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ACLU Asks: Marijuana or Martinis?
The American Civil Liberties Union has been running ads in The New York Times to challenge the marijuana prohibition. The headline of one ad asks: "If You Had a Choice, What Would it Be,
Marijuana or Martinis?"
"Millions of Americans who are highly productive and stable clandestinely choose marijuana over martinis," the ad reads. "But while the government classifies both substances as drugs, mysteriously one is legal while the other is not. Why should that be so?"
ACLU Executive Director Ira Glasser said: "The criminal prohibition of marijuana represents an extraordinary degree of government intrusion. . . . The same people who are drinking martinis are pushing laws that would jail people who prefer a joint. Where's the morality in that?"
Since 1937, the government has criminalized marijuana use on the grounds that it is a dangerous drug. But Glasser said this claim looks more ludicrous every year. Every independent commission appointed to look into this claim has found that marijuana is relatively benign.
ACLU ads on various topics are scheduled to appear in The New York Times op-ed section once a month through December 1998.
The ads refer web surfers to the ACLU's Freedom Network Website. Visitors can post messages to a bulletin board and access background information on the subject of that month's ad.
Editorial:
Ganja in the Hindu Religion
and the State of the New American Church Association
by Nori J. Muster, ed.
As a follower of the Hindu religion, I was curious to learn where other Hindu sects stand on the marijuana issue. Therefore, I've been asking priests, sadhus and gurus to comment. Generally, Shiva devotees practice (or tolerate) ganja meditation.
I asked a disciple in the Shavite lineage of Ramana Maharshi to describe his experiences using hashish with a sadhu in India, and this was his reply:
"Most people do not realize that in the ancient Hindu texts, such as the Ramayana, the God Shiva was often depicted as a god in bliss, smoking ganja in beautiful nature settings, such as the in the Himalayas or by the holy river Ganga.
"The person conducting the ceremony was simply a wandering Shavite sadhu, with his begging bowl and Shiva trident. The smoking of the sacred substance was done in the context of a ceremony of praising Shiva. There was a special shrine room, which in the middle was a Shiva lingum [a stone deity of Shiva]. Offerings of milk, coconut water, and water from the Ganga (we were in Varanasi, India, considered to be a Shavite city) were first made to the lingum (to Shiva).
"A chillum [pipe] with the snake of Shiva and an OM sign on it was filled with hashish, and before each puff, the chant 'Om Shiva!' was declared out loud. We then sat in silent meditation in front of the lingum.
"It seemed that the hashish helped to create the space for the meditation. It seems it has been a tradition of the Shavites, reportedly back to the time of Shiva, to include that as part of the meditation, although it seemed to be a tradition of the Shavite sadhus, and not the India and Nepalese people who did worship to Shiva."
There are disagreements between the various Hindu sects, especially between followers of Shiva and followers of Vishnu. For one thing, although Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva are a divine trinity, there is an ancient argument over which god is supreme. Strict Vaishnavas tend to look down on Shiva worshipers, in some cases.
I asked Sri Sanjeevi, a Vaishnava brahmin priest of the Kothanda Ramar temple in Ramesvaram, South India, how he felt about ganja. He said:
"No god will accept the ganja smoking, which is absolutely injurious to health. Then how Lord Shiva only can accept this foolish activities? I cannot admit this opinion that, Shiva devotees can smoke the ganja, to sharp their mind towards their god."
Of the Vaishnava sects, only a few practice ganja worship. For example, Lord Balarama (Krishna's brother, an avatar of Vishnu) accepts offerings of spirits (wine) or ganja (hemp flowers).
Last November the New American Church Association (NACA), PFPF's sister organization, applied for nonprofit 501(c)3 organizational status. NACA is still awaiting the federal government's decision, but the State of California turned down the application saying that the sacrament is illegal. Guy Mount of NACA is preparing a letter to California requesting reconsideration. For one thing, Guy points out that NACA does not intend to provide marijuana. He said, "Certainly other organizations have worked to change public policy, so I think we have the same right to organize and seek donations, as long as we are not doing anything illegal."
The government has shown prejudice toward other sacred natural medicines, as well. Consider the case of peyote, a sacrament for followers of the Native American Church. PFPF and NACA support interfaith dialogue and ask Christian officials to take our religious beliefs into consideration.
American Hindus, Rastafarians, hippies, Dead Heads and Rainbow Family members share certain values in common, such as our respect for ganja and our legacy of persecution for using it. PFPF and the NACA advocate and seek to establish a religious exemption for using marijuana, regardless of ethnic heritage, religious affiliation or medical condition.
As adult citizens of a free country, PFPF and NACA members want the right to practice our faith without government persecution.
Obituary
Pray for Peace News offers respects to Steve Michael, Act Up activist, who passed away May 25, 1998. Jim Graham, executive director of the Whitman-Walker Clinic, described Michael as one of those "vanguard people" whose methods can be distasteful but who effectively "clear the land, pointing out problems and bringing drama to bear. That, in turn, makes it easier for others who come in their wake."
Contact: Act UP D.C.
Medical Marijuana Breakthrough
The Journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences include findings that cannabidiol (pronounced ca-na-bi-DIE-all), a marijuana chemical, may protect brain cells during a stroke. The researcher who is testing the drug, Aiden Hampson of the National Institute of Mental Health, found that in a test tube, cannabidiol proved to be a potent antioxidant that protected animal brain cells exposed to the toxic neurochemical that is produced during a stroke.
Hampson said that until now, scientists considered cannabidiol an inactive ingredient. Another marijuana chemical, THC, is already available as an oral pharmaceutical, Marinol, often prescribed to fight cancer-related nausea and AIDS-related wasting syndrome.
L.A. Times Front Page Headline, July 4, 1998:
Camping Out for the Right to Assemble
Culture: 20,000 Rainbow Family members celebrate freedom in
national forest. Government calls fest illegal.
The Rainbow Family held it's twenty-seventh Gathering last week in Carnero Lake, Arizona, near the border of New Mexico. The Times article mentioned every possible controversy, from garbage removal to struggles with the U.S. Forest Service, but did so with a sense of humor. The lead paragraph said:
"Don't be misled by the dope smoking, the incessant drumming, the incense haze and the twirling dancers. This is nothing less than a Constitutional Convention, a referendum on the right to assemble."
So the next time you see a dread-locked hippy, remember: he could be a reincarnation of an American Revolutionary soldier, or even Thomas Jefferson. Offer due respect. To honor the Rainbow Family, we offer the following new affirmation:
DEADHEADS, hippies and RAINBOW FAMILY
We tolerate and celebrate Americas who follow an alternative religious path.
Link to more PFPF affirmations to end the drug war.
Hate Crimes in Hollywood
Another recent article in the Times reported that the L.A. County Human Relations Commission identified several neighborhoods in the county as "hate crime clusters," including Hollywood. The article said that hate crime statistics rose in Southern California last year, and they attributed that to " growing tension," especially where "change is greatest." As a city, Los Angeles is the most diverse religious gathering in the world, and the most multi-cultural. Yes, change is happening, but it's all for the good.
Living in Los Angeles means that you can have Buddhist, Hindu and Persian friends. It's a place where white businessmen, Orthodox Jews, punk rockers, movie stars and Chinese grandmas live in harmony. Rainbow family, Mexican shamans and Rastas are all welcome here. California has historically been a vanguard state, and so it is on the cutting edge with race and creed today.
Hate crime is a serious problem. Check out the Southern Poverty Law Center, for an accounting of hate crimes across the country. Plus, read the Pray for Peace affirmations for Hollywood.
NACA Holds First Board of Directors' Meeting
ARCATA, Calif.--The California Franchise Tax Board recently accepted the New American Church Association's application for tax exempt status. Board members met here on August 15 to discuss the future of the NACA.
NACA supports the respectful use of marijuana. One of NACA's goals is to promote a more responsible image of marijuana smoking. At the meeting, directors noted that recent media attention to the medical and industrial uses of the plant have raised cannabis above the previous stereotype as a "party drug" commonly mixed with alcohol and other manufactured drugs. Recognizing the spiritual heritage of cannabis is another step toward social acceptance.
The NACA board discussed the cultural, family and religious roots that lead some individuals to prefer marijuana over alcohol. During the meeting, the board wrote preliminary, tentative language for a religious exemption to protect people who prefer marijuana (see below).
Last May PF News reported that the California Franchise Tax Board denied NACA's application, because it could not condone illegal activities. Guy Mount, the driving force behind NACA, wrote a letter explaining that NACA's purpose is to promote a dialogue about religious use, not cultivate or distribute marijuana. The Tax Board then accepted NACA's application. Guy recently submitted NACA's 501(c)3 application for federal tax-exempt status and is awaiting approval. Visit NACA on-line. (sorry, this site is off line).
Link here to view NACA meeting minutes and related documents.
NATIONS DISCUSS DRUG POLICY
UNITED NATIONS--As a result of the June 8, 9 and 10 drug summit, a hundred and fifty nations endorsed a plan to curb trafficking, reduce demand, improve judicial cooperation, combat money-laundering and reduce the supply of narcotics over the next ten years.
Some private drug research foundations said the United Nations summit focused too heavily on law-enforcement programs that chisel away at human rights.
Dr. Ethan Nadelmann, director of the Lindesmith Center, said, "Rather than producing the intended unity, the drug summit exposed deep divisions between drugwar zealots who advocate spending on a failed policy and the reformers who want new approaches."
Pino Arlacchi, head of the U.N. Drug Control Office, told delegates: "We are not starting a new 'war on drugs.' " He offered an alternative analogy of "a doctor facing a deadly disease. Drugs quite simply kill people. And it is our responsibility to find the cure."
Religious Freedom 2000
According to the U.S. Supreme Court (Oregon vs. Smith, 1989), "Each state has the right to exempt any controlled substance for religious use." The New American Church Association is working on wording for a "Religious Freedom 2000" ballot initiative. This is one of several forms being considered:
The religious use of plant materials in their natural form (marijuana, peyote, etc.), and the cultivation and possession thereof for such use, shall not be a violation of any law of the State of California [or your state].
If you would like to become involved in a dialogue about Religious Freedom 2000, please contact us click here for contact info.
Commentary:
Prayers for Peace
in a Time of Turmoil
Get up your millennial fears, because if stuff's going to happen, it's happening now. Clinton's problems alone are enough to get you depressed about the so-called new age that's just around the corner.
Americans are used to having an enemy to complain about and attack, but they say that could change with the paradigm shift. What would life be like if we quit feeling sorry for ourselves? Sitting around complaining about Congress, Clinton, McCaffrey, Shalala, Lungren, etc., keeps us stuck, focused on ideas that repulse us. We notice the consequences of negative thinking, even among those who work for legalization. For many years, internal disagreements stalled the movement's progress. We must become better people if we expect to live in a better world.
Instead of convincing ourselves that we are the victims of unreasonable circumstances, let's envision something higher. There is every reason to think positive. According to a Time-Life poll, support for the drug war has dropped to less than 10%. (Time poll, vote today.)
When we give our attention to something, the universe interprets it as our desire for more of that thing. Instead of dwelling on judgments based on fear, let's keep our minds open and see where we stand when the smoke clears. As we careen into the twenty-first century, we still have time to envision a better world.
PF's Alternative Visualizations:
WAR ON DRUGS
We affirm a peaceful conclusion to the War on Drugs. Personal freedom, civil liberties and democracy are restored.
FEDERAL AND STATE LAWMAKERS
We give our blessings to the men and women in government office as they make their decisions with steady consciousness of the highest good for all.
POLICE
We affirm the men and women of law enforcement who fulfill their duty to protect and serve, thus nurturing trust, cooperation, safety and goodwill in their towns.
CHILDREN AND DRUGS
We teach our children to cope with life's problems free from manufactured drugs of all kinds.
Counterpoint:
Reply to Nori's Editorial on Millennial Fears.
by S.B. McKee
Relax your millennial fears, because if stuff's going to happen, it's happening now. Now is not the time to panic. If Clinton's problems alone are enough to get you worried about the "new age" that's just around the corner, remember, that's the tip of the iceberg.
Yes, Americans are used to having an enemy to complain about and attack. We agree it would be good if we stopped feeling sorry for ourselves and started Giving Thanks. Instead of sitting around complaining-- which keeps us stagnant--we have to take into account all of the good things we are enjoying. Let's stop projecting fear and suffering and start feeling good about ourselves and other people. We also notice the consequences of negative thinking among those who work for legalization.
At least WE have a choice to dwell in stagnation or to work for improvements. Individuals on a small scale make a difference when the big picture is taken into perspective. Though it isn't a perfect world, we are lucky to have a pretty well working world at all. It could be worse--Hell we could ALL be locked up tomorrow and forced to work in New World Order prison camps, or burnt by atomic apocalypse. But I believe in God and I don't believe that's His Plan.
We agree, internal disagreements have stalled the legalization movement's progress. Collectively, we must offer prayers to GodtheGreatSpirit to help us in this battle, for a battle it is. And if it's His Will that we win, how can we lose? We have to have Faith that God does love us and this (His) planet and sacred plant.
Notes from the Prayer Circle:
Affirmations for War Times
Finally, after one month as a political prisoner, best selling author and medical marijuana patient Peter McWilliams was released from jail. We agree with NORML Executive Director R. Keith Stroup who said, "It is unconscionable to treat sick and dying medical marijuana patients like criminals."
We offer these prayers for Peter McWilliams and other medical marijuana patients (and all abuse victims):
The soul can never be cut into pieces by any weapon, nor can it be burned by fire, nor moistened by water, nor withered by the wind. The individual soul is unbreakable and insoluble, and can be neither burned nor dried. It is everlasting, all-pervading, unchangeable, immovable and eternally the same.
In this endeavor there is no loss or diminution and a little advancement on this path can protect one from the most dangerous type of fear.
Lord Krishna in Bhagavad-gita 2.23-24; 2. 40
Pray for Peace News est. 1995
Pray for Peace News was founded to spread awareness, education and devotion to the Great and Holy Mystery that is God. We accept all paths as true; all religions are but branches of the same tree. We promote interfaith dialogue and exchange programs to develop tolerance between religions.
Pray for Peace News is dedicated to nonviolence (vegetarian diet) and daily meditation. Pray for Peace News editors are committed to the legalization of sacred natural medicines for spiritual healing, for all people.
End the War on Drugs
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