Tom, Socrates said something to the effect that the uninvestigated life is not worth living. I think that is pretty logical. One should study and understand one’s civilization in the context of other civilizations.

You might want to remember that the American Indians put some pretty strong stuff (tobacco leaves) in their Peace Pipes, which did not earn an association with peace for nothing. In short, it was for the Indians a logical conclusion. One can argue that the Indians put Johns Grass in their pipes, but when it got to the West, it turned into mass consumption-smoking of cigarettes. There is a western type of logic to that. It is not the logic of country doctors and witches who smoke, bur modern urban folk. Country witches and shamans mostly concoct potions, teas, stuff that makes one vomit, yet experience visions and lead to a another way of life.

In any case, Johns Grass, as I have recommended, should not be smoked, but be drunk as a milk tea or perhaps a cream apperatif

/ newsflash / new us national health bill to legalize ganja by 2010 . McGloughlin group political pundits debate

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVeblRX_KEU

sorry pre-boomers and religious zealots, fanatacal booze-hounds.  the only thing wrong with john’s grass/herb are the idiots who keep drinking liquid poison to kill off the rest of their endangered brain cells. right messrs. bush and mCain. YeeHaw

People driving cars while high on marijuana have run into storefronts, moving trains, and other such inappropriate places!

sober people,  too ;-))

regarding crime and punishment in Latvia:
http://www.cannabisculture.com/v2/content/2010/07/14/Latvia-My-Weedless-Nightmare-Behind-Old-Iron-Curtain

regarding driving and functioning adequately:
[color=yellow]Hartford Hospital Studies Effects Of Marijuana Use On Driving Skills- [/color]
http://www.courant.com/health/hc-marijuana-study0608-20100607,0,5406069.story

Experienced Marijuana Consumers Exhibit Virtually No Change In Cognitive Task Performance After Smoking, Study Says -
http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=8247

At the first link—

“There are big murals and a modernist building which houses the Museum of Interventions where they vilify Russians and Germans as enemies of the state, despite the fact that 30% of the population of the country is Russian.”

And he says he didn’t smoke here?

/P

Re http://www.icclr.law.ubc.ca/Publications/Reports/Criminal_Justice_Response.pdf

The above link is an old (2001) report on the Cannabis situation in Canada, British Colombia especially. Even so, the report is worth a read for those Latvian political and “cultural” leaders who rather see a few ten thousand Latvians immigrate to foreign countries (the total now at about the 200,000 figure), because the small business venture in the Latvian countryside is practically nonexistent. The old grandmother with a cow who once was the foundation stone of the countryside subsistence economy has been driven into the Pensioners’ Home. Moreover, the working age generation and their young are all over Europe, most of the immigrant concentrations found in Ireland and England. In short, Latvian politicians would rather pay with a loss of population (a traitorous activity in some people’s eyes) than legalize Johns Grass.

The concentrate of the sentence below ought to be writ up as a campaign sign for the upcoming elections. The sentence:

“The current crisis is likely the result of the combined effects of a number of factors. Among them, of course, is the fact that huge illicit profits can be made with little risk or investment. A pound of marihuana which is worth between $1,000 and $2,000 on the local market can be produced relatively easily at a fraction of that cost and can be sold for up to $5,000 in the neighboring State of Washington and for as much as $10,000 in California….” By “the current crisis” is meant the increased in the number of people who turn to growing Johns Grass for survival in the countryside.

The Criminal Justice Response was written before Johns Grass was made more accessible in California by emphasizing the plant’s medicinal qualities. The word “crisis” decipherable as a propaganda term

Cabrera writes http://www.cannabisculture.com/v2/content/2010/07/14/Latvia-My-Weedless-Nightmare-Behind-Old-Iron-Curtain  that: “Latvia has signed three of the United Nations conventions for the regulation of drugs. Besides, Riga is a member of European Cities Against Drugs (ECAD). This movement is in charge of regulating the so-called soft drugs. An extreme organization that views total prohibition as the only solution, they are trying to eliminate the distinction between hard and soft drugs to impede marijuana legalizing efforts.”

Indeed Riga should be drug free, because Riga already sucks Latvia dry of the little money that is around. In my earlier posts (almost to the day a year ago), as well as now, I am supporting the growing of Johns Grass in the countryside only, as it would counter the inflow of money into Riga with an outflow into the countryside and stop the depopulation of the Latvian countryside practiced by Latvia’s own government.

Someone who is trained in jurisprudence and knows the above mentioned laws can explain the UN conventions mentioned, tell of the reach of the ECAD (see above) in Riga. Where does the law draw the lines on Riga? It is only a myth that the rest of Latvia should think like Riga does—is it not?

An article today in the Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/24/AR2010072402559.html?wpisrc=nl_headline
In an earlier post I mentioned the laws against Johns Grass in Riga. Now the Limbazhu rajons is Riga rajons. Repression extending its reach?

“Rigas Laiks” sports in its August 2010 issue a questionnaire, re “”rl jautā” (page 17): “Vai jūs piekrītat marihuānas legalizācijai Latvijā?”, but fails to list the same questionnaire as part of Content at its online site http://rigaslaiks.lv/ The questionnaire, written by one Arnis Kaktiņš, head of the research center SKDS, points out that 13% of Latvians are for the legalization of Johnsgrass (marihuana), 5.6% are not sure, but 81.4% are negative. Said author also mentions that the only noteworthy discussion about Johnsgrass occurs in exaggerated (krāšņi) police material, which acts as a deterrent to discussion. Evidently RL, too, is intimidated.

There is an interesting article at The Guardian newspaper, Sunday, August 8, 2010, called “War on drugs: why the US and Latin America could be ready to end a fruitless 40-year struggle”. Unfortunately the link to the article is Blacklisted (Censored) by LatviansOnline, and the reader will have to look it up at http://www.guardian.co.uk/ , re “Americas signal rethink on drugs”.

This writer supports the raising on Johnsgrass in the Latvian countryside, but excludes the City of Riga for reasons of population concentration. The Latvian countryside is an economic disaster zone and is the main source of population out-migration. The legalization of Johnsgrass in Latvia would go a long way to encourage countryside tourism and relieve the countryside people in their poverty. In line with the anti-smoking campaign and better health of the population at large, Johnsgrass (a medicinal herb) may also be consumed as milk-and-butter tea, thus benefiting the domestic consumption of these products.

The ECAD (European Cities Against Drugs)
meets in a Conference in Jūrmala
On September 9-10, 2010.
The statement of the ECAD mission at
http://www.ecad.net/mission-statement-en

Among the mission statement is the following:

“Cannabis products are narcotic drugs
All forms of differentiation between so-called “soft” and so-called “hard” drugs must cease. The use of cannabis is detrimental to the health, causes passivity and is addictive. Cannabis and certain other drugs, in some countries regarded as being “soft” should be viewed as other types of narcotic substances in control policy, rehabilitation and preventive measures.”

The ECAD’s Conference in Jurmala is Swedish sponsored, and one may argue that it represents interference by Sweden in Latvia’s domestic affairs, not least by attempting to impose on Latvians a sterile orthodoxy so characteristic of Swedish mentality in our day.

On the broader front, it may be a good thing to limit the use of Johnsgrass to the European countryside (Latvia’s including), if thereby the countryside may recover some of the capital it is forced to lose to capitalists who exploit the countryside for their own purposes.

Is it not time to form an institution known as European Countryside For Johnsgrass, re ECFJ?

ECAD may be biased, but that doesn’t mean the statement is all wrong. See, for a short balanced overlook http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/mentalhealthinfo/problems/alcoholanddrugs/cannabis.aspx. The kaņepju sviets can easily be bought at the Kalnciema Iela Tirgus (Pardaugava). I am quite sure, that the elderly farmers, who produce it, don’t have a clue about it being possibly narcotic, same as with the many traditional recipes including poppy. Anyway, I prefer the lakšu sviests for snack and a good Bauskas Tumšais for relaxing..

Herder wrote:

Anyway, I prefer the lakšu sviests for snack and a good Bauskas Tumšais for relaxing..

What is “lakšu sviests”??  I’ve not heard the term, and my Latvian dictionaries are far, far away…

Thanks!

http://latvijas.daba.lv/aizsardziba/augi_dzivnieki/laksis.shtml

Uh oh!

From the link PB provided:

“Laksis ierakstīts Latvijas Sarkanajā grāmatā III kategorijā un Ministru Kabineta noteikumos par īpaši aizsargājamo sugu “

So kanepju sviests is legal, contrary to jandzs basic premise; however, Herder might be eating an endangered species!

Ooops! Shame on me;-)! Maybe I should give kaņepju sviets a second try.. Or better Basil and Garlic Butter, given they are not endangered species. Oh I love Latian Basil. The reddish one, that you can cook too (different to the green one). But we are not in the Cooking section here..