Tag Archives | Pot

Don’t Fool Yourself: The Legalization of Marijuana Will Absolutely Lead to More People Smoking Pot

By on May 9, 2013 in News 0

debacle1

One of the strangest things about being an enthusiastic pot smoker is that you constantly meet people who aren’t high all the time, which often leaves you wondering “What the fuck is wrong with these people?” I have no idea, but what I do know is that pot’s illegality absolutely influences this decision for most of them, often subconsciously. Don’t believe me? The second legalization passed in Washington, members on every side of my wife and my family were all of a sudden looking for a hook up. Christmas shopping was super easy. I got weed for nearly everyone, because that’s what they fucking asked for. I’m not joking. Some of these people haven’t smoked in years.

Because of the drug war, pretty much everything said about recreational drugs publicly is essentially insane. About the biggest argument conservative types can come up with against loosening weed laws has always been, but, if we legalize marijuana, more people will smoke it.… Read the rest

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You’re Not a Monkey When You’re Stoned!

By on March 20, 2013 in News 0

The title to this piece is something that randomly popped into my head when I was Occult ganj-i-tating a few months back. I wrote it down on my Facebook page (friend me for strangeness) and ultimately just dismissed it as a funny song title idea until the next few weeks found me catching up on Mad Men. Of course! With weed laws loosening and legal weed a reality in my home state of Washington, we’re going to need some slick marketing copy to make this stuff the center of our economy (as it rightfully should be), and who better to do that than a chronically stoned super freak like me? “You’re Not a Monkey When You’re Stoned.” What a great tag line (pot marketing people, call me), but Christ, you really don’t need a hypnotic tag line to sell this stuff. As I’ve found out first hand as a small time dealer, shit basically sells itself.

Here’s why. Life is bullshit, pot can help! Man, that’s another great one. Someone should really hire my ass here because I could just keep going with these. But seriously, chances are, if you’re not among the supremely wealthy minority of privileged fucks running things, you probably have to work a day job that makes you want to blow your brains out a lot of the time. See, life is bullshit. I have no idea what the architects of this reality were thinking with all that, but the good news is that pot can take you far far away from everything, really fucking quick…

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Lebron James Will be Better Than Michael Jordan…at Life! Take the Ride Disinfonauts, Your Psychic Sports Tribute to Ingo Swann Starts…Right Now!

By on February 20, 2013 in News 2

You know how I know I’m not very smart? I might be able to convince myself I’m excessively clever at times, in various states of divine intoxication, but I always come back to earth. At the end of the day, my poetic super-mind basically goes blank the second a cute girl walks by or someone throws on a basketball game. All of a sudden I’m a drooling animal. Total right brain switch off. Some refer to this primal aspect lurking within ourselves as the reptilian mind. Should be noted that I also smoke a ton of pot and that’s a positive aspect of pot smoking I don’t hear too many people talk up. When you’re high a lot, you do a lot of hilariously stupid shit, which is good for your psychology because you start to find it impossible to look at yourself in too serious a light. This is good for everyone.… Read the rest

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How Pot Became Legal in Colorado and Washington

By on December 3, 2012 in News 18

Picture: "Lots of Marijuana" Cannabis Training University (CC)

Looks like the “counterculture” shoe is on the other foot. Pot is going mainstream. Here’s how it happened:

Via Christian Science Monitor:

In the late-1980s heyday of the anti-drug “Just Say No” campaign, a man calling himself “Jerry” appeared on a Seattle talk radio show to criticize U.S. marijuana laws.

An esteemed businessman, he hid his identity because he didn’t want to offend customers who — like so many in those days — viewed marijuana as a villain in the ever-raging “war on drugs.”

Now, a quarter century later, “Jerry” is one of the main forces behind Washington state’s successful initiative to legalize pot for adults over 21. And he no longer fears putting his name to the cause: He’s Rick Steves, the travel guru known for his popular guidebooks.

“It’s amazing where we’ve come,” says Steves of the legalization measures Washington and Colorado voters approved last month.

… Read the rest

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Hear Beloved Children’s Poet Shel Silverstein Sings about Weed, STDs and Masochistic Babies

By on November 28, 2012 in News 4

I grew up reading Shel Silverstein’s Where the Sidewalk Ends. It was a major part of my childhood. What I didn’t know at the time was that good old Shel had another side…an adult side…although in retrospect the freaky beard and bare feet should’ve given it away. The cartoonist/writer worked for Playboy in the sixties, documenting his trips to Fire Island, Haight-Ashbury and other places with a reputation for the risque. He also had a pretty serious career as a singer/songwriter who wasn’t afraid to tackle topics like pot (“The Smoke-off”) and venereal disease (“Don’t Give a Dose to the One You Love Most”) in a light-hearted, oddball way. His album Freakin at the Freakers Ball is a prime example of Silverstein’s bawdier side, featuring tracks like “I Got Stoned and I Missed It” and “Masochistic Baby”.
Here’s a few tracks from Freakin at the Freaker’s Ball. RIP, Shel, you are missed.

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“In Colorado, Pot Got 50,000 More Votes Than Obama”

By on November 26, 2012 in News 13

Picture: Torbe Bjorn Hansen (CC)

“The people have spoken, the bastards” – Dick Tuck

A dillema has arisen in America, a country which can rightly claim to be one of the greatest democratic nations in the world.

“The Justice Department has a big decision to make” reports Carrie Johnson for NPR in relation to the fact a clear majority of people have voted in favour of the decriminalisation of cannabis. The article contains this silver bullet of truth, perfect for your average potheaded activist:

“on Election Day, more voters in Colorado and Washington cast their ballots for marijuana legalization than for President Obama”.

It’s a good extensive article which summarises the political power play now at work in the belly of the democratic machine. However it ends with the line: “Justice Department [...] officials are reviewing the initiatives and [...] for now, nothing has changed”. Read/listen to the full report here: Will U.S.… Read the rest

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House Introduces Bill To Protect Medical Marijuana Industry

By on May 26, 2011 in News 7
Photo: Plazak (CC)

Photo: Plazak (CC)

The House is doing what it can to protect the medical marijuana dispensaries with a bill that has been proposed to allow the marijuana industry to act as any other legal buisness, including expense deduction on federal tax returns and would make both businesses and patients “immune to federal prosecution if they are acting in compliance with local marijuana laws.” Via AlterNet:

Congressman Pete Stark (D-CA), Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA) and Congressman Jared Polis (D-CO) introduced legislation to the House on Wednesday aimed at ensuring the medical marijuana industry is treated like any other business.

The legislation was supported by Republican Reps. Dana Rohrabacher (CA) and Ron Paul (TX).

The Small Business Tax Equity Act, introduced by Stark, authorizes medical marijuana dispensaries to take the full range of business expense deductions on their federal tax returns, like other legal businesses are allowed to.

“Our tax code undercuts legal medical marijuana dispensaries by preventing them from taking all the deductions allowed for other small businesses,” Stark stated.

… Read the rest

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Will Big Pharma Take Over The American Market For Medical Marijuana?

By on April 20, 2011 in News 13

MedMarjIf the hundreds of uses for cannabis doesn’t plead the case for its legalization, the money made from its medical industry just might do it. The Washington Independent reports:

The American Independent has previously reported on the growing corporatization of the incipient medical marijuana industry at a time when medical marijuana dispensaries scrabble to hold on to their businesses in the face of a multi-pronged federal crackdown. But there are signs afoot that it just may become ever more corporate if a Big Pharma push to get the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to recognize a cannabis-derived drug is successful.

Last week, British prescription drug manufacturer GW Pharmaceuticals announced a licensing agreement with drug giant Novartis, maker of Ritalin and Excedrin, to begin selling GW’s drug Sativex in markets across Asia, Africa, Oceania and the Middle East. The medication is already available in Britain, where it’s produced and marketed by Bayer, and in Canada and Spain.

… Read the rest

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Dutch Government Pushes Tourist Ban In Cannabis Coffeeshops

By on November 18, 2010 in News 23

If you’d like to experience Amsterdam’s famous coffee shops, I suggest booking your flight soon. From Reuters:

The Dutch government said on Wednesday it wanted to ban tourists from buying cannabis in “coffee shops,” where hash is on sale legally, as part of a national crackdown on drug use.

The government, which took office last month, has agreed to limit the sale of cannabis to Dutch residents to curb crime linked to its production and trading.

The Netherlands has one of Europe’s most liberal soft drug policies and its coffee shops are a popular tourist attraction, especially in Amsterdam and border cities near Belgium and Germany.

But some cities near the border with Belgium have clamped down on drug tourism, and the Dutch minister for security and justice confirmed Wednesday a wider crackdown after coalition parties agreed to push for a ban in September.

[Continues at Reuters]… Read the rest

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