10 Thursday, November 13, 1997 p aey Gazette
"Lost World" --a primer for visiting California
I recently had the pleasure of watching the movie
"Lost World." The movie was directed by Steven
Spielberg and based on the book by Michael Crichton
which was a sequel to the smash hit "Jurassic Park."
When the book first came out Crichton stated that it
was the first time he had written a sequel. It should also
be his last.
This was one of those very rare times that I liked the
movie more than the book. Spielberg turned it into
something of a modem day King Kong. He brought a
T-Rex back to the United States and let it romp and
play in the streets of San Diegd. As stupid as the movie
was, it was kind of a fun thing.
The T-Rex was only given one evening in San
Diego. Actor Jeff Goldblum came to its rescue and got
it out of there before California could have much effect
on it.
The movie gave the T-Rex a degree of affection.
You almost felt sorry for it as it ate half the population
of Southern California. It was, after all, only searching
for its child. The baby T-Rex was in the hands of
people that wanted to exploit it in a new park. Pretty
bad situation for any parent, I guess.
Imagine the terrible thoughts running through the
father T-Rex's mind. Your child is lost in San Diego.
This poor thing could wind up joining a gang and
wearing colors. What's worse, it could begin snorting
all kinds of strange powder. Heck, the father had
already got a buzz-on just eating the populace.
I Ill
NORTI-IERN EXPOSURE
by Dave Downing
Imagine the cost to keep an addicted
T-Rex in coke. The drug cartels would
be rich beyond imagination. On the
other hand, it might solve the problem
of drugs since there wouldn't be any left for
the people. Wouldn't much matter to baby T-Rex,
Californians are for food.
Wouldn't be long before baby T-Rex is a 50-foot
teenager cruising the boulevards in a pink Cadillac
with a fox-tail hanging on the antenna. We would
know what happened to the rest of the fox.
All of this isn't so bad but imagine the horror in
daddy T-Rex's mind at the thought that his child might
become a California state legislator. Grrrr.
If the T-Rexs' decided to make Southern California
Marijuana...the winds of change
I subscribe to a free service on my computer. An
organization provides articles from newspapers around
the world on the status of the drug war. Pro and con,
these articles arrive in my E-mail at an average rate of
20 per day. Mostly I scan and delete; occasionally I
print one out.
A pattern that seems to be emerging is that Western
world governments are under strong and increasing
pressure to decriminalize marijuana use. Despite offi-
cial allegations that marijuana is a "gateway" to hard
drugs like heroin and cocaine, the evidence tends to
show otherwise. Alcohol and Valium can be consid-
ered gateway drugs, with equal validity, and mari-
juana is far safer than either. It is not addictive and no
one has ever died from a marijuana overdose. Another
reason for treating this drug differently is its ready
availability. It grows almost anywhere, outside and
inside, and the mature buds have only to be dried to be
ready for use. Under Canada's relatively lenient pros-
ecution, production in the Ottawa valley and British
Columbia is thriving. One mature marijuana plant
sells wholesale for $1,000 US and the demand is
horrendous. The economic incentive is undeniable.
The Mexican drug cartels have virtually stopped
smuggling marijuana into the U.S. because of its bulk.
It is far easier to grow it in California, in well hidden
patches under Mexican control. So they lose one
occasionally to the cops.. The profits from the others
are more than enough.
The Netherlands has long allowed its coffee shops
to sell small amounts of marijuana for recreational use.
A decriminalization debate is currently raging in
Great Britain. Lord Bingham, the Lord Chief Justice,
has called for open debate on legalizing cannabis.
According to a subsequent poll, 64 percent of Britons
approved this stance. Around 80 percent of British
drug arrests have been for marijuana possession.
II I I Illll I
Changing.Patterns
by Richard Reul
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Here in the United States, marijuana offenses consti-
tute the vast majority of drug cases. (More than 600,000
last year.) The drug was demonized by Harry Anslinger,
many decades ago, when he was a federal narcotics
crusader and the label of "reefer madness" has stuck.
Current battles in Oregon and Washington State reflect
the current division of opinion. The drug warriors are
afraid that the decriminalization of marijuana will open
the doors to the acceptance of cocaine and heroin.
Informed medical opinion believes these concerns
The cost of Ivory
It's funny how you can take a lot of things for
granted and not give them much thought. This was
brought to my attention today as I was waiting for the
P v G to arrive at the Gloryhole in downtown Gold-
field. This store has some nice chairs tucked away in
a comer and they don't object too much if you fall
asleep in them. A customer came in and was looking
at some carved ivory pieces and a comment was made
on how expensive they were. It was here I learned that
the high price for ivory was not due to the fact that the
animals which produce ivory (elephants, walrus and
the likes) are becoming extinct and occupy a place on
the endangered list. It was the danger involved.
A Walter Mitty-type vision danced before my eyes
and I could see myself lurking under a bush waiting for
an elephant to come close enough for me to remove its
tusks, or creeping up on a sunbathing walrus armed
with a pair of pliers. After viewing this whole matter
from a different perspective, I now see the reason for
the high cost. A guy would have to be pretty slick in
order to make a living at it.
I did have a business partner back in Los Angeles
• who probably would have done real well in this line of
work. This guy was so slick that you could be going
through a revolving door with him following and he
would meet you on the other side. Think he went into
politics. After viewing him in action, he would have fit
right in with our present bunch.
I get a big kick out of some of these minor promoter-
Slim Sez
by Slim Sirnes
types we have up here.
Most of them claim to have
problems with their C-phones and
so prefer the use of pay phones,
such as the one in front of the courthouse which seems
to get a lot of action. I guess it's a more prestigious
location. A guy learns fast not to come around these
wheeler and dealer types with any spare change in their
pockets cause it sure won't be there after they find out
about it.
On the news lately, been a lot of comment about the
power company's wanting a rate increase. Some ques-
tions have been raised about the executive's expenses
including a new pair of glasses for the company presi-
dent so he would look better on TV aglpearances.
Another concerns the advertising blitz the company
their home there would have to be some changes made.
First of all, since there are only two of them and they
are both males, the Endangered Species Act would
have to kick into effect. As they went out for dinner the
federal government would have to offer them protec-
tion from rival gangs.
They might make an occasional trek to Los Angeles
to attend a Spielberg cocktail party. Needless to say,
that would require about five Olympic size swimming
pools f'dled with scotch and water. Who knows?
Spielberg might offer them a bit part. Or is that a bite
part?
Fortunately, all of this is avoided. After a brief
attempt at playing basketball with a Union 76 sign, the
father and baby are reunited in the cargo hold of a ship.
The father helps teach baby T-Rex a little about hunt-
ing by offering baby the jerk that owned the park. You
can almost hear the father say, "Don't play with your
food."
CNN had complete coverage of the entire San
Diego "disaster." To add realism to the movie they
had CNN make a mistake by stating the T-Rex was
sedated for the trip back to his island. Actually, it was
still buzzed from eating all those Southern Califor-
nians.
are groundless. For many people, marijuana provides
a euphoria, mellowness, decreased tension and a sense
of time passing slowly. Other effects can include
heightened sexual pleasure, increased appetite, sleepi-
ness and thirst. Its medical benefits are well docu-
mented. Marijuana alleviates the nausea induced by
chemotherapy treatments for cancer. It relieves the
eyeball pressure of glaucoma victims and the burning
symptoms of multiple sclerosis. It also revives the
lagging appetites of "wasting away" AIDS patients.
Petitions have passed in California and Arizona to
allow its medical use. Studies are now underway to
determine the interaction of marijuana with the pro-
tease inhibitors used to control AIDS.
Driving under the influence of marijuana remains
an open question. It affects driver reactions far less
than alcohol. Cannabinoids are fat soluble and traces
can be found for 30 days, long after the psychoactive
effect has worn off. Current testing devices will have
to be improved in order to be effective in weeding out
motorists who are driving while under the influence..
In summary, decriminalization of marijuana could
eliminate about 75 percent of U.S. drug arrests and
incarcerations. It would make room in our prisons for
real, violent criminals. A vast amount of drug intercep-
tion expenditures could be eliminated, The incentive
for pushers to introduce marijuana to students would
be greatly reduced. It is certainly worth thinking about.
was putting out so we would know what a good job
they were doing and let them have their rate increase.
The company claimed the cost of this advertising
was borne by the stockholders and not the company.
Where did the money come from in the first place?
These ads go on to talk about the great savings that will
come about by use of energy-efficient coal. All ads
lead to another news item about the state conducting
studies on the effects of acid rain on Lake Tahoe. I
guess we don't have to worry to much about this, as our
prevailing weather patterns carry everything East.
Maybe this is why some of the Easterners want to send
us their nuclear waste in return?
Well, now that in a few short words I have taken a
shot at ivory prices, mining promoters, politicians,
power companies, the coal companies and nuclear
waste. I may as well take the rest of the day off and
watch the guys building on the lot across the alley from
me. Maybe I will do a little thinking on how to redesign
the wheelbarrow. I was watching the wife use ours the
other day and she had a bit of difficulty handling it.
Maybe I'll have to cut down on the size of the side-
boards I added so she could move bigger loads, or
maybe not.
Have a good one.
