Odds and Ends

bullet image Kevin Sabet teams up with The Heritage Foundation for more nonsense: The Marijuana Debate: Time for Reefer Sanity

Ironically, the Heritage site has a pop-up when you go there that asks you to agree that “Big Government is NOT the Answer”

Heritage and Kevin Sabet

This has always been a blind spot in The Heritage Foundation.


bullet image Chicago: Officials call for recreational pot use to be legalized

It’s time for Illinois lawmakers to move beyond state-sanctioned medical marijuana and, as they say, legalize it.

At least that’s according to four Chicago-area Democrats who hold elected public offices. The group held a press conference Monday at the Cook County building, calling for the state to decriminalize marijuana possession and — eventually — legalize recreational use of the leafy plant.

“The main difference between the War on Drugs and Prohibition is that, after 40 years, this country still hasn’t acknowledged that the War on Drugs is a failure,” Cook County Commissioner John Fritchey said, drawing a parallel with the outlawing of booze in the early 20th Century.

The officials are calling for a task force to study legalization in the state.


bullet image Illegal roadside search of Star Trek fan brings $100K settlement

Radley Balko updates us on this story. If you haven’t watched the video before, it’s a pretty blatant documentation of abuse of police power in stopping and searching motorists.

This entry was posted in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink.

35 Responses to Odds and Ends

  1. dancapo says:

    As someone who is, at least somewhat, conservative, I have to say that the issue of drugs baffles me when I talk to my conservative friends. They will rail against government over reach, complain about the loss of 4th amendment rights, and just in general acknowledge that we need to cut down government power…

    …and then argue that drugs should remain illegal. Because bad things. And oh I’m so exaggerating when I point out that all of the lost liberty stems from the War on Drugs.

  2. Howard says:

    Kevin Sabet continues to trot out his conflated list of “myths” to any venue that will print them. Too bad the Heritage Foundation took the bait.

    I especially like how he puts his myths in quotations — even though he’s the one who is creating the distorted statements in the first place. Create your own myths, then argue against them in the name of “reefer sanity”. What a supreme waste of time. The vast majority of commenters on the Heritage site are having none of it. It’s like the person who used to be worth having debates with, now the only response to someone like Kevin is, “Oh, shut up”.

    • NorCalNative says:

      I see Kevin Sabet becoming a wealthy talk show guest and well-known author.

      His book, released a week after federal legalization of cannabis in 2020 titled…”How I Was Wrong About Marijuana,” busted all-time sales for its genre.

      Kevin credits a group he calls the “couch,” for his flip-flop on the drug war. He said, “I finally got it that cannabis was really about democracy, and that’s when it clicked for me that my life’s mission needed to change.”

      • Howard says:

        I have an alternate fate in mind for Mr. Sabet:

        Around 2050 he’s located in a small Inuit village teaching civics (the only remaining school in the world with a class called “civics”). An elderly man, he’s bitter and unrepentant regarding the long ago re-legalized cannabis plant. Bitter, mainly, because his made up myths were debunked so thoroughly that he even became an embarrassment to Patrick Kennedy (no small feat).

        It’s interesting in a “where are they now” theme to speculate where the major prohibitionists will be years from now. I think in the book Last Call the author found remnants of once powerful alcohol temperance organizations still somewhat active into the 1980’s and 1990’s. One organization had a small staff mailing out a quarterly four page newsletter (probably on the last working mimeograph machine) to subscribers. Some folks will just never concede defeat. Calvina Fay won’t. Paul Chabot won’t. Sabet? Hard to tell. But if he thinks he can find refuge in a small Inuit village, he’s mistaken ;).

        • Nunavut Tripper says:

          The Inuits will just laugh at Kevin. They love their cannabis too. They even had a 420 celebration last Sunday in Iqaluit.

        • Duncan20903 says:

          Y.
          .

          eah? and I’ll bet that all of those Eskimos end up sitting in Mom’s igloo in a state of aggravated laziness while collecting phat welfare payments.

  3. DonDig says:

    .
    The Sabet article may well be a new low, even for him. He tries to sound credible, but it’s a total fail, and the vast majority of the comments on that sight thankfully skewer him.

    It’s good to see him stoop to this level – it indicates we’re reaching the end of this stupid game.

  4. allan says:

    add this piece on LEAP’s Jim Gierach (Jim is one of the first of the MAP LTE crew that made me say “whoa…” a decade and a half ago) to the Chicago:Officials article:

    Waging war against drug prohibition

    -snip-

    “It’s the same thing that happened during the Al Capone era with the prohibition on alcohol, but the country got smart and realized that Prohibition wasn’t working. It’s taken us a lot longer to realize the same thing about the prohibition on drugs.”

    Gierach has gone to Vienna to speak to the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs and to Mexico and Ecuador, just to name a few. But when he asks to speak to local groups, he’s often met with rejection.

    “I asked to speak to students at Sandburg High School and was refused,” he said. “They had a local police commander speak, someone from a drug treatment program, a DARE officer, but not me.

    “Do you know how much money companies make off of drug testing programs alone? Millions of dollars. Drug treatment facilities are a multibillion-dollar business.

    “Everyone is making money off of illegal drugs. They’re addicted to the money.”

    -snip-

  5. Servetus says:

    Kevin Sabet’s religion, Baha’i, appears to be the driving force in his crusade to reign in public marijuana consumption.

    The religion’s original guru was a Persian who in 1863 declared himself “The Glory of God”, or in Persion, “Baha’u’llah”. The faith exhibits the common characteristics that define Baha’i as a cult. An ex-member of Baha’i, Mary Ellen Walker, along with her cat, MrDonut, wrote a charming little exposé of Baha’i in which she calls Baha’i a “faith in search of a religion”.

    From the evolutionary chart of religions, Baha’i is a type of mysticism that derives from Islam and Sufism. The main objective of the religion is to unite all mankind under one government, one police force, and so forth. This goal is deemed possible despite the existence of places like Texas. Here are some highlights of the cult from MrDonut and Ms. Walker:

    Ruhiyyih Khanum (b. Mary Maxwell) on global warming: “God made it. He will fix it. Our job is to Teach the Faith.”

    Members can be shunned if they visit unapproved websites.

    “..the public views the faith as a cult, a foreign organization [based in Haifa, Israel] unfriendly to American government, ignorant of yet opposed to Christianity, and ignorant of its own revealed word of God. The believer is left with nothing to teach his faith and nothing to which to defend himself or his faith against its enemies.”

    “Some complain the academics and intellectuals have taken over the faith.”

    “If a believer so much as asks a question about anything in the religion, he is in short order shunned. No religion we know of is so quick to condemn its people or to defile their names throughout the religious community as the Baha’i Faith.”

    The founder of the faith, Baha’u’llah, singled out hashish as a demon drug early in his career, well before he was imprisoned as a troublemaker. Jail has also been the fate of some of his modern disciples who consequently regard themselves as being persecuted for their faith. The shunning aspect of the religion is relevant to Kevin Sabet’s beliefs about marijuana. There can be little doubt that the Baha’is would shun Kevin Sabet were he to oppose Baha’u’llah by saying anything positive about marijuana.

    • Howard says:

      Kevin’s insistence that smoked marijuana is not medicine also has roots in his religion. According to Baha’i, no drugs are allowed unless prescribed by a physician. This is why he often points to Marinol as an already available cannabis medication, which, of course, is only available via prescription.

      He likes referring to “science”, but his religion is what drives him.

      • kaptinemo says:

        He’s trying to ride Barthwell’s non-existent coat-tails.

        She tied to trade her ‘contacts’ within the Feds for a seat at GW Pharma’s table, but proved to be an ineffectual embarrassment.

        She, without a twinge of shame, began to say, after castigating ALL cannabis for so long, that only smoked cannabis has no medicinal value…after first communing with GWP while a ‘public servant’.

        (Best ‘Mr. Rogers voice) “Children, can you say, conflict of interest’? Suuuure you can!”

        If Kevvie still thinks he can succeed where Barthwell failed, he’s bound for a disappointment. The old folks he could BS with impunity are dead or dying. Now, he’s got to convince all those grown DARE-indoctrinated adults who barfed up the lies to swallow them again.

        Fat effin’ chance.

        • kaptinemo says:

          Awwwwww, seems like I’ve ruffled some pwohib fevvuhs.

          Hey, Mr/Ms. Thumb’s-down, why not stay and debate your (lost) cause? We’ll give you a fair hearing.

          I won’t hold my breath waiting, though. You people are just like Mencken said:

          ” The more obvious the failure becomes, the more shamelessly they exhibit their genuine motives. In plain words, what moves them is the psychological aberration called sadism. They lust to inflict inconvenience, discomfort, and, whenever possible, disgrace upon the persons they hate — which is to say, upon everyone who is free from their barbarous theological superstitions, and is having a better time in the world than they are.

          They cannot stop the use of alcohol, nor even appreciably diminish it, but they can badger and annoy everyone who seeks to use it decently, and they can fill the jails with men taken for purely artificial offences, and they can get satisfaction thereby for the Puritan yearning to browbeat and injure, to torture and terrorize, to punish and humiliate all who show any sign of being happy. And all this they can do with a safe line of policemen and judges in front of them; always they can do it without personal risk.” (Emphasis mine – k.)

          That’s Kevvie and Co. Cowards without the force of The State to back them.

          And after we win? That force won’t be there to protect them from legally paying for their past predations.

          I eagerly await that day.

  6. kaptinemo says:

    Notice something about the monikers, wording and tone of Sabet’s ‘supporters’?

    Amazingly similar.

    Looks like Kevvie’s cloned himself again, like he did with his Amazon ‘reviews’.

    A veritable one-man ‘Peanut Gallery’, is Kevvie.

  7. Nunavut Tripper says:

    I’m keeping an eye on SAM Canada.

    http://samcanada.net/about-samc/

    They don’t seem to be up to much as of yet but if they try to propagandize in this area I’d love to show up with a small contingent of hecklers.
    One advantage to being old…I just don’t give a shit what they think of me.

    • allan says:

      One advantage to being old…I just don’t give a shit what they think of me.

      Amen, hallelujah and ditto! That’s why dog made old cranky curmudgeons. And why do we do it? Because we can…

    • The glass is half full, and I am on the young side of you guys I am sure. I similarly find that I don’t give a shit, especially when it comes to giving them some.

  8. Jean Valjean says:

    “Your tax dollars are being spent on programs that we really don’t need.” The Heritage Foundation.
    Kevin and his buddies at SAM are one of those programs.

  9. The night before my bust 42 years ago, we had a small party. A beautiful girl I knew brought a bit of cocaine (a rarity in our orbit, circa 72). Said it was for me for being such a nice guy (which should have aroused my suspicions instead of my penis…). She had to leave for a bit but said she’d be back, and stashed the coke under a hallway rug, making me promise to wait and do the rest with her. She never came back, so I said fuck it and did the rest.

    The night of the bust, after taking out our front door with a fire ax, the first place the 8 cops searched was under that rug. They seemed surprised, which is probably why our place looked like a tornado had hit it after they left. Later we found out she’d been recently busted for possession of amphetamines, and turned states’ evidence against several folks, me included, for her case to be dismissed.

    Some things never change.

    Except me. I haven’t done any cocaine in over 30 years. But I’m sure glad I didn’t wait for her to come back, nice guy that I am…

  10. Zach says:

    http://tbo.com/news/politics/developer-sembler-backs-new-group-fighting-medical-marijuana-20140429/

    I cant wait for Florida to vote on medical. I think the message sent will be loud and clear. Even this hick state in which I reside passed a halfass bill for cbd oil allowing UAB Medical center in Birmingham to conduct a study. I hope they start to realize its many uses once said study has begun.

    • Crut says:

      [Shivers] Just hearing Mel “Straight Inc.” Sembler’s name brings some bile up into my mouth.

      I am not looking forward to the blatant and disgusting political lies that are going to soon be thrown around the state media. The fact that there is still a significant minority in this state can’t even look past the gateway theory gives idiots like this an audience. I wonder how many of these coming articles will not allow comments…

  11. strayan says:

    Kevin Sabet: “The spray, Sativex, does not get you high”

    What a load of shit. I’ve used Sativex. 6-7 ‘actuations’ (the fancy word for using a metered dose spray) gets me high.

    I highly recommend the stuff but I wouldn’t pay the outrageous pharmaceutical company asking price. What a grift that is.

    • N.T. Greene says:

      The chemical that gets you high doesn’t get you high if you buy it from big pharma.

      …wait

  12. Nunavut Tripper says:

    Never realized what a whackbar Michelle Bachman is :

    https://www.facebook.com/C4MB10.0

    Your morning chuckle on steroids

    • Howard says:

      One of the best parody sites out there. One running theme is:

      “This *any terrible personal calamity* is what happens when you inject the pot!”.

      Too bad Bachmann is not a fan ;).

  13. Nunavut Tripper says:

    I love Michelle and her Bachbook

    http://www.c4mb.net/archive/

    Keeps me entertained for hours

  14. Crut says:

    Excellent commentary from a former Police Superintendent.

    Why I Support Cannabis Law Reform

    Prohibition does not prevent drug abuse

    This and other truths are very refreshing in the wake of all the O’Reilly and Hannity nonsense I watched earlier…

  15. Colin Keesee says:

    The phrase “Big Government” is the conservative sleight of hand of choice. When they say that phrase, they mean three things, taxes for rich people, welfare for poor people, any and all environmental regulations and regulations on guns (for people like them; if you are poor, black, brown or convicted of a non violent felony, conservatives suddenly become are “gun grabbers.”).

    I used to fall for a lot of the conservatives’ pseudo libertarian rhetoric but over time, I can see just how narrow their definition of “freedom” really is.

  16. cy klebs says:

    http://crooksandliars.com/2014/04/tennessee-will-now-criminally-charge Breaking news. This is nothing new. And this is what the suckas* MSM tells us is competitive. I will not rhapsodize over symmetrical enforcement. This is not a solicitation for your money. I am surprised this could be enacted in a state which elected rep. Cohen.

  17. Jean Valjean says:

    Good to see the treckie guys get justice over Officer “Reich Heart”… a Nazi to the core.

    • Crut says:

      Wait, he’s running for congress? Why am I not surprised that an Authoritarian like him wants to have more power… There are too many idiots in the world.

Comments are closed.