Growing Marijuana? Get The Secrets of the West Coast Masters

Do you grow medical marijuana? Would you like to have more of it? Ounces are for amateurs, according to Dru West, author of The Secrets of the West Coast Masters. West wants to teach you how to yield a pound per plant — indoors.

The West Coast Masters are medical marijuana growers and patients from California, Oregon and Washington state. After researching the leading cannabis cultivation techniques from around the world, including bonsai and tomato horticulture, they developed what they call the “ultimate techniques” for growing medicinal marijuana.

“Throughout the mountains and valleys of the US West Coast resides a secret society of master growers who are producing marijuana of unbelievable yields and potency,” we’re told on the cover of this $34.99 hardback. “While most growers are content with a yield of two ounces per plant, these West Coast Masters consistently yield over a pound, and in some cases over two pounds, all while staying within the limits of their

medical marijuana programs.”

Legal Loopholes and How Weed Growing Can Now Be a Legal Home Occupation

Published by TRJ under Best news of the Day,Misc

http://hailmaryjane.com/legal-loopholes-and-how-weed-growing-can-now-be-a-legal-home-occupation/

Image Via Ephemeron

And all this time you were talking sh*t about your homeboy and how all he does is stay in that hot ass apartment growing his weed plants! Little did you know that your dude was actually a budding entrepreneur and weed growing is his ‘home occupation’ but only if he lives in Bingham Township, Michigan.

The Bingham Township Planning Commission is considering adopting a zoning ordinance amendment similar to one being considered by neighboring Suttons Bay Township that might allow the production and sale of medical marijuana as a “home occupation.”

This clever move was made possible by an amendment adopted by the township planners after a review of the Michigan Attorney General’s interpretation of the state’s medical marijuana law. The basis of the ordinance allows ‘growers’ to run home based businesses that provide medical cannabis to patients. The difference is that each grower must deliver the plants; no store fronts or commercial businesses are allowed to participate.

These loose ‘collectives’ can do a whole lot of good for the entire community. Having a home based business is great because it allows one to earn an income. The fact that the marijuana is being cultivated on private property and only sold to a maximum of five people and delivered door to door means there is less likelihood the police would even notice what was going on. In addition, a search of private property to cease marijuana that’s being used for medicinal purposes would seem like an invasion of privacy and a bad image for the Michigan law enforcement community.

Let’s hope other towns take advantage of city and state zoning laws to bring about access to medical marijuana that can be tolerated by both users and the citizens that love them.

Find The Right Marijuana Strain For You At Leafly.com

By Steve Elliott

Thursday, August 18, 2011, at 12:20 pm

Graphic: Leafly.com

Leafly helps you make sense of the plethora of medical marijuana strains available.

​Leafly.com, online for just over a year now, is a powerful resource which can help medical marijuana patients find the strains which work best for them. Since its debut in June 2010, patients have used the site to explore the dispensary options available and to match strains with symptoms.

When I entered one of my favorite strains, Afgoo, Leafly told me the effects, medical uses, and where I could find it, listing five dispensaries from 10 to 35 miles away.

Toke of the Town had a chance to chat with Mike Juberg, on the sales team at Leafly.com, about what the site has to offer.

Graphic: Leafly.com

​Toke: Tell me when Leafly got started, and what inspired its creation.

Mike: We started building Leafly in March of 2010 shortly after receiving our medical marijuana recommendations. We were overwhelmed by the strain choices at dispensaries and had no good resources to help make an informed decision on which to try.

We were also disappointed by the existing choices of dispensary locator sites. The majority are clones of each other and most suffer the same problems with speed and poor user experience; we knew we could do it better.

After two months of weekend work we launched the site in June 2010 and the response has been tremendous.

Graphic: Leafly.com

​Toke: What is the most powerful feature available to patients on Leafly?

Mike: The most talked-about feature on our site is the explore page (http://www.leafly.com/explore). This is a great starting point for patients new to the mmj world. You can filter strains by their effects and drill down until you find one that best suits your needs. There is also the option of only showing strains available at dispensaries near you, so you are sure to find what you need.

Toke: What’s the most important thing to know for patients new to Leafly?

Mike: As a new patient the sheer number of varieties of cannabis within a dispensary can be a bit overwhelming. For participating dispensaries we have menus integrated with Leafly data to help new patients make selections best for them.

New patients should also know that we take privacy very seriously. We have made conscious decisions at every step to ensure discretion. All aspects of the design intentionally exclude the iconic leaf image and pictures of bud are shown only on photo pages, so it won’t be obvious what you are looking at to coworkers glancing over your shoulder at work.

To register for an account we don’t require an email address and all your profile information is hidden by default. You have to opt in to be public, which some people are comfortable doing and others are not.

Toke: What’s next in Leafly’s future?

Mike: We have a long roadmap of product enhancements and new dispensary services we are working on, as well as new mobile and web apps to help the cannabis community. Everything is top secret right now. 🙂

Toke: What makes Leafly’s dispensary offerings unique?

Mike: While other sites only provide a means to advertise a dispensary we do that while also creating products that simplify their operations. Things like SMS services for patient outreach, social media integration, pushing menus out to multiple sites, and an unmatched analytics platform so they can track visitor trending over time.

With more on the horizon we like to use our technological know-how to solve real problems that dispensary owners face every day.

Seattle Hempfest All Weekend!

Seattle Hempfest All Weekend! Meet The Safety Team

http://www.tokeofthetown.com/2011/08/by_jack_rikesstoke_of_the.php

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ in Culture

Photo: Jack Rikess

​By Jack Rikess

Toke of the Town

Northern California Correspondent (From Seattle)

Seattle’s Hempfest opens today. For 20 years, political activists, social progressives, cannabis enthusiasts and the curious has been making the trek out to the Northwest’s longest running cannabis klatch. The festival occupies a twist of land that stretches on the East edge of the sound for a little better than a mile and half.  Really, just a hefty salmon toss down from Pike Place Market.

Expanding from two to three days, with a new Friday opening instead of the usual Saturday beginnings, from what I saw Thursday as the crews were setting up, it’s only getting bigger and better. For three days, there will be knowledgeable speakers talking about issues intrinsic to Washington State, plus non-stop music, great looking food booths and of course, about two hundred thousand attendees, looking for info, music, exotic munchies and a precipitous good time.

Being a veteran of a few of these festivals, as pot leaves are being glued to fences and outside shops and all things marijuana were being erected, I kinda wondered where the “Patient’s Tent” was going to be or as we say in California, the “215 Area.” That place where a festival goer can go when the cotton candy because too much and you’re looking for some cotton mouth now. Y’know, that place where we go to medicate. That place where the heads traditionally gather communally passing around the good Karma. You know, where we go to smoke.

That’s when I was told that there is no marijuana smoking at Hempfest. This may seem a little incongruous but this is also the reason the event has been able to exist for two decades operating during Republican administrations and now our own turncoat, President Obama. Operating a cannabis happening is at best a mountain climb with the uphill politics, a changing climate daily and with only your trusted guide to rely on, an overnight landside can stop you in your tracks.

Even this year’s Hempfest has to jump through hoops brought on by the City of Seattle, mostly a paperwork smokescreen intended on delaying the promoters from opening. But the Pot Gods favored the righteous, and here we are today.

Putting on an event of this nature must come fraught with hassles and unforeseen calamities. At the entrances and exits, rent-a-cops maintain security and control. The local Seattle’s finest, not the coffee, the cops, secure a position above the fray allowing the event’s own security to handle any interior occurrences.

When you think of rock concert security, the Hell’s Angels is what first pops in my head. Bearded fatso’s who favor pool cues as their means for communication. Or maybe ex-cops or old guys from World War II that ran security for hotels or corporations, now retired from that are in charge. I imagine pot-bellies, low slung pistols in a drooping holster, maybe a southern accent. Guys who are more comfortable working a state fair and now have been begrudgingly brought in to “work” with the hippies.

Two hundred thousand guests can be a handful to say the least. I had to meet who was in charge of the safety of the two hundred grand. I mean, the water right there! What could go wrong?

I walked over to the security tent. There was a kid out front with khaki shorts, security team t-shirt with a peaceful smile and a radio about to be keyed. Before he could get to his job, I interrupted him, asking if I could speak to who is in charge.

He said, “That be me.”

Really.

“Really.”

Meet Mitch Draper, the 24-year old, who’s in charge of yours and my good time.

My first question was, c’mon, Mitch, you’re the boss?

Then my ageism is snubbed out like Mexican swag.

“Well, this is my 10th year of working the festival. I started out doing this and that, but in the last years, I started with security, and now…I’m the boss.”

Right away his even keel demeanor tells you how partly he got this job. But there are details. So I asked Mitch my “burning” question.

What do you do about people smoking pot on the grounds?

“Most people are really cool and considerate. We give them a choice if they’re caught smoking on the Hempfest’s grounds. You can either dump out your stuff right now into this barrel that we bring to them, or we call in SPD.

The barrel?

“We have a huge barrel that we keep inside the perimeter. Once we catch someone and they choose the barrel. They dumped their stuff out and them before their eyes, we pour chlorine bleach all over everything.”

Is it mostly marijuana?

The 24-year old Army reservist went on, “We get acid, ecstasy, pills and other junk. But it all goes into the barrel.”

Just then some of the other members of the security team came out to where we were.

Not trying to be a smart ass, I asked these obvious older than 24 guys, what it was like to take orders from Mitch.

“So what’s it like being in security with Mitch? Taking orders from a kid?”

A big guy logging in at over a couple of bills corrected me right away. “We are the safety team; we don’t like being called security. That’s for the Seattle cops or TSA that handles some of our external posts. And that’s a stupid question. Mitch is great and a great boss. His age has nothing to do with his ability.”

Another gentleman, who looks like he could be your cousin William from Indiana, second the Big Guy’s opinion that Mitch is in control and sets the right tone for this kind of event.

All of Safety Team seems so mellow and youthfully exuberant that the three day festival may happen possibly with sun and not the expected rain, belittles the fact that Cousin Willy is actually ex-special forces and most of the rest of the team, even in their twenties

So guys, what does the Safety Team look out for. What are your biggest headaches?

Mitch said right away, “Distribution. People doing business or smoking or even giving some away. It’s all a no-no.”

Then comes the barrel?

Mitch nods his head yes. “There’s always someone who shows up thinking he can make some bucks selling here. Sorry, no.”

The Big Guy says crowds can be a challenged. “With this many people, some of them get a little crazy. We just do basic crowd control and it always seems to work out.”

One of the guys who hadn’t spoken yet said, “I hate the drunks. Even Seattle Police will tell you that they rather deal with the stoners at Hempfest. Their mellow and listen. The drunks are drunks. They want to fight or just cause trouble.”

Cousin Willy also mentioned dehydration. “Dehydration is a huge problem. People forget to drink water at these things. Got to stay hydrated. That goes for staff too. People working hard, we remind the staff to keep refreshing. We try to stay proactive.”

Any problems from past years stand out?

“We had a drunken naked guy swim out to the channel one year,” Mitch stated matter-of-factly. “We called the Coast Guard right away. They got him. He became their problem.”

At that point, my girlfriend, who I’ll call ‘Yoko,’ asked Mitch if the compound that the Safety Team is housed in, the Draper Compound. Is it named after you?”

Mitch answered humbly. “No, the compound is named after my Dad, Merle Draper. He was a long time cannabis activist in Washington before he passed.”

A second generation cannabis kid.

Mitch’s Dad is famous up here in these parts but Mitch didn’t expound and I didn’t pry. But I knew if he was my kid, I’d be sure as damn proud of him as I’m sure his father is.

While talking to them a call came on the radio about some street people on the outside of the gate harassing some people. I decided to tag along.

Four face-tattooed hobos, two inches away from the front main gate were smoking the ends of street-flatten cigarettes while trying to sell whatever they had on a blanket to the walkers going by.

Right away the hobos got their dandruff flying, accusing everyone but themselves that the others were the source of causing problems, not them.

Mitch and the Safety Team reasoned with them. Talked to them in low gentle tones. In five minutes they were gone.

Mitch and his guys are pros.

Have a great and safe Hempfest!

Photo: Jack Rikess Photo: Jack Rikess Toke of the Town correspondent Jack Rikess blogs from the Haight in San Francisco. Jack Rikess, a former stand-up comic, writes a regular column most directly found at jackrikess.com. Jack delivers real-time coverage following the cannabis community, focusing on politics and culture. His beat includes San Francisco, the Bay Area and Mendocino-Humboldt counties. He has been quoted by the national media and is known for his unique view with thoughtful, insightful perspective.

Toke of the Town correspondent Jack Rikess blogs from the Haight in San Francisco.

Teens May Be Charged For Pot Brownie Prank

A trio of teenagers in downstate Illinois are looking at a possible criminal record after police say they baked a batch of marijuana brownies and handed them out to unknowing victims.

The O’Fallow Township High School students were attending summer band camp where the incident allegedly took place. Besides facing criminal charges, the school may also take disciplinary action, according to STLtoday.com.

O’Fallon police Sgt. Rob Schmidtke told the site, “Anytime anybody is given drugs or something else without their knowledge that can obviously be a health hazard. We won’t let this slide. It could have been a very big deal.”

Police were tipped off via a fellow student who had learned about the prank and alerted a school administrator.

Schmidtke says the three teens confessed to lacing the brownies, adding, “It could have been an interesting band practice.”

O’Fallon Police Chief John Betten told the Belleville News Democrat, “No charges have been filed at this point and the case is still under investigation,” and that fortunately there were no “reports of problems” for any of the band members that ingested the pot-laced baked goods.

“Maybe [the teens] didn’t do a very good job of making them,” he added.

(Source) http://www.imperfectparent.com

read more: http://www.thcfinder.com/marijuana-blog/culture/2011/08/teens-may-be-charged-for-pot-brownie-prank#ixzz1VQiCfM5r

Genetic Code of Cannabis Reported Unlocked

(CBS News)  A small Massachusetts-based company says it has successfully sequenced a marijuana plant, paving the way for more research into the therapeutic effects of Cannabis – including its potential for treating cancer and inflammatory diseases.

Medicinal Genomics published the raw sequence strings at midnight. The company’s findings have not yet undergone peer review. Medicinal Genomics put the data up on Amazon.com’s EC2 cloud- computing system.The more than 131 billion bases of sequence, which is believed to constitute the largest known gene collection of the Cannabis genomes so far, will be made available to the scientific public sometime this fall.

The breakthrough also raises the possibility that researchers will eventually be able to weed out – no pun intended – the psychoactive effects pot smoking has on people while enhancing the medicinal aspects of Cannabis.

It’s only happenstance but Medicinal Genomics is headquartered both in Marblehead, Mass. and Amsterdam, where the company’s research facilities are found.

“This is the beginning of a more scientific approach to the genetics of the species,” Richard Gibbs, director of the Human Genome Sequencing Center at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, told Bloomberg. “This is not really about marijuana; it’s about pharmacology.”

(Source) http://www.cbsnews.com

read more: http://www.thcfinder.com/marijuana-blog/news/2011/08/genetic-code-of-cannabis-reported-unlocked#ixzz1VQN9EU00

Video of the Day: Family Guy – Meg Gets High

Four More Bullsh*t Marijuana Myths Busted Using the Fed’s Own Numbers

My apologies for getting this little nugget out to you guys late but you know how it is when you’re trying to pay attention and…well, you know how it is. Nevertheless, guess what I’ve got!?!

The Federal government’s annual report highlighting substance abuse. Now that may not sound interesting when I put it like that but if you look through the 300+ pages like Paul Armentano of NORML did right here. You’ll find even more myth busting information by comparing the data but in the meantime, here’s the breakdown.

Four More Bullsh*t  Mary Jane Myths BUSTED!!!

• Myth: Marijuana use is prevalent in low income and urban areas thereby justifying the “War on Drug” and aggressive treatment and surveillance of poorer (read: Black and Latino) neighborhoods.

…..combating numerous drug warrior myths and stereotypes (such as the notion that high rates of illicit drug use — yes, the New England states lead in this broader category too — are typically relegated to poorer, urban, more racially diverse areas).

• Myth: Marijuana use is neither determined nor undermined by state drug laws. People use marijuana if and when they choose to and not because states make marijuana possession laws harder.

…..it should be noted that despite the prevalence of medical marijuana states in these rankings, the authors of the report acknowledge that there is no evidence that the implementation of medi-pot laws is increasing the use of cannabis or other illicit drugs.

• Myth: Establishing medical marijuana laws do not directly affect an increase in casual marijuana use.

They also call into question the notion that marijuana use among the general population is in any way influenced by the legal status of marijuana.

• Myth: The Northeast loves them some Mary Jane. Nearly every state in the region made it’s way into the top spots for marijuana use.

The totals in the category ‘marijuana use in the past year among persons age 18 to 25‘ is even more New England-centric, with every northeast state (Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont) all included in the top percentile (along with Alaska, Colorado, New York, and Oregon). In the category, ‘marijuana use in the past month among persons age 26 or older‘ Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont top the list (along with Alaska, Colorado, Hawaii, and Oregon).

So, according this report by the United States government marijuana use is not the big bad monster that they make it out to be. With social concerns and morals aside, I wonder if a level-headed person would read this and ask themselves what the implication of this data means.

At the very least, our government has inflated the seriousness of marijuana’s affects on society. The decision to do so may have caused a  focus of limited state resources on treating a problem that may not have been a priority compared to other social issues.

At the very worst, this data shows a how an entire class of people (poor/brown) have been manufactured into a criminal class justifying the pursuit, expense and time required by the state to prosecute them when their marijuana use maybe less prevalent than in other (upper-class/white) areas. So if the real intent of the state is to pursue those that use illicit drugs the their polices effort to lock up offenders would correlate with drug use. This one theory begs the question of the states willingness to exploit their own criminal justice system to violate the rights of citizens to fund private industries that benefit from such discretion, specifically, the courts, the prisons and the legal industry.

Don’t be intimidated by false marijuana myths, educate yourself and stop the stupid with real data made by the same people that we’re fighting. Shout out to Norml for doing the hard part, now all you have to do is repeat it. Almost like cheating on a test but not. Until next time, people

– http://www.hailmaryjane.com

Sheriff Offers To Collect Extra Pot Plants Under New Rules

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — The next battles are already starting over the new county rules on medical marijuana. Supporters said they have petitions ready to challenge the bans on storefront dispensaries and large outdoor grows.

Meanwhile, the Kern County Sheriff’s department said growers with more than the new 12-plant limit can turn that in, with no fear of prosecution.

Kern County Supervisors passed the new ordinances on Tuesday, and Thursday a spokesman said medical marijuana supporters hope to start gathering petition signatures on Friday.

“Right now we’ll have community effort doing it,” California Cannabis Coalition president Craig Beresh told Eyewitness News. “Then we’re going to have paid signature-gatherers in town.”

Beresh said the fight may cost up to $60,000, but the funds are there. He said organizations like his are putting in money, as well as local dispensaries and patients. He said they also plan to file a lawsuit Friday against the ban on collectives, and on Friday they’ll file for a temporary restraining order trying to stop the new ban on outdoor grows of more than 12 plants.

That ban is already in effect, because it was passed as a “urgency ordinance.” Supervisors said they took that immediate action, convinced by law enforcement that most marijuana crops are nearly ready for harvest, and that the large pot gardens are a target for violence.

At Tuesday’s hearing, Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood showed the board photos of a very large grow raided this week, which included 17 booby traps, according to officers.

The sheriff’s department announcement on taking in plants said anyone can call 391-7580 for more information. “Arrangements will be made to accept their excess plants for destruction and/or to answer any questions regarding compliance issues,” the statement read.

Eyewitness News had questions about how long that offer will be available, and what penalties growers would face later. But no one was available to answer questions on Thursday afternoon.

Meanwhile, Beresh said the groups supporting medical marijuana will circulate petitions asking voters to sign for a simple referendum on both new county rules, basically whether they don’t want the new ordinances.

The spokesman said if voters approve that, the groups then want to work with county leaders. They hope a task force of appointed community members could then come up with alternatives to the ban. Beresh said many medical marijuana collectives and patients think there should be changes to the current situation.

“We need to regulate it, we need to come down with some rules,” Beresh said.

When asked for examples of better rules, he said, “We need to know where they’re going to be allowed. We don’t want to be on top of each other, we don’t want to be close to schools, we want to do it the right way.”

Beresh said they also want a task force to come up with different rules on medical marijuana grows.

But, getting the new county rules tossed out requires the groups to get enough signatures on the petitions. If that happens, the just-passed county ordinance to shut down the dispensaries would be automatically suspended, according to Kern County chief elections clerk Karen Rhea. She said the groups must get 17,350 signatures in 30 days.

“September 8 is the last day for the protest to be filed with the Board,” Rhea told Eyewitness News.  If the groups get enough signatures, Rhea said the ordinance is set back to the supervisors for consideration. The board can repeal the ordinance or put the question to the voters.

Beresh said if it goes to the voters, the board must set an election within 88 days. But Rhea said that’s not correct. An election has to be held “not less than 88 days” later.

“Should the protest be sufficient and the board decides to put it to a vote, the election may either be called as a special election to be consolidated with the next regularly scheduled county election,” Rhea said.

Can they get enough signatures in 30 days? Beresh is convinced the supporter groups can do it.

“This is not going to be a problem. In fact, I feel this is going to be about the easiest county,” he said. “I’ve talked to many people throughout town, and I don’t find many people that are against it.”

Who Is Your Marijuana Hero?

Heroes come in all shapes and sizes, from a soldier that would jump on a grenade to that person that lets you in while changing lanes. My heroes as of late are the drug war heroes. Making every smoker a criminal from occasional to daily, the war on drug has created a different type of soldier – from grower to end user, anyone can go to jail.

The war on drugs has created a violent and life threatening environment for normal people who just want to smoke (like having a cocktail after work) and be left alone. They smoke to ease pain and to gain appetites, to feel stabilized and overall okay with the world, there’s no mystery behind this. I’m not the only one that is pissed off that weed is still an issue in our American way. People in very important positions carry on life day to day, all while partaking in the weed and yet here we are.

I ‘m nobody, just a dude that talks a lot of shit by pointing fingers at our current and past political system by stating how insane it is that anybody’s life is altered by weed. There’s been a consistent hypocrisy in my America, before the War on drugs it was “get them damn hippies” but with a War we can “get ‘em all”, I just wonder why a bunch of farmers and stoners are the target for somebody’s animosity. One can get by in life by shutting the fuck up, by not stirring the pot, by not having an opinion but I think that’s more of an insult to ourselves and our children.

In Southern California I was caught with weed 3 times (less than an ounce is a misdemeanor, a.k.a just a ticket in other states it’s a felony a.k.a jail time). Two times I was cited and the third he let me go. When I was younger on the East Coast I would smoke in downtown Atlantic City, off the bus in the land of crack heads, cops had bigger things to worry about then. These days I’m less bold and casual with my smoking simply because I have more to lose now but if one of those things in the past took a worse turn I don’t know where I would be now.

These days I have more respect for a grower than a politician – farmer vs. lawyer. These days I’m more fearful around cops and my pot – smoking harmlessly vs. going to jail and being a waste of mine and other tax payers’ money.

Heroes come in all shapes and sizes; mine are the soldiers and victims of today’s ignorant drug war. Mine are normal people put into extra-ordinary positions. When I heard Rob Cantrell’s joke about smoking with a world renowned violinist and getting busted in a back alley than serving 3 days in jail, I thought it was just a joke – not a personal reality, than there is the story of Jaime Rutowski.

Jaime Rutowski recently won a lawsuit against the city of New York. She was detained against her will where she nearly died. She suffers from diabetes and as her levels rose the police did nothing for her ‘till she got to a near death situation.

The politicians live in the land of double-talk which is clearly seen here in a video (start at 1:30 but the whole thing is badass) with Congressman Charles B Rangel saying he can’t think of a single person being arrested in New York, are you fucking kidding me! I never thought there would be a time when I recognize Tennesse as more progressive thinking than New York.

Or what about the heros serving time for something I smoke in a day like Patricia Spottedcrow. A 10yr sentence for less than a quarter ounce! Somebody needs to remind the judicial system and all those against it, it’s a plant not a meth lab. Do we endanger our children with tomato plants or worse yet, jalapeno plants?

 

Lately, I agree with the mad hat tea partiers but I’m afraid some don’t know what they’re mad or even scared about. Half the shit I hear them scream and yell about doesn’t affect a guy like me, making under 40 thousand, living paycheck to paycheck ,inclined to drink and smoke excessively, after I’ve worked my ass for 8 or plus hours off that day.

What this thing in life is really about, what we should fight for or be against is the attack on our personal space. It’s the personal space we call our own to do what we want, not harming others. Whether it’s a 1500 square foot house, 10 x 10 closet, or even a mansion in the hills your rights can more than be potentially violated tomorrow, this is not the American way. Imagine your rights taken away for having a six pack in the house, what makes this different than a bong or a pound?

Take Dana Walker for example. A Washington State badass who has made a stand against the state for the equivalent of smoking a cigarette, even after having already served time in a Federal Prison for the same thing, weed. He stood up to the ass-war mongers and said I refuse to pay anymore debt to society. And why should we be paying debts to society for smoking herb.

Our country is run by fear mongering sycophants that would rather run prison systems and make revenue being a police state instead of taxes and licensing. Coming out against drugs does America one the biggest disservices the people – nobody is being rescued, we’re just handed blinders. Kind, non-threatening, people are arrested and penalized everyday from a joint to truckloads with no disregard.

I personally know of a woman who lives in Colorado and smokes pot to help her get by since she has no spleen. Somehow police got involved in her life and they called social services, now her children are taken away for something less harmful than legal shit. Having your children taken away is like living in your own personal prison, it doesn’t get much lower than that. One example of somebody losing their child’s rights that I can document for the record is that of Nicholas Pouch, proving a bitter ex can ruin your present.

When I read reports of kids dying in jails after being pulled over for an out light on their bicycle, I wonder how the other side sleeps at night. How do you call yourself good when bad shit happens because of your freaked out conservative policies?

Humans, people, Americans and everyone else on this planet have a predisposition to get away (mentally and physically). Whether you’re an American Indian on a spiritual journey eating peyote or a distinguish business man of 1839 self prescribing has always been a way of life. News flash Mr. and Mrs. America: We like to get fucked up.

Whether people want to smoke for recreational or medicinal, it should be up to them. The government recently came out and said marijuana has no medicinal value but this contradicts the fact that there have been 8 federal marijuana patients. More and more people smoke to help ease aches and pains, there’s even research showing it helps with cancer. Personally I lost my father to cancer and if I thought smoking some joints with him would give me another day with him, I would. So I think before the government puts on its blinders they should reclass marijuana and give it a chance.

Most of what I write is idealistic hippie crap but its how I feel. Life isn’t complicated for me, I work, I come home, I work at home, and I enjoy my herb – only one of these can put me in jail. Millions of people agree with me to, so I wonder why we’re still here in this position. Of all the things that could put me jail I would rather have it for something I’ve done or am willing to do, rather than for a joint or even a crop but we all take some chance just for a little piece of mind and its those people who are my marijuana heroes.