World according to America

[Marshmallowman]

there is nothing like I nice joint to cure the nausa of a bad hangover, I should not have smoked that cigar either...MJ to the rescue.

Pot is a rediculus drug to make illegal, while it certainly has bad effects it can be one of the least harmful intoxicants comonly used.

legalise it and spend money on impotant problems, it being illegal is just subsidising the wrong people.

And all those other forms of MJ will be a LOT cheaper if growing plants were legal, not to mention the other uses of Hemp.

[Wombat]

It's not just the drug side of cannabis that stops it from being legalized in the US, it's the production side. If strains like cannabis sativa are legalized, then varieties that are used for hemp production would have to be legalized <B>again</B> as well (many of the nation's founding fathers grew hemp on their farms). Hemp is good for fabrics, rope, and paper, just to name a few products. Popular Mechanics had hemp as a cover story in 1938, calling it a "billion dollar crop," the first time such a term was used for farming something. It's much more productive per pound than wood pulp, can be grown annually, and does not devastate the environment?

Why is it illegal? Loggers and DuPont, mostly. The logging industry would be crushed if hemp were legal again, and DuPont makes millons upon millions of dollars every year selling the bleaches and other toxic chemicals used to process wood pulp.

[rugger]

Huh,

Did I just stumble onto slashdot.org, or are you taking conspiracy lessons from them Wombat?

[Greebe]

rugger you can't be that clueless to think that BIG money doesn't have it's political influences?

Gawd D.C. is ate the f*ck up with corporate dollars and special interest groups who have clandestine agendas. Let alone political parties who manipulate anyone for their own purposes

[rugger]

Originally posted by Greebe
rugger you can't be that clueless to think that BIG money doesn't have it's political influences?

Gawd D.C. is ate the f*ck up with corporate dollars and special interest groups who have clandestine agendas. Let alone political parties who manipulate anyone for their own purposes

I know about "BIG money" and their influence.

But couldn't Dupont make just as much money selling bleach and other chemicals to the hemp industry. Why would they care what raw materials are used in paper making.

But I can almost beleive that the timber industry had something to do with it. The loggers hold amazing power here in australia, so I know with no doubt that it would be even worse in the US.

The banning of hemp production was possibly influenced by the timber industry, but I strongly doubt that it was the main reason.

(The slashdot comment? Well, Wombat's post did come out of nowhere, and wholely and exaggeratedly blame the whole thing on business interest, which is a common slashdot.org tactic)

[AlgoRhythm]

Wombat, you forgot the cotton industry....


AlgoRhythm

[KRSESQ]

William Randolph Hearst was heavily invested in the logging industry, as a cheap source of wood-pulp newsprint. His influence was instrumental in getting hemp banned.

Kevin

[Wulfman]

http://www.unicef.de/download/Bildung_2002.pdf

for those still interested in the "education-system-topic" we discussed several pages ago the document above is an interesting read.

a report by UNICEF about the "effectiveness" of schools in different OECD nations. quite a lot of material.

interesting are the infos about how the social/economical status of the parents afffects the education level.

mfg
wulfman

[Wombat]

But couldn't Dupont make just as much money selling bleach and other chemicals to the hemp industry. Why would they care what raw materials are used in paper making.

Nope, not at all. Hemp requires an insignificant amount of processing compared to wood.

It's no "conspiracy theory." Just head over to opensecrets and follow the money.

[Jammrock]

I find it interesting how threads change at MURC. Funny old comical map -> US bashing -> Europe baching -> politacl woes -> political systems -> marijuana...

Jammrock

[thop]

Funny old comical map -> US bashing -> Europe baching -> politacl woes -> political systems -> marijuana... -> meta discussion

[drslump]

Hi,

just to let you guys know a bit of spain, it's a wonderful state :
with terrorism, 4 official languages, 3 countries, a joke goverment and joke main opposition, shit educational system, shit R&D, shit employment and shit TV / ISPs / Cell companies ...

We are at the very bottom of the developed countries but we are very happy!

We get the money from other countries :

The US army leaves a shit lot of money in its spanish militar bases.
The Russian mafia gives employment to a lot of dodgi people around here.
UK, France, Germany. Finland, Italy, Switcherland ... send every year lots people to holyday here.
the European Union gives a huge amount of money to the old "under-productive" spanish industries.
South american countries have to pay lots of interests for the loan we give them.

At the end we don't have to worry about paying too much taxes 'cos other countries are paying for our public health insurance for example. We have pretty cheap cigarretes, alcohol and hashis or marijuana.

btw: I big hug to all the british/irish they are wonderful people. Italians are great too but never get two of them together if you don't want to finish with a headache (they speak far too much!)

[Wombat]

Just a touch up on the marijuana thing. Santa Cruz has deputized the hospice runners, that they will be authorized to handle "controlled" substances.

http://www.kcbs.com/pages/kcbs/news/news_story.nsp?story_id=35068572&ID=kcbs&scategory=Computers

If this thing doesn't eventually hit the Supreme Court, I don't know what will.

[GuchiGuh]

....erk~
politics...is .....just a big big POS!
look what it can do --> WWI, WWII, KR war, etc.etc.....
(is this a good reply ^^&)

..::ErkWerk::..