Parenting and Cannabis

If people would simply stop lying about cannabis, so much would be resolved. A parent using cannabis for recreation is no different than a parent who has a beer after work. Well, at least cannabis is healthy..not so sure about the beer. But then I'm biased..I've never liked the taste of beer. And I don't drink anymore, so there's that. It's not a hard and fast rule, but I feel better when I don't drink alcohol.

Anyway, I read that in Colorado, our legalization Mecca, a bill was introduced which, if passed, will potentially complicate everyone's lives there. It seems that some lawmakers think that if a parent uses a controlled substance (which unless I missed something, cannabis is just that), medically or otherwise, it's time to take the kids away. SB 178, a gem of a bill, defines a "drug endangered child" and imposes criminal penalties on the child's parents if manufacturing or possessing controlled substances. Cannabis is a federally controlled substance, even though it's legal in Colorado. Although the bill's author seems to suggest that this doesn't apply to cannabis, no one really believes that.

I agree that kids shouldn't be around certain drugs. You know, like heroin, cocaine, meth and drugs like those. But cannabis is not a drug. It's a plant. Yes it has psychoactive properties. It also has medicinal properties. Typically we don't see the level of spousal abuse amongst those who use cannabis that we do with those who use alcohol. Plus, there's the added benefit of no addiction. And we have cannabinoid receptors all over the place that are just waiting to connect with the various compounds found in cannabis. It's what keeps us healthy. It's so funny that since I became a patient four years ago, my health has returned, so much so that I walk eight miles every morning. Right..cannabis is a bad thing..

It seems to me that every time something positive happens with respect to cannabis, some lawmaker finds a ridiculous way to circumvent it. If cannabis is legal in Colorado, then you can't take away kids from parents who use it. You can't make it impossible for parents who are also patients to use cannabis medicinally to deal with their health issues. They shouldn't have to fear losing their kids while getting well. No other patients have to deal with these kinds of things. Cannabis patients should be no different. If SB 178 doesn't apply to anyone using cannabis, then revise the bill to include that specific language. Otherwise, Coloradoans who use cannabis are at risk. Surely there are other laws on the books that define what "drug endangered" children are along with penalties for those who disregard them. Why does it need redefinition?

Last summer, the Oregon legislature legalized dispensaries. We voted them down, but they sprung up anyway, and the legislature decided to do something positive for all of us by legalizing them. And then, just before the application process began in March, they decided to let local areas temporarily ban them for one year. Never mind that they had roughly nine months to get used to the idea. And never mind that they looked the other way as the dispensaries opened without benefit of law. Now they suddenly are so overwhelmed by the possibility of a dispensary opening (or continuing to operate) that, oh my Goddess, they have to have a moratorium on them for a while longer. Spare me.

Washington state, our legalization problem child to the north, has legal patients who are going to trial federally in July, I believe, for following state medical cannabis laws to the letter. So, if this can happen in Washington, it can happen in Colorado as well. I also read an article that suggested the Feds might not deliver water to cannabis growers up in Washington as well. In my opinion, this is chicken shit. The Federal Government is going to have to deal with legalization sooner than later. They know it's safe and they know it cures all kinds of things. People are incarcerated for nothing at all. Lives are continuing to be ruined..all to preserve a lie told long ago.

Cannabis users are not criminals, nor are we unfit parents. Isn't it time the charade stopped?

End prohibition. Live in truth and with integrity. Legalize cannabis.

It's Too Serious to be Called Domestic Violence

Can we please stop calling assault by one's spouse/partner/boyfriend, domestic violence? We tend to create labels that actually diminish in our minds the seriousness of the crime. It's personal. It's between a couple. Somehow, it's not as important. And before anyone sends me hate mail, women are as capable as men when initiating an assault. It's just that when women defend themselves, the justice system seems biased in favor of the guy. Just look at the case in Florida where Marissa Alexander received a 20 year sentence for firing a warning shot when she felt threatened by her abusive husband. They won't even let her out to prepare for her new trial. So, I'm going to have a particular slant here, if only as my own perspective.

According to news reports, George Zimmerman was just arrested a short time ago for domestic violence. I have no idea what happened between Mr. Zimmerman and his girlfriend. But I can tell you about one such time between my parents. One night, my father slapped my mother so hard across the face for standing up to him that it echoed throughout the house. I watched in horror. I was eight. My father was a dangerous man. He had weapons in the house and we knew to be careful around him. But she was tired of being used and said so. He was up off the couch and on her in an instant. He left her swollen and bruised, teeth loosened. Then there was the requisite apology. She didn't accept. Ever.

These days, that's called domestic violence. Back then, it wasn't called anything. Seems minor enough considering what some experience. But if it had been another guy, it would have been assault. In my mother's case, he never struck her again. Instead, he focused the abuse on me. But then, that was part of the so-called domestic violence I lived with growing up. And he never went to jail. Life was always on his terms. Even now that he's dead. Abusers have that effect.

Domestic violence is rarely only about violence between a couple. It's affects everyone in the house as well as anyone who is aware of it. It's an act of terror and terror becomes the norm, whether the act of terror is physical or psychological. I've known women who believe the physical abuse was a cake-walk compared to the endless psychological torture they endured. I understand that view and agree with it. As children, we have to figure out a way through all of it and become adults, leaving that baggage behind. Guess what. You don't. It affects everything.

Hearing about Zimmerman's arrest for domestic violence earlier today, made my stomach turn. He should be in prison for killing precious Trayvon.  Calling this domestic violence, especially in the case of repeat offenders, just doesn't cut it. Assault is serious, even more so when it's by someone who has convinced you he's worthy of your trust.

It's been the good ol' boys club long enough. It's not open season on women and children. We're not targets for your aggression. We're the people you're supposed to love. Otherwise..go away. And for the love of God, let Marissa Alexander go home to her children.

Who do they think they are?

When did we start fearing the police? Okay, I know that's a naive question as any person of color can and will tell you. I mean, there's always been a certain amount of fear because of who they are and not all law enforcement personnel do the right thing - stop and frisk being one such example. But something is happening these days that's different. Women, for example, are being abused by the very people who are paid to protect and serve them. I saw a video of a Chicago woman arrested for DUII, blood around her on the floor in what appeared to be a jail cell. Apparently the mental giant (or police officer if you prefer) threw her against a concrete bench in the cell. All she wanted to do was call her children. Nice guy.

Then there was the story about the women who were abused by Texas law enforcement by forcing them to have a road-side cavity search because the smell of cannabis was detected that didn't actually exist. The trainee who did the search was a woman no less. Surely her training taught her that this isn't right, even if the fact that she's a woman did not.  Nevertheless, these women were abused and are now suing.

Women in Washington state apparently have to fear law enforcement there as well. I read that around two dozen women, when arrested for DUII, were forced to strip completely at the jail, while law enforcement personnel apparently filmed them. What are they doing with these videos?

Every day it seems that there's another report about law enforcement doing something we're not paying them to do. Who trains these people? The lawsuits must be getting expensive and you know they're only going to continue.

The militarization of law enforcement if particularly telling. Whether it's the DEA or local SWAT teams, it's not uncommon these days to have raids occur where people die and it's not even the correct location in the first place. The Feds don't help when they don't respect medical cannabis laws in states where this is legal. Neither does local law enforcement when they do the same.

Can we please go back to a time where things made sense? Where we could trust and rely on the police to protect us? And as far as that goes, it would be nice if our government would stay out of our lady parts as well. The whole thing is creepy.

And as for the military..who do you think you are? You honestly think you can investigate sexual assault among your own ranks? You've proven time and time again that you can't. It's time for you to step back and hang your collective heads in shame, particularly in view of the guys who have been reinstated after their convictions have been overturned by a higher ranking officer. I'd like a minute in a room alone with one of those so-called "higher ranking officers" to fully explain the error he made. I'm sure many women would like to do the same. My God..you're supposed to be defending us..not abusing us. And it's not only women who are assaulted. It's happening to men as well.

Something is very wrong here.. Things seem so backwards. We watched in horror at the beginning of this month when the Tea Party shut down the government all because they don't like the Affordable Care Act. They also don't understand the concept of the debt ceiling. Apparently it's okay to destroy the country's credit rating because the guy in the White House isn't the right color. Racism, along with other "isms", has stacked the deck against the American people and if we don't figure out what's going on and stop it, no telling what will happen to us. We must find our way back to each other and elevate our country to the lofty place it belongs. It's appropriate to care about each other. It's what we're supposed to do. The Ted Cruz's of this world have it wrong. We're better than this.

More Roadside Cavity Searches in Texas???

Mercy sakes. What the hell is going on in Texas? Why are cops doing cavity searches on women by the side of the road? I read yesterday, that a female cop who did this was reinstated on the force because the powers that be decided that in view of the fact that she's a trainee, it was the responsibility of her training officer to stop her from doing the cavity search.

SHE'S A WOMAN. SHE SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BETTER.

I don't care if she was a trainee. She needs to lose her job along with her idiot training officer. Does anyone take responsibility for their actions anymore? What difference does it make if she was a trainee? Don't we want our police officers to have the intelligence to think for themselves? If she can't figure this one out without someone else telling her what to do, then she shouldn't be trusted to protect and serve. Because this doesn't serve the public at all. This was a criminal act. Just like in the military. It's no different.

Let's recap a little.. Texas has a problem respecting women. Whether it's the legislature, the governor, or law enforcement, for whatever reason, women are being targeted by abusive behavior. A woman's right to be safe from harm is being systematically destroyed by this state. But they're not alone in this effort. It's almost as if some of these conservative controlled states are vying for the most abusive state award. Their behavior is reckless and destructive.

Do we really need to have 50 states in our union? Secession is looking pretty good at this point.