The Reform Jews had a year of support for Medical Marijuana. I was searching for mention of it. It started in 2003. Funny thing is the Reform Jews have removed all mention of it from their site. No wonder I couldn’t find it. Any way I was looking for it to post some links at a place I was commenting at and while I was searching I came across some interesting other stuff.
One of them was this Jerusalem Post article on the guy who spearheaded the Colorado effort to legalize cannabis. Mason Tvert.
Say what you will about Mason Tvert, the Jewish activist behind the marijuana legalization campaign that passed in Colorado, the man clearly has a sense of humor.
Some years ago, in his efforts to persuade the public that marijuana is far less of a health menace than alcohol, Tvert famously challenged both the mayor of Denver and the heir to the Coors brewing fortune to a sort of intoxication duel: Tvert would smoke pot while the others drank, and they would see who dropped dead first.
Neither man took up Tvert on his offer.
But after Colorado voters on Nov. 6 adopted a newly permissive approach to marijuana following a campaign for which the 30-year-old was the public face and a leading strategist, Tvert’s tomfoolery is no longer just a laughing matter. The measure, and a similar one adopted last week in Washington state, is a watershed, permitting residents over 21 to possess up to an ounce of marijuana and to grow up to six plants for recreational use.
There is lots more. Most interesting to me was how he got involved in legalization.
Tvert grew up in a Jewish family in Scottsdale, Ariz., and attended the University of Richmond. His consciousness around marijuana reform was galvanized in college when, for reasons he claims not to know, he was subpoenaed in a multijurisdictional investigation into marijuana use.
“It was really just a shakedown, more or less,” Tvert said. “They start with college kids who probably have a lot to lose. They work their way up from there.”
Tvert likes to compare that to an earlier incident in which, taken unconscious to the hospital to have his stomach pumped after excessive alcohol consumption, he was later released without any questioning from the police — despite being under age.
The Daily Paul chimed in on the subject of Jews and pot.
Both Orthodox and Reform Jews believe Marijuana is a Mitvah. A Mitvah holds all the weight of the commandments. A Jew is Obliged to Disobey the Law to fulfill a Mitvah as a mandate of the faith.
Marijuana must be rescheduled to schedule 3 per Federal Law, yet the Republican leadership through the Attorney General , Secretary of State, and President and Party Platform have continued to pursue a draconian policy straight out of the inquisition.
Marijuana is NOT a 3rd Rail Issue. The Party Leadership have however been brainwashed and pursue that perfiduous programming with great zeal completely ignoring and distorting Federal Law. While Frankly Torturing and Murdering Sick People.
The staff of the Daily Paul is excellent on the issue. But they might want to get a Jew on staff. “Mitvah” is not a common spelling. Much more common is “Mitzvah”. “Mitvah” got 2.5 million Google hits. “Mitzvah” got 3.8 million and is the spelling suggested by Google. Here is what the the wiki has to say about “Mitzvah”.
In its primary meaning, the Hebrew word mitzvah (“commandment”, Hebrew: ???????, [mit?s?va], Biblical: mi?wah; plural ???????? mitzvot [mit?s?vot], Biblical: mi?woth; from ?????? ?iwwah “command”) refers to precepts and commandments as commanded by God. It is a word used in Judaism to refer to the 613 commandments given in the Torah (at Mount Sinai, where all the Jews accepted the Torah, saying “We will do, and we will listen”) and the seven rabbinic commandments instituted later for a total of 620. According to the teachings of Judaism, all moral laws are, or are derived from, divine commandments.
In its secondary meaning, Hebrew mitzvah, as with English “commandment,” refers to a moral deed performed as a religious duty. As such, the term mitzvah has also come to express an act of human kindness. The tertiary meaning of mitzvah also refers to the fulfillment of a mitzvah.
Coloquially it means to give a blessing. Perform a good deed.
In that vein may I present you former undercover narcotics detective Jack Cole who presents facts and figures on how Drug Prohibition is ruining the country.
About 20 minutes in he shows how legalization reduces drug use. For instance heroin addiction rates in Switzerland dropped 82% in the years following their taking another approach. He discusses that approach.
It reenforces a point I have been making for years. Prohibition is a vector that spreads drug use. Just the opposite of what prohibitionists (mostly people of faith these days) believe. I AM amused. Unfortunately it is not funny considering all the people murdered – Jack discusses that. And all the people in prison – Jack discusses that. He also discusses how ending prohibition reduced crime by 60%. Watch the whole thing.
Jack does say that 80% of the people who view the talk come away from the lecture anti-prohibitionists. Evidently for the other 20% their faith is stronger than reason. I do believe that in the coming years such people will be looked on the way we look at people still agitating for alcohol prohibition. With faint amusement while carefully sidling away.
Update: 28 April 2013 0340z
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