—Adolf Hitler , Mein Kampf, vol. I, ch. X[1]

Hemp prohibition illustrates the validity of that principle.

Personally I oppose the “legalization” of hemp because awarding it LEGAL status would, in effect, lend credibiltiy to it’s former ILLEGAL status. We can’t change history but when hemp is no longer banned the “powers that be” must acknowledge the fact that hemp should never have been illegal in the first place.

If society will supposedly progress because of the open minds of the next generation, why has it not occurred in the last….four or five generations?

Our society has not progressed because of the closed minds of the past. It has always been this way.
Anyone older than 25 knows this, because they have watched it happen.
Not to mention that it is stupidity to even think that the entire generation is open minded, much the same as it is stupidity to think that everyone in this blog will one day agree with each other.

open minds of the next generation definitely have the potential to create change, the question is will they?
Historically speaking, the proof is that they will not because they are, generally speaking, ignorant to anything outside their immediate sphere of influences.

Also, it is not the ‘next generation’ that is trying to institute change, so much as the remnants of previous generations, who constantly find themselves held back by ‘the closed minds of the past’ as you put it.

Take a walk around a college campus sometime for a glimpse at the reality of things.
The ‘open minds’ are not in control of themselves, let alone anything else, and are very much affected by the decisions of the ‘closed minds’

As a side note: Hippy is a state of mind, not an age bracket, in the same context as say….’stoner’.

…and if you really think the ‘open minds are in control’….you better brace YOUR self.

Our society will progress because of the open minds of the next generation, not because of the closed minds of the past. It has always been this way, and the open minds are in control now so brace yourself.

Another observation: you seem to think you can induce revolution without applying the revolt…and you wonder why you’ve been spinning your wheels and getting nowhere for how many decades? Seven, eight?

It seems that most people who reply in these comment sections want to pick and choose the parts that best suit their arguement, via patriotism, constitutionalism, religio-spiritualism etc etc ad nauseum….you want to quote a founding father, or an old document, or invoke your faith, but you do so while taking it outside of its context, or selectively-forgetting about the parts that do not apply to your position or which ran contrastingly.

the real world is not lollipops and rainbows, as most of you seem to think it will be from your safe anonymous shelters.
Not yet.
Maybe at one time it was (highly doubt it) or maybe someday it can be (again, highly doubt it) but you won’t get there with spitwad efforts and tough legal talk.
This fact has been historically proven so many times it shouldn’t even bear repeating.

If you want to make an omelet you are going to have to crack a few eggs.
The system has already learned that in order to keep a handful of dissidents down, all you have to do is crack a few skulls.

If you pay taxes, you already condone violence whther you realize it or not.
You already have the blood of many women and children on your hands, since the government has been using YOUR money to kill THEIR enemies in YOUR name…your failure to do anything to stop them sooner only means that you have been condoning their behavior all along…which means all of you anti-violent pacifistic types are the very epitome of panty-waist passive aggressiveness: too lazy to otherwise stop the nightmares performed in your name but too cowardly to pull the trigger yourselves…but still just as guilty as LBJ, Nixon, McCarthy, or both Bushes combined.

We seem to be the only society that thinks it can sit on its ass and change will just happen around us, and happen the way we want it to.
Every other group in the world has had to fight for its rights, but Americans are so fat and complacent that they think they are entitled to it without making any actual effort.

More like a society of lazy consumer egomaniacs being led by the elected culture of megalomaniacs.
It would seem that things are the way they are because we are perfectly made for each other.

Why don’t you just go all out soccermom; get a minivan, and do a four lane change at 80mph without a turn signal, stinking of gin with a cellphone shoved up your ass and four of someone elses’ kids in the back.

Like it or not, Smokie Stover makes a really valid point when he notes the fact that the planting of hempseed when it is not even the right time for it is a very empty effort.
You all are so eager for someone or something to call ‘hero’ that you are far too eager to overlook that these guys apparently also failed civil disobedience101.
At least it appears safe to say that apparently our cops are not the only ones who are too stupid to grasp basic botany.

You may not like the way Smokie delivers the message, but there is more to him that is right than wrong…and besides free speech protects the that language that you don’t want to hear. That’s the way it was supposed to work, not the other way around, since the other ‘speech’ is not what is in need of protecting.

I would be much more impressed to hear this story occuring in the Springtime, otherwise it just seems like some lame ass publicity stunt by a handful of hippies looking for some attention, which appears to have worked from the immediate assessment of just how many of you are now repeating their names like a mantra, all ready to go buy the products offered like good little consumer lemmings.

To the asshole who made comment #39: you’re a spineless jellyfish and argueably the worst kind of hypocrite that exists…the kind that masquerades as an ally while looking for any excuse to express your typical toothless two-faced internet tough guy cowardice.
Kind of like a Republican administration but without the authority.
Way to rise above, dipshit. Not.

Same thing applies to whatever stupid moderator it was that decided that allowing such a comment to be posted had anything to do with taking the moral high ground, or vindication of anything; all you did was stoop to the lower level by permitting it, thereby displaying your own ineptitude.
You took the bait, hook line and sinker, and probably grinned to yourself with a feeling of indignant satisfaction the whole time.

besides if pot & hemp laws
actually were reformed in the USA
NORML would, of course
have to disband

[Russ responds: Yes, just like after prohibition ended, the National Beer Wholesalers Association had to fold up... oh, wait, says here they formed in 1938, five years following the repeal of prohibition, and act as a very influential lobby representing the beer industry to this day. Why wouldn't NORML, in a post-legal world, just become the National Organization for Relegalized Marijuana Lovers? Plus, we advocate for the sensible regulation of marijuana. Regulation means laws, which means there would still be marijuana laws, and some of them would be bad and in need of reforming, right?]

Paris Hilton smokes pot– and look at her..

The best way to show your support is by actually purchasing hemp and showing the nation that hemp should be legalized in the US.