Pretty obvious as to the nature of this post, one would think. Well, for those of you who are guessing, you're either right, or you're wrong.... it all really depends on which side of the fence you sit on. Frankly, I don't care what side of the fence you sit on, because if you're for it, great. If not, you need to do some more research instead of blindly accepting whatever garbage propaganda the government relentlessly feeds to you on the subject matter. You guessed it: Marijuana.
So, for starters, let us go back to a time where none of us truly or fully understood what kinds of things this beautiful plant could do for us, and how we could apply it to our everyday life without losing our ability to be productive citizens of society. I suppose it would make the most sense to start at a little government-funded film called "Reefer Madness".
The year was 1936, and this new-fangled film known only as Reefer Madness was being distributed all over the country. To some, it may have been construed as a comedy, maybe even a satire. But to most, it was a "wake-up call" to the public about the "negative" effects a little plant called marijuana could have on the human body and mind (note the sarcasm). It consisted of people using it then losing their fucking minds in all manners of unrealistic proportions. This is precisely why it became such a stoner cult classic over the next few decades, and even farther, well into today's eye. For the ignorant who still believed everything their precious government had to say on subject matters they had NO CLUE about, it was a warning sign that something horrible was coming from a plant. A PLANT. But for the rational-minded, it was nothing more than another film to help entertain and pass the time. It was a joke, a comedy film in its purest state.
Let's fast forward a little bit and get to the somewhat-modern era. Many states still illegalized marijuana across the board, regardless of what research studies were discovering about the positive effects of the plant. No one knew it at the time (at least, no one who still accepted government claims and their "information"), but the government and the pharmaceutical companies all across the country were making boatloads of money from both sides.... the pharmaceutical companies because as long as pot was still illegal, they could continue doing "research" on a slew of different drugs that they could sell needy and physically/mentally less-fortunate souls (including the elderly, a lot of which were war veterans with severe PTSD, which marijuana can help stabilize) at a hiked-up price to reap a massive profit bordering a monopolizing level; and the government? Well, the government was taking it upon themselves to wage a "War on Drugs", and while it did tackle many deadly and dangerous drugs such as Meth amphetamines, Opiates and many others (most of these which, just to point out, were products of pharmacies pushing out the aforementioned "cure-all" drugs), they still had the audacity to take the one and only 100% natural one of the bunch, marijuana, and slap it into that list as one of the world's most dangerous narcotics out there (SERIOUSLY? The ONE drug that contains NO artificial additives or addiction-inducing contents? Yeah, go U.S.A.).
The fact that this has been allowed to go on for such a long time, and in the fashion it's been taken in, is nothing short of fucking EMBARRASSING for this country. And the only things that our government has succeeded in doing regarding this "War on Drugs" list as follows:
1 . They've put people in jail for smoking a plant. Plain and simple. If we're going by this "logic", we might as well put people in jail for smoking cigars and cigarettes, pipe tobacco and the like as well. There literally is no difference in comparison of the ACTIONS taking place, regardless of the EFFECTS of each said plant.
2 . They've managed to keep a plant illegal despite the THOUSANDS of scientific studies that have proven marijuana to be medically useful on a grand scale in the world of treatments, and too many continue to go without proper medical treatment as a result.
For example, cannabis oil, when applied to skin properly, can obliterate melanoma breakouts in as little as 3 weeks if applied about once a day for said duration. Also, cannabidiol, the main component in the cannabis plant, has been shown to clear out a tobacco smoker's lungs of a great amount of tar build-up caused by years of smoking. You can even SMOKE pot and it'll STILL clear out the lungs, because the compounds contained in weed smoke are VERY different from tobacco smoke, so it still contains the necessary properties. Good news for those of us who prefer the smoking method! Additionally, it has already been shown that in regard to certain curable forms of cancer, if you're already on chemo, weed can deter the nausea caused by chemo as well as give you an appetite so you stay healthy throughout the chemo process; and if you're not on chemo, depending on what cancer you have, it may not only halt or slow down the cancer growth, but in some cases even REVERSE the growth and force the growth to eat itself until it is completely gone! These are just a few examples, but there are so many more, it just takes a little open-mindedness and some research. There are plenty of official study sites as well as universities who are all hard at work to continue discovering relevant data in favor of cannabis.
And 3 . They have succeeded only if "succeeded" really means "profited" (which in this case, it does). While millions are dying from illnesses that can be altered and cured by cannabis, and by overdosing on drugs infinitely more dangerous, the government and Big Pharma are sitting together counting fat stacks of money made from their "War on Drugs" and "relentless medical research" and laughing all the way to the bank. They don't care about the population's well-being. They care about money (which is kinda funny, considering that if it weren't for humans trying to come up with some form of currency-based payment in exchange for goods, money wouldn't even exist and we'd still be just fine doing our trading of goods for goods. But yeah, let's just use paper with a number on it instead, makes perfect sense).
Now, to go off subject while remaining on the main topic of discussion, I have a friend, he is a friend of my mother's fiance. For a while now, he has been growing in order to help people who are in medical need of it, and he barely charges the going rate that most dealers ask for, so it's easier to acquire for those really in need. Now, not too long ago, his own mother was diagnosed with a curable form of cancer growth, somewhere in her brain if my memory stands correct. Now, before they started suggesting chemo and other experimental treatments to her, he decided to put her on cannabis and have her smoke it every day, at least once a day. Because we're in a state that legalized it for medicinal use, she was approved to do so, and they supplied him with a temporary medical permit so he could grow at home for her. Within months, not only did the growth cease growing, but it actually started showing signs of getting smaller, basically indicating that the growth was eating itself rather than his mother. Good news!!!! Right up until the doctors came in and said he needs to take her off of it because they discovered a new experimental treatment that MIGHT be more effective. Against all his better judgement, he had no choice but to concede to it. Less than two months later, it came back more ruthless than ever, doubled in growth size, and killed her. It KILLED her. All because these Big Pharma bastards cared more about making money off their synthetic garbage than curing my friend's poor dying mother. She was within months of complete recovery and they BOTCHED it. Is this what our government has come to?
Anyway, moving on....
So here we are, in the "modern" age, I guess you could call it. A good deal of the country has finally come around and legalized for medicinal use, but only a handful have FULLY legalized for both medicinal AND recreational. We're in an era where our own nation's capital and its residents can now use it recreationally, as can Colorado and some others. Hell, even Oregon has legalized for medicinal use. And yet the federal government still refuses to recognize it as a relevant medical tool in the realm of human health and medicine. Why, you ask? MONEY. It all goes back to what I've pretty much said this whole time.... as long as it's illegal, the DEA (and many other departments like it) and Big Pharma still make money.... and we're the sheep that GIVE them that money. And just recently, after all of our efforts and hard work to push the truth about cannabis into the public eye, the DEA spat right back and kept it on their list of "most dangerous drugs in the U.S." This simply isn't right, and it SURE as fuck isn't fair to those who need it the most. People are fucking DYING from things that can easily be cured with cannabis, and the government is just sitting on the fence with it, spitefully dangling it around in our faces. Yet ANOTHER reason why I have chosen the path of Anarchism. In an Anarchist (or even Anarcho-capitalist) society, this shit wouldn't even be taking place. Our government has made a mockery of us all, and we just take it. And it pisses me off. We have a chance to make a difference here, and all we have to do is all stand up at once, and break these bullshit laws, and we could end their game so quickly. There are more of us than there are of them, and they know it, and they're scared. So they do all they can to "keep us in line". But I'm not buying it. Neither should you. I know that there will be more people on here that agree with me, as compared to those who don't. And you know what? Whether you do or don't is of no consequence, because I respect your opinion either way. That's what Steemit is all about. I like to think of it as a little Anarchic society where people can openly discuss views, be they the same or different, without any tyrannical pressure from any government on the planet. In fact, I've felt safer in discussion on here than any other social media platform to date. That's a good sign people. This could be the next big step to coexistence. We're all in this together, and there are people in power that are clearly and blatantly abusing it. It's just not right. So what do you do when there's a problem? You get rid of it.
For those of you who persevered reading all the way through to the end, I commend you. I know there is a chance I may have rambled a bit, and maybe even repeated myself, and for that, I'm sorry. I've already re-read this thing quite a few times and edited what I felt needed editing and I'm weary, so I'm done re-reading and editing! :p
I want to thank those of you who continue to read my blog, and those who respect my views, endeavors, opinions, rants and raves. And many more thanks to those of you who support me on here, whether you know me in person or not. ( @derekareith @missjessica @dwinblood @jbouchard12 ) I'm very happy to be here and be a part of all of this. Till next time....
Signed,
@damiancraymond, a Pothead Christian Anarchist
Ctrl+S: saved for later.
Cheers
Good post Damian. Of course you know I like it. (shoot in some blank space between your paragraphs) it'll avoid what @dollarvigilante was teasing @larkenrose about his first post. He described @larkenrose first post as trying to read the dead sea scrolls because it had no formatting or white space.
Yours was much better than @larkenrose. Find some pause spots (kind of like taking a breath) and put a space. Let's people read a chunk, think, read another chunk, think.
Great work though. I consider you a friend and only offer that because I thing you wrote great stuff, and that's my only hopefully helpful tip. :)
Now as to the content
You left out another reason for the VICTIM LESS CRIMES such as smoking pot landing people in prison.
Prison Industrial Complex - Government subsidized slave labor. Can make inmates work on producing products and even tech jobs, and pay them $1/hr or less. People talk about shipping our jobs overseas but most people are oblivious to the fact we've also shipped a lot of our jobs into our prisons. Maybe I need to blog about that topic.
Thanks @dwinblood! I really appreciate the kind words, and I also appreciate the input and suggestions. Now I will have more formatting knowledge/advice to go off of for whatever my next post may be. Thank you! :)
And that's right, I completely missed the discussion of the Prison Industrial Complex as well, thank you so much for pointing that one out! I guess I was just so weary because I wrote this as soon as I came home from work, I just started spewing on the page.... go figures, naturally my clumsy ass is gonna miss something haha. But I digress....
Thanks again for the kind words as well as the words of wisdom man! Stay metal. \m/
I did blog about the Prison Industrial Compex after I spoke to you. I figure I had some personal insight into that due to my past, so it was worth making a blog about.
Absolutely man! I'll go check it out, I'm glad that we have so many people on here that are so like-minded. That way, if one of us misses something unintentionally in the point we try to make (take me, for example haha), then another can easily add to it in their own post, thus circulating the plethora of knowledge onto minds willing to take a look. I'll go read that post now, thanks again! \m/
It likely won't remain that way once people start flooding here. By the time they do though all of us like minded people will have accumulated steem power so it is very likely our ideas will be reaching a much wider audience than ever before, simply because we'll be voting up things like this with our steem power and it will put it in front of people who have never really thought about these things.
Four letter word...
HOPE
And now they are trying to make Kratom a Schedule 1 drug. Sign the petition here to Keep Kratom Legal petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/please-do-not-make-kratom-schedule-i-substance
Could not agree more with all of this, especially how infuriating it was to hear about the DEA's recent announcement to keep it a schedule 1 substance. It's becoming increasingly more obvious the government just downright ignores the people for its own profits. I don't think I can name a person in my life who would agree with marijuana still being illegal, especially in 2016. It's archaic and holds zero water. Like yourself, I really hope platforms like steemit will reshape our society as we know it, and we stop living like it's still 1936.
Got a surprise for you, bud! Featured you in my post:
https://steemit.com/followthesepeople/@derekareith/5-amazing-people-you-need-to-meet-part-4
:D
Thanks for the shout out man! Much appreciated! \m/