Re: “Yes We Can-nabis”

Based on several decades' worth of empirical evidence, there is a
strong consensus among the scientific community that, used on its own,
marijuana presents no danger to the user. It is not physically
addictive (although psychological addiction reportedly accounts for
10% of marijuana users) and does not generate adverse physical effects
even for long-term users. Essentially, it is safer than alcohol,
cigarettes or trans fat.
Economically, hemp is considered as one of the most valuable and
versatile plants for single-crop farming. It is a source of food,
cooking oil, fiber (used by the wood, paper and fabric industry),
building material, livestock feed, fuel, medicinal products and much
more. The exceptionally fast growing hemp is also noted for its
ecological efficiency (almost every part of the plant is useful) and
resilience to natural pests.

All this of course brings into question why marijuana was
criminalized, despite being a legal crop for 162 years. The federal
government effectively banned marijuana with the passing of the
Marijuana Tax Act Of 1937. The Act, coinciding with the 'Reefer
Madness' hysteria of the 30s, received the support of a majority of
Americans, who were convinced that marijuana was an addictive drug
that promotes a criminal lifestyle, causes health complications,
perverts the natural order of society and possesses none of the
claimed medical properties. There was a perception that its users were
degenerates, criminals and immigrants, a perception that was shared by
the majority of the legislators in Congress.

The campaign for marijuana's banning was headed by the infamous Harry
Jacob Anslinger, the Director of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics and
Dangerous Drugs (FBNDD), who was once quoted as saying that,

"Marijuana is the most violence causing drug in the history of
mankind… most marijuana smokers are Negroes, Hispanics, Filipinos and
entertainers. Their Satanic music, jazz and swing, result from
marijuana usage. This marijuana causes white women to seek sexual
relations with Negroes."
-------
When he was 12, he heard the screams of a morphine addict that were
silenced only by a boy returning from a pharmacist to supply the
addict with more morphine. Anslinger was appalled that the drug was so
powerful and that children had ready access to such drugs. However,
the experience did not stop Anslinger, while acting as the
Commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, from authorizing a
druggist near the White House to fill a morphine prescription for an
addicted Senator Joseph McCarthy.


On May 28, 1:24 pm, Travis <baconl...@gmail.com> wrote:
> **
>            New post on *Fellowship of the Minds*
> <http://fellowshipofminds.wordpress.com/author/iriemon203/>  "Yes
> We Can-nabis"<http://fellowshipofminds.wordpress.com/2012/05/27/yes-we-can-nabis/>by
> Terry <http://fellowshipofminds.wordpress.com/author/iriemon203/>
>
> He would smoke it here and there. He would smoke it anywhere
> .
>
> A soon-to-be published biography by David Maraniss entitled "Barack Obama:
> The Story" gives more detail on Obama's pot-smoking days, complete with
> testimonials from young Barry Obama's high school buddies, a group that
> went by the name "the Choom Gang." Choom was slang for smoking marijuana.
>
>  <http://fellowshipofminds.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/yes-we-cannabis.jpg>
>
> Up In Smoke
>
> *Obama and His Pot-Smoking 'Choom Gang'*
> *by Jonathon Karl*
> *ABC News*
> *May 25, 2012*
>
> Unlike Bill Clinton, Barack Obama never tried to say he didn't inhale.
>
> In his 1995 memoir "Dreams of My Father," Obama writes about smoking pot
> almost like Dr. Seuss wrote about eating green eggs and ham. As a high
> school kid, Obama wrote, he would smoke "in a white classmate's sparkling
> new van," he would smoke "in the dorm room of some brother" and he would
> smoke "on the beach with a couple of Hawaiian kids."
>
> He would smoke it here and there. He would smoke it anywhere.
>
> Now a soon-to-be published biography by David Maraniss entitled "Barack
> Obama: The Story" gives more detail on Obama's pot-smoking days, complete
> with testimonials from young Barry Obama's high school buddies, a group
> that went by the name "the Choom Gang." Choom was slang for smoking
> marijuana.
>
> Maraniss portrays the teenage Obama as not just a pot smoker, but a
> pot-smoking innovator.
>
> "As a member of the Choom Gang," Maraniss writes, "Barry Obama was known
> for starting a few pot-smoking trends."
>
>  <http://fellowshipofminds.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/dreaded-obama.jpg>
>
> Ya Mon
>
> The first Obama-inspired trend: "Total Absorption" or "TA".
>
> "TA was the opposite of Bill Clinton's claim that as a Rhodes scholar at
> Oxford he smoked dope but never inhaled," explains Maraniss. Here's how it
> worked: If you exhaled prematurely when you were with the Choom Gang, "you
> were assessed a penalty and your turn was skipped the next time the joint
> came around."
>
> As one of Obama's old high school buddies tells Maraniss: "Wasting good bud
> smoke was not tolerated."
>
> Another Obama innovation: "Roof Hits."
>
> "When they were chooming in a car all the windows had to be rolled up so no
> smoke blew out and went to waste; when the pot was gone, they tilted their
> heads back and sucked in the last bit of smoke from the ceiling."
>
> Maraniss also says Obama was known for his "Interceptions": "When a joint
> was making the rounds, he often elbowed his way in, out of turn, shouted
> 'Intercepted!,' and took an extra hit."
>
> Although Obama himself wrote that he and his pot smoking buddies were
> a"club of disaffection,"Maraniss says that's not really true.
>
> "In fact, most members of the Choom Gang were decent students and athletes
> who went on to successful and productive lawyers, writers and businessmen,"
> Maraniss writes. One notable exception was Ray, the group's pot dealer who,
> known for his ability "to score quality bud," would years later be killed
> by a scorned gay lover armed with a ball-peen hammer.
>
> Obama himself managed to be a pretty good student despite all the pot
> smoking and unconventional study habits.
>
> "He told his Choom Gang mates that the trick was if you put the textbook
> under your pillow the night before you would perform better on an exam,"
> Maraniss writes. No way, dude!
>
> Back to the pot smoking.
>
> Hawaii of the early 1970s was something of a pot-smoking Mecca.
>
> "It was sold and smoked right there in front of your nose; Maui Wowie,
> Kauai Electric, Puna Bud, Kona Gold, and other local variations of pakalolo
> were readily available," writes Maraniss.
>
> Obama's pal Mark Bendix had a Volkswagen microbus known as "the
> Choomwagon."They would often drive up Honolulu's Mount Tantalus where
> they parked
> "turned up their stereos playing Aerosmith, Blue Oyster Cult and Stevie
> Wonder, lit up some 'sweet-sticky Hawaiian buds' and washed it down with '
> green bottled beer' (the Choom Gang preferred Heineken, Becks, and St.
> Pauli Girl). No shouting, no violence, no fights; they even cleaned up
> their beer bottles."
>
> Of course, smoking, drinking and driving on mountain roads could also be a
> little dangerous. Especially the night they tried drag racing.
>
> The race to the top of Mount Tantalus pitted the "Choomwagon" against
> another friend's Toyota. Obama was in the Toyota. The Choomwagon made it to
> the top first. When the other car didn't show up, those in the Choomwagon
> drove back down to find them. Here's how Maraniss describes what happened
> next:
>
> "On the way down, they saw a figure who appeared to be staggering up the
> road. It was Barry Obama. What was going on? As they drew closer, they
> noticed that he was laughing so hard he could barely stand up."
>
> His friend had rolled the car. Fortunately, nobody was hurt. And,
> amazingly, they avoided trouble by leaving the driver alone to deal with
> the police by claiming it was just an unfortunate "mishap."
>
> Maraniss concludes his chapter on Obama's high school years by looking at a
> note Obama had written in his high school yearbook in a section reserved
> for students to give a line or two giving thanks to those who helped along
> the way.
>
> Obama had written this: "Thanks Tut [his grandmother], Gramps, Choom Gang,
> and Ray for all the good times."
>
> Maraniss notes: "Ray was the older guy who hung around the Choom Gang,
> selling them pot. A hippie drug dealer made his acknowledgements; his
> mother did not."
>
> The White House told ABC News that it has no comment.
>
> http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/05/obama-and-his-pot-smokin...
>
> *Seems Skippy hasn't changed much over the years. He is still 'totally
> absorbed' (see TA), still 'bogarts' the good stuff, is still associated
> with gay guys who die under questionable circumstances, still letting
> others take the blame for his 'mishaps, still acknowledging those who
> 'helped him along the way' and still blowing smoke. But now he's not
> blowing it out of the 'choomwagon' windows. He's blowing it up OUR BUTTS!*
>
> *~Terry*
>
>   *Terry <http://fellowshipofminds.wordpress.com/author/iriemon203/>* | May
> 27, 2012 at 6:05 pm | Tags: Barack
> Obama<http://fellowshipofminds.wordpress.com/?tag=barack-obama>,
> marijuana <http://fellowshipofminds.wordpress.com/?tag=marijuana> |
> Categories: Humor <http://fellowshipofminds.wordpress.com/?cat=376>,
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> Media <http://fellowshipofminds.wordpress.com/?cat=292>,
> Uncategorized<http://fellowshipofminds.wordpress.com/?cat=1>,
> US Presidents <http://fellowshipofminds.wordpress.com/?cat=51656283> | URL:http://wp.me/pKuKY-eEP
>
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