2009
l3wis Newland Update: ASAP (Adolescent Substance Abuse Prevention)
From my email box:
Last night (June 2), former Missouri undercover narc Ed Moses presented a program at the School of Mines in Rapid City (SD). He said he was in town to conduct a training session for local law enforcement, and had accepted an invitation from a group called ASAP (Adolescent Substance Abuse Prevention).
The program had been billed as dealing with medical marijuana, but Moses presented a powerpoint-illustrated explication of the dangers of all common psychotropic and recreational substances, including tobacco and alcohol.
Too Saved dvd Moses’ program lasted about an hour and a half. The first hour actually contained fairly accurate information, but the last 30 minutes consisted of a series of slides and vocal accompaniment that strained the imagination in its nearly universal inaccuracy about the effects and dangers of cannabis.
“Marijuana is the cause of 16 percent of highway fatalities,†Moses said. What he meant, of course, was that THC has been found in the systems of 16 per cent of those killed in car wrecks. No causality has been established.
“Scientists would study marijuana to determine its medical efficacy but for the efforts of ‘legalizers,’†Moses claimed. “Real scientists don’t want to be associated with pot smokers, and if the ‘legalizers’ would simply shut up, universities and medical schools would study the therapeutic effects of marijuana.â€
When an audience member suggested that the DEA blocks all attempts of scientists like Lyle Craker of the University of Massachusetts to obtain waivers so they can study cannabis under controlled conditions, Moses replied that no scientist or medical school had ever submitted a proper application. That assertion is ludicrous on its face.
I mentioned to him that I had in hand a list of some 200 professional medical organizations that had endorsed either use or at least the study of the use of cannabis for therapy in various medical conditions. Moses replied that all of these groups, including the College of Physicians, the Academy of Family Physicians, the Institutes of Medicine and about 25 state nurses’ associations, had been duped by the legalizers.
Right. Tens of thousands of trained medical professionals have put their reputations on the line based on their actual experiences with cannabis and patients to endorse an herb that works for their patients. They were duped. Moses, on the other hand, having seen people in the line of his work take a hit off a joint and say, “oh, wow,†(an actual illustration in his words of why cannabis is harmful) has seen through the “smoke screen†(his words again, clever) to the fact that these professionals have been duped.
Less than 5% of those in prison are there for marijuana offenses, Moses claims. “Anything less than 500 lb. of marijuana in possession doesn’t interest the feds,†Moses claims. That might come as a surprise to a few dozen folks who have appeared in federal court in Rapid City during the last year alone for possession of five pounds.
I asked, “Even if what you say were true, and about half of it isn’t, does that justify putting people in jail for attempting to alleviate their own suffering?â€
He replied, “Do you think it’s a good idea for “High Times†magazine to advertise marijuana “Jollypops†for kids?†Twice more I asked the question. Twice more he answered irrelevantly. The man is slipperier than a greased bong.
The event attracted about 60 people. About four to six of them were connected with ASAP. There were two groups of two adults each with three or four children and adolescents. The balance were about 25 18-to-twenty-somethings and others ranging to age 60 or so.
As Moses became more and more outrageous, catcalls and challenges from the audience made it plain that the majority by a significant margin were opposed to his mischaracterizations of the dangers of marijuana, “THE most dangerous drug of all†(as he said).
When it became plain near the end of his presentation that most of the dialogue with the audience was going to deal with Moses’ lies about cannabis, the groups with the younger folks left, apparently not wanting the children to be exposed to facts in opposition to their chaperones’ worldview.
That left an audience at least 3-to-1 opposed to Moses–a lone ranger, willing to stand on the hilltop in the wind and fight evil, even though the city in which he came to fight it apparently doesn’t apprehend the evil in even a large enough measure to send more than 20 representatives to learn how to fight it with him.
Did “we†win? Well, I doubt any minds were changed. What we “legalizers†saw was just one more illustration that we already have won, but the folks with the guns and the power of the courts will keep on shooting us until they are mowed down by ballot. Like Japanese soldiers in Indonesian caves, the Ed Moseses will still be there twenty years after the war is over.
Sleep well, Rapid City, for Ed Moses is training your local cops tonight.
The Loser Chronicles; Angels & Dumpsters (Part II)
Angels and Dumpsters
By Earl Petty Jr.
(Part 2 of 2)
My feet ached. My canvas sneakers weren’t made for walking. They weren’t made for much of anything except to steal twenty bucks out of my pocket for 55 cents of rubber and cheap cloth. Paste my picture up high on the wall at the Sucker Hall of Fame.
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As I rounded the corner, I saw the two cops were talking to a man in a ragged coat holding two plastic garbage bags. Behind the man was a tall iron gate with two angels mounted high on either side. The gate was ajar and inside it behind a short hedge was a pair of green dumpsters. The guy must have been diving for aluminum cans. The residents, fearing for their lives, called the authorities. Apparently the guardian angels on the gate were not enough security for the owners of the house.
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As I got closer the cops pinned the man against the car, pulled his arms behind his back and handcuffed him. They recited his rights and stuck him in the back of the cruiser. As I walked by the car I heard the man screaming, “But what about my dog! You pricks, who’s gonna take care of my dog!†As they pulled away a skinny yellow dog trotted out of the bushes and followed the car for about half a block. Then it veered to the right, turned around and trotted toward me, tongue nearly dangling to the ground. The animal walked by my side for a few yards then smelled my ass. Apparently he got a whiff of something he didn’t like and started trotting in the other direction. Everyone’s a critic.
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Toward the end of the neighborhood, I passed Jill Donaldson’s house, or at least where she spent her summers home from college. We saw each other for a couple months. While we were dating we spent almost all our time together doing whatever we wanted, and paid for the lark with her father’s credit card. It all came to a screeching halt when she said I drank too much. “I don’t think you drink enough,†I retorted. With wit like that, I thought, I should go on the road, maybe even get a sitcom. “You,†she insisted, “are a hopeless alcoholic. Maybe you should get some treatment. Lot’s of people have done it.â€
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“Sure,†I said. “And they replace the booze with something else to fill the bottomless holes in their souls. Some plug up the emptiness with religion, some with exercise, and others with money, sex or self-righteous rage. Or they just become boring. Anyway they become people I don’t want anything to do with.â€
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I walked to the liquor cabinet and poured myself a huge glass of what I knew was my last free liquor from that particular source. The following week she met up with a cokehead from Sacramento. Jill has been in treatment twice since we stopped seeing each other. I have yet to make that trip. I entered a working class neighborhood and immediately noticed a change. First of all there was noise, children playing in the yards, some screaming women and yelling men. Secondly, there was the smell of charcoal burning, people cooking their meals outdoors.
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I turned the corner and started on the long straight drag to my place. I was soaked with sweat and I had worn holes in my shoes. And I still had 25 blocks to go. It was nearly dark when I reached my door. I was relieved to be home, and actually more relieved to be once again unemployed. Holding down a job is for losers, I thought. Jerks, assholes, flunkies… people too weak to buck the system, sissies who played the game because they had no imagination. I was dead tired, but I felt much more alive than I did before the Citation broke down.
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I turned the knob on the door. It was locked. I checked my pockets for the key and remembered I threw it in the front seat when I abandoned the car. I went out to the bushes to look for a key I concealed for just such an event. All I found was a half-empty half-gallon of Old Thompson someone hid in the bushes. “Half-empty,†I muttered to myself. I unscrewed the cap and took a drink. It was still hot from a day in the summer heat. It was tough to swallow. “Hell, I’m an optimist,†I said. I took another drink. “If it was a fifth, my cup would runneth over,†I said. Nobody heard me. I didn’t bother to repeat the statement.
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The mostly Republican County Commission accuses the Democratic County Treasurer of playing political games with 'lines'
Who is ‘playing games’? This pissing match back and forth is getting old. It’s petty and immature;
Commission Chairman John Pekas wondered aloud whether Nelson is orchestrating the long lines to get more staffing.
“We’ve gone through these slowdowns time and time again when she doesn’t get her way,” Pekas said.
Commissioner Anne Hajek took exception to an incident late last month in which Nelson told people who had been waiting in line – some for several hours – to register their complaints with the county commission.
“That kind of lobbying (for more staffers) down there does concern me somewhat,” Hajek said.
Well, knuckleheads, in Pam’s defense you do control the purse strings and she asked you to replace a staffer that had quit. Obviously our brilliant County Commission doesn’t know the difference between a replacement and hiring a new staff member. Let me put it in simple terms for you. When you get a flat tire on your car, you replace it, you don’t drive around with three tires too save a few bucks.
I have met Pam on several occassions and I appreciate her honesty, yes she is opininated, but she does make a good point;
Nelson denied having anything to do with creating the long lines, saying: “How … could I do that? It’s virtually impossible. There’s no reason I’d want to argue with (the commission) on a regular basis. It just adds stress to my life.”
Well duh. Pam has to run an office effectively, this includes having enough staff. I feel anytime you have to wait in line for an extended period of time, you are being taxed extra, it’s inexcusable and the CC need to let her replace that flat tire.
Of course our cowardly commission had to take issue with Pam when she was not around, easy to kick a dog when it is down;
Nelson wasn’t at Tuesday’s meeting when commissioners began talking about the issue.
They practice this quite a bit, like school girls gossipping about a classmate in the lockeroom. Real cool.
Instead, Nelson said, the current problem stems from the fact that the treasurer’s office is understaffed by about three employees at a time when the county is growing.
“If the sheriff and police need more people, it’s only reasonable to assume I do, too,” she said.
Don’t assume anything. Don’t you know armored vehicles to storm neighborhoods with telephone booth casino robbers is more important then providing customer service to taxpayers? C’mon Pam, you should know what Republican’s priorities are by now.
Of course, Pam hasn’t been on the up and up either;
“I was having this conversation, explaining things to a gentleman, and this lady kept butting in and saying not very nice things,” Nelson said. “I told her to drop dead. It was horrible, unprofessional. But what can I say? I promise I’ll never do it again.”
Yeah, probably should not have said that (though I would have probably chuckled if I was standing nearby) I can’t imagine what this woman was blabbering. Was it Anne Hajek?