War On Drugs Clock Shows All The Resources We Really Use

So I was skimming the interwebs and I came across this website, the war on drugs clock.  Basically it breaks down just how much money our government is spending to put away non-violent offenders, and just how many of them are in jail, arrested, and a bunch of other pretty staggering numbers.

Now look at these numbers, and tell me why we are in a massive economic crisis. 17 Billion Dollars?!?!? Are you fucking kidding me? That number is absolutely unreal to me, and that is only on a Federal level.  States have spent over 27 Billion on the drug war, do they realize it’s easier than ever to walk out one’s front door and have a bag in your hand within 10 minutes?  Do they realize that this will NEVER change?  Some states have, 13 at last count, with Michigan and Massachusetts on the way.  We are slowly catching on, but it certainly isn’t fast enough.

Am I asking to completely decriminalize the plant and put it in the hands of anyone and everyone?  No, absolutely not, it could easily be regulated at least as much as alcohol is to keep it out of the hands of the younger generation before they have developed to a point where they can responsibly use the drug.  But isn’t throwing almost 40 billion dollars a year at a losing battle absolutely gut wrenching?  I’d say so, especially for the number 2 cash crop in our nation.  Marijuana and hemp could easily be MAKING us billions of dollars in taxes, and stimulating our floundering economy.  Instead we choose to sit back and be robbed blind by our governments; state and federal, on a war that is more hopeless than Iraq and Afghanistan could ever imagine to be. [Read more]

The Best Bongs Ever Created

Man I love that cheeba, and I love smokin it out of a freshly rolled dutch or maybe even a nice piece of glass.  Sometimes though, the time and place don’t call for that.  This is when it’s time for the pothead’s mind to spring into action.  When not thinking of what kind of munchies to grab or when the last time I took a shower was, my mind is always tossing around the best ways to hand make a great smoking device, and I know I’m not alone.  Here are some of my favorite home made weed tools of all time: [Read more]

Just Another Reason We Need To Legalize It

I’m not going to bore you at the moment with all of the other reasons that marijuana should be legalized, I think that most people believe that anyway. But here is another perfect example of the drug war having adverse effects on the lives of everyone in this country, and it isn’t going away. Grow operations on public land all over the country are completely unregulated, and in turn growers are using rat poison, other illegal chemicals, and poaching to make sure that their harvests yield the highest possible amount of marijuana.

The drug cartels that illegally grow aren’t going anywhere in the current situation. They will continue to find new locations to poison our environment to get their precious harvest. If we would just take a minute and think about this, it could all easily be avoided if the government opened marijuana and hemp up as a cash crop, tax it, and make sure that growers are not adversely effecting our environment and public health. [Read more]

Intravenous dope - A marijuana experiment

The above video is a clip from BBC’s documentary Should I Smoke Dope? Through intravenous injection, this journalist is pumped with the two active ingredients found in marijuana: THC and Cannabidiol. The findings of the experiment show that when both are combined it produces a happy, pleasant and giggly high. THC alone produced psychosis inducing effects such as paranoia.

Should I Smoke Dope? documents BBC reporter Nicky Taylor’s experimental trip to the pot smokers’ European paradise; Amsterdam. The film details her 30 day cheeba toking investigation of the science, culture and legal aspects surrounding marijuana.

Watch the full documentary on YouTube (6 parts): 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Thanks to Amy for the tip!

(Via MindHack)

Slow Your Roll with “Drank” - The first ANTI-Energy drink?

I never fully understood the whole energy drink craze but with today’s NYC launch of anti-energy beverage, Drank, market leaders like RedBull and Sparks might have to make room for this mass-produced version of “purple drank.”

Most of us up north are virgins to “purple drank” which is described as “a recreational drug popular in the hip-hop community of the southern United States. Its main ingredient is prescription-strength cough syrup containing codeine and promethazine.”

However, this commercialized counterpart dropped the robo-tripping ingredients to concoct Drank, a non-alcoholic, grape flavored drink containing melatonin, valerian root and rose hips. Of course it’s packaged in a purple theme colored can. This newest addition to the beverage industry is “the first EXTREME RELAXATION drink to hit the market” and is “designed to calm and relax you.”

Store availablity listings are unavailable so it’s hit or miss if you’re looking for a new downer to calm your nerves. I wonder if Drank awaits the same fate as that red canned upper Cocaine?

(Via Gothamist)

Mexican cartels grow weed in U.S. National Forests

I love how the media spins stories like this to portray marijuana as the villain. Within the past week over 26,000 marijuana plants were discovered and removed from the Sequoia National Forest. According to the Federal and State officials, Mexican drug cartels have been sending illegal immigrants across the border with supplies to grow and cultivate large crops worth $40 million (street value).

Officials are also claiming that the creation of these crops are the cause of environmental degradation within the area. 7,000 feet of irrigation tubing, over 2,000 pounds of garbage and “hazardous waste”, over 200 pounds of fertilizer and two gallons of pesticides were removed from the marijuana farm as well. Bears and other animals are said to have been killed by these so called armed and dangerous marijuana growers.

[Read more]

America lands 1st place in drug use rates

The war on drugs is non-existent and with the latest results from a World Health Organization survey of 17 countries, the United States drug policies have clearly failed. According to the recent survey, the United States ranks the highest in marijuana and cocaine use

42.4 percent of the US citizens surveyed admitted to having used marijuana. New Zealand trailed close behind with 41.9 percent. However, the United States leads the world in cocaine use by a large margin.

What is most interesting are the results from the Netherlands where adults are allowed to possess and purchase small amounts of marijuana from regulated businesses. While many U.S. officials accuse the Dutch drug policy of fueling drug abuse, only 19.8 percent have used marijuana. Looks like the land of the free has got it all backwards. The question now is whether the U.S. can flip the drug culture from drug abuse to recreational drug use; sounds like a “change we can believe in” to me.

(via DoseNation)