“Good people don’t smoke marijuana.”
– Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-AL, Trump AG nominee

So, roughly speaking, that’d be maybe 60 million people in at least half the states in the country that voted for the decriminalization or legalization of cannabis for recreational and/or medical use? Wow, that’s a whole lot of bad people.

From the latest at dcmj.org:

Donald Trump has tapped one of the biggest prohibitionists in Congress to be the Attorney General of the United States: Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions. Earlier this year the Alabama Senator said “good people don’t smoke marijuana,” and while we don’t know yet if he’ll respect states rights (or DC’s rights since we are not a state) or if he’ll do what John Ashcroft did as George W. Bush’s Attorney General: raid lawful cannabis grows, raid lawful dispensaries, and even go so far as crack down on paraphernalia vendors. Let’s not forget why Tommy Chong went to jail and why history may repeat itself if we don’t act NOW!

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Continue reading "Bad People: An Infographic" »

Soon it’ll be time for our second Catharsis On The Mall, a gathering for compassion and healing, featuring art, speakers, music, and storytelling, culminating in the “temple burn” ceremony, the only such event officially permitted on the Mall.

Here’s the details, from the Catharsis Web site:

Catharsis on the Mall’s 2016 art theme is dedicated to those who have experienced traumatic stress and their journey home.

We experience traumatic events that displace our mind, fracture our lives, and violate our perceptions. One moment can cause such upheaval, that it might seem impossible to return to that safe place we once knew. When our lives are ripped asunder, and we are left to pick up the pieces and stitch them back together, the struggle to recenter and find yourself feels insurmountable.

Traumatic stress was written of in 760 BCE by the Greek poet Homer, in the Iliad and the Odyssey, and studied by the historian Herodotus in 490 BCE. It has been present in every war ever fought. It has been present in every community that experiences rape, brutality, oppression, and systematic violence. Violence and disaster can have lasting impacts on body and mind…

…We gather to celebrate wellness and reintegration. We gather for art and community. We gather to shake free from the stigmas of surviving. We gather to honor and support those who travel this road alongside us. We gather to end the silent suffering of millions. We are on the journey home together.

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Special thanks to Michael Verdon for letting me crib off of his temple altar sketches.

Continue reading "Catharsis 2016: Our Journey Home" »

"March Of The Clones" Washington DC 09.24.16 from Mike Flugennock on Vimeo.

This past Saturday saw yet another smoking protest at the White House, calling on President Sparkle Pony to deschedule cannabis from the DEA’s schedule of narcotics and dangerous substances. This week’s protest had a Star Wars theme, “March Of The Clones”, and also used the famous Han Solo Carbonite Freeze scene from Return Of The Jedi as an analogy for Obama’s continued inaction on cannabis scheduling.

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Continue reading "March Of The Clones" »

Ignore the anti-legalization shrieking and propaganda, and consider this little factoid: Police have murdered 765 people in the US this year – so far. Meanwhile, absolutely 0 – count ’em, ZERO – people worldwide have died as a direct result of smoking cannabis through all of recorded history.

That’s right, smoking cannabis will not kill you – unless you do it in front of a moving bus. See you in DC on September 24!

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