Proposition 19 shimmers out there like a dream to many. To some, it is a pipe-dream if you think we’re going to let the hippies have their way smoking their Marijuana.

To people like me, who are over forty, in a way, we thought a day like this could never come.

We’re so close; it’s going to be a heartbreaker if it doesn’t pass.

I will argue all day if you want and agree with the contingency that believes that Prop.19 doesn’t go far enough or doesn’t cover enough of the unknown territory like it should.

Agreed.

But at the same time, this is the closest we’ve ever been to have Marijuana available to the general public. Proposition 215, the Grandmother of all props, is fourteen years old. Fourteen years, and because it is in a teenage infancy, it is still being worked out and expanded. That’s right, expanded.

Fourteen states have Medical Marijuana, because of California, and the work that activists and regular individuals have done in each of those states.

Proposition 215 is a foundation to be built upon.

Prop.19 is unclear on many levels. The counties of Cali are going to have the power on deciding their own revenue future. Whether to embrace the taxation that will come from it or run from the fear that has taken hold since 1937.

But it can all be worked out.

We go to war without a clue about the terrain, the indigenous people and why we’re really there. I’ve been in the anti-war movement my whole life and I’ve never seen anyone inquire about the future of our aggressive agenda. We just go to war and work it out as needed.

And we can’t do that with Marijuana?

Feds Vs. State’s Rights

When I moved to California in the Seventies, what freaked me out the most? That you could sell liquor in grocery stores right along side of the eggs and milk.

Where I grew up, liquor was only sold in liquor stores and they closed at Eight pm weekdays, Ten pm, for the ungodly weekend nights. Of course, closed on Sunday.

I couldn’t believe that people weren’t getting more drunk and wild because of it. I was told growing up that if you sold alcohol past Eight pm, bad things happen.

But the bad things never happened. People continued to be adults. California grew into the seventh largest economy in the world, since I moved here. I guess the alcohol didn’t stop the future from happening. People still went to work, got on with their lives, and some even quit drinking.

If we could go backwards, the very first thing I would do is change Marijuana from a Schedule One drug to, something else. I don’t even want to play the Schedule game. Marijuana shouldn’t be included along side with Heroin and Cocaine.

The whole reason the Feds are involved is because one very smart badguy, made Marijuana a Schedule One drug, knowing very well how hard it will be to over-turn that drug’s classification once established that Marijuana is as bad for you as Heroin and Crack.

By changing the status of Marijuana, this would in turn call off the Federal dogs.

That is one of the first things that need to happen.

Now for the emotional…

I’ve been in jail for Marijuana. Not prison but many jails throughout this great country of ours. I could say I was stupid and young, but mostly that wasn’t the case.

I got busted at a rock concert where someone was smoking a joint and we all were rounded up. I got busted in a car that had two joints hidden in the trunk. I got busted when a friend of mine was busted and I had to take the stuff otherwise he would have been sent to prison for his SECOND offense.

Dealers and Suppliers aside, your average dope smoker in prison or jail shouldn’t be there. We make fun of Pot smokers for being too hippy-dippy. For being too mellow and unable to understand reality. Yet we put our young people next to murderers and violent inmates because why? Oh yeah, they broke our laws. The Law of the Land. Who makes the Laws of the Land? We do. So it is up to us to change it.

Right now health care is under a microscope. Will Obama’s plan work?

Have we ever thought about taking the money we use for the War on Drugs, which has no up-side; we lose money chases the druggies. How about we go after the Medicare cheats? The people who rip us and stop others from getting the help they need. Why don’t we go after crime where we could show a profit from?

I know why. Look at Arizona’s Governor, Jan Brewer. She is working with her For-Profit Prison systems, to get those beds filled. If she has to draw up a law that states, it is illegal not to be white in the State of Arizona, she’ll do it.

This is why Prison Correctional Officers Union is the greatest donors against Proposition 19. The prisons lose money with the Legalization of Marijuana.

It’s that simple.

Mid-terms, Smid-terms…

It doesn’t seem that long ago that Karl Rove and his goons were able to scare America with the Gay-Threat. Karl the Genius of Fear was able to convince otherwise silent majority to get out there and vote, unless you want the Gays to take over the world with their fabulous Gay Agenda.

And it worked.

Mothers and Fathers voted against their gay children. For the months surrounding that mid-term election, those of us on the other side had to retaliate or let the message stand. We were being drawn into a fight that we didn’t want to be a part of in the first place.

Why can’t we scare the Moms and Dads? Do they want their kids in prison? Could their kid make it through that first night or would they find an alternative to being locked up?

My friends up north in Mendo and Humboldt are voting for Prop 19, no matter what you’ve heard. They don’t like the way the bill is now, but they know it better than nothing. And yes, they will lose money at first, if this bill is passed.

We’re not at a crossroads. We’re not at a fork in the road. We’re on a path.

The Feds have okayed Medical Marijuana for veterans. In a way, that is a huge mistake if you think you can overturn that once it gets started.

Marijuana is medicine for many individuals. And for others, it is a recreational drug. Yes, it can be all of those things. And sadly for others, it represents fear and the unknown.

Legalization would be a huge change for America, but I think we could handle it. We are ready. We’ve been practicing since high school. 14 million Americans smoke Marijuana.

What are we waiting for?

All of the problems of America could be summed up politically after watching last night’s debate between Jerry Brown and Meg Whitman. We’re at this point where money covers lies and passionate anger is a substitute for knowledge.

Jerry Brown has his problems and he is a politician. That is being used as a detractor. He has a career in politics. He has a track record. There is video of him being a politician, and in these same videos, there he is being political making decisions based on his occupancy of the particular office he held at the time. Because he is a career politician, he’s held different titles and positions during his career. Check the tape.

Whatever Jerry Brown’s problems are, going for it, dedicating his life for public service shouldn’t be one of the black marks held against him.

That is Meg Whitman’s complaint. Jerry Brown wanted to make a difference and so he went for it.

Meg Whitman also wanted whatever she wanted for herself, and went for it. Because of her efforts, she was able to make lots of money. It doesn’t matter where the money came from or who had to suffer for her to take more than her share. Don’t forget, without the money, there is no Meg Whitman.

So last night during the debate, the subject of Proposition 19 came up. As I’ve stated in previous columns, there isn’t an upside for candidates to come out in favor of Prop. 19. Even the politicians who support it have to downplay their approval.

So Meg brought up how soft on crime Jerry is. And here is my problem, Ms. Whitman stated, “I am against Prop. 19. But don’t ask me, every single law enforcement agent in this state is against Prop. 19.”

This is a complete lie.

I could start with the schoolyard logic that it is almost impossible for every agent in California to be against Prop.19. That would be immature and getting down to Meg’s level.

Here’s the dealio…Why lie? Why not say, I’m against it, Jerry takes bong hits, it’s not for me. I’m voting against it.

At least that would have been honest.

We’ve entered the era of having loads of money means that you can have your own facts.

Yesterday Meg dropped another twenty mill into her campaign, bringing her political treasure chest total to, 141 million dollars. That is how much Meg Whitman has put into her bid for governor of her own money.

How is that possible? How is it possible that you do not need experience to govern the seventh largest economy in the World? There is a huge difference between shareholders and a Board of Directors and the Cities of Compton and Eureka. There is a completely different governing body to have jurisdiction over. A completely different set of rules apply.

But that doesn’t even come into to play. What Meg is running against is experience. Her Donald Trump card is, “Hey, I’m rich. That’s all you have to know.”

She is trying to build the case, “Look at the foolish people who have tried to do something for others. Crazy. What you need to trust the people who only care for themselves. See, by being selfish, you know by looking out for only me, I’ll be the kind of candidate who only looks out for certain people. You know who you are.”

With lies and distortion, Meg hopes to convince the voters, that she is our candidate.

I am a Pot writer. I am passionate about the issue of Marijuana. I understand how unpopular it is to stand up for an issue that brings 34 billion dollars to this state.

It is really too bad no one takes Marijuana serious. Meg thinks she can lie about the stats. Meg thinks Potheads will forget about her statement or maybe she figures, we’re just getting high watching old VH1 reruns not watching her.

There is less than a month before we vote. Don’t vote for that Bore. She not only lied when she didn’t have to. She gave us a glimpse on how she will be running things.

When she doesn’t like the way things are going, she throws money her way for her benefit.

Jerry Brown tries. Meg Whitman spends and lies.

My experience as a prop 215 patient has taught me various ways of ingesting cannabis flowers but for a long time the part of the plant I smoked the most was the trim.

Trim is short for trimmings or clippings and those are the leaves and bud fragments that fell off the plant while the stalks were being cut for the flowers.

Trim is typically the cheapest form of medicine at a dispensary because years of black market shopping teaches you to reject anything that’s not bud, so most patients won’t even look at it. However patients like myself who like shake, will try trim because it resembles shake, but it’s a much different smoking experience.

For a while I felt like I was winning because I would spend a little bit of money on trim, and I was convinced that the results justified the money I spent, but I really got “what I paid for.” What always happened was I smoked twice as much than if I was smoking actual bud. When you’re over-smoking like that it typically means you need a stronger dosage of medicine. I’m speaking from a medical point of view.

I start my mornings off with a small blunt of a sativa, to get my mind clear and focused and energize myself. When that blunt contains trim, I have to smoke two to achieve the effects I’d get from one blunt composed of the flowers. So over the course of a day where I smoke 3 times at the most, I’d need at least twice that intake or more. That’s entirely too much time rolling and smoking, I’ve got too many other things to do that are way more important.

Another knock on trim, because of its low potentcy, is the headache you get from smoking it. This right here just kills it for me. Fortunately I only came across that 15% of the time, and I want to say it’s because I was selective but I think I was just lucky.

Trim is pretty much a collection of bits of leaves. Sometimes they look better than some buds. Other times they look like (my budtender’s quote) “hampster-cage lining.” I’ve had beautiful trim of a fluorescent green shade, coated with crystals, and stinkier than the dankest batch ever on record. I’m talking about the kind of trim where it sticks together and forms its own nugs. This kind will smoke nicely in blunt, but unless I’m chiefing like a chimney I’m getting minimal effects.

Cosmetically I’ve had the exact opposite which isn’t too far off from resembling oregano, but I was amazed at the results. I bought a gram of Kryptonite trim, an indica for $7, and as I watched the budtender weigh it out, I had buyer’s remorse. It was full of stems, old and ugly-looking and virtually scent-less. The taste was awful. The high was intense. When I smoked it I became incredibly lazy and withdrawn. I found it hard to get out of bed. I was in my own world. I felt dazed.

After that experience I was convinced I’d been wasting time and money smoking trim, medicating the wrong way, I changed my shopping habits. I found a dispensary where I could purchase my medicine by the half gram. This way I could try it and find a strain that really works for me. At the same time I’m paying the same price I was for trim, but getting the right results. I’m not done with trim yet. I’ve heard it’s great to cook with. More on that next time.

We’re forty-two days away from Election Day in California. Maybe it is time we get aggressive. Let’s face it, Marijuana since the 1930’s, hasn’t been giving even break. Since the Secretary of the Treasury placed his nephew to be in charge of America’s Marijuana policy in 1937, WEED hasn’t had a chance. The American people have been fed lies, lies, and more lies.  There have been presidential studies, universities’ experiments, tests done by the government, military, special projects invoked by governors, and they all come up with the same finds: Marijuana isn’t that bad for you. At least, it is not as bad as everyone has said it is. Marijuana is kept illegal by emotional, unreasonable arguments.

Well, maybe it time to fight back.

Karl Rove scared America straight with his fear-mongering for eight years. In the process of turning parent against their Gay kids and frightening average Red-blooded Americans in Blue States with the label of  being seen un-American if you weren’t into killing unsuspecting people in far away countries because of our President’s Daddy issues. Karl had us right where he wanted us, in his palm, no lubrication.

For eight years, the Jerk-offs was in control. Let’s learn from that. I now offer the unreasonable and insane arguments that we should use in defense of Proposition 19 and Legalization. Here are the illogical and absurd statements, that if said with a straight face, can scared and influence those Republicans who have been freaking us out for almost a decade with their insane point of views.

1) We can increase the Defense Budget!

Once we free up the dollars, roughly a billion that goes to taking care of America’s a third of the prisoners who are busted for Marijuana, we can spend all our new-found cash on bombs, planes and cool low-flying drones with sick digital cameras for awesome playback at home.

2) We can finally give the finger to those Nations holding us hostage with fossil fuels.

Even though we know that Saudi Arabia financed and made September 11^th happen, there’s nothing we can do except attack other countries because of their unctuous hold over our country because of our steady oil jones.

Now with bio-fuels being created from Hemp oil, we can have that independence we’ve always talked about. Imagine, not having ever to hold the hands of Sheiks when they visit your Casa Blanco.

3) It’s Hard for Twelve-year-olds to buy beer.

Right now, it’s kinda hard for Dylan or Josh to scoot into the Quik-E-Mart and score a sixer for first period with Mr. Erikson. Why, because there is an age-restriction that comes with drinking. The same will happen with Weed. No longer will you have to worry whether your son or daughter is forced to buy their WEED from a senor in the parking-lot or worse, from that Mathew McConaughney-clone who’s graduated and is trying to hit on your daughter while selling her the Kush at absurd prices because they are forced to get it only from friends. With Legalization, your children are safe at the hands of Big Business, who only see a market of consumers and have no intention of hitting on your daughter.

4) Jobs, Jobs, Jobs

As the Marijuana trade establishes itself, not only will the demand rise for Budtenders, consultants and green-thumbs, but innovated jobs like Brad Pitt’s strictly Sativa-only buyers will reach a certain segment of the population that normally wouldn’t get off the couch.

5)            Price of Pot will go down.

Everyone’s hurting these days financially. Who doesn’t need a break? Parents, how much of your hard-earn money that goes to tuition, is really going to your kid’s WEED habit? Now, with Legalization, the price that students would be spending on their Weed habit can go to books and tutors. With increased savings, more homes can purchase more stuff, putting America back on top for spending our monies on stuff we don’t need, like in the old days like when we had extra money to fritter on Cocaine, Gas, and Food.

6)      We’re losing misplace Money by not taxing WEED!

Like oil escaping from a bleeding valve in once clear-blue waters, there is tax money not being collected as we speak. We’re losing money every day that we let this travesty to continue. Once WEED is legal, we are going to be able to recover our floating green in the form of solid Big Bucks. From the possible revenue income, don’t quote me on this, but instead of your parents having to go to Death Camps because of their age and, let’s face it, the sight of old people bum us out. With all the added revenue from Pot Taxes, we can send Mom and Dad on luxurious sea cruises or high-end condominiums in desert places throughout the American Southwest without any guilt. Or just keep the money for ourselves. Choice is back!

7) People Drive Better Stoned

No matter what MADD or Ex-cops say, it has been proven time and time again by people leaving rock concerts higher than Lindsey Lohan’s legal bills, that stoned drivers drive better and more carefully. This idea that once Legalization happens, our freeways are going to become like the Road Warrior- the home-version, is crazy. Marijuana drivers go slower and even sometimes, don’t move at all, even while still in the driver’s seat, buckled in. The real Marijuana driver is more concerned with getting high and will sometimes, because of no fault of their own, pass out right there in the Metallica parking lot, instead of dealing with the whole-key-in the ignition-thing and having to drive home.

The World looks better Stoned

Do you hate your job? Do you think the programming at the Discovery Channel sucks and could use more ‘Shark Weeks’? Are you just basically bored as shit with your life and everything around you? Well, it’s all new when you get high. Forget about the colors (you’ll find out that there are fifty shades of green once you get stoned) and how all of sudden everyone around you is now cool for some reason, no, they’re the secondary reasons. After you get stoned, you’re laughing and you don’t care. Suddenly all your cares and your fears have subsided, at least until you go outside. But when you get stoned, squirrels talk to you like you’re in a Disney movie and Life becomes more exciting, even when doing your wash or going to the store for some late night Ben and Jerry’s. You will find you don’t have the energy to yell anymore. Your secretary will start paying attention to you.

Life will be better all around.

I know some stoners who get high before going to the Dentist. We each will need to find our limits.

9) Today, Fifty-six percent of Californians are in favor of Legalization.

Be on the winning team! Go with the over-dogs! As voters hem and haw over the vote for Legalization, decide for yourself that you are going to BE A WINNER! That regardless of the issue, you’re tired of being on the wrong end of the stick. Whether it was voting for a Tea Party candidate or the president that slid this country down into a well so deep that only something drastic is going to let us forget what we did. Vote for Legalization like the slim majority plans to do. Exercise your vote for a new America with you finally on top, voting with everyone else.

10)         Street Gangs are going to have to diversify.

It is common knowledge that Marijuana has been the bread and butter, or if you will, they’re ‘pan y garnarse’ of your typical street gangs. With Legalization, your average gang-banger is going to have to diversify and find new revenue streams, most like from clothing lines and tattoo shops. Without having to rent large trucks to haul the thousands and thousands of pounds of Marijuana from their distributor and not having to sell the Marijuana to rich, white kids and Jazz musicians, street gangs are going to be freed up and most likely turn their attentions to civic duties. I’m sure that as soon as the Marijuana boom is over for your average street criminal, they will turn to gardening and running for public office in order to enact change.

And there are many more reasons we should have Legalization. Athletes play better when they can get stoned and can relax after the game getting high. Just ask the 1970’s NFL and NBA players. It didn’t hurt their games any.

Marijuana makes you want to be rich and get out of the house. Just ask George Soros, the Virgin Atlantic guy and the Men’s Warehouse guy, three stoners who use the inside spread in Forbes to roll with.

Other countries have Legalization and the use goes down. Really. Once you can get high, you’ll find out that it’s not that big of a thing. You will find that you don’t have to be afraid of something that’s not going to hurt you.

That the worst thing that is going to happen is you run out of munchies and your side will hurt from laughing at dumb stuff.

Everybody must get stoned.

Follow the money. That could be the truest statement ever printed in terms of wanting to find the origins of any motive. Any. Motive.

Hardly anything is done in America for free, and more so, there is always a predatory Greedhead out there who will take the most unscrupulous path in order to line their pockets. We all know, when it gets down to it, what we’re always talking about is the bottom line. Whether it’s prayer, or loving or eating, there’s always a price tag included.

The War on Drugs isn’t any different. For me, it’s incredibly funny who is in the sights of the Generals and Czars spearheading the new attack. Some are trying to pick off the lonely Hispanic pawns in Arizona, while others go for headlines bringing the big catch, today’s number one flaunter of our drug laws, the nearly inescapable, Sergeant Paris Hilton.

While capitalizing on America’s latest fear of what ‘Brown could do to us today,’ Arizona Governor, Jan Brewer, made it law that anyone lighter skinned than herself would have to show papers proving that they were Americans and had the right to coexist with the regular people of the state. In a mad stampede to lock-up the new undesirables, very few are asking what is behind this hastily added law in Arizona? Do we have all the realistic intel in?

So, who is behind the law in Arizona?

Why, the privatized prison industry, that’s who. Correction Corporation of America (CCA). The owners of half of the working, privatized prisons in AZ. Chuck Coughlin, one of Jan’s inside advisers also represents CCA. Conflict of Interest? Not in Arizona.

Also, one small fact that has Not been reported in the Lamestream Media, but has been cropping up in many border state official, government reports concerning the influx of immigrants from Mexico, it is down. Immigration coming in from south of the border, has dropped some sixty percent. Two thirds of what had constituted in the past of Mexican immigration is drastically reduced. There just aren’t as many Mexicans coming over as before.

But it’s funny (weird) that Whitey is now up in arms about all those people coming in to pick our fruit, or clean our houses and restaurants, work our meat-towns in Iowa, and do the jobs we’re just not sure if we want. But why such an anti-immigrant backlash now?

Butts in the beds. When you run a prison for profit, you don’t make any money with vacant beds. Hola Rueben e familia.

And no one cares. There’s too much money involved to bring up the utterly unconstitutional fuck-up that Govvy Janny has created. We are now busting people for the sake of making others money.

Now jump ahead to voting time this November in California. As we get closer and the more incendiary stories about dope-crazed murderers and Marijuana related crimes are being released, just like in the Twenties and Thirties, when propaganda against WEED worked, it’s all to bring attention to the Prison lobby’s needs.  The prison industry is throwing big pesos into the fear-machine, trying to scare voters. Why? Because they need the Heads in the Beds.

SF Weekly reported today that the staggering numbers of Marijuana busts in Cali are way up. The shit isn’t legal here, no matter what anyone says.

I do understand some of the fears that good people have if Marijuana became somewhat legal next year, but what I can’t understand is how the Prison Lobbyists can be so out front about their agenda of continuing busting little dope smokers in order to show a profit for their share holders.

Look who is against Proposition 19. It is very clear what the Prisons for Profit systems needs and wants; bodies to exploit. I mean, if there weren’t thousands and thousands of people incarcerated, some forty to fifty guards could lose their jobs. Is that really worth not destroying the lives of hundreds of thousands of victims because of these stupid, archaic drug laws?

Speaking of the Stupid…

Some weeks back, I suggested that America plays a game in the vein of ‘Where in the World is Carmen San Diego?’ And call it, ‘What in the World? Where’s Paris going to be busted next?’

I did call it that she would be busted with Coke, but I said it would be in the Greek Isles. I was wrong on location. That happens a lot for me.

What I find really funny is that Steve Wynn, the guy that has changed Vegas in its last inception from the temporary ‘Let’s try to make Vegas family friendly,’ to the more realistic, ‘Let’s be adults again and get into trouble,’ has banned Paris from his casinos. I don’t know Paris, but I know the Palms would love to have her anytime. It won’t be a hardship for Ms. Hilton. Besides, I think there is a place called the Las Vegas Hilton, she might know someone there.

But here’s the bullshit part. I have some close friends in Vegas. Steve Wynn has a reputation as long as a Tony Montana line of Coke. I can’t say this is true, otherwise I could be sued, but I heard from some inside sources, that Mr. Wynn has been receiving government WEED, the same strain that was used in the movie, ‘American Beauty,’ G-14 for his glaucoma for decades. Yes, decades.

Mr. Wynn who is so against the shipping heiress reckless use of drugs, Paris is banned from his properties. This is a guy who is no stranger to calling down to one of his people, “Send up a couple of dancers and an eight-ball.”

And from what I’ve heard, don’t get me started about Steve Wynn’s brother. That’s where it gets a little Joe Pesci-ish. A little creepy and too gross for these pages…

But I am here to talk about hypocrisy.

It is a felon to smoke Marijuana in Vegas. You can walk down Vegas Boulevard, The Strip, with a whore, exposed gun and a fifth of Jack, but if you have a roach in your pocket, you’re going to jail.

The powers that be in Vegas are scared of Marijuana. No lie. They think if gamblers are going to get high and not gamble. Stay in their rooms. Be distracted by all the neon and lights.

And that’s all they care about. While whores abound in Vegas on the streets and in the casinos, prostitution is illegal in Clark and Reno Counties, where the bulk of casinos are located.  They found out when men didn’t bring their wives, they didn’t gamble as much. When prostitution was banned in the two cities; guys brought their wives and would spend more time gambling. No morality involved, just the bottom line.

One day when WEED is legal, the directors of Food and Beverage are going to wake-up to bar and restaurant tabs like they’ve never seen before. Vegas still hasn’t grasp the concept of Munchies.

But I digress…

I am for Legalization so that good people, who are being victimized by an exploitive government officials who only see the Governor’s office as a way to increase profits for their cronies and political contributors, don’t go to prison.

It is that easy.

What I don’t understand is how the rest of the World can’t see what is so obvious to me.

Why is it that the Prison system and all it stands for; correctional guards, the prison staff, the defending of ancient laws that were set up bogusly anyway, is getting away being the major contributor against the Legalization of Marijuana. What could be in it for them?

A profit, that’s all. Is that worth a son or daughter?

Murderers are set free because of over-crowding. The prison commerce is the third largest growing industry in California.

It is very easy to see on the personal level. If you had to go to work and either guard a father-rapin’ killer or a kid who got busted at a concert for passing a joint to a stranger that happened to be a Fed. Who would you rather go against?

It’s all about money and the path of least resistance. It would be weird if that path led to more lock-ups and not to Legalization.

Also, there’s very little money to be made from Freedom.

Its official…it is now getting darker before it will get light again. The drooping Summer Sun is spending less time with us, knocking some sense into that Sensimillan eco-alarm clock, in turn, causing the green sinewy thighs of Pot plants everywhere, to produce sweet, sweaty, moisture-dripping buds. In another month or so, the Indicas, those donkey-dongs of cannon-like flower tops will be ready for harvest. Then some weeks after that get your hand saws out because it’s now time to bring in your later blooming Sativas.

Starting around Mid-Rocktober, NorCal is gonna stink…like an Oakland Mega-Weed-warehouse during a power outage.

But as everyone is gearing up for the harvest, both sides of the Smuggling coin are hard at work. The police have stepped up their busts. Plants are being eradicated, left, right and center. But at the same time, like the Granny Grower who was…never really busted by the DEA (the local cops were there but let the DEA run things) when they came onto her property on the southern edge of the Triangle, they just took her 99 plants that she was growing for…some relatives who own dispensaries in San Diego, plus she had her personal 25 taken. But I’ve learned that two to three weeks after her crop was confiscated, she was back in business growing another 99 plants with the local police’s consent.

But boy oh boy, it does seem like law enforcement is trying to do their best to bust as many people before this shit becomes Legal in November. Then again, it is almost harvest time, the stuff still is illegal, so I’m sure some are just doing their jobs.

But what is the job of cops these days? The whole industry to me is confusing. Some people get busted while others are allowed to grow.

Then there’s Los Ganjales…

I’ve said it over and over, if there is any county in Cali that is going to tip the bong over and smell it up the state for the rest of us, it is going to be Los Angeles. Because L.A. is so greedy and has very little understanding or compassion for the rest of the state, (Check out the new water canal that is going to divide the state physically and politically with the billion tons of concrete that is going to be pour creating a new water and revenue stream to Los Angeles.) they are fucking it up with the dispensaries that were supposed to close, but haven’t.

To be fair, I don’t blame some of the dispensaries for not closing. There are some very legitimate dispensaries that put in their paperwork, followed the guidelines, and they’re still being put out of business by the less ethical Pot shop that opened during the Green Rush. It is being left to the corrupt city officials as to what and who stays open.

The good thing about the Greed of Southern Cali, they see dollar signs the same way the tourists see the Hollywood sign. The same pipe dream that has caused kids from the Middle-West to hop on buses that say ‘Hollywood Boulevard or Bust,’ SoCal has the same hopeful look concerning the future of WEED. Instead of stars in their eyes, they have Pot Leafs.

That stick-up-your-ass older brother of a County, namely Orange, is going to be supremely behind Prop. 19 because they think they can become the next Oakland. Notice how the new Agro-money behind WEED sees Oakland as the business model, not Humboldt or Mendo. Because of their GREED, it just might work for us come voting time.

Beware of the Pot Leafs…

Now that those kids at Facebook have said Pot Leafs Bad- Sarah Palin’s chatterbox of Buffet-speak and ‘I miss George Bush’ groups, Good.  There’s a battle of images being argued here in the Bay Area. The heroic Kevin Reed of Green Cross is lobbying to get ads on the sides of our municipal buses, advertising WEED just like the other guys get to do. You know, ‘Cannabis Cup coming up in November’ or maybe a local dispensary offering a special on Q-T’s. Just your normal going down the road side of bus advertising that announces Heart Walks or upcoming events. It is already on our subway system ads. But nooo, even though it is impossible to walk the streets of Frissy without smelling some WEED, we still can’t have pictures of it driving by. I guess it sends the wrong message.

Hypocrisy lines this industry like the floor boards of a new building. Montana, a state I fear to drive through because of my hippie past. Livingston is kewl, but elsewhere in the early seventies, I felt like a couple of times, I might get a broken beer bottle haircut just by being around. But it always struck me that Montana was about personal freedom. Even the guy that could possibly attack my long locks of the day, I believe that guy would be against the government interfering with…anything. It was always my belief concerning any state that Dick Cheney might hunt in, that the prevailing idea was the less the government there is, the better it is. But apparently that’s not true when it comes to Medical Marijuana for those people who pretend to be preservationist of personal freedoms. Montana is being a total dick when it comes to patient’s rights. About 23,000 people are registered Medical Marijuana card holders. Now the state is worried it is getting out of hand. The question that one official is asking, is how much Marijuana does a person need? What happens when the patient takes their WEED and goes home? Now they’re asking these questions after Medical Marijuana was voted passed in 2006.

It would be great if we could just LEGALIZE the shit and be done with all the different rules.

I ran into my buddy, Smokin’ Joe at T.J.’s the other day. He finally got his MM card. He told me, he and three other people were ushered into the doctor’s office where he got his recommendation. The doctor didn’t even check records or question the patients about their possible afflictions. Literally five minutes later, Smokin’ Joe had his piece of paper stating he could walk into any dispensary in Cali and score WEED legally.

A serious question you may want to ask the doctor who wrote you your recommendation is, “Would you be available to come to court if needed if there was a problem surrounding my recommendation?” If the answer is ‘No.’ Get a new doctor. A legitimate doctor has to represent you, or be witness if call upon. So good luck with that.

To me, that’s pushing it but it is a sign of the times. It’s like the land grabs in the western part of the states in the late Nineteenth century. People did what they had to in order to get a piece of the land, and in this case, like coming out of Prohibition of the Thirties, everyone’s trying to get a piece of the action.

Growers, doctors and cops alike.

Two stories to end with…

I’ve seen some funny stuff to grow out of this incredibly interesting time we are experiencing. There are local insurance agencies that will insure your crop against bugs, vandals or theft. I heard of the restaurant in Colorado that serves Cannabis-laden food for your epicurean and Spicollian desires. Here in the Bay Area where everything is about trying to find the best restaurants that deliver, there’s a new guy out there.

Cannabis Catering. Had to happen. Only makes sense if you have some killer WEED, a table and an apartment. If you and all members of your party have a MM card, the 420 Chef will come to your abode and whip up a THC-infused meal, they say is on par with the best five-star restaurants in Napa. I guess if you really have a hankering for quail eggs drenched in a nice, sweet, danky sauce, more power to you.

Call me old fashion. I like to get high, get the munchies, and then eat. See, there should be an order to the World, even when it comes to ordering out.

And finally, those fucking bears.

I write about the politics and the culture of Dope. Most of the time when my work appears in magazine or in blogs, I am competing for readers or clicks against a video of a hottie taking bong hits wearing nothing but a goofy smile. I take it in stride that sex or whatever you call it, draws the public in like a peep show at the carnival. But these fucking bears…

So I’m sure you’ve heard the tales of a lady in B.C. that had bears guarding her crop in the Canadian wilderness. By all accounts these bears were gentle and from what I read, domesticated through the feeding of dog food, producing a coalition of guard bears. If you saw the movie, ‘The Congo,’ I imagine it is a little like that without all the need to rip off a human’s arm when they got bored or were spooked by a battery of locating finding cameras.

But this story, that is now a week old, a lifetime on the Internet, won’t go away. Everyday there seems to be an update on the status of the fuckin’ bears.

Here’s my point…

Marc Emery is in jail for being a pioneer of the movement. Police are busting WEED merchants like they’re going out of business. The State of California is going to vote on whether Marijuana should be LEGALIZED. Pot Leafs are being banned on city buses because of the fear that a bus moving at ten miles per hour might capture the attention of an easily manipulated public, causing said public to either want to try Marijuana at that moment as an impulse buy or possible skipping Marijuana all together, and jumping on the ganja-wagon, using our municipal buses as a surrogate gateway to other drugs?

I mean what is the fear there? The children will see it? If it wasn’t for the high high-school dealer, Glad sandwich bags would be out of business and most of your recent graduates would be budless.

We are in crazy times when POT is still illegal and there are over a thousand businesses in California where one can purchase MARIJUANA. Some people get busted while others open warehouses and delivery services. Some go to jail while others get zip ties from the local police, preventing that grower from getting busted.

A returning three-toured Iraqi Vet in Montana is denied Medical Marijuana until the State can figure out what he’s going to do with his WEED once he gets home. The argument is how much is enough, not, let’s get the guy his fucking medicine like he wants. Even if you give up an arm and leg for this country, does that mean you still can’t get a hand-out from the Government?

But the first big movie that will come out of this whole mess, it will be about those Marijuana guarding fuckin’ bears. It would be an adorable feel-good movie in the vein of ‘Marley and Me’. Maybe they could call it, ‘Bob Marley, Bears and Me.’ PETA will hate it. Dopers may love it. Non-Dope smokers might think it is cute. But it will say nothing about what we are going through to get this stuff Legalize and keep innocent people out of jail.

Mark my words. L.A. and Hollywood doesn’t have a clue. Barely owns the game. The first movie to come out to digest what has transpired after all the smoke has settled will be the ‘Bad News for You Bears’ or something like that. The real stories are too hard to tell in the beginning. It wasn’t until about twenty years later after John Wayne’s Green Berets movie came out that the real Viet Nam movie were produced.

Hey Young Hollywood, show me wrong. We need digitized short films depicting the positive aspects of WEED. In the next few years, if Legalization passes, get ready for Stoner’s Lit and Stoner movies. There will be a new market for all things giggly-based, visual material. Please don’t let it be about ten cute bears in the wilds being Panda-cute around a forest of WEED. It can’t be good for our side.

That is the last that you’re going to hear about those fuckin’ bears from me.

Have a Smokin’ Weekend!

More Later.

I once heard this urban myth that the first two cars driving around in some big Mid-western state like Kansas or Iowa in the late eighteen-nineties, with no other motorized traffic to speak of, both cars ran into each other. That’s what these days before Legalization makes me think of…

Worlds are colliding. One door closes while another one opens.

Speaking of cars…What’s up Motown? A very pimp sounding state representative named Rick Jones is trying to shut down the Pot Clubs of Michigan because he believes, “Marijuana users shouldn’t be encouraged to drive.” Number one, maybe Detroit is too car-conscious but with GM bouncing back, I would think Michigan would be all about getting people back into cars. There’s nothing like a Bogue Cruise along Grosse Point with a big fatty to pass the time. Also, because of the cheap rents for buildings and this thing called, ‘Winter.’ Michigan grows some of the best indoor I’ve ever seen outside of Washington State and B.C. Good luck shutting down progress…

Speaking of shutting down…

The Netherlands are tightening up their drug policies. Who’s to blame? Not your everyday Hans Brinker, that’s for sure. It seems that some of the border towns attracts up to two million visitors annually to towns the size of Hooterville. Most of these small burgs have typically about ten to twelve Pot Clubs for the foreigners to choose from. Remember, for the most part, the Dutch aren’t big tokers. There is a plan to make the Pot Clubs for locals only. You would need a residence card. This would be totally bullshit creating a huge black market of ganja-drooling tourist waiting outside of the Gulden Horn while Hans is inside scoring for the opened-pocket mark. I don’t believe all those whorehouses in the Red-light districts are only being frequented by locals. Are they going to make the sex clubs ‘Locals-only’ or will tourist dollars still be good there?

Remember that Marijuana and Hash are not legal in the Netherlands. They have a policy very similar to one here in San Francisco. It’s called, ‘We don’t have a clue but we’re selling the shit anyway.’ Right now the Dutch are trying to figure out how to handle their drug problem. It’s time some other countries step in and Legalize and let our Dutch friends get back to sticking some fingers into some dykes. Or whatever they do when not drinking, smoking, or riding their girly bikes. C’mon other countries, jump in, and lighten up. Or light up, whatever works…

Speaking of jumping in…

Mexico is considering Legalizing Pot because…well, pick a reason. Shootings, kidnapping, crazy-ass violence, and that’s just in Tijuana. I love the Country of Mexico. I love the Mexican people. I just can’t stand the law down there. Too many dollars and pesos involved for any real change to happen down. But I am ever hopeful.

How old am I? Let me count the rings around my eyes…

Curt Cobain’s kid is eighteen. You would think by now we would have a coherent drug policy, just so the Cobain kid has some direction…

Some really good news…

The National Black Police Association has endorsed Proposition 19. There are some twenty-four chapters around the states. There’s nothing cooler than a cool cop. So sez I.

As always, just a plea to stay focused for these upcoming months. The anti-Legalization side is going to attack Prop. 19 regarding driving stoned and of course, “What about the children?”

Today I’ll answer the driving question.

The guy in Michigan is worried about the impairment of the Marijuana driver. Fair question. Tell the anti-Legalization people that they are confusing alcohol with Pot. With alcohol, you get loaded and you crash your car. With Pot, you get loaded and you crash in your car, getting a solid five to six hours of sleep before waking up and going, “Where the fuck am I? Oh, yeah, my car.”

Peace Out.

More Later.

A woman from central Florida is under arrest for posting a picture of her baby with a bong on Facebook. The nineteen-year-old was charged with possession of drug paraphernalia after a Texas resident called Florida’s abuse hot line about the pic shown here .

The woman turned herself in and was released on $502 bond. Dug tests on the baby came back negative but regardless, looks like his political career is already off to a shaky start.

For more by this author: http://thesabs.com

This is what most people think of when they picture a weed kit, but from my perspective there’s only one item I see that a stoner truly needs, but rarely carries it with them at all times. My weed kit is more of a necessity kit, for marijuana smokers.

I live in California, a state known primarily for earthquakes and marijuana. As far as the earthquakes are concerned it’s to a point where you need an earthquake kit in every home, because you never know when one might happen. This is just my opinion, but you might as well have a weed kit too — the kind you can take everywhere with you. I can’t predict earthquakes but I can accurately predict when I’m going to smoke. I’m one of those people who doesn’t like others knowing I’m stoned. The items in this kit are more like solutions to everyday problems stoners encounter, right after smoking.

Altoids

Smoking weed makes your breath stink.  In the song “Blow My Mind,” Styles P said “Pass the dutchie on the left, whoever’s sucking on the L. I’m gonna need candy cause I know my breath is gonna smell.”  It’s not like they’ve developed bud that makes your breath smell better when you smoke it, (yet) so until then, Altoids are number one on my list. They always clear up my blunt breath. I’d also keep a spare tooth brush and toothpaste  with some mouthwash also. It comes in handy.

Visine

A lot of times when I smoke, I get consumed by my work, and I lose sight of the fact that I’m running around town with bloodshot eyes. Bloodshot eyes are not cool, plain and simple. If you have to interact with a group of people who aren’t weed-friendly, this product will get you through it without needing to mention ‘fatigue,’ or ‘pink eye.’

Water

Cottonmouth anyone? Marijuana dries up your mouth and stimulates thirst at the same time. If you live in a hot climate it seems like a workout just being outside. There are a number of different drinks you can use to replenish your body but water seems to be the healthiest and cheapest solution. If you don’t care about your sugar intake I recommend Vitamin Water XXX.

Ozium

Let’s be honest, weed smells. What also stinks is walking around in public reeking of marijuana.  There’s nothing at all cool about that. Ozium gets any smell out that you can think of, especially weed — without using the whole bottle

The herbalAire H2.1 retails for $249.95, though they sell for as low as $190.00 w/ free shipping on eBay, which is where I bought mine. I immediately put it through its paces. I purchased the basic starter package, so it came with the bag system accessories, the whip/hose system accessories, one bowl/crucible, a cleaning kit, and two heavy duty plastic straws for direct inhalation (for when the bag and whip are too much clutter). All in all, it’s a complete set of accessories that allows me to use all the features of the vaporizer right out of the box, and the quality/build of the unit and accessories satisfied me. The vaporizer unit feels as if it would survive and function after falling from a typical dinner table height (but I wouldn’t recommend testing it!), and the whole set-up is virtually glass-free. It doesn’t feel delicate, and it seems like a lot of the accessories – like the whip hose – are generic plastic and metal pieces that could easily be found at the local Home Depot if/when they break, wear-out, or get lost.

This vaporizer works by heating up the air around the herb to within two degrees of the temperature set by the user. From the herbalAire website:

Eighteen tiny jets of precisely heated air permeate the herb only when the user inhales or when the pump for the bag fill kit is turned on. At all other times the herb sits idle, preserving the essence, waiting for the next demand. No wastage!

Theoretically, this means that, unless the user is inhaling or the bag pump is activated, the herb will not be heated.

Using the vaporizer is relatively easy. After consulting the manual once, I quickly set-up the whip system with minimal effort. The unit takes about 2-3 minutes to heat-up, and, once it’s really hot, it’s possible to continuously hit the hose without cooling the unit too much if everyone sucks slowly. Yes, it works well in groups, though I wouldn’t recommend it for large groups. Five or six people can comfortably use the unit at the same time, though it’s also a great solution for a single-user. It’s also a great desktop solution for the typical work-at-home and video gamer types because – aside from the convenient hookah-like whip attachment – it can blend in with other other computer/electronic equipment and it hardly produces a smell when vaporizing cannabis.

I have not tested the bag system, but the general consensus on the web is that the bag delivery system works well. There’s just two minor issues: 1. The bags themselves are of low quality, so some users are reporting leaks after several uses. This is a fixable problem, it seems, by simply replacing the bags with better quality bags. 2. The early models of this vaporizer came with a very slow air pump, so some early reviews complain about having to wait too long for the bags to inflate. This is no longer a problem since all new models come with a significantly faster pump.

As for vapor quality, this vaporizer is about as good as it’s going to get. The vapor is tasty, pleasant, and easy to inhale. I sincerely doubt any of the active ingredients go to waste as the vaporizer delivers a powerful high if, of course, the cannabis is high-grade. Minimal quantities can deliver quite the head change. Once the herb has been sufficiently vaporized, it emerges from the machine like a dry dark brown fall leaf that cracks under the slightest pressure. It no longer smells like weed, and I don’t recommend smoking it. The general consensus on the web is that the vaporizer works at 100% efficiency like the Volcano and unlike many other vaporizers.

In the end, the herbalAire H2.1 vaporizer is an amazing unit that delivers, arguably, the most bang-for-the-buck of all the available options to the average American consumer. It’s a clean, pleasant, almost-smell free method of vaporization, and it feels durable. A lot of the accessories can be replaced at a major hardware store, so you’re not left at the total mercy of the manufacturer for replacement parts. The vaporizer works at 100% efficiency when used properly, and it doesn’t require any grinding, making filling up, emptying, and cleaning the crucible/bowl an easy venture. I recommend it to all medical marijuana patients, anyone that doesn’t have the money for a volcano, and anyone that prefers a reliable and efficient whip-based vaporization system.