Stash for Fri, Apr 4, 2008
Download the NORML Daily Audio Stash for 2008-04-04
We’d like to pause for a moment in remembrance of this day forty years ago, April 4, 1968, when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., was assassinated on a hotel balcony in Memphis, Tennessee. Dr. King was a true patriot who stood up for civil rights and famously dreamed of a day when people would be judged not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.
We cannabis consumers are another minority – an invisible minority – and we regularly have our civil rights trampled upon for our use and appreciation of a plant. Cannabis users are disenfranchised by felony convictions in many states. Cannabis users’ privacy is violated by workplace urine testing. Cannabis users’ families are broken up by social services. Cannabis users are beaten and killed just for being cannabis users.
That’s not to compare the injustice suffered for 350 years by African-Americans whose ancestors were brought over in slave ships to the injustice suffered by a college kid who loses a loan, a blue collar worker who loses a job, or pot smoker who loses their freedom; they aren’t comparable. However, civil rights is not a zero-sum game and we can’t base our rights on perceived degrees of past offense. The right to one’s own mind and body are the ultimate civil right and considering how much the War on Marijuana disproportionately affects communities of color, perhaps it’s time we started thinking of it in a civil rights perspective.
Friday is Cannabis Community day on the Stash, and coming up after the news, we’re speaking with our regular guest Steve Bloom, the webmaster at CelebStoner.com. We’ll be discussing the new documentary on the Rolling Stones and admissions by Keith Richards that he uses marijuana to stay off heroin. We’ve also got an update on Barack Obama’s smoking habits.
Next, Cannabis Karri has unearthed a tune from a Seattle artists named Aaron English. He’s got a great big song called “Like Smoke” that’s a perfect kickoff to the weekend.
We wrap things up today with comedian Rob Cantrell, who you’ll remember from Last Comic Standing, who is joining us to promote a 420 film festival in Arlington, Virginia on April 20th, of course.
Finally, don’t forget that every Saturday we’re now posting the NORML Weekend Music Stash, where you can get all of the last ten songs from our daily musical breaks in one podcast, suitable for your weekend party pleasure. If you have a band that would like to be featured on our podcast, please send us an email at stash ‘at’ norml.org.
So sit back and relax with your favorite strain and enjoy your NORML Daily Audio Stash…
Tags: aaron english, CelebStoner.com, civil rights, Martin Luther King Jr., Rob Cantrell
