Man, I am, like, so bummed out. My mellow has been totally harshed by the Supreme Court. Don't they know I need this stuff for, like, medicinal purposes? Hemp tip: Howie.
Federal authorities may prosecute sick people who smoke pot on doctors' orders, the Supreme Court ruled Monday, concluding that state medical marijuana laws don't protect users from a federal ban on the drug.
The decision is a stinging defeat for marijuana advocates who had successfully pushed 10 states to allow the drug's use to treat various illnesses.
Justice John Paul Stevens, writing the 6-3 decision, said that Congress could change the law to allow medical use of marijuana.
The closely watched case was an appeal by the Bush administration in a case that it lost in late 2003. At issue was whether the prosecution of medical marijuana users under the federal Controlled Substances Act was constitutional.
Under the Constitution, Congress may pass laws regulating a state's economic activity so long as it involves "interstate commerce" that crosses state borders. The California marijuana in question was homegrown, distributed to patients without charge and without crossing state lines.
Stevens said there are other legal options for patients, "but perhaps even more important than these legal avenues is the democratic process, in which the voices of voters allied with these respondents may one day be heard in the halls of Congress."
California's medical marijuana law, passed by voters in 1996, allows people to grow, smoke or obtain marijuana for medical needs with a doctor's recommendation. Alaska, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont and Washington state have laws similar to California.
In those states, doctors generally can give written or oral recommendations on marijuana to patients with cancer, HIV and other serious illnesses.
In a dissent, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor said that states should be allowed to set their own rules.
"The states' core police powers have always included authority to define criminal law and to protect the health, safety, and welfare of their citizens," said O'Connor, who was joined by other states' rights advocates.
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Dude, I'm like totally jonesed man.
Posted by: Howie at June 06, 2005 09:50 AM (D3+20)
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Dude, don't these fascists know all the amazing things we can do with hemp???
Posted by: Carlos at June 06, 2005 10:13 AM (UWO6N)
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Those little eichmann's are just working for the corporations, man. We should start a drum circle to protest........
Posted by: Rusty Shackleford at June 06, 2005 10:39 AM (JQjhA)
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Man, fuck this. I'm goin' to White Castle, I've got the munchies. Really though...anyone catch my comments on another post about the absurdity of drinking being legal and pot being illegal? If you study the history of it, you'll see that the US has literally wasted shitloads of money trying to keep people from smoking weed. I don't even smoke weed, but I'd make it legal before drinking just for the reason that I've never seen someone get in a fight because they were stoned, and stoned drivers have much more coordination than drunk ones. Plus, think of all the money that could be made by selling it legitimately and having it be taxed!
Posted by: osamabeenvotin' at June 06, 2005 11:01 AM (B9hEP)
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osama,
I agree that being drunk is just as bad or worse than being high, but alcohol can be enjoyed without being abused, whilst dope by definition requires that it be abused.
Posted by: Carlos at June 06, 2005 11:05 AM (UWO6N)
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Carlos, sure...I can have a glass of wine or a beer and not get wasted. But anyone can take just one hit off a joint for a little buzz as well. So, I don't get what you are implying, because both can be used in moderation, or abused. I do know that while pot can be psychologically addictive, alcohol is psychologically and physically addictive. Also, when you say the word 'dope' I don't think weed, since I've always heard that word in connection with heroin. Anyway, my main point is that letting people get baked legally would only stimulate the economy through taxing it & the sharp rise in snack sales!
Posted by: osamabeenvotin' at June 06, 2005 11:15 AM (B9hEP)
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The money spent on enforcement is exactly why the status quo will be maintained long after were all dead. Carlos try not to confuse weed with real dope. Dope is dope, weed is weed. You can drink yourself into the gutter as well if you so choose.
Posted by: Howie at June 06, 2005 11:42 AM (D3+20)
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Howie, osama,
I personally don't care if adults choose to get high, but I'm just saying they aren't the same. I drink wine and beer, and I can't remember when the last time I got drunk was. But back in the day, every time I smoked weed I got high.
Posted by: Carlos at June 06, 2005 11:46 AM (UWO6N)
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Plus doctors will argue that ANY inhaled smoke causes damage (maybe that's why Bill didn't inhale?), while moderate drinkers actually live longer than those wgho abstain.
But Osama, another right-winger would agrees with you: WF Buckley.
Posted by: Young Bourbon Professional at June 06, 2005 11:50 AM (x+5JB)
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Well Carlos...was Clinton the one packing the bong? If he wasn't inhaling, the room must have been akin to a Led Zeppelin concert during "whole lotta love", minus the spotlights. The only thing I didn't like "back in the day" was drinking a bunch of beers THEN smoking weed. I did that twice and always got nauseous. Anyway, I'm really into rock climbing and not really into anything that compensates my balance.
Posted by: osamabeenvotin' at June 06, 2005 11:58 AM (B9hEP)
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YBP: I agree with you...the only problem is that many people abuse the 'it's healthy to drink' thing. Drinking 1-2 glasses of red wine is good for 2 reasons: the tannins contain antioxidants and it calms you down, thus less stress. If you go over a glass or two, the toxicity level of your blood alcohol level while your liver is dealing with it negates the positive effects of the antioxidants. It also prevents you from sleeping as deeply as you would if you were sober. (REM sleep) I recently saw a huge (no pun intended) full page advertisement encouraging people to be a little pudgy and saying it was healthy to be a little overweight. Guess who paid for the ad? I'm sure you can guess. Anyway, doctors are already horrified that our obese culture is taking this as a green light to binge.
Posted by: osamabeenvotin' at June 06, 2005 12:09 PM (B9hEP)
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Yikes! Who placed the ad? McDonald's? Oprah's weight-trainer?
Posted by: Young Bourbon Professional at June 06, 2005 12:11 PM (x+5JB)
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I used to consume lots of beer. I got tired of the stupid stuff I did when drunk and totally quit for about 5 years. Now 10 years later I can assure you I get quite a good buzz off about two beers and don't feel the need to drink 12 and make and ass of myself. I think it may be called growing up. But if you don't get a buzz off two they call that tolerance and indicates you may drinking more than two on occasion which is fine but don't lie to yourself. Lie to me all you want.
YBP is right though, weed is bad for you as is cheeseburgers, fries, cigarettes, Drinking 12 beers, Too much sun, Stress, Pizza, chasing ho's and just about anything else thats fun.
Osama yep that'll make you hurl every time. Reverse the order.
I just don't think that making a stupid mistake like burning one should cost you your job, your reputation, 2 G's etc, etc.
But for sure the risks are far greater than the return and considering those risks I choose not to do that anymore but that is the only reason I make that choice. Got too much to loose. Damn I hate being a grown up except for the hangovers, fines, wrecked cars, etc, etc. Can't say I miss those.
Posted by: Howie at June 06, 2005 12:33 PM (D3+20)
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YBP: Nope. If it was Oprah's trainer, it would be an advertisement for yo-yos... If you can't track it down, I'll drop the source later!
Posted by: osamabeenvotin' at June 06, 2005 01:00 PM (B9hEP)
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>>>"The only thing I didn't like "back in the day" was drinking a bunch of beers THEN smoking weed. I did that twice and always got nauseous."
duuuude! I did that once and my buddies almost called the ambulance I was so fucked up. That one trip got me off getting high AND getting drunk.
Posted by: Carlos at June 06, 2005 01:02 PM (tFXpR)
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Howie....sure is funny that almost everything people desire can be pretty bad for them, huh? When I drank beers and ate pizza all the time I was 205 lb... I stopped all of that and dropped 50 lb. in a month. I had to work out to get some more muscle back since my sloth behavior had taken some of that away...so now I'm a lean and mean 175 and have been for about 10 years. Oh yeah, and I did reverse it with better results...hehe. Can't say I suffered hangovers since for some strange genetic fluke I don't get headaches. Same with my dad. I just get a little dehydrated if I had too much to drink...
Posted by: osamabeenvotin' at June 06, 2005 01:07 PM (B9hEP)
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Carlos, all I remember is walking down the street thinking, "Fuck, a bag lady could kick my ass right now and take all my money because I can barely walk." It also took me a good 10 minutes to get my key to fit in the front door of my place. Ugh.
Posted by: osamabeenvotin' at June 06, 2005 01:25 PM (B9hEP)
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Osama: Got the yo-yo's source. (And in Oprah's case, it could be an for Twinkies too! Heh heh.)
Posted by: Young Bourbon Professional at June 06, 2005 01:55 PM (x+5JB)
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Hey y'all have a good one. I'm pretty thrilled I got over a big hump at work and just gotta build on it. I'm also pretty bummed. Yesterday my dog (bo) had a massive epilleptic seizure and died. I was pretty much crushed. But I did have a glass of wine and listened to some Hank SR for my blues. The widower down the road had about 1/2 a fifth left of what I gave him. I guess that's the good thing about making it 5 gallons at at time you can drink/give it away a lot faster than you can make it. Prevents boozehound relapse too.
Posted by: Howie at June 06, 2005 02:26 PM (D3+20)
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Howie: The world needs more neighbors like you.
Posted by: Young Bourbon Professional at June 06, 2005 02:34 PM (x+5JB)
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I drink. And I can't remember when I drank even a half a beer without getting a buzz. (Okay so I'm a light weight.) I think it's all a ploy to keep us from smoking pot because those who are "high" drive slowly and cities would lose a lot of income from speeding fines. ;-) And just think, if an accident did occur, it's not likely that anyone would get hurt if they're all going so slow. So our insurance rates should go down. More people would be hugging and kissing. Even the jihadis might gain a sense of humor and we could lure them into traps with twinkies.
Okay, there's my argument. ;-)
Posted by: Oyster at June 06, 2005 02:45 PM (fl6E1)
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Yeah the poor old guy and his wife had no childen either. He has pretty much taken up with my dogs. He takes them for rides and even to Mcdonalds once in a while. I was sure he'd be wondering what happened to Bo so I went down and helped him feed his horses and broke the news to him. After that we had a little drink in honor of our fallen buddy. Bo is the second dog I've had with epilepsy (what are the odds?) The one I had before had a lot of seizures and I ended up having to put her on meds. Bo had only had one (at least noticeable ones) about 18 months ago. The plan was if he had more or had a bad one we would put him on the meds. Well the next one killed him so don't screw around with it. Like most things I learned the hard way and I wouldn't wish that on anyone. Plus the meds for dogs are dirt cheap.
Posted by: Howie at June 06, 2005 03:22 PM (D3+20)
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Howie: Sorry, old bean. I know what it feels like to lose a friend like that. My setter Basil to me seemed more human than alot of humans!
Posted by: Young Bourbon Professional at June 06, 2005 03:30 PM (x+5JB)
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Howie
Sorry for your loss
Posted by: sparky at June 06, 2005 06:24 PM (F1nba)
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Sorry about your dog, Howie. That's really sad. I have cats and a dog (the girlfriend's cats) and dogs just rule. I'll tell you this...if the shit hits the fan, cats split the scene and dogs defend you. Plus, when is the last time anyone wrestled with a cat then played fetch? As for my girl's cats...one of them is completely psycho. It hid near the crapper once and bit my finger when I was reaching for the toilet paper. I actually had to hit the bastard off into the tub. It got infected and I couldn't bend my middle finger for a month *which didn't stop me from doin' anything* What sucked was having to take 2000 mg of amoxicillin every 12 hours and eating more yogurt than a pakistani goat herder to keep my shit from running. The doc said a dog bites don't get too infected...but a human bite is absolutely the worst. Anyway, hope you got a laugh out of that one. Get another dog!
Posted by: osamabeenvotin' at June 06, 2005 06:32 PM (B9hEP)
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