Marijuana Smokers Need To Come Out of Closets

It's Sunday afternoon, and I am back from a wonderful weekend out at camp which is just outside of Woodstock New York. In some ways, camp is one of those beautiful places where those who have been fortunate in life and career spend their weekends during the summer living a priviledged life, have a chance to escape from the rat race, ride around in their golf carts while their Lexus is parked in the shade next to their screened in room beside the Fifth Wheel camper or Recreational Vehicle, the flat screen TV keeping the kids (who don't want to be there) amused. My fellow neighbors out at camp own businesses, are bankers, corporate executives, venture capitalist, and smokers of the illicit Class A drug known as Cannabis or Marijuana.

Don't get me wrong, I love camp, the array of wild birds (Scarlet Tanagers, Indigo Buntings, even the common robin), the friends I've made, the campfires on Friday and Saturday nights, and the people stopping by my TIKI bar for a shot of the latest Organic Vodka. What I find troubling, is how many of these friends of mine bring their little stash up to camp, stop by to get a buzz on, but hide who they are Monday through Friday, hide their truth from their friends in the gated communities in which they live. What upsets me, is the cops I've watched who get stoned sitting around campfires who think it is OK when on duty to arrest, even imprison those who are guilty of nothing more than what they themselves regularly do every time they come up to camp.

We have around 300 million citizens of the world living here in America. Of those, approximately 25 million get stoned. Start doing the math, and we are talking a adult voting block that is bigger than almost any other...yet, our silence, our apathy, or perhaps our fear sees us remain silent, sees us keeping our use of Cannabis hidden from family,friends and coworkers. That silence contributes to the very sad reality that some 350,000 Americans were turned into criminals last year for nothing more than being in possession of some Marijuana. Be honest, examine your own behavior as a secret recreational user of Marijuana, and you have to admit that you helped turn those citizens into criminals. United our voices cannot be denied, but when those voices are hidden in closets, we remained oppressed and shamed.

Isn't it time that Marijuana Smokers come out of the closet? Isn't it time that we start putting some of our money and efforts into winning the fight to LEGALIZE Cannabis? Don't tell me a million pot smoker march on Washington would not wake up our elected members of Congress. A quality quarter ounce of pot can cost some serious change...how much did you pay for say your last ounce of premium smoke? Now, tell me how much you have contributed to those fighting the good fight to legalize Marijuana...in too many instances, the answer to that last question is NOTHING, a big ZERO! Imagine if every one of the 25 million pot smokers here in America donated just $100 per year to the cause of Legalizing Marijuana...do you know how much clout we could have with $2.5 Billion a year parked in a LEGALIZE MARIJUANA PAC? How much money did President Obama spend to become President of the United States?....not even a fifth of that amount. We have the ability to effect change, but only if we plug in and get involved, put our money where our hearts are.

Please fellow American Pot Smokers, come out of the closet, put the real face on Medical and Recreational Marijuana use, instead of letting the FDA, DEA and self serving politicians paint us out as Drug fiends and monsters. Isn't it time we dispel the myths created in the 1937 film Reefer Madness? Isn't it time to end the lie that Marijuana is a gateway drug, and that any one who smokes Marijuana is a societal misfit, a loser that society needs protected from. Isn't it time that American realizes how many of us are leaders, attorneys, business owners, doctors, and even politicians. (Our last three presidents have all INHALED no matter what Bill Clinton said.)

Please, if you are a user of either Medical or Recreational Marijuana, plug into the fight, get involved in some fashion...make a donation to my small efforts, or to those of NORML or other groups (except MPP) if you have to stay in the closet out of fear for your job, but doing nothing is unforgivable, can no longer be allowed. Pot smokers of America, it is time that we Unite, time that we win this war and decriminalize Marijuana...please, for yourselves, and for those Americans who use Marijuana responsibly come out of the shadows. I beg you to become a part of this battle, begging you to help us stop the WAR ON CITIZENS, PEOPLE, PARENTS who are being turned into criminals for doing nothing more than smoking the occassional joint.

Just an Afternoon Update

For those who have wondered what happened, and where I have been...camp! The bad news is I have no INTERNET at camp...the good news is they are working on the problem, and with a bit of luck, the problem will be resolved some time next week, which will resolve my frequent dissappearing acts of late. Going to do some laundry, and get up on Twitter here shortly...look for a good article later this evening, or some time tomorrow.

CNN Mouth Piece For Federal Government (DEA/DARE) Marijuana Propaganda?

War on Drugs (Marijuana) Heating Up as CNN Puts Out Reefer Madness 2009 Style Propaganda

Just in on CNN (May 14,2009) is a story on the increased potency of Marijuana these days. Seems that the pot smoked today is twice as strong as the pot I smoked as a teenager/young man. What disturbed me about the story was its presentation that smacked of the same insanity that was/is the classic 1937 Propaganda Piece of fame and legend, "Reefer Madness" More disturbing is doing a GOOGLE search and finding out CNN has been rehashing and reissuing this same basic story FOR YEARS...any one care to ponder the WHY OF THAT? Is our Government paying BIG MEDIA to run these story, or DICTATING to them? Notice the DATES!

CNN.com - Transcripts

May 2, 2002 ... PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: And the "Big Question" this morning at 25 after the hour , is today's pot more dangerous than the marijuana people ...

www.cnnstudentnews.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0205/02/l... - 24k - Similar pages

http://www.cnnstudentnews.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0205/02/ltm.19.html

CNN.com - Transcripts

May 27, 2003 ... And also the fact that today's marijuana is a lot more potent than the marijuana we're used to with THC levels sometimes up to 30 percent ...

www.cnnstudentnews.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/03... - 29k - Similar pages

[ More results from www.cnnstudentnews.cnn.com ]

Marijuana – Paging Dr. Gupta - CNN.com Blogs

Jun 25, 2008 ... A study released last summer compared pot being smoked today with what was smoked back before 1992 and concluded it is 175 percent more potent, ... Experts believe marijuana causes more damage to the respiratory system ...

pagingdrgupta.blogs.cnn.com/category/marijuana/ - 62k - Similar pages

http://pagingdrgupta.blogs.cnn.com/category/marijuana/

CNN.com - Transcripts

May 27, 2003 ... ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: The maple leaf on the Canadian flag is ... And also the fact that today's marijuana is a lot more potent than ...

edition.cnn.hu/TRANSCRIPTS/0305/27/se.16.html - 30k - Similar pages

First, Marijuana/Cannabis/Reefer is not Devil Weed, nor is it a GATEWAY DRUG. Secondly, why is major medica becoming the mouth piece of the Federal Government, continuing to put out propaganda pieces that seem to have been written by the DEA, DHS and the FDA. Legalization is coming, we are almost to the natinal TIPPING POINT, and it is criminal that the DEA and our Federa Government are escalating the War on Drugs, a last minute orgy of arrests and prosecutions before we closed the book on the decades old failed Marijuana Prohibition Policy responsible for ruining the lives of millions of innocent Americans.

Chicago Area Cops Gone WILD, Kick Car Chase Suspect In Head

Earlier today I saw a car chase on the news, and gave it little thought. Was the typical car chase with crash at end, suspect trying to run, then realizing the game was over laying down on the ground and surrendering...but it seems there is FAR MORE that was not shown in that original report I saw. Watch the video, watch the suspect lay on the ground and spread eagle, then watch the cop run up, gun drawn and KICK THE GUY IN THE HEAD LIKE HE WAS KICKING A MELLON! Can we say Police Brutality? Quick, someone call internal affairs, and get this guy an attorney...he maybe be doing some prison time, but the officer doing the kicking needs brought up on charges, and the city of Chicago needs to write this criminal out a BIG CHECK with some zeroes in it!

Space and Lighting Primer

Thought I would put up a primer on grow space and lighting for the Newbie Grower...

Space and Lighting Primer

So your state has legalized Medical Marijuana, and as a patient you want to grow your own. To grow your own, you have to pick out a space to grow your plants, and you need to figure out your lighting. For this article let us assume you live in the city, and are going to grow your stash in your apartment or flat in a small space...small being a relative term, I am thinking about a closet.

Some good news for all you Medical Marijuana Newbie Growers...there is a very basic formula you can use in helping you pick a space, and decide how much light you are going to use. You need at least 25 WATTS of light per square foot of space, and can have a maximum amount of WATTS of 44 per square foot. IE, if you have a 3x3 foot closet you need at least 225 WATTS of light, and can have a maximum WATT total of 396 (you can round this off to 400 WATTS).

The lower the WATTS, the lower your final yield is going to be, regardless of the strand you are growing.

As you can see, a closet (or old refrigerator) will giving you plenty of growing space for a personal stash. That said, you now want to find out a few things about your space.

For best growing results, you want your grow space to maintain a temperature of 75-85 degrees Fahrenheit (25-30 Celsius) when the lights are on. Temperatures outside this optimum range will decrease yield, and higher temperatures could make your plants more susceptible to mites.

So, you have your space, have your light WATTS all figured out, and the temperatures issues have been taken care of (perhaps with the inclusion of a fan to create a gentle breeze, and the temperature in the desired range. Now you want to make sure that no light is sneaking in or out of the space you are using...which is why I like an old refrigerator (or two or three).

Lets assume a closet is the chosen space, and after standing in the space looking out you realize there is some light leakage. You don't want light sneaking out, and during Bloom Time, you do not want light sneaking in when the plants are sleeping, so lets get some white/black poly to line the space with, thus assuring you of good light reflection when the lights are on, and a light tight space when the lights are off.

A couple of tips:

1. Hang the light in a fashion that you can raise it up or down, as a good rule of thumb is too keep your light about two feet ABOVE the tops of your plants.

2. Having a light tight space is very important during Bloom Time, as light sneaking in when your lights are off will greatly reduce your yield.

3. DO NOT grow your pot in a closet that other people have access to, consider using a padlock...we do not want the DEA having some flimsy excuse to arrest you on some phony trumped up charges.

You can have a really sweet growing space for your Medical Marijuana with a budget of around $450. With good lights, a nice growing space and the right seeds (or clone), you can expect (with a little luck) to get between 16-32 ounces (dry yield) of quality Cannabis. Hopefully this primer gives you enough information to get you started on your Medical Marijuana grow project, helps you to pick out and equip your growing space.

Marijuana Grow Basics (the book)

NORML's Daily Stash Takes Exception With This Blog

Connecticut NORML's Seat at Table TAKEN AWAY.

Seems that the folks over at NORML are upset with this blog's stand on their decision to throw the Connecticut NORML Chapter under the bus of political correctness. (see their rebuttal) The long and the short of their rebuttal was blah, blah, blah...political correctness, damage control, blah, blah and blah. There were the usual hints of PREVIOUS PROBLEMS with the chapter that we/I could know nothing about, a claim the chapter is so new that it was best to kill the chapter and START ALL OVER AGAIN in the fall, coupled with a complaint that I should have used spell check.

Said it yesterday, and will say it again today...NORML was and is wrong to trash the entire Connecticut chapter for the actions of ONE MAN, and further what happened to the, "innocent until proven guilty" concept of justice, and the concept of Freedom of Speech?...let me guess, does not apply to the inner political workings of the NORML organization? NORML Chapter genocide is OK in the name of protecting political correctness, in the name of staying on the good side of politicians? What happens if the criminal complaint is dismissed, or the man charged WINS his case? Will NORML apologize and reinstate the chapter...we all know the answer too that rhetorical question.

Curious...could it be that the now DEAD decriminalization bill in Connecticut could have made it out of committee if NORML had been working behind the scenes in Connecticut instead of doing their best to KILL A CHAPTER? Further, just how far has NORML's National Agenda gotten us in all these years? Maybe it is time for a bit of confrontation, time for a National Marijuana Legalization March, time for us to take more of a "too the streets civil rights approach" to this war? After all, we have seen how many millions of Americans have been made into Criminals as NORML's national strategies have failed over the decades to decriminalize marijuana? Where were grassroots activists being deployed to a sit in of the office of the New Canaan Republican bill killer yesterday...surely NORML saw the filibuster coming?

I seem to recall reading a while back that some 20 million Americans have faced some kind of criminal charges related to Cannabis since 1985, yet we have not seen much real change in NORML's approach too legalization in that time. Where is a NATIONAL CALL TO ACTION? Illegal Aliens put 500,000 in the streets of LA, and hundreds of thousands more into the streets in other cities in the name of their AMNESTY AGENDA, and it propelled them onto the national news almost every night, but we have 20 million Marijuana Smokers nationwide and get maybe a few hundred folks to show up at protest events...those are not the kinds of numbers that can claim a mandate for change. If NORML got every Marijuan smoker to make a one time donation of $100 to a Marijuana PAC, that would be a $2.5 Billion dollar WAR CHEST. That kind of a war chest would allow us a WORLD CLASS public service announcement campaign that would end DARE, and expose the DEA for the Gestapo like secret police organization that they are...as example, they are paying out reward money to our high school students, encouraging them to snitch out their friends...Drop A Dime on them, repackaged, alive and well in 2009.

One person made a very unfortunate mistake in sending a letter that should not have been sent. That person RESIGNED his position with the Connecticut NORML, and that should have been enough, but NORML has shown their smallness of heart in abandoning the Connecticut Chapter, tossing them under the bus...lets hope that the other state and local chapters are watching closely, waking up to the reality that THEY COULD BE NEXT. Maybe, just maybe it is time for the ENTIRE NATIONAL NORML BOARD TO TURN IN THEIR RESIGNATIONS so that we can bring fresh faces and views to this fight, bring in soldiers willing to take to the streets to replace appeasers willing to sell out to politicians for small victories that amount to nothing in the big picture of ending the War on Drugs.

NORML Over Reacts In Dropping Connecticut Group

OK, a Connecticut NORML Vice President over reacted in an email sent to an elected official, stepped over a line that should not have been crossed...said Vice President has resigned. So why is the National NORML now abandoning the folks in Connecticut, effectively trashing the organization, disowning them in full. One person makes a mistake so you throw and entire chapter under the bus? NORML, you greatly disappoint me! To the folks in Connecticut NORML...we would gladly take all of you into our fold, would love to have everyone of your members as Budding Bloggers. On a day when a sleaze bag, tighty whitey New Canaan Republican deliberately killed the bill that would have decriminalized Marijuana, NORML choose to throw your chapter under the Political Correctness bus instead of growing a set of balls and standing by you in your time of need...they should be ashamed of themselves.