[Brad]

I hope this isent agenst the rules here (im sure its not, else i wouldent have posted this...).

Warning: this is a long one.

If you guys are in USA (this is who the thread mostly applys to) youve probbly noticed the sworm of anti-cannabis ads on the air now a days, The DEA/goverment spent over 2 mill' to run one on suberbowl sunday. Not only are these ads wrong in most every way, they are tools to brainwash the general public into thinking cannabis is a hard drug and its effects can harm you. Dont belive me? here are some facts..

from erowid.org

Use of marijuana is relatively safe. There are no confirmed deaths caused by marijuana alone, although deaths can and do result from injuries sustained while intoxicated. When combined with alcohol, cannabis decreases driving ability and can contribute to traffic accidents.

Chronic smoking of marijuana can lead to respiratory ailments associated with smoke inhalation.

Medical Marijuana Use
Marijuana has many possible medical uses. Positive effects are claimed for ailments such as cancer, AIDS, and glaucoma. AIDS can cause a loss of appetite known as the "wasting syndrome" which can lead to drastic weight loss and weakness. Chemotherapy used in the treatment of cancer causes nausea resulting in an inability to keep down food. Marijuana's healing nature for these two illnesses is a result of it's ability to increase a person's appetite as well as relieving nausea allowing a patient to regain weight. Marijuana reportedly helps glaucoma patients by reducing occular pressure which can cause damage to the eye.

So why is the goverment fighting the use of cannabis so much?, for one the tobacco indurstys pour millons, if not billons into the war on drugs to keep cannabis from becoming legalized in america.

Recently new 'crack downs' on users have occured, the frist is operation pipe dreams/ operation headhunter. heres a news snip on the issue:

A federal grand jury in western Pennsylvania handed up indictments against 27 people as part of "Operation Pipe Dreams," an investigation stretching from Pittsburgh to Phoenix to Southern California, Attorney General John Ashcroft said.
Another nine people were charged in four grand jury indictments returned in Des Moines, Iowa, under "Operation Headhunter," which involved paraphernalia marketed nationwide by distributors in Michigan, California and Texas.

In all, 55 people were named in nearly three dozen indictments returned throughout the country.

Federal law makes it a crime to sell products mainly intended for the use of illegal drugs, including such things as bongs, marijuana pipes, "roach" clips, miniature spoons and scales. Those charged with selling and conspiring to sell such items face up to three years on prison and maximum fines of $250,000.

A search warrant in the Iowa case turned up more than $2 million in illegal paraphernalia, authorities said.

Ashcroft said the sale of drug paraphernalia has exploded on the Internet, making it easier for teenagers and young adults to buy it. The items often are disguised as such things as lipstick cases to escape detection and are marketed under code names and symbols.

"Quite simply, the illegal drug paraphernalia industry has invaded the homes of families across the country without their knowledge," Ashcroft said in a statement. "This illegal, billion-dollar industry will no longer be ignored by law enforcement."

The Internet sites go by such names as Smokelab.com, Aheadcase.com and puffpipes.com, according to the Justice Department.

The investigation was led by the Drug Enforcement Administration along with the U.S. Marshals, Secret Service, Customs Service and Postal Inspection Service.

"People selling drug paraphernalia are in essence no different than drug dealers," said John Brown, acting DEA chief. "They are as much a part of drug trafficking as silencers are a part of criminal homicide."

This has cost me my job, the local headshop that i work at was shutdown a few days ago. Yes its true, in the country thats supposed to be free and built for the people, glass, metal and plastic shaped certain ways is iilegal.

Locally ive been fighting this ban by taking my 'clean' pipe on walks and smoking baccy from it, ive been stoped by 3 LEO's thus far that have let me go cause honestly they dident have anything on me, tho one was a ******* and kept me detained for over a hour.

This may not apply to you if you are not a baccy/pot smoker, however this might:

Redirection Very Wrong...this is a serious issue..
I apologize for posting so much about this redirection issue on so many different lists, but it's very serious and ANY website, including this one could potentially be redirected at anytime on the whim of the U.S. government.

Thus I can't emphasize how important it is that everyone, and I mean everyone who truly values freedom of speech and expression to contact the ACLU and related organizations, political representatives, etc...point is spread the word!

Anyways, I'm really fed up, pun intended, and seriously thinking of redirecting DRUGABUSE.COM, which I own, to drcnet.org or perhaps to MAPInc.org or maybe various similar sites at random! Sad thing is that many folks rely on DRUGABUSE.COM for real drug abuse help and information, but if they want to play that game I will too - guarantee it will get the government's attention since they own drugabuse.gov...but many visitors end up at my drugabuse.com website instead

Venting here...don't think I'll really do that, but geez the idea the government would even think about redirecting websites belonging to others to websites that express a different viewpoint than that of the owners is very wrong; even more so when they have been convicted of NO crime.

Thats right, if your site is hosted within the USA the goverment can have your domain redirect to ANYWHERE for ANY REASON!.

I encourage everyone here who cares about freedom of speech and expression to contact the ACLU regarding this matter. DEA redirecting seized websites raises serious privacy issues.

http://www.aclu.org/

Its time to stop not caring about whats going on in your country and take a stand, protect the freedoms your forfathers fought and died for!. Please write your congressman and tell him/her what you think about these issues. This isent a war on drugs, this is a war on our freedoms. How can your goverment justify war agenst iraq when they are taking away your basic freedoms here at home!?. Some of you may not be able to vote right now, but in a few years you will, your option matters.

The bush administration managed to undue almost 230 years of progress in the American DEMOCRACY.

Technically you know you cant define America as a democracy anymore. Soviet America indeed...