Friday, May 1, 2009
Punk
I often wonder what people think the term punk means. It feels like it can mean different things to different people. Sometimes people ask what kind of band I've played in or what kind of music I listen to and I contemplate my response for a moment and then reluctantly say "punk." I wonder what they think. Do they think I'm listening to really shitty music like the exploited or the casualities? Not that I don't listen to shitty music, it's just that I don't want to be associated with those really really bad punk bands primarily because I never liked them.
Departure
I originally intended this blog to be about drug war related news and all of that shit, but I don't really feel excited about posting that kind of stuff anymore so I'm just gonna go with the regular posting about my life framework. The headline will be changed to reflect this.
So let's see what I have today. Today I learned for the first time that college is straight up bullshit and that I have somehow up until this point been fooled into believing that I had to work extra hard to maintain good grades. The last few years I've been killing myself, putting so much unnecessary pressure on getting reading/writing done so that I could get that A. I also had what you could easily call an extremely dull social life. I smoked weed with people, drank if I had nothing to do over the weekend, and that pretty much summed up my life. Don't get me wrong, I had a pretty decent time for a while. It felt good to be able to go to the library all day and then blaze with friends at around 8. Still, I kept shoving aside opportunities to hang out with different people simply because I thought I couldn't balance school and straight kicking it. What's worse is that I would never call anyone up because I could always find some form of school work to be done, and then I'd blaze right after. Thus, there would be no reason for me to hit anyone up. I would say that my life is a little better now; I'm down to drink more often, way more down to kick it with people on random occasions. And I thought that this would fuck up my schoolwork, which was a legitimate concern seeing as I went into my midterm today with 200 pages unread. Still, I rolled in, wiped my ass with the test and came out feeling just as confident as I did in previous quarters. So today I learned that I was living a boring life for no reason at all. Pretty much sucks.
Another thing I want to do with this blog is document my social encounters, primarily because I am terrible at them and other people might identify with me here. Today I saw a girl waiting for the bus that I have kicked it with once before, but I chose to pretend like I didn't see her. Nothing too big, but i felt like a huge douche and I probably am a huge douche. Usually after an event like this i feel bad enough to not let it happen again, but we shall see.
So let's see what I have today. Today I learned for the first time that college is straight up bullshit and that I have somehow up until this point been fooled into believing that I had to work extra hard to maintain good grades. The last few years I've been killing myself, putting so much unnecessary pressure on getting reading/writing done so that I could get that A. I also had what you could easily call an extremely dull social life. I smoked weed with people, drank if I had nothing to do over the weekend, and that pretty much summed up my life. Don't get me wrong, I had a pretty decent time for a while. It felt good to be able to go to the library all day and then blaze with friends at around 8. Still, I kept shoving aside opportunities to hang out with different people simply because I thought I couldn't balance school and straight kicking it. What's worse is that I would never call anyone up because I could always find some form of school work to be done, and then I'd blaze right after. Thus, there would be no reason for me to hit anyone up. I would say that my life is a little better now; I'm down to drink more often, way more down to kick it with people on random occasions. And I thought that this would fuck up my schoolwork, which was a legitimate concern seeing as I went into my midterm today with 200 pages unread. Still, I rolled in, wiped my ass with the test and came out feeling just as confident as I did in previous quarters. So today I learned that I was living a boring life for no reason at all. Pretty much sucks.
Another thing I want to do with this blog is document my social encounters, primarily because I am terrible at them and other people might identify with me here. Today I saw a girl waiting for the bus that I have kicked it with once before, but I chose to pretend like I didn't see her. Nothing too big, but i felt like a huge douche and I probably am a huge douche. Usually after an event like this i feel bad enough to not let it happen again, but we shall see.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Some Drug War Songs
Here are some drug war songs by the punk band Fifteen.
This one is from the singer of the same band on his acoustic project:
This one is from the singer of the same band on his acoustic project:
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Post-Prohibition Frameworks Part One: Marijuana
While most of my posts will take the form of railing against prohibition, I'd like to set aside a few posts to deal primarily with what a post-prohibition regulatory framework might look like. In this one, I will present my idea for an appropriate marijuana distribution model.
It is worth noting that the only identifiable country with a model that actually regulates cannabis sales is Holland; the catch is that marijuana is technically only "decriminalized" there. This simply means that use, possession of a certain amount, and sales in a licensed coffee shop is not punishable. Yet, at the same time, cannabis distribution TO the dispensaries from a larger producer is illegal, so Dutch authorities do make some efforts to curb large-scale marijuana trafficking. I personally don't think America would take this somewhat confusing approach, but even if we are dealing with outright legalization the coffee shop model offers some clear benefits.
First, the model promotes responsible use by confining cannabis consumption to licensed and professional coffee shops. When you smoke in a coffee shop, you order what you want off of a menu, something that doesn't seem to make sense with any other drug. With cannabis, you must have a variety of options: different strains, different smoking devices, and different methods of delivery (edibles). With a full menu and a clean setting, marijuana use is controlled, isolated, and essentially comparable to wine tasting in Northern California.
Second, controlled use is good because the smoking of tobacco in public places has already come under attack from numerous city ordinances. Smoking weed on the street wouldn't necessarily be a problem, but if people are concerned with tobacco smokers I doubt they would want their children to run into a guy smoking a blunt at the bus stop.
Finally, the coffee shop model includes limited advertising and requires that interested consumers take affirmative steps to enter a setting where cannabis is sold. Of course it's not hard to find a coffee shop, but this model prevents the kind of abuses that could come with selling packages of joints at grocery stores. If marijuana is that easily accessible, it may promote underage consumption or some irresponsible consumption. It's hard to accept the argument that this would promote irresponsible consumption because it seems like marijuana cannot be used irresponsibly in a way that alcohol would. Still, I think likening marijuana sales to alcohol or tobacco sales will only serve to cast a shade of inferiority on it, which is the last thing we need after all we've struggle for. Also, I believe, as Pete Guither at DrugWarRant pointed out, that a marijuana regulatory framework should provide for the "cannabis connoisseur." This cannot be achieved through a model similar to cigarette sales because you cannot smell, touch, feel the cannabis.
There should be three primary goals for an effective regulatory regime: discouraging underage use, discouraging corporate takeover, and promoting the Cannabis Connoisseur. This can only come through regulations that limit advertising
It is worth noting that the only identifiable country with a model that actually regulates cannabis sales is Holland; the catch is that marijuana is technically only "decriminalized" there. This simply means that use, possession of a certain amount, and sales in a licensed coffee shop is not punishable. Yet, at the same time, cannabis distribution TO the dispensaries from a larger producer is illegal, so Dutch authorities do make some efforts to curb large-scale marijuana trafficking. I personally don't think America would take this somewhat confusing approach, but even if we are dealing with outright legalization the coffee shop model offers some clear benefits.
First, the model promotes responsible use by confining cannabis consumption to licensed and professional coffee shops. When you smoke in a coffee shop, you order what you want off of a menu, something that doesn't seem to make sense with any other drug. With cannabis, you must have a variety of options: different strains, different smoking devices, and different methods of delivery (edibles). With a full menu and a clean setting, marijuana use is controlled, isolated, and essentially comparable to wine tasting in Northern California.
Second, controlled use is good because the smoking of tobacco in public places has already come under attack from numerous city ordinances. Smoking weed on the street wouldn't necessarily be a problem, but if people are concerned with tobacco smokers I doubt they would want their children to run into a guy smoking a blunt at the bus stop.
Finally, the coffee shop model includes limited advertising and requires that interested consumers take affirmative steps to enter a setting where cannabis is sold. Of course it's not hard to find a coffee shop, but this model prevents the kind of abuses that could come with selling packages of joints at grocery stores. If marijuana is that easily accessible, it may promote underage consumption or some irresponsible consumption. It's hard to accept the argument that this would promote irresponsible consumption because it seems like marijuana cannot be used irresponsibly in a way that alcohol would. Still, I think likening marijuana sales to alcohol or tobacco sales will only serve to cast a shade of inferiority on it, which is the last thing we need after all we've struggle for. Also, I believe, as Pete Guither at DrugWarRant pointed out, that a marijuana regulatory framework should provide for the "cannabis connoisseur." This cannot be achieved through a model similar to cigarette sales because you cannot smell, touch, feel the cannabis.
There should be three primary goals for an effective regulatory regime: discouraging underage use, discouraging corporate takeover, and promoting the Cannabis Connoisseur. This can only come through regulations that limit advertising
Service
Served my community today by completing those goddamn service hours. Scooped melted ice cream, moved tables, and broke a cotton candy machine.
Fruitless Deterrence
There are a couple reasons why an entity would punish someone. For one, the administrative body might want to make sure you cannot commit a certain act again. Second, they might want to rehabilitate you. Or they might wish to deter you from committing a certain act again.
Last year I received a write-up for underage drinking in an on-campus apartment and the dean assigned me twelve community service hours. The dean also noted that if I got in trouble again I'd have to complete a more rigorous set of tasks. With this, it seems clear that the administration is trying to deter me from drinking on campus again. Here's the problem: I'll be 21 in a little over two weeks. So even though I am posting at 7am because I had to be at my community service hours an hour ago (leaving after this post), and even though doing these hours will fuck up my whole day, the deterrence can only possibly last until April 28, at which point the entire matter will be moot.
This is marginally related to drug policy as it shows just how fruitless attempts to curb the use of psychoactive substances actually are. In fact, I never stopped imbibing, primarily because I live nowhere near campus now and I physically cannot get caught by school administrators again. But also, it shows that the administration isn't out for any good cause: they might not be seeking pure deterrence. Maybe they just want to make me "pay for what I did," seeing as in just a couple of weeks I will be able to "do what I did" for only about 6 bucks, and nothing else.
Last year I received a write-up for underage drinking in an on-campus apartment and the dean assigned me twelve community service hours. The dean also noted that if I got in trouble again I'd have to complete a more rigorous set of tasks. With this, it seems clear that the administration is trying to deter me from drinking on campus again. Here's the problem: I'll be 21 in a little over two weeks. So even though I am posting at 7am because I had to be at my community service hours an hour ago (leaving after this post), and even though doing these hours will fuck up my whole day, the deterrence can only possibly last until April 28, at which point the entire matter will be moot.
This is marginally related to drug policy as it shows just how fruitless attempts to curb the use of psychoactive substances actually are. In fact, I never stopped imbibing, primarily because I live nowhere near campus now and I physically cannot get caught by school administrators again. But also, it shows that the administration isn't out for any good cause: they might not be seeking pure deterrence. Maybe they just want to make me "pay for what I did," seeing as in just a couple of weeks I will be able to "do what I did" for only about 6 bucks, and nothing else.
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