In stark contrast to the presidential campaigns of 2000 and previous
years, almost all of the current presidential candidates are calling
for an end to the federal government's raids on medical marijuana
patients.

And some candidates are calling for broader marijuana policy reform
measures. According to The New York Times on November 9 -- in response
to the question "Which of you are ready to admit to having used
marijuana in the past?" -- Congressman Dennis Kucinich replied that he
had never used marijuana and then added, "But I think it ought to be
decriminalized." Kucinich is one of the nine Democratic contenders.

Please see http://www.GraniteStaters.com for details on the Marijuana
Policy Project's campaign to influence the presidential candidates in
New Hampshire, as well as the candidates' positions on medical
marijuana.

In addition to Congressman Kucinich, there are at least three other
presidential contenders who are calling for an end to the government's
war on all marijuana users -- not just medical marijuana patients.

* Aaron Russo, an independent candidate and accomplished movie
producer and director who spoke at MPP's national conference in
November 2002, has a video clip from his interview with the BBC
(that was aired internationally but not in the U.S.) in which he
expresses his support for medical marijuana.

http://www.russoforpresident.com

* Gary Nolan, a Libertarian, told MPP, "At the state and community
level, I believe that currently illegal drugs like marijuana
should be treated similarly to currently legal drugs like
alcohol. There should certainly be no restrictions on the ability
of a patient and his/her doctor to employ any treatment they
think might be effective, including marijuana."

http://www.garynolan.com

* Michael Badnarik, also a Libertarian, has this to say on his Web
site: "The government's war on drugs violates the rights of
Americans so egregiously that it is a bigger threat than the
drugs themselves. Libertarians do not want our children taking
drugs either, but we recognize that the several decades of drug
interdiction haven't slowed the flow of narcotics into this
country. Children take drugs because criminals actively sell
them. Criminals sell drugs because they are astronomically
profitable. Drugs are highly profitable only because they are
illegal. The Libertarian solution is to decriminalize drugs,
which will make drugs extremely cheap, which will remove the
profit motivation for selling drugs, which will result in fewer
children taking drugs."

http://www.badnarik.org

And there will likely be Green Party and other candidates who will
call for similar reforms; MPP will also report on these candidates in
the months to come.

While it is true that Libertarian, Green, and independent candidates
have the deck stacked against them and therefore are unlikely to win
the presidency in 2004, it is telling that virtually all of these
candidates -- from across the political spectrum -- are calling for an
end to marijuana prohibition.

And just as telling is the news that one of the Democratic candidates
-- a sitting member of Congress -- is also calling for an end to
marijuana prohibition. This is from Congressman Kucinich's Web page,
which is found at http://www.kucinich.us/issues/marijuana_decrim.php :

"The rationale for continuing this draconian policy of marijuana
prohibition is unclear. Statistical evidence shows that marijuana use follows a pattern very similar to that of alcohol. Most marijuana users do so responsibly, in a safe, recreational
context. These people lead normal, productive lives -- pursuing
careers, raising families, and participating in civic life. In
addition, marijuana has proven benefits in the treatment of
numerous diseases, such as providing a valuable means of pain management for terminally ill patients. In either of these
contexts, there is no rational justification for criminally
enforced prohibitions. These unnecessary arrests and
incarcerations serve only to crowd prisons, backlog the judicial
system, and distract law enforcement officials from pursuing
terrorists and other violent criminals."

__________________
_____
1979 300 SD
350,000 miles
_____
1982 300D-gone---sold to a buddy
_____
1985 300TD
270,000 miles
_____
1994 E320
not my favorite, but the wife wanted it

www.myspace.com/mikemover
www.myspace.com/openskystudio
www.myspace.com/speedxband
www.myspace.com/openskyseparators
www.myspace.com/doubledrivemusic

Okay, I gota say something good about Kucinich. Glad he had the stones to say that. I wish the rest would follow his lead.

Golly, that hurt.

I think anorexics should be prescribed marijuana...cure that problem in a hurry! :p

__________________
2009 ML350 (106K) - Family vehicle
2001 CLK430 Cabriolet (80K) - Wife's car
2005 BMW 645CI (138K) - My daily driver
2016 Mustang (32K) - Daughter's car

I can't say I agree on the Libertarian view of legalizing all drugs (recreational and otherwise, I assume). Some drugs are absolutely detrimental to society and should be treated as such. It has always seemed to me that the best way to encourage our children to take meth, cocaine, heroin, etc. is to outlaw marijuana. The idea that marijuana leads to harder drugs is only true because our government has made it true. By placing the relatively benign marijuana in the same class (illegal) as harder drugs, a message is being sent (try one illegal drug -- why not try them all?). By legalizing it, we're moving that line in the sand to include marijuana with alcohol rather than with harder drugs. And while alcohol is also more dangerous and detrimental to society than marijuana, at least a line is being drawn.

Ron
http://germanstar.net

We have more sex and alcohol-related offenses here in the US because of our paranoia with such.

As GermanStar recanted, kids go after whatever is taboo or "contraband".

When I lived in Italy, kids were allowed to drink wine at age 2. So alcohol consumption was not a peer issue and unlikely to spawn illegal drunken parties like teens engage in here.

Still...by making marijuana legal, would you fly in a jet, ride a taxi or bus, or have someone perform surgery on you after they finished off a cig?

__________________
2009 ML350 (106K) - Family vehicle
2001 CLK430 Cabriolet (80K) - Wife's car
2005 BMW 645CI (138K) - My daily driver
2016 Mustang (32K) - Daughter's car

Of course not -- if legalized, it should basically be treated just like alcohol. If it isn't OK to do drunk, it isn't OK to do stoned.

Ron
http://germanstar.net

Remove the word marijuana from this quote and replace it with the word alcohol. Think about the implications...

We regulate both alcohol and tobacco, two of the most destructive substances regularly ingested by humans, while allowing their use under some restrictions. I'm quite certain we could include marijuana into this same regulatory equation and face even fewer negative consequences than either of those two.

I'm sure they exist but I know a lot of people who smoke dope, and none are successful. Besides most of the time the reefer is laced with various things, crack, speed, crank, angeldust, and they say its not addictive but everyone I've seen smoke it wakes up and goes to bed with a joint in hand. Thing is, if you left the house after smoking it, is it not public intoxication (or something like it) and since mary j stays in the blood like 30 days, that means you cant drive since its always there thusly making you under the influence, provable by a drug test.

It's all just another nail in the coffin for this country. Down the drain we go.
But then you knew I'd have that opinion.

__________________
past MB rides:
'68 220D
'68 220D(another one)
'67 230
'84 SD
Current rides:
'06 Lexus RX330
'93 Ford F-250
'96 Corvette
'99 Polaris 700 RMK sled
2011 Polaris Assault
'86 Yamaha TT350(good 'ol thumper)

There are stoner-dudes and there are alcoholics. There are also people who use one or both in a relatively responsible manner. All people who smoke marijuana are not stoners, just as all people who drink alcohol are not alcoholics.

Ron
http://germanstar.net

Ridiculous. The fact that it can be detected by a test 30 days later (although this test is HIGHLY unreliable) does not mean that you are still under any mind-altering influence 30 days later. Acid and other drugs can be tested for DECADES after use, it stays in the spinal fluid, but obviously you would not still be under the influence of it.

Marijuana is NOT addictive like alcohol and especially tobacco, and in fact it is even less addictive than caffiene...should soft drinks be illegal as well?

I'd say more than 70% of the people I know smoke marijuana on an occasional, if not regular, basis. I do not, by the way. NONE of these people are addicts. Many are HUGELY successful in various careers and lifestyles. The only ones who have any trouble functioning "normally" are the ones who have trouble with other substances...alcohol, cocaine, etc...and they are in the small minority.

Most marijuana, particularly home-grown, is NOT laced with anything, and if it were legal and regulated, this would be even less of an issue.

Let's deal with reality here, please...not conjecture and urban legends...

Mike

__________________
_____
1979 300 SD
350,000 miles
_____
1982 300D-gone---sold to a buddy
_____
1985 300TD
270,000 miles
_____
1994 E320
not my favorite, but the wife wanted it

www.myspace.com/mikemover
www.myspace.com/openskystudio
www.myspace.com/speedxband
www.myspace.com/openskyseparators
www.myspace.com/doubledrivemusic

Concerning uh, Cannabis....uh....what was I saying? Oh yeah, I think it affects memory, but I'm not sure .

Anybody for pizza?

Botnst

hahaha...

__________________
_____
1979 300 SD
350,000 miles
_____
1982 300D-gone---sold to a buddy
_____
1985 300TD
270,000 miles
_____
1994 E320
not my favorite, but the wife wanted it

www.myspace.com/mikemover
www.myspace.com/openskystudio
www.myspace.com/speedxband
www.myspace.com/openskyseparators
www.myspace.com/doubledrivemusic

C'mon Bot -- let's get with the jargon. That's tetrahydrocannabinol (delta-6 trans reportedly the most potent isomer, or so I recall)...

Ron
http://germanstar.net

Back in the day, I took organic for fun and profit. I pursued several adventures in natural products chemistry including Ipomoea, Lophophora, Cannabis, Psilicybe, and I think Datura or was it Atropa? I was a better chemist than capitalist so enjoyed my work with little profit and a lot of (warranted) anxiety. Unlike many peers, I was lucky to have avoided complications of chemistry and society.

From my perspective, concern about society condoning over-indulgence of these chemicals is reasonable. But I think the means of addressing the problem--prison--is stupid, short-sighted, and terribly counter-productive. Warehousing young men through their prime productive years in total immersion criminal education will haunt us for generations.

I don't really have much of an alternative to offer. Some kids seem to pursue drug and alcohol abuse with a near-religious fervor. Being nice to them and offering gentle counselling will have zero effect on them. It will often add to their utter contempt for society. But most kids fool around with lesser drugs and find some sort of equilibrium in use fairly quickly. I'll bet most older guys on this list have indulged their curiosity to some degree with one or more mind-altering substances, not least of which is alcohol. Most of us seem to do okay whether our drugs of choice are legal or not. Some folks, a small number in my opinion, are a problem.

All this legal wrangling with lives is horribly destructive of basically good kids. I wish we could offer a different paradigm.

I'd smoke Cannabis again if it were legal. Its just not worth the risks, given my present circumstances.

Botnst