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Pought ThotsSend your Pought Thots to: #504 - 21 Water St, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6B-1A1. email muggles@hempbc.comFor news and information from the front lines of Canada's Drug War send an email to cclist-owner@netnation.com with a line "subscribe" by itself in the message. A Hemp Canuck in KathmanduI am a Canadian who has lived for many years here in Nepal, and am very interested in anything that has to do with hemp and drug policy in Canada, as I am fighting for the same rights here in Nepal. For the past two years I have been exporting hemp from Nepal, and have at the same time being lobbying the Government of Nepal to change its laws to allow the legal growing of hemp. This would enable the village farmers to make a better living, and also improve the quality of life in the city as well, by helping to eliminate the excess pollution there is in Kathmandu. As it is much cheaper to do things here in Nepal then there in the west, we can start something like Bio-Diesel on a limited budget and get it going. I have a number of good Nepali friends working the government side, and have even had our samples taken to the King of Nepal, who is on the side of hemp. His younger brother, who is living in England, is really a hempster at heart, he and I have had spent many good hours talking about what else but hemp. I have also been talking hemp with the many foreign experts in the country such as UN reps, USAID, Swiss Development & Cooperation, German Technical Advisors, and other aid groups in the country. The response from all is very positive, and this will slowly get back to their home countries as well. The fight is not only Canadian, but for the world. I hope to hear back from interested people. All the best from Nepal.
Darcy Petticrew, The Consent of the GovernedHere are some words whose meaning seems to have been forgotten by the present governors of North America! ". . .That, to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; that, when any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, It is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute a new government. . ." -Thomas Jefferson, 1776. I think it would be really nice if governments worldwide would begin treating their citizens as adults who are capable of making independent choices, instead of treating us like children who need guidance and supervision in their day to day lives. From an American wondering where his right to pursue happiness went. Free men own guns. . .Slaves don't!
John Marthaller Coming Out of the ClosetIt has occurred to me that all smokers of the magical weed need to do as the homosexuals have done, and come out of the closet. I propose the Great Marijuana Smoke-Out! Out of the closet, that is. Can you imagine what would happen if all the persons that partake in the glorious wonders of this god-given plant were to come out of the closet and admit that they use marijuana? I personally know lawyers, builders, bankers, engineers, and many others who at least occasionally enjoy the wonders of a relaxing marijuana buzz, and it is my opinion that we must all come out of the closet together.
Jon D Montemagni The problem of pot hypocrisy is more deeply rooted than you might think. I was recently threatened with a lawsuit by the author of a cannabis botany book if I printed that he had smoked a joint in an Amsterdam coffeeshop. He was apparently afraid that his reputation might suffer if it was revealed that he appreciated the flowers of the cannabis plant along with its other beneficial uses. I am always disappointed with those who think that the best way to "separate the rope from the dope" is to pretend that they don't enjoy cannabis flowers. ~DL Blessings from on HighI wish you blessings from the pot-god. May it guide you clear of your oppressors.
Lorraine Realpolitik, Big Money and Brazen BehaviourThree points: 1. The Senate in itself is almost irrelevant. The treatment cannabis activists receive in Parliament does not matter. The "real politics" is happening elsewhere, although I suppose the two chambers are as good focal points as any other. 2. Folks are preoccupied with crime, the cost of crime and the federal debt. If cannabis were legalized and controlled like liquor, what would be the net benefits to public administrations in Canada? Any dollar amounts out there? 3. As the police back away from arresting people for minor possession and cultivation, some marijuana smokers are becoming as brazen and disrespectful as most tobacco smokers. If this trend keeps up, it will be hard to budge the status quo. I certainly would not blame non-users for being less than enthusiastic about decriminalizing or legalizing a noxious substance that they perceive will only lessen their quality of life. !En la lucha!
Erik Poole
Fat Freddy Speaks OutI am Jess G Williams, a Soul and a Will. I have a birth certificate to prove it. I am also a Spirit Fat Freddy Freak, the only copywrited cartoon caricature in the history of the Human Race. I refuse to die. The law is trying to cause my death, but they can't kill a Cartoon Caricature as easy as they think. I have been a good person all of my life. I have never been in trouble with the law at all. I have found that marijuana is a medicine that allows me to feel a lot like I used to. I hope you never have to go through a head injury. I have been put in a position of having to use marijuana or face death. I want to live. This has made me very religious, to the point of not caring whether I live or die. I have put myself in a win mode and I will win dead or alive. My faith in God will win this one in a big way. I feel I am a spirit come to life. I understand it when he said "Be ye perfect, even as I am perfect!" I wish to live forever as we have been told we can. My life has been pushed hard. My home has been ransacked two times, my mother's trinkets and family pride stolen by police as they took whatever they wanted. Family heirlooms that had been passed on to me and which were to be given to my children. Now they're gone, lost to a greedy policeman who has wiped out a lot of our family history. I've written and mailed well over 800 letters in the last 3 years. Now I'm talking to everyone! Why do you want to kill our world? Why do you feel God's gift is bad? Why do you hide in your closet and let your children die from pollution caused by burning oil and wood? Personally, I want to live! We are a peaceful people. There is no prejudice in the Peace Movement. We are all human beings. No sex, race, creed or colour in the Peace Movement. Please write Fat Freddy a letter saying you are in the Peace Movement
Jess G Williams (AKA Fat Freddy)
Grasstown Hit Below the BeltI thought that the reprinted cartoon in the centre of the Grasstown Police Riot issue (CC#5) did us all harm. Would you tell your daughter about some police commish using a baseball bat as a dildo as a way of enlightening her about the unfairness of the police's actions? The cartoon would have been better than it was had it been criticised for its "below the belt" tactics by your editorial staff. I can understand the anger of the cartoonist, but frankly that cartoon does not represent how I feel. I'm not sure that it represents how you, the editors, feel, based on all the other articles I've read since your newsletter days... and I was certainly angry at the facts that were reported in that issue. Please do not let your publication be lowered to the level of name-calling and all the other yucky hateful tactics that some people use against us, the marijuana and hemp lovers. PS: Damn senators! Yours Truly
Matthew
I just thought the cartoon was funny. ~DL The Stupidest Thing I Have Ever HeardJust a thought or two about the article Kaneh Bosm, the Hidden Story of Cannabis in the Old Testament (CC#5). It was seriously the stupidest thing I have ever heard of. While I have no doubt cannabis was used by people in that era, I cannot help but laugh at the many far-fetched and obviously ignorant statements made by the author. Clearly he had the desire to justify pot use by using references from a widely accepted source of today's general moral code such as the Bible. I think he should try reading the Bible from cover to cover before making his arguments, or at least speak to someone has dedicated a good deal of time studying the book from an unbiased point of view. The part about the burning bush. . .hilarious! That was taken completely out of context. The writer was talking about a real bush that was burning with the presence of Moses' God, the God of Abraham. That's why God told him to take of his shoes; he was standing on holy ground. Don't get me wrong, I am all for the legal use of all plants, especially cannabis. I have been studying the Bible for my whole life (I am 21) and found it quite simple to pick out all the references you were taking out of context, without the use of my Bible. Don't try to make up things that are just not there. You'll only feel stupid when you are proven wrong. Go with the facts about Cannabis. After all, didn't God say it was good? Peace and love, ya dopes!
Rick Barnaby
Concern is an UnderstatementI recently found your magazine in our local store, it was their last copy and I had to have it. I read it with much joy and concern, concern over what I have been taught about the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. Welcome to the Canadian inquisition, and never mind the guys in the black hoods with the really big axes. The articles on the Act really have me worried. I am a smoker of 26 years, and have been using pot over the years to cope with depression. I only smoke a few joints when my normal antidepressants don't work. I am also an artist and find pot to be a great creative force in the idea department. The down side of pot is that I am also a security officer and have to be so damn careful about my image. Oh to live up to the ideal of a tolerant society, to put the pot paranoia into the garbage can of history where it belongs. Let's never stop dreaming of the day legal pot will be a reality, and let's never stop working towards that end. Keep up the great work.
A.R.
You can't patent a plantI thought your readers might be interested in the following, from Scientific American, September 1896: "The United States Patent Office is ready to grant patents for medicines, although it is an open question in professional ethics whether a physician should patent a remedy. Synthetic medicines, prepared by chemical processes, often coal tar products, are now invading the field of Nature's simples, and it is possible that there may yet be a number of patentable medical compounds invented, to replace quinine and other vegetable alkaloids and extracts." It is interesting to note that 100 years later we have created a medical system that uses patent medicines almost exclusively. We are taught to take our medicine in pills instead of vegetable extracts. The law even prohibits the use of one vegetable alkaloid that was commonly used, namely cannabis. Sincerely,
Arthur Livermore
Political BullshitNot all people will read the articles on Bill C-8 and all the political bullshit, because we already know what's not going to happen: legalization. There's too much pressure on the government, not only from church groups, but bikers and mafia. If cannabis was legalized their profits would be cut by major proportions. They would have to undersell the government, and these crime lords don't want to take any cutbacks. The only result of this would be inner city crime wars. Also, think of the poor souls in the government that tried to help us out. They would just be setting themselves up to be assassinated by either the crime lords or the great old Uncle Sadist. . .woops, I mean Uncle Sam. You can't tell a scared government official to be a proud Canadian when so many others actually pull his strings! You need to have more articles on growing and making hash and oils. This is what people are really looking for, not political bullshit that they already know!
Stu
Although we're evolving and changing as a magazine, don't take it as a sign that we're getting less political. Growing pot is a political act as well as a social, spiritual and economic one. As to the claim that everyone already knows the political bullshit, that simply isn't true. They may have a vague idea that their government's out to get them, but the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act was given no detailed coverage in the mainstream media, and so CC is the only source of information about how the legal system is being manipulated to allow for the mass arrest of marijuana users. ~DL Support your local TobacconistHow many people think of marijuana as a good drug while tobacco is bad? Isn't pot less harmful? The truth is that their fates are intertwined. Many supporters of marijuana legalization favour further limits on the sale and use of tobacco, yet the zealots who proscribe tobacco are no friends of pot smokers. Every additional restriction of tobacco is a victory for prohibitionists, and encourages those same people to pursue the greater War on Drugs. The anti-smoking campaign is based upon the harmfulness and addictiveness of tobacco. While these claims are true, they do not justify entrenching the government's power to regulate people's lives, something anyone who indulges in an illicit substance should be wary of. If legalization advocates stress the relative harmlessness of marijuana they are doomed to failure. It is always possible to muddy and confuse issues where health is concerned. The only clear, principled and consistent argument is in terms of rights. Should people have the right to get stoned or alter their consciousness? Drug laws deny us this right, this is clear. If people have the right to get stoned then they should be able to possess and use tobacco, heroin, LSD, and a host of other substances as well. It is hypocritical to put down tobacco and ignore the far more urgent problems created by the prohibition of heroin and call for the legalization of marijuana. This changes the question from one of principle to one of self serving expediency. It is like supporting freedom of religion for Christians only. If we do not realize that we have common cause with those who use tobacco, heroin and other drugs we will all continue to suffer the oppression of our drug laws.
Robin Sharpe
Very Scary IndeedI am from Oregon and my pregnant wife is ill. She functions OK with medicinal cannabis, but slowly starves to death without it. We intend on moving to the BC area as soon as we can do so. I am in the process of looking for a job in the area so we can move under NAFTA rules. My wife and I got caught for growing. The cops did not arrest us or press charges, but they did take away our plants and notify our landlords. They were "nice" about it. This week our only remaining source was arrested. He was stopped for driving without a seat belt, and he had two ounces of leaf in his car. He is up on trafficking charges and could get 20 years hard time. We are tired of living in constant fear. The USA has become a very scary place to live.
K.D.
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