Comment Archives: stories: News & Features
Re: “The Straight Dope”
Well, let's see. It's been 7 days now since this cover story was published and we have four comments above - mine + 3 who were reacting to my comment. If this story was really so wonderful & I were really so wrong, don't you think there would be more comments? Comments that weren't directly reactive to mine (implying perhaps they were posted because someone was visiting this page because they had been told to shout my opinion down by someone connected to the article-originator versus readers who had actually been inspired by the story). This makes me even more inclined to suspect this article is pharmaceutical shill... Pharmaceutical companies would love to have a monopoly on some marijuana derivative that they could patent, which is what this article seems to be touting (in my opinion). I'd love to be wrong, but - based on responses so far - it seems likely, sadly, and the Bohemian has inadvertently become a shill (best case) or sold out (worst case).
Re: “The Straight Dope”
The first comment sounds like it was written by a dispensary owner who seriously needs a bong rip of CBD ;-)
Re: “The Straight Dope”
Real journalism seems to in fact have been used to deal with the issue of c.b.d strains of the remedy. Building a bridge between medical use and its recreational counterpart requires some looking at things the way they really are. The writer sounds like she has been in such places. I have and the description was dead on. The positive effects of medical and recreational don't have to be mutually exclusive. The gentle poke at the true nature of a dispensary seemed a mere tipping of the hat. An acknowledgment of the need for just such a bridge. Being prone to hyperbole I don't think she even came close. Where such shops are found sadly is true. As contrasted by alcohol which in most places can be vended within steps from court houses, places of worship and schools. Progress has been made in the medical marijuana movement and the writer struck me as a standard bearer doing what so sorely needs to be done. Look at and describe how things are. And look honestly. Having seen and overheard many a young person in the throes of arrested development high five a friend at getting a recommendation I can tell you this. As they return their baseball cap to the reversed position, insomnia or back pain are the frequent punch line. Many times exhaling. The writer stuck me as someone who truly wished to advance medical knowledge. Taking apart with humor some of the drags on the cause in a playful way. There was so much more to the story than this though. What came through loud and clear were the many things that C.B.D. strains of marijuana would help. Including back pain and insomnia. A mere dry description may have done nothing to heighten awareness. Where the real research is being done is in our own back yards. And by people who have dared. People who have risked. That we have have to wait as the flywheel of progress slowly turns is secondary. Legislation slowly turns favorable. Medical sanctioning and understanding slowly turns favorable. People learning what is responsible use and what is not slowly turns favorable. Turning the prism and taking a look through each facet brings such change. Writers such as this one cast the medical possibilities in new light. Heighten awareness and spur on favorable progress. — Tumbleweed
Re: “The Straight Dope”
At last! great news & straight scoop on pot -- well put together article, sounds like a must-have book.
Re: “The Straight Dope”
I could have done with less "yellow journalism" and "questionable" quotation marks and more solid facts. Next time, get a real journalist to write this kind of article, not a writer who is hypnotically in love with her own hyperbole (at best).
1) Cannibis dispensaries are found '...near adult video "shoppes" and liquor stores...' because that is where city and county ordinances will allow them. Can you imagine the hue and cry if one tried to open near a school?
2) Next time the writer has some real "back pain," I doubt she'll feel like it is some slippery excuse to seek pain relief. My friends who work for dispensaries are proud to provide tangible help to people with HIV and Cancer who find real effects from cannibis in getting their appetite back and pain relief and more.
3)...well I could go on, but this article is just a quaqmire; will people even get to the burning question of where and how is this research being done since it is illegal in the U.S. (even though the doctor quoted works at the California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute). GW Pharmaceuticals (in a secret location somewhere in Britain)? So, is this article trying to tell us something of value in a terribly misguided way or is it some kind of pharmaceutical shill?
Re: “Hidden Agenda”
Leilani Clark.... you are a traitor to America... probably bought and paid for, or did you happen to go to one of those parties, you know, they take your photo while you are committing despicable acts? They either own you or you are incredibly stupid, in either case you would do the world a favor if you resigned and started to read and study. People like you who sell out and 'trade with the enemy' are nothing more than brown shirt boot lickers and a disgrace to humanity. How much are they paying you to ruin America? I guess you love something, money... and what is so sad, you have no idea, once your job is done by screwing your community, you will be ground down like the rest of us, because your handlers and their ilk think you are just as worthless as the rest of us. Get real, grow up, and use your brain. You are only a dumb slave, so don't let your ego trick you into thinking you are more than that.
Re: “Step by Step”
AA continually resists any efforts to quantify its results, claiming privacy for its members and that the program "works if you work it." That just means that if it works for you, credit goes to AA, but if it doesn't work for you, that's YOUR fault. Would you go for cancer treatment to a clinic that wouldn't tell you your chances, just point you to the people in the waiting room who claimed good results? The people who had bad experiences (or died) at that hypothetical clinic aren't there to warn you away!
If you're going to AA and it isn't working for you, you go out and drink and die in a crash, then AA doesn't claim you as an "AA failure," they claim that you "went out" and "weren't following the program." Members are supposed to remain in the program for life, and there are cultish warnings that, if you leave, you could die. Heck, you might die if you STAY.
I attended AA for 3 years while in psychotherapy and had a sponsor, but it sure was annoying to sit around in AA meetings while people talked about how grateful they were that Jesus changed the traffic light so they wouldn't be late to work, for instance. I don't believe in an interventionist God, and if you do, that's fine with me, but I sure hope the courts wouldn't order me to listen to all that blather. (Later I returned to responsible alcohol use and haven't had any problems for the past 15 years.)
However, if you look at the history of the founding of AA, it was designed as a way to bring people to Christianity. It's still steeped in that philosophy, FULL of fanatical believers, and -- worst of all -- uses anecdotal evidence rather than statistics to prove its effectiveness.
Re: “Lethal Blow”
The arguments in support of the ballot measure to abolish the death penalty are exaggerated at best and, in most cases, misleading and erroneous. Proposition 34 is being funded primarily by a wealthy, left-wing company out of Chicago, the ACLU, and similarly-oriented trust funds. It includes provisions that would only make our prisons less safe for both other prisoners and prison officials and significantly increase the costs to taxpayers due to life-time medical costs, the increased security required to coerce former death-row inmates to work, etc. The amount “saved” in order to help fund law enforcement is negligible and only for a short period of time. Bottom line, the “SAFE” Act is an attempt by those who are responsible for the high costs and lack of executions to now persuade voters to abandon it on those grounds. Obviously, these arguments would disappear if the death penalty was carried forth in accordance with the law. Get the facts at and supporting evidence at http://cadeathpenalty.webs.com and http://waiting4justice.org/.
Re: “Field Trippin'”
This was so awesome I nearly had an anxiety attack as I was reading it. I haven't done acid since age 14, but I never forgot a single moment of it. I made gnarly pot brownies once though, and ended up comatose and similarly one-syllabled for about 5 hours sitting on the porch of my co-op in Berkeley, CA. Great read, and I'm glad you and Max worked it out!
Re: “Laughing Matter”
Leilani, I'm SO IMPRESSED that you did this. What a wonderful article. I'm so glad you're giving props to these folks who willingly participate in one of the most vulnerable things in the world, for no pay, and very few rewards. I love them!! And I love that they are finally being supported in a big way. Also, I think Sonoma County's comedy scene owes a lot to Steve Jaxon of KSRO who regularly shines a spotlight on all of the funny people here and throughout the Bay Area.
Re: “Express Lane”
We have to fight the box! and Monsanto! bringing in chain stores would only make gmos more available! what about community gardens in these areas?? guidelines on stores in areas like these and on what they need to carry to be open?there are so many other guidelines they have to go by already to have the license they have, so why not? wtf? were gunna give the go ahead for shit like walmart but not try an bring our community together and plant a garden on all that land?? WAKE UP!!!! two wrongs dont make a right!!
Re: “Bogus Bohemia”
If they didn't do it here, they would do it some where else. These people can meet behind closed doors all the time. they can have concealed meeting with each other on secure networks all day long. That most of these men shape the world we live in and happen to be in the same place is just because they can.
If the 99% really want the change the way business is conducted don't do business with anything these guys touch. Oh wait I'm on a computer. I need to the get to the grocery store. I need to eat food and feed my family. And the list will go on.
If your decision to do all these thing with a high mind to only consume those things you know what's in them and where they come from, then your doing your part. Yelling a staff going to work at an elite male only camp does nothing for any cause. Unless your into primal scream therapy.
Re: “Express Lane”
What about Trader Joes and Target? They have a ton of food. Then there's Lola's. They are all within walking distance of the Circuit City site. I guess it's alright if they let another grocery store in but use common sense. Please. It would be nice if it were safer to ride a bike or walk on Santa Rosa Avenue.
Re: “Sandwiches!”
Love the article. But can I just say, that Chase is the new Ike?
Re: “Sandwiches!”
Great article! Two other amazing sandwich places I would add are Chloe's French Cafe (their jambon brie sandwich with warm ham, brie, pears, and brown mustard is amazing but so are a bunch of their other sandwiches). Pearson & Co is also an old favorite - love all their different foccacia bread sandwiches particularly, but their meatloaf sandwich on ciabatta is also a standout.
Re: “Step by Step”
LifeRing and AA are OK. I attend both from time to time, as do others, although I do not dwell on this in either group. I benefited from SMART prior to its folding in my locale; monitoring SMART's website is still an option.
But a turning point in my success is Rational Recovery's Addictive Voice Recognition Technique. AVRT is available online and on paper. Check it out and consider embracing a "Big Plan."
As relates to this article, the Rational Recovery Monitoring Program is available for those in a legal bind.
Re: “The Anchor-Outs”
Thank you to Ryan White for this compassionate and informative piece on this marginalized community. It is a pleasant reminder that quality journalism persists. Such work expands intelligent discourse and has lasting impact. May you thrive.
Re: “The Anchor-Outs”
I live in Sausalito and I love the character that anchor outs bring to this area. The author of this article did an excellent job of showing the perils, humor and grit of this group of people.
Re: “Step by Step”
I personally found AA to not be the best recovery fit for me. I did attend for four years and have worked the 12 steps with a sponsor. As it turns out, Life ring secular recovery and the emphasis on personal empowerment has actually been a better match for me. Many struggle with some of the concepts in AA and I think it is important to recognize and inform about alternate choices now available for people recovering from addiction. I quit drinking to improve the quality of my life and expand my world again. I’m glad Bill W wanted to help others addicted and I’m glad his plan for living has been helpful for so many. Whats not ok is the way Bill’s vision has come to dominate the recovery world. As AA says, “there’s a screw for every nut” and I believe this idea needs to extend out of AA to the other support approaches available for people who need a different approach for their recovery. This article is about choice and I am so grateful to have found that I have other choices available as well. I only wish for others to have equal access to the information they need to make an informed choice about the recovery support system that will be most helpful for them. Thank you for raising awareness on this subject and I would also like to point out I have friends who attend AA and I support their right to choose what works best for them as well.
This Week's Issue
Re: “The Straight Dope”
Given that this article explores marijuana’s history and culture, criticizes the federal government’s policy against cannabis and speaks avidly about the use of WHOLE PLANT CBD-RICH CANNABIS as opposed to isolated cannabinoids, I am confused how it could be misinterpreted as favorable to Big Pharma. But to get down to what really is bothering Anon-E, it appears he/she is unhappy about the way I portrayed the majority of dispensaries in the North Bay. I investigated a fair number of dispensaries and found an intriguing similarity among most of them, which I chose to highlight (albeit with humor) in my piece. I also chose to interview folks in one dispensary which actively keeps up with the science. Just about everyone I had interviewed in this industry acknowledged the blurry line between medicinal and recreational usage--especially with regards to dispensaries--a subject which could fill a whole article by itself. This commenter claims to have “friends who work in dispensaries,” so I assume he/she is very aware of this phenomenon.