Carl Sagan: great scientist, writer, thinker, marijuana user
aaron moritz, May 16th 2010When I first read “The Demon Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark” about  a year ago, I was (and am, constantly) undergoing a transformation in the way I think about the world. That book hit me hard, and it sured up a lot of things I’d kinda been feeling, but unable to put into words.
He wrote this amazing essay, as “Mr. X” (having to hide his name for fear of committing public and career suicide), about his own personal marijuana use and he even mentions that it helped with some of his scientific insights.
link to his essay
Here are a few video’s from youtube, if you’re like me, and are too young to remember him being on TV, and don’t know who I’m talking about.
-oh wow I just finished watched this one again as I searched for it on youtube. all the shit that we do to each other… i don’t know, this video just puts things into perspective.
-Carl on his PBS show ‘Cosmo’s’ explaining the fourth dimension.
4/20 at the Edmonton Legislative grounds
aaron moritz, April 22nd 2010In high school I was all about legalizing weed, because it’s better for you than alcohol, has been shown to stunt cancer growth, is good for chemo, glaucoma, and pain patients, nobody has ever died from it, the argument that it’ll get you addicted to other drugs is superfluous and plain dumb, it enhances creativity, calms people down, makes people happy, people should have the right to alter their state of mind if it does not negatively affect others, and it is not physically addictive.
Now, I don’t care quite as much because I realized we have much bigger problems, and I can just smoke it anyway, illegally. And that’s what I did on the 20′th, 4/20, global weed day, at 4:20pm. I ended up going alone because none of my friends were available, so I just walked down around 4:15, took a walk around, smoked a joint at 4:20, and walked back home. Clearly dangerous illegal activity.
There were at least two thousand people there. It’s hard to tell, but it was actually really uplifting. People there are happy, they smile at you and make eye contact. Everyone there knows that everything is ok, at least at that moment, and it’s a beautiful thing.
Plus it’s always fun to feel like you’re doing something naughty. Being on GOVERNMENT GROUNDS with POLICE all around and lighting up a joint feels rebellious, it feels right. It was just a great display of the human spirit, fighting against repression and all that. I know. Like I said, there are more important things than weed, but it’s nice to see people caring about something.
Man was I fucked up when I walked back home across the bridge.
Peace
05.27.2009
aaron moritz, May 27th 2009I know I’ve been posting a lot of pro-drug information and comments on here, but I don’t want people to think I encourage anyone to use drugs. There is just so much anti-drug propaganda out there that I often feel it’s necessary to defend them. There’s a lot of bullshit out there perpetuated by this insane idea that lying to people will get them to stop using drugs. I don’t think drugs are inherently good or bad. There are positives and negatives, but false information put out by anti-drug groups makes it harder for people to know what the negatives really are.
Illegal drugs, for the most part, are either escapist, or recreational. Or both. However they’re being used, people sometimes develop addictions. How hazardous a certain addiction is to a persons health depends on the drug. Cocaine? Can get pretty ugly. Marijuana? From what scientists tell me (personally, of course) you’re probably ok. You might get a bad cough, or a bad memory. Maybe slow reflexes. Hey, at least you’re not stealing money for heroin right? Well, I guess the heroin addict wouldn’t either if he could get clean, legal, affordable heroin.
Just like the great Artie Lange said in this clip of the Howard Stern Show I posted a couple days ago; we’re funding Al-Qaeda, or whatever other “terrorist” muslim extremist groups there are by handing them the lucrative drug market, when we could be using these proceeds to helping people who have addiction problems. And we could do real research into what causes addiction and how to prevent it, because we haven’t been able to get people to stop using drugs. I think sex and aids have proven that “abstinence is the cure” doesn’t work.
Anyways, what I originally wanted to say before getting distracted a couple times is that using drugs for recreation is fine, as long as the user stays that way (which is possible, believe it or not), and doesn’t slip into addictive or abusive patterns. Using drugs for escapism? Probably not a good idea, in my opinion (…though i’m one to talk). Although it’s very understandable (especially for me). “It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.” – Jiddu Krishnamurti. That quote is from one of the zeitgeist movies. I just looked this Jiddu dude up on wikipedia, and I really like the way he thinks (or thought… he died the year before I was born.). I’m gonna have to go learn more about him so I can regurgitate more of his views as my own. Anyways, with how fucked up and money focused our culture is right now, it’s no wonder people need to escape. It’s no wonder that after 40 hours a week doing something you hate just so you can stay alive, people want fun. No matter what the cost.
Anyways, I’ve avoided saying this for a while, because I wasn’t quite sure, but if anyone besides Jack (two more weeks and that’ll actually be his name) and B-ho are actually reading this, go join thezeitgeistmovement.com. I’m officially throwing my support behind them (I’m sure they’ll thank me someday…). Because most of my thoughts that I write about in here are just bullshit arguments that distract us from the real problem, which is money and government. And we don’t need either of them. They create the noise that creates the arguments that I so love to be a part of.
“The Zeitgeist Movement is a grass roots campaign to unify the world through a common ideology based on the fundamentals of life and nature. This movement ignores politics, religion and the like, and instead attempts to communicate how all humans are the same at the fundamental level and how it is time we start to work together on a global scale to end the seemingly perpetual conflict and suffering in our current world society.”
I know a lot of people think this is either dumb, or idealistic and impossible. I don’t. I think it’s logical, and I think it’s possible. The only way if could possibly work is through a revolution in consciousness, by changing one persons mind at a time, not a political revolution. So if you do check out the movement, and you understand what they’re trying to do, at least try and spread the word.
(Going for my longest, most preachy entry yet) If the zeitgeistmovement is too ‘out there’ for you right now, at least go check out ted.com. They have some really smart people on there with some really great ideas for the future. Technocracy, Inc is another group that wishes to abolish government and money, also worth looking into. But I guess I’ll stop now, this was supposed to be a drug related entry… My next ‘thought’ is probably going to be an all out pitch for the zeitgeist movement though, so be prepared.
05.27.2009
aaron moritz, May 27th 2009Marc Emery agrees to 5 years in Canadian prison
“Marc Emery, Vancouver’s self-styled Prince of Pot, has tentatively agreed to a five-year prison term in a plea bargain over U.S. money laundering and marijuana seed-selling charges.”
It sucks that he has to compromise his integrity and plead guilty, but you can’t blame the dude. He would’ve gotten life for selling fucking marijuana seeds. Seriously. That’s how fucked up the US legal system is.
05.24.2009
aaron moritz, May 24th 2009Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Howard Stern, forever a man of wisdom.
05.18.2009
aaron moritz, May 18th 2009new drug czar calls for end of ‘war on drugs’ (america)
“The nation’s new Drug Czar says he wants to end the “War on Drugs” and prefers the adoption of policies that favor treating drug users rather than incarcerating them.”
Although I’d still rather see our (and the american, and every) government dismantled, it’s always nice when somebody in a position of power says something that isn’t completely fucking retarded.
04.29.2009
aaron moritz, April 29th 2009The front page of the paper here on Monday said “Everyone Is On Ecstasy”. I knew right away that wasn’t true, because I didn’t feel warm and euphoric, and then I realized they meant it less literally, like ‘more people then you think are taking ecstasy.’
A 14 year old girl died. She took too much, probably danced too hard or didn’t drink enough water, and her heart stopped. (click here to read the story.) Drugs can be dangerous. Which is why children need to be educated about them properly. Schools don’t have drug education, they have anti-drug education. But kids don’t listen. Adults don’t even listen… people take drugs. And they aren’t going to stop. If this girl knew more about the safety of ecstasy use (because lets face it, research has shown that MDMA, in standard recreational doses, is not that harmful to the human brain), then maybe she wouldn’t have taken six pills and died. And don’t get me wrong, I don’t think 14 year old kids should be taking drugs, but I don’t think that means we should withhold knowledge from them that might save their lives.
The parents of the girl believe the pills might have been triple strength. The problem with illegal ecstasy (one that the police and anti-drug groups constantly spout) is that you never know how much MDMA, or meth, or DXM, or whatever else might be inside them. If MDMA legal, and sales were controlled to those over 18, maybe dealers outside of the arcade at west edmonton mall wouldn’t be selling triple strength pills to 14 year old girls. I know they could still get the drug, but i… hear that it’s often easier for underagers to get weed, E, coke, or mushrooms than it is to get alcohol or cigarettes. And if these 14 year old had gotten their hands on some semi-legal, lab-made, safe, standard dose MDMA, there’s a good chance we’d have one less dead body.
By legalizing ecstasy (and other drugs), and restricting their sale, we could redirect the funds being used to fight the drug war to helping addicts regain their lives, and educating (not encouraging) people how to use them safely. We could even identify problem cases, by keeping track of who and how much of these powerful recreational drugs are being sold to each person. These people would be encouraged to enter treatment, and investigated for possible sales to underagers. Lastly, legal ecstasy could have helped another kid another kid who got caught in the crosshairs and ended up in the hospital, the dealer. I know most people wouldn’t feel much sympathy for him, even if he is in the hospital after “collapsing” when the police put handcuffs on him (I wonder what made him collapse… I didn’t think handcuffs caused this), but I’m a humanitarian, and I don’t think he ever intended for this to happen, and probably isn’t a terrible person. He was listed as critical, but it apparently getting better. So he can be blamed for the death of a girl that isn’t really his fault.
04.25.2009
aaron moritz, April 25th 2009I just heard that 27 babies died in the US last year from their parents accidentally suffocating their babies by sleeping in the same bed and rolling over on top of them. Which is insanely sad, and also 27 more people then weed has killed this year, last year, or any year (although if you hit the bong too hard you might inhale your own vomit and choke to death. no shit. 5 deaths in britain between ’93-’95. I saw that on csi once and thought it was bullshit).
A few other things that kill an infinite amount more people then weed every year include:
aspirin and other non-steroid anti-inflammatories: 7,600/year
prescription drugs: 32,000 people /year
lightning: 60 people /year
smoking (and related illnesses): 443,000 people/year
elevator and escalators: 30 people/year
These are all just in the US of course (easiest stats to find), and some of them are probably wrong. I didn’t do much fact checking, but as long as the real numbers are above zero my point is still right.
