FTA, "But our first baby-boomer president signed a punitive law passed in 1995 by the Republican-controlled Congress. The law denies federal student loan assistance to convicted marijuana "offenders.""

See, we don't want to educate and treat a drug user so they can learn to be a productive member of society. We want to deny them a proper education and toss them into the Federal Prison system where they can learn...

or FTA, An example is requiring random drug tests for those involved in high school athletics.
See, if a kid is involved in sports and tries pot once or twice, we want to kick him out of sports so he'll have less ambition and more time on his hands to...

And America tolerates this crap.

I didn't know Rick Steves was a pothead.

I wonder if his stance will make it more difficult for him to clear customs while traveling - specifically, in countries where a $20 bill doesn't grant you leniency.

Control_this: I didn't know Rick Steves was a pothead.

One doesn't have to be a "pothead" to see the futility of continued criminalization of pot users.

/Legalize it.

hooray weed!

A PBS host? I'd say the War on Drugs is as good as cancelled.

If only PBS had said anything about Iraq. I bet they could have prevented this mess.

I really liked what the guys from The Wire had to say.

Our leaders? There aren't any politicians - Democrat or Republican - willing to speak truth on this. Instead, politicians compete to prove themselves more draconian than thou, to embrace America's most profound and enduring policy failure.

Control_this: I didn't know Rick Steves was a pothead.

I always thought it was bizarre that he looked at the Netherlands on one of his shows and didn't cover coffee shops AT ALL.

Control_this: I didn't know Rick Steves was a pothead.


Of course....just look at how mellow he is.

So that's why he did 3 straight weeks of shows in Amsterdam.

I imagine these statistics are skewed, after all, not all those jailed with possession of marijuana are peaceful, some are gang members that would actively attack people and kill to protect their drug turf. People are smart, drug dealers aren't going to be carrying huge amounts on them at a time. Until I see a statistic with those pertaining to gang related violence, with the only charges the police can press are drug related ones, I see it laughable to compare the prison population with eagle scouts.

696,074. i wonder how many are considered in a gang. Treating them all like peaceful college students, while there are some for sure, is not the answer, yet people will continually point out that all of these people are, poor college students who took one hit, rather than accepting the fact that some of these people are dangerous. I'd like to see more information on the issue, before I make snap judgments condemning or supporting all of those people who have been jailed.

Rick Steve's tokes. He's on High Times list of celebrity stoners. Kind of funny, he's seems so straight laced.

I;m pretty sure Ian from GlobeTrekkers smokes too.

They should get together and do an Amsterdam show.

Control_this:

I didn't know Rick Steves was a pothead.

I don't know if he is or he isn't - but the guy I know who works for him certainly is.

Redbeardo: some are gang members that would actively attack people and kill to protect their drug turf
First off: people generally don't kill over marijuana. Cocaine, heroin, meth yes but weed, no.
Second: make drugs legal and the only people they'll have to compete with will be Pfizer and other companies.

Also: I had no clue that Rick would be the type of fellow to smoke. My mom loves his show, and I bet she would be shocked to discover that he's an evil pothead!!11one Perhaps more "straight-edge" type celebrities (not that Rick Steves is an extremely famous celeb) should come out if they smoke weed, to make people understand that one hit doesn't make you want to go rape the nubile young white wimmins etc..

Redbeardo: I imagine these statistics are skewed, after all, not all those jailed with possession of marijuana are peaceful, some are gang members that would actively attack people and kill to protect their drug turf. People are smart, drug dealers aren't going to be carrying huge amounts on them at a time. Until I see a statistic with those pertaining to gang related violence, with the only charges the police can press are drug related ones, I see it laughable to compare the prison population with eagle scouts.

696,074. i wonder how many are considered in a gang. Treating them all like peaceful college students, while there are some for sure, is not the answer, yet people will continually point out that all of these people are, poor college students who took one hit, rather than accepting the fact that some of these people are dangerous. I'd like to see more information on the issue, before I make snap judgments condemning or supporting all of those people who have been jailed.

So jailing or fining people over a bullshiat charge is ok as long as they're gang members? If they're so violent and obviously deserving of their punishment, why not jail them for what harm they ARE doing to other people instead of simple possession of a relatively harmless substance.

I know a lot of people who've been fined for having been caught with marijuana, and none of them have been violent criminals.

The punishment is supposed to fit the crime, and using marijuana possession as an excuse to throw "undesirable" people in jail is just absurd.

As long as he does the song about the squirrel in church!

thank you, subby.
i'm supposed writing a research paper about ending the war on drugs at this very moment.

GURU?

calling someone a guru is tantamount to calling them a douchebag


as for the war on drugs, good for him.

i read a great quote by Jimmy Carter the other day,
revealing him to be probably the smartest, sanest president in recent memory:

"Penalties against possession of a drug should not be more damaging to an individual than the use of the drug itself."

ComicBookGuy

I didn't know Rick Steves was a pothead.

I always thought it was bizarre that he looked at the Netherlands on one of his shows and didn't cover coffee shops AT ALL.

His TV show is probably too high profile, but he does cover it in his Travel Guide to Amsterdam (dead tree format). There is about a page or two about the various head shops, which ones are better, how to order without looking like an idiot, and the details of the laws.

Rick Steve's tokes. He's on High Times list of celebrity stoners. Kind of funny, he's seems so straight laced.

I always thought he as gay.

Ron Paul Revere:
/I rarely smoke anymore
//drink beer
///it's legal, that makes me a better citizen lol


The legality part is so stupid.

When I was younger, I would hang out with friends and smoke all the time. There were times where you couldn't see more than 2 feet because the smoke was so thick. The worst that came of it was some impaired motor skills, uncontrollable giggling and a serious case of the munchies. Basic rule was that we hit the grocery stores before hand, locked away the car keys and generally stayed indoors. Two or three hours later, we were all sober and felt normal.

I've only been seriously shiatfaced a few times in my life, and I like to keep it that way. Vomiting, dehydration, slurred speech, seriously impaired motor skills, impaired judgement, headaches, mood swings, chills and hangovers. I've seen friends pass out next to pools of their own vomit on the lawn. Others have gotten into fist fights with my other friends. I've even had a friend taken to the ER to have his stomach pumped. Sometimes, it can take days to fully recover.

Yet alcohol is generally legal and cannabis is a Schedule I drug. Retarded logic in my view.

Redbeardo: I imagine these statistics are skewed, after all, not all those jailed with possession of marijuana are peaceful, some are gang members that would actively attack people and kill to protect their drug turf. People are smart, drug dealers aren't going to be carrying huge amounts on them at a time. Until I see a statistic with those pertaining to gang related violence, with the only charges the police can press are drug related ones, I see it laughable to compare the prison population with eagle scouts.

696,074. i wonder how many are considered in a gang. Treating them all like peaceful college students, while there are some for sure, is not the answer, yet people will continually point out that all of these people are, poor college students who took one hit, rather than accepting the fact that some of these people are dangerous. I'd like to see more information on the issue, before I make snap judgments condemning or supporting all of those people who have been jailed.


With that kind of retarded reasoning, are you saying that all people who have been arrested are or aren't gang members?

Legalize it?
Don't criticize it?

:)

I would have thought that the USA could abandon the war on drugs now that they have 'the war on terror' to satisfy their fantasy enemy/pretext for mind control quota.

Since he has decided to take on other adventures, can I have his old job? Pretty please?

Rick Steves is a member of the NORML advisory board.

There is sooooooooooooooooo damn much money tied up in this bogus war that it's almost impossible to stop. Sadly, this "war" was never about the good of the people ... it was and continues to be about cold, hard cash.

/How can they be jealous of our freedom when we lock up more of our people than anywhere else in the world?

ComicBookGuy: Control_this: I didn't know Rick Steves was a pothead.

I always thought it was bizarre that he looked at the Netherlands on one of his shows and didn't cover coffee shops AT ALL.

His boards on his travel site have always had a forum for MJ in Europe that is very lively and usually, informative. I'm not sure if it's still an active board, but for years it was a relatively reliable source of information. I've always figured Rick was a smoker, or if not, certainly didn't see it as anything bad.

Tralfamadorian: I would have thought that the USA could abandon the war on drugs now that they have 'the war on terror' to satisfy their fantasy enemy/pretext for mind control quota.

No, the religious fundies in this country will never stop passing restrictive laws until US law simply says "see: Leviticus".


Law of unintended consequences:

1) Fundies push for dry laws around the time automobiles become popular.
2) Ethanol alcohol fuels and additives become nearly impossible to produce due to strict regulation requiring it to be denatured with methanol to prevent human consumption.
3) Ethanol-based fuels quickly die out due, replaced by [now cheaper] petroleum based fuels with Tetra-ethyl lead additive
4) Millions of people worldwide affected by the neurotoxic effect of lead poisoning, others die due to increased risk of cancer, others die due to direct exposure of Tetra-ethyl lead (including its inventor).

So, fundies have directly contributed to the death, suffering and retardation of countless people. Yet it is barely a footnote in history.

Meh.

rageragelove

For your paper...

Saw this movie on Showtime last week. Quite interesting.

American Drug War (new window)

One of their topics is the Partnership for a Drug Free America (the guys that make all those realistic commercials). They no longer take money from alcohol and tobacco companies, but check their corporate sponsor list from their own website...

Donors (PDF) (new window)

Who are the biggest ones? Gee, they are all pharmaceutical companies and a foundation started by one of the Johnson & Johnson heirs.


Another point they made is how the prison industry is privatized. While this saves the government alot of money, it also means the prison system is a publicly traded company. In turn, they have a stock. And this stock is goes up and down based on how many people are in prison.

What is an easy way to get lots of otherwise law-abiding people into prison?

Yeah, Im a stoner, but I dont see how anyone can not, at the very least, question the motives behind some of our drug laws.

become nearly impossible to produce

Correction: nearly impossible to produce economically competitive to gasoline or Tetra-ethyl lead

AS HE TROOPS about Europe, with notebook and camera crew, guidebook author Rick Steves witnesses what the late historian Barbara Tuchman called "The March of Folly," the sites of wars and witch hunts waged by feckless rulers.

Feckless is an awesome word. That is all.

He came to speak at my high school a bunch of times. I bet he wont be speaking there anymore.

My friend also lived near his house.

/Also went to Bill Nye's once.
//The Science guy turned out to be quite a coont.

All I know is the wife was in labor for four farking days. Day and night I stayed up with her and she was in agony it was hell. To make it worse, I had the farking theme to "Rick Steves" in my head THE WHOLE FARKING TIME.

This guys smokes more weed than Cheech and Chong put together!

Will Rick be doing this before or after his PBS Begathon tour?

Just legalize it and get it over with.

I used to work in a rehab place. Booze did a lot more damage then normal pot use ever will. The folks we had in for pot were usually mellow unless they had other mental issues. We had a few life long stoners who were pretty much baked but those were rare - we saw a lot more alkies suffering from permanent damage.

I just started smoking again. A few hits and the GF and I were nice and mellow. Had some nice chats and enjoyed each other. No hangover, no sickness. Just a nice buzz. It actually took me down off of some anger issues I had too.

Kanemano:

When I was in Bali, I had people offering me weed and mushrooms EVERY BLOCK.

American politics are forever tainted with puritanical fears. If it feels good, it's evil.

Once you accept this it all makes sense.

Rick Steves, stoner. Just doesn't seem quite right.


Still, good for him.

castufari: Just legalize it and get it over with.

I used to work in a rehab place. Booze did a lot more damage then normal pot use ever will.

Maybe because it's legal?

Gangs kill not for drugs but for money. The drugs are irrelevant. Its a product that is in constant demand with and scare supply.

Why they choose drugs as their product of choice is simply because the legality of drugs cause them to have the highest profit margin of any product out there. And the criminals are the only people selling it. The problem now comes because they can't take their claims to court so they kill motherfarkers who fark with their business.

Thats why gangs kill over drugs and why people kill over drugs. Its not about drugs. Its about the money.

ChrisPC: castufari: Just legalize it and get it over with.

I used to work in a rehab place. Booze did a lot more damage then normal pot use ever will.

Maybe because it's legal?

Didn't you read - the biggest potheads had noticeably less damage than the average alcoholic.

The legality of a substance doesn't change its effects on one's body, dumbass

Wanna bet that the next time he shows up at an airline ticket counter, he finds out that the name "Rick Steves" has been added to the no-fly list?

Redbeardo: People are smart, drug dealers aren't going to be carrying huge amounts on them at a time.

This is all wrong, on several fronts.

1) You don't have to carry 'large amounts' to become a felon or do a long stint in prison.
2) Somebody delivers it. This goes down into two categories: either the dealer has somebody who owes them money to chauffeur them around or they go and pick up from their boy personally (paranoia in action- your buddy one-up on this pyramid scheme doesn't want you bringing your pals to scout and rob).
3) Going to large parties where money can be quickly made usually means carrying large amounts- that is, unless you want to drive back and forth all night between an obvious party and all the cops lying in wait for this exact happenstance. I've known people to be pulled over before for this sort of 'repetitive driving'.

/just sayin'

Rick Steves is also helping out the charitable organization Bread for the World. The world could use a few more celebrities like him. He seems like a great guy, and his travel books are the best - short and to the point, not bogged down with way too many details.