The White House Responds To We the People Petition 920
First time accepted submitter Nysul writes "The White House, aiming to gather the opinion (or marketing data) of the internet nation, asked for our thoughts by creating the We the People site and now it has responded to some of the more popular petitions, such as marijuana reform and separation of church and state. You probably won't be surprised at the answers."
Health issues (Score:4, Interesting)
And the response from the people is (Score:5, Interesting)
a petition to take petitions seriously:
https://wwws.whitehouse.gov/petitions/!/petition/actually-take-these-petitions-seriously-instead-just-using-them-excuse-pretend-you-are-listening/grQ9mNkN?utm_source=wh.gov&utm_medium=shorturl&utm_campaign=shorturl [whitehouse.gov]
they ignore us. (Score:5, Interesting)
so, when is the revolution, guys?
how much proof do we need that they do not care about our needs or wants or even justice??
it would be one thing is there was a fair reply that held water; but this was a sham in every sense of the word.
since the system does not serve us, I say its time to start the revolution. we gave things a fair chance but they just don't want to listen to us.
time for REAL CHANGE. voting booths don't bring change, btw. they lull us into thinking we have a voice.
look at these lying replies to our issues. they don't care! in our faces, blatantly, they do not care!
I hope things get messy real soon. because that is the hope and change we can believe in.
Re:I stopped reading the responses after... (Score:4, Interesting)
I don't know if I buy that list... Considering they have heroin rated lower than nicotine. Quitting smoking was a bitch, but I didn't fucking die from it!
Copyright Term Reduction (Score:5, Interesting)
I found a petition to stop software patents, but was unsuccessful in finding one that demanded a drastic reduction in copyright term in order to create a strong public domain for e.g. sound recordings.
Since I'm not a US citizen it wouldn't be right for me to create one, but it makes one wonder: did no one think about this, or have they been removed?
Re:I stopped reading the responses after... (Score:4, Interesting)
Of course it is. There isn't even a question about it.
Actually, there has been a debate over the last couple of decades. It has been traditionally agreed that substance dependence requires signs of withdrawal. However, with cannabis, signs of withdrawal only occur in some users. Compare that to 100% of heroin addicts who would show signs of withdrawal. What percentage of cannabis users would show signs of withdrawal? I don't know the figure, but the fact that the majority would show no signs at all means that, under the traditional classification, it would not be considered as a physiologically addictive substance. Quote:
"When human subjects were administered daily oral doses of 180-210 mg of THC - the equivalent of 15-20 joints per day - abrupt cessation produced adverse symptoms, including disturbed sleep, restlessness, nausea, decreased appetite, and sweating. The authors interpreted these symptoms as evidence of physical dependence. However, they noted the syndrome's relatively mild nature and remained skeptical of its occurrence when marijuana is consumed in usual doses and situations. Indeed, when humans are allowed to control consumption, even high doses are not followed by adverse withdrawal symptoms. "
- Lynn Zimmer, Associate Professor of Sociology Queens College and John P. Morgan, Professor of Pharmacology, City University Medical School [ukcia.org]
Re:It's not at all addictive (Score:2, Interesting)
Addiction doesn't mean what you think it means.
You are addicted to any substance that will make you feel abnormal if you stop taking it. Technically you are addicted to food, water and oxygen from birth.
The physical withdrawal symptoms of pot are well documented and anyone who has smoked pot long term and claims they don't exist is either lying to themselves or rather oblivious to what happens when they go with out it suddenly for 2 or 3 days.
The munchies typically go away in people that are 'addicted' to pot. If you still get the munchies, you don't know what addiction to pot is. When you smoke pot just to feel normal, then you're addicted, and you'll most certainly have withdrawal symptoms, you just may not notice them as they are reasonably subtle. Irritability is the big one.
The symptoms don't set in quickly either, usually show up more than 24 hours after intake stops depending on how abruptly its stopped. Next time you run out, pay attention to your mood and how your body feels, you'll notice the withdrawal, and probably at that point on, you'll feel compelled to go get more when you experience those feelings.
Re:Misquotes on the white house site, read the num (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Waste of everyone's time (Score:4, Interesting)
The fact that people are being arrested, jailed, and stolen from, by their government, this very day, on no other basis than a sensationalized excuse of a power grab, is a continuing injustice. You can stand on that side of the line and apologize for the government, but that makes you part of the problem. You apologize for the thousands of ruined lives, millions of wasted dollars, and literally uncountable, unquantifiable cost to our liberty caused by the War on Certain People using Certain Substances, and that makes you no better than the scum directly perpetuating these crimes against free people.
Re:Translation: (Score:4, Interesting)
I was going to vote for McCain in the last election because I figured I knew how he was going to fuck me and I liked that better than the idea of Obama who I wasn't sure how he'd fuck me, but I didn't.
Fortunately, Obama got elected and turns out he's done FAR less damage than I was afraid of. So far, he's done more of what I expected out of McCain than anything else. No real point to this point, just felt I should share.
Re:I stopped reading the responses after... (Score:4, Interesting)
Here's the explaination I heard recently, and I think it's the best I've ever heard.
You want to train a dog to come when you call.
So, you take a 1 kilo steak and call him - and you feed him the whole kilo at once.
OR
You cut the 1kg into 200 pieces. Then you call him to you and give him once of the pieces. Repeat 200 times.
The first got a BIG reward, but only once. The dog's going to be sated for quite a while.
The second gave a small but substantial reward very often. And better yet, the dog will want another almost instantly.
The second method will "train" your brain to respond in the "desired" way lots faster than the first.
Smoking is a small hit, many times a day, perhaps many times an hour.
Heroin is a BIG hit a few times a day.
Smoking will condition the neurons in your brain a lot faster and more reliably than heroin will.
HTH
Re:I stopped reading the responses after... (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:It's not at all addictive (Score:2, Interesting)
Having seen regular users of cannabis, having seen the impact on their life, their kids, the people arround them, I wholeheartedly support a general ban on the use of it outside of medical purposes.
The hell with withdrawal symptoms, when use of it fucks up people's lives, and that of their kids.