Democratic Party Platform

While you may not notice much difference in quality of drug policy viewpoints between individual politicians on both sides of the aisle, the contrast between the Republican Party Platform and the Democratic Party Platform is pretty stark.

The full Democratic Party Platform is available to read online.

Let’s start with the most outstanding passage, given here completely:

Reforming our Criminal Justice System

Democrats are committed to reforming our criminal justice system and ending mass incarceration. Something is profoundly wrong when almost a quarter of the world’s prison population is in the United States, even though our country has less than five percent of the world’s population. We will reform mandatory minimum sentences and close private prisons and detention centers. Research and evidence, rather than slogans and sound bites, must guide criminal justice policies.

We will rebuild the bonds of trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve. Across the country, there are police officers inspiring trust and confidence, honorably doing their duty, deploying creative and effective strategies, and demonstrating that it is possible to prevent crime without relying on unnecessary force. They deserve our respect and support, and we should learn from those examples and build on what works.

We will work with police chiefs to invest in training for officers on issues such as de-escalation and the creation of national guidelines for the appropriate use of force. We will encourage better police-community relations, require the use of body cameras, and stop the use of weapons of war that have no place in our communities. We will end racial profiling that targets individuals solely on the basis of race, religion, ethnicity, or national origin, which is un-American and counterproductive. We should report national data on policing strategies and provide greater transparency and accountability. We will require the Department of Justice to investigate all questionable or suspicious police-involved shootings, and we will support states and localities who help make those investigations and prosecutions more transparent, including through reforming the grand jury process. We will assist states in providing a system of public defense that is adequately resourced and which meets American Bar Association standards.

And we will reform the civil asset forfeiture system to protect people and remove perverse incentives for law enforcement to “police for a profit.”

Instead of investing in more jails and incarceration, we need to invest more in jobs and education, and end the school-to-prison pipeline. We will remove barriers to help formerly incarcerated individuals successfully re-enter society by “banning the box,” expanding reentry programs, and restoring voting rights. We think the next President should take executive action to ban the box for federal employers and contractors, so applicants have an opportunity to demonstrate their qualifications before being asked about their criminal records.

The “war on drugs” has led to the imprisonment of millions of Americans, disproportionately people of color, without reducing drug use. Whenever possible, Democrats will prioritize prevention and treatment over incarceration when tackling addiction and substance use disorder. We will build on effective models of drug courts, veterans’ courts, and other diversionary programs that seek to give nonviolent offenders opportunities for rehabilitation as opposed to incarceration.

Because of conflicting federal and state laws concerning marijuana, we encourage the federal government to remove marijuana from the list of “Schedule 1″ federal controlled substances and to appropriately regulate it, providing a reasoned pathway for future legalization. We believe that the states should be laboratories of democracy on the issue of marijuana, and those states that want to decriminalize it or provide access to medical marijuana should be able to do so. We support policies that will allow more research on marijuana, as well as reforming our laws to allow legal marijuana businesses to exist without uncertainty. And we recognize our current marijuana laws have had an unacceptable disparate impact in terms of arrest rates for African Americans that far outstrip arrest rates for whites, despite similar usage rates.

We will abolish the death penalty, which has proven to be a cruel and unusual form of punishment. It has no place in the United States of America. The application of the death penalty is arbitrary and unjust. The cost to taxpayers far exceeds those of life imprisonment. It does not deter crime. And, exonerations show a dangerous lack of reliability for what is an irreversible punishment.

We have been inspired by the movements for criminal justice that directly address the discriminatory treatment of African Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, and American Indians to rebuild trust in the criminal justice system.

For politicians, that’s pretty outstanding. Sure, I might quibble a bit with the reliance on drug courts and forced treatment, but overall, this is really excellent.

When you get to the section on combating drug and alcohol addiction, at least the Democratic Party Platform has a plan of sorts, as opposed to the Republican Platform.

Combating Drug and Alcohol Addiction

We must confront the epidemic of drug and alcohol addiction, specifically the opioid crisis and other drugs plaguing our communities, by vastly expanding access to prevention and treatment, supporting recovery, helping community organizations, and promoting better practices by prescribers. The Democratic Party is committed to assisting the estimated 20 million people struggling with addiction in this country to find and sustain healthy lives by encouraging full recovery and integration into society and working to remove common barriers to gainful employment, housing, and education. We will continue to fight to expand access to care for addiction services, and ensure that insurance coverage is equal to that for any other health conditions. We think it is time for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Department of Labor, and state regulatory agencies to fully implement the protections of the Mental Health Parity and Addictions Equity Act of 2008—which means that American medical insurers, including the federal government, will need to disclose how they make their medical management decisions.

We should also do more to educate our youth, as well as their families, teachers, coaches, mentors, and friends, to intervene early to prevent drug and alcohol abuse and addiction. We should help state and local leaders establish evidence-based, age-appropriate, and locally-tailored prevention programs. These programs include school-based drug education programs that have been shown to have meaningful effects on risky behavior; community-based peer mentorship and leadership programs; and after-school activities that deter drug use and encourage life skills.

It’s not a particularly good plan. The focus on pushing and funding treatment without doing something to improve the kind of treatment we offer in this country is likely to cause more damage than good. At least there is a nod to “evidence-based” programs in the prevention section, something that hasn’t really been part of what we do federally.

When it comes to international efforts, the platform goes on at length to discuss all sorts of things, but tellingly, has very little emphasis on pursuing an exported drug war – about the only mention is this brief throw-away bit in the section on the Americas:

We will bolster democratic institutions, promote economic opportunity and prosperity, and tackle the rise of drugs, transnational crime, and corruption.

Of course, a platform doesn’t necessarily translate into policy or actual action, but it is something that can be pointed to to attempt to influence lawmakers.

And this one definitely could be worse.

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97 Responses to Democratic Party Platform

  1. Uncle Albert's Nephew says:

    At least they’re not expanding on the drug court idea to solve the obesity problem. Fat court, if we catch you stuffing cheese doodles in your fat face we’ll send you to prison for fifteen years.

  2. jean valjean says:

    I guessing Wasserface didn’t have much to do with the drug reform part of the manifesto? If Hillary wins I wonder how much of this will be quietly consigned to the Memory Hole?

  3. Skid Marx says:

    Where is the part about the glorious worker’s paradise with each according to his need and the workers of the world united?
    Forward! The Great Leap Forward.

  4. Servetus says:

    “…investigations and prosecutions more transparent, including through reforming the grand jury process.”— Minus any details, reforming the grand jury doesn’t sound especially bad, except it’s impossible to make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear. The grand jury is a remnant of a bygone era, originally designed to be a fact finding process, it’s devolved into a miniature show trial with an outcome guaranteed by the presiding prosecutor, signifying nothing. Better to get rid of indictments entirely.

    “…policies that will allow more research on marijuana.” —Not just “more” research, better research, research that examines all qualities of the chemical compounds, not just adverse effects. That’s more research for all researchers, not less, just in case NIDA researchers fear funding cutoffs. A nice touch would be an improvement in public announcements of research findings such that the information doesn’t deliberately confuse and mislead journalists into publishing false conclusions about drugs to an unwary public.

    “Democrats will prioritize prevention and treatment over incarceration when tackling addiction and substance use disorder.” – Prioritize? Really? I guess that means the end of drug courts. Who needs the government meddling in their addictions? Whose addiction is it, anyway? Is it true the government discriminate in favor of chocoholics, and against everyone else’s addictions? Former French president Nicholas Sarkozy is a highly praised chocoholic. He makes special trips to cocoa paradise. A private matter between the person and their physician is all that’s needed here, not coercion. With coercion, there is always resistance, especially to forced chocolate treatments.

  5. thelbert says:

    is this how the police state is going to win the drug war? http://tinyurl.com/jec3bk4

  6. darkcycle says:

    She’ll use that platform for toilet paper just as soon as she gets what she wants. Incredible the way the left can forget the ways Bill and Hill have screwed us in the past. We spent his entire presidency under the bus, and I don’t like the view from down there. I simply cannot believe people are willing to sign on for more of that treatment. SMH

    • Freeman says:

      It’s the “lesser evil” fallacy. Voting for the lesser evil has only and always brought more evil upon us. (Duh!)

      Aside from republicans in drag trying to discredit Bernie Bros, I don’t see very many people even pretending to enthusiastically support Hillary.

      End the end, it’s all moot anyway since Russian hackers will use compromised Diebold voting machines to determine the outcome of our next (and last?) election.

      Everybody’s throwing away their vote this year!

    • NorCalNative says:

      darkcycle, I haven’t forgotten. Not a fan of tire marks on my backside.

    • DdC says:

      Dark, dark cycle. Do you really think Trump would be better? That is the choice in reality. No one has bashed Bill Clinton as much as me. But seriously? You think daddy bush would have been better? It’s time to get real. This isn’t your first rodeo and there has never been a major political platform including the words drug war or cannabis in a favorable light as this one by the democrats. I watched Nixon win by a landslide after hundreds of thousands of people were protesting him and the war. Obviously many lost track of actually making it to the voting booths. First year we were allowed to vote at 18 years. Still couldn’t drink in PA, but at least I got to vote against Nixon.

      Bernies movement moved the platform as it intended to do. Pouting about Hilzy is a waist of time. A pathway to legalizing is more than they have ever granted officially and its not going away. It’s better than the gateway goper prohibitionists use as a staple. We all know ending prohibition federally is the only true option. State initiatives are being written by cops and politicians serving the same prohibitionists, under the cover of freeing the weed.

      White males are rushing to Trump who just broke the Logan Act the same as Nixon bartering with foreign countries to undermine American policy and people. He’s doing business with Russia while they hack private emails of the DNC. The Country went bonkers over Watergate doing the same thing. A red herring to slip the CSA through Congress with no objections is mho. But this isn’t even American thugs stealing information from American political parties. Its frickin Russia and Putin. When is that acceptable by either party, especially the law and odor gopers?

      Jill Stein killed the Green Party siphoning votes to Trump. Hopefully Gary Johnson will get enough to enter the debates. If the people get over their fear of a woman having power. It’s no different than a man having power. Its the power that corrupts and its only stopped by the people.

      We sit back and bitch most of the time. Sometimes we show up at council meetings if it serves our purpose. With the economy as it has been the blame has surfaced out of desperation maybe, but still onto the poor. Yet the people still buy the fascist products to save a buck. They still pout and don’t vote letting commodity politicians be bought down the ticket.

      Or vote for Trump or Stein but that’s being redundant since a wasted vote is the same as being disenfranchised and unable to vote. Or precincts shut down or similar sounding names to felons or losing boxes of ballots or hanging chads.

      Everyone has a right to sound all righteous and shit, holy rollers or glib yuppies looking down on others. Stoners have always been devalued, based on reefer mad bullshit that is still the foundation of its illegality. So again reality and the bottom line doesn’t have to make anyone like the choices, but they are the choices. Like I said anything but a vote for Hilzy is a vote for Fox, the drug war and rush limbog ditto’s marching to their orders. From Drumpf?

      Seriously. I couldn’t stand his reality show or his lies and cheating as much as the anti choice fabricating false videos to shut down clinics. Same ones shooting doctors in church for jesus. Prohibitionists like Turner and Sabet and his mentor Sembler. All that’s left is no principles, GOPers spewing venom and hate against Trumps unscrupulous acts and comments. Only to cash in and side with him unquestionably.

      Even when the Russians try to influence elections none of the GOPers jerking their flags said a word. Americans in name only. So all thats left are Trump supporters bashing Clinton.

      Bill Clinton got away with his Neocon bullshit due to a lack of people questioning him. Other than the same wing nuts spewing hate about Obama’s birth certificate or religious beliefs. Swift boaters bashing McCain the same as Trump. So all and all there just is no way to side with Trump and excuse it with ideals or silly notions that there is no difference.

      Hilary is not running for dictator but one thing is different even if it doesn’t matter realistically. This Clinton already has 45% of her base questioning her moves. After 16 years of Rayguns Boosh. Bill Clinton walked in without questions other than the same swift boat religionists crusaders. Everyone including Jill Stein had a chance to join Bernie the past year. In spite of pre campaign rules already in place tipping the scales to the establishment.

      Bernie could have garnered more swing votes and the young. That is what Bernie is still calling out for joining Hilary. To bring back a Congress not road blocking everything while dozens of persecution bills get heard. Fake video’s and lies in Congress with a 6% approval rating and outrageous behavior. That is where a Poutest vote goes.

      The trial is over and the verdict has been read. The two party system has two party candidates. If wishes were fishes no one would starve. What pisses me off is that you know better and making me defend the bitch is not a friendly gesture on your part. Now is the time to bring Ganja and Hemp and the Drug War to the debates. Protest prohibitionists on both sides and try to force the issue into the mainstream.

      I didn’t see one leaf or speech at the entire convention. Although I didn’t watch the entire thing. The drug war definitely needs attention at the Justice Department but not another forced rehab third rail alternative. Filling jails for false positives. That won’t be done at Trump rallies.

      Its only just begun, damn I don’t like the Carpenters either. Now is when people have to hit the streets with their banners and signs in non violent civil disobedience. These politicians have an agenda and won’t leave it on their own. We are the base who will plot the coarse or the base that caravans where ever Drumpft leads. That is the choice. Vanilla or Orange. The people can do so much showing up at city town halls and meetings. Locally we have built a cannabis infrastructure years before Prop 215. Hemp festivals gather people to inform about anything cannabis. Now is when we should be at the state capitals demanding Cannabis be removed from the controlled substance act. As states pleading the case to Obama in his lame duck session, he has the power to do it. Not just not enforcing the law but abolishing it.

      After November there is nothing noteworthy stopping him. It’s not like Congress obstructing everything from a black guy. It’s his choice regardless who wins he has nothing to jeopardize or lose. Then it will be up to us to keep it off. No incremental band aids and as we have shown, we can do it. The only Hilary bashers left are Trump trolls. Whether they realize it or not. Yes maybe it is the lesser evil, and that does leave evil. But is greater evil really the answer? As I said and wrote for 20 years, Bill Clinton is a Neocon dixiekrat, democrat in name only with the worse drug policy of anyone outside of Walters and Bennett. Hilary is anchored by 45% of the base voting Bernie. Reality may suck but it is reality.

      • darkcycle says:

        She’ll start wars. Big wars. Deadly wars. Got any Chillin’s DdC? I do.

      • Where's the Weed? aka NCN says:

        Great job laying out the savvy political pragmatist’s position. But, I think perhaps you’re too rough on our couch bud darkcycle.

        In my cannabis-filled brainhole, democracy is best represented by voting FOR what you believe in and choosing candidates who represent those values.

        Okay fair enough, that’s a fantasy fairytale that doesn’t exist in 2-party American Empire, but still, voting with your heart and not your head is ALL about democracy.

        I personally hold a grudge against the Clintonista’s and ALWAYS will. But, if it makes you feel better, I’m not voting D’s because Obama refused to uphold international treaties which would have put the Bush-Cheney crew in prison.

        My pouting protest goes back years and is based on international law. If D’s don’t honor it, then we’re a rogue nation. I simply will no longer support the Pentagon and Empire with my votes.

        If that kicks me out of the savvy pragmatist club? So be it. My conscience is clear and I no longer feel like taking a shower after voting (the lesser of two weevils).

        So, in my opinion, both you and darckcycle are RIGHT because you’re voting your beliefs. That’s democracy, so relax a bit will ya?

        I lived with Ronnie RayGuns for 16 of my first 32-years on this planet. I’m already ready for another Republican idiot like Trumpassholia.

        Why? Because if you bend over every time the D’s ask for help against the boogeyman? Guess what? You’ll be bending over EVERY election and you know it. Same goes for the R’s. Fear SELLS. I’m not buying fear, I’m voting for a physician who supports my love of cannabis.

        Jill’s my gal and I’ve already voted (wasted?) for her once and plan on doing it again. Hope to toke up with you someday. Peace Santee Cruz hipster dude.

        And, for what it’s worth Gary Johnson would be the WORST possible man and party for my situation (SSI disability). The Libs don’t much care for disabled folks and would just as soon see me crawl off and die homeless. Sweet. Go Libs! Windy (if you’re lurking) please correct me if I’m wrong on that.

        • DdC says:

          Great job laying out the savvy political pragmatist’s position. But, I think perhaps you’re too rough on our couch bud darkcycle.

          Not as hard as a Trump presidency, with a GOP Congress and SCotUS.

          In my cannabis-filled brainhole, democracy is best represented by voting FOR what you believe in and choosing candidates who represent those values.

          Don’t blame cannabis for that line of thought. Nuts and bolts NCM, that’s all there is. Everything else is wording. Including Democracy. Especially since the Nixon start of the Neocons bringing both sides together for the 1% bracket. With the dixiekrats and blue dawg dems. The GOPers are multinational and have no allegiance to this country. Neither does Hilzy and Bill, HW Bush’s favorite son. Its us, the base that matters. Trumps blind allegiance verses 45% of the democrat base moving it all left.

          Any vote to third parties to appease your guilt is a vote for Trump. All of the disenfranchised voters will have company. Only wasted votes are like disenfranchising yourself. At the end of the day when the dispensaries are raided by Neocon SWAT serving Trump. Your good feelings won’t tell you where the weed is.

          Okay fair enough, that’s a fantasy fairytale that doesn’t exist in 2-party American Empire, but still, voting with your heart and not your head is ALL about democracy

          Sorry but voting with your heart is emotional hope and superstition. We will have to live for 4 years with that decision. Not just a minute of feeling good about it. When you realize what you have done and what is being done to others. Will that good feeling still be there? No argument about it. Neither choice is a representation of American concepts or ideals. Its the base. Rush dittos won’t question Trump as they never questioned him up to this point. Hilzy had a different show with protesters and now, a progressive platform. She knows what side of the bread is buttered. 90% of Bernies followers know too.

          I personally hold a grudge against the Clintonista’s and ALWAYS will. But, if it makes you feel better, I’m not voting D’s because Obama refused to uphold international treaties which would have put the Bush-Cheney crew in prison.

          You might hold a grudge while I let it all out bashing his ass since I came online in 96. But knowing you are capable of rational thought… seriously you want me to believe you aren’t voting democrat because of Obama granting immunity to Bush and Cheney? So to fix him you want Bush and Cheney surrogates like Trump and the GOP? That’s not the reefer talking dude, its sounds more like you’re smoking schwag or drunk.

          Like I said, everyone wants to be all good and idealistic with principles. That takes work over a period of time. Not during the election and then pouting when your favorite doesn’t have what it takes. Selfish, not anything to do with Obama or Hilary. Not even voting ideals when no one else is running. Johnson has no chance of winning and Stein is killing the Green Party pissing off any support. Not that I’m in with their agenda of keeping Cannabis on the back burner. All the work Bernie did moving the party will be gone if Trump gets in. It will be gone if we kick back and let Clinton disregard the 45% too. But that is the pragmatic choice. Us or Trump.

          My pouting protest goes back years and is based on international law. If D’s don’t honor it, then we’re a rogue nation. I simply will no longer support the Pentagon and Empire with my votes.

          D’s don’t honor it but the Neocon GOP does? Again, you are throwing the baby out with the bath water. Nixon expanded Vietnam sabotaging the Paris Peace Talks. Nixon rejected the Shafer Commission and put Cannabis as a schedule#1 controlled substance. Reagan expanded the war with mandatory minimums and DARE brainwashing and SWAT. Bush junior stole $5 Trillion on Banksters, Wars and Prohibition. Walters Bennett and kNewt called for the death penality. Biden and then Clinton following GOP drug war tactics are the democrats you say are worse than the actual fabricators of the war?

          Explain how that even makes sense? You side with Hitler because you don’t like FDR being too fascist? Or Social Security Ryan wants to kill. Or gut the American Disabilities Act as they did the Clean Air and Water Acts to give immunity to Haliburton Fracking. You want to shut down PP that serves entire communities. I bring patients there because many doctors won’t take Medicare for quadriplegics. You against Gays or having a job that pays enough to feed your family? Or profits over people because you have a grudge against Bill Clinton and he isn’t even running. What sense does that make?

          If that kicks me out of the savvy pragmatist club? So be it. My conscience is clear and I no longer feel like taking a shower after voting (the lesser of two weevils).

          It’s your club, you invented it. Looks like insults are your opposing argument. No NCM, that is the point. Your conscious is not clear, you simply aren’t accepting responsibility for reality. You think you’re so high and mighty you can let the majority just deal with Trump. Your conscious will see the homeless increase and prison populations will provide profits, so what will that incentive be? More prisoners. You think more outsourcing or TPP will make you feel better? No my friend I’m afraid you are taking the position of starving rather that eating non organic food. Even when none of it is being served. Save your conscious and vote for the people over the puppets.

          So, in my opinion, both you and darckcycle are RIGHT because you’re voting your beliefs. That’s democracy, so relax a bit will ya?

          Well again, beliefs are the same as feelings, not facts. If you missed that post here it is.

          Feeling vs Fact

          I lived with Ronnie RayGuns for 16 of my first 32-years on this planet. I’m already ready for another Republican idiot like Trumpassholia.

          That makes as much sense as a black man fighting for slavery. I started with Eisenhower when republicans were republicans. Then the protests through out the 60’s always followed by assignations and then overdoses or plane crashes everytime someone spoke out. Hendrix, Janis and Jim Morrison, Buddy Holly, Lennon or Paul Wellstone and Skynerd. Carter was a disappointment and another sabotage by Bush to get Rayguns. I say he was a better B actor with Bonzo than a flunky as president. So again, I was raised under the two party stism during the same people you mention plus a hell of a lot more when it was all black and white TV with 3 channels and programmed news. Now I have trainwreck delivered to my door under Obama. That is not pragmatism, its reality.

          Why? Because if you bend over every time the D’s ask for help against the boogeyman?

          No dude, you bend over every time you let the fascist cheat. You are passing silly with ludicrous notions that the appeaser is worse than the oppressor. I hate it too, but the slave master is not better than the person bartering for food. Democrats are at fault for being too republican and you think a republican would be better? I’m afraid you’re trying to climb a ladder with no rungs.

          Guess what? You’ll be bending over EVERY election and you know it. Same goes for the R’s. Fear SELLS. I’m not buying fear, I’m voting for a physician who supports my love of cannabis.

          Fuck you dude, I’m voting realism, not idealistic bullshit and your insults are trying my patience. I can insult too if you haven’t heard. If you have anything to say in real terms, then say it. If you’re just hurling ad hominum and bullshit then I’ll pass. I’m still backing Bernie and the policy we have written. I have 45% of the party to get what I want, including a passage to legalizing.

          You have a whiny pouting attitude that your feelings can change the reality of the situation If you can cry loud enough maybe the vote gods will put Bernie in. Just silly. Its not kissing ass to vote against tyranny and that is exactly what Trump has in mind. Now who’s kissing ass? Only it won’t get you a thing. Stand up and fight the Neocons with your enemies enemy or side with them hiding in the Bush’s.

          Jill’s my gal and I’ve already voted (wasted?) for her once and plan on doing it again. Hope to toke up with you someday. Peace Santee Cruz hipster dude.

          Jill is a joke and I used to like what she brought, some of it. Still don’t agree with the Greens wanting to punish corporations more than clean the environment. Thanks to your wasted vote, and that is fact not insults. It won’t matter in the end and Jill won’t be heard in the end. But giving Trump the position due to wasting votes will bring Jill the same blame as Nadar got sabotaging Gore. Then watch the donations pick up for Greenpeace. Jill had her chance to join Bernie but her selfishness and ego made a choice to waste peoples votes on feelings that are not part of reality.

          And, for what it’s worth Gary Johnson would be the WORST possible man and party for my situation (SSI disability).

          Exactly, but Johnson would legalize and that seems to be the catch he’s using. If Hizly is leading enough I’d vote Johnson just to get his ideas into the debate. That isn’t a possibility with Jill so she’s moot. Libertarians can’t get over their Wall St addiction or hypocrisy that tax paying for wars or prisons is different than tax going to the disabled. Norquest has no problem with dodging his tax liability even though Neocon trucks tear up the roads for their profits. Blinded by the free market that doesn’t exist. I would vote for a Green realist who puts reality over whines. Hemp is the Greens answer to many of their concerns but as long as political correctness rules, they will continue whining and blaming and nothing will change. Obama didn’t lift a finger and we have the infrastructure we have with cannabis. If Hilzy does the same we will continue to live in a civilized manner. If the incremental scams don’t remove the progress we’ve gained. Profits over people in the Ganjawar.

          The Libs don’t much care for disabled folks and would just as soon see me crawl off and die homeless.

          Dude, thats just idiotic. GOPers put the disabled into warehouses because its cheaper. More taxes but cheaper with one caregiver and 20 patients than one on one care the so called liberals bartered for, Without the Unions you would not get IHSS or have a reginal center. Get over it, its politics. No one ever gets everything they want but first, Hilzy is no liberal, she’s a Neocon liberal maybe in the original John Birch Koch Bros. sense.Not the progressive sense of PP and protesting wars. You have a habit of leaving half the equation out of the solution. Again blaming liberals for being too republican and not the actual republicans trying to take SSI. Keep up, that was Ryans platform with Rmoney.

          Sweet. Go Libs! Windy (if you’re lurking) please correct me if I’m wrong on that.

          You’re npt wrong, you’re delusional. You can’t just make shit up to bash people when it makes no sense. Regardless of your slurs on so called liberals. You can’t assign them GOPer traits just because they somehow disappointed you. Liberals fault is the bureaucracy, red tape and strings attached by GOPers as oversight. Since only the poor cheat in their minds. So if you are disabled you’re cutting off your own nose to spite your face. Not very attractive bro. Get over it. Hilzy is the lesser evil and the only way that is worse than a greater evil, is if you are evil. I don’t believe you are. Just frustrated and lashing out. I forgive you. Go in Peace. Sorry about the “Fuck You” dude.

        • darkcycle says:

          Sorry, DdC, I think you’re wrong. Since this is a drug war blog and my reasons dont all relate to that, I will spare you. But Trump is the non interventionist candidate here, make no mistake.

        • NorCalNative says:

          Hey DdC thanks for your usual brutal honesty.

          I was also honest and spoke from my heart so I don’t worry about what people think. I care, but I don’t worry about it.

          I liked all of your comment except for that last sentence. Either I’m fuck-off worthy or I’m not. Don’t ruin a good rant by going all soft at the end.

          Teasing you man. I get a lot of value from your FREE and passion-filled entertaining comments. Dull people bore the piss out of me, and you’re definitely NOT that.

  7. Servetus says:

    PROPGANDA ALERT — From NIDA funded research, now you see it—now you don’t:

    DALLAS, July 27, 2016 — Rats’ blood vessels took at least three times longer to recover function after only a minute of breathing secondhand marijuana smoke, compared to recovery after a minute of breathing secondhand tobacco smoke, according to new research in Journal of the American Heart Association, the Open Access Journal of the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association.

    When rats inhaled secondhand marijuana smoke for one minute, their arteries carried blood less efficiently for at least 90 minutes, whereas similar exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke caused blood vessel impairment that recovered within 30 minutes.

    “While the effect is temporary for both cigarette and marijuana smoke, these temporary problems can turn into long-term problems if exposures occur often enough and may increase the chances of developing hardened and clogged arteries,” said Matthew Springer, Ph.D., study senior author and professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco’s Division of Cardiology.

    Sounds serious, right? Even though fewer people encounter marijuana smoke secondhand (because it’s expensive stuff), or inhale it for more than a minute, they need to worry about it more. But then, closer to the bottom of the piece, they throw this monkey wrench into the works:

    Researchers also found the mere burning of the plant material appears responsible for the impaired blood vessels, not chemicals like nicotine and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, nor rolling paper.

    So what the researchers should conclude is that vaping has little or no effect on rat arteries. But the press release in entitled: “A minute of secondhand marijuana smoke may damage blood vessels.” Not THC smoke, mind you, but some other plant chemical which researchers don’t specifically identify, as if that is useful.

    AAAS Press Release: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-07/aha-amo072216.php

  8. thelbert says:

    if we legalize in California,something like this might be an interesting experiment: http://tinyurl.com/gr69s8l

  9. Joel Maxwell says:

    I call BS, talk is cheap especially with the Police State Queen as your “leader”, this is a load…

    • DdC says:

      Joel don’t be a troll. If you have something to say then don’t hide behind rhetoric. The base is all that counts. Police states don’t allow votes. Time to stop pouting. Its the rush ditto’s verses a 45% going in pissed off who will hold anyone accountable, especially Hilzy. If the people let the politicians run wild then we are still better off with the lesser evil. Reality, not wishful thinking. Not voting is why we have no choices. Sitting back in between elections is why we never have enough to take back the government. Its a participation sport, not just sitting on the sidelines complaining about the big bad bullies. The fact I’m still typing on public message boards says its not a Police State. Trump would have no qualms about it or would Hilzy, but who will question Trump? No one, while Hilzy has half her base not trusting her going in. Now put up or keep trolling.

  10. Tony Aroma says:

    It’s not just the states, US territories are getting in on the action too. At least they won’t have to worry too much about DEA raids. I bet they can grow some great sativa there!

    Marijuana Could Be Legalized In U.S. Territory

    If a Republican senator gets his way, voters in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), a U.S. territory, will also soon have a chance to end cannabis prohibition.

    On Tuesday, CNMI Sen. Sixto Igisomar pre-filed a bill that, if approved, would place a measure to legalize marijuana before the Pacific islands’ voters on November 8.

    The legislation provides for a fully legal and regulated recreational market for adults over 21 years of age and allows medical cannabis access for people with doctors’ recommendations.

  11. Mr_Alex says:

    Just letting everyone know I managed to to leave Jo Mcguire and Bridget Klotz in tears on radio when i quizzed them why they endorsed abusive faith based rehabs like Straight Inc, they thought I would debate them on Cannabis but instead I asked the moral questions, the final question was enough to leave them crying, I asked them if they endorsed the likes of Father Miller Newton running Straight Inc or a Straight Inc spin off where staff and leadership endorsed child abuse

    • DdC says:

      Mr Alex I hope you’ve been vaccinated before entering such places of squaller. Although its too stupid to be very contagious. I hear these prohibitionists have poor records on health and keeping themselves clean. They groom themselves for an appearance and spray chemicals to make the stench less noticeable. Still I’d check for viruses after entering their domains. If their minds are so warped to believe the crap from NIDA. Their bodies can’t be far behind. Good job. I didn’t even know they had tears.

      • Mr_Alex says:

        It was easy dismantling Bridget Klotz and Jo Mcguire, I asked them if they endorsed child abuse at rehabs like Straight Inc and they were terrified when they were revealed as the monsters and child abusers they were, the for the children scam is easily demolished

  12. DdC says:

    Kids Are More Likely To Be Poisoned by Crayons
    http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread28871.shtml
    … the raw numbers on marijuana exposure are extremely low. Marijuana accounts for only 2.3 of every 1,000 poison control cases for kids 10 and younger in Colorado, according to the JAMA study. At the national level, kids are much more likely to be poisoned by any number of common household products, like diaper cream, toothpaste, or energy drinks, than they are to be poisoned by marijuana.

    It’s also worth noting that a call to a poison control center doesn’t necessarily mean that a poison has taken place — a child may slurp down the toothpaste on her toothbrush prompting a panicked call to poison control, only to have the operator tell the parent that everything will be just fine.

  13. Tony Aroma says:

    Devontre Thomas is 19. He Could Face a Year in Prison. For a Gram of Marijuana. How could this happen in Oregon?

    On April 7, 2016, the U.S. attorney for Oregon filed a one-count federal misdemeanor charge against Thomas for possessing “about a gram” of marijuana, according to his public defender, Ruben Iniguez.

    “I think it’s deplorable,” says U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.). “What are we doing? Where are our priorities? A kid? Turning his life upside down? They don’t have anything better to do to protect young people or Oregonians? It’s incomprehensible to me.”

  14. “Russia’s war on drugs is hurting America”
    http://tinyurl.com/h4wvh77

    … “At this point, our situation is already crystal clear. The drug war is not solving the problems of either addiction or crime. It is, however, tearing our social fabric, and that weakens us as a country, including within the geopolitical order. Trump and Putin are on the same page here. With regard to the war on drugs, they are aligned in pursuing a policy that makes America weaker.”

  15. Rectal Smegma says:

    I miss Lil’ Debbie Whatshername Shultz already.
    Her There’s Something About Mary hairstyle is so spunky.
    Plus I always wanted to squirt creamy frosting across her Honey Buns after munching on her Moon Pie.
    And that was very noble of her to carry the Whore of Babylon all the way to the convention while taking a shit on the seltzer man fraud Bolshevik Bernie and the stupid college punks who fell for his anti-establishment outsider shtick.

    • An Arm's-length production (because of the stink) says:

      Hey dude, you know if you quit sticking your smelly cock into your ass you don’t have to worry about your smegma problem.

    • I am going to take a shower now, thank you.

    • DdC says:

      Why would anyone care about drool of trolls who want us to believe they are a combination of asshole and shed skin cells, skin oils, and moisture from mammalian genitalia? Prohibidiots, whatchyagonnado?

  16. Mr_Alex says:

    @DDC did you know Publix in Florida donated $800,000 to Drug Free Florida/Drug Free America Foundation a front group run by Melvin and Betty Sembler

    • Duncan20903 says:

      .
      .

      It wasn’t Publix per se, but it was a dictionary picture worthy example of mind boggling irony.

      [Truth] Free Florida receives $800,000 to fight medical marijuana

      “Preparing to again try to defeat a medical-marijuana ballot initiative, the [truth] Free Florida Committee received an $800,000 contribution this month from the Carol Jenkins Barnett Family Trust, a newly filed financial disclosure shows.

      Carol Jenkins Barnett is the daughter of Publix Super Markets founder George Jenkins. Barnett, 59, stepped down from the Publix board of directors after she was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimers Disease.
      /snip/

      “Seriously, I prefer my brain to look and work like a block of moldy Swiss cheese.” ~~ Carol Jenkins Barnett

    • DdC says:

      Ya Alex, Will posted it Wednesday.
      I added some last night. She did half a $mil in 2014.

      Homicidal Leeches Killing American Babies…

      Latest: Homicidal Leeches Embezzling From the Mentally Ill…again
      Carol Jenkins Barnett 59, has early onset Alzheimer’s and resigned from the company’s board last month. The Drug Free Florida Committee, spearheading the opposition to Amendment 2 in 2014, pocketed a check for $2.5 million from Sheldon Adelson, chairman and chief executive of Las Vegas Sands Corp. The Carol Jenkins Barnett Family Trust, headed by the daughter of Publix Super Markets founder George Jenkins, gave $540,000. And Mel Sembler, local developer and former ambassador to Italy and Australia, donated $100,000.

      The trio accounts for 98.5 percent of the $3.2 million that has gone into Drug Free Florida’s bank account.

      Publix is the other white meat alternative to Winn Dixie and Piggly Wiggly.

  17. Kulaks Out says:

    Only Hillary can save us from the *evil* Putinhitler!
    The Soviets are coming! Dastardly Russian hackers lurk around every router and server.
    The 1980s no longer wants its foreign policy back as the vile cretin Putinhitler is on the rise.
    Save us good mother Hillary, save us!

  18. Mr_Alex says:

    @DDC

    Drug War Casualties
    Fox News Channel/May 23, 2002
    By Radley Balko

    Samantha Monroe was 12 years old in 1981 when her parents enrolled her in the Sarasota, Fla., branch of Straight Inc., an aggressive drub rehab center for teens.
    Barely a teen, Samantha also had no history of drug abuse. But she spent the next three years of her life surviving Straight.
    She was beaten, starved and denied toilet privileges for days on end. She describes her “humble pants,” a punishment that forced her to wear the same pants for six weeks at a time. Because she was allowed just one shower a week, the pants often filled with feces, urine and menstrual blood. Often she was confined to her closet for days. She gnawed through her jaw during those “timeout” sessions, hoping she’d bleed to death.

    She says that after she was raped by a male counselor, “the wonderful state of Florida paid for and forced me to have an abortion.”
    There are hundreds of Straight stories like Samantha’s. Wes Fager enrolled his son in a Springfield, Va., chapter of Straight on the advice of a high school guidance counselor. Fager didn’t see his son again until three months later – after he’d escaped and developed severe mental illness.
    Since then, Fager’s set out to clear the air on Straight. He has accumulated stories like Samantha’s and his son’s on a clearinghouse Web site. They are stories of suicides and attempted suicides, rapes, forced abortions, molestations, physical abuse, lawsuits, court testimonies, and extensive documentation of profound psychological abuse at Straight chapters all over the country.

    Yet, the Straight model of drug treatment is thriving, with the trend toward “boot camp” style rehab centers growing more and more en vogue and Straight’s founders, high-powered Republican boosters Mel and Betty Sembler, wielding enormous influence over U.S. drug policy.
    Mel Sembler is currently serving as President Bush’s ambassador to Italy, and the Semblers serve on the boards of almost every major domestic anti-drug program. They are longtime close associates of the Bush family, and are behind efforts to defeat medicinal marijuana initiatives all over the country. Despite the horrors that have surfaced about Straight’s history, they are proud and unrepentant about the program.

    With more and more U.S. states turning to mandatory treatment instead of incarceration for minor drug offenses – with Mel and Betty Sembler continuing to flex political muscle in the power corridors of the drug war – the story of Straight is one worth hearing.
    Straight was spun off of a Synanon, Fla., based rehab program called The Seed. Established in 1972, the program lost its funding after a congressional investigation turned up evidence of brainwashing and cult-like mind control tactics. But a Florida congressman named Bill Young persisted. He found advocates in the Semblers and persuaded them to start a similar rehab center in St. Petersburg, which they called “Straight Incorporated.”
    Despite allegations of abuse from escaped members and pending lawsuits, over the next 15 years Straight won laudatory praise in Republican circles. Luminaries from Nancy Reagan to Princess Diana visited Straight branches and touted their successes (though by most estimates only about 25 percent of Straight “clients” ever completed the program).
    But Straight’s tactics soon caught up to it in the courts. A college student won a false imprisonment claim of $220,000 in 1983, and another claim cost Straight $721,000 in 1990. A Straight spin-off called Kids of North Jersey lost a $4.5 million claim in 2000. Straight chapters across the country began to shut down, culminating with the last branch in Atlanta closing in 1993.
    But the Straight philosophy was far from finished. Many chapters and directors reopened new clinics that employed the same tactics under different names – such as KIDS, Growing Together and SAFE. Florida Gov. Jeb Bush visited and praised SAFE, despite the fact that an Orlando television station reported widespread Straight-like abuse at the facility in a 2000 expose.
    Amidst mounting lawsuit losses and bad publicity throughout the 1990’s, the umbrella organization Straight Inc. changed its name in 1996 to the Drug Free America Foundation. DFAF thrives today with $400,000 in annual federal subsidies.
    “It amazes me that despite the pattern of complaints and abuse allegations, Straight chapters can simply change their names and continue to operate,” says Rick Ross, a cult expert and intervention specialist. Ross says there’s an unfortunate market for “rehab” centers that take burdensome children off the hands of troubled parents.
    Most troubling, however, is the considerable and continuing political clout of Straight Inc.’s founders. Former President Bush once shot a television commercial for DFAF, and designated the Semblers’ program as one of his “thousand points of light.”
    Long a presence in Florida Republican circles, Mel Sembler was tapped as ambassador to Australia in 1989. Today he serves the younger Bush as ambassador to Italy, and he served on the board of the 2000 Republican National Convention.
    Betty Sembler co-chaired Jeb Bush’s campaign committee. In return, the governor declared Aug. 8, 2000, “Betty Sembler Day” in Florida – due, he said, to her work “protecting children from the dangers of drugs.”
    She also serves on the board of DARE, the largely failed anti-drug program for elementary school students.
    DFAF also worked with then-governor Bush on anti-drug programs in Texas, and today claims to have his ear on national drug policy as well. Indeed, Arizona prosecutor and Sembler favorite Rick Romley was on Bush’s short list for drug czar. Though Romley wasn’t nominated, Bush did tap staunch drug warrior John Walters. The nomination caused Betty Sembler to remark, “…. we have lacked the leadership and support of the White House … until now.”
    “It’s really shocking that the Semblers are still lauded and honored after all that’s come out about their organization,” says cult expert Ross, a self-described Republican.
    Last year, a reporter from the Canadian e-zine Cannabis News asked Betty Sembler in person about the horror stories he’d read from Straight survivors. “They should get a life,” Sembler replied. “I am proud of everything we have done. There’s nothing to apologize for. The legalizers are the ones who should be apologizing.”
    That’s the attitude of the drug war’s power duo, who can be unrepentant about the lives their program destroyed because they believe a win-at-all-costs approach is the only way to remove the scourge of drugs from society. Shattered lives, suicides, forced abortions, fractured psyches – all necessary casualties of the drug war, and nothing to apologize for.

    https://culteducation.com/group/1274-straight-inc/19712-drug-war-casualties-.html

    • jean valjean says:

      And nothing’s really changed since that article was written in 2002. The Semblers will be long gone before their crimes catch up with them, as is usually the way when child abusers have power.

  19. reductio ad Hitlerum says:

    How can Trump be Hitler if Putin is the Evil Hitler Satan?

  20. Servetus says:

    Big Pharma’s pain medication empire is under new scrutiny, “Do opioids make pain worse? ”, by Peter Grace*:

    https://theconversation.com/do-opioids-make-pain-worse-60587

    *”Peter Grace receives funding from the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council, the American Australian Association, the American Pain Society, and the Department of Defense.”

    • B. Snow says:

      They have minimally invasive laser spinal surgeries, artificial disks, vertebrae fusings,and worse things they can do to your spine and hope it helps =Because “opiates are bad M’kay?,

      Then there’s every sorta hot/cold packs & patches for all over your body, and a bunch of backbraces or copper-weaved spandex clothing that Rodeo Riders & Prosports folks use = so they gotta be good (and expensive but we’re avoiding depending on pain meds [pretty much calling that addiction – when they are two different things] so who cares what it costs?!

      And get this… commercials for “Aleve” branded TENS units – (Nsaids can mess you up) so lets try 20th-21st century shock treatment on yah… We already diversified into the new product – Yeah For Us!

      If they work we can even implant wires in you to shock you as needed!!

      Or, you could take your opiates on a schedule and get good, if not perfect relief…

      But “take as few as possible è As needed” and the just take some extra strength tylenol for that we don’t want you getting used to actual pain relief = Suck it up, or well call you a Junkie later [This kinda guarantees you’re going to take too many at some point and want to up your dosage more & more – which wouldn’t happen if you can keep a medlog/schedule!]

      And you could avoid all alcoholic beverages = Seeing as nearly every famous person that died from pills in the 70’s or 80’s was mixing a variety of Pills (like they were M&M’s) and washing them down with God only knows how much liquor!

      Or we could go with a bew round of the good olde “Moral Panic/Folk Devil” act – it pays better after all as Hillary said “There’s so much money in it” [She meant To stop it]

      She knew damn well – We can’t outspend the Cartels trying to buy loyalty from local officials police or military = Not for long anyway,.and Not in ALL the drug producing countries = Which is from basically anywhere on the planet these days, It’s Called Globalization, Welcome To Tomorrow!

  21. Here are some really dirty tactics:

    “Cops Raid Legal Cannabis Companies Despite Upcoming Recreational Vote” http://tinyurl.com/hrkxtou

    “Med-West, a medical THC extract company in San Diego, was raided in January and again in June. It’s one of a number of cannabis companies targeted for asset seizure–but with no attendant criminal charges being filed–by California authorities.”

    This is criminality at its worse, not law enforcement.

    Asset forfeiture is bad, bad policy. Its an invitation to criminal activity.

    • Tony Aroma says:

      Since this is a federal case, they are blatantly violating the budget rider that prohibits spending money to interfere with state-legal mmj, I wonder if the agents involved could be charged with a crime. They’re clearly misappropriating federal funds.

      • Duncan20903 says:

        .
        .

        Nah Tony, the trick is that they’re spending State funds to make the case. It’s all extracts because those are illegal in California if they use stuff that explodes to make the extract, e.g. butane. Sure, they could just ask for a tour to ascertain that the process is using CO2 but if they pursue it as a criminal case until they bump into the CO2 and say “oops” then turn it over to the Feds it’s all kosher.

        Now the problem I have is that I thought that AG Holder discontinued “equitable sharing” to get around State law. Did that get quietly re-instated when we weren’t looking?

        • Frank W. says:

          ‘I thought that AG Holder discontinued “equitable sharing” to get around State law. Did that get quietly re-instated when we weren’t looking?’
          21st century law enforcement: passive verbs, a shitload of police killings and full prisons, and the rest of us guessing like Kremlinologists what our oath-sworn President and Attorney General are up to.
          AND ABOVE ALL PASSIVE VERBS. Nobody did anything, right?

        • “In January 2015 U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder halted some of the equitable sharing program. In December 2015 the Department of Justice suspended some more of equitable sharing due to budget cuts.”

          “Loopholes have allowed states to continue to use federal equitable sharing.”

          http://tinyurl.com/z6rn29u

          Wonder what the loopholes are?

        • Duncan20903 says:

          .
          .

          Well it really doesn’t matter. We’re watching the death of cannabis prohibition in real time. Of course I say that because the stock traders just won’t stop throwing money at the few available equities. I’m still in shock that I’ve got a dividend paying player in Scott’s Miracle Grow. Hell, I still can’t get used to the idea of Miracle Grow as a cannabis player. Didn’t we all kill our first hundred or so plants with Miracle Grow? I know I did. If you didn’t be nice and say you did just to make me feel better, would ya?

          Scotts Miracle-Gro spends $136M on Dutch hydroponics business
          Tom Knox
          American City Business Journals • August 3, 2016
          /snip/

          Scotts tops 3Q profit forecasts
          [Associated Press] August 3, 2016
          /snip/

          Scotts tightens relationship with Colorado hydroponics firm AeroGrow
          Tom Knox
          American City Business Journals • July 22, 2016
          /snip/

          Just plain mind boggling.
          ———
          Hey Kev-Kev, I got a big, milky white butt that needs kissing you loser piece of shit.

  22. fighting hard for the working class says:

    This just in from the Hillary campaign…Black Ties Matter.

    Goldman-Sachs, Lehman Brothers, Citi, JP Morgan Chase and Morgan Stanley all nodded in agreement.

  23. jean valjean says:

    Lehman Brothers?

  24. HempForXmas says:

    Kevin Sabet’s New Friends Say Legalizing Marijuana Is ‘Deviance’

    The deviance carried on until the so-called “Brave New World” of America and Western Europe began legalizing marijuana, bestiality, transgenderism, sodomy, pornography, feminism, and other evils, allowing the Christian pagans of Europe, America, and Australia to break the crime record of every disbelieving nation to precede them in history, including that of Sodom and Gomorrah.

    http://tinyurl.com/KevKev-sJoinedISIS

  25. Duncan20903 says:

    .
    .

    So, everyone’s been too busy pumping out the hysterical rhetoric to notice that Mr. Trump reiterated that he doesn’t give a shit about cannabis law one way or the other?
    http://www.9news.com/news/local/politics/trump-talks-clinton-fracking-marijuana/284425909

    Just FYI the thought of President Trump has me scared silly for dozens of reasons, but none of them related to cannabis law reform issues. Quite frankly I have no doubt that he would promptly de-schedule it if he decided that doing so would promote his agenda. I have no clue what would make him decide to do that and doubt you do either. The man is a certifiable megalomaniac.

  26. claygooding says:

    Wanna end the mass incarceration,,,take the bounty money and military surplus off drug arrests and put them on violent crimes and crimes with actual victims instead of society.

  27. MoleculesHaveFeelingsToo says:

    Philippine police have just killed six of his armed bodyguards and now mayor Espinosa, who Duterte has named as being involved with the cartels, has pleaded to his son to hand himself in to the authorities.

    08/03/2006 The Journal:

    Six bodyguards for Rolando Espinosa, mayor of Albuera in the central Philippines, were shot dead in a raid on Espinosa’s house on Wednesday, a day after he surrendered and confessed that his son is a drug lord. At a televised briefing on Tuesday, police chief Ronald dela Rosa said Espinosa was free to return home but ordered his son — who is at large — to surrender or die.

    http://tinyurl.com/DuterteDirtDrugWar

    • Frank W. says:

      Jeralyn Merritt on Talk Left has been calling attention to this pogrom (in between Mexican soap-opera recaps) and I haven’t been keeping a body count, just noting it’s nonexistence to the MSM, not to mention the administration. At least Rwanda got a mention while it was happening.

  28. jean valjean says:

    Change.org has a new petition calling on Michael Botticelli to make good on his promise to end the stigma imposed on addiction by government:
    “Petitioning Michael.Botticelli@samhsa.hhs.gov , Michael.Botticelli , David Shurtleff, Angus King, Bernie Sanders, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Office of National Drug Control Policy, Substance Abuse …..
    Tell Congress to Remove “ABUSE” From the Names of US Institutions Addressing Addiction”

    https://www.change.org/p/tell-congress-to-remove-abuse-from-the-names-of-us-institutions-addressing-addiction?tk=aOzlZZMPFBcUtE8I9O9YLF7Bbop28ejifaGPJ0FwAyk&utm_medium=email&utm_source=signature_receipt&utm_campaign=new_signature

    • Uncle Albert's Nephew says:

      Another word we need to lose. The use of the word “clean” to describe one who doesn’t use drugs or who doesn’t anymore. The implication being that one who likes a little weed is dirty.

  29. Servetus says:

    Perspective on change, Norman Mailer from a 2009 interview on his generation and attitudes about marijuana:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H729_DYd_V0

  30. CJ says:

    Hey does anybody else out there, like me, feel that it is absolutely ASTONISHING, there our supposedly “greatest country in the world” *coughbull$#!tcoughcough* after so many years, politically, is such a deadlocked two party political world?? Like, don’t you guys think, as I do, that its INSANE, that only TWO, 2, II, parties, basically run things??

    Now the opposite end, as any true heroin lover as myself knows, you end up spending ALOT of time reading, and I do. Lately I’ve been reading the Rise & Fall of the Third Reich by William Schierer (sp?). Its an awesome book. But I was reading about how the Weimar Republic had like HUNDREDS of parties and that that was basically the reason they collapsed because there were TOO MANY parties so that there was never a majority, nothing could ever get done, and the classes and their representative parties were just constantly fighting.

    Even the person to eventually take control, the famous humanitarian, scholar-scientist, nobel prize winning, celebrated civil rights activist Adolf Hitler (sarcasm lol) never had a majority until his party eventually had taken so much control and consolidated so much power that they forced their way through and banned every party but their own.

    However, my point is, to me that is true democracy. I would rather that. This two party system is absurd and unbearable and really it is a stain on the intellectual integrity of the nation. I know there is the Libertarian party, the so called “independents” etc. but on the grandest political stage they have no serious chance and that is both a shame and disgusting.

    • Servetus says:

      CJ, here are some additional good sources for making comparisons to the 2016 US election:

      We are Voting for Hitler! by Joseph Goebbels.

      Background: This article from Der Angriff was published just before the first round of the German presidential elections in 1932. Goebbels outlines the case for Adolf Hitler. The article is dated 7 March 1932.

      From an article in the New York Times, Aug. 20, 1934 — Hitler Endorsed by 9 to 1 in Poll on his Dictatorship, but Opposition Is Doubled.

      For an in-depth look, see Who Voted for Hitler by Richard F. Hamilton:

      Challenging the traditional belief that Hitler’s supporters were largely from the lower middle class, Richard F. Hamilton analyzes Nazi electoral successes by turning to previously untapped sources–urban voting records. This examination of data from a series of elections in fourteen of the largest German cities shows that in most of them the vote for the Nazis varied directly with the class level of the district, with the wealthiest districts giving it the strongest support. Originally published in 1982.

  31. jean valjean says:

    500 free…. 9000 still waiting:
    “Many of those might not make it to Obama’s desk before the clock runs out on his term because the Justice Department has stumbled in administering the program. Thousands of prisoners doing harsh drug war sentences could lose their chance for early freedom because Justice didn’t get around to hiring enough people to handle the flood of applications it generated.”

    http://www.alternet.org/drugs/obama-frees-more-federal-drug-war-prisoners

  32. “National Guard, DEA, State Police Raid Elderly Cancer Patient Over 4 Pot Plants” http://tinyurl.com/gl3egpk

    “Jackson was in his backyard last Tuesday when plainclothes men and a helicopter descended on his property. With no warrant, and without showing identification, these heroes ripped Jackson’s plants from the ground.”

    “When word began to spread about this embarrassing action to eradicate a beneficial plant, spokesmen from the agencies involved in the raid began denying they had a hand in it.”

  33. Who profits from keeping the drug war going? Law enforcement
    http://tinyurl.com/zyfcavs

    The author Arthur Benavie, Ph.D., emeritus professor of economics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, is author of “How the Drug War Ruins American Lives.”

  34. B. Snow says:

    Hey folks, off-topic but I can’t find an answer online… Anywhere!
    I had bronchitis a couple weeks ago and put my 1-2 cig a day (less than a pack a week smoking) on hold…

    I’ve gotten to the point where I could smoke a cig or two, maybe more rarely 3-4 if the weather is nice out on the back porch (which it hasn’t been.

    So, I temporarily stopped (actually not even 100% till this weekend) to get past the bronchitis ASAP = I’ve done it plenty of times before, the 100+ degree weather kept me inside longer than typical.

    Partly because, My antidepressant is a smoking cessation aid & my anti-anxiety med stops me from having anciety or real “panic” attacks… (same meds for 15 to 17 years at a stable dosages) very light smoking for just almost as long, tapering down from 1-2 packs in college over 20-ish years.

    So mot really craving cigs but knowing that 1-2 cigs in the middle of the night with a soda & streaming music is relaxing and kept me from craving snacks or a pinch-hitter (my doc p-tests about twice a year even aftet a decade+ !?).

    Anywho, A couple days ago I started hyperventilating – which is really dangerous for me = Doc insists on blood pressure meds & I don’t really need them most of the time but my BP is almost always up when I see him !?

    So I have had to be careful not to stand to quickly and faint aka “postural hypotension” – Not happy about it but this week I started hyperventilating after standing and walking 10-20 ft.

    I have fallen down repeatedly and luckily haven’t seriously injured myself (pre-k “tumbling” & elementary school “basic gymnastics” FTW!

    They taught us the invaluable skill of “how to fall” safely, But I can’t count on that & I’m miserable -thirsty can’t get to the kitchen & back without stopping 4 or 5 times including in the kitchen laying my chest on the island and breathing into my shirt (in leu of a paper bag).

    So, I’m home alone, thirsty as fuck, kinda, and afraid that I’m going to really hurt myself = I’ve nearly huty my back (already a problem) hit/bounced my head on the carpet & my bed frame = almost made it that time, day 3 nearly 4 and it’s not getting better.

    I can’t find anything on the Net about this that’s not about nicotine withdrawal, or smokers having a higher red blood cell count, and the same bullshit about controlling breathing, advise on getting CBT for anxiety/panic attacks, and mountains of “Hang in There, you can quit for good” crappola…

    ANYONE (still reading) know how fast the hyperventilating will go away after I start smoking again?

    Assuming I can make it to the back porch without falling on the concrete and killing myself…

    I know its basically just a matter of getting some carbon monoxide and/or dioxide into my system again. To stop the hyperventilation and preferably get my BP back up a little bit.
    A few times checking after getting back to my room, My pulse rate has been more than my systolic & diastolic (combined a couple times) – its crazy.

    Anyone know if this will go away quickly after a cig or two?

    Sorry to ask this way = But, I don’t have anyone but couchies to ask without getting a bunch Preachy “Even 1 cig a day is too many” garbage.

    And seeing people saying “It should go away after 3 days or so” = the preachy types.

    And other people saying “It will go away after a few 3-4 weeks… You can do it!”

    My smoking is under control, my doc doesn’t like it but he can’t really say I’m not exercising some serious moderation.

    If I crack my head open or break my back – my cig smoking won’t fucking matter much ya know!?

    And I sure as hell won’t make my next Doc appointment this way, Plus, I have other stuff I need to be doing…

    • primus says:

      If your doc is unable to diagnose your problem, it is time for a second opinion; get a referral from your doc to a specialist. If that is not possible, go see another G.P.

    • NorCalNative says:

      B. I hope you’re able to figure this out soon.

      Hyperventilation lowers blood pressure. If you’re taking BP meds that you suggest you don’t really need, I’m wondering if this may be your problem.

      A doctor that insists of a patient taking BP meds for what’s considered “white-coat” hypertension isn’t doing you any favors. That said, I’m not an M.D. and he/she may believe the benefits outweigh the risks.

      Primus made the right call in suggesting a second opinion or specialist. Do you need help getting to the doctor?

      Rooting for a rapid solution.

  35. B. Snow says:

    Anybody???

  36. Noble Savage says:

    The problem with the American left is that they rarely support civil liberties outside the USA (Islamic fascism is a good example), while the American right (outside libertarians) don’t support civil liberties within their own fucking country.

    We are all divided and it is mostly religion’s fault.

    If you have time, please support this girl: https://www.youcaring.com/david-sherratt-615967.

    Easy to dismiss Islamic fascism after Bush’s disastrous crusade, but please realize that there are people (mostly women) genuinely suffering under Islamic fascism.

    • NorCalNative says:

      Hey lefty assholes, you’re the problem with what’s wrong in the world. Now please help?

      Are you retarded?

      I don’t use the R-word lightly because it’s offensive to many. So, I ask again. Are you retarded?

      MONOTHESISM is the dividing force, not religion. Huge difference.

    • Duncan20903 says:

      .
      .

      Have you ever flown on a commercial airline? Did you pay attention to the part of the safety spiel when they tell parents to put on their oxygen mask first and then take care of their children? That’s because if the adult passes out before getting the child hooked up they both die. If the child passes out while the adult gets himself hooked up a quick blast of oxygen fixes the problem quickly.

      If I don’t take care of myself I can’t take care of anyone else.
      —————————–
      I thought that the r-word was Republican? I’m so confuzzled!

  37. Servetus says:

    Research funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism of the National Institutes of Health, P60 AA07611 and AA016698, exposes a complex genetic component to alcoholism:

    Indiana University Indianapolis – 4-AUG-2016 – Using rats carefully bred to either drink large amounts of alcohol or to spurn it, researchers at Indiana and Purdue universities have identified hundreds of genes that appear to play a role in increasing the desire to drink alcohol.

    The study, published in PLOS Genetics, not only reinforces the view that the genetics of alcoholism are important, are complex and involve many genes, but also that the sections of the genetic code that regulate the actions of genes are at least as important as the genes themselves.

    By using high-alcohol-drinking rat lines — which also mimic all criteria of human alcoholism — and low-alcohol-drinking rat lines, both of which were bred at the Indiana University School of Medicine, the researchers avoided issues that have made genomic analyses of alcoholism in humans difficult, such as inaccurate family histories of drinking, drinking variability and non-genetic economic, social and cultural factors. Although not identical to humans, the genetics of rats and mice often provide powerful clues to genetic activities in humans.

    Conducting complete genome analyses of the two lines of rats, the researchers identified key regions of genetic code known as signatures of selection in 930 genes associated with alcohol preference. The majority of the areas were within single gene regions, often within sections of the genetic code that promote or otherwise regulate the activities of the genes.

    “This research highlights that alcoholism in rats has a strong genetic component and is influenced by many hundreds of genes, each with small effects. There is no single gene responsible for alcoholism.

    AAAS Public Release: Study finds hundreds of genes and genetic codes that regulate genes tied to alcoholism

    • Duncan20903 says:

      .
      .

      I’m stunned! Shocked I tell you!! Oh my god, who’da feckin’ thunk it? There are rats that like to drink?? There are rats that don’t like to drink??? Sheesh, next you’ll try to tell me that there are rats that prefer eating garbage and live in holes in the ground and others which prefer living in trees and eating nuts!!!

      Well I’m glad that’s settled. Now how do we figure out which rats are the religionists and which rats are the atheists so we can find out if some rats like religion and some rats don’t?

      • Servetus says:

        Offhand, I would say rats hold themselves aloof from humans and religion. I’ve heard of King Rat, and Ben (D. Rat) of cinema fame, but God Rat?

        Imagine if God Rat really drowned all but Noah Rat and his family in a great flood, while saving other species, like cats; would that make sense? Would God Rat impose an inquisition on selected rats, while denying rats who are different the pleasures of eating fermented fruit and consuming strange herbal substances? What God Rat in his/her right mind would enforce arbitrary rules and regulations on copulation? And what would rats say if God Rat sent his one and only begotten rat to earth to be hung up and displayed like meat on a skewer stick? No self-respecting rat would accept such nonsense.

        • Duncan20903 says:

          .
          .

          Oh please stop. You know as well as I do that I was referring to the born again christian rats and the 144,000 Jewish rats. I admit that I wouldn’t personally have a problem with including the muslim rats but religionists are just plain whacked in the head. Then there is the fact that the muslim rats have all jumped ship so the debate is purely academic.

  38. Servetus says:

    LONDON (2nd August 2016) – Over 300 NGOs call on the United Nations to take immediate action on the hundreds of extrajudicial killings of suspected drug offenders in the Philippines :

    http://idpc.net/media/press-releases/2016/08/over-300-ngos-call-on-the-united-nations-to-take-immediate-action-on-the-hundreds-of-extrajudicial-killings-of-suspected-drug-offenders-in-the-philippines

    Estimated death toll to date, 700+. The ONDCP and INCB waited until a few days ago to respond to the human rights crimes instigated by Duterte, and only then under prompting by an open letter to ONDCP Executive Director Yury Fedotov and INCB President Werner Sipp.

  39. Retribution says:

    FLINT- Tuesday’s Primary elections in Michigan were a success story for the medical marijuana advocates who were running, and a horror story for those who’ve made their career out of prosecuting the state’s sick and injured.

    Notorious Gaylord-area Prosecutor Mike Rola, who authorized massive raids against medical marijuana businesses on multiple occasions, was defeated. Lapeer County Prosecutor Tim Turkelson, whose office was so biased against a medical marijuana patient they were taken off the case by a local judge, also lost. Pro-pot candidates Bob Townsend and Eric Gunnels won their primary elections.

    http://tinyurl.com/enjoyTheRead

  40. “DEA should stop stalling on reclassifying cannabis”
    By The Denver Post Editorial Board http://tinyurl.com/ja4r48b

    “… without the kind of scientific research that prohibition shackles, it is difficult to see how that debate could be well-informed.

    The DEA should step up and look past its ridiculous hard-line approach.”

    Now we are seeing some real democracy reporting in action! Its time for the DEA to get off their self serving ass.

    By refusing to make timely decisions they are showing their true colors.

    • Tony Aroma says:

      I don’t think the DEA ever DIDN’T show their true colors, or intentions. Their livelihood depends on mj being illegal, and as long as they make the decisions, it will stay that way. I believe the only way re- or de-scheduling is going to happen is through an act of Congress.

      • jean valjean says:

        Michael Botticelli, having been put up as the slightly more acceptable face of cannabis prohibition (he wants to keep it illegal because HE has a problem with it… apparently the smell of it in the street makes him want to relapse) nevertheless maintained in an early interview on being appointed ONDCP chief that “DEA has not changed its position on this.” Nor will they. They decide the law AND write their own paychecks. Something of a conflict of interest here and, as you say, an act of Congress is clearly called for.

      • I agree with you Tony and you also jean valjean. I have been saying something similar for a long time now:
        http://tinyurl.com/jsxrmh2

        “Until the US Congress stops them, the DEA will always do what it was meant to do: “tear the ass” out of marijuana users and prosecute an unreasonable and unrelenting war on drugs – especially marijuana.

        The drug war and the mass incarceration of America will never end until the US Congress or the President addresses the DEA and stops them from prosecuting the still continuing War On Drugs and the people that use them.”

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