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Medical Marijuana Backers Hiring Last-Minute Circulators at $25/Hour—Who’s Footing the Bill?

New Approach South Dakota, the group circulating a petition to put medical marijuana on our 2016 statewide ballot, must have come into some cash. Their latest Facebook post is offering $25 an hour for circulators:

NASD is hiring! We need circulators in the SF area. Paying 25.00 an hour plus bonuses. PM the page for details! Start as soon as tomorrow! Must be SD resident with valid ID!! [New Approach South Dakota, Facebook post, 2015.10.21]

The going rate advertised so far by most circulator-hirers is $15 an hour Offering $25 signals not only that NASD must have good money to spend but also that they are determined—or desperate?—to stand out in the crowded petition field during the last two weeks of circulating before the November 9 submission deadline.

The sudden money push gets me thinking about who might be interested in funding such a push. Given NASD chief Melissa Mentele’s apparent organizational skill, it is possible that she has converted her wide base of statewide volunteers into donors who can support a professional petition surge.

But a friend of the blog wonders what outside groups could take an interest in getting medical marijuana on the ballot. Consider that the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe just gave legislators and the press a tour of its marijuana-growing facility last week. The tribe projects monthly profits of $2 million. Denver-based, South Dakota-connected pot consultant Monarch America stands to expand its profits as well. Monarch consultant Cory Johnsen is promoting NASD’s circulator bid on his Facebook page. Recreational weed is enough by itself to sustain the business model, as perhaps demonstrated by significant interest in the tribe’s planned resort opening on New Year’s Eve. Apportioning some of its crop to medicinal products could boost its revenues further. And with the marijuana decriminalization petition drive failing, the tribe and Monarch may see an opportunity to focus its efforts on boosting their marginal revenue with the medical marijuana campaign.

My friend ventures further into the weeds to suggest another financial booster for medical marijuana. Consider that insurers resist paying for medical marijuana. Cash-strapped medical marijuana consumers may have to turn to alternative financing options like payday lenders to get their medicine. On the producer side, banks don’t like dealing with legal marijuana growers and related cannabis businesses, driving legal growers to rely on short-term loans. With a new crop of consumers unable to use their insurance and producers unable to use their banks, medical marijuana may provide payday lenders with an opportunity to expand their business model right alongside the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe. With Dollar Loan Center boss Chuck Brennan about to help Sioux Falls out-tacky Mitchell with his post-apocalyptic dreck-mecca just 45 minutes from the Flandreau bowling alley, it would seem an easy step to open a mini-finance hub to help medical marijuana consumers and producers alike.

We’ll learn the names of whoever is funding New Approach SD’s crunch-time petition push in January, when ballot question committees must file their year-end campaign finance reports.

222 Comments

  1. Rorschach 2015-10-22 07:34

    Looking forward to post-apocalyptic dreck-mecca. Only thing that would make it better would be if it absorbed ABN Military Surplus store and included a Mean Gene’s Burgers restaurant. Hint, hint.

  2. leslie 2015-10-22 07:45

    wow, scary cory.

  3. leslie 2015-10-22 07:46

    wasn’t there a study that showed payday loans support increased liquor sales? I guess that’s the point

  4. mike from iowa 2015-10-22 08:02

    In the interest of full disclosure and to stick a fork in wingnuts before they can exploit this, Cory Johnsen is not related to Master Cory.

  5. barry freed 2015-10-22 08:49

    Unlike the product of Payday lenders, MJ can be grown in the backyard. If people are borrowing to drink, they should learn how to home brew.
    … but before you do, remember one of other Prohibition’s remnants: seizure of everything you own if you are caught with un-taxed liquor, in this free Nation, you may not make anything but beer or wine.
    So,who does the Government protect?

  6. Porter Lansing 2015-10-22 09:34

    Personal Opinion … South Dakota has no credibility, necessity or reason to enter the legal marijuana market. It’s Colorado’s baby. We took the risk. We did the research. We invented and instituted the paradigm. WE GET THE REWARDS. Colorado is quite proud of our marijuana business (soon to be the only 100% organic weed in USA). You know, like Kentucky is proud of their bourbon.
    If you guys up there want to get high, c’mon down. It’s more fun when you don’t have to look for cops over your shoulder.

  7. Bill Fleming 2015-10-22 09:41

    Rocky Mountain high since 2013 TM Patent Pending ?

  8. jerry 2015-10-22 10:44

    Colorado is indeed a very progressive state that is full of conservatives. What Colorado will do next is really the by product of successful operations to decrease taxes and to find funding for programs that save state and local governments money, you guessed it, legalized pot. Here is there new proposal which will be on the ballots for the coming election. http://coloradocareyes.co/about/

    South Dakota could move out of the rump state corrupted politics by simply being honest. Law and order republicans are extinct with only law with corruption republicans that have evolved in their place. It is long past time for an asteroid to land on them.

  9. Roger Cornelius 2015-10-22 15:24

    For what its worth, I saw a brief article in the Rapid City Journal that stated that adult pot use has doubled in the last decade.

  10. bearcreekbat 2015-10-22 16:41

    I saw that too Roger – just more evidence that Lynn’s war on pot has been less than successful, and reminds me of Einstein’s definition of Insanity, which he described as “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”.

  11. Bob Newland 2015-10-22 20:47

    NASD has a couple of weeks to get its cushion of signatures. It has operated thus far on proceeds from bake sales. Suddenly, a patron appears, one who needs signatures also. Said patron likes NASD for its credibility (well-deserved, if I might editorialize). Well, politics does make for strange bedfellows.

    NASD is carrying the patron’s petitions also, because the credibility of a campaign to allow legal access to an herbal remedy that has proven palliative effects on a crazy number of medical conditions at least allows the introduction of a rather unpopular ballot issue. Politics has led to stranger bedfellows.

    What’s 18% of 13,869 valid signatures? Zero. Zero chance that the electorate will vote in 2016 on whether to allow sick, disabled and dying people to have legal access to the same herb that tens of thousands of South Dakota criminals ingest daily with impunity. The same issue they would have voted on if there were 13870 signatures. Take the money. Get medical cannabis on the ballot.

  12. grudznick 2015-10-22 21:28

    Go for broke, Bob. Put recreational cannabis weed on the ballot. That’s what you really want. Mr. Jackley will write a ballot of measure saying “this is for recreational tokers” no matter what.

  13. Bob Newland 2015-10-22 21:36

    That was constructive, Grudz, you POS.

  14. caheidelberger Post author | 2015-10-23 06:47

    Bob, you draw a very interesting scenario. Could it be that the fake 18-percenters have identified medical marijuana as a popular measure (and I’ll note that when I’m circulating, multiple signers have asked if I’m carrying a marijuana petitions, and I direct them to Jedi Jemz downtown) and identified the medical marijuana petition drive as the one most likely to benefit from a last-minute infusion of cash and muscle? Will we see medical marijuana replace Marsy’s Law as the main front for tricking people into signing the fake 18% petition?

  15. Bob Newland 2015-10-23 20:13

    I doubt that the people circulating the MedCan petition will “trick” people. The ones I have talked to have said they will portray the fake 18% petition as honestly as they can. In the end, what difference does it make? It’s just another ballot issue which will have to undergo a run-up-to-the-election campaign. Folks will vote on it, based on what they have been told during the campaign.

    Folks vote on lots of things based on what they are told during campaigns. Often they are lied to, about candidates and about issues. And in the very end, no matter how much interest is charged on a loan, folks have the choice not to take the loan.

  16. caheidelberger Post author | 2015-10-24 06:53

    Bob, it matters because the 18% fakers are lying and sabotaging the ballot initiative process more blatantly than any campaign I can recall. Such liars do not deserve access to our ballot.

  17. leslie 2015-10-24 08:04

    29%-exorbitant/usurious/unsound commercially-was the descriptor by USCIS in round’s/daugaard’s termination notice for EB5 investment. but that’s for rich people. little people-up to 1500% charged by payday/title lenders before being run out of other states! when desparate u may ot be able to decide not to take the loan before it is too late-good on yah hickey

  18. caheidelberger Post author | 2015-10-24 08:13

    (That’s an interesting passage, Leslie! I liked USCIS’s wry footnote—#10, p. 13—that 29% “does not seem commercially unsound.” I should write up that Epoch Star passage in a separate post!)

  19. leslie 2015-10-24 08:32

    oh…i missed the “not” :o

  20. Lynn 2015-10-24 09:04

    Why would this not surprise anyone? Making a few phone calls I find out New Approach South Dakota is getting petitions signed for the payday loan fake 18% besides getting their own? $25.00 an hour!

    Birds of a feather and if passed both will fit just swell into the “Poverty Industry” here in South Dakota.

    Fake Medical Marijuana petition and fake 18% Payday Loan Petition

  21. Lynn 2015-10-24 09:08

    Cory,

    Have you been able to contact your buddy Melissa Mentele about this?

    I just visited with Steve Hildebrand and they only have two hired petitioners. That’s all they can afford and it’s getting to be crunch time for them too! No time to interview him? Ask him how he feels about Marijuana being legalized here in the state?

  22. bearcreekbat 2015-10-24 11:12

    Lynn, did you notice the recent RC Journal story indicating that marijuana use has doubled among adults in the last ten years? Please explain how policies that criminalize the use of marijuana do what you want – reduce or eliminate marijuana use? Why isn’t it time to try another approach, since the decades old policies have completely failed?

  23. Bob Newland 2015-10-24 19:58

    Lynn apparently likes the idea of ruining folks’ lives over nothing. BTW, Lynn, I thought you were outa here. Time to break out the hammer. After I wash Brock Greenfield’s blood off’n it.

  24. Bob Newland 2015-10-24 20:00

    Not that we don’t enjoy a moronic post from time to time, Lynn.

  25. Lynn 2015-10-24 20:19

    Well a convicted felon, threats of violence, drugs and the tactics of fake 18% petition circulators all birds of a feather. :)

    Cory I would be very curious as to what you find out since there is a lack of open transparency from NASD.

    SDAP’s efforts have imploded after boasting about all this money for billboards, constant internal conflict regarding the lack of professionalism, profanity, people sitting at home getting stoned but don’t want to help, questions about who funded it and living up to the typical pothead stereotype of not having any motivation to get things done. Sure hope they will fully disclose their donations.

  26. Lynn 2015-10-24 21:14

    Cory I’m just moving this up :)

  27. Lynn 2015-10-25 06:35

    Cory,

    Many have expressed that they know corruption has been going on for a long time here in South Dakota. It’s just South Dakota. What concerns them is another green light on another intoxicant that will further drag individuals and this state down. Legalizing video lottery was bad enough. Both simply add to the poverty industry hurting those most vulnerable being a drain on our society and will hamper other gains made in the state.

    Lying to people? I’m directing them to candidates online postings which mostly are from the SDDP, the party fundraiser in Clay County and who were the guest speakers, your blog with your various postings giving quite a bit of publicity to their efforts, comments from your sidekick Larry Kurtz and the blog feed of his two former highly offensive blogs constantly promoting pot. When anyone questions or voices their opposition to legalizing marijuana in any form whether medical or recreational they are quickly attacked and are a minority on this blog.

    I have always said “some” and never once stated that you yourself consumed pot but let’s face it given the regular all day long commenters it’s a stoner blog. Hey! That’s ok they add to the site traffic.

    How is Elle Spawn (D) doing in her run for district 13 who has been endorsed by SDAP and has been an eager supporter of NASD with their fake/flawed medical marijuana petition?

  28. larry kurtz 2015-10-25 08:04

    A recent study has found evidence that cannabis is not a gateway to abuse of stronger compounds.

    But pull numbers out of your rectum and distribute them to fellow inmates at your own peril: go to the South Dakota Democratic Party’s website, Facebook page and twitter feed and see evidence of a lack of leadership, even lifelessness.

    I’ve given up on the Democratic Party in South Dakota, Larry. It has become (at least for now) irrelevant and in my opinion counter-productive. [comment, Bill Fleming]

    This blogger is with Bill: if SDDP is too gutless to embrace legal cannabis enlist South Dakota Progress to lead.

    The Dakota Progressive will no longer support SDDP for free. If they want my help they’re going to have to ask then pay me to drive its agenda. No legal woes, no threat of lawsuits: only frustration caused me to take down recent content.

  29. grudznick 2015-10-25 08:16

    If the Democrat party starts paying Lar, the next thing they’ll have to do is pay Mr. Newland and then Mr. H will want to raise his price. Soon the party will have overrun their 3 figure budget. But immense profits for Lar.

  30. larry kurtz 2015-10-25 08:24

    As Cory allows the anonymous hordes to overrun his forum it has become an embarrassment and no longer credible to drive my agenda.

    Adios, assholes.

  31. Lynn 2015-10-25 10:21

    Larry who resides in New Mexico,

    “No legal woes, no threat of lawsuits: only frustration caused me to take down recent content.”

    Yeah I noticed you removed many of your recent very offensive & unsubstantiated posts. Luckily they have been archived and have been very useful for our efforts.

    I’m sure we will predictably see you back tomorrow or soon.

  32. Lindsey Dickey 2015-10-25 11:20

    Is this legal? $25…has to be a damn catch. Someone wants to meet me in a public place now and I’m not feeling very good about it at all

  33. bearcreekbat 2015-10-25 12:36

    Lynn, although you did not respond to my earlier question – Whether current anti-marijuana policies are working in light of RC Journal reports that marijuana use has doubled among adults in the last ten years ? – perhaps I am missing the point of our current anti-marijuana policies.

    If you don’t mind, could you tell us which specific goals of current anti-marijuana polices that you believe are working as intended and need not be reconsidered?

  34. Bob Newland 2015-10-25 17:54

    Yes, Lynn, BearCreekBat and I want to know: How much prison time is about right to punish someone for ingesting a harmful substance?

  35. Bob Newland 2015-10-25 17:55

    Larry Kurtz hit it on the head in his most recent comment, which Cory is liable to edit very soon.

  36. grudznick 2015-10-25 18:06

    As they say in New Mexico, Lar, adios.

  37. grudznick 2015-10-25 18:08

    People need to be incarcerated until they stop smoking the demon weed.

  38. bearcreekbat 2015-10-25 18:52

    grudz – okay, you articulate an arguably reasonable policy goal for someone that wants to end marijuana use, but given the reported increase in marijuana use is your policy idea actually working?

    I really cannot understand why Lynn has not addressed this problem, but from what objective evidence I have read, the current anti-marijuana policies do not seem to be working as intended. When a policy does not achieve its goal rational folks reconsider the policy. Any ideas?

    And Lynn, for what it is worth I don’t think you deserve to be insulted or attacked based on your views. I would just like to engage you in a reasonable discussion of the matter.

    And while I tend to agree with you Bob, I am trying my best to focus the discussion on the failure or success of current anti-marijuana policies rather than calling anyone names or dismissing their opinions.

  39. Bob Newland 2015-10-25 20:31

    bcb, surely you realize by now that grudz has no interest in any policy discussion, and that Lynn is not capable of coherent thought.

  40. grudznick 2015-10-25 21:17

    The policy as you have heard me state before over eggs and bacon, Bob, is simply one you cannot agree with and sends you into a seething rage. The policy is that people who violate the law and smoke up demon weed need to go to jail, and people who sell the demon weed need to go to jail for a very long time. They are corroding the very skeleton of our society and must be treated just like heroin dealers.

  41. owen reitzel 2015-10-25 21:18

    hey grud. you smoking a joint now?

  42. Porter Lansing 2015-10-25 21:31

    It’s entertaining to observe SoDak conservatives close their eyes, set their stubborn German jaws, grit their mule headed teeth and cling to the wrong side of history, over and over with the same inevitable result. History proves them wrong, again.

  43. Neal 2015-10-25 23:07

    bcb, I very much doubt that there are that many new marijuana users. It’s far more likely that more people now are willing to admit use, due to changes in law and public opinion. Regardless, criminal prohibition of a substance far less harmful than alcohol or tobacco is idiotic, and a proven failed policy.

  44. Bob Newland 2015-10-26 10:22

    Someday. grudznick, I will find out your cowardly, not-worthy-of-respect real name. Then, I might have a chance to actually have breakfast with you, at which time you will be eating dogshit.

  45. Lynn 2015-10-26 10:47

    Cory,

    Just another day on a typical Marijuana related thread with pot activists hurling profanity, obscenities and threatening violence.

    Did you contact your buddy Melissa and ask her who is paying the $25.00 an hour to circulate petitions? I noticed FSST provided circulators with free boarding at their Casino Hotel during Hobo Days. I’m getting reports they are also circulating 18% payday loan petitions also and Steve Hildebrand mentioned the Med MJ and payday loan have been known to be intertwined.

    Have you contacted Steve Hildebrand for an interview? Sounds like they will all fit in well together in South Dakota’s Poverty Industry.

  46. bearcreekbat 2015-10-26 10:57

    Lynn, what obscenities or profanities have I ever hurled at you? What threats have I ever made to you?

    I simply asked you a reasonable question. If the RC Journal’s reports of increasing marijuana use among adults is accurate, then isn’t it time to revisit the anti-marijuana policies you support?

  47. Bob Newland 2015-10-26 11:14

    And Lynn, how much prison time do you think is about right for someone who ingests something you claim is harmful to them?

  48. jerry 2015-10-26 11:15

    Lynn is amusing, much like Ben Carson, not to be taken seriously.

  49. bearcreekbat 2015-10-26 11:22

    Indeed, even Gov. Daugaard writes in today’s RC Journal:

    “Several years ago. . . . South Dakota’s imprisonment rate was higher than any of our six neighboring states. Per capita, we were locking up 75 percent more men than North Dakota and four times as many women as Minnesota. Worst of all, our high imprisonment rate wasn’t making our public any safer. . . .”

    Under our current marijuana criminalization policies, then, our jails were overflowing and marijuana use among adults was increasing. What more evidence do we need before we considering decriminalizing marijuana?

  50. Lynn 2015-10-26 11:27

    “go @#%& yourself, you stupid cow. Larry Kurtz 10/25/2015 10:23 am

    “Adios @$$ %*@$$!” Larry Kurtz 10/25/2015 8:24am

    “BTW, Lynn, I thought you were outa here. Time to break out the hammer. After I wash Brock Greenfield’s blood off’n it.” Bob Newland 10/24/2015 19:58

    Cory,

    As you can see just another day on a typical Marijuana related thread with pot activists hurling profanity, obscenities and threatening violence.

    Did you contact your buddy Melissa and ask her who is paying the $25.00 an hour to circulate petitions? I noticed FSST provided circulators with free boarding at their Casino Hotel during Hobo Days. I’m getting reports they are also circulating 18% payday loan petitions also and Steve Hildebrand mentioned the Med MJ and payday loan have been known to be intertwined.

    Have you contacted Steve Hildebrand for an interview? Sounds like they will all fit in well together in South Dakota’s Poverty Industry.

  51. Porter Lansing 2015-10-26 11:28

    Lynn, you sweet lady. You’ve asked Cory five questions now and he’s not responded. Do you think he’s not reading what we write or since he did call you a liar do you think he’s ignoring you? PS You shouldn’t accuse the moderator of taking a position when he’s not done so. Same with our Democratic Party. Just sayin’ …

  52. bearcreekbat 2015-10-26 11:49

    Lynn, but what about me? I’m not larry or Bob. Why won’t you address the serious issues I have identified?

  53. leslie 2015-10-26 11:52

    did u contact your “buddy” seems less sincere than “adios as*h*les”

    the old adage about sarcasm tearing flesh somehow resonates with bloody hammers which u attribute as a physical threat from an old country cowboy culture

    your exaggeration dilutes your sincerity and your direct provocation exudes a manipulative character absent in your provocateurs

    imo. i could care less if someone’s delivery carries emphasis that may not be in accordance with my personal mores. posters like you and grudz seem a waste of reading time-kind of a violation, a taking advantage of an audience

  54. caheidelberger Post author | 2015-10-26 12:06

    Rest assured, Lynn, I’m working on sources and stories. When I can substantiate matters of public importance, I will write and act.

  55. Lynn 2015-10-26 13:24

    Cory,

    I’m sure you will.

    Fellas, The attacks are quite predictable when someone feels threatened that one of their intoxicants will not be legalized and there will be consequences for use. Very common behavior with chemical dependency.

  56. bearcreekbat 2015-10-26 13:50

    Lynn, you obviously have made some interesting negative and somewhat insulting assumptions about me, but I reviewed my comments on this thread anyway and didn’t find a single attack against you. Instead I posted this at 2015-10-25 at 18:52:

    “And Lynn, for what it is worth I don’t think you deserve to be insulted or attacked based on your views. I would just like to engage you in a reasonable discussion of the matter.”

  57. leslie 2015-10-26 14:08

    Very common co-dependency behavior is abusive as well.

  58. Porter Lansing 2015-10-26 14:15

    There are about 840,000 pot smokers in Colorado and our unemployment rate is 4%. SoDak’s is 3.5 and nationally it’s 5.8%. The argument that all the weed heads are in the basement playing video games is BS.

  59. mike from iowa 2015-10-26 14:38

    Iffen you ain’t all in with Lynn
    You are the enemy,not friend

    Her position has no bend
    Potheads rot in jail til the end

    Don’t bother her with facts or proof
    You’re potheads and total goofs

    Did I miss anything,Lynn?

  60. Porter Lansing 2015-10-26 18:14

    Every day 78,000+ people in South Dakota undergo insulin therapy for sugar addiction and thousands will die from sugar diabetes. How many are undergoing medicinal therapy for pot addiction and will eventually die from it? Maybe ten. Sugar safety vs pot safety? Pot is much safer than sugar. Pot is also much safer than alcohol (a form of sugar with it’s own addiction numbers).

  61. Bob Newland 2015-10-26 20:37

    Just wondering, Lynn, how much prison time you think is about right for someone who does something that annoys you.

  62. bearcreekbat 2015-10-27 10:45

    Good point Porter, but isn’t smoking pot a “gateway” to excess doughnut and twinkie consumption?

  63. Porter Lansing 2015-10-27 11:45

    @BCB … Not to confound the Conservative side of this thread or interrupt their “negative bias” but there are NO gateways to anything. Only the one true intuition humans are born with … curiosity. Agreed, there’s coalition of Sodak voters ( many from German heritage) who subscribe to the lifestyle of, “Deriving Personal Pleasure by Denying Personal Pleasure”, however the majority see no issue with enjoying a cocktail, beer or bowl to mitigate, palliate and placate the common anxieties of normal life in South Dakota on a Saturday night. #DoLoveDonutsThough

  64. bearcreekbat 2015-10-27 12:05

    I agree with your gateway analysis Porter. The doughnut comment was a feeble attempt at humor.

    On the supposed “gateway” claim, I do find it unfortunate that people like Lynn think it better to expose kids to an unregulated black market where they might have access to other drugs that are actually dangerous, rather than eliminate most marijuana black markets through legalization and regulation.

    And Lynn apparently recognizes that current policies have not deterred marijuana use, but have caused a tragic increase in our jail population, tearing apart families, since she has not argued otherwise. Refusing to reconsider such failed policies is, as Einstein might have said, a “gateway” to insanity.

  65. Porter Lansing 2015-10-27 12:11

    LOVE doughnuts. (love your humor, also ? ) But really, folks … who is anyone to deny a person their true pleasure in life? Imposing personal discipline on themselves and loving the feeling that gives them. However, when that enjoyment leeches into “telling other people they have to do it, too” that’s just a bit selfish.

  66. mike from iowa 2015-10-27 12:24

    It was nasty Unions as what got the blame for Twinkies closing down operations. Therefore Unions must be the gateway to Socialism and police and fire departments. Company officials absconded with all the money and took the donut holes with them into bankruptcy court.

  67. Bill Fleming 2015-10-27 12:52

    Porter and Bat, don’t look now, but bacon just made the carcinogen list, right up there with asbestos and tobacco smoke. My favorite tweet about it so far reads “Devastating that scientists say bacon causes cancer and we face the fact that we’ll have to give up science.” — Paul Basset Davies @thewritertype. 6:03 AM – 26 Oct 2015

    Lynn, whaddya think? I’m conflicted over here. I don’t drink, smoke or go upstairs, but this bacon thing’s really harshin’ my mellow. Know what I mean? ;-)

  68. bearcreekbat 2015-10-27 13:14

    Jeez Bill, do you smoking marijuana is a gateway to bacon too? If so, no wonder opponents of legalization find it so dangerous – the marijuana won’t hurt you, but eating bacon and sweets is a death sentence. Perhaps we can improve the habits of other people by outlawing all of SD’s pork producers as well as Jerry’s Donuts?

  69. Porter Lansing 2015-10-27 13:22

    @Bill – That nitrites in processed meat and bacon cause cancer was taught to me 25 or more years ago in ongoing culinary training classes. What’s worse, I suppose, is that any grilled food (even vegetables) does, too. It’s nitrites and carbon that, in high quantities, cause cell mutation. However, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, the organization within the WHO responsible for reviewing cancer research, doesn’t rank the items on this list against one another. In other words, all the items on this list can cause cancer, but do not represent the same level of risk. e.g. Smoking cigarettes or inhaling asbestos cause cancer thousands of times more often than eating bacon, Mr. Flemming. Bacon causes more heart attacks in South Dakota than it causes cancer. As an aside: There’s a tale of a grandmother’s advice to her granddaughter on the granddaughter’s wedding day. “Put a big life insurance policy on him and cook all his food in bacon fat and the last third of your life will be Heaven.” lol

  70. Bill Fleming 2015-10-27 13:54

    Porter, yes, the nitrites. Not to be confused with the Mennonites. Or the troglodytes. I wonder if grilled mammoth meat is carcinogenic? If so, we’ve had this problem for a long, long time, haven’t we? You goin’ vegan, Porter? BCB and I have been reading a book about how we’ve been devolving ever since we left the rain forest. Could there perhaps be something to it? (Lynn, beware. They kind of promote DMT in there. Read at your own risk. ;-) http://realitysandwich.com/220103/fruit-for-thought-return-to-the-brain-of-eden-book-review/

  71. Porter Lansing 2015-10-27 14:24

    Let’s give Lynn another chance. Her case pretty much rests on, “Why does Sodak need another intoxicant?”
    You guys don’t NEED it. NEED is addiction and weed’s only slightly mentally addictive. Not physically addictive at all. If people enjoy it, put it on the ballot or come to CO … you know, for the scenery.

  72. bearcreekbat 2015-10-27 14:59

    Porter, Lynn’s argument “Why does Sodak need another intoxicant?” overlooks the obvious: Sodak already has that intoxicant.

    Comparing the percentages of SD kids who have ingested cigarettes and abused alcohol, both substances being legal for adults, to the number of kids who committed a crime by smoking marijuana, yields telling results:

    23% of high school kids have smoked cigarettes;

    26% of high school kids had five or more drinks of alcohol in a row within a couple of hours on at least one day (during the 30 days before the survey);

    33% of high school students used marijuana one or more times (during their life).

    http://www.hhs.gov/ash/oah/adolescent-health-topics/substance-abuse/states/sd.html

    Today, more SD kids are ingesting marijuana than are smoking cigarettes or drinking large quantities of alcohol. After our 85 year long lost war against pot it seems pretty clear that marijuana is here to stay.

    By keeping it illegal we have unintentionally invoked the “forbidden fruit syndrome” thereby attracting more young users than young smokers or alcohol abusers. And since the current sellers of marijuana don’t have to card their customers, young folks without a fake ID have an easier time obtaining pot than alcohol.

  73. Porter Lansing 2015-10-27 18:03

    @BAT … Thanks for the stats. Fun to keep up with the kids up there. Great news that kids are making SAFER choices. Hey, kids. SUGAR KILLS

  74. bearcreekbat 2015-10-27 18:11

    Today’s Dr. Phil program may have identified Lynn’s real circumstances – one of the program’s participants lost a lot of money due to acting on a “delusional disorder.”

    Based on Dr. Phil’s description of the characteristics of people suffering from this psychological disorder it appears that Lynn may have constructed her own “delusional disorder.” When this happens Dr. Phil says that the victim is unable to accept or consider factual information that is inconsistent with the delusion. Instead, he or she builds walls to prevent the entry of any information that is inconsistent with the delusion.

    If she indeed suffers from such a disorder, then Lynn is likely arguing in good faith, but her delusional disorder prevents her from accepting factual information that is inconsistent with her delusion.

  75. Bob Newland 2015-10-27 18:58

    Or maybe Lynn is truly just stupid.

  76. caheidelberger Post author | 2015-10-27 19:18

    No, Bob, displeased as I am with Lynn’s decision to explode thin assumptions about pot policy into a crusade against the SDDP (though in favor of what opponents, I’m still not quite sure), I cannot agree that Lynn is stupid.

  77. Bob Newland 2015-10-27 20:03

    I don’t want to develop a big discussion about whether or not Lynn is stupid.

    Her assumptions about cannabis lead her to accept, as you mentioned, thin evidence, and to disregard the overwhelming evidence that cannabis can’t be logically demonized unless one includes a much wider range of stuff that can harm a person than any of us wants to consider. Her beliefs, derived from “thin” (or nonexistent) evidence, and the similar beliefs of a whole bunch of legislative-type folks relying on the same evidence, have led to the ruination of nearly countless lives.

    So I think I am being generous to merely call her stupid. There are two other choices, malicious and crazy. Crazy was mentioned by BCB.

    It could be she’s capable of putting forth an argument supported by elocution of evidence and logic, but so far I have seen no evidence of that possibility. That opinion is tempered by the fact that I am a cranky old man sick of seeing people’s lives being disrupted by legal attention to their diversion of choice.

  78. Bob Newland 2015-10-27 20:04

    That last sentence might be clearer if I said at the end, “…their choice of diversions.”

  79. larry kurtz 2015-10-27 20:38

    Lynn has little interest in a discussion of free will where adults make decisions for themselves but rather empowers a nanny state to make choices for her just like PP chooses to do like Wimpy does.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9JD6W1PU-s

  80. caheidelberger Post author | 2015-10-27 22:03

    Hey, Chef Porter! What’s more addictive, marijuana or bacon?

  81. bearcreekbat 2015-10-28 17:21

    Here is an article describing what happened in Portugal after they legalized all drugs in 2001:

    http://mic.com/articles/110344/14-years-after-portugal-decriminalized-all-drugs-here-s-what-s-happening

    After a short spike in drug use after legalization, drug use has consistently dropped for both teenagers and adults under the new legalization policies. In addition, drug induced death from harder drugs has also continued to drop dramatically after legalization.

    Since our current drug war policies have failed to stop or even reduce marijuana use, perhaps we can learn a new method of reducing drug use from Portugal’s experience. How about it Lynn – do you really want to decrease drug use here?

  82. Lynn 2015-10-30 20:24

    “But five hours west of Flandreau, along Highway 212 and across the Missouri River, we found a strong opponent to this plan.
    A man in a similar situation who could also use that much money but is saying “no thanks”.

    “You know sometimes money can’t buy happiness. With a lot of the problems going on that are affecting the families with drugs. I know it’s a breaking a lot of our families apart.” Harold Frazier is the chairman of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe.
    An area where poverty is everywhere.
    So are drugs. There is a growing problem here with meth and heroin.
    Frazier says at a time when alcohol and drug use are plaguing South Dakota tribal lands, he doesn’t understand why the Flandreau Santee Sioux are making this move. “With the social ills that are affecting our people today, some just feel it would be another problem facing our people.”

    http://www.ksfy.com/home/headlines/Opposing-laws-cloud-F-338560112.html

  83. Porter Lansing 2015-10-30 20:45

    After Flandreau is open for a few years, you’ll be schooled. PS … surely won’t be the first time Sodak has been on the wrong side of history.
    In Colorado … Over the last two years, NIBRS data reveals a 41 percent decrease in all drug arrests in the state. This drop can be attributed to allowing adults to possess, cultivate and privately use marijuana.

  84. Lynn 2015-10-30 20:50

    Sound like law enforcement will be very busy along with jobs opportunities in supporting law enforcement’s efforts and the criminal justice system. This will be interesting to watch and could be an expensive trip to FSST for non-tribal members that use pot.

  85. Lynn 2015-10-30 21:01

    I’m curious if and how much of a debt load FSST has in this risky and unwise venture. If law enforcement makes it very expensive for non-tribal members to use pot at their facility can it survive with that overhead on it’s tribal members alone? This will be fascinating.

  86. jerry 2015-10-30 22:28

    The Chairman of CRST is a good man that has seen the face of poverty for far to long there. CRST is really no different than any of the reservations of the west river who face struggles with funding for a variety of programs with one being alcohol treatment and the other being law enforcement itself. By taking the load off poverty stricken communities so that funding could be used for the real drug problem, alcohol, would be a way of progress for those communities. The violence provoked by alcohol abuse is and should be unacceptable.

    Here is an article from the business side of NBC on tribal involvement in marijuana production. Mr. Kurtz is more of an expert on the business side of this that I am, that is for sure. But what they are pointing out here is factual regarding cannabis as a whole. We import a half billion plus each year of hemp from outside our borders. http://www.cnbc.com/2015/03/19/native-americans-debate-whether-to-jump-on-the-green-wave-.html

  87. caheidelberger Post author | 2015-10-31 09:42

    I’ll admit, if I were Attorney General, I would consider stationing agents at sobriety checkpoints on Highways 34 and 32 on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. Heck, I’d ask DCI and BFM to run the numbers on how much it would cost to run 24-hour checkpoints there for a full month. Bring in an extra judge, give everyone testing positive no jail time but the maximum fine, see how much we’d make and how much we’d spend trying to enforce.

    The checkpoints could be an economic boon for Flandreau—their population could quadruple as thousands of stoners would take up permanent residence and never leave reservation limits. Apartment builders, grocers, start your engines!

  88. Porter Lansing 2015-10-31 11:01

    Why burden Highway Patrol with something they promote (decriminalization of marijuana) and give the cost to taxpayers? Maybe you should just get Lynn and sit out there yourselves and turn in people that look like they’ve been having “too much fun” for the fun police and The Church Lady to process. Sounds cold in the winter.

  89. bearcreekbat 2015-10-31 11:01

    Today’s RC Journal reports that, among other uses, Colorado’s tax revenues from all marijuana sales are to be used for “facility repair and remodels at the state fairgrounds, which in turn supports FHA and 4H members when they show at the fair;” with another $2 million for a new “school bullying prevention and education” program; and another $200,000 for law enforcement and police training.

    Another goal for the marijuana tax revenue is to raise $40 million for a school construction fund, and programs “related to helping kids stay away from drugs” through education efforts.

    Doesn’t this make more sense than continuing our 85 year old failed policies of jailing kids? Or is this just another nefarious plot by “potheads” to trick thoughtful conservatives like Lynn?

  90. Lynn 2015-10-31 11:55

    Cory,

    Isn’t the AG’s office and the rest of law enforcement saying that they can go into the FSST and arrest non-tribal members that are participating in this illegal activity and also check THC levels? If so, FSST may have a hard time financially with the amount invested in this operation. The fines besides discouraging this illegal and harmful activity could help fund an increase in teacher pay besides providing a very good lesson.

    Based on our phone calls not everyone in the FSST was on board with this.

  91. Lynn 2015-10-31 12:02

    Harold Frazier chairman and the rest of the leadership within the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe made a very good decision on this.

    I’m all for economic development on tribal lands but will it be taken on the high road or the low road which may be very tempting for short term financial gain but will have very negative long term consequences not only within tribal lands but elsewhere.

  92. Porter Lansing 2015-10-31 12:23

    Any semi-competent defense lawyer would stand on the neck of that proposal. People have rights and you can’t detain them for no reason and demand body fluids at will. You’d like to live in “STALAG DAKOTA” but imposing what you’ve personally decided is “proper” on other people isn’t legal … it’s just selfish.

  93. leslie 2015-10-31 12:39

    lynn, in Indian country you will NEVER have “every one on board” haha- i hope and am pretty sure my Indian brothers and sisters agree.

    Also, desperate people (in poverty) sometimes/often seek short term solutions (like pay day loans or) quick economic development like marijuana, given the scene washington and colorado have started.

    these are realities you can’t wish away.

    people that sell drugs/alcohol and other addicting substances know this. that is their business model (“drink responsibly”). go to white clay. pay day lenders have the same business model. convenient that bankruptcy is no longer a solution for desperate poor/middle class people. republicans wreak damage on the unprotected at every turn. that is their business model.

  94. bearcreekbat 2015-10-31 12:39

    Cory, as Porter intimated, the SCOTUS has ruled that alcohol sobriety checkpoints are lawful only if they are intended to identify impaired drivers. Another recent SCOTUS ruling held that involuntary blood tests for alcohol or other substances are not permissible unless a magistrate finds probable cause to issue a warrant.

    Drug interdiction checkpoints have been ruled unconstitutional by the SCOTUS. Given that ruling, I doubt that checkpoints for marijuana use would survive scrutiny. Even if found permissible, I doubt such checkpoint would be effective absent blood tests since the symptoms of marijuana use are substantially different and less obvious than the symptoms of excess alcohol use.

  95. Porter Lansing 2015-10-31 12:47

    South Dakota is like a petulant child doing extreme things without legal advice just to get the attention of SCOTUS and USA in general. Jackley might try to detain guests at the REZ but only to garner some Nat’l attention for his perceived Governor’s bid.

  96. Porter Lansing 2015-10-31 12:52

    The term “Indian Country” is discriminatory and bigoted by nature. If you referred to where the Germans live as “White Country” it would be the same racism. Country is Country. The goal is to share, mixed race Leslie.

  97. Roger Cornelius 2015-10-31 12:53

    On a related note, today the federal government will release 6,600 low level, mostly drug offenders in hopes of reducing cost of imprisoning them.

    The federal government is attempting to moving on and quit harassing marijuana users, why can’t Marty Jackley?

  98. Curt 2015-10-31 12:59

    Mr Lansing –
    You may choose to regard the term ‘Indian Country’ as ‘discriminatory and bigoted’, but in fact you will find that it is actually a legal term-of-art. Furthermore, by some interpretations, all US territory may be regarded as ‘Indian Country,’

  99. Porter Lansing 2015-10-31 13:05

    That’s an invalid interpretation of a legal term of art.

  100. leslie 2015-10-31 13:35

    Porter, while i agree with much you post, your exuberance is at times “horse sheit”! :)

    on another note, while RC prolly is laughing at us, porter, we do indeed have lots of lawyers at the state level who seamlessly seem to protect elected officials, except Gant!

  101. bearcreekbat 2015-10-31 13:42

    Porter, It appears Curt’s “legal term of art” point is correct:

    18 U.S. Code § 1151 – Indian country defined –

    “. . . the term “Indian country”, as used in this chapter, means (a) all land within the limits of any Indian reservation under the jurisdiction of the United States Government, notwithstanding the issuance of any patent, and, including rights-of-way running through the reservation, (b) all dependent Indian communities within the borders of the United States whether within the original or subsequently acquired territory thereof, and whether within or without the limits of a state, and (c) all Indian allotments, the Indian titles to which have not been extinguished, including rights-of-way running through the same.”

    https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1151

  102. Porter Lansing 2015-10-31 13:44

    My exuberance can be quite a contrast to the milquetoast, lay down and take it approach of many Sodak liberals and your Democrat Party. Honestly, until y’all stand up and shout down you’ll continue to be the dog turds of the state’s political process.

  103. Porter Lansing 2015-10-31 13:47

    @BCB – As my colleagues Russell Means and Marlon Brando often cited, “The dictates and determinations of your white man’s court have no validity in Native American affairs.” Especially one that was decided in 1933 during the height of bigoted and discriminatory practices toward the Indigenous Tribes in South Dakota. INDIAN COUNTRY is separatist, bigoted and racist … none of which are illegal but all of which are despicable human faults.

  104. bearcreekbat 2015-10-31 14:00

    Porter, the statute, 18 U.S. Code § 1151, defining the term “Indian Country” was an act of Congress, not the courts. And it was adopted to regulate the relationships of Tribes with the US government, after recognizing that Natives had a right to sovereignty, subject only to the federal government.

    That said, there are plenty of problems, bigotry, racism, separatism, etc, in our older statutes and in many older court decisions. Even so, it is unlikely to benefit anyone by simply declaring these acts and decisions have no validity.

    It would seem more productive to elect individuals who are willing to reconsider such older statutes and to bring litigation seeking to over-rule older unfair and racist decisions, sort of like Brown v. Board of Education finally over-ruled Plessy v. Ferguson.

  105. Lynn 2015-10-31 14:03

    Porter who resides in Colorado,

    “My exuberance can be quite a contrast to the milquetoast, lay down and take it approach of many Sodak liberals and your Democrat Party. Honestly, until y’all stand up and shout down you’ll continue to be the dog turds of the state’s political process.”

    You mean when you went for Nick Nemac’s jugular vein which seemed to come out of nowhere but in your attack you brought up his election results?

  106. bearcreekbat 2015-10-31 14:04

    By the way, I was lucky enough to meet and spend some time with Russell in his more active days during the 70’s and 80’s. That experience helped me gain a great deal of respect for his mind and his willingness to fight injustice. (But, I never met Brando of “The Wild One.”)

  107. bearcreekbat 2015-10-31 14:09

    Lynn, one more question – what did I say or write to deserve the silent treatment from you on the questions I have posed to you? You are willing to dialog with folks who have called you names and folks who you believe threatened you, yet you will not talk to me, even though I have said none of those things to you – what’s up?

  108. Porter Lansing 2015-10-31 14:09

    Correct Church Lady. Often, this blog is like a South Dakota bar. When you see someone come in the front it’s best to walk out the back. There are so few people in Sodak, there’s no benefit to pissing some of them off.

  109. Porter Lansing 2015-10-31 14:11

    @BCB – Maybe we ran into each other when I lived on the REZ in Eagle Butte when the Fed’s went down at Wounded Knee in ’73.

  110. Porter Lansing 2015-10-31 14:13

    PS … @ChurchLady – How much jail time do you think is appropriate for someone convicted of marijuana possession?

  111. leslie 2015-10-31 14:15

    My reference to Indian country in Sd means all the way from the muddy missouex to the big horns, and more if my Indian brothers say so….At the recent Harney name change public meeting in RC, Crow dignitaries were welcome to express their ancestral version as well, rooted in four “posts of the tipi” (one being near north park), with equal credibility!

  112. larry kurtz 2015-10-31 14:17

    The kurtz template is going into at least one legislative committee with sponsors. Stay tuned.

  113. bearcreekbat 2015-10-31 14:35

    Porter, That was slightly before my time. I met Russell in the South Minneapolis area around 1979 or 1980. He was visiting a Native gal that my friend, Rick McArthur, knew, and we ended up staying at her place for the evening.

  114. jerry 2015-10-31 15:17

    Good point leslie about everyone agreeing on everything. There is more common than not between whites and non whites, it seems we all have our opinions, likes and dislikes. It is good that lynn speaks against marijuana legalization because it gives the rest of us ample opportunities to show how changing the laws will be helpful for all. Lynn’s arguments makes us all look deeper into our own ideas on how far out of touch she is so we can bring forth the right argument to make this change of law even more possible. Marijuana is much less dangerous than the spirits I am thinking Lynn imbibes in.

  115. happy camper 2015-10-31 16:48

    I’m glad Lynn is back in the game so I decided to come out and make some noise. First off as a Libbie Tarian I don’t agree with none of you bout nothin. If people want to smoke pot and others make some money that’s their business. More power to em. The problem is with the people we call Native Americans (no such thing racially we’re all the same) they too often take the easy way out for the fast buck. They “sell” their sovereign legal status to partners rather than do it themselves and really learn the business. And that includes the sleazy high interest rate loan business so many of you are against, but as far as human rights go we should be able to ingest what we want while willing to accept the consequences. Is Cannabis the evil Lynn makes it out to be? No. She’s totally off the deep end. If you don’t like it then don’t smoke it. If you’re in poverty go get a job wherever you have to go to find one to support yourself. Do something for somebody else in the “free” market. Stop crying discrimination all the time. Deal with the greater world. Do you really think I like every white person out there and all of them want to tuck me in at night just cause I’m white too? Yeah sure all of us white people love each other. Do something about that chip way too many of you have on your shoulder. It’s very unappealing. Welfare is a lot worse than a little bit of pot. We all decide just how lazy to be or not to be.

  116. Lynn 2015-10-31 17:07

    Happy,

    “Is Cannabis the evil Lynn makes it out to be? No. She’s totally off the deep end. If you don’t like it then don’t smoke it.”

    Today was another productive day making phone calls and based on the calls we have made you, Jerry, Porter, Larry and many commenters here are in a clear minority. They have shared their stories of people they knew being family members, co-workers, friends and neighbors that their lives revolved around their use of pot and they just basically tuned out of life.

  117. Lynn 2015-10-31 17:29

    The latest study has shown 1 out of 3 pot users have developed a pot disorder from use meaning dependency. If that were alcohol that would be extremely bad!

  118. jerry 2015-10-31 17:37

    I am glad that you make the calls lynn as the callers just agree with you to shut you up. They have already made their minds up and we will see at the ballot box. In the meantime, be careful to not break you arm while trying to slap yourself on the back. 1 out of three pot users. gwahahaha. I am sure those 3 pot users gave you correct info. You are amusing with your gullibility, please proceed.

  119. Porter Lansing 2015-10-31 18:01

    Don’t include me in your hit list, Church Lady. I don’t think SoDak is ready for any type of MMJ. I’m just here to expose you for your tactics and selfishness in the face of free speech. You’re not making any phone calls. It’s not even on the ballot, yet. People would laugh you down…unless you’re calling seniors that need to talk to anyone as a diversion; which is pretty much what your posts here are.

  120. Les 2015-10-31 18:08

    And I thought you had me by ten years, bear. Now 63, I was a youngster, by no “means” a colleague when Dennis, Russell and attorney Kunstler were in front of my camera for interviews on many occasions while they were visiting Federal Court at the request of our government in the mid 70s.

    Weed was legal then if I remember right. Bringing it back on topic for you Cory.

  121. Lynn 2015-10-31 18:14

    Porter who resides in Colorado,

    It really doesn’t matter if you believe me or not. What matters to others and myself are the results on election day.

  122. Porter Lansing 2015-10-31 18:20

    What matters to me is that the misleading statements you make to people who are indifferent to a ballot decision that is benign at best are exposed. Your hatchet is becoming dull way to far ahead of the election. [It really doesn’t matter if you believe me or not] is one of the most common exclamations by criminals and liars.

  123. bearcreekbat 2015-10-31 18:32

    Youngster Les, I moved my family to Spearfish, SD, in 1973 and knew little or nothing about what was going on in Wounded Knee. It was not until about 1978 that I went to work in Rapid and got to know several individuals involved in that episode, including meeting and talking with Russell Means in Mpls. I never met Banks or Kunstler, but I became friends with several individuals who were there and who described the events in detail.

  124. bearcreekbat 2015-10-31 18:50

    Lynn says that under our current 85 year policy of jailing users “The latest study has shown 1 out of 3 pot users have developed a pot disorder from use meaning dependency.”

    This claim seems to be of doubtful veracity, but even if we pretend such propaganda to be true it would simply confirm that Lynn’s 85 year old jail em policy preferences have not succeeded in eradicating or even reducing marijuana use. Time for a new approach.

    And I agree with Jerry and Porter. Since Lynn will not address the real world problems with her jail em policies, it makes sense to try to address and correct the faulty claims in her posts.

  125. Bill Dithmer 2015-10-31 18:58

    From one who understands Lynn here are some lyrics from Hoyt.

    She asked me maybe I could share her sorrow
    For all the men that tried to treat her wrong
    Though just a baby, awaiting her tomorrow
    It’s rock me baby, rock me baby, all night long

    She needs an answer to her confusion
    Someone to guide her with tenderness
    But then she’s askin’ for a solution
    All that she gets, you know, is something like this

    I don’t know where we come from
    Don’t know where we’re goin’ to
    But if all this should have a reason
    We would be the last to know

    So let’s just hope there is a promised land
    Hang on ’til then as best as you can

    Everybody’s ill, you know it fills her with compassion
    That’s why she tries to save the world alone
    She helps the needy in her own fashion
    And tries to give them all her own

    Ah hell, maybe its more auditory then visual. Say it with music dammit, and make it rock oldtime.

    https://open.spotify.com/track/5os6mvXLYS4nNhQ87BKCu0

    Its Saturday night, and spook night to boot. What do you expect from one with second site.

    The Blindman

  126. bearcreekbat 2015-10-31 19:06

    I’m cheering for you Blindman – let those eyes heal and keep on sharing your wonderful thoughts and prose!

  127. Lynn 2015-10-31 19:08

    Porter who resides in Colorado,

    Let’s face it. We come from two entirely different lifestyles and backgrounds.

    Whether you choose to have your facts from a source like SDAP which is basically a pot porn page in which those we have called thought was funny as heck and are also against any type of legalization.

    Then there is NASD which claims to practically cure every malady known to mankind and which we will have a South Dakota version of 24/7 pot doctors that will write a script for $25.00 or like the ads in campus newspapers in Colorado to bring a friend and get a discount for a medical pot script.

    You can tell yourselves anything you want to justify your use. Maybe someday some of you will be able to get the help needed and stop the denial. I’m sure there is a Marijuana Anonymous chapter or other resources available in Colorado and other states.

  128. bearcreekbat 2015-10-31 19:18

    Lynn seems to have imbibed something that interferes with her ability to construct grammatically correct and coherent sentences. There oughta be a law. . . .

  129. jerry 2015-10-31 19:30

    If you try to call the ones on the do not call list, you may find yourself in a slammer beside some poor kid who got caught smoking a little of God’s creation. Lynn forgets that cannabis is as natural as childbirth, as sweet as the morning dew, as medically necessary as any other cancer treatments, or as pain reducing as many of the opioids, or as treatments for eye disorders. Indeed Lynn, keep up those fake calls, you may get an education behind the bars of the system.

  130. Lynn 2015-10-31 19:45

    Ah yes the innocence of a plant created by God argument. That argument could be used for the opium poppy seed plant and other psychoactive plants too that happened to wreck lives.

  131. Lynn 2015-10-31 19:47

    Imbibed? No. Sentence structure? Yes the distractions of little ghosts and goblins coming to our door for Halloween. lol :)

  132. Porter Lansing 2015-10-31 20:01

    @Mr. Heidelberger – Neither bacon or marijuana or sugar are addictive. Many confuse a strong desire to partake with addiction. Physical withdrawal symptoms are addiction. You know … like booze for some and cigarettes for all. To rank the danger level to one’s health, it’s sugar then bacon than weed.

  133. jerry 2015-10-31 20:05

    You are correct about poppy seeds and you are correct about psychedelic drugs. Both have a place in the medical world. Without morphine to control the hideous pain of near death your fellow citizens of the world go through, how could they reach some level calmness before death. You are indeed a very callous person to deny that help. http://www.ch.ic.ac.uk/rzepa/mim/drugs/html/morphine_text.htm So Lynn, walk into a hospice and tell the suffering there that you think they should just stop with that morphine patch because you know what is right for them.

    Maybe if you would make an effort from the imbibing to check out matters of health concerns to your fellow citizens, if could help you. One of the real problems with republicans is that they fail to have curiosity. http://www.medicaldaily.com/anxiety-and-mental-health-psychedelic-drugs-may-be-latest-treatment-range-disorders-351650

  134. caheidelberger Post author | 2015-10-31 20:57

    Russell Means, Wounded Knee, Indian Country—I’m nowhere near on topic, and I’m not too worried.

    I just finished reading Steve Hendricks‘s The Unquiet Grave: The FBI and the Struggle for the Soul of Indian Country (a gift from an eager reader of this blog—thank you!). Excellent book, written with verve, full of information I never knew about South Dakota’s awful history of corruption and racism. Bill Janklow was a tyrant, but would it be fair to say Pine Ridge President Dick Wilson was ever more tyrannical?

    Hendricks uses “Indian Country” in his title and throughout his text. He notes the term’s legal meaning, as do Curt and BCB above, but says he also uses it as a general term for the land on and surrounding the reservations, or, simply, where Indians live. Hendricks also uses Indian, not Native American, since he says Indian is the term he hears Indians themselves using.

    When Hendricks spoke at Oglala Lakota College on Halloween 2006 about his book, Russell Means roughed him up. Marijuana does not appear to have played a part in the incident.

  135. Roger Cornelius 2015-10-31 22:00

    In light of the coward that calls himself Don Coyote’s comment I was hesitant to comment or even respond to his hateful and highly prejudicial comments.
    Coyote’s comments are typical stereotypical South Dakota and contribute largely to South Dakota being called the Mississippi of the North. I can only hope he is proud of his heritage as I am of mine.
    What bothered about me about Wounded Knee 1973 still bothers me today. This conflict that lasted through the 70’s has been nothing more than a romantic sojourn.
    The Civil Rights leaders all came out, Ralph Abernathy, Angela Davis, Mark Lane, William Kunstler and more and supported the destruction of property and family, many of those scars remain today.
    I knew Russell since we were young and grew up together for a few years in the same neighborhood, Dennis has always been a friend, it was always a good time to get together with them.
    Before Dick Wilson became a tyrant he was a progressive leader for the tribe, it is my belief the feds influenced Dick to respond to AIM the way he did, after all Dick could be as radical as AIM.
    Having worked for Dick in his first term, I could hardly recognize him by the end of his political career.
    As a side note, I ended up working for Al Trimble, my uncle, in his successful bid to unseat Wilson.
    To this day I cannot see anything positive that came from the ’73 Occupation, there are still countless deaths have never been solved and never will be.
    How this relates to the marijuana topic, well I don’t know.

  136. caheidelberger Post author | 2015-11-01 06:14

    Remind me in my book-learning, Roger, to always defer to your direct experience.

    If we’re looking for a linkage to the original topic… well, Dick Wilson’s tyranny on behalf of/in cahoots with the feds is not at all like anything I expect from the medical marijuana folks. But I wonder if there’s a similar relationship: might the payday lenders or other more powerful money interests be using the medical marijuana activists for their own purposes as the feds used Dick Wilson? Or could there be mutual exploitation?

  137. larry kurtz 2015-11-01 19:57

    Charlie Hoffman is an incurable sot who laments free will and decries the nanny state over at Pat’s Pissoir yet rues the death of a ballot initiative that never had a chance in Hades of succeeding in light of actionable legislation.

    Lead, follow or get thee behind me, Santa.

  138. Bob Newland 2015-11-01 21:23

    Lynn, I was wondering: How much prison time is about right for someone who “abuses” his/her own body? Really, I was just wonderin’.

  139. leslie 2015-11-02 16:14

    costs of addiction: US (pop. 360 million people)

    $560 Billion annually (alcohol $180 bil; 193 bil tobacco; drugs the rest)

    dutch legalization 40 years (16.8 million pop.) pot tax revenue: $600 Million annually

  140. bearcreekbat 2015-11-02 16:52

    According to the Drug Policy Alliance we spend over $51 billion per year fighting the 85 year old failed drug war.

    In addition, in 2013, 693,482 people were charged with marijuana law violations, and 609,423 (88 percent) of these folks were arrested for mere possession.

    http://www.drugpolicy.org/drug-war-statistics

    What a waste of resources, just to punish someone for abusing his/her own body.

  141. caheidelberger Post author | 2015-11-03 06:05

    Bob, people do all sorts of crazy stuff to their bodies. I’m not interested in spending lots of public resources governing that until it starts affecting others.

  142. Lynn 2015-11-04 05:07

    Congratulations to Ohio for voting down the legalizing Marijuana initiatives! :)

  143. larry kurtz 2015-11-04 06:28

    Congratulations to Ohio for voting down Big Marijuana. Legal cannabis has to be hammered out in the legislature, not by a blunt instrument like initiated law.

  144. larry kurtz 2015-11-04 08:07

    Initiated law is a blunt instrument: cannabis statutes need to be hammered out in committee then ground into sausage.

    Ohio’s legalization initiative, Issue 3, attempted an unusual approach. Rather than legalize recreational use and allow businesses to sell cannabis, as in Colorado, or legalize recreational use and centralize distribution under state ABC agencies, as in Washington, Ohio’s measure was backed by a cartel of investors—ResponsibleOhio—who would retain the exclusive rights to cultivate marijuana. That arrangement was highly controversial, making it unclear whether voters were rejecting marijuana itself, or simply a system that was decried by opponents as a monopolistic travesty. [The Atlantic]

    Montana has already trained a generation of growers. The state enjoys numerous brewery pubs and wine tasting venues for local product.

    South Dakota’s red state legislature would just gut an initiated law just like Montana’s did.

    Let’s assume Health and Humans Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell announces soon afterwards that cannabis has been removed from Schedule 1:

    The HHS Secretary can even unilaterally legalize cannabis: “[I]f the Secretary recommends that a drug or other substance not be controlled, the Attorney General shall not control the drug or other substance.”

    a federal tax rate is adopted; and, she proposes that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives become the lead agency in enforcement provided that states can craft law to cultivate and distribute.

    I’ve proposed that tribal nations enter a compact with the state of South Dakota so Deadwood will become a cannabis friendly zone in its quest to become an adult destination.

    Assuming that home growing law looks like home brewing and wine making, what would state law need to include about liability insurance requirements for commercial resale and how would law enforcement be guided by probable cause?

  145. Lynn 2015-11-04 08:33

    Larry Who Resides in New Mexico,

    Unfortunately those will just be “pipe dreams”. Please let us know when you will be up to testify at this supposed legislative hearing. Looking forward to this.

  146. larry kurtz 2015-11-04 08:38

    Tribal nations are going to do it whether South Dakota, New Mexico or Montana enters compacts with them or not.

  147. larry kurtz 2015-11-04 08:40

    The Crow and Northern Cheyenne are weeks away from doing it in Montana, Isleta Pueblo in New Mexico are even closer.

  148. jerry 2015-11-04 09:05

    There will another vote in Ohio. One that does not allow the monopolization of the grow places. The law that failed should have regarding that as it would put all the money into the hands of a couple of grow facilities. In the meantime, Colorado and Washington continue on..making their citizens safe and healthier.

  149. Porter Lansing 2015-11-05 09:59

    This Just In ….
    Pot-funded scholarship approved
    Pueblo County, CO has approved the world’s first marijuana-funded college scholarship.
    County voters approved the pot tax by a 20-point margin Tuesday. The 5 percent excise tax on marijuana growers is expected to raise about $3.5 million a year by 2020, with the money available for any high school senior in the county who attends one of two public colleges in the county.
    The scholarship awards will depend on how many students apply, but county planners are projecting about 400 students a year will get scholarships of about $1,000 each per year. The awards are the world’s first scholarships funded entirely by pot taxes. Pueblo’s booming pot industry didn’t oppose the measure, which brings their tax rate from 15 percent to 20 percent, phased in over five years. But it also puts the recipients in an odd place.
    — they’ll be having college bills paid by a product they’re not supposed to touch until they’re 21. ~ The Associated Press

  150. larry kurtz 2015-11-06 14:39

    South Dakota State Medical Association Council voted to form a committee to study medical & recreational marijuana and draft a position statement.

  151. Lynn 2015-11-06 15:18

    Those poor kids and families affected by addiction.

  152. larry kurtz 2015-11-06 15:25

    “Cannabis actually can be used as a harm-reduction medicine for patients to reduce their harm if they’re addicted to opiates, if they’re addicted to alcohol, if they’re addicted to cocaine,” said Thor Agustsson, a physician with Integr8 Health, a Burlington clinic that evaluates patients for medical marijuana use. “There have been studies out that have shown cannabis, when they take it appropriately, is able to help them reduce their use of these other substances that are highly more toxic to their body.”

    http://commonhealth.wbur.org/2014/06/medical-marijuana-opiate-addiction

  153. grudznick 2015-11-06 15:27

    Studies show that toking on weed after age 70 can hasten the burning up of good brain matter. Weed is bad, it is bad.

  154. Lynn 2015-11-06 15:29

    Yes! I’m sure the pot profiteers would love to sell it as a treatment for addiction when people are being treated for marijuana addiction and there is an organization called Marijuana Anonymous. There is no shame when there money is to be made.

  155. Lynn 2015-11-06 15:30

    Grudz when you had breakfast with Lar and our good friend Bob did you find you had to repeat yourself over and over? That weed affects their memory.

  156. larry kurtz 2015-11-06 15:32

    Despite lies from SDGOP, video lootery, payday loan sharks, domestic violence and homelessness are inextricably linked putting children at risk to more catastrophic consequences far more often than has happened in states that have legalized or lessened penalties for casual use of cannabis.

  157. jerry 2015-11-06 15:34

    The wacky red red red state of North Carolina has approved the growing of industrial hemp. Meanwhile, back at the ranch in South Dakota, Dennis continues to look at his belly button and giggle while we loose another billion.

  158. Lynn 2015-11-06 15:39

    Legalized weed will fit right in to the poverty industry.

  159. bearcreekbat 2015-11-06 15:42

    “Those poor kids and families affected by addiction.”

    What? Are you saying that our 85 year old war on marijuana is not working? How can that be?

    Perhaps we need more jails and prisons? I’m sure the prison industry profiteers would love to sell jail as a treatment for addiction.

  160. larry kurtz 2015-11-06 15:48

    Expect South Dakota to put off legal cannabis until it’s a market commodity where supply exceeds demand.

  161. grudznick 2015-11-06 15:57

    Bob is usually very mellow at breakfast, his anger not yet risen for the day, but it could also be that his first hash pipe has not fully taken grip on his brain yet. Lar’s not much of a breakfast fan but he tends to be more shifty in his darting glances and thought process, almost as if he’s keeping an extra eye out for whatever phantoms of the paranoid pursue him. And the cops, who are always looking for him when he’s in town.

  162. larry kurtz 2015-11-06 16:03

    Republican Governor Dennis Daugaard’s Blue Ribbon Task Force found need of $75 million to implement its findings. The GOP-heavy task force is leaning toward a regressive sales tax increase to nudge teachers’ salaries out of 51st place.

    South Dakota’s legislature can write a bill that would adopt legislation similar to Minnesota’s medical cannabis law but worthy of Federal Drug Administration scrutiny where real medicine could be sold by pharmacies. Legalize for adults then allow Deadwood and the tribes to grow under California organic standards then distribute on reservation and off-reservation properties under a compact putting the gaming commission as the administrative body to tax and regulate.

    Because cannabis is illegal under federal law, and use of the term “organic” is regulated by the US Department of Agriculture, a licensed cannabis business cannot be certified as USDA organic.

    In my view edibles should only be available to patients suffering from debilitating diseases, disorders or conditions and be dispensed by pharmacists and taxed like other prescriptions.

    Home growing for personal enjoyment should look like South Dakota’s beer home brewing and wine making laws.

    For the record, I do not support widespread growing of hemp: it is an invasive species and capable of overgrowing native grasses.

    Tribes can do this by themselves and the South Dakota Legislature should be kept out of the cannabis loop completely unless Deadwood chooses to be the non-Native test bed off-reservation. Nations trapped in South Dakota and in other states with off-reservation properties are already testing cannabis law.

    Washington State’s Liquor Cannabis Board has entered a compact with the Suquamish Tribe.

    Gannett’s Jonathan Ellis believes the South Dakota Republican Party is on the losing side of cannabis prohibition.

    That South Dakota Republicans prop up illegal drug use and project an ethics black hole while ignoring a potential revenue source is just more evidence of red state collapse.

    But, a red moocher state like South Dakota is powered by sin: video lootery, a loan shark industry that preys on the least fortunate, a massive gambling addiction and a too-big-to-jail banking racket fill in the gaps created by lobbyists who enjoy the protection of single-party tyranny.

    Tribal nations are taking steps to bank cannabis proceeds. “The Indian casinos are basically small little banks,” according to Bloomberg News.

    Wyoming is actually weighing cannabis as a revenue source. Led by Democrats, Wyoming’s legislature is slated to tackle numerous cannabis bills.

    Pass a corporate income tax, end video lootery, reduce the number of South Dakota counties to 25, turn Dakota State University into a community college, and adopt my cannabis template: the kurtz solution painted on a thumbnail.

    Larry Kurtz is a mostly-retired building contractor with a background in sales who grew up in Elkton, attended South Dakota State University and South Dakota School of Mines, lived in the Black Hills for thirty five years, in Montana for ten and now resides off the grid in southern Santa Fe County, New Mexico. He blogs at http://interested-party.blogspot.com

  163. Lynn 2015-11-06 16:21

    Bill Fleming,

    Thank you for posting that link! I’ve seen it and was going to read it yesterday and just didn’t get to it. I really like Chris Christie and believe what he says. We need to get these people help. As far as I can tell it fits with or is pretty close to what Rapid City Mayor & former police chief stated in his blog regarding marijuana policy which I have stated I agree with over and over and over. I do realize a few here have memory and cognitive skills loss from chronic marijuana use so they keep asking me over and over and over again what my position is. lol :)

    I’ve visited with a few addiction counselors regarding this and that Minnpost article further reinforces this besides my own lifetime experiences and the people we have been calling sharing their stories.

  164. Lynn 2015-11-06 16:22

    Grudz I wish I would of been there. It sounds very entertaining. lol

  165. bearcreekbat 2015-11-06 16:27

    Bill, the viewpoint attributed by the writer to Christie (I didn’t hear this in his video) that “drug addiction is a disease and we should treat it as such. That those suffering from addiction deserved compassion and help, not stigma and shame,” if accurate, is right on the money.

    Trouble is, Christie’s attitude apparently does not apply to marijuana, as he has promised to use federal force to arrest people who are legally selling or using in Colorado and other states –

    http://time.com/3976853/marijuana-chris-christie-colorado/

  166. larry kurtz 2015-11-06 16:29

    We need to get these people help is today’s understatement. Cannabis rights is the next marriage equality.

  167. Bill Fleming 2015-11-06 16:40

    The argument could be made, BCB that if a person is willing to take a chance on going to jail for using a controlled substance, there might be something about that substance that causes people to behave in a somewhat irrational manner in that it runs counter to their best interests. People who are addicted do that all the time. The reason prohibition didn’t work is because alcohol is addictive. I’m willing to be that if for some reason sugar were to be banned by law, people would break the law to get that too. My definition of what’s “addictive” is pretty broad.

  168. caheidelberger Post author | 2015-11-06 16:42

    Larry, really?! Does SDSMA have a press release on that decision yet? Where’s it reported?

    If SDSMA is performing that study, Lynn, you’ll have to start calling people and telling them to stop going to the hospital and withhold payment on their medical bills.

  169. Bill Fleming 2015-11-06 16:44

    …for example, I think the recent financial collapse was a result of a gambling addiction. I think we are addicted to oil and the internet, etc. There is more need for addiction treatment in humanity than anybody’s even close to being willing to talk about. :-)

  170. Lynn 2015-11-06 16:45

    I’m sure it goes along with Larry Who Resides in New Mexico postings about Senator Mike Rounds is resigning, Pat Powers has cancer and who knows what else. It depends on what was in the pipe when he posted.

  171. larry kurtz 2015-11-06 16:45

    i tweeted it to you, cah.

  172. larry kurtz 2015-11-06 16:48

    The other day Jason Ravnsborg unblocked me long enough to lecture a messenger about message. He’s a stupid cow, too.

  173. mike from iowa 2015-11-06 17:09

    Bill Fleming-what say you about nutjobs who insist they have the right to carry firearms everywhere and are willing to go to jail because of it,or that dizzy nutter in Kentucky who appears to be addicted to her religious freedumbs?

  174. bearcreekbat 2015-11-06 17:18

    And to the extent a small percentage of individuals have an addictive or abusive relationship with marijuana, as described in the article I linked, our current policies make it difficult to seek help as they are committing a crime. If marijuana were legal, like alcohol, people that actually had problems with it could come forward and get the help they need.

    Bill, I wish I could take Lynn’s comment to you as being in good faith, but I can’t, given her position that our current criminal laws should be used to punish anyone caught here with marijuana. I have yet to see a post from her suggesting that marijuana “addiction is a disease and we should treat it as such. That those suffering from addiction deserved compassion and help, not stigma and shame.”

    Instead, her comments on this blog repeatedly attempt to shame, stigmatize and negatively stereotype marijuana users, rather than showing the slightest bit of compassion. So if she really believes that these users suffer from an addiction, she is being disingenuous by fighting legalization, which could open the door for treatment.

    She repeatedly shames and stigmatizes users by calling them names and characterizing them as lazy stoners and potheads who won’t work and will drag the state down, as typical marijuana users who hurl profanities and threaten violence and feel threatened because their drug won’t be legalized, as fakers and phonies who are trying to trick the public with the medical marijuana initiative, SDDP is pot porn page, etc, etc.

    She issues posts that joyfully anticipate new job opportunities for police to bust people near Indian Reservations, and show excitement that police may stop and forcibly search or take blood tests from people leaving the Reservation so they can arrest these poor “addicts.” Her position is, indeed, clear, but it certainly does not parallel Christie’s compassionate treatment comments.

  175. Bill Fleming 2015-11-06 17:27

    BCB, yes. I know. That’s why I brought it up. :-)

  176. Bill Fleming 2015-11-06 17:33

    mike from iowa, interesting point about firearms. Almost the opposite of what we’re talking about. Something that perhaps should be illegal, or at least more controlled, but is instead protected by the Constitution almost to the point of absurdity. Ironic, huh?

  177. bearcreekbat 2015-11-06 17:49

    Okay Lynn, tell us which lane you are in. Your comment to Bill about Christie’s articulated position suggests that you think marijuana addicts should be treated with compassion and helped. But your other comments, suggest you advocate users should just be prosecuted as criminals instead. Christie’s arguments seem worthwhile, can you get on board?

    Bill, I hope I am wrong about Lynn, but I am not optimistic. She refuses to even discuss these issues with me. I hope you don’t get on her apparent “blacklist.” She seems to be a determined advocate and it would be great to help her move to a more rational position on marijuana legalization – one that actually tries to help our SD “addicts.”

  178. Lynn 2015-11-06 17:51

    I am obviously a clear minority on this blog that has not or does not use pot and other illegal mind altering drugs. It was never a part of my life nor any of my close friends. That does not mean I have not known people some of which were close to me that have suffered and died as a result of substance abuse. There have been plenty and way too many. Sometimes it was violent taking others with them and other times it was just a slow painful death. Their addiction was like a negative ripple effect that hurt others that loved and cared about those who dealt with addiction

    There is a big difference between enabling which seems very popular with many of the pro-pot advocates here and holding them accountable for their actions. Then there can be the manipulative behavior of an addict that is still using. One of which is to get others to use so they won’t feel so guilty and be held accountable for their behavior. Either way they have to make that choice to accept that they have a problem and to seek help. It won’t be easy.

  179. larry kurtz 2015-11-06 17:55

    It’s big of Lynn to admit she needs help: good on her/him.

  180. mike from iowa 2015-11-06 17:56

    Minority yes,victim no. Pot is to addiction what wingnuts are to reality. Not acquainted.

  181. larry kurtz 2015-11-06 18:01

    January in Pierre because I have a redeemer complex: now that’s addictive behavior.

  182. Lynn 2015-11-06 18:03

    January intervention for Larry in Pierre? What dates so we can schedule that in? lol

  183. larry kurtz 2015-11-06 18:04

    If I were prone to suspicion Lynn is one of my ex-wives on full pimp.

  184. Lynn 2015-11-06 18:09

    One of 4 ex wives? I can look up your quote. You described them as witches? 2 of which divorced as a result of a poker addiction as posted on one of your blogs?

  185. larry kurtz 2015-11-06 18:14

    That’s right, Lynn: witch</strike which one are you?

  186. larry kurtz 2015-11-06 18:16

    Cory: how many hits on the post so far?

  187. bearcreekbat 2015-11-06 18:32

    Lynn, fine them or put them in jail – do you contend that is the compassionate Christie approach? If so, you appear to support the same type of mendacious approach that Christie supports – pretend to actually care for people who see the world differently than you, but fine them and/or lock em up.

  188. mike from iowa 2015-11-06 18:41

    bcb-do you shout them posts to Lynn just to wait for the echoes to return?

  189. bearcreekbat 2015-11-06 19:00

    mfi – not really, as I no longer expect her to address legitimate questions. Lynn appears to be so entrenched that she won’t even talk about the issues with me, apparently because I have refrained from calling her names or threatening her.

    But when she posts stereotypes, falsehoods and misstatements, I respond to these comments to address what she says in my feeble effort to provide more truthful and accurate information and policy positions for whatever readers there might be out there who would otherwise be mislead by her comments.

  190. mike from iowa 2015-11-06 19:44

    You present so much useful evidence in a well reasoned manner that should not offend anyone’s sensibilities. Some people can’t handle truth. Please keep on fighting.

  191. grudznick 2015-11-06 19:50

    Lar, my granddaughter’s boyfriend, who is a swell fellow, says he can teach you how to do those fancy Humteemell things better. He does a class down there in the classroom place at the Main Street Square sometimes and says he could help you. I cautioned him not to encourage you but in full disclosure he said you would have to toe the line.

  192. grudznick 2015-11-06 20:01

    PS: #2 was the best.

  193. jerry 2015-11-06 21:10

    As Lynn has now recovered from her sabbatical, I still find much interests in her friends and acquaintances and where she lived in South Dakota. To say you have had so many friends addicted to drugs and have died from overdoes and such, kind of clues me in that Lynn could be in fact, a dealer that may be using this blog to find cover for her trade. I could be wrong though and will defer to Mr. Grudznick’s intuition on this matter.

  194. grudznick 2015-11-06 21:29

    Mr. jerry, I have only met one of Ms. Lynn’s friends and I did I fear we did not get along all that well. I was surprised.

    My intuition remains steadfastly that weed is bad. It is bad.

  195. jerry 2015-11-06 22:03

    I think I understand your quandary Mr. Grudznick. If I may utilize my intuition to offer a suggestion, I would suggest that you go to Colorado and find some week that is good. It is good.

  196. jerry 2015-11-06 22:04

    Oooppps, I met weed not week. Sorry

  197. Bob Newland 2015-11-06 23:11

    Lynn, I was wondering: How much prison time is about right for someone who “abuses” his/her own body? Really, I was just wonderin’.

  198. caheidelberger Post author | 2015-11-07 13:15

    How many hits, Larry, or how many unique visitors? At the point where the topic devolves to accusations about ex-wives, the traffic count no longer indicates profitable discourse.

  199. leslie 2015-11-07 13:21

    A 2014 New Yorker article estimated that Guzmán’s Sinaloa cartel brought in as much as half of the illegal drugs imported to the United States.

    Some 19.8 million Americans smoked weed in 2013, while 1.5 million used cocaine and another 681,000 used heroin, according to the most recent National Survey on Drug Use and Health. A sizable group of them purchased a Sinaloa cartel product.

    “‘El Chapo’ Guzmán is without a doubt one of, if not the most, dangerous men in the world,” a DEA spokesman told The Huffington Post. “He’s responsible for the death of thousands of Mexican citizens and all the violence that goes along with drug trafficking.” huffpo 11.04.15

  200. mike from iowa 2015-11-07 13:43

    Bill F-would it be safe to assume the only way to stop potheads with grass is good guys with guns? How would that work-shotguns with bongs vs shotguns with buckshot?

  201. Porter Lansing 2015-11-07 13:45

    You’re way behind, MFI … Potheads smoke dabs, now.

  202. mike from iowa 2015-11-07 13:55

    Sorry Porter,I haven’t partaken in nearly 30 years. My lingo is rusty and rustic. :)

  203. Porter Lansing 2015-11-07 13:59

    So is the church lady’s. Did you know that over half of the women in SoDak are abusing prescription pain pills? Probably because it’s the same high as beer (lotta German heritage, ya know) without the weight gain.

  204. Les 2015-11-07 14:33

    Pharmy pain meds are the half sister to heroin, Porter. Not beer, German or otherwise.

    Over half the women in SD abusing pharmies? I thinks porter is abusing his brain cells a we bit too much and his cred is noncred. Too many are but unbelievable for those numbers.

  205. Porter Lansing 2015-11-07 14:59

    Leslie…this blog is like a bar. When I see you come in the front door, it’s time to leave out the back. YOUR negativity bias can sour a nice day.

  206. Les 2015-11-07 15:07

    I am not Leslie, porter. Your inability to debate or back statement with facts brings question to your cred.

  207. Bill Dithmer 2015-11-07 15:28

    Ok, all you little ones unzip your panys and reach in to see if you can feel anything. Whats that, theres nothing there? Surprise, surprise, surprise, now stop doing that its annoying.

    Why dont one of you challenge Lynn to a debate on pot? Two hours of frank open discussion about the reality and the myth of cannabis. Let her pick the time and place and two of the four fact checkers. Now lets make it special and not alow any notes or cards, just their brains. Now, so this can be educational it should be taped for that purpose. It should also be streamed live.

    How about that Lynn, would you like to turn that brain loose and let the chips fall where they may?

    If there is anyone that truly wants legalization you have to start the process somewhere, why not now, why not Lynn. He she or it Lynn would acept the challenge because of the vast knowledge they have from all those phone calls.

    If I still lived in SD, I’d do it myself but I’m stuck in Missouri at Carson House. Missouri will decriminalize cannabis next year, but it doesn’t look good for SD.

    Lynn, I’m setting by the pool. The outside temp is 51, inside Carson House its 74, and the pool is at 92. Im listening to Rory Gallaghers Irish Tour 74 and thinking about going swimming, again. While I’m sure those telephone calls are fun, I think I’ll pass on that and do what Merel is doing. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zn_SGLtiz2U

    Or maybe if ginning goes particularly well I might just switch to this from Tony Joe, https://open.spotify.com/track/7cipSOQvyKYBKPVlD1O7GX

    Dont feel sorry for me Lynn, I’m paying the price for my cannabis use.

    Come call or write. Just remember I swim at 5am and 10pm, at 5 I swim in the nude so schedule your visit accordingly.

    The Blindman

  208. grudznick 2015-11-07 16:06

    Mr. Dithmer, I am envious that you have a pool.

  209. leslie 2015-11-14 23:55

    dith-wish I wuz a catfish! also, what do you want the boy to do?

    so les, obviously porter thinks you are the sour one–ha! I too am starting to doubt his skill. however he could prolly feed us well

  210. Bill Dithmer 2015-11-15 09:04

    what do you want the boy to do?

    Honestly I dont give a damn. Porter doesnt seem to have a problem saying whats on his mind, even to the point of making threats. I was just giving him the oppertunity to get the anger out of his system, I would never hit him back so he could hit all he wanted.

    Either Porter has a biochemical abnormality or he’s sexually frustrated, take your pick.

    The Blindman

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