RainDog
RainDog's JournalConn. Mother of Two Risks Arrests to Deal with Cancer
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18563_162-57580651/conn-cancer-patient-fights-marijuana-loophole/make sure to view the video in the link, above.
"I use medicinal marijuana," she said. "I am breaking the law right now because we don't have growers and distributors here in Connecticut." In 2006, Fanning, then the mother of a 4-year-old and 18-month-old, was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer.
Racked by seizures, debilitating headaches, and oppressive pain medication she spent much of her time in bed -- until she tried marijuana. "The first time I ever did it," Fanning said. "It gave me my life back."
Actually, I think she is a typical mom. She is a criminal because the laws of this land are repulsive and seek to harm people in order to create a criminal class out of people like her, or people who use marijuana without a doctor's prescription.
We put people in jail for doing the equivalent of drinking a beer.
The for-profit prison system is one of the biggest supporters of marijuana criminalization.
WHOSE SIDE ARE YOU ON?
Do you support Americans like this women, or do you support the move to make imprisonment a profitable enterprise for right-wing capitalists?
If you want our laws to change, contact your representatives and our President.
The War on Drugs is a Failure
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/19/opinion/gregory-brothers-the-war-on-drugs-is-a-failure.html?smid=fb-share&_r=0The War on Consciousness
this is a link to a TED talk that was taken down because it was too controversial. I haven't watched all of it yet, but wanted to share with others if anyone wanted to discuss this - since the points I've heard thus far are things that have been discussed here.
...I'm talking about the use of plant-based medicine/substances for addiction - but the talk caught my attention, as well, because of the initial mention of the idea of the evolution of human consciousness with the use of consciousness-altering plants (and the ceremonies associated with them.)
Since some studies have indicated some of the plants shut down one part of the brain, while others may flood the brain, temporarily, with one or more neurochemicals, such as seratonin - it's an interesting idea to ponder if humans developed their abstract intelligence via their plant environment.
when people talk about evolution and environment, they focus, often, on big issues, like climate changes, that create difficult situations for humans (or other species, for that matter.) Are we so indoctrinated by an ideology of struggle and competition that we overlook the possibility that our evolution has also been influenced by the plants that existed in a complementary relationship with humans?
I know I will always come down on the empirical side of most any argument about the whys and hows of something - but I don't think, in this case, the empirical is lost in the points the speaker makes, while acknowledging the tensions between his thesis and some aspects of empirical evidence.
http://evolverlearninglab.com/collections/courses/products/the-war-on-consciousness-what-it-means-for-you
Study of psilocybin as treatment of depression halted by drug laws
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2013/apr/07/magic-mushrooms-treat-depressionTrials of psilocybin blocked by drugs law red tape, says Professor David Nutt of Imperial College London
However, a bid by British scientists to carry out trials of psilocybin on patients in order to assess its full medical potential has been blocked by red tape relating to Britain's strict drugs laws. Professor David Nutt, professor of neuropsychopharmacology at Imperial College London, will tell a conference today that because magic mushrooms are rated as a class-A drug, their active chemical ingredient cannot be manufactured unless a special licence is granted.
"We haven't started the study because finding companies that could manufacture the drug and who are prepared to go through the regulatory hoops to get the licence is proving very difficult," said Nutt. "The whole field is so bedevilled by primitive old-fashioned attitudes. Even if you have a good idea, you may never get it into the clinic, it seems."
Research by Nutt has found that psilocybin switches off part of the brain called the anterior cingulate cortex. It was known that this area is overactive in individuals suffering from depression. In his tests on healthy individuals, it was found that psilocybin had a profound effect on making these volunteers feel happier weeks after they had taken the drug, said Nutt – who was sacked as the chairman of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs in 2009 after repeatedly clashing with government ministers about the dangers and classification of illicit drugs.
iow - profit and prohibition are again driving issues of health care.
why doesn't he do the study anyway? oh yeah. see above.
Where have societies' views of women come from?
What single source has done the most to skew a variety of societies' views of what women are like, how they should be treated, what their value is to society, etc?
I can't think of any source beyond religion that has done more work to maintain sexism.
But maybe that's because of my own bias.
So - can anyone think of anything that has contributed more to the repression of females?
Indiana's Marijuana Laws: Job Creation Through Imprisonment
Silly me.
I posted that Indiana's Transvaginal Rapist Supporter Mike Pence did not want to attract business to Indiana based upon the many extremist measures Republicans have put forth.
WRONG.
Republicans want to make Indiana your destination for prison! Yes, tourists can flock to Indiana with the knowledge that the Hoosier state hopes to make possession of marijuana a felony with a large prison sentence attached! And, to add to your visit, Pence wants to make sure you serve up to 75% of any sentence received!
Imagine the adventure! Pretend you are visiting a third world nation with all the chills and thrills of theocratic shills for repression waiting to welcome YOU to their for-profit prison complexes!
You'll have your own toilet in your room. Dining is a return to the days when community mattered - you can share your meal with others who have been arrested for possession charges and share the story of your descent into the hell hole that is Pence's Indiana!
Enjoy that Old Buttermilk Sky while you visit the exercise yard and learn about the history of white supremacists movements in Indiana. Past and present - all in one panopticon experience!
GEO specifically contributed $12,500 to the 2012 Mike Pence campaign, making the private prison company one of the Governor's top 30 contributors.
The group has also thrown money at Republican Brian Bosma, Speaker of the Indiana House, who has been quoted as saying "As an entry drug, I think marijuana is more powerful than it's given credit for. I know some states have taken that step (to legalize it), but I don't find it advisable at this point."
When GEO built a 23,416-bed prison in New Castle, Indiana, the state signed a contract guaranteeing the for-profit prison company that 90 percent of the beds would stay filled.
http://hemp.org/news/content/indiana-governor-signs-bill-increasing-penalties-marijuana
You've got be carefully taught
Child protester yells for homosexuals to die outside of pro-LGBT church on Easter
A child in North Carolina spent part of his Easter Sunday morning protesting outside a Winston-Salem church that has vowed not to host any wedding ceremonies until same sex marriage is legalized.
Kelly Carpenter, the pastor of Green Street United Methodist Church, said last month that no weddings were being scheduled because his congregation was becoming more diverse and the heterosexual members wanted same sex couples to “share a sense of the love that they have found.”
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/04/01/child-protester-yells-for-homosexuals-to-die-outside-of-pro-lgbt-church-on-easter/
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