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Written by David Swanson
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Wednesday, 16 September 2009 |
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The U.S. Department of Justice says that
alcohol plays a pivotal role in two-thirds of all cases of violence
against an intimate (a spouse, boyfriend, girlfriend), and blames
alcohol for contributing to 100,000 sexual assaults against young
people every year. That's right, alcohol hurts more people than al
Qaeda.
Of course, alcohol does not always lead every consumer of it to
violence. Most people who drink alcohol don't hurt anyone. But a large
percentage of those who do get violent have been drinking alcohol.
Should we ban it? We tried that once with miserable results, and we've
banned other substances with equally bad outcomes.
We could stop promoting alcohol so heavily, but the impact of doing so
would probably not be large. What to do? Well, what if there were a
substitute for alcohol that didn't make anyone violent? What if this
substitute were far less dangerous than alcohol to the health of the
person using it, as well as to those around him or her? What if this
alternative substance even had health benefits and medicinal properties
and potentials? What if this substance satisfied the desire for
intoxication without actually containing anything toxic, and you woke
up the next morning without a hangover? What if this magical substitute
for alcohol could boost the economy, free prisoners, reduce prison
budgets, free up police to address serious crimes, and subtly improve
our culture if only we could discover what it was? |
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Written by John Lepine
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Tuesday, 15 September 2009 |
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A friend at a party gets sexually violated by someone who has been
using pot, a family member is killed by a high driver or a schoolmate
is beaten by her father every night after he smokes a joint. Wait
a second; that does not sound right. Substitute alcohol for marijuana
in all of those situations and you will have something closer to the
actual picture. That is the message that the executive director
of Safer Alternative For Enjoyable Recreation (SAFER), Mason Tvert,
wishes policymakers would get. He said that compared to alcohol,
marijuana is “less toxic, less addictive and associated with far fewer
social problems, especially on campus.” So why is alcohol freely available to all adults while marijuana is still prohibited at every level of government?
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Written by Greg Grisolano
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Sunday, 13 September 2009 |
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Kelly Maddy had a message for the revelers at the Cannabis Revival on
Saturday afternoon — reforming America’s marijuana laws must be a
grass-roots effort.
“We need you to get up, put down the bong, and get active,” he told the
throng gathered around the pavilion at Landreth Park. “No longer can we
sit silent, because silence is consent. If we continue to give them
silence, all they will do is continue to give us bad laws.” |
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Written by Joplin Independent
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Friday, 11 September 2009 |
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"Students for a Sensible Drug Policy" was the topic of a talk last
night at Missouri Southern State University by Mason Tvert, a Colorado
resident and staunch advocate for relaxing the penalties for possession
of small quantities of marijuana.
Tvert in his attempt to empower students to join the debate
spent a great deal of time presenting arguments justifying the use of
marijuana over alcohol, both drugs, but one that carries what he
considers an unjust penalty for possession.
While Tvert described marijuana and alcohol as both intoxicants,
he concluded that marijuana use was safer. And that is the premise of
his book that he co-authored with Steve Fox and Paul Armentano, Marijuana is Safer: So Why Are We Driving People to Drink?(Chelsea Green Publishing, 8/24/09).
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Written by Jordan Smith
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Friday, 11 September 2009 |
In the wake of July's controversial arrest of Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr., President Barack Obama sought to take the rhetoric down a notch via an informal White House meeting between Gates and Sgt. James Crowley, the officer who arrested him. The two, joined by Obama, would sit down and talk things out, adultlike, over beer. It sounded folksy and practical, something that many, many Americans could get behind - a so-called "beer summit."
No one really batted an eye at the idea of adult men sitting around hashing out their differences with the help of a little social lubricant. And that's fine. But here's the truth: They were using drugs - on the president's urging.
Sure, one might say, but alcohol is legal and has been an accepted part of social life for centuries, etc. True. But also true is the fact that alcohol is really bad for a person. |
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Written by Nathan Carter
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Friday, 04 September 2009 |
Revival a reform-oriented eventSince 1997, Joplin NORML's Cannabis Revival has entertained and distributed information about cannabis and cannabis laws.
"It's a reform-oriented event so we're trying to inform people in a fun atmosphere about marijuana law reform and show them that, as a citizen, they can get involved," said Kelly Maddy, president of Joplin NORML.
Maddy said the aim of Cannabis Revival is to inform people about marijuana laws and what people can do in regards to changing the laws.
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