anjeleyes77proud pagan's blog: "quotes and such"

I've learned- that you can do something in an instant that will give you heartache for life. I've learned- that it's taking me a long time to become the person I want to be. I've learned- that you should always leave loved ones with loving words. It may be the last time you see them. I've learned- that you can keep going long after you can't. I've learned- that we are responsible for what we do, no matter how we feel. I've learned- that either you control your attitude or it controls you. I've learned- that regardless of how hot and steamy a relationship is at first, the passion fades and there had better be something else to take its place. I've learned- that heroes are the people who do what has to be done when it needs to be done, regardless of the consequences. I've learned- that money is a lousy way of keeping score. I've learned- that my best friend and I can do anything or nothing and have the best time. I've learned- that sometimes the people you expect to kick you when you're down, will be the ones to help you get back up. I've learned- that sometimes when I'm angry I have the right to be angry, but that doesn't give me the right to be cruel. I've learned- that true friendship continues to grow, even over the longest distance. Same goes for true love. I've learned- that just because someone doesn't love you the way you want them to doesn't mean they don't love you with all they have. I've learned- that maturity has more to do with what types of experiences you've had and what you've learned from them and less to do with how many birthdays you've celebrated. I've learned- that no matter how good a friend is, they're going to hurt you every once in a while and you must forgive them for that. I've learned- that it isn't always enough to be forgiven by others. Sometimes you have to learn to forgive yourself. I've learned- that no matter how bad your heart is broken the world doesn't stop for your grief. I've learned- that our background and circumstances may have influenced who we are, but we are responsible for who we become. I've learned- that just because two people argue, it doesn't mean they don't love each other And just because they don't argue, it doesn't mean they do. I've learned- that we don't have to change friends if we understand that friends change. I've learned- that you shouldn't be so eager to find out a secret. It could change your life forever. I've learned- that two people can look at the exact same thing and see something totally different. I've learned- that your life can be changed in a matter of hours by people who don't even know you. I've learned- that even when you think you have no more to give, when a friend cries out to you, you will find the strength to help. I've learned- that credentials on the wall do not make you a decent human being. I've learned- the people you care about most in life are taken from you too soon.

1.IF A CHILD LIVES WITH CRITICISM, HE/SHE LEARNS TO CONDEMN. 2.IF A CHILD LIVES WITH HOSTILITY, HE/SHE LEARNS TO FIGHT. 3.IF A CHILD LIVES WITH RIDICULE, HE/SHE LEARNS TO BE SHY. 4.IF A CHILD LIVES WITH SHAME, HE/SHE LEARNS TO FEEL GUILTY. 5.IF A CHILD LIVES WITH TOLERANCE, HE/SHE LEARNS TO BE PATIENT. 6.IF A CHILD LIVES WITH PRAISE, HE/SHE LEARNS TO APPRECIATE. 7.IF A CHILD LIVES WITH ENCOURAGEMENT, HE/SHE LEARNS CONFIDENCE. 8.IF A CHILD LIVES WITH FAIRNESS, HE/SHE LEARNS JUSTICE. 9.IF A CHILD LIVES WITH SECURITY, HE/SHE LEARNS TO HAVE FAITH. 10.IF A CHILD LIVES WITH APPROVAL, HE/SHE LEARNS TO LIKE THEMSELVES. 11.IF A CHILD LIVES WITH ACCEPTANCE, HE/SHE LEARNS TO FIND LOVE IN THE WORLD...

And here we come to the vital distinction between the advocacy of temperance and the advocacy of prohibition. Temperance and self-control are convertible terms. Prohibition, or that which it implies, is the direct negation of the term self-control. In order to save the small percentage of men who are too weak to resist their animal desires, it aims to put chains on every man, the weak and the strong alike. And if this is proper in one respect, why not in all respects? Yet, what would one think of a proposition to keep all men locked up because a certain number have a propensity to steal? -- Felix Mendelsohn, 1915

Fanaticism consists in redoubling your efforts when you have forgotten your aim. -- George Santayana, "The Life of Reason"

I'd rather that England should be free than that England should be compulsorily sober. With freedom we might in the end attain sobriety, but in the other alternative we should eventually lose both freedom and sobriety. -- W.C. Magee, Archbishop of York, "Sermon at Peterborough," 1868

Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. -- C.S. Lewis, in "The Humanitarian Theory of Punishment," an essay from "God In The Dock"

Government exists to protect us from each other. Where government has gone beyond its limits is in deciding to protect us from ourselves. -- Ronald Reagan, The New York Times, April 13, 1980

The only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others. His own good, either physical or moral, is not a sufficient warrant. -- John Stuart Mill

Totalitarianism is when people believe they can punish their way to perfection. -- House Speaker Newt Gingrich, at a President's Day Republican fundraiser, May 1998

[In] my era everybody smoked and everybody drank and there was no drug use -- Current DEA Chief Thomas Constantine, July 1, 1998

Yes, if we harm ourselves it may emotionally harm others. That's unfortunate, but not grounds for putting us in jail. If it were, every time we stopped dating person A in order to date person B, we would run the risk of going to jail for hurting person A. If person B were hurt by our being put in jail, person A could be put in jail for hurting person B. This would, of course, hurt person A's mother, who would see to it that person B would go to jail. Eventually, we'd all be in jail. ... Roughly half of the arrests and court cases in the United States each year involve consensual crimes - actions that are against the law, but directly harm no one's person or property except, possibly, the "criminal's." More than 750,000 people are in jail right now because of something they did, something that did not physically harm the person or property of another. In addition, more than 3,000,000 people are on parole or probation for consensual crimes. Further, more than 4,000,000 people are arrested each year for doing something that hurts no one but, potentially, themselves. -- Peter McWilliams, Ain't Nobody's Business If You Do

Congress should definitely consider decriminalizing possession of marijuana....We should concentrate on prosecuting the rapists and burglars who are a menace to society. -- U.S. Representative Dan Quayle, March 1977

Penalties against possession of a drug should not be more damaging to an individual than the use of the drug itself. Therefore, I support legislation amending Federal law to eliminate all Federal criminal penalties for the possession of up to one ounce of marijuana. -- President Jimmy Carter, Message to Congress, Aug. 2, 1977

Whenever the offense inspires less horror than the punishment, the rigor of penal law is obliged to give way to the common feelings of mankind. -- Edward Gibbon, "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire," 1776

The passing of an unjust law is the suicide of authority. -- Pastoral Letter of the American Roman Catholic Hierarchy, February 1920

Make the most of the Indian Hemp Seed and sow it everywhere. -- George Washington

The greatest service that can be rendered to any country is to add a useful plant to its culture. -- Thomas Jefferson

Abusus non tollit usum. [Abuse is no argument against proper use.] -- Latin proverb

If you say, "Would there were no wine" because of the drunkards, then you must say, going on by degrees, "Would there were no steel," because of the murderers, "Would there were no night," because of the thieves, "Would there were no light," because of the informers, and "Would there were no women," because of adultery. -- St. John Chrysostom, "Homilies," circa 388

The only freedom which counts is the freedom to do what some other people think to be wrong. There is no point in demanding freedom to do that which all will applaud. All the so-called liberties or rights are things which have to be asserted against others who claim that if such things are to be allowed their own rights are infringed or their own liberties threatened. This is always true, even when we speak of the freedom to worship, of the right of free speech or association, or of public assembly. If we are to allow freedoms at all there will constantly be complaints that either the liberty itself or the way in which it is exercised is being abused, and, if it is a genuine freedom, these complaints will often be justified. There is no way of having a free society in which there is not abuse. Abuse is the very hallmark of liberty. -- Lord Hailsham, former Chief Justice, "The Dilemma of Democracy"

Corruptisima republica plurimae leges. [The more corrupt a republic, the more laws.] -- Tacitus, Annals III 27

Republic . . . it means people can live free, talk free, go or come, buy or sell, be drunk or sober, however they choose. -- John Wayne

The prestige of government has undoubtedly been lowered considerably by the prohibition law. For nothing is more destructive of respect for the government and the law of the land than passing laws which cannot be enforced. It is an open secret that the dangerous increase of crime in this country is closely connected with this. -- Albert Einstein, "My First Impression of the USA," 1921

I have never seen a situation so dismal that a policeman couldn't make it worse. -- Brendan Behan (1923-1964)

Narcotics police are an enormous, corrupt international bureaucracy ... and now fund a coterie of researchers who provide them with 'scientific support' ... fanatics who distort the legitimate research of others. ... The anti-marijuana campaign is a cancerous tissue of lies, undermining law enforcement, aggravating the drug problem, depriving the sick of needed help, and suckering well-intentioned conservatives and countless frightened parents. -- William F. Buckley, Commentary in The National Review, April 29, 1983, p. 495

A politician normally prospers under democracy in proportion ... as he excels in the invention of imaginary perils and imaginary defenses against them. -- H. L. Mencken, 1918

A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep. -- Saul Bellow

When the tyrant has disposed of foreign enemies by conquest or treaty, and there is nothing to fear from them, then he is always stirring up some war or other in order that the people may require a leader. -- Plato

Those, who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety. -- Ben Franklin

The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the world with fools. -- Herbert Spencer

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do nothing. -- Edmund Burke

Crime is contagious....if the government becomes a lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for the law. -- Justice Louis Brandeis

He had discovered a great law of human action, without knowing it - namely, that in order to make a man or a boy covet a thing, it is only necessary to make the thing difficult to obtain. -- "Tom Sawyer," by Mark Twain, Chapter 2, "The Glorious Whitewasher"

In any civilized society, it is every citizen's responsibility to obey just laws. But at the same time, it is every citizen's responsibility to disobey unjust laws. -- Martin Luther King Jr.

Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is also a prison. -- Henry David Thoreau, "Civil Disobedience," 1849

In Germany they first came for the Communists and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.
Then they came for the trade unionists and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant.
Then they came for me--and by that time no one was left to speak up. -- Pastor Martin Niemoller

When they took the 4th Amendment, I was quiet because I didn't deal drugs.
When they took the 5th Amendment, I was quiet because I wasn't a criminal.
When they took the 2nd Amendment, I was quiet because I didn't own a gun.
Now they've taken the 1st Amendment, and I can say nothing about it. -- author unknown

The strength of the Constitution lies entirely in the determination of each citizen to defend it. Only if every single citizen feels duty bound to do his share in this defense are constitutional rights secure. - Albert Einstein

[There is] a duty in refusing to cooperate in any undertaking that violates the Constitutional rights of the individual. This holds in particular for all inquisitions that are concerned with the private life and the political affiliations of the citizens. -- Albert Einstein

An age is called Dark not because the light fails to shine, but because people refuse to see it. -- James A. Michener (1907-1997), in the novel, "Space" (1982)

One candle can light a thousand others without diminishing its light. -- Proverbial

If the doors of perception were cleansed
every thing would appear to man as it is, infinite.
For man has closed himself up, till he sees all things
thru' narrow chinks of his cavern. -- William Blake (1757-1828)

All war is based on deception. -- "The Art of War," by Sun Tzu, circa 500 BC

. . . In any war, the first casualty is common sense, and the second is free and open discussion. -- James Reston, The New York Times, 1965

The first casualty when war comes is the truth. -- California Senator Hiram Johnson, 1917

So long as mankind shall continue to lavish more praise upon its destroyers than upon its benefactors war shall remain the chief pursuit of ambitious minds. -- Edward Gibbon

Magnifique, mais ce n n'est pas la guerre. [It's magnificent, but it's not war.] -- French General Rene Bosquet, witnessing the charge of the Light Brigade against Russian cannon

In war there are no winners. -- Neville Chamberlain

War is only a cowardly escape from the problems of peace. -- Thomas Mann

The truth is incontrovertible. Panic may resent it; ignorance may deride it; malice may distort it; but there it is. -- Winston Churchill

Truth resides in every human heart, and one has to search for it there, and to be guided by truth as one sees it. But no one has a right to coerce others to act according to his own view of truth. -- Mohandas K. Gandhi

It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his not understanding it. -- Upton Sinclair, "The Jungle"

This vice brings in 100 million francs each year. I will certainly forbid it at once - as soon as you can name a virtue that brings in as much revenue. -- Napoleon Bonaparte

To make certain that crime does not pay, the government should take it over and try to run it. -- G. Norman Collie

La cucaracha, las cucaracha
Ya no puede caminar
Porque le quiere
Porque la falta
Un marijuana que fumar

[The cockroach, the cockroach
He can't travel
Because he wants
Because he lacks
Marijuana to smoke]

-- traditionally sung by and about Pancho Villa's soldiers

When even one American - who has done nothing wrong - is forced by fear to shut his mind and close his mouth, then all Americans are in peril. -- Harry S. Truman

There is nothing more dangerous than to build a society with a large segment of people in that society who feel that they have nothing to lose. People who have a stake in their society, protect that society, but when they don't have it, they unconsciously want to destroy it. -- Martin Luther King Jr.

When governments fear the people there is liberty. When the people fear the government there is tyranny. -- Thomas Jefferson

It is not the function of our Government to keep the citizen from falling into error; it is the function of the citizen to keep the Government from falling into error. -- U.S. Supreme Court, in American Communications Association v. Douds, 339 U.S. 382,442

The truly and deliberately evil men are a very small minority; it is the appeaser who unleashes them on mankind. -- Ayn Rand (1905-1982)

The hottest places in Hell are reserved for those who in time of great moral crises maintain their neutrality. -- Dante Alighieri (1265-1321)

To sin by silence when we should protest makes cowards out of men. -- Ella Wheeler Wilcox

The worst sin towards our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them. That is the essence of inhumanity. -- George Bernard Shaw

We should not forget that our tradition is one of protest and revolt and that it is stultifying to celebrate the rebels of the past. . .while we silence the rebels of the present. -- H.S. Commager

We cannot, by total reliance on law, escape the duty to judge right and wrong... There are good laws and there are occasionally bad laws, and it conforms to the highest traditions of a free society to offer resistance to bad laws, and to disobey them. -- Constitutional scholar Alexander Bickel

Prohibition is an awful flop.
We like it.
It can't stop what it's meant to stop.
We like it.
It's left a trail of graft and slime
It don't prohibit worth a dime
It's filled our land with vice and crime,
Nevertheless, we're for it.
-- newspaperman Franklin P. Adams, 1931, in the New York World, on the release of the Wickersham Commission report

Instead of giving money to found colleges to promote learning, why don't they pass a Constitutional Amendment prohibiting anybody from learning anything? If it works as good as the Prohibition one did, why, in five years we would have the smartest race of people on earth. -- Will Rogers

I am against Prohibition because it has set the cause of temperence back twenty years; because it has substituted an ineffective campaign of force for an effective campaign of education; because it has replaced comparatively uninjurious light wines and beers with the worst kind of hard liquor and bad liquor; because it has increased drinking not only among men but has extended drinking to women and even children. -- William Randolph Hearst, initially a supporter of Prohibition, explaining his change of mind in 1929. From "Drink: A Social History of America" by Andrew Barr (1999), p. 239.

Insanity [is] ... Continuing to do the same things and expecting different results. -- Albert Einstein

Laws do not persuade just because they threaten. -- Seneca, A.D. 65

For over fifty years the United States has been committed to a policy of suppressing the "abuse" of narcotic and other "dangerous" drugs. The primary instrument in carrying out this policy has been the criminal sanction. The results of this reliance on the criminal sanction have included the following:
(1) Several hundred thousand people, the overwhelming majority of whom have been primarily users rather than traffickers, have been subjected to severe criminal punishment.
(2) An immensely profitable illegal traffic in narcotic and other forbidden drugs has developed.
(3) This illegal traffic has contributed significantly to the growth and prosperity of organized criminal groups.
(4) A substantial number of all acquisitive crimes - burglary, robbery, auto theft, other forms of larceny - have been committed by drug users in order to get the wherewithal to pay the artificially high prices charged for drugs on the illegal market.
(5) Billions of dollars and a significant proportion of total law enforcement resources have been expended in all stages of the criminal process.
(6) A disturbingly large number of undesirable police practices - unconstitutional searches and seizures, entrapment, electronic surveillance have become habitual because of the great difficulty that attends the detection of narcotics offenses.
(7) The burden of enforcement has fallen primarily on the urban poor, especially Negroes and Mexican-Americans.
(8) Research on the causes, effects, and cures of drug use has been stultified.
(9) The medical profession has been intimidated into neglecting its accustomed role of relieving this form of human misery.
(10) A large and well-entrenched enforcement bureaucracy has developed a vested interest in the status quo, and has effectively thwarted all but the most marginal reforms.
(11) Legislative invocations of the criminal sanction have automatically and unthinkingly been extended from narcotics to marijuana to the flood of new mind-altering drugs that have appeared in recent years, thereby compounding the preexisting problem.
A clearer case of misapplication of the criminal sanction would be difficult to imagine. -- "The Limits of the Criminal Sanction," by Herbert Packer, 1968

Power is sweet; it is a drug, the desire for which increases with a habit. -- Bertrand Russell, in The Saturday Review, 1951

If you put a chain around the neck of a slave, the other end fastens itself around your own. -- Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

Mistrust those in whom the urge to punish is strong. -- Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900)

A man is likely to mind his own business when it is worth minding. When it is not, he takes his mind off his own meaningless affairs by minding other people's business. -- Eric Hoffer, The True Believer

Force loses its legitimacy when it is used instead of free and open discussion. -- Colombian diplomat Gustavo de Greiff

In defense of the Pygmies, perhaps I should note that a friend of mine who has spent time with them says that for such activities as the patient stalking and hunting of mammals and fish they prepare themselves through marijuana intoxication, which helps to make the long waits, boring to anyone further evolved than a Komodo dragon, at least moderately tolerable. Ganja is, he says, their only cultivated crop. It would be wryly interesting if in human history the cultivation of marijuana led generally to the invention of agriculture, and thereby to civilization. (The marijuana-intoxicated Pygmy, poised patiently for an hour with his fishing spear aloft, is earnestly burlesqued by the beer-sodden riflemen, protectively camouflaged in red plaid, who, stumbling through the nearby woods, terrorize American suburbs each Thanksgiving.) -- Carl Sagan, "The Dragons of Eden, Speculations on the Origin of Human Intelligence," footnote on p. 191, 1978 paperback edition, copyright 1977

And now for the vapor-bath: on a framework of three sticks, meeting at the top, they stretch pieces of woolen cloth, taking care to get the joints as perfect as they can, and inside this little tent they put a dish with red-hot stones in it. Then they take some hemp seed, creep into the tent, and throw the seed on to the hot stones. At once it begins to smoke, giving off a vapor unsurpassed by any vapor-bath one could find in Greece. The Sythians enjoy it so much that they howl with pleasure. This is their substitute for an ordinary bath in water, which they never use. -- Herodotus, 446 B.C.

The poorest man may in his cottage bid defiance to all the forces of the Crown. It may be frail; its roof may shake; the wind may blow through it; the storm may enter; the rain may enter; but the King of England cannot enter - all his force dares not cross the threshold of the ruined tenement!. -- William Pitt, the Earl of Chatham, during a 1763 debate in Parliament

Each time a (person) stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others... he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples build a current that sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance. -- Robert F. Kennedy

The fight against drug trafficking is a wildfire that threatens to consume those fundamental rights of the individual deliberately enshrined in our Constitution. -- U.S. District Judge Juan Burciaga, Sept. 4, 1991

What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered. -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

I have sworn upon the alter of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man. -- Thomas Jefferson

It is better do die on your feet than live a lifetime on your knees. -- Emiliano Zapata

Give to every other human being every right you claim for yourself. -- Robert Green Ingersoll

Silence gives consent. -- Canon Law

He who will not reason is a bigot; he who cannot is a fool; and he who dares not is a slave. -- William Drummond

The oppression of a majority is detestable and odious; the oppression of a minority is only by one degree less detestable and odious. -- William Ewart Gladstone

The God that gave us life gave us liberty at the same time. -- Thomas Jefferson

He that would make his own liberty secure must guard even his enemy from oppression. -- Thomas Paine

Where is there any book of the law so clear to each man as that written in his heart? -- Leo Tolstoy

The marvel of history is the patience with which men and women submit to burdens unnecessarily laid upon them by their governments. -- William E. Borah

The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions that I wish it to be always kept alive. -- Thomas Jefferson

Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves, and, under a just God cannot long retain it. -- Abraham Lincoln

It would be a good time to replace the drug war with something more constructive. The cure offered the drug war today has probably been more harmful and done more damage than the disease. -- George McGovern

It is the besetting vice of democracies to substitute public opinion for law. This is the usual form in which the masses of men exhibit their tyranny. -- James Fenimore Cooper (1789-1851)

I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations. -- James Madison

If the obstacles of bigotry and priestcraft can be surmounted, we may hope that common sense will suffice to do everything else. -- Thomas Jefferson

. . . the solution is not to toss youthful offenders into jail or prisons. We long ago recognized alcoholism to be a disease, and abondoned efforts to treat alcoholics simply by locking them up. -- Oregon Governor Tom McCall

You all know I have terminal cancer - and I have a lot of it. But what you may not know is that stress induces its spread and induces its activity. Stress may even bring it on. -- Oregon Governor Tom McCall, quoted in "Fire at at Eden's Gate: Tom McCall and the Oregon Story," by Brent Walth, Oregon Historical Society Press, 1994

"Everything in moderation, including moderation." Mark Twain American writer, author of "The adventures of Tom Sawyer"

"Mistrust those in whom the urge to punish is strong." Friedrich Nietzsche German philosopher (1844-1900)

"Make the most of the Indian hemp seed, and sow it everywhere!" George Washington Note to the gardener at Mount Vernon, 1794 "The Writings of George Washington" Volume 33, page 270 (Library of Congress) (George Washington, first president of the United States of America, grew cannabis on Mount Vernon, his plantation, for about 30 years. He may have used the Indian hemp to treat his chronic tooth aches.)

.. Floyd K. Baskette Alamosa, Colorado quoted by Harry J. Anslinger, Commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics during the hearings on the 1937 Marihuana Tax Act

Marijuana is taken by ".....musicians. And I'm not speaking about good musicians, but the jazz type..." Harry J. Anslinger Federal Bureau of Narcotics 1948

"It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his not understanding it." Upton Sinclair Author of "The Jungle"

"Since you [US "drug tsar" McCaffrey] control a federal budget that has just been increased from $17.8 billion last year to $19.2 billion this year, is asking people like you if we should continue with our nation's current drug policy like a person asking a barber if one needs a haircut?" Judge James P. Gray Orange Country, California Los Angeles Times 29 March 2000

"When we look down the road, I would say 10, 15, 20 years from now, in a gradual fashion, smoking will probably be outlawed in the United States." Tom Constantine Administrator of the DEA in an interview with ABC TV network

"You're asking the government to control individual morality. This is a government that can't buy a toilet seat for under $600." Peter McWilliams Author of "Ain't Nobody's Business If You Do"

"The question arises, therefore, why cannabis is so regularly banned in countries where alcohol is permitted. [...] It may be that we can ban cannabis simply because the people who use it, or would do so, carry little weight in social matters and are relatively easy to control, whereas the alcohol user often carries plenty of weight in social matters and is difficult to control, as the U.S. prohibition era showed. It has yet to be shown, however, that the one is more socially or personally disruptive than the other." Ph.D. H.B.M Murphy, M.D. Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Montreal. "The Cannabis Habit" (1963) published in 'Bulletin on Narcotics' by UNDCP

"Our youth can not understand why society chooses to criminalize a behavior with so little visible ill effect or adverse social impact... These young people have jumped the fence and found no cliff. And the disrespect for the possession laws fosters a disrespect for laws and the system in general... On top of this is the distinct impression among the youth that some police may use the marihuana laws to arrest people they don't like for other reasons, whether it be their politics, their hair style or their ethnic background." "Federal and state laws (should) be changed to no longer make it a crime to possess marijuana for private use." "State laws should make the public use of marijuana a criminal offense punishable by a $100 fine. Under federal law, marijuana smoked in public would merely be subject to seizure." President Richard M. Nixon's National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse "Marihuana: A Signal of Misunderstanding" March 1972

"Criminal penalties have clearly failed to prevent widespread use of marijuana... Law and health are two entirely separate issues." Bob DuPont Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse President Nixon's 'drug czar' 1974 NORML annual conference

"Congress should definitely consider decriminalizing possession of marijuana... We should concentrate on prosecuting the rapists and burglars who are a menace to society." Dan Quayle U.S. Representative and Vice president under President Bush March 1977

"Penalties against possession of a drug should not be more damaging to an individual than the use of the drug itself; and where they are, they should be changed. Nowhere is this more clear than in the laws against possession of marihuana in private for personal use... Therefore, I support legislation amending Federal law to eliminate all Federal criminal penalties for the possession of up to one ounce [28g] of marihuana." Jimmy Carter U.S. President Message to congress 1977

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"Government exists to protect us from each other. Where government has gone beyond its limits is in deciding to protect us from ourselves." Ronald Reagan U.S. President

"The existing evidence on policies of partial prohibition [decriminalization] indicates that partial prohibition has been as effective in controlling consumption as complete prohibition and has entailed considerably smaller social, legal, and economic costs. On balance, therefore, we believe that a policy of partial prohibition is clearly preferable to a policy of complete prohibition of supply and use. We believe, further) that current policies directed at controlling the supply of marijuana should be seriously reconsidered. The demonstrated ineffectiveness of control of use through prohibition of supply and the high costs of implementing such a policy make it very unlikely that any kind of partial prohibition policy will be effective in reducing marijuana use significantly below present levels. (...) Hence, a variety of alternative policies should be considered." National Research Council of the U.S. National Academy of Science "An Analysis of Marijuana Policy" 1982

"Western governments ... will lose the war against dealers unless efforts are switched to prevention and therapy... All penalties for drug users should be dropped ... Making drug abuse a crime is useless and even dangerous ... Every year we seize more and more drugs and arrest more and more dealers but at the same time the quantity available in our countries still increases... Police are losing the drug battle worldwide." Raymond Kendall secretary general of INTERPOL January 1994

"The amount of money and of legal energy being given to prosecute hundreds of thousands of Americans who are caught with a few ounces of marijuana [1 ounce = 28g] in their jeans simply makes no sense - the kindest way to put it. A sterner way to put it is that it is an outrage, an imposition on basic civil liberties and on the reasonable expenditure of social energy." William F. Buckley "Legalization of Marijuana Long Overdue" Albuquerque Journal June 8, 1993

"So long as large sums of money are involved - and they are bound to be if drugs are illegal - it is literally impossible to stop the traffic, or even to make a serious reduction in its scope." "Our emphasis here is based not only on the growing seriousness of drug-related crimes, but also on the belief that relieving our police and our courts from having to fight losing battles against drugs will enable their energies and facilities to be devoted more fully to combatting other forms of crime. We would thus strike a double blow: reduce crime activity directly, and at the same time increase the efficacy of law enforcement and crime prevention." Milton Friedman Nobel prize winner "Tyranny of the Status Quo"

Milton Friedman, along with John Maynard Keynes, is considered one of the most influential economists of the 20th century.

"In strict medical terms marijuana is far safer than many foods we commonly consume. It is physically impossible to eat enough marijuana to induce death. Marijuana, in its natural form, is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man." Francis L. Young Administrative Law Judge of the US drug police DEA, September 6, 1988:

"There is no conclusive evidence that the drug effects of marijuana are causally linked to the subsequent abuse of other illicit drugs." "Although few marijuana users develop dependence, some do. Risk factors for marijuana dependence are similar to those for other forms of substance abuse. In particular, antisocial personality and conduct disorders are closely associated with substance abuse. (...) A distinctive marijuana withdrawal syndrome has been identified, but it is mild and short-lived." "Except for the harms associated with smoking, the adverse effects of marijuana use are within the range of effects tolerated for other medications." "Research should continue into the physiological effects of synthetic and plant-derived cannabinoids and the natural function of cannabinoids found in the body. Because different cannabinoids appear to have different effects, cannabinoid research should include, but not be restricted to, effects attributable to THC alone." "Scientific data indicate the potential therapeutic value of cannabinoid drugs for pain relief, control of nausea and vomiting, and appetite stimulation. This value would be enhanced by a rapid onset of drug effect." "Until a non-smoked, rapid-onset cannabinoid drug delivery system becomes available, we acknowledge that there is no clear alternative for people suffering from chronic conditions that might be relieved by smoking marijuana, such as pain or AIDS wasting." Report of the Institute of Medicine for the Office of National Drug Control Policy Marijuana and Medicine: Assessing the Science Base 17 March 1999

"I'd always done a lot of (sniffing) glue as a kid. I was very interested in glue, and then I went to lager and speed, and I drifted into heroin because as a kid growing up everybody told me, 'don't smoke marijuana, it will kill you' ..." Irvine Walsh author of the best-selling novel "Trainspotting", about his own experience with drug abuse.

"By any of the major criteria of harm - mortality, morbidity, toxicity, addictiveness and relationship with crime - [cannabis] is less harmful than any of the other major illicit drugs, or than alcohol or tobacco." Report of the British Police Foundation March 2000

"I support decriminalization. People are smoking pot anyway and to make them criminal is wrong." Sir Paul McCartney Musician September 1997

Andy Rooney said on "60 Minutes" a few weeks back: (disclamer: i don't know if Andy Rooney said these things or not, but there are some very good points in here and some of the sarcasume does sound like Andy Rooney to me. `curtsey` I don't think being a minority makes you a victim of anything except numbers. The only things I can think of that are truly discriminatory are things like the United Negro College Fund, Jet Magazine, Black Entertainment Television, and Miss Black America. Try to have things like the United Caucasian College Fund, Cloud Magazine, White Entertainment Television, or Miss White America; and see what happens. Jesse Jackson will be knocking down your door. (along with just about all other non-white politition) Guns do not make you a killer. I think killing makes you a killer. You can kill someone with a baseball bat or a car, but no one is trying to ban you from driving to the ball game. (ahmen, halaloya and so mote it be) I believe they are called the Boy Scouts for a reason, which is why there are no girls allowed. Girls belong in the Girl Scouts! ARE YOU LISTENING MARTHA BURKE? (my feelings exactly) I think that if you feel homosexuality is wrong, it is not a phobia, it is an opinion. (this is true to a point, such as a person who feels this way and yet can still work productively with homosexuals and treat them like they are sub human. then there are many others who can't do that in whole or in part (has no problem with gay women of any kind, is ok with bie men and gay men that don't come off as being gay just by their behavior, but gets queasy and uncomfortable around "flaming" (for lack of a better or propor word) gay men)) I have the right "NOT" to be tolerant of others because they are different, weird, or tick me off. (true but they also have the right to be teated with respect as long as they give the same) When 70% of the people who get arrested are black, in cities where 70% of the population is black, that is not racial profiling; it is the Law of Probability. (the number may be a lil high, but it does make sence) I believe that if you are selling me a milkshake, a pack of cigarettes, a newspaper or a hotel room, you must do it in English! As a matter of fact, if you want to be an American citizen, you should have to speak English! (and at least be proficiant in English just to get a green card) My father and grandfather didn't die in vain so you can leave the countries you were born in to come over and disrespect ours. I think the police should have every right to shoot your sorry ass if you threaten them after they tell you to stop. If you can't understand the word "freeze" or "stop" in English, see the above lines. I don't think just because you were not born in this country, you are qualified for any special loan programs, government sponsored and loans or tax breaks, etc., so you can open a hotel, coffee shop, trinket store, or any other business. (now if you were born here and are busting your ass to make it and still need help, then help you should have) We did not go to the aid of certain foreign countries and risk our lives in wars to defend their freedoms, so that decades later they could come over here and tell us our constitution is a living document; and open to their interpretations. (i think they call it loop holes) I don't hate the rich I don't pity the poor. (i do pity the rich who only use their money to get richer and don't do shit to make the US the greatest nation once again and i do hate the poor that sit around whining "oh woawest me" and "help me i'm poor and don't want to work for a living") I know pro wrestling is fake, but so are movies and television. That doesn't stop you from watching them. (so why bicth about pro wrestling being fake when most people can't do what they do) I think Bill Gates has every right to keep every penny he made and continue to make more. If it ticks you off, go and invent the next operating system that's better, and put your name on the building. (fine, but he should be required to make a product that is better than 70% stable and not be allowed to leave bugs in the new OS, just so we will buy the next new one) It doesn't take a whole village to raise a child right, but it does take a parent to stand up to the kid; and smack their little behinds when necessary, and say "NO!" (if we don't let the parents disapline their children in a manner that teaches them if they can't do what's right because it's the right thing to do, the they will be punished very harshly, our crime rate will never go down, as they will not fear the punishment of the law) I think tattoos and piercing are fine if you want them, but please don't pretend they are a political statement. And, please, stay home until that new lip ring heals. I don't want to look at your ugly infected mouth as you serve me French fries! (i personally don't think that they look profeshinal and i think less of a company that allows them at work) I am sick of "Political Correctness." I know a lot of black people, and not a single one of them was born in Africa; so how can they be "African-Americans"? Besides, Africa is a continent. I don't go around saying I am a European-American because my great, great, great, great, great, great grandfather was from Europe. I am proud to be from America and nowhere else! ("PC" is just an excuse to papper the overly senceative! some times the truths hurts, that's life) And if you don't like my point of view, tough... (our military keeps fighting wars to protect my right to have my point of view) I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG, OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, AND TO THE REPUBLIC, FOR WHICH IT STANDS, ONE NATION UNDER GOD (whichever diety that you recognize as your "God or Goddess", INDIVISIBLE, WITH LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL! I was asked to send this on if I agree or delete if I don't. It is said that 86% of Americans believe in God. Therefore I have a very hard time understanding why there is such a problem in having "In God We Trust" on our money and having "God" in the Pledge of Allegiance. Why don't we just tell the 14% to Shut Up and BE QUIET!!! (the only ones who should be whiling about the use of God in these at the very few that don't believe in any God, Goddess or devine being of any kind. i bet that's less than 14% of all American Citizens) If you agree, pass this on, if not ignore it.

Monday, January 22, 2007 Richness all around you Wherever life may find you today is a beautiful place to be. Whatever you currently have to work with is everything you need to make this a memorable and fulfilling moment. There is value you're able to create right now that will always stay with you. There are joys to be experienced today that can change your life forever. No matter where you may choose to go, the first step is ready for you to take. The journey toward any destination you can imagine begins right here and now. There is richness all around you. There are possibilities stretching out in every direction. See the beauty in every detail and the value in every challenge. Listen to the purpose that springs from deep within you, and follow the feelings that you know are true. Let the brand new abundance that is born in every moment fill you fully with its warmth and substance. On this day, in this place, with the world as it is, take it all in and let the beauty of life shine brightly through you. -- Ralph Marston

Life itself Appreciate beauty, and suddenly you are the beauty. Experience joy, and you become the joy. There are times in your past that can bring a smile to your face whenever you recall them. Though those particular circumstances have long passed, the joy from them is still with you. That joy continues to live within you. It is a part of who you are. Because you are who you are, joy is able to experience itself again and again. Beauty is able to know how wonderfully beautiful it is. Through your life, love is able to feel its presence. Truth is able to know that it is so. You are life itself. And in this moment, the magnificent possibilities beckon. -- Ralph Marston

You are free You are free to follow the demands of your ego. You are also free to let go of those demands. You are free to imagine and impose all sorts of limitations upon your life, your actions and who you can be. You are also free to move beyond every one of those limitations. You are free to think positive, empowering thoughts even when faced with situations that could be considered hopeless. You are free to act in such a way that will bring value and meaning to your life and your world. You are free to take difficult problems and turn them into spectacular opportunities. You are free to take ordinary moments and turn them into special treasures. You are free to take whatever may come your way, and direct it toward positive purpose. You are free to fail a thousand times, and then to get back up and achieve stunning success. You are free to find the beauty and value in all that you experience. Remember always that you are free, to live, to love, and to bring the very best possibilities brilliantly to life. -- Ralph Marston