"When the President does it,
that means that it's not illegal."
~ Richard M. Nixon
What if the President Smoked Pot?
The Atlantic Derek Thompson Jun 24 2009
I'm reading William Saletan unpack the latest antismoking bill, and although I don't have a great framework for evaluating drug regulation, it seems to make a lot of sense. Rather than take steps to outlaw cigarettes, the law is a practical response to the question: How can we make this safer? It allows the FDA to alter the harmful chemistry of cigarettes and expands approval of nicotine gum and patches, among other things. And it makes me wonder: Why can't other drug policies be practical responses the same question?
Saletan has this great kicker of a final paragraph:
If you want to know what Obama really thinks about tobacco, don't read his lips. Read his teeth. To relieve his addiction and protect his health, he's been chewing nicotine gum. The law he just signed authorizes the FDA to expedite approval of nicotine lozenges, gum, and patches. It encourages the agency to broaden the grounds for prescribing such products and to authorize their "extended use." It puts regulators smack in the middle of the nicotine business so they can turn it to better use. If only all our drug policies were this rational.
continued...
"The FDA has rejected the possibility of making cigarettes illegal by saying the underground product would be "even more dangerous than those currently marketed." So when you make popular products illegal, it has the potential to make those products more dangerous. Gee, ya think?"
~ Derek Thompson
Nixon lied to schedule Cannabis #1
Once-Secret Nixon Tapes Show Why the U.S. Outlawed Pot
"I want a Goddamn strong statement on marijuana, I mean one that just tears the ass out of them. You know, it's a funny thing, every one of the bastards that are out for legalizing marijuana is Jewish."
~ Richard M. Nixon - Former President
Myths and Facts About Marijuana
More Myths and Facts
"The United States can't be so fixed
on our desire to preserve the rights of ordinary Americans . . ."
~ Bill Clinton, March 1, 1993,
press conference in Piscataway, N.J.
(Boston Globe, 3/2/93, page 3; and USA Today, 3/11/93
Recommended Reading
CSDP news pages (Left side)
". . . unfortunately, we can't control the actions of everyone."
~ Bill Clinton, April 20, 1993
Marijuana Myths, Marijuana Facts review
Drug War Distortions
"Not only are we here to protect the public from vicious criminals in the street but also to protect the public from harmful ideas."
~ Robert Ingersoll - Former DEA Director (1972)
High on Hemp
"Ideas are more powerful than guns.
We would not let our enemies have guns,
why should we let them have ideas."
~ Joseph Stalin
Marijuana Smuggler Gets Life In Prison
A former El Paso trucking manager convicted of transporting marijuana in his tractor-trailers was sentenced this week to life in prison by a North Carolina judge, said Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials.
Hector Ruben McGurk, 47, the former operator of Allied Van Lines in El Paso and a former resident of the West Side, will not be eligible for parole, officials said.
McGurk was arrested in August 2002 and convicted of conspiring with some of his employees to transport more than 100,000 pounds of marijuana from El Paso to the East Coast from January 1996 to August 2002. The drugs were often hidden behind furniture and other household items in the big rigs. He was also convicted of money laundering.
continued...
"You see it in the headlines, you hear it every day. They say they're gonna stop it, but it doesn't go away. They move it through Miami and sell it in LA. They hide it up in Telluride, I mean it's here to stay. It's propping up the governments. in Columbia and Peru. You ask any D.A., man, they'll say there's nothing we can do. From the office of the president right down to me and you. Me and you. It's a losing proposition, but one you can't refuse. It's the politics of contraband, it's the smugglers' blues."
~ Glenn Frey
US NC: OPED: Lawmakers Veer Way Off Path
NORTH CAROLINA LEGISLATORS
HAVE DECLARED WAR ON TUBE ROSES.
Tube roses are little roses and pens in glass tubes. Also on the legislator's list of evil products are cigar splitters. Splitters are plastic tubes that split cigars lengthwise. Both are sold at convenience stores.
Our legislators apparently believe that these products will increase the use of illegal drugs. So the legislature passed "An Act to Provide for the Regulation of Certain Devices that May be Used as Drug Paraphernalia."
continued...
$27 million in 'pot' plants seized; campsite uncovered
A Former Marijuana Smuggler and Vietnam War Hero
Seeks Greater Recognition From His Government
In 2001 — 34 years after the mission — some of Tercero's friends in Phoenix put together a packet on his behalf for the Department of the Army requesting an upgrade of his Bronze Star to a Medal of Honor.
But the Army Decorations Board didn't budge.
"There's my dope-smuggling past to consider. I wasn't just a nickel-and-dimer. We were flying the shit in, tens of thousands of pounds [of marijuana], for years. We got caught a bunch of times, and even though I was really lucky to escape prison, I did what I did and it's public record."
~ Tony Tercero
UPDATE: Viet War Hero Tony Tercero
-- the Subject of Our Current Cover Story
"OK" After Cancer Surgery
By Paul Rubin in News
Tuesday, Jun. 2 2009
