politics

The most popular debate since prohibition, weed politics explore the trials, tribulations, and success stories of the pot industry.

Moroccan Hash Culture
In Morocco it's possible to see the Atlantic and the Mediterranean at the same time, even if you haven't sampled the local hash. There are marijuana and hashish smokers in every segment of society. Among the Muslims, for whom alcoholic beverages are forbidden by Islamic law, kings, beggars, and everyone in between, hash is a nice way to end the day. It is part of the fabric of many of these cultures. Hashish or hash, sometimes referred to as kif in northeast areas of Africa like Morocco, is the extract of compressed trichomes of cannabis know as kief. Kief has a much higher concentration of the psychoactive cannabinoid THC. Processing kief is one of the steps in producing hash, and it involves heating through multiple cycles.
By Johnny Hash9 years ago in Potent
Hippie Lifestyle Illusion
You are a hippie. Think about it—what are hippies? People with beards and long hair who enjoy doing drugs, listening to music, and rejecting conventional values. Everyone’s experienced that before, haven’t they? Most of us have experimented with our hairstyle or facial hair and have taken a puff of pot here or there. As for “rejecting conventional values,” that sounds like today’s average young adult at some point or another.
By Ami Roach9 years ago in Potent
Is the War on Drugs Racist?
Legalization of marijuana first found itself as a part of the battle against racism. It should be no surprise that many of America's archaic drug laws have a common root in racism. Today's new generation of drug users are trapped in a sea of drug laws and enforcement bureaucracies which were designed not for medical, religious, or moral reasons, but to harass and persecute America's racial minorities—Asian, Latino and African Americans. Ironically, the oldest of the racist drug practices is tied, not to stopping drug use, but to promoting it.
By Izzy Erlich9 years ago in Potent
My Enemy, My Brother
The Rasta had just finished rolling up a bundle full of spliffs when he heard the sound of horses approaching. It was surely the drug-enforcement agents he had sold his last load of ganja to. They had probably discovered that the sacks the ganja was sorted in had sprung leaks, and all the ganja had fallen out. Many brethren along the way scooped up the herb as it poured out of the defective bags, and the agents were now stuck with no evidence and no money. The Rasta did not run, but confronted them with dignity.
By Aunt Mary10 years ago in Potent
Drug Dealers Anonymous
If you do drugs, then probability is you’ve met at least one drug dealer in the course of your life style. In every town, in every city, in every empty rural region, somebody is slinging something. Of course, these people are demonized by the media, often portrayed as faceless poisoners of the young. In my own experience, they can actually be quite normal, if there really is such a thing, but they aren't that different from you and me. Everyone has a story. Dealers come from all walks of life, lured by the siren call of the hustle.
By A. Walter Cox10 years ago in Potent
Marijuana for Veterans with PTSD
Did you know that over 300,000 veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars have been diagnosed with PTSD by the US Department of Veterans Affairs? And thousands of more have yet to receive recognition. Recently, a movement among US veterans advocating the physical and mental benefits of medical marijuana for PTSD has grown. They want the Department of Veterans Affairs to allow their doctors to recommend and prescribe medical marijuana as a treatment for the disorder in place of prescription drugs. The VA, along with other federal agencies and anti-legalization groups, still don't consider marijuana a solution for veterans suffering with PTSD. So why are veterans asking to use medical marijuana for PTSD? The drug is easing the pain for veterans inside and out.
By Izzy Erlich10 years ago in Potent
Athletes Who Advocate Marijuana
Marijuana use has recently become a hot button topic for politicians and sports players around the world, especially in the US. Whether it is for recreational or medicinal purposes, the use of marijuana has long been frowned upon and banned by sports agencies everywhere. Athletes have always been getting in trouble for its use, but many think that it is both unfair and unwarranted. Sports agencies around the world simply say that marijuana is illegal and bad. Therefore they test for it and penalize anyone who is shown to have used marijuana.
By Ami Roach10 years ago in Potent
Marijuana Banking Business
Banks just say no, while the rest of us say yes. The federal government oversees the banking industry, and the Feds don’t smoke weed (in public, at least). It is apparently safer to let state legal businesses like dispensaries walk around with bags of cash than letting them deposit it in there local Citibank. Yet another hypocritical moral dilemma in the good ol' USA. Unfortunately m it follows the same backwards ideals that you can join the military at 18, put your life at risk, but not being allowed to buy a drink until 21. Same goes for federal laws that restrict the sale of Adult magazines on military bases, but are readily available in the local mall at the Barnes & Noble bookstore. Hypocrisy in our laws is not a new concept, but that doesn't make it any less detrimental.
By Ami Roach10 years ago in Potent
America’s First Legal Pot Smoker
The true story of America’s first legal marijuana smoker was chronicled in 1979 by Michael J. Weiss. For the first time in digital format, here is his report on the first sit down with the Legend, Robert Randall, the first man to legally smoke pot in this country.
By Wendy Weedler10 years ago in Potent
Marijuana Smugglers
Known just as much for his music as his avid use of marijuana, Bob Marley had long been an advocate for the use of this natural drug. While Marley mainly “smoked the pots” due to his strict practice of the Rastafarian religion, where the use of “ganga” is a holy sacrament, others use the drug for a variety of reasons. Its soothing effects are enough to justify its use by some, while many have turned to marijuana for its medicinal benefits. For those willing to take the risk, marijuana cultivation and distribution is HIGHLY profitable, and there are a lucky few who have made it out alive of the trade to tell their stories of the old days. Today these tales of the early days of marijuana dealing, smoking, and promoting, seem as old as the american wester. But the resurgence of these near forgotten tales of fact based fiction give tremendous insight into what lies ahead of us. A look back gives us a glimpse into a future where the cut throat dealers are big companies, and the heroes, the small independents who do it for the glory.
By Aunt Mary10 years ago in Potent
Caught Smuggling Marijuana
I was talking to my good friend "the worm," whom I met because he was working as the worm in the bottom of the Mexican tequila bottles from which I was liberally drinking when they came in. I knew right away that they were Americans, not because that's the only clientele that this sleazy tourist trap just over the border gets, although it is, but because they had University of Southern California written all over their faces. And all over their T-shirts.
By Aunt Mary10 years ago in Potent
History of Cannabis
The marijuana you smoke may already be legal, if courts listen to the most current botanical information, the argument goes like this. By present federal law, marijuana is defined as one particular plant species: Cannabis sativa, identified by Linnaeus in 1753. According to the best botanical research now available, however, there are several other species of cannabis. Among the species accepted by other governments and botanists around the world are Cannabis indica, classified by Lamarck in 1783, and Cannabis ruderalis, established by the Russian botanist Janischewsky in 1924. When a whole, mature plant is available for inspection, botanists can with some assurance identify the species to which it belongs, but when the plant is chopped up, dried, cleaned, and popped into a baggie ready to be blazed, it is impossible to tell which species it is. Therefore the government, when it busts you for a lid, cannot prove that what you possess is in fact the forbidden species Cannabis sativa and not one of the others; the government can't prove that the weed you have is illegal.
By Sigmund Fried10 years ago in Potent