Note: The original reports linking the raid to a marijuana grow operation were in error. Although a grow operation was found, it was not the original impetus of the raid. 3/22/05
Today's irksome news is a story of how 4 members of Canada's Royal Canadian Mounted Police have lost their lives after doing a raid on a marijuana grow operation. This was no home grower working to maintain his own habit however, but instead a man running a major criminal enterprise, made possible by the refusal of some people to understand that you can't prevent human beings from playing with themselves.
It is incomprehensible and unconscionable that these four people lost their lives following orders to do something supremely stupid, ineffective, and inherently illogical, but we can only expect more of the same as long as people buy into the nonsense over the "dangers" of intoxicant use. The flames of that particular exercise in futility are constantly fanned by the news media, which is the real target of today's screed.
I read the report of this incident in the New York Times , which in keeping with a long-standing media tradition to pass along government bullshit without question, had a sidebar article about the horrifying increase of marijuana mentions in US emergency treatment centers. For at least the past two years the US drug czar has been busy trying to scare Americans over the "super-powerful" marijuana grown in BC and smuggled to the US. According to the drug czar, the reason so many people are going to the emergency room over marijuana is fueled largely by more potent weed than people had back in the day. (That, in and of itself, is simply not true, but I know there will be plenty of opportunity to enlighten others over that in the future.)
As usual, the problem is not so much with what the drug czar says, as it is with what he doesn't say -- and the news media doesn't bother checking into. The key thing to know about these emergency room visits over marijuana is that it simply doesn't matter that the number of such visits has tripled over a ten year period. The reason that the number of these visits doesn't add up to much is simply this: out of all the people who actually use marijuana, less than one-half of one percent of them end up in the emergency room over it.
One can rightly expect that the American drug czar would be reluctant to call attention to the fact that his entire operation is useless and unnecessary, but when the "newspaper of record" fails to do its job, we all end up paying the price for it. To help set the record straight over marijuana take a look at this: http://www.briancbennett.com/charts/nutshell-marijuana.
Marijuana is nowhere near as scary as they want us to think.
How do you ask someone to be the last person to die over something so incredibly stupid? Worse, how many more have to die before we wake up and put an end to this nonsense once and for all?
26 comments:
Hey i really liked your article it was good. I know what your talkin bout the mounties being killed, that shit was blown way out of proportion big time. The killer was a cop hating phsyco that would have killed anyone who walked on his property. He was just another phsyco involved in the black market. This never would of happened if they would legalize and regulate marijuana in Canada and the U.S.A.
hi jack,
thanks for your feedback. i certainly agree that things would be better if our governments could be held in check and prevented from persecuting people over what they do to themselves.
however, i doubt that this particular incident would have turned out differently if pot was legal -- let's face it, some people are just nuts!
b
I worked an an Emergency Room Nurse for 21 years. In all that time not once did we care for someone complaining of a Marijuana overdose. Plenty of Alcohol overdoses though.
I know several people that use Marijuana recreationally, and they are quite successful in their chosen fields. So much for the myth of Marijuana "stunting" brain growth.
The only problem I see with Marijuana use is the Random Drug Screen. THAT, is what will ruin lives, with lost jobs, ruined reputations, possibly even prosecution. Heaven know that "your best employee may using drugs".
I am for the decriminalization or legalization of Marijuana. I am tired of listening to the CRAP the Government spews out about the dangers of Marijuana, and am tired of paying for a Drug War that harrasses and prosecutes our own citizens.
thanks for your comments.
i certainly agree with everything you wrote, but in our current social environment we face a hell of a struggle to change things.
to me the two most important aspects of bringing about the required changes are to: make it easy to see what is really going on (that's what my site is for), and to change the dialogue about drugs and drug use in our society.
the central point that needs to be hammered home is a simple one: no one has the right to punish another citizen for the acts they commit directly upon themselves of their own free will.
the data indicates that doing so is completely unwarranted, but the average citizen has no idea about what is really going on.
the government throws out smokescreens like "marijuana mentions" and frightens the citizens with claims about drastic increases in the total numbers of such mentions -- but what they don't tell us is that marijuana mentions account for only one-tenth of one percent of all er visits, and that of the people who actually use marijuana less than one half of one percent of them go to an emergency room and "mention" it.
unfortunately, those in the best position to counter the propagnda (marijuana users) are afraid to lose everything they have in life by admitting to their cannbis use out loud.
i can build the weapons: http://www.briancbennett.com/pagelist.htm
but i need everyone's help in getting the word out.
b
hi bluecat,
thanks for weighing in with your comments.
knowledge is power, and that's what my main web site (http://www.briancbennett.com) is all about. it is flat out impossible to hide the truth -- and the truth is, that drug use and abuse just aren't as "horrible" a problem as we've been led to believe. and, no doubt about it -- prohibition is making things way worse!
every one of us working to end prohibition has two big jobs to do: first, learn as much as you can about what is really going on (that's what my main web site is for), and -- most importantly -- to tell other people.
keep spreading the word.
b
both of the sites you mentioned actually have links back to my site.
i assure you, i am quite well-versed in the subject matter.
remember: i have the balls to try to change the world -- that makes me either a fool or a visionary.
visit my site and then you make the call.
b
excellent! glad to have you along for the ride.
b
good for you! i desire neither followers nor the mindless, so you obviously need to go play somewhere else.
regards,
b
Hello,
The Drug Czar has said that 15 million US citizens use Pot, to me that sounds like a lot of "Votes" that are being ignored by those in power. 15 million voters that they would rather harrass and put behind bars. Just doesn't make sense.
Anonymous.
that's 15 million "regular" users (meaning they smoked it within the prior 30 days). when it comes to past year use, there are 25 million people using pot every year. and that certainly is a lot of voters.
the problem though, is that it is actually very dangerous in our society to admit that you use marijuana, and it's really difficult to create a political presence of voters who have to hide from society.
if we're ever going to get anywhere voting, we'll need to make it safe for politicians to advocate for the end of drug prohibition, and we'll need the people who use marijuana to stand up for themselves and let their loved knows know who they are -- no one can care for us if they don't know who we are.
fortunately, there are a lot of people trying to bring an end to the insanity of drugwar. check out LEAP (law enforcement against prohibition) at http://www.leap.cc and the cannabis consumers coalition (pot smokers coming out of the closet) at http://www.cannabisconsumers.org -- i'm in gallery 9.
of course, being well armed in the debate is essential, so make good use of my site http://www.briancbennett.com and help spread the word about what the government's numbers are really telling us.
the drug was has got to go!
b
Excellent work. Please do not give up the good fight. Your efforts are certainly appreciated.
Thank you.
thanks, i'm doing my best.
b
Hello,
Help! Now the government wants to label me as a threat to national security! When will this madness stop?! All I want to do is smoke a little weed now and then. Its not like I'm taking bribes, or exhorting money from lobbyists, I work hard, pay my own way and my taxes. How does that make me a threat? I feel bad about the people that are being slaughtered by the cartels, if the government would only decriminalize this there would be no need for a black market. In a sense the government is condoning this by keeping weed illegal, yet I am the one that some day in the near future will be labeled a Threat to Security.
Anonymous
thanks for weighing in.
you're right -- we're all labeled unfairly as "threats to natioanl security" simply because we like to amuse ourselves by lighting a plant on fire and inhaling the smoke for fun.
sounds like a major problem doesn't it?
the way forward is to get a whole lot of people to start giving a shit and start helping put an end to this bullshit for good.
keep checking back here for my occasional posts, and more importantly, keep looking around on my website (http://www.briancbennett.com) where i'm putting together everything we need to fight back.
the government is exaggerating and misrepresenting all the data they have on drug use -- and i'm here to call them on it.
we are *not* a threat to anything except a bag of doritos here and there. but as long as we hide in the shadows, we simply cannot win.
learn everything you can, use the materials on my site to prove to people that the "problems" associated with drug use are blown way the hell out of proportion, and most importantly of all: stand up and assert your right to do with yourself as you see fit. obviously, everyone else is entitled to do with themselves as they see fit too -- so no bashing on gays or users of less popular drugs either -- if we're all equals then we need to act like it.
freedom and equality belong to every one of us.
no one has the right to punish another person for what they do to themselves -- and the data make it clear that there is no reason to either.
spread the word!
b
Hello,
Recently I have noticed in the news,(April 11th, Omaha World Herald, Nebraska) when someone is busted with Marijuana, (quanities so far) the Feds are charging them with Narcotics possesion. Now they are using the word "Narcotics" as a way to scare more citizens from the idea of decriminalization. This "safer alternative", has been labed for a long time as a Scheduled drug, and now the government is going to use that for prosecution.
Bush allocated 25 million more dollars to go after the pot smoker and grower, and yet there is no more money to rebuikd New Orleans??!! Of course not! What a distorted view the Republicans have for this country!
actually, the demonization of marijuana has routinely involved linking the word "narcotics" to it for decades. i have been building part of my site to show people the history of the hysteria involving drugs (http://www.briancbennett.com/history/drugwar.htm) as well as building pages of excerpts from magazine articles through the years that clearly show the repeating nature of the claims (http://www.briancbennett.com/history/excerpts/index.htm).
you are quite correct that they seem to ramp up the hysteria periodically -- usually when any progress is being made by anti-drugwar efforts. all of the crap we've been fed has actually become part of our national folklore and is endlessly parroted and swallowed by people who just don't understand what is really going on. but that's what i'm here for, and i certainly hope you're doing your part to help change things.
the truth is out there -- we just need to get people to look at it.
b
Hey,
It is my understanding that the government has been researching Marijuana for more than 30 years. Are there sites out there where a person can go to see their results. I have been to Norml, and all they say is inconclusive, for addictive etc.
Why hasn't one of these pro Marijuana groups gone after the researchers, with a lawsuit like they have the tobacco companies for hiding the truth from the public? If the government can't come up with conclusive evidence, then why are the researchers still funded? You would have thought after 30 plus years, there would be something out there to solidify the fight against Marijuana. I say force them to come out with the truth. Surely there are lawyers out there that would take this on? Maybe to many out there are making to much money off of keeping this drug illegal.
Thanks for the opportunity to vent. K
well, there's research, and then there's research. the field of marijuana research is entirely a political football, and the trend seems to be that whenever the status quo is threatened and it looks like the issue of marijuana use is moving toward acceptance, a new flurry of "research" suddenly proves the "dangers" of marijuana.
however, (and this is what we need to focus on) -- if these "dangers" were real and they actually presented a reason for concern, there would be no doubt about it at all, and the numbers would be pounded out at us in every type of media. in other words, since they've been doing "research" and collecting data for so long, if there were legitimate findings indicating some danger of marijuana use, then they would have the numbers to support it.
those numbers don't exist, though -- because marijuana simply isn't that dangerous. any always remember that any "scientific" claim must also be put to the practicality test: "where are the bodies?"
and, perhaps of greater use to the cause of ending prohibition: all of the data the government has collected over the past three decades proves that there really is no "threat" caused by marijuana use.
look at this page on my site:
http://www.briancbennett.com/charts/nutshell-marijuana.htm
i think you'll agree that the government's own data absolutely proves that marijuana use (as measured by the government's own criteria and their very own data, no less) is simply not a big "problem" in our society.
look at it yourself, and tell everyone you can think of telling.
the truth is indeed out there -- and i have it all hosted on my site.
b
Hello,
I am so angry! People all over the United States are being killed by police, over small amounts of drugs, and even less, and the police are getting by with it! What the hell is going on? They shot a woman in the head, over 2 pills,in Nebraska, and she wasn't armed!, and in fact was not resisting. Do most people think that this kind of police action is OK? The numbers just keep adding up, and no one seems to notice!! What the hell is going on??!!
hi anonymous,
it is well past the point of being unacceptable. however, until we can reverse the brainwashing that every one of us have endured since we were born, we're having a difficult time making progress.
indeed, with each passing year we seem to be devolving further and further into tyranny. but, more and more people are waking up, paying attention, and helping spread the word about what is happening.
one such person, pete guither, has put together a site where you can see the faces and read the stories about way too many of these senseless deaths: http://www.vigilforlostpromise.org
and the worst part of all of this nonsense is that it is being done to keep people from doing things to themselves!
keep being angry! and keep spreading the word. it's well past time to end the drug war.
Hello,
These drug screens that they are doing on our children in the schools, what are the ramifications if there is a positve test? Are they the same from State to State? Is this part of the No child left behind act? Why won't the government stay out of the business of raising my child?
hi anonymous!
i'm not sure about all of the ramifications and whether or not they vary from state to state, but my understanding is that at least the impacts usually do not involve the criminal justice system.
from what i've read, most of the time the impact is that the student is denied the "privilege" of participating in sports and other school sponsored activities.
of course, the ramifications at home are often worse than those the school metes out.
as to why the government won't stay out of our business (clearly, this is not limited to meddling in child rearing) -- my answer is: because we let them.
b
Hey Brian,
Are your fingers crossed, like mine for Nevada and Colorado?
well, the results are in -- boo! but i didn't have my fingers crossed -- i was fairly certain they wouldn't pass.
and i was fairly certain that even if they did, it just wouldn't matter:
http://antidrugwarczar.blogspot.com/2006/07/mpp-ygbsm.html
b
Hi,
Is it any wonder that teens are using cough syrup, pain pills, cocaine and meth, to get high. Those kids arent stupid. They are doing Random Drug testing in the schools, and all of the above drugs are out of persons system in 24-72 hours. Marijuana remains in the system to long. Don't get me wrong here, I don't believe that kids should be doing drugs, but they are, and will continue to, so why not let them have a non addictive drug? But no, our Government thinks that Marijuana is as bad as the above drugs. How blind and pathetic the DEA can be.
yep, you're right on the money: test them for pot and they'll start doing things that don't show up in their urine. and that's all because we're trying to "protect" them.
one of the big problems not being addressed coherently yet is the idea that we're talking about "children." but i say if they are really children then why do we let them drive cars?
b
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