Thursday, November 9, 2006

On this day in 1967 Link Rolling Stone magazine began publication in San Francisco, giving away a free marijuana cigarette (roach) clip with the first issue. Hmmm... Things have changed. On this day in 2006, Rolling Stone reported The soon-to-be-former Mr. Spears has taken no time in retaliating against Britney for suddenly filing for divorce earlier this week. 11:17:04 PM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []

Informant Nails Corrupt Politician At least that's what you might think if you were mayor Bill Edner, Hughesville, Pennsylvania. Here's what actually happened. Reminiscent of Nazi Germany's efforts to get children to inform on their parents, a daughter has turned her parents in to school officials for... That's right. Smoking pot. That led to a police search of the house and the discovery of... pot. And pipes. The girl's father is Mike Rhodes, Hughesville council member and established local businessman. And apparently, while others in town like to wind down at night with a martini, he and his wife like a bowl of marijuana. Now here's the reaction from the mayor: "Charges of corruptions against so many high level officials. It's tough to take when it comes down to the local level," the mayor added. Corruption? I'm sorry, Bill, but corruption is accepting bribes. Corruption is dishonest or fraudulent conduct to gain power. Smoking pot may be illegal, but it certainly isn't corruption. Try this out, Bill. Walk up to anybody and ask if they'd rather have a council member who is corrupt, or one who smokes pot at home. Go ahead. I'm guessing you'll find quite a bit of support for the pot smoker. One more point. The whole business of the daughter snitching on her parents is disturbing, and of course the news reports don't go into much detail, there. But it got me wondering if there might be a connection to school activities. I noticed that at least one of the elementary schools in the East Lycoming School District was celebrating Red Ribbon Week in October. Hmmm.... I'd really like to know whether the school actually encouraged turning in parents. Oh, and Bill -- while you're asking people about corruption versus pot smoking, you might want to ask whether it's better for a young person to be raised in a family (even if their parents sometimes smoke pot or drink cocktails at home), or in foster care while their folks are in prison. ---- For a story from a slightly different perspective, see this disturbing one about parents informing on their children. 10:59:35 PM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []

Interesting votes in Colorado and Nevada Although the Colorado marijuana legalization initiative lost 60-40, it actually won in some counties: Boulder - 53% Clear Creak - 54% Denver - 56% Eagle - 56% Gilpin - 61% On the other hand, the people in Baca county voted 82% against the initiative. Some major geographic and demographic splits on this issue. In Nevada, the geographic differences were there, but less pronounced. However, there were some clear demographic differences. Our least receptive audiences in Nevada? African Americans Old people Rural residents Conservative Republicans who support Bush and approve of the war in Iraq We have the opportunity here to identify some audiences who need to be educated, and start the process. 1:15:50 AM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []