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Posts published by “Fred Gardner”

Legalization (With A DUI Chaser)

Paul Stanford, 52, is the author and prime mover behind Oregon’s marijuana legalization initiative, Measure 80, which had gotten 46.5 percent of the vote as of Sunday morning when I called to offer condolences. “We…

Old Home Week At The NORML Confab

Trim, white-haired Tom Hayden gave a talk at the NORML conference in Los Angeles last week. NORML is the National Organization to Reform the Marijuana Laws. It was founded in 1970 by Keith Stroup, who…

The War On Plants

The Conventional Wisdom is that marijuana prohibition was first imposed early in the 20th century by sheriffs in southwestern states seeking to increase their power over Mexican immigrants who had brought the herb from south…

‘Reefer Madness’ In Mexico

The conventional wisdom is that marijuana prohibition was first imposed early in the 20th century in the southwestern United States by sheriffs seeking to increase their power over Mexican immigrants. Stories of marijuana use leading…

Last Call At The Vapor Room

As the sun was going down over Twin Peaks on the last day of July, two staffers took down the Vapor Room sign. Handpainted and hung on a wrought iron bracket, the sign had not…

The Arraignment Of Jose Gutierrez

“Not guilty,” said Jose Gutierrez on Friday, July 13, when Magistrate Judge Donna Ryu asked how he was pleading to the felony charge of assaulting a federal officer. The alleged crime had occurred on April…

An Irreplaceable Man

Alexander Cockburn, the most incisive political journalist of our time died on Friday, July 19. The cause was cancer. We were friends for many years. Shellacked on a file cabinet in the garage is a…

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