Squiggler

Pot follies = Laugh of the Day!

I was laughing as soon as I saw the headline. And I swear the reporter wrote the first paragragh, not I.

Taliban Smoked Out of Pot Forest

Sunday, October   15, 2006

Note to self: when fighting militants in a giant forest made of pot, it's best not to try to burn the place down (unless you've got time to make a run for some munchies, that is).

Canadian troops in Afghanistan found this out the hard way.

Reuters reports the troops were fighting Taliban militants when they were met with a greener, more potent enemy: a 10-foot-tall marijuana forest.

The Taliban fighters were using the dense thicket of plants for cover, so the troops were forced to eliminate the weedy threat.

"The challenge is that marijuana plants absorb energy and heat very readily. It's very difficult to penetrate with thermal devices ... and as a result you really have to be careful that the Taliban don't dodge in and out of those marijuana forests," General Rick Hillier said in a speech in Ottawa.

"A couple of brown plants on the edges of some of those (forests) did catch on fire. But a section of soldiers that was downwind from that had some ill effects and decided that was probably not the right course of action," Hiller said.

Like they didn't know they were high as kites. I'm surprised they didn't stop, hold hands and start singing:

How many roads most a man walk down
Before you call him a man ?
How many seas must a white dove sail
Before she sleeps in the sand ?
Yes, how many times must the cannon balls fly
Before they're forever banned ?
The answer my friend is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind.

Yes, how many years can a mountain exist
Before it's washed to the sea ?
Yes, how many years can some people exist
Before they're allowed to be free ?
Yes, how many times can a man turn his head
Pretending he just doesn't see ?
The answer my friend is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind.

Yes, how many times must a man look up
Before he can see the sky ?
Yes, how many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry ?
Yes, how many deaths will it take till he knows
That too many people have died ?
The answer my friend is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind.

Police station pot of pot

This is too funny.

Duluth police pot holds pot (H/T Drudge)

IRONY: Police attribute a dozen marijuana plants at the West Duluth substation to a joker.

BY MARK STODGHILL
NEWS TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

Justin Hayworth/News Tribune

Marijuana grows in a concrete planter outside the West Duluth police substation, 5315 Grand Ave.

More photos

Like all good reporters, the News Tribune's Janna Goerdt has learned to keep her ears and eyes open for whatever might be encountered on an assignment.

Goerdt accompanied law enforcement officials Saturday as they searched for people illegally using all-terrain vehicles in Duluth. She wrote a story about the enforcement campaign for Sunday's newspaper.

Goerdt also uncovered a dozen marijuana plants growing in western Duluth.

The pot wasn't growing off an ATV trail. And she didn't find it in the woods.

Goerdt found the marijuana growing in a planter near the front door of the West Duluth police substation.

You might say she was paying attention.

During law enforcement's briefing on how they were going to conduct the ATV sting Saturday, Goerdt heard two members of a rival news team talking about "something interesting" in front of the police station at 5315 Grand Ave.

Eavesdropping like a good reporter, Goerdt filed the comment away in her memory bank and accompanied law enforcement on the ATV crackdown.

When that assignment was over, Goerdt returned to the police station and took a walk around the building. She found the marijuana plants. Although she said she didn't know that they were marijuana plants.

She plucked one of the leaves and brought it back to the newspaper. "I needed some evidence," she said. "I didn't know if anyone would believe me. I didn't think it was a big deal. I just thought it was rather amusing."

Duluth City Gardner Tom Kasper was given the leaf for inspection Monday and confirmed that it came from a marijuana plant.

Kasper immediately traveled to the West Duluth police substation to inform neighborhood supervising police Lt. John Beyer of the pot growing in the front-yard planter.

Beyer pointed out that he, his police officers and the public use the backdoor entrance to the police station. The front door just off busy Grand Avenue is usually locked and not used.

"The only thing I can say is somebody has a sense of humor," Beyer said. "Now they'll read about it in the paper and say, 'Yeah, that was me.' "

Goerdt provided the scoop and Kasper did the scooping.

The gardener dug out the 12 marijuana plants by their roots and presented them to Beyer. They were 4 to 6 inches high and Kasper estimated they had been growing about three weeks.

Beyer said the plants will be placed in a paper bag and destroyed when the next batch of police-confiscated drugs are gotten rid of.

Kasper said this is the first marijuana found growing in Duluth that has been reported to him in 10 years.

But this isn't the first time marijuana has been discovered growing in a public place in Duluth. In 1990, a citizen pointed out to police that a 3-foot marijuana plant was growing in the northern corner of the Civic Center courtyard near City Hall.

For a day at least, Goerdt is known around here as "Janna The Snitch." She said she can live with it.

Who wants to legalize pot?

I have been advocating the decriminalization of marijuana for years for many reasons. In the last few years, I've concentrated mainly on the benefits for those who suffer constant nausea, especially from the rigors of undergoing chemotherapy. I find the following poll interesting and rather surprising.

Some readers have suggested that being in favor of legalizing MJ is a conservative position. It certainly is a libertarian one, but let's look at survey results and see what kind of people believe this way. Let's begin with political orientation:

Percent in favor of MJ legalization: extremely liberal 64.2%; extremely conservative 19.2.

Sociologically speaking, it is clearly a liberal position. But I wanted to make a sketch of the pro-legalization camp. Here's a list:

U.S. total in favor: 34.8%; 18-30 year-olds 43.4; Graduate degree 44.3; Never attends church 52.7; Pacific region 42.9; Russian ethnic group 50.0. Poor minority groups were most against it:Blacks 26.3%; Mexicans 25.9; and Puerto Ricans 23.7.

New study shows pot is actually beneficial to the brain

Many people assume that marijuana was made illegal through some kind of process involving scientific, medical, and government hearings; that it was to protect the citizens from what was determined to be a dangerous drug. The actual story shows a much different picture. Those who voted on the legal fate of this plant never had the facts, but were dependent on information supplied by those who had a specific agenda to deceive lawmakers. You'll see below that the very first federal vote to prohibit marijuana was based entirely on a documented lie on the floor of the Senate. You'll also see that the history of marijuana's criminalization is filled with: Racism Fear Protection of Corporate Profits Yellow Journalism Ignorant, Incompetent, and/or Corrupt Legislators Personal Career Advancement and Greed These are the actual reasons marijuana is illegal. [GET THE BACKGROUND and READ IT ALL HERE]

-- AND --

New Report: Cannabis and the Brain NORML has a new report on the effects of marijuana on the brain. The report is available here. Whereas prohibitionist claims that pot use damages the brain continue to litter the debate regarding marijuana and health, scientific research now suggests what many cannabis enthusiasts have speculated all along: ganja is good for you. In ways many of us could have never previously imagined, research now indicates that cannabinoids can promote the growth of neurons (nerve cells), protect the brain from trauma and cancer, and perhaps slow the progression of certain neurodegenerative diseases, such as Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's, and Lou Gehrig's Disease. At the same time, clinical investigations have also put to rest the "stoner stupid" stereotype, finding that cannabis even when used long-term has little [Hat tip: Talk Left] • Cannabinoids & Neurogenesis • Cannabis & Neuroprotection • Cannabinoids & Glioma • Cannabinoids & Neurodegeneration • Cannabis & Cognition

I make no bones about this issue. I strongly advocate the decriminalization of marijuana, for both medical and recreational purposes. My own reasoning is simple. I know for absolute fact that pot helps with a variety of symptoms such as pain and nausea, it also reduces anxiety. And in my considerable years, I have NEVER EVER seen someone beat the Sh!t out of someone while stoned on pot and I have seen numerous incidences of individuals (usually women or children) being beaten to a bloody pulp by some alcohol-crazed jerk.

I am anti-alcohol. I despise drunks. As long as alcohol is a legal drug with bona fide side effects, from irrational and angry brutal behaviors, to addiction and subsequent medical damage such as cirrhosis of the liver and fetal alcohol syndrome, to name just two, I will continue to be mystified as to why pot is considered to be so much more dangerous. And how many murders and how much bodily harm has been suffered at the hands of an enraged drunk? How many children and women have been brutalized by a drunk? Thousands, millions? How many have sat in jail because a few drinks make them think they are "macho man?" How many divorces have alcohol abuse at their root?

The worst part of the pot controversy has been the government's stance at making it virtually illegal to even study marijuana. So, the new study is a bit of a milestone just for existing. And the results are what most rational people have known all along.

Back in 1990, I was living in a state where any possession was punishable by years in prison. I'm talking possession here, not big time drug importers or major dealers. I'm talking about the average guy/gal who has a small amount for personal use. I was coming off 4 surgeries in just a couple of years and suffering terrible nausea from the various "legal" pain meds I was being prescribed. My doctor, practicing at one of the very top hospitals in this country, said to me, "you didn't hear this from me, but my suggestion is to smoke a joint." A few years later, I was visiting my Mother in California and she was telling me how one of her friends and bridge partners was fighting the system on behalf of her husband. This man was in his late seventies and undergoing chemo for what turned out to be terminal cancer and had found marijuana to be the one thing that helped the body-wracking nausea he had been experiencing. This woman, 79 years old, was arrested for purchasing a 1/4 oz. of pot for her dying husband. Unconscionable.

With my own medical problems, I would qualify without any problem at all for a medical marijuana card here in California. But what good would it do? The Feds have come in and are shutting down the clinics, going after those with the cards and totally overriding the will of the people of this state who voted for the measure in the first place. Unconscionable.

And why, because of politics and greed. There are absolutely no good reasons for pot to be illegal, especially in light of the fact that the far more dangerous drug, alcohol, is not only legal, but a huge industry. It is all about money.

Get the facts! Decriminalize!

See also: Medical Cannabis Resource Center