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I just got an unbelievable email from NORML. For the first time in 25 years, there is an actual piece of legislation before congress which would COMPLETELY REMOVE the national ban on marijuana!

Keep in mind, though, it would still be up to each state individually to legalize or criminalize it, or something in between.

However, this bill, if passed, would be a GIANT LEAP towards freedom (as the title suggests). It would mean that marijuana is FULLY LEGAL in California, and it would give states the right to choose whether or not it is okay.

There’s not a whole lot else to say on this matter, so I’ll get to the important part: celebrate 4/20 tomorrow, and the day after that, on 4/21, we’re going to let Congress know that this bill needs to be passed. How are we going to do that? Here’s an excerpt from the NORML Newsletter I received:

Guys, I urge you to help out with this effort to restore freedom to America. If you are interested in receiving updates like this from NORML, I also suggest you join NORML’s newsletter (it is near the bottom left of their page).

Thanks guys.

Hey everyone, PLEASE read this as it is by far the most important blog I have ever written. I don’t wish to come across as a fanatic, but for this particular issue, I am one. I hope you will be as well after you hear what I have to say. This is about doing your part to Save the Internet.

I sincerely believe that the Internet is humanity’s single biggest resource. It is bigger than human beings, bigger than corporations, bigger than even countries. The Internet binds the entire world together in a way never before seen.

It is not the right of any individual, corporation, government, or entity of any kind to stifle the freedom of the Internet.

Big phone and cable companies are trying to get rid of Network Neutrality, the fundamental principle that prevents them from discriminating against your favorite Web sites and services.

Unless we speak out to our members of Congress they could move to allow large telephone and cable companies to control what you do, where you go and what you watch online.

Ultimately, because of the power of the Internet, those who are allowed to control the Internet will have the power to shape the future of humanity. Think about it. Culture, commercial enterprise, freedom of speech, religion, politics. All of these things can be controlled with the Internet. Those who seek control do so according to their own desires and lusts, NOT what is in humanity’s best interests.

This is not a difficult issue. Nor is it to be taken lightly. Please, help protect the Internet, which has transcended national borders and pushed humanity to its golden age.

Visit this website, sign their petition, and send a letter to congress (they make it real easy with a simple form). The world needs your help to keep the Internet free.

Visit www.savetheinternet.com to learn what’s at stake and send a loud message directly to the Congress.

It angers me and saddens me to have watched Super Tuesday go by, all the news stations continuing to pretend that Ron Paul didn’t exist. Even when he earned 9, 14, 17, 19, 21, 25 percent of the votes, he was brushed aside as if he was a green party member earning less than 1% in every state. HE’S NOT! He’s a MAJOR CONTENDER! And he’s the only Hope for America.

“…the American Revolution—the very thing whose legacy Ron Paul is fighting to keep alive—had darker days in 1776 than anything we have yet faced.”

RON PAUL IS STILL IN THIS!!! It is pretty clear to me that America wants Ron Paul. They are just so afraid they can’t have them, and afraid they’ll be wasting their vote.

Voting for the right man or woman is NOT wasting your vote. The only ways you can waste your vote are by not voting and by voting for the wrong person because you think the right person doesn’t have enough support.

The Ron Paul Campaign HQ blog:

Loren C. says regarding Ron Paul’s presidential candidacy:

A friend of mine asked me tonight, “Should Ron Paul just quit? I never hear of him on the news so he can’t be doing very well today (Super Tuesday).” Here is my reply to him:

Not even close. Keep fighting, Ron Paul is!

I believe in Ron Paul. I believe in what he stands for, I believe in freedom, I believe in the constitution, and yes, I believe in the American people. And not in spite of, but because of this, I believe Ron Paul can overturn insurmountable odds and the media’s ridiculous political boycott to become the next president of this great nation.

This is a research paper which details America’s fallacies in regards to their strategies in the War on Drugs. Not only do I outline the current strategy and explain what is wrong with it, but I also offer an alternative strategy which could solve many of the problems America faces today, including drug abuse, theft, and violent crime.

Most of us are familiar with alcohol prohibition, which began in 1920 and was quickly repealed in the early 30s. During that time, the sale of alcohol was outlawed in America, and this created far more problems than it solved. Consequences of the federal government outlawing a much-used substance included increased crime rates, increased acts of violence, and one theory even suggests that use of alcohol actually increased. One would find it extremely difficult to locate an educated individual that believes prohibition had positive effects. Prohibition was an absolutely indefensible attack on personal freedom. But most people believe prohibition ended in 1933. Wrong. Soon after began another prohibition, one that for a number of invalid reasons, was largely accepted in contrast to alcohol prohibition.

To see the rest of the article, download the PDF of Uncle Sam’s War on America.

I have plans to put together a more interactive and visually interesting version of this research, but I have had many extravagant plans fall apart. Thus, I promise nothing.

I’m in a pretty good mood right now. Freedom has triumphed in America for the first time in quite a while. Energy Drink-maker Redux Beverages has decided to re-release “No Name” energy drink under its original name! Jamey emailed me to let me know that their famous (or infamous, depending on your point of view) drink will be going on sale again under its rightful name, Cocaine!

Redux’s logo is featured on the new Cocaine Can.

In case you’re not aware of Cocaine’s history, it was a perfectly legitimate energy drink released in September 2006. It was a brilliant name for an energy drink, with a brilliant slogan…Cocaine: The Legal Alternative. The FDA, however, was not amused. They somehow felt they had the right to circumvent the first amendment, and used unconstitutional means which I will not go into as a way of hunting down Jamey Kirby, Cocaine’s founder. Jamey’s very life was threatened if he refused to take the drink off the market. Since then, it has been known as “No Name”, with the same great taste, but sans the cool labeling. For a more detailed history, see the rest of my blogs about Cocaine.

The full new can design. Click to see it big.

Things have changed today, however. Jamey Kirby from Redux has informed me that they will be putting Cocaine, in all its controversial glory, back on U.S. shelves as early as next January. For those who value freedom, this is a very good thing.

Jamey sent me the full new label, which is very similar to the old one with some new fine print and a slight logo change. I must say I’m a fan of the snappy new fine print! I’m surprised they can get away with it, though I’m sure they’ve checked with their lawyers already!

Redux is forced to point out the obvious: their product does not contain the drug Cocaine.

A warning for those who might confuse thin white powder with a thick red liquid.

I’ll have to Vlog about this soon, of course. I just wanted to let you know as fast as I could that this is such a triumphant day for freedom-loving Americans. I am very happy for Jamey and his business, and I appreciate that they have been fighting the man on behalf of us all. Freedom can win! Freedom will win!

Click to see part of Jamey’s email to me.

Update: Jamey just informed me that there were no lawsuits involved. That was a conclusion I jumped to, so I apologize for the misinformation.

Earlier this week, Jamey Kirby, founder and senior partner of Cocaine Energy Drink, emailed me inviting me to attend a party in southern California (read more about that) after listening to my first audio blog, Legalize Cocaine. I was able to get myself there, with help from a friend Justin Littlewood, aka BigTree, and I am oh-so-glad that I did.

As soon as they knew my name, all the partners who were there treated me like a good friend. They were some of the warmest, nicest people I have met in a very long time. As it turns out, I’m the first Cocaine fan to actually meet the Redux (that’s ree - dux; I made the mistake of calling it red - dux once at the party) staff in person…what an honor!

So it is that Cocaine Energy Drink is poised to bring down the house in Europe, and will soon hit Australia market, although it was previously illegal in the land down under. As a matter of fact, it’s doing pretty well in all the countries that, you know, actually offer freedom of speech instead of just talking about it. I was informed that the online store would be back up and distributing the new stuff shortly. It’s also hitting a few American shelves again within the next week (hopefully) under a new name, or rather, under no name at all. I got a glimpse of the new can, and while resembling the old one in many ways, it no longer sports the catchy phrase, “The Legal Alternative,” and worst of all it is missing that oh-so-welcomed “Cocaine” label. The drink inside is just as brilliant as ever, though.

While I was there, Jamey Kirby and his partners shared with me a little bit about how Cocaine got started. Jamey is an engineer/software designer at heart. In fact, he owned a software company (I didn’t find out the name of that company) which he sold his interests in, providing much of the initial funding for Cocaine. As I understand it, he had written a very marketable piece of software, but wanted to go big with it. In order to raise funds for that end, he started an energy drink. Lying in bed one night, he brainstormed possible names for his new drink. He stopped at Cocaine, thinking about not only how controversial (and therefore marketable) it was, but about how powerful it could be as an anti-drug campaign.

You see, there are two methods commonly used in attempt to prevent kids from reaching drugs. The first, and most classic method is to completely ignore their existence. The theory goes: if you don’t talk about it, they won’t find out about it. WRONG. If you don’t talk to them about it, they’ll still be curious, and they’re going to seek their information from someone else. Calling a popular energy drink ‘Cocaine’ confronts this issue by forcing people to talk about the issue! This alone is brilliant!

The second commonly used method to preventing drug use among young people is what the FDA and our government has done in attempt to remedy the first counter-productive method. That is to hammer lies down peoples’ throats: make the drug sound so absolutely over-the-top god-awful that NO ONE will want to go near it! I must admit, this was more effective than the first method for a while. But now people are starting to realize: The FDA and the government are LYING to us! This begs a few questions. If they are willing to lye about that, what else will they lye about? What is the truth about the drug? Is the drug even bad for you at all?

Jamie told me a little about his tv/radio advertisement campaign which was being put together when the FDA decided to crash the party. For those of you who were not aware, the Cocaine name was banned by the man (the role of the man being played by the FDA in this instance). I was able to find this letter publicly available (although well-hidden) on the FDA’s website, which in my opinion demonstrates their extreme hypocrisy in and of itself. If that’s not enough for you, be sure to check out my previous blogs on said topic.

I won’t disclose anything detailed about Jamie’s anti-drug campaign, but I will say that he is very smart about this sort of thing. Kids and people in general aren’t going to have any respect for an energy drink called Cocaine that comes out immediately with anti-drug campaigns. Anti-drug campaigns are LAME!!! Jamie knows this, and he wasn’t about to spoil his drink by coming right out with a bunch of his own anti-drug campaigns! Nobody would take it seriously anyway. No, his plan was much more subtle than that, and from what I know of it, it was brilliant.

It is sad indeed that the FDA was temporarily successful in stripping Cocaine of its name, costing them an immediate $3 million in pre-labeled cans and countless millions in lost sales during the time it is taking to get back on their feet. However, the FDA has failed its mission. The energy drink, which I will personally continue to refer to as Cocaine, is rebounding. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, and Redux Beverages will prove this in the coming months and years. Jamey assured me of one thing in particular: “Oh, we’ll get our name back. We’ll get it back.”

The United States incarcerates more people and at a higher rate than any other peacetime nation in the world. According to the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics the number of US residents behind bars has now reached more than 2.3 million.

We must increase the use of special drug courts in which addicted offenders are given the opportunity to complete court supervised substance abuse treatment instead of being sentenced to prison. We must eliminate mandatory minimum sentencing laws. We must increase the use of alternative penalties for nonviolent drug offenders. Drug defendants convicted of nonviolent offenses should not be given mandatory prison sentences. We should emphasize the criminalization of the importers, manufacturers, and major distributors, rather than just the street venders. Prisons in this country should be a legitimate criminal sanction — but it should be an extension of a fair, just and wise society.

These words are not my own. These are the words of Senator Mike Gravel, who is running for president in 2008. They display wisdom. I advise you to read up on this candidate. I would absolutely love to see a non-republican, non-democratic president win who has some common sense. I’m sick of the red-blue divide.

Click here to read up on Mike Gravel, and of course do some Googling. SPREAD THE WORD!

Click here to download Legalize Cocaine (MP3 Audio, 8:13, 7.6MB)

Can you Digg it?

The FDA has banned the energy drink known as Cocaine, saying they are “illegally marketing the drink as an alternative to street drugs.” The message is quite clear: there shall be absolutely no competing with street drugs! The FDA does not want ANY ALTERNATIVES to street drugs! There is NO reason why you should do anything BESIDES street drugs, and anything that markets itself as such IS VIOLATING FDA CODE!

Alcoholics Anonymous is to be considered a terrorist group from this point forward. All anti-drug campaigns suggesting things you should do besides drugs are illegal and must be immediately shut down. All products promoting themselves as anything other than a street drug at all is now illegal. DO NOT turn to support groups; DO NOT turn to your parents; DO NOT use Nicarette patches instead of cigarettes; DO NOT advocate exercise, creativity, thought, expression, or anything at all in the place of drug use; for if you do any of these the FDA will deem it harmful to America.

This is not freedom. This is the mark of oppression. This is completely unconstitutional. This goes against all logic. This is completely against what America should be in so many ways. This is counter-productive. This is downright insane.

No, America is not a free country. America is a place where you may have the ability to do many things that you can’t in other nations; you may be given a little bit more lenience when it comes to disagreeing with the government; and you may have a better opportunity at living a great life than perhaps anywhere else in the world. But the fact remains: if you cross the people with money; if you violate the financial interests of those in power; if you create anything that crosses the line, that demonstrates any of your supposed freedoms, then you are done.

The FDA has crossed the line here, as they have so many times before. How can I call myself American? I do not support these laws, and I will not obey them for their own sake.

UPDATE: A lot of people seem to think I’m getting far too upset over a simple energy drink. Please understand, the energy drink specifically is not the issue here. I’m sure the energy drink formerly known as Cocaine will rebrand, and they have gotten so much publicity out of this ordeal that their sales will be drastically improved. For them, this is a good thing.

But that’s not what I’m griping about. This is about our freedom. The FDA has openly outlawed something so simple and basic! This violates freedom of speech, freedom of press, and goes against freedom in general. I believe this is an open declaration of War on Freedom.

Click here to download Legalize Cocaine (MP3 Audio, 8:13, 7.6MB)

Look, I know it’s generally considered rude to ask people to Digg your own blog…but this is for a greater cause!  To keep Cocaine Energy Drink legal!

Please, in addition to sending your protests to Redux, digg the original Save Cocaine entry to help spread the word!  If you don’t have a Digg.com account, it’s easy to sign up.  Please, guys, the makers of Cocaine are just normal people who had a good idea, and now the government wants to shut them down.  Save them if you can!  Help the cause of free speech, free capitalism, and all that is free in the world!  Save Cocaine!
http://digg.com/politics/Please_Save_Cocaine

Sometimes I get angry with the FDA…I have a generally negative attitude towards the FDA…The FDA sucks monkey nuts, I can’t believe they’re wasting so much money debating stupid, pointless, RIDICULOUS things like this, when they have MARIJUANA laws to overturn, which are causing almost a million innocents to suffer yearly, and to make addictive manufactured drugs illegal!!! Chocolate? Honestly, who will benefit from allowing companies to LIE on their packaging? The companies! No American! HOW DARE THEY SPEND AMERICAN TAX DOLLARS ON SOMETHING LIKE THIS????

“The federal Food and Drug Administration is proposing to redefine the very essence of chocolate and to allow big manufacturers such as Hershey to sell a bar devoid of a key ingredient - cocoa butter. The butter’s natural texture could be replaced with inferior alternatives, such as vegetable fats. And consumers would never know. Chocolatier Gary Guittard said it best: “No one can afford to sit back and eat bonbons while America’s great passion for chocolate is threatened.”

“For every defender of traditional chocolate, there are powerful proponents who want to replace cocoa butter with vegetable oil: the Chocolate Manufacturers Association, the Grocery Manufacturers Association and the Snack Food Association. These industry titans have filed a “citizens petition” to the FDA, as the Los Angeles Times recently reported, as if there were some groundswell in society to water down chocolate.

“At the moment, chocolate requires two basic ingredients - cocoa and cocoa butter. Cocoa provides much of the flavor; cocoa butter, the texture. So if, say, Hershey wanted to make a chocolate bar without cocoa butter, it can under today’s rules. The product has to be labeled “chocolate flavored” (for it still has the cocoa in it) rather than “chocolate.” That gives the consumer a signal that something less than chocolate lies beneath the wrapping. To help defend chocolate, visit www.dontmesswithourchocolate.com and learn how to submit feedback to the FDA. ”