In democratic societies, we elect our governments to protect our selves, but then our governments feel they need to protect us from ourselves. After gaining power and authority, the powers that be then feel that we cannot think and act responsibly as adults, and must exert tighter control on what we do with our lives, what we ingest into our bodies, and how we think and act in society.
The problem is, despite many debates and scientific evidence in support of marijuana, and the hemp plant in general, it remains an illegal, yet natural substance. Despite growing up alongside the plant, many societies have in the last century or so, criminalised the plant and its use by individuals.
As responsible, supposedly free adults, in a democratic society we only have a limited control on our consciousness and how we choose to explore our consciousness, possibly one of the most fundamental aspects of our existence. We are conditioned and programmed from birth to fit into a specific frame-of-mind if you will, or reality, to have certain views on existence and how reality works, and discouraged from exploring our spirituality and our consciousness. There are many levels and functions to the human brain, yet we as societies seem to hail the "alert problem-solving" level as the highest and most admirable level to be on, the alert problem-solving level is seen as as being consciousness, when we have many different brain waves and potentiality to explore. We are not allowed to take mind-altering substances that allow us to expand our minds further, or unlock possibilities, hence the misinformation promoted and the strict laws which mean that if you take a mind-altering substance, you are a criminal and can be locked up with murderers, rapists and other real criminals.. to take a substance which only impacts on your own body cannot be criminal. To smoke or ingest a plant that has grown up alongside humanity cannot be a criminal act. To exercise free will to explore your consciousness cannot be criminal.
The problem, is that in our societies the only legal option for altering your mind is alcohol and prescription drugs. There are also legal highs but many of them are now shown to be as dangerous as the illegal ones, sometimes more so. Socially acceptable drugs though, are alchohol and tobacco, two of the most dangerous substances known to man. Tobacco contains nicotine, one of the most addictive substances, and the tar build-up and chemicals in tobacco and smoke lead to thousands of deaths each year, as well as cancers and other illnesses. Alcohol kills thousands each year as well, and leads to violence and criminal acts, huge NHS bills, and leads to many complications and addictions. All people are asking for, is the right to choose what to put into their body. Society and Law states that only alcohol and cigarettes are acceptable, despite the dangers and the deaths and addictions they cause. The argument for legalising or at least decriminalising Marijuana does not go along the lines of "all drugs should be legal". We all know the huge dangers drugs like Cocaine, Speed, Heroin, Crystal Meth etc cause. All people are asking for is an informed debate about Marijuana and the hemp plant, with rational and critical thinking, not the petty arguments against it you hear on the news, from politicians and ignorant people:
"Well it's a drug so it's dangerous"... (so is alcohol, shown to be far worse.. and cigarettes of course)
"Well if you're going to legalise Marijuana you may as well legalise Cocaine etc" (erm...no, the debate is about marijuana and it's dangers/benefits, not harder more damaging drugs- notice how often that remark is thrown by people opposed to Marijuana, they start comparing it to very harmful drugs such as Cocaine and Heroin, ignoring the facts)
"Well it's illegal for a reason" (If we cannot have rational critical debates about law in a democratic society, then there is no true democracy. The government is not always right, it makes mistakes, sometimes huge mistakes, and sometimes it thinks it knows what is best for you when it is not. Look at Tobacco for example. For a while it was legal to purchase at the age of 16, then a few years ago it was raised to 18. Does this mean that the government made a mistake? Or they looked into it again and realised how harmful it is for you? Think of how many people turned 16 and thought "oh I'll buy some Tobacco", to become addicted to it, and then the law changed. So these 16/17 year olds addicted to smoking Tobacco have now become, in essence, criminals if they continue to purchase Tobacco. Laws should be discussed and debated over, we cannot place all our freedom and the rule of Law in the government's hands, they are elected by the people for the people and so should answer to the people- in theory)
The arguments against it go on in similar vein and are similarly ridiculous. Often people in the media attempting to have a rational debate about Marijuana are shot down with these ridiculous arguments against it. Basically the argument against it is that people cannot be trusted with their own minds and bodies, people cannot be trusted with free will, if Marijuana was legalised crime and deaths would go up (ha! really?), etc etc. It's funny because people against Marijuana often ignore the fact that Amsterdam has legalised Cannabis consumption and sale in special coffee shops, and the city is not under a siege of crime or deaths or accidents, and if you look at the figures far less youth smoke Marijuana than in other cities. It's often the case that making something criminal only creates an underground, making it more appealing. If Marijuana was legalised, people would still make rational, independant decisions about their own bodies, it's not like everyone would suddenly become full-time stoners, just like not everyone is an alcoholic. It would be illegal to smoke and drive, just like drinking, and working under the influence etc, it would not cause a mass pandemic. There is too little faith in the people and the leaders that be feel that we need more laws to control us and restrict what we choose to do with our lives.
At the end of the day I think it is ridiculous to call someone a criminal for ingesting a naturally-growing plant that has been with humans since our beginnings. We naturally have cannabinoid receptors in our brains that bind with the THC in Marijuana, there is no other purpose for these receptors so it is clear we have evolved alongside the plant. Our prisons are too full, and there are more pressing, real criminals that should be in prison instead of pot-smokers. If it was decriminalised than there would be no criminal dealing, if you could grow a plant in your house people would be happy to just smoke Cannabis in their own home. If it was taxed there would be a massive revenue for governments. Instead we are wasting so much of our taxpayers money on the "War on Drugs" and catching pot-smokers who do not commit any other "crime" than ingesting a natural plant. To be honest, it would be nice to have another drug to choose from other than alcohol (yes alcohol is a drug, and not an innocent drug either) in society, one which does not lead to mass violence and addiction, AA meetings etc.
The Cultivation of Cannabis can lead to a maximum imprisonment of 14 years.
If a person goes out, gets drunk, and commits Actual Bodily Harm, the maximum imprisonment is 5 years.
So we live in a society where to cultivate a natural plant and a fairly safe drug can lead to 14 years in the prison system (costing a huge sum of money over the years not to mention the psychological effect on the person), yet to commit Actual Bodily Harm (which occurs frequently when alcohol is introduced- the media panic over street crime and violence may be exaggerated or scare-tactics but it often involves alcohol, especially football hooliganism) against a person can lead to 5 years in comparison.
Not to mention the fact that in the UK, Cannabis is now a Class B substance leading to an unlimited fine or 5 years for simply possession. The direct.gov.uk website states that "Class B drugs are drugs that are less dangerous than Class A ones, but they can still be harmful. Class B drugs include cannabis and some amphetamines" and "Class C drugs are less dangerous to the user than Class A and Class B drugs."
So apparently, Cannabis is more harmful than Ketamine. Which does not seem to stand up to reason or critical debate but hey, they are the experts after all. It also places Cannabis in the same category of harmfulness and possible prison sentence as amphetamines, a group of drugs which are very harmful to your body both physically and mentally. Oh and apparently Magic Mushrooms are a Class A substance with possible sentences of 7 years in prison for possession, or life in prison for dealing. But we won't go into that here, this is about the debate about Cannabis. A debate which has support from people in high places, people in authority, thousands of people worldwide, medical professionals, etc so it's not just "dumb pot-heads" who want it legalised, it has support from many people and the debate will not die down, nor will people stop using the natural plant. Making it a Class A won't stop people. Making people criminals for taking it will not stop them. Because that is also an issue, whenever a new law is created, more criminals are created, and then "oh no the crime rate seems to be going up". Well, you did just make X percent of law abiding citizens now criminals. The other issue is the banning of Cannabis leads many to ignore the hemp plant, a vastly versatile plant which has so many uses it could actually alleviate many of the world's problems. We've turned away from hemp and it's uses into a synthetic, mass-produced world where natural is illegal and the Laws created by Man are superior to Nature. Uses of Hemp
All this is asking for, is continued support for the ongoing debate. In a truly democratic society, people should be allowed to voice their opinions and have critical, rational debate with people looking at the facts and not propaganda and misinformation, and defensive arguments that do not stand up to reason. Let people voice their opinions, and let people be responsible for their own bodies and their own actions.
Debates in the media. Look at these videos and similar videos and weigh up your own views and opinions:
CNN Larry King 03/13/2009 - discusses hemp use as well and its prohibition
Why is Marijuana Illegal? - interviews with the US public on their views and how it came to be illegal
A GREAT MARIJUANA DEBATE! - a pro-legalisation guy versus a dumbass
Marijuana Debate On CNBC - again a pro-legalisation/anti-legalisation debate..
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Fact is that if drugs were generally decriminalised to a certain extent they would be first and foremost controlled, i.e. We would know what was in them. Secondly the tax revenues would be a big plus for the government and millions would be saved from this so called war on drugs not to mention savings made through the prison trade where not only dealers are being incarcerated but also for example junkies stealing to get their fix.
ReplyDeleteMy strongest argument is that if drugs were decriminalised then they would lose the glamour they are given, going against the system if you like young people from pot heads sitting round at uni or in the school break having a toke to weekend ravers up to gangs smoking crack, we wouldn't have more drug users, on the contary, look at Holland, the best example...
This all proves that the world as we know it is controlled against us and not for us, the crack epedimic was started by the cia, they dealt and still deal with drugs to bring in extra revenue and its all bullshit! war on drugs? War on terror, no... War on the free thinking people of this world.
Yeah and since US troops have been in Afghanistan the opium output has grown, not ceased. It's all a game to the leaders and the people are fed lies and propaganda from the governments and the media. At the end of the day people should be allowed to take or put into their bodies whatever they want, otherwise there is no true freedom. The War on Drugs doesn't stop drug users, like you said part of the glamour is that drugs are illegal, it just makes people into criminals when there are far worse crimes out there. So much money is spent on "combating" drugs when there are millions living in poverty and on the poverty line, and not enough money is put into society and its institutions to make a difference. But like you stated, a lot of it is controlled by the CIA and the leaders behind the curtains, there is evidence out there if people are willing to investigate but most just think its a "conspiracy theory" and ignore the truth.
ReplyDeleteBang on. However i don't want to go on too much because this is one of the smaller problems when you look at the NWO but it is all about control, the sheeple of this world have the views they have because they have been strategically placed there by the media which is the pipeline between the powers that be and the people.
ReplyDeleteWe have been brainwashed, a majority of everyday people are not only scared of change but are also comfortable even happy and it just is not right- the entire system as we know it is a farce, our income tax is not spent on education and better roads it is spent on defense and for paying debts to the private banks that rule the G8 countries economies- As the late great Bill hicks once said 'If we used the money spent on weapons and defense to feed, cloth and educate the people of the world not one child would starve or suffer' - But it won't happen because the media evokes fear in us and the muslim world is the so called enemy! This just backs up their idealismus that the western world is impure and therefore makes them the perfect "enemy"
They are also 'programmed' through religius beliefs, passed on just like all the other religions which can also be seen as tools...
It really is time to wake up, not when things start snowballing, now....
And the very worst thing that the leaders and the media and the social institutions do, is to discourage people from thinking. Because then, the people that do wake up and try and spread the word about what is going on are ignored, and thought of as "crazy" or a "conspiracy theorist", despite the information being right in front of them. Somewhere along the line the mass public *have* become sheeple, and they have lost their critical and rational thinking. They just accept whatever is put in front of them. Some even know and
ReplyDeletejust don't care.
I've tried talking to a few people about Primark and the way they use sweatshops and anti-human rights methods, but some people even come back with the response: "Well if I can't see it it doesn't affect me". This is the idea that's being subtley programmed into the mass population, that it is futile to fight, you may as well get on with your job and ignore everything around you..
But I mean at least there are a lot of people who are working towards spreading information, and educated people putting their professions on the line to spread "unpopular" yet realistic truths about the NWO and the world we live in today..
It's all fucked up to be honest. You can't "fight" for peace so the War on Terror is just another form of Terrorism against the people.. Al Qaeda was trained by the CIA and so was bin Laden, Sadam Hussein was supported originally by America, yet you can guarantee that they don't teach that in history in school..