Marijuana and the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell Mentality
I went to see a musician friend of mine play last night. It was the first show of the tour and I was happy to see him perform with a respected recording artist. This is hard for me to put into words as I have so many points of reference to draw from. I think I'll take this one step at a time.
(1)There are several states that allow medical marijuana to be prescibed legally for cancer patients who suffer pain and nausea, etc. for glaucoma patients to relieve pressure on the eye. Terminal problems.
(2)Last week, the United States Supreme Court handed down a decision contrary to the above mentioned states' laws on the legality of the dispensing of medical marijuana.
(3)Over fifty percent of our nation's prison population have been convicted of marijuana possession or the sale of marijuana.
(4)Mandatory drug testing was deemed constitutional by the Supreme Court.
(5)We, the people, under the Bill of rights, cannot be compelled to incriminate ourselves.
Here I go on a rant again!
Why do we put up with this disparity? I think I have the answer........WE'RE STUPID!
It's the same reason we will pay $1.19 for a small bottle of Pepsi while looking at a
two liter bottle that cost 99 cents..........WE'RE LAZY!
"Oh, I'll have to go home first....... and get a glass....... and fill it with ice and........." (sound like you?) Well, I'm just as guilty. I WANT IT NOW! It's too hard for me to think five seconds ahead, grab a bottle, fill it with ice and bring it with me! I'll just drive five miles out of my way and buy a bottle for $1.29.
What does this have to do with marijuana? Stay with me on this Mr. Short Attention Span!
This is what was not in our history books: During the "Great Depression", there was a movement to deport Mexican immigrants from the southwestern states (sound familiar?) as it was thought that they were taking jobs away from "Real Americans". With the help of a prominent newspaper magnate that I won't mention (William Randolph Hearst........and by the way, "Rosebud" wasn't a fucking sled), a lie was propagated in all of his newspapers that the Mexicans were smoking marijuana, raping our women and killing people, and pissing in our beer!
"Oh, pissing in our beer is the last straw!"(They seemed to say).
Politicians, eager to distract the population from the real issues of the day, jumped on the band wagon. In record time, laws were passed to criminalize marijuana. Break the law, get deported! Sounds like the Patriot Act, doesn't it? Marijuana was classified as a narcotic and the rest is history. How could this happen? People were stupid back then as well! Still with me? What does this have to do with my musician friend? First a few more points of reference.
(1)Murder is a crime.
(2)Murder is a sin.
(3)Lying is just plain wrong. Under oath it's a crime. Lying is a sin (unless you're a robot and you're preventing a human from hurting himself.......just kidding!)
Let's play "Find the disparity"! It seems by today's moral standards in the world according to "George", it's not a sin or a crime to lie about "Weapons of mass desruction", and invade another country. It's okay to drop a million tons of high explosives on a country that hasn't declared war on us.You can delare a "War on Terror" and kill as many people as it takes to put a few more billions of dollars in Dick Cheney's--I mean, Haliburton's bank account! It's not a crime, it's not a sin! No, no, no! It's a pre-emptive war! Let's not forget that our government also declared a "War on Drugs". Soon they will declare a "War on Corn Flakes" if it serves their hypocritic, greedy, money-grubbing, lying, cheating, stealing-for-their-own-monetary-gain, purposes.
And for God's sake,let's not forget the Axis of Evil! Korea, Iraq and Iran. What's that got to do with 9/11? They're about as pertinent to the destruction of the Twin Towers as hair cuts, tomato juice and fabric softener! And don't forget, God is with us all the way! says George W. Bush. Sounds crazy, doesn't it?
The rise in cancer has nothing to do with the hundred or so atomic bombs that were "tested" (it's the politically correct way to say EXPLODED) above-ground on U.S. soil during the '40s, '50s and '60s. There really was a magic bullet in Dallas in 1963. It wasn't a military or political coup d'etat! Oliver Stone just made that up! And while I'm talking crazy, during the American Revolution (the first one) the British didn't call us "insurgents" and the French weren't "foreign fighters" they were just "tourists" waiting for Jerry Lewis to be born! If you don't know what I'm talking about, you don't know your own American history. If you don't know where we've been, how can you possibly know where we're going?
But what does this have to do with a respected recording artist? Hey, you're still with me! Okay, I'll get back to it! I loved the show! He sang the song "I'll Never Smoke Weed with Willie Again" and when he came to the last verse and sang "I broke down and smoked weed with Willie again", all 15,000 people screamed and yelled and loved it. He said: "Anyone who plays 200 shows a year and is 72 years old can smoke anything he wants!" The crowd went crazy!
These aren't the same people who vote for politicians who spend billions of our tax dollars on the "War on Drugs". I'll bet the only vote they ever cast in their lives was for their favorite American Idol!
My point is: it's illegal to smoke marijuana but if someone of prominence stands before 15,000 people with enough sound and lighting, and says, "I smoked weed with Willie Nelson," then it's OK. If someone says something with a big enough production and enough conviction, even if there's disparity, people don't pay enough attention to recognize it and question it. They'll agree with whatever is on Fox News. If it's on TV, it must be true. If it's in a William Randolph Hearst newspaper, it must be true. No one would ever lie to the American public to suit their own purpose ... not Ronald Reagan, not Jerry Falwell, not Bill O'Reilly, not Richard Nixon, and especially not Rush Limbaugh. He doesn't do illegal drugs. He had prescriptions. 15 of them. For the same drug. From different doctors. That's OK, isn't it? Sure. As long as it's not marijuana.
If this is the land of the free and the home of the brave, then we should all be brave enough to stand up to our politicians and demand they legislate in this fashion: Don't ask me if I smoke marijuana and you can't fire me if I don't tell you!
(1)There are several states that allow medical marijuana to be prescibed legally for cancer patients who suffer pain and nausea, etc. for glaucoma patients to relieve pressure on the eye. Terminal problems.
(2)Last week, the United States Supreme Court handed down a decision contrary to the above mentioned states' laws on the legality of the dispensing of medical marijuana.
(3)Over fifty percent of our nation's prison population have been convicted of marijuana possession or the sale of marijuana.
(4)Mandatory drug testing was deemed constitutional by the Supreme Court.
(5)We, the people, under the Bill of rights, cannot be compelled to incriminate ourselves.
Here I go on a rant again!
Why do we put up with this disparity? I think I have the answer........WE'RE STUPID!
It's the same reason we will pay $1.19 for a small bottle of Pepsi while looking at a
two liter bottle that cost 99 cents..........WE'RE LAZY!
"Oh, I'll have to go home first....... and get a glass....... and fill it with ice and........." (sound like you?) Well, I'm just as guilty. I WANT IT NOW! It's too hard for me to think five seconds ahead, grab a bottle, fill it with ice and bring it with me! I'll just drive five miles out of my way and buy a bottle for $1.29.
What does this have to do with marijuana? Stay with me on this Mr. Short Attention Span!
This is what was not in our history books: During the "Great Depression", there was a movement to deport Mexican immigrants from the southwestern states (sound familiar?) as it was thought that they were taking jobs away from "Real Americans". With the help of a prominent newspaper magnate that I won't mention (William Randolph Hearst........and by the way, "Rosebud" wasn't a fucking sled), a lie was propagated in all of his newspapers that the Mexicans were smoking marijuana, raping our women and killing people, and pissing in our beer!
"Oh, pissing in our beer is the last straw!"(They seemed to say).
Politicians, eager to distract the population from the real issues of the day, jumped on the band wagon. In record time, laws were passed to criminalize marijuana. Break the law, get deported! Sounds like the Patriot Act, doesn't it? Marijuana was classified as a narcotic and the rest is history. How could this happen? People were stupid back then as well! Still with me? What does this have to do with my musician friend? First a few more points of reference.
(1)Murder is a crime.
(2)Murder is a sin.
(3)Lying is just plain wrong. Under oath it's a crime. Lying is a sin (unless you're a robot and you're preventing a human from hurting himself.......just kidding!)
Let's play "Find the disparity"! It seems by today's moral standards in the world according to "George", it's not a sin or a crime to lie about "Weapons of mass desruction", and invade another country. It's okay to drop a million tons of high explosives on a country that hasn't declared war on us.You can delare a "War on Terror" and kill as many people as it takes to put a few more billions of dollars in Dick Cheney's--I mean, Haliburton's bank account! It's not a crime, it's not a sin! No, no, no! It's a pre-emptive war! Let's not forget that our government also declared a "War on Drugs". Soon they will declare a "War on Corn Flakes" if it serves their hypocritic, greedy, money-grubbing, lying, cheating, stealing-for-their-own-monetary-gain, purposes.
And for God's sake,let's not forget the Axis of Evil! Korea, Iraq and Iran. What's that got to do with 9/11? They're about as pertinent to the destruction of the Twin Towers as hair cuts, tomato juice and fabric softener! And don't forget, God is with us all the way! says George W. Bush. Sounds crazy, doesn't it?
The rise in cancer has nothing to do with the hundred or so atomic bombs that were "tested" (it's the politically correct way to say EXPLODED) above-ground on U.S. soil during the '40s, '50s and '60s. There really was a magic bullet in Dallas in 1963. It wasn't a military or political coup d'etat! Oliver Stone just made that up! And while I'm talking crazy, during the American Revolution (the first one) the British didn't call us "insurgents" and the French weren't "foreign fighters" they were just "tourists" waiting for Jerry Lewis to be born! If you don't know what I'm talking about, you don't know your own American history. If you don't know where we've been, how can you possibly know where we're going?
But what does this have to do with a respected recording artist? Hey, you're still with me! Okay, I'll get back to it! I loved the show! He sang the song "I'll Never Smoke Weed with Willie Again" and when he came to the last verse and sang "I broke down and smoked weed with Willie again", all 15,000 people screamed and yelled and loved it. He said: "Anyone who plays 200 shows a year and is 72 years old can smoke anything he wants!" The crowd went crazy!
These aren't the same people who vote for politicians who spend billions of our tax dollars on the "War on Drugs". I'll bet the only vote they ever cast in their lives was for their favorite American Idol!
My point is: it's illegal to smoke marijuana but if someone of prominence stands before 15,000 people with enough sound and lighting, and says, "I smoked weed with Willie Nelson," then it's OK. If someone says something with a big enough production and enough conviction, even if there's disparity, people don't pay enough attention to recognize it and question it. They'll agree with whatever is on Fox News. If it's on TV, it must be true. If it's in a William Randolph Hearst newspaper, it must be true. No one would ever lie to the American public to suit their own purpose ... not Ronald Reagan, not Jerry Falwell, not Bill O'Reilly, not Richard Nixon, and especially not Rush Limbaugh. He doesn't do illegal drugs. He had prescriptions. 15 of them. For the same drug. From different doctors. That's OK, isn't it? Sure. As long as it's not marijuana.
If this is the land of the free and the home of the brave, then we should all be brave enough to stand up to our politicians and demand they legislate in this fashion: Don't ask me if I smoke marijuana and you can't fire me if I don't tell you!
posted by Terry Manfredi at 12:19 AM
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