USVI NORMAL SNUBBED BY AVIS

Agree or not, what you are wanting to advertise is illegal.
Alcohol and adult videos may not be your thing but they are legal. I'm sure they would not advertise for child porn as it is illegal as well.
Plus I don't know if they would have to advertise if it was legal. A few years ago our street rod club was putting on a show in Scottsdale. We contacted one of the major publications that covered that market. They would not advertise for us, they only advertised events that they put on.
It's their newspaper.

There's nothing illegal about advertising to find a group of like-minded people -- even if you're looking for other pedophiles! It's called free speech and free assembly, and is predominantly how change has been affected in America for the past 233 years. It's what living in a democratic republic is all about, and without it women wouldn't have the right to vote and blacks would be sitting at the back of the safari.

It's the Avis' right to do this as they are a private organization. Your first amendment rights don't apply to a private organization.

That said there is nothing illegal about trying to organize a group to change the laws which is what NORML is for. So if this was their reasoning it really makes me question their decision making process. Terri, your statement kind of scares me...do you really think that trying to legally organize in order to change the law is somehow wrong or are you just unfamiliar with what NORML stands for (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws)?

In light of this I may do as others have done recently and stop patronizing the Avis. That is really our only recourse in a free country when dealing with private enterprise. Fortunately it is a pretty strong recourse.

Sean

http://books.google.com/books?id=3TtgIlZ1cSgC&pg=PA395&lpg=PA395&dq=newspape r's+right+to+reject+advertising&source=bl&ots=SMPzmRGdOk&sig=XMITboR0QamJrgNBpdFuWGHrTW4&hl=en&ei=FwhYSqizLoviswOaitDWBg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2

"It's the Avis' right to do this as they are a private organization. Your first amendment rights don't apply to a private organization."

The Avis has the right to decline advertising, just as Bombi has the right to alert people about the Avis' position, and both Bombi and whomever is empowered to make advertising decisions for the Avis are exercising their first amendment rights. However, my earlier mention of free speech and free assembly were specifically directed at terry's assertion that it is illegal to advertise in search of support for overturning current law.

No, I just saying that since pot in any form(? except maybe hemp) is illegal. Not saying right r wrong. It's the Avis's right to reject what they think in inappropriate for their readership.
Of course they have the right to group together to try and get things changed.

They report when people get busted with marijuana, but won't print a paid classified ad looking for initial board members and supporters? Same subject matter. Maybe it goes against the owners interests in the Consitutional Convention.

Here's the ad - It's been in the Traders for the last 3 weeks.
SEEKING INITIAL BOARD MEMBERS AND SUPPORTERS interested in joining a not-for-profit organization committed to the legalization of medical marijuana and the decriminalization of marijuana in the US Virgin Islands. All interested parties are encouraged to submit a resume and letter of interest to usvinorml@gmail.com.
Want to support this effort or get more information on our group? Email us at usvinorml@gmail.com, visit www.usvinorml.org and http://www.googlegroups.co.vi/group/normlvi or call 340-244-9197.

Like it or not 13 + states have legalized medical marijuana and have some sort of decriminalization laws in place. It's a heck of a lot safer for pain, anxiety, eating /gastric disorders than the pharmacuticals out there. We waste tons of money making busts, prosecuting and locking up people for using an herb where the annual deaths in America attributed to smoking marijuana are 0 - zilch, nada. We can divert the costs of chasing people who are trying to medicate or practice their religion to many other useful projects within Law Enforcement/ Govt.

Bombi: "I have the feeling my 1st amendment rights have been violated. "

As a one-time professor of Constitutional law, I would ask my students if this case rises to a violation of any clause of the First Amendment. IMHO, it does not.

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

While I support the aims of NORML, I see no Constitutional issue here. Avis is not obliged by law to accept advertising of this nature. They would be on soft ground if they accepted advertising from one business but not from a competitor, but that is not the case here. That Traders accepted the ad is not relevant in a legal sense.

Perhaps NORML could try another, more oblique, approach.

Don't sweat it Bombi......the Avis would have miss spelled and messed up the ad any way - HA!
Save your $.75 and just read the Daily News via on line ...... speaking of, will the Crucian Trader accept the ad??
And if so you just quadrupled your viewership VS using the out dated never heard of the Internet Avis.

Edward Thanks for that information. So my rights haven't been violated, no problem. What I have learned that the AVIS is biased and small minded.and is completely uninformed about the rest of world with no apparent interest in fair and balance reporting of.
any opinions other than the owners.

USVINORML will examine every l opportunity to educate the people of the VI on our position. Trade winds on St. John has contacted us for more information.
Our goals are simple and are;
1. To provide and allow safe access to cannabis for medical use to relieve pain and suffering. There are endless scientific and medical papers published that describe the benefits of medical cannabis.that support our objectives.
2. To decriminalize small quantities of cannabis possessed by responsible adults for their personal use.
3. To recognize that cannabis is used in support of religious beliefs.
We aren't seeking gross legalization of cannabis. We support keeping all illegal substances away from our youth.

Cannabis has been used for over 2000 years as a naturally occurring medicinal herb. Yes there are pharmaceuticals that would provide similar relief but also cause unpleasant side effects, can be addictive, or damage the body or mind. 13 of the United States have passed compassionate laws to allow safe access. No one has died, We believe that we will be successful in the VI.

All what NORML wants to do, under the guise of medicinal purposes, is to have everyone smoking it public and making nuisances of themselves. We have too much of a drug problem here. Marijuana is an entry level drug that will take you on to worst drugs. Drugs like cocaine and heroin, which you will also dub 'naturally occurring' but also highly addictive. Maybe the Avis does not want any part of it.
Ronnie Lockhart
Vice President
Council on Alcohol and Substance Abuse of St Thomas. (COAST)

Ronnie,
What shell do you live under?
I hope this is a "paid-for" opinion.

The reality shell.

Ronnie, you are right, I do think that the "medical" stance is a bit of a charade and merely a "means to an end" as you suggest. Hopefully NORML will be able to take a more principled stance once they get the repeal of the ridiculous MJ laws changed (which they will) which is that people should be free to choose what they want to put into THEIR bodies.

What I would seek (I'm not a representative of NORML) is the full re-legalization of all drugs as that is the only "legal" stance under the precepts put forth in the Constitution of the United States of America that guarantee our individual freedom. I am certain that one day this will happen, unfortunately hundreds of thousands more will be lost in this illegal and unconstitutional war on drugs that has been an unmitigated disaster for 40 years.

If you want to deal with reality please tell me how the war on drugs has been anything but a complete failure. Reality: it has driven up crime much like prohibition did creating victims out of non-drug users who got caught in the middle of drug turf wars. It put a generation of poor children in jail by offering them jobs in a black market to work in instead of a legitimate one. And from a principled standpoint it has given a vast amount of power to the state, power that the Constitution never authorized.

I don't use drugs but I do seek objective truth, and there is no way that you can claim that you live under the "reality" shell and also feel that the war on drugs has been anything other than a total failure.

Sean

I truly have no argument there. I do believe it need to be controlled, taxed and distributed within the law. I find the medicinal and religious arguments as well as natural herb weak. They have no problem in Holland where it is legal. If legalized and taxed, the monies collected could help pay for the rehab of addicts and lots of blood shed will be avoided in the meantime as marijuana does have blood on it all along the route to personal use. I may be naive, but this would be the better reality.

Ronnie,
We are working to allow the use - not abuse of marijuana. You should be wanting to be involved in this effort - to push to class marijuana differently, and to pursue legal use for medical and religious purposes. It is not a gateway drug - except that people think if they are going away for doing drugs it better be for something REALLY good. So it is the penalty imposed by the law that encourages people to use stronger drugs (a better high- same punishment).

We are working to give patients an alternative medical option to the pharmacuticals that ravage their bodies. For example, I have fibromyalgia. I watch the tv and see commercials for Lyrica. Read the side effects of Lyrica. They are worse than they symptoms the medicine is supposed to relieve. No way I would even try to take it.

My father who is 73 has been prescribed for 5 years now Vicodin 750mg 4/day. For 5 freeking years. Talk about addiction. He's 73 for heaven's sake. I couldn't take that much without being totally f'd up all day!

Any person that uses marijuana as medicine doesn't do it to get high. They do it for pain relief, for the ability to eat without adverse effect, to relieve muscle spasm, relieve anxiety. If someone uses it for medication they treat it as such. It's usually taken at given intervals. It's not like they all just say - Cool, I can smoke legally now and then smoke all day long getting stoned out of their mind.

The states that have enacted Medical Marijuana laws have provisions in there that generally restrict use in public places. They don't ensure that your employer will allow you to medicate on break or even let you keep your job if they drug test. Norml doesn't advocate use for minors unless medically indicated. (and in states that do allow minors to used medical mj, there are multiple physician recommendations and parental approval that must be submitted).

The NIH has funded Temple to the tune of $1.5 mil to study MJ effects on slowing the progress of MS.
And as opposed as I am to smoking anything - there are other ways to receive the medicinal benefit of MJ - vaporization, ingestion, oils & creams topically applied.

Talk about addictive drugs - kids get more of those out of the family medicine cabinet. They steal prescription drugs and use/sell them - to very dangerous effects.
Check out this from CNN - http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2009/06/15/video-melissa-etheridge-on-medical-marijuana/
and these http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=7810

And there is legislation in Congress right now to change the law. And now Delegate Donna Christensen has the ability to vote in Congress. Two bills follow:

The measure, HR 2943, an "Act to Remove Federal Penalties for Personal Use of Marijuana by Responsible Adults," would eliminate federal penalties for the personal possession of up to 100 grams (three and one-half ounces) of cannabis and for the not-for-profit transfer of up to one ounce of pot - making the prosecutions of these offenses strictly a state matter. ...

and
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=111_cong_bills&docid=f:h2835ih.txt.pdf

The second bill HR2835 proposes the re-scheduling of marijuana from a Class 1 (no medicinal use- same as heroin) to a Class II drug.

Here's a link to some of the drugs on each schedule. http://www.maine.gov/dhhs/osa/data/pmp/scheddrug.htm

Funny that Fentanyl is listed as a class 2 drug, but the at least the last 5 surgeries (including colonoscopy's) I've had, one of the drugs they give prior to the surgery is Fentanyl as a standard course.

December 3, 2002 - Washington, DC, USA

Washington, DC: Marijuana experimentation by adolescents does not lead to the use of harder drugs, according to the findings of a RAND study released Monday. The study dismisses the so-called "gateway theory," and raises doubts regarding the legitimacy of federal drug policies based upon its premise.

"While the gateway theory has enjoyed popular acceptance, scientists have always had their doubts," said lead researcher Andrew Morral, associate director of RAND's Public Safety and Justice unit. "Our study shows that these doubts are justified."

After analyzing data from the U.S. National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (which measures patters and frequency of self-reported drug use among Americans), researchers concluded that teenagers who tried hard drugs were predisposed to do so whether or not they tried marijuana.

"The people who are predisposed to use drugs and have the opportunity to use drugs are more likely than others to use both marijuana and harder drugs," Morral said. "Marijuana typically comes first because it is more available. Once we incorporated these facts into our mathematical model of adolescent drug use, we could explain all of the drug use associations that have been cited as evidence of marijuana's gateway effect."

Morral said that the study raises serious questions about the legitimacy of basing national drug policy decisions on the false assumption that pot is a gateway drug. "For example, it suggests that policies aimed at reducing or eliminating marijuana availability are unlikely to make any dent in the hard drug problem," he said.

NORML Foundation Executive Director Allen St. Pierre praised the study's findings, noting that population estimates on drug use have consistently shown that most people who try marijuana never graduate to harder drugs. "Statistically, for every 104 Americans who have tried marijuana, there is only one regular user of cocaine, and less than one user of heroin," St. Pierre said. "For the overwhelming majority of marijuana smokers, pot is clearly a 'terminus' rather than a gateway."

St. Pierre further speculated that among the minority of marijuana smokers who do graduate to harder substances, it's pot prohibition rather than the use of marijuana itself that often serves as a doorway to the world of hard drugs. "The more users become integrated in an environment where, apart from cannabis, hard drugs can also be obtained, the greater the chances they will experiment with harder drugs," he said.

Previous studies criticizing the gateway theory include a Canadian Senate report released this past fall, and a 1999 report by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine. The latter study concluded that marijuana was not a "gateway drug to the extent that it is a cause or even that it is the most significant predictor of serious drug abuse." It noted that the "most consistent predictors of serious drug abuse appear to be intensity of marijuana use and co-occurring psychiatric disorders or a family history of psychopathology, including alcoholism."

For more information, please contact either Allen St. Pierre or Paul Armentano of The NORML Foundation at (202) 483-8751. Results of the RAND study appear in the December edition of the British Journal Addiction.

Ronnie, I admire your comitment but if you read and understand the facts, you may reconsider your position.

NORML and the NORML Foundation: 1600 K Street NW, Suite 501, Washington DC, 20006-2832
Tel: (202) 483-5500 • Fax: (202) 483-0057 • Email: norml@norml.org

Ronnie, I would be very interested to hear more about COAST. Is there an affilate on STX. In no way does USVI NORML, NORML.ORG or myself support drug use by children, adolesants or anyone under legal age. in fact USVINORML would work towards counseling, rehab or any other proven practical method to discourage and prevent any underage youth from use or abuse of any substance We would like to promote the use of any monies obtained through fines for breaking drug laws to be used for counseling for youths entering the system. USVI NORMAL is in full support any organization or law that will help anyone below the age of consent to confront the issue of drug use or abuse. It is also our goal to prevent young offenders from carrying a record of any offense that may interfere with future job or educational oppurtunities.

"Marijuana is an entry level drug that will take you on to worst drugs."

Marijuana is a schedule 1 drug, like heroin and cocaine. Despite parental and governmental warnings, kids try marijuana and nothing "bad" happens. So kids figure if they were lied to about marijuana, they've been lied to about cocaine and heroin. Then they experiment with heroin or cocaine, quickly develop a habit, and authorities claim marijuana was the entry level drug that led to the their cocaine or heroin addiction. But it was the lies authorities told about marijuana, not the marijuana itself, that destroyed these kids' lives.

I too think I do think NORML's medicinal and religious arguments are weak, and I believe many drugs that are currently illicit should be treated as we treat the drug alcohol i.e. available to adults and taxed.

http://www.opposingviews.com/arguments/medical-marijuana-laws-do-not-cause-increased-teen-marijuana-use

Here are some basic facts to educate yourself about reality not hearsay or myth. A little research would clear up your confusion of the facts.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/294717/Medical-Marijuana-AARP-medical-marijuana This a report from AARP about older people's opinions about medical cannabis

It is also incredibly hypocritical to allow alcohol and tobacco but forbid marijuana.

The big push to outlaw hemp was a business decision to keep from cutting into profits on things that could be cheaply replaced with hemp and was pushed as a drug issue to make it easy to push for laws against hemp. Always follow the money.

I don't use grass, booze, or cigs, but I see nothing but hypocrisy in forbidding just grass.
What does it say to a child when mommy and daddy are having a drink with their cigs but tell little Johny grass is bad?

Uhh, it says that alcohol and cigs are legal and grass is against the law?