DOWN ACAPULCO WAY, CHILDREN ARE NOW SOLDIERS IN OUR DRUG WAR

Article by Richard Cowan, former NORML National Director and author of Effective Ways To Consume CBD Oil.

Starting back in the 1960s, Acapulco was one of the first international resorts for the “Jet Set.” In 1963 Elvis even made a movie Fun In Acapulco. No more.

Unfortunately, Acapulco now is too violent for international tourists (Americans), but on the other side of the coastal mountains, the state of Guerrero is even more violent. 

Recently, El País, the center/right Madrid newspaper carried a horrific story “The child soldiers of Guerrero cry out against the narco armed and with shots in the air” 

(Google translation)

‘The youngest of the firearms-wielding group is six years old

See full here:

https://www.globemagazine.com/content/down-acapulco-way-children-are-now-soldiers-our-drug-war

HOW A WATERGATE BURGLAR INADVERTENTLY HELPED FIGHT MARIJUANA PROHIBITION

Article by Richard Cowan.

The death of G. Gordon Liddy, the most famous of the Watergate burglars, brought back some funny memories. 

Liddy and I crossed paths twice, although we didn’t actually meet the first time. I come from a long line of Republicans and I was even briefly the President of the Yale Young Republicans, circa 1960, so even though I didn’t even like Richard Nixon, I somehow ended up in Washington a few days after the Watergate burglary in June of 1972. 

I even had an appointment at the Republican National Committee and when I arrived they were changing the locks on the front door. I was told that it was a precaution because there had been a minor burglary at the DNC… Yep. One cannot be too cautious.

I had actually been smoking what we called “Grass” for almost five years, so when I found out that NORML was located a few blocks away I went by to give them a few dollars. But then found out what was really going on, and, as I like to put it, I went to work for a better class of criminals.

Full here:

https://www.globemagazine.com/content/how-watergate-burglar-inadvertently-helped-fight-marijuana-prohibition

ISRAEL ABOUT TO LEGALIZE CANNABIS AS THE NEXT PHASE OF THE CANNABINOID REVOLUTION KICKED OFF BY THE SCIENTIST WHO STARTED IT ALL

Article by Richard Cowan, former NORML National Director and author of Is CBD Oil Good For Your Hair?

Last year, The Times of Israel reported that the Knesset, Israel’s Parliament, voted to “legalize” cannabis in 2021. It still seems on course to act soon.

The Times said, “According to the new law being promoted, people age 21 and up will be allowed to purchase cannabis at specialized stores. They will be required to show identification.

The drug will not be allowed to be taken into or out of the country. The stores will be allowed to make deliveries but will be barred from selling cannabis edibles that resemble candy.

The state will “ensure the prices are reasonable” to avoid encouraging customers to go to the black market, according to the interministerial team’s recommendations.

However, the law will likely include a blanket ban on smoking cannabis in public spaces. It will not allow home growing of the plant without a license, though the team recommended that the matter be weighed at a later stage.

See Can CBD Cure THC Addiction? What is THC Addiction Again?

See full here:

https://www.globemagazine.com/content/israel-about-legalize-cannabis-next-phase-cannabinoid-revolution-kicked-scientist-who

PROHIBITIONISTS RECYCLE “POTENT POT” MEME TO PROTECT THE BLACK MARKET

Article by Richard Cowan

In order to understand how the politics of marijuana prohibition actually works, remember that anti-prohibitionist websites almost always have links to prohibitionist propaganda sites, but prohibitionists almost never link to our sites.

See Prohibitionism Means Never Having To Say You’re Sorry

This is a real advantage for us in a live debate, because the prohibitionists often seem surprised. The reason for this difference is fairly simple. We want you to know and understand the lies they are telling, but they don’t want you to know the truth we are telling. As I liked to say, freedom has nothing to fear from the truth. 

See HOW THE PROHIBITIONIST IDEOLOGY HAS WRECKED THE REPUBLICAN PARTY AND UNDERMINED DEMOCRACY EVERYWHERE

See full here:

https://www.globemagazine.com/content/prohibitionists-recycle-%E2%80%9Cpotent-pot%E2%80%9D-meme-protect-black-market

YES THERE IS MARIJUANA ANGLE TO THE PRINCE HARRY SAGA

Article by Richard Cowan

It’s difficult to worry too much about Royalty in the midst of a pandemic, but Prince Harry has had a bit of experience with a Commoner’s problems.

As a matter of principle, I am strongly opposed to censorship and capital punishment, but I might make an exception for the vile UK tabloids. (Of course, the “quality broadsheets” like the Telegraph weren’t much better.)

Their coverage of Prince Harry has been typically awful, but their coverage of the cannabis issue has been evil. The two combined in 2002 when the then 16-year-old prince got caught with a little weed.

The Daily Mail, the most popular trash sheet, reported “Prince Harry: I took drugs” 

Let’s go back a moment. Harry was 16. He was not arrested, so the Daily Mail had no business printing that story. But the Daily Mail is a sewer of reefer madness.

See full here:

https://www.globemagazine.com/content/yes-there-marijuana-angle-prince-harry-saga

THE “SLIPPERY SLOPE” FROM MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION; THE LOGICAL FALLACIES OF MARIJUANA PROHIBITION

Richard Cowan is a former NORML National Director and author of Everything You Want To Know About CBD Bath Salts.

As I have written about the logical fallacies of marijuana prohibition, the so-called “Gateway Effect” is a classic. “Post hoc ergo propter hoc” or “After this therefore because of this” is that marijuana use “leads to” hard drugs, etc.

See We Need to Educate Children And Adults About “Drug Education”

The political equivalent of that is the “Slippery Slope” that marijuana legalization will lead to the legalization of hard drugs and Lordy knows what else. Of course, the Drug Warriors accused even medical marijuana advocates of “really wanting” to legalize crack, etc. 

Read full here:

https://www.globemagazine.com/content/%E2%80%9Cslippery-slope%E2%80%9D-marijuana-legalization-logical-fallacies-marijuana-prohibition

PROFILES IN PROHIBITION: DR. GABRIEL NAHAS

Article written by Richard Cowan, former NORML National Director and author of Tips For Choosing The Right CBD Salve.

I crossed paths with Nahas in 1973 in the Texas Senate where he was testifying against changing the Texas marijuana laws which allowed life in prison for simple possession of any amount. (There were over 800 in prison and 30 doing life for less than an ounce.)

He was distributing copies of his first book about the alleged dangers of cannabis, “Marihuana: Deceptive Weed.” He would eventually publish nine more. 

I was there to lobby in favor of legalizing marijuana. but we did get possession of an ounce reduced to a Class B misdemeanor, and eight hundred prisoners were released. 

His next book, with the catchy title, Keep Off the Grass, was published in 1985 and claimed that every marijuana user was a “pusher” of marijuana. 

See full here:

https://www.globemagazine.com/content/profiles-prohibition-dr-gabriel-nahas

PROFILES IN PROHIBITION: GENERAL BARRY MCCAFFREY’S WAR ON MARIJUANA USERS

Article was written by Richard Cowan, former NORML National Director and the author of Is Blue Ribbon Hemp’s CBD Legit?

Barry McCaffrey has the most distinguished career of any Drug Czar, but that is very, very faint praise indeed.

In fact, McCaffrey was the youngest and most highly decorated four-star general in the army at the time of his retirement from the military in 1996.

The high point of his military career was his role in America’s decisive victory in the First Gulf War

After that, McCaffrey’s last command was the United States Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), the unified command responsible for U.S. military activities in Central America and South America from 1994 to 1996.

Read more here:

https://www.globemagazine.com/content/profiles-prohibition-general-barry-mccaffrey%E2%80%99s-war-marijuana-users

PROFILES IN PROHIBITIONIST: WILLIAM BENNETT THE FIRST “DRUG CZAR”

By Richard Cowan, former NORML National Director and author of the Effects Of CBD On Mental Health with Dr. Igor Bussel.

When former President George H. W. Bush died almost 2 years ago, he was praised for his decency, undoubtedly benefiting from the contrast with his successors. However, there was also a very dark side to his Administration, personified by William Bennett, whom he anointed the first “Drug Czar” in March of 1989.

Read more here:

https://www.globemagazine.com/content/profiles-prohibitionist-william-bennett-first-%E2%80%9Cdrug-czar%E2%80%9D

MARIJUANA VS MARTINIS AT THE MOVIES

By Richard Cowan, former NORML National Director and owner  of Buy CBD Gummies

Since I have been writing about marijuana in the movies, I thought about how Martinis became a symbol for sophistication in movies, and, and unlike marijuana, not always played for laughs. 

In the 1933  less than a year before alcohol prohibition was repealed, International House, a comedy set in the fictional Chinese city, Wuhu, not to be confused with Wuhan, had an amazing cast, including W. C. Fields, Bela Lugosi, George Burns and Gracie Allen

Fields, one of the greatest comic actors of all time, really was an alcoholic, and it became a part of his character on the screen. In International House, he spoofed opium smoking (with a cigar in an opium pipe), and Cab Calloway led his orchestra with Reefer Man.

Full article here:

https://www.globemagazine.com/content/marijuana-vs-martinis-movies

TRUMP WAR ON POSTAL SERVICE HARMS HIS BASE, SENIORS, RURAL COMMUNITIES, VETERANS AND SMALL BUSINESSES

Article written by Richard Cowan is a former NORML National Director and author of the Marijuana Weekly News syndicated column

“Collateral Damage” is a military term for the unintended consequences of an action, and, as I like to say, “the law of unintended consequences is the only law that always  works.”

President Trump’s astonishing war on the US Postal Service is an excellent example in that it hurts major parts of what is considered his “base”, Seniors, rural communities, small businesses and veterans, and they are especially vulnerable during the pandemic.

Full text here:

https://www.globemagazine.com/content/trump-war-postal-service-harms-his-base-seniors-rural-communities-veterans-and-small

Can CBD Cure THC Addiction? What is THC Addiction Again?

Article written by Richard Cowan, former NORML National Director and author of CBD Balm Salves.

Victor Borge, the Danish American concert pianist and comic, joked that he had a doctor cousin who discovered a cure for which there was no disease.

A new study, Cannabidiol for the treatment of cannabis use disorder: a phase 2a, double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomised, adaptive Bayesian trial, published in Lancet Psychiatry, the British medical journal may have duplicated Borge’s cousin’s success.

Read full article here:

https://www.globemagazine.com/content/can-cbd-cure-thc-addiction-what-thc-addiction-again

Marijuana in the Movies: Nine to Five- The Fondas Are Probably the Only Siblings to Smoke Weed in Two Hit Movies

Reagan Was Annoyed. 

In Nine to Five, the 1980 comedy, the wonderful Dolly Partin and the brilliant Lily Tomlin joined Jane Fonda in a comedy that was also a feminist satire on the life of secretaries who work for a sexist boss, played by Dabney Coleman, a great comic villain.

In my favorite scene, surprise, surprise, Tomlin’s character suggests the three smoke a joint. Fonda thus joined her brother, Peter, who smoked weed in Easy Rider, the 1969 film with Jack Nicholson and Dennis Hopper. A family affair.

Read whole story here:

https://www.globemagazine.com/content/marijuana-movies-nine-five-fondas-are-probably-only-siblings-smoke-weed-two-hit-movies

Marijuana and the Movies: A Tale of Two Woodstocks

Article written by Richard Cowan, former NORML National Director and founder of We Vape CBD Oil.

Woodstock”, the documentary based on the 1969 music festival, won an Academy Award for the Best Documentary Feature in 1970. It also grossed over $50 million dollars on a budget of only $600,000, and it bailed out the promoters and Warner Bros. 

It also preserved an important historical and cultural event. The music was amazing and the movie was great fun. It almost didn’t happen, but became the ultimate “happening.’ 

Read full story here:

https://www.globemagazine.com/content/marijuana-and-movies-tale-two-woodstocks

Marijuana and the Movies: Getting Busted for Weed Even in the 1940s Just Made Robert Mitchum A Bigger Star

Robert Mitchum was on his way to being one of Hollywood’s biggest stars in 1948, when he was very rudely interrupted by getting busted for marijuana. Tinseltown’s postwar hypocrisy was at its peak, and so was the corruption of the Los Angeles police. Two detectives hid in the bushes for hours watching through the window of an actress’s home…

Read more: https://www.globemagazine.com/content/marijuana-and-movies-getting-busted-weed-even-1940s-just-made-robert-mitchum-bigger-star

Marijuana In The Movies: Judy Garland, Before the Wizard, Sang About a Famous “Cockroach”

Hollywood in the 1930s was a boomtown in the middle of the global Great Depression and dreams of fame drew talent from all over the world. The new media of the day, the radio and “the Talkies”, especially musicals, made unknown talent into world famous “stars.” One of them was Francis Gumm, who was the youngest of three sisters, whose singing talent got the attention of Louis B. Mayer, (MGM).

Read more here: https://www.globemagazine.com/content/marijuana-movies-judy-garland-wizard-sang-about-famous-%E2%80%9Ccockroach%E2%80%9D