Category Archives: Marijuana
Teacher Becomes Drug Smuggler Unknowingly
Ana Isela Martinez Amaya, a teacher at an El Paso school, spent more than a month in a Juarez jail after Mexican police found drugs in her car at the Mexico-U.S. border crossing. But FBI agents uncovered a complex drug operation that involved tracking Ford cars and copying their keys. Their investigation ultimately led to charges against Martinez being dropped.
NPR- July 21, 2011: “For Ana Isela Martinez Amaya, May 26 began like any other school morning.
Martinez got up at 5:45 a.m. and got her 6-year-old daughter ready for school. At 6:30, the two of them left their house in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, in a tan 2003 Ford Focus. They headed toward the Stanton Street Bridge crossing into Texas.
Martinez is a teacher at a bilingual charter school in El Paso. She had just been named the Teacher of the Year at her school.
By the end of the day, the 35-year-old mother of two would be under arrest, accused of attempting to smuggle more than 100 pounds of marijuana into the United States.
Because Martinez crossed daily into the U.S., she had applied for a SENTRI pass from the Department of Homeland Security. The pass costs $122 a year and pass holders must submit to a rigorous background check. In exchange, they can use the SENTRI Express Lane at the border, where travelers generally are processed much faster.
Because of her SENTRI pass and because of her regular commute, Martinez unwittingly had fallen victim to a new scheme by a local drug smuggling gang.
‘This Is Not Happening To Me’
As Martinez drove onto the bridge on the morning of May 26, her daughter was strapped into a car seat in the back. Newspaper vendors wandered through the traffic, waving the latest edition of El Diario. Filthy young men with squirt bottles threatened to wash commuters’ windshields. Mexican soldiers were randomly inspecting vehicles on the Mexican side of the bridge.
When I saw the two suitcases in my trunk, I thought it was like a bad dream. I thought, ‘This is not real. This is not happening to me.’
- Ana Isela Martinez
“They asked me to pull over,” Martinez says. “They also asked me to open my trunk.”
One of the requirements of the SENTRI pass program is that users must keep their personal belongings visible to the customs agents. So on her morning commutes, Martinez would put her purse and her daughter’s schoolbag on the front passenger seat. She says she never put anything in her trunk.
“So when I saw the two suitcases in my trunk, I thought it was like a bad dream,” she says. “I thought, ‘This is not real. This is not happening to me.’ Of course, you know already that something bad is inside.”
Inside was more than 100 pounds of marijuana.
Martinez immediately declared that she’d never seen the two bags before. She begged the soldiers to let her call her husband to come pick up their daughter, but they wouldn’t let her.
“I had to keep myself calm because I wanted her to remain calm,” Martinez recalls.
“She was looking at me,” she says of her 6-year-old. “She was looking at the military all around us, with their weapons. … She was very mature for a little girl at that age. Very calm.”
Martinez saw one of her co-workers driving by and she frantically waved for her to stop. Martinez tried to give her daughter to the co-worker but again the military officers wouldn’t allow it. Eventually the soldiers took Martinez and her daughter together to the local prosecutor’s offices.
“We stayed there a couple of hours. Finally, they let me give my daughter to my husband,” she says. Martinez was sent straight to a Mexican jail.”
The Chimp That Was Raised As A Human
A few years back in 1973, a project was put together to try and study Chimpanzees and see if they could act like humans and use American Sign Language to communicate. Nim, the chimp that was taken from his mother early on and raised in a human household died in 2000 after being shuffled around due to his aggressive behavior that became more apparent over the years.
Nim Chimpsky started this process with Stephanie LaFarge in upper Manhattan. LaFarge had other children that were raised along side Nim and she truly grew attached to him. Unfortunately, after some years he was biting the other children and acting out, much like a wild animal. Jenny Lee was one of LaFarge’s children, who was 13 at the time that Nim was brought to them. She recalls good memories, but she also recalls the biting and aggressiveness.
NPR – “While Jenny and her siblings went to school, Nim learned sign language with researchers at Columbia University. The goal was to open up a window into Nim’s thoughts and to see if he could develop real language skills. When he came home each night, Nim would play with the Lee children and mimic their behavior. But as he aged, he became more aggressive — and no one knew what to do.”
Eventually he was moved to private grounds at the University of Oklahoma, where he met Bob Ingersoll. Mr. Ingersoll quickly became attached to Nim and the two became quick friends. In fact, “While taking long walks around the grounds of the primate facility, Ingersoll occasionally smoked pot with Nim, who had been introduced to marijuana in New York City and even appeared in the magazine High Times in 1975.” Ingersoll had said that Nim “actually signed ‘stone smoke time now’ to us first”.
After spending nearly nine years with Nim, Ingersoll had to see him be moved to a research facility, which he eventually helped rescue him from. Here, Nim was living in a cage, which this human-like chimp was never accustomed to (not that any animal should be). After the rescue, he was moved to another facility, but this time the ranch was for abused animals.
The FULL STORY can be found here.
‘Incense’ Newest Drug In Ohio
There is a new ‘drug’ being sold in Ohio in the form of incense. Instead of it being the well known sticks that burn a scent, these are sold in the form of a leafy product, much like Marijuana. Although the DEA is working on getting this product off the market and made an illegal substance, it is still easy to purchase and legal for the time being.
The Mad Hatter Incense are known to cause hallucinations as well as some medical problems. The most similar product to the Incense is salvia, for those of you who are familiar with it.
“On Friday, Gov. John Kasich signed into law House Bill 64 that makes synthetic marijuana, also known as Spice or K2, illegal to sell or possess by adding it to the list of Schedule I controlled substances. The law goes into effect 90 days from Friday.”
White House Admits Marijuana Has “Some” Medical Value
So just a few days after the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) deems that there is no medical value to cannabis, the White House has chosen to contradict that fact, somewhat. This is what was said in the report:
“While there may be medical value for some of the individual components of the cannabis plant, the fact remains that smoking marijuana is an inefficient and harmful method for delivering the constituent elements that have or may have medicinal value.”
The method by which you choose to use marijuana should have no effect on whether it is legal or illegal. To me this just seems like an easy way for them to get away with keeping marijuana classified as an illegal drug, but having to admit the facts that there are medical advantages.
You would think that with how far we’ve come on the research of marijuana and medical advantages for patients with pain, that the government would feel more obligated to use the facts of the matter to make a LOGICAL decision. But, of course, we’re depending on the corrupted American government for this.
This is Absurd.
Marijuana has been approved by California, many other states and the nation’s capital to treat a range of illnesses, but in a decision announced Friday the federal government ruled that it has no accepted medical use and should remain classified as a dangerous drug like heroin.
The decision comes almost nine years after medical marijuana supporters asked the government to reclassify cannabis to take into account a growing body of worldwide research that shows its effectiveness in treating certain diseases, such as glaucoma and multiple sclerosis.
Advocates for the medical use of the drug criticized the ruling but were elated that the Obama administration had finally acted, which allows them to appeal to the federal courts, where they believe they can get a fairer hearing. The decision to deny the request was made by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and comes less than two months after advocates asked the U.S. Court of Appeals to force the administration to respond to their petition.
“We have foiled the government’s strategy of delay, and we can now go head-to-head on the merits, that marijuana really does have therapeutic value,” said Joe Elford, the chief counsel for Americans for Safe Access and the lead counsel on the recently filed lawsuit. Elford said he was not surprised by the decision, which comes just after the Obama administration announced it would not tolerate large-scale commercial marijuana cultivation. “It is clearly motivated by a political decision that is anti-marijuana,” he said. He noted that studies demonstrate pot has beneficial effects, including appetite stimulation for people undergoing chemotherapy. “One of the things people say about marijuana is that it gives you the munchies and the truth is that it does, and for some people that’s a very positive thing.”
DEA Administrator Michele M. Leonhart sent a letter dated June 21 to the organizations that filed a petition for the change. The letter and the documentation that she used to back up her decision were published Friday in the Federal Register. Leonhart said she rejected the request because marijuana “has a high potential for abuse,” “has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States” and “lacks accepted safety for use under medical supervision.”
This is the third time that petitions to reclassify marijuana have been spurned. The first was filed in 1972 and denied 17 years later. The second was filed in 1995 and denied in 2001. Both decisions were appealed, but the courts sided with the federal government.
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Are you kidding me?! As a person with a neurological disorder that once had me immobilized, I am absolutely appalled by the federal government’s decision! This is clearly an economic and political judgment call. The tobacco and alcohol industries want to monopolize, and the government is letting this happen because they’re greedy little shit heads. I apologize for getting so heated over this, but I just don’t understand how a MEDICINE, such as cannabis, is compared to a drug like heroin. Tobacco and alcohol can cause death, along with multiple other problems. This is proven. Marijuana does the opposite and gets people feeling alive again when they once thought they had nothing to live for.
I remember having to medically withdraw from college, laying (immobile) on my couch for weeks at a time, taking up to 15 pills a day, feeling depressed and not knowing if it would ever end. When I tried using marijuana for my disorder (I’m not gonna lie, I used it recreationally before I was diagnosed), it completely changed my perspective and life. Today, I use Marijuana to keep my disorder under control. I have a full timejob, my moood swings aren’t as bad, my pain is manageable and my disorder no longer controls my life.
But you’re right, I suppose it has no medicinal benefit. I’ll just stick to smoking cigarettes and drinking alcohol since those are my legal options.
Why a Mother Uses Pot to Treat Her Autistic Son | NBC Bay Area
Why a Mother Uses Pot to Treat Her Autistic Son | NBC Bay Area.
This is a wonderful video that shows the effects of marijuana for people with Autism. This mother went about it in the right way, did her research and supplies her son with the right dosage as well as the most organic and veganic product she can. While some people may be critical of her giving a 12-year-old Medical Cannabis, the advantages and benefits are proof enough to her, that this medicine may have saved her son’s life.
Please watch this video and feel free to judge for yourself.
A Religion based on ‘The Big Lebowski’
People who intuitively perceive 2,500-year-old Chinese and Greek concepts, while knowingly nod to California’s detached hippie philosophy and quote droll lines from “The Big Lebowski” are joining a revelatory religion that has illuminated its U.S. founder in northern Thailand.
Dubbed “Church of the Latter-Day Dude,” the group also invites “mellow, unflashy chicks who hang around in their bathrobes and take baths with candles and whale sounds,” says the religion’s Dudely Lama, Oliver Benjamin.
“Everyone feels oppressed by society’s pressures,” he says.
“Everyone wishes they had more freedom. Everyone wishes they could be more carefree, to worry less about money and status.”
Oliver’s church is heavily influenced by the Tao of Lao Tzu (6th century B.C.), Epicurus (341-270 B.C.), and the “The Big Lebowski,” a 1998 film written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen.
The film stars Jeff Bridges as a surreal, hilarious, ironic, marijuana-smoking, satirical, 40-something character nicknamed “the Dude.”
Asked by a woman in the movie what he likes to do for fun, the Dude replies: “Oh, you know, the usual. Bowl. Drive around. The occasional acid flashback.”
Chiang Mai-based Oliver says he thinks everyone potentially identifies with aspects of the movie, even if they may not wholly approve of the Dude’s lazy lifestyle.
“The Dude is an extreme case, but he provides an ideal which can help you to bring a little more ‘Dude’ into your life, without giving up on the rat race entirely,” he says.
“I grew up in the 1980s, which was a very ambitious and materialistic time — the era of the Yuppies. Even as a youth, I found it frightening and false.
“The reason I embarked on a 10-year backpacking journey was so I could avoid being brainwashed by the machine of industry, and find the space and freedom to indulge my imagination.”
Or, as the Dude exclaims in the 1998 film, set in 1990: “It’s all a goddamn fake. Like Lenin said, look for the person who will benefit. And you will, uh, you know, you’ll, uh, you know what I’m trying to say.”
Movie still from "The Big Lebowski," starring John Goodman as Walter Sobchak and Jeff Bridges as "the Dude." Read more: The man who founded a religion based on 'The Big Lebowski' | CNNGo.com http://www.cnngo.com/bangkok/life/doctrine-chiang-mais-church-latter-day-dude-explained-206793#ixzz1RXI4jo33
Eastern philosophy and Dudeism Movie still from “The Big Lebowski,” starring John Goodman as Walter Sobchak and Jeff Bridges as “the Dude.” The Church of the Latter-Day Dude’s website is ridiculous, absurd and lots of fun.
But it also wrestles with questions and answers that have gripped humans throughout the ages.
“We contend that The Big Lebowski is actually a modern form of Taoism,” Oliver says. “Taoism is probably the most philosophical religion in the world.
“Though there are variants that are heavily superstitious, the original tradition has virtually no dogma or rules of conduct. It suggests that there is a natural way of living that people can return to, if they just learn to sense it intuitively.
“Though ‘The Big Lebowski’ is a story about an aging ex-hippie in Los Angeles who is trying to solve a kidnapping case, at its heart it’s really a story about how to live your life, how to deal with conflict, and how to maintain peace of mind in a world that’s gone crazy. So there’s really no distinction between the movie and Eastern philosophy — the movie is infused with it,” he says.
People who aren’t cool, ultimately go crazy, Oliver warns.
“Following Dudeism helps you to keep in mind what’s important in life, what actually makes people happy instead of what makes them insane. Dudeism has a great deal in common with Epicureanism — the original, uncompromised first draft — which states that simple pleasures are best and that less is actually more.”
Born in 1968, Oliver grew up in Sherman Oaks, southern California, and got a psych degree from UCLA before working in graphic design for a few years and then traveling while writing three “bizarre” unpublished novels.
He is currently a freelance journalist and photographer, based mostly in Chiang Mai, and plans to expand his church this year.
“There are now over 100,000 ordained Dudeist Priests worldwide,” Oliver says. “Most are in the U.S., but it’s surprisingly popular in the UK as well.
“There’s going to be a Dudeist Music Festival in York this summer, and there’s a movement to get it on the U.K. census as an official religion — as Jedi was, in the last census.”
Jeff Dowd (left), the real-life person upon whom the character of the Dude was based, appears alongside Oliver Benjamin at the 2008 Lebowskifest in San Francisco, California. Read more: The man who founded a religion based on 'The Big Lebowski' | CNNGo.com http://www.cnngo.com/bangkok/life/doctrine-chiang-mais-church-latter-day-dude-explained-206793#ixzz1RXHul7ta
‘We’re never going to compete with Christianity’ Lebowski Fest Jeff Dowd (left), the real-life person upon whom the character of the Dude was based, appears alongside Oliver Benjamin at the 2008 Lebowskifest in San Francisco, California. The Church of the Latter-Day Dude was actually born near Chiang Mai, in the hip resort town of Pai, where Oliver says he became transfixed by visions.
“In 2005, I was up in Pai at a small cafe, watching ‘The Big Lebowski’ with a crowd of people from all over the world. I had seen the film once before and enjoyed it, but this time the experience was totally transformative.
“I felt as if I’d seen a story that put all the difficulties of modern life into a manageable perspective. And it was probably the most touchingly funny film I’d ever seen.
“Oddly enough, I’d long wanted to start a religion. During my travels I’d become an earnest student of religion and philosophy.”
Wedging his church into a world crowded by older, cash-rich religions is not impossible, but it may remain a niche belief system.
“Money is power. Dudeists don’t tend to be the upper crust of society. So we’re never going to compete with the really wealthy religions like Christianity.
“Ideally, we’d like to help people find ways to earn money with less work, but of course that’s always a challenge. Fifty years ago, everyone thought that robots would be doing all the work for us and people would be living lives of leisure. That this has not come to pass is surely mankind’s biggest tragedy,” Oliver laments.
“One problem also is that too many people just think the Dude is a burned out hedonistic stoner. Nothing could be further from the truth. He’s an intellectual with strong moral character and a lively, creative mind.
“He’s also a stoner, but that’s not a bad thing. Too many people confuse Dudeism with anarchism or selfish laziness. Dudeism recognizes the need for organization and rules, and the laziness it touts is disciplined and determined.
“Free time should be used to free your mind and cultivate inner peace. Not to play ‘Grand Theft Auto’ all day and gorge on snack food,” he says.
Asked if he financially benefits from having the church, Oliver replies: “I earn a modest income from the sales of some products on the site. We have plans to expand, and when we do, those increased profits will be used primarily to help spread the word of Dudeism via events and advertising, and maybe to provide jobs to Dudes who hate the ones they currently have.”
The church is evolving, and hopes more members will know each other in the biblical sense.
“Perhaps it’s not surprising that the Church is about 75 percent male. But we are trying to actively bring in more women. We think that women suffer even more than men do from the dictates of modern society,” he says.
“We hope to start a Dudeist dating service soon, and a chapter in our forthcoming book, ‘The Abide Guide,’ will be devoted towards Dudeist feminism. Incidentally, we don’t recognize the word ‘dudette.’ We’re trying to help promote the idea of ‘dude’ as a gender-neutral word.”
Church of the Latter-Day Dude website: http://www.dudeism.com/
The Official Publication of Dudeism: http://www.dudespaper.com/
On Facebook: www.facebook.com/Dudeism
Read more: The man who founded a religion based on ‘The Big Lebowski’ | CNNGo.com http://www.cnngo.com/bangkok/life/doctrine-chiang-mais-church-latter-day-dude-explained-206793#ixzz1RXFdivis
Sensible Portland is looking to end Marijuana Arrests in Oregon
