Obama Will Lose Millions of Supporters because of His Anti-Marijuana Rhetoric and Policies

President Obama recently doubled-down on his harassment of the 17 states who now make medical marijuana available to adults with medical need.  The president seems to think he can rest on his progressive laurels — figuring no liberals will vote for Mitt Romney.   That may be true; but a significant number of voters are either going to sit this election out or support the Libertarian party candidate – former New Mexico governor Gary Johnson.  Most significantly, the groups that are most opposed to Obama’s drug war include those groups he most needs to motivate and mobilize again (e.g., young people, minorities, and those concerned with civil rights.)

Like many others, I was turned-off by the president’s flippant and condescending attitude he displayed during his recent Rolling Stone interview.  He then grew even more sarcastic during the White House Correspondence Dinner and on his appearance on Jimmy Fallon (where he was trying to woo young voters.)  The president we thought would be reasonable and fair, has become a “holier-than-thou” hypocrite who even admits to having smoked marijuana regularly while he was young.  In fact, the Obama administration has greatly accelerated the drug war way past George Bush – ruining millions of people’s lives and wasting billions of public dollars.  You will learn all about that here.

Now he is shifting the blame to congress which is a lazy cop-out.  As you will read, Nancy Pelosi and other congressional leaders are urging him to get real and end this stupid war on weed.  In this article, you will learn all about the special interest groups that are pulling the president’s strings on this important public policy and public health matter (e.g., lobbyists representing the pharmaceutical industry, alcohol companies, prison guards, police, and private prisons.)  You will also learn about some positive initiatives – including how Anonymous is getting involved in this vital issue.  Click below to learn the truth!!

Bob Marley Would Say “Occupy Yourself Before You Occupy Outside”

The Occupy Movement has focused on occupying physical spaces to draw attention to important issues.  However, it is even more important that each of us work hard to get our own lives together.  We need to free our minds and resist the outside forces of capitalist consumption.   Be ready to live with less and avoid entrapment by credit schemes.  As the system continues to melt down, only those who are resilient and self-sufficient will be able to thrive.  One of the best ways to do this is to understand and practice the Rastafarian lifestyle as modeled by Bob Marley.   His words that inspired this title are “Judge not, before you judge yourself.”   Get your own life in order if you want to be able to challenge the Babylon system.  He summed it up perfectly:  “Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery.  None but ourselves can free our minds.”

I personally became aware of and interested in Rastafarianism about ten years ago through Bob Marley’s life and music.  I did my own research into what it means to live the Rasta lifestyle.  I found that this social movement has much to teach us about how to free ourselves and take down the system.  We can’t get one without the other.  I began to teach about this in my social change and social movement classes.  I found many young people eager to embrace the principles and practices that Bob Marley and others preach about in their music.  In fact, the Occupy fighters already believe in and live many of the values and practices espoused by the Rastafarian way of life.  I developed a series of slides to use in my lectures and have included them here.  Each should be self-explanatory.  Then, I include lots of great pix and quotes from Bob Marley’s music and interviews.  This tribute recognizes that Bob Marley’s music and messages are more relevant today than ever.

Occupy 4:20 for Civil Disobedience and Building Community

One social issue that should be of great interest to members of the occupy movement is the legalization of marijuana.  This cause clearly cries out for organized civil disobedience (as it did in the 1960’s.)    Growing and using both hemp and marijuana were rights for all Americans when our country was founded.  We all have the obligation to finally end this unethical and ineffective war against an ancient plant.  This situation is urgent given how President Obama has actually escalated the war on medical marijuana despite earlier promises and his personal history   Ending the drug war will save billions in police, legal and prison costs.  States like California and Colorado are already harvesting millions of new tax dollars by allowing patients to safely buy medical marijuana.

Fortunately, pot possession laws are easy to break and involve very little chance of getting caught (if you follow the approach outlined here.)  I first explain how we can Occupy 420 to build and sustain the global occupy movement.  Then, I share tips about how to get away with getting high, whenever, and virtually wherever you want.  I have also included some key quotes to inspire you as to why marijuana needs to be legalized NOW.  This article also includes reports of recent Marijuana Activism and a historical perspective on the Flash Mob phenomenon. As an added bonus, the article concludes with insightful and inspiring quotes about Civil Disobedience.  Click Below to Learn How and Why to Get High and Become Free!!

Hippies Deserve Respect for their Values and Vision

The Occupy Movement owes much to the Hippie Movement of the sixties.  Now, the right wing has predictably started another round of “Hippie Bashing.”   The hippie subculture was a youth movement that began in the United States during the early 1960s and was largely gone by 1973.    The word hippie is from hipster (used to describe kids who flocked into San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury district.  Hippies inherited the counter-cultural values of the Beat Generation.  They also created their own communities, listened to psychedelic rock, embraced the sexual revolution, and used drugs such as marijuana and LSD to explore alternative states of consciousness.  Above all, hippies were promoting the idea of peace, love, unity and freedom.

Hippie fashions and values had a major effect on culture, influencing popular music, television, film, literature, and the arts.  Since the 1960s, many aspects of hippie culture have been assimilated by mainstream society.  The religious and cultural diversity espoused by the hippies has gained widespread acceptance.  Their adoption of Eastern philosophy and spiritual concepts has now spread to a wide audience.  The hippie legacy can also be observed in contemporary culture from health food, to music festivals, to contemporary sexual mores, and the cyberspace revolution.  It is also clear that the well-established environmental movement owes a lot to the hippies (i.e., tree-huggers.)

This article includes recent reflections on the hippie movement in light of the occupy movement.  Original writings about the hippies from the sixties are also included.  This article includes quotes from Timothy Leary, Abbie Hoffman, Eldridge Cleaver and others. Finally, there are links to the best hippie videos on Youtube.   Click below to learn more about why the hippies are more important now than ever.

Global Leaders Urge United States to End the War on Drugs

The evidence has just gotten a lot stronger that the Obama administration is continuing to lead a war against individual marijuana users that is no longer supported by the world community.   Now is the time to end the 80 year war against a plant that has been used for over 5,000 years.  The US is the only country in the world that wants this wasteful war on weed to continue.  This is particularly hypocritical since the US is also the biggest market for consuming illegal drugs. As I wrote earlier, the Obama administration has even been worse than the Bush administration in terms of interfering with states’ rights and punishing sick people.

Since the reign of Harry Anslinger between 1937 – 1962, America has been intimidating other countries to go along with the US moral crusade against getting high.  It is useful to consider how much better our world would be if the US government would declare the end of the war on marijuana   State and local governments would save a lot of money that could then be spent on schools and infrastructure – rather than prisons and cops.  The federal government could apply the savings to balancing the budget or funding important programs.

Think of all the small business opportunities that are growing around marijuana.  These include food, tinctures and other value-added cannabis products. Marijuana also has been proven to build up local and state economies, particularly by promoting tourism and innovation (consider Oakland, CA and Amsterdam.) Most important is the fact that law enforcement will finally be forced stop intimidating and prosecuting millions of basically good citizens – particularly the young, poor and minority.

CLICK to read more about this important report and why we need to put pressure on the US government – particularly former pot-smoker Barack Obama.

Medical Marijuana: President Obama Must Lead or Get Out of the Way!!

Progressives are disappointed with a number of the policies and practices of the Obama administration.  However, I and many others are most concerned about the fact that President Obama is backing off his earlier promises to end the unfair, wasteful, and ineffective war against medical marijuana patients.  Given our severe budget crisis it is unethical and unwise to keep wasting scarce federal, state and local resources waging war against American citizens.  We already imprison more of our own people than any other country – with the vast majority being non-violent “drug offenders.”  Opinion polls show that most Americans oppose the war on medical marijuana.

President Obama has just called upon the political establishment in Arab countries to “Lead or get out of the way.”   He needs to take his own advice with regards to Medical Marijuana which is legal in a growing number of states (at least until his administration got in the way!!)  In this article I have collected the latest news about the growing protest against the Obama administration’s medical marijuana policies and practices.  President Obama needs to recognize that this is a large and popular social movement that includes all demographic groups.   Medical marijuana advocates and activists have spent over three decades to make the progress we have so far in a third of our states.  As a true progressive and community organizer, Barack Obama needs to either get in step with our movement – or get out of the way.  In fact, true conservatives and libertarians (like Ron Paul) have opposed the drug war for decades.  Click Below for more about the Obama administration’s failures, fumbles, and fallacies in the losing war on weed!!

After 10 Years Portugal’s Progressive Drug Policy is Proven Success

Most news from Portugal has been negative as their economy sinks faster than other nations.  One bright spot is the widely recognized success of their progressive policy on “illegal” drug use and abuse.  Portugal is one of the most beautiful and least developed countries in the European Union.  One of their chief attractions could become drug tourism and marijuana production – which would significantly bolster their troubled economy (just ask the Netherlands and California.)  Clearly, there are lessons for the failed US approach of criminalizing the use of recreational drugs.

By treating the use of hard drugs (heroin, cocaine) as public health problems, Portugal has reduced a number of major social costs (health, crime, and more.) Picture on right shows which drugs are socially acceptable (tight) and which are not. This article provides all the necessary background information needed to help reform the antiquated American drug policies and war practices.  Click below to get the facts – share these with your friends and our “leaders.”

California’s Proposition 19 Should Pass (Ooops, Hopefully Next Time)

The upcoming vote on an innovative California ballot initiative will have profound effects on marijuana policy and availability.  This will ultimately spell the end of the failed war on marijuana.  Once passed, adults in California will have basically the same rights to use marijuana for recreational use they now have to drink alcohol.  Other states will soon follow suit to cash in on the green gold. What happens in California has always been a forerunner of national trends. This is important given that California-grown “medical” marijuana is already available in most parts of the country.

This article provides details on Proposition 19 and discusses the wide range of impacts that will likely arise from its passage.  Learn about the broad coalition that supports Prop 19. I also provide an overview of how marijuana has transformed the city of Oakland, California.  This includes acknowledgments to Richard Lee (Prop 19 champion and founder of Oaksterdam University); as well as details on the city’s support for “industrial” marijuana production.  The demand for high quality marijuana both in California and nationally will keep growing – leading to more public and political support for legalization.

Please President Obama: Stop War on Marijuana

One of the first things FDR did when he became president in 1932 was to end the failed prohibition of alcohol. This single act freed up resources for needed public works programs and added lots of new tax revenue.  That  also dramatically improved public mood as promised by his 1932 campaign song “Happy Days are Here Again.”  Another benefit was the dramatic drop in crime  and fewer prisoners.   We will see these and other major benefits once the wasteful weed war ends.

President Obama has the same chance to restore a sense of freedom and happiness in our country.  One easy thing to do is end the unethical and ineffective war on medical marijuana.  This will also improve how the rest of the world views the United States.  Read all about what we all can do to persuade and pressure our new president to “Do the Right Thing” for millions of medical patients and recreational users across the country and around the world.  The US is the only country standing in the way of global ganjah legalization.

Obama will End War on Weed – McCain Will Push Booze!!

Federal pot prohibition programs will end – at least if Barack Obama becomes our president. As I wrote here on February 3, 2008 – Obama Should be willing to legalize marijuana.  I recently received a response from the Obama campaign that basically supports my early prediction. Start asking him questions in public.  After that I present some shocking revelations about the extent to which Old McCain is beholden to the booze industry (particularly BUSH beer).  Finally, is analysis of the recent House Bill that would make even recreational use no longer a crime.