
    You know if we can ever get the closet tokers to come out and give us their support we will be vuctorouis in our effort to put an end to this immoral destructive war on the american people.

  7. Joel Jackson says:

    Hi Pete – thanks for everything you do, pulling many important stories together and analyzing them in a way that just makes sense. I appreciate coming here to see what is new in Drug Policy (and what new blunders the Prohibitionists have caused each week).

    Our fight gets stronger by the day and you have played an integral part in making that a reality.

    Happy Holidays and keep up the great work here at DrugWarRant!!!
    -Joel

  8. DdC says:

    The True Spirits of an Old-Time Christmas 01/01/02
    Wantonness, Misrule and Chambering

    The psychedelic secrets of Santa Claus
    by Dana Larsen (18 Dec, 2003)

    Modern Christmas traditions are based on ancient mushroom-using shamans. Although most people see Christmas as a Christian holiday, most of the symbols and icons we associate with Christmas celebrations are actually derived from the shamanistic traditions of the tribal peoples of pre-Christian Northern Europe.

    The sacred mushroom of these people was the red and white amanita muscaria mushroom, also known as “fly agaric.” These mushrooms are now commonly seen in books of fairy tales, and are usually associated with magic and fairies. This is because they contain potent hallucinogenic compounds, and were used by ancient peoples for insight and transcendental experiences.

    – The Hidden Meanings of Christmas, Mushroms and Mankind, by James Arthur
    – Santa Claus & the Amanita Muscaria, by Jimmy Bursenos
    – Who put the Fly Agaric into Christmas?,
    Seventh International Mycological Congress, December 1999, Fungus of the Month
    – The Real Story of Santa, The Spore Print, Los Angeles Mycological Society, December 1998
    – Santa and those Reindeer: The Hallucinogenic Connection, The Physics of Christmas, by Roger Highfield
    – Fungi, Fairy Rings and Father Christmas, North West Fungus Group, 1998 Presidential Address, by Dr Sean Edwards
    – Fly Agaric, Tom Volk’s Fungus of the Month for December 1999
    – Father Christmas Flies on Toadstools, New Scientist, December 1986
    – Psycho-mycological studies of amanita: From ancient sacrament to modern phobia, by Jonathan Ott, Journal of Psychedelic Drugs; 1976
    – Santa is a Wildman, LA Times, Jeffrey Vallance

    BOOKS WORTH READING:

    – Mushrooms and Mankind, by James Arthur
    – Soma: Divine Mushroom of Immortality, by Gordon Wasson
    – Mushrooms, Poisons and Panaceas, by Denis R. Benjamin

  9. kaptinemo says:

    Yea, verily, Pete, may you and yours have a Merry Christmas.

    I keep thinking that, someday, a history of how this mess was ended will be written, and this place and yourself will, I have no doubt, figure very prominently in that narrative. To all the good people here, may your holidays be safe ones…and burn a few for me.

  10. DdC says:

    Happy Holly Daze Everyone.
    I’m in search of Santa’s lil Helper. Ms Amanita
    She should go well with the Christmas spaghetti sauce.
    If not I’ll decorate my buds with sparks of a bic,
    A doobie adorned with the kynd fragrance.
    While doing my best impression of a jolly old elf.
    I just hope that St Nick remembers the papers.
    Pot Peace & Merry Kwanzaa full of Ganja,
    Joyful Ramadan and Hanukkah.
    Happy Birthday Jesus and to all a good spliff!

  11. ezrydn says:

    Kaptin,

    May my indica get in your eyes. Maybe Saint Nick will leave ya a spliff or a roach this year. Have a good one, Bro.

  12. Just me. says:

    To Pete and everyone here….Merry Christmas.

    Thanks Pete for all you do and putting up with some of us.

  13. Chris says:

    Thanks for all the good comments on stories this year Pete. Looking forward to another year.

  14. Tim says:

    FYI… with Kleiman as editor, I wonder what bias it will have?

    http://drugsense.org/url/Z92XPHMf

    Call for authors: Encyclopedia of Drug Policy

    The General Editors for the encyclopedia are Dr. Mark Kleiman at UCLA and Dr. James Hawdon at Virgina Tech, who will review all the articles for editorial content and academic consistency.

  15. ezrydn says:

    Since we’re sort of on Christmas hiatus here, I need to make an OT comment. Several here are Nam Vets, myself included. Many here know Nam Vets. For this fact alone, you need to get the attached memo to any Nam Vets you know. It’s an Army “smoking gun” memo referencing Agent Orange. Even if they were not in the 1st Cav nor II Corps area, this proves that it was wide spread and we were never told about it:

    http://www.duckville.us/hold/AgentOrangeSprayLetter.pdf

    Since the VA is adding “presumptives” to the Agent Orange listings, this memo is priceless. Do a vet a favor. Give him/her a copy.

  16. Mike says:

    Thanks for the post.
    And, thanks for the video too…very informative with a great amount of history and how viewpoints have changed.

  17. jhelion says:

    Pete, it’s ironic that you mention it’s time for watching “football on widescreen”, especially in light of the recent studies/articles that show playing football (high school, college, and pro) can cause brain damage… 🙂 what about the children?!?!?!
    happy holidays.

  18. DavesNotHere says:

    http://www.wdsu.com/politics/22029407/detail.html

    NEW ORLEANS — Independent candidate Jerry Jacobs says social change is the cornerstone of his political platform, and he’s pushing the legalization of marijuana.

    Find them, support them, do whatever you can to help them win, or even BE them. The Prohibition Party didn’t die, they just all joined the Democrats and Republicans. Independent, Anti-Prohibition Party, whatever we can do to end this war on innocent American citizens. If there isn’t going to be an anti-prohibition candidate on your ballot, find one to run, or do it yourself. That’s how we’ll end this, and that’s how the Prohibition Party got their policies enacted. Southern blacks took over the Democrat Party, so that works too. Its past time to tap into the majority support some of our issues are enjoying. Waiting around for career politicians to change their mind is worse than waving the white flag. FIGHT!

    Glad tidings everyone and Festivus for the rest of us.

  19. Servetus says:

    Here’s hoping everyone has a green and happy holiday season. Thanks, Pete.

  20. jackl says:

    Take your relatives out to the movies, especially the new Meryl Streep – Steve Martin flick, “It’s complicated”. Then discuss whether it should have been “R” rated because of the scene showing pot smoking with “no negative consequences”, as the movie code requires to protect the precious children.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/25/business/media/25ratings.html?hp

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