dedbr

Mike....

And that's just what an activist is supposed to do. But the truth sometimes is more powerful when presented in a calm, self assured manner. Someone who is articulate and can present their arguments for the abolition of prohibition in a calm and cool manner. I agree, a group of people gathered together should march and protest and maybe even scream, and I think that time will come, but my scream will be a smug grin of satisfaction of the great wrong in our society I helped in a small way to correct.

I had fire like you have but my fire has tempered to a fine bed of cherry red coals that has all the heat I need to sustain me. In thirty years we have come a long way with legalization and decrimilization. Yes, we still have a way to go, but instead of saying it's not enough, get a little more knowledge about the way things work in our system and then use that to beat them at their own game.....

Those of us who have been at this a while are really pretty good I think at what we do, and I like to think that going from a felony to a traffic ticket is pretty good for our side........


Some Where In Ded Land.............

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Jack0

The whole illegality of marijuana isn't practical or reasonable, so why is everyone expecting Mike C to subscribe to the normal route for raising awareness? Pandering to politicians who could give two shits about a person's cause is impractical, too. Though change eventually occurs at a lazy snail's pace when a person votes for the best of the worst, having conviction, a loud voice and a refusal to compromise when the denial of the freedom one is seeking is ultimately unjust, is the best way to go.

*on a side note, I lack conviction...so I am voting for Obama. haha

SacredJellybean

True, but I think you'd have about as much success with McCain as you would with Obama. Whereas Obama has brushed on the idea of decriminalizing marijuana (which was what, four years ago?), McCain has talked about letting the states decide for medical marijuana. Both of them flip-flopped. Where you might be able to get Obama to agree that we should "rethink our drug strategies" (I hope that's soft enough for the guy!), you could also try to bring up the point of State's rights to McCain, and why he changed his mind (it was April 25, 2007 when he cited State's rights).

Any more than McCain? Actually, you're probably right, seeing as how the battle for democratic nominee is being drawn out.

Obama's gonna play it safe, not try to pander to a niche issue that might end up costing him more votes. That's why his campaign said he doesn't support decriminalization.

I never said he was squeaky clean, but compared to Clinton and McCain? We can at least agree on that much.

So... all that and he hasn't changed his position, and is now talking more softly to avoid a topic he was hassled about? That's pretty marginal progress; more can be done at the state level IMO.

Are you linking the two? I'd say that there are more Republicans in favor of marijuana policy reform because of many more reasons than one vocal group that was targetting a Massachusets governor.

I would argue that by bringing up the issue, you would be hurting Obama and giving us a higher chance that we'll have a raging asshole like McCain in the White House. If he commits to decriminalization/reform as in the past, he'll alienate more voters in the end. If he commits to criminalization, it hurts his young voters, and makes him look like a flip-flopper to everyone. If he doesn't touch the issue, he can hopefully steer clear of those two outcomes. You could probably spin this to make me sound like I want people to remain ignorant, but I feel that this is a distraction from the greater and more pressing issues at hand.

Did you make these videos? Sorry, I didn't mean to slam them, I'm just trying to offer constructive criticism.

Thank you, ded. My point precisely (one of them, anyway).

Bottom line? Start smaller. We aren't ready to convince the entire country to legalize marijuana. It won't work. You'll only be wasting your energy that could be better channeled to other routes. Medical marijuana? Maybe, that's the best you could hope for at this point. However, if you really want to gain momentum and have a stronger chance at striking for reform at that federal level, I say you keep knocking out states. We need 38 more to recognize that marijuana is a viable medicine and that some people need it. Will we get all of them? Maybe not, but we need many more before we can push something at the federal level, even for MM. Keep pushing for reform, decriminalization, low priority for judiary action, elimination of mandatory minimum sentences, etc. at the city/state level.

Yes, it won't happen overnight. We do need to take babysteps, but even the direction we take those babysteps for the most efficient success is pertinent. Perhaps you and I simply disagree of the direction.

It's called politics, my friend. Sometimes the best you can do is damage control.

The final three are the only ones that matter at this stage, my friend. If you don't want to expect at least a little progress for MM, go ahead and vote for Ron Paul.

Illegality of marijuana must be "practical" in some sense, seeing as how it's been illegal for 71 years.

Change will occur more quickly by having conviction, a loud voice, and a refusal to comprimise? Please explain. Doing this can alienate people and hurt our cause. It's not "our way or the highway." They have us by the balls, not vice-versa. We have to take whatever we can get. Though being loud might make your heart feel better, it should hurt your head, because you'll hardly progress with that strategy.

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"Every age has its peculiar folly and if Charles Mackay, the author of the 19th century classic, Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds were alive today he would surely see 'cannabinophobia' as a popular delusion along with the 'tulipmania' and 'witch hunts' of earlier ages. ... I also believe that future historians will look at this epoch and recognize it as another instance of the 'madness of crowds.'"
~Dr. Lester Grinspoon

Jack0

Practical in some sense to somebody, but that somebody aint me or you...and that somebody aint been a lot of people for a long time now. It's the same reason counties stay "dry" or have "blue laws"...it's not because people agree with them, but instead because everyone's just too fucking lazy to do something about it.



Perhaps I'm in a small minority of people when I say this, but I believe there are certain freedoms in this world that one shouldn't have to compromise to possess like: being able to drink out of any water fountain you choose, being able to say what you want, believe what you want, and do what you want, as long as it doesn't hurt anyone else.

The freedom to control what crosses the border into a person's body is important...that is someone's sovereign territory, and the only governing body that should rule over it is the very soul that inhabits it.

I won't make progess with my strategy? haha. Perhaps you don't realize that everything has its place in the social organism...while Martin Luther King was the one to facilitate great progress in the civil rights movement, Malcolm X was the one to light a fire under people's asses and rally the troops.

The biggest problem with legalization, is that many stoners are lazy bitches who won't get up off their ass to change things. Another problem is that many stoners don't like being associated with other "causes" and the professional protesting population who flock to all things ACLU and Amnesty International-related. Just focus on one thing, don't spread ourselves too thin, and stick to the freedom issue, and we can get this bullshit whooped. I personally think the medical marijuana arguement is a bastardly approach, because you try and show that marijuana is not bad with that arguement, as opposed to the "Who gives a fuck it's bad?! It's my fucking life!" arguement. If I have the freedom to drink myself into a coma, I should have the same freedom to smoke myself retarded.

Merry-juana

I'd say vote for Ron Paul, it will make him stronger for the next campaign. Lets face it, if Obama is going to win he is not going to need your vote, but if Ron Paul is going to become a front runner and/or get a stronger post in the government he does need your vote. The more people vote for Ron now the more will vote later. We might not win this round, but we can do enough damage to win the next.

SpiralArchitect

Ron Paul has ended his bid for president.

Check out his new campaign, Campaign for Liberty.

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KWhite

Just a note about something I read in this thread...

The discrimination and denigration of humans and their inherent rights that is the drug war is no different than the organized and purposely furtherance of racism or sexism. I will say, as my opinion, that it is no different than the injustice that is racism because of one simple point...

People are not being pushed against the wall and beaten for smoking a joint or using drugs.

(You must never have been busted for either at night in the wrong neighborhood of Rockford Illinois, my home town, and exactly that happened often enouhgh in my not that distant youth.)

But they could be, just a change in mind set, a small change in laws, a run up of the propaganda and yes, they could well be.

It is happening in the Phillipines now- our ally- extra judicial killings of anyone the police forces decided was guilty and the top cop admitted that his detectives planted evidence regularly to get drug convictions. Teh sad thing is, he admitted this and NO ONE took him to task for it.
The fact that it's not AS prevalent today as it was in the past in America is due to the efforts of people like Ded and organizations like Norml in changing exactly those perceptions.

Bush showed us how fast that can be changed if you have the power and it has only been a decade since Newt Gingrich openly advocated beheading drug dealers...

Hate is powerful man, and the situation is odious in and of itself.

it takes nothing from the fights for racial or gender equality to say that this is also a valid fight.

Cuz my rights- big ones or small ones and I'll decide which is which thank'ee- are mine and if you give them a finger, old son, they'll snatch an arm off at the shoulder.

We fight badness no matter where it crops up, and like my old lady was never just a little bit pregnant, the war on marijuana users isn't even close to a little bit okay. It stops being that as soon as a single citizen is jailed for using marijuana, forced out of a job or denied one or, like they used to love to do in Wyoming, as soon as a single child is ripped from a family because the parents chose a non state approved intoxicant.

Hope that helps.

Kelly.