Tuesday, March 31, 2009

My Letter To President Barack Obama

March 31, 2009
The President

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Ave., NW

Washington, DC 20500

Re: Canabis Law Reform Is Not A Joke


Dear Mr. President,

I am one of the millions of young Americans who felt inspired in a way we had never known before when you stepped onto the national stage. I was loud and proud with my support for you, making calls to voters all over the country and encouraging my family and friends to lend their support to your movement. Therefore, I hope you can appreciate how insulted and disappointed I was by some of your actions and comments at the recent Town Hall event.

You see, I am also one of the tens of millions of Americans who believe that cannabis should be legally regulated like alcohol. I understand that you may oppose this position, but that is no reason to deride this issue.

According to your administration, there is an unprecedented level of violence occurring at the Mexico/US border much of which is allegedly caused by the trafficking of marijuana to the United States by drug cartels. America's stringent enforcement of marijuana prohibition, which artificially inflates black market marijuana prices and ensures that only criminal enterprises will be involved in the production and sale of this commodity, is helping to fuel this violence. Is this really a subject to be laughed at?

Two recent polls indicate that a strong majority of regional voters support ending marijuana prohibition and treating the drug's sale, use, and distribution like alcohol. A February 2009 Zogby telephone poll reported that nearly six out of ten of voters on the west coast think that cannabis should be "taxed and legally regulated like alcohol and cigarettes." A justreleased California Field Poll reports similar results, finding that 58 percent of statewide votes believe that regulations for cannabis should be the same or less strict than those for alcohol.

Why do you choose to laugh at these people? Why do you choose to laugh at me?

The American public is ready and willing to engage in a serious and objective political debate regarding the merits of legalizing the use of cannabis by adults. The time for joking is over.

Please consider apologizing for your dismissive tone, and please consider treating those of us who believe that there are viable alternatives to marijuana prohibition with the respect we deserve.

Sincerely,



Jennifer M. Jeffrey

Saturday, March 21, 2009

On Blogging

What is the purpose of a blog?

Is it a platform for me to write about what's happening in my life, with hopes of finding some clarity? Should I use this as motivation to get myself working more creatively? Can I post links to youtube clips that I find worthwhile? What about pictures of my cat? Can I ramble on about truth and love and beauty? Can this be used as a passive aggressive way of expressing my aggrivation with people I'm too scared to confront? Is this a diary or is this a group email or is this my premier? Seems rather disorganized to combine all of those things on one platform, doesn't it?

Like a kid who didn't pay attention to the directions, I'm not really sure what my assignment is here, but I have a feeling it may be a worthwhile experience.

I exist in a pretty much constant state of confusion. From the macro to the micro, I basically have no idea what's going on. When I'm not gripping, almost desperately, to distractions, I'm overwhelmed with a lack of understanding. I recall looking up at annoyed faces rather often as I child, when I would demand to know "why?" in response to just about any bit of information I was given. During the first round, I would receive an answer that seemed to satisfy the adult I was talking to, to which I would reply: "Ok... but, why?" And this could continue for many rounds, depending on the adult and what responsibilities they were trying to deal with at that given moment. Generally speaking, the dialogue would be abruptly ended when I got just too obnoxious. The problem is, I still don't understand. I still ask "but, why?" regularly, only now its usually silently and directed to myself. Now a so-called adult, I'm trying to figure things out as best I can. I'll never have any absolute truths. The only thing of which I am certain: I am certain of nothing. And yet, I keep searching. Contradictory, right? Well, along with the confusion, contradictions are a part of my DNA. "Contrary Mary" was one of the several nicknames I received from my mother growing up. When I heard this one, I usually interpretted it as "You're being annoying." So, in advance I shall disclaim that there will likely be plenty of contradictions popping up as the entries in this blog expand. And guess what contradictions lead to? Yep, confusion.

Alas, I've entitled my blog "An Attempt At Understanding," because everything I put on here (whether its a youtube clip of a celebrity falling or my thoughts on Vladmir Putin) will be data informing my attempt to figure out this whole "life" thing.

Welcome.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Let's Start With This

"Whoever undertakes to set himself up as judge in the field of truth and knowledge is shipwrecked by the laughter of the Gods."
~Albert Einstein