In these times of increasing repression in France, national daily ‘Le Figaro’ shows its true colours as a propaganda tool rather than a source of factual information.

An article published on the website of Le Figaro last week (23rd March 2011)  aroused our curiosity as, in addition to vague threats about cyberpolice, it mentioned the well-known cannabis seed company Sensi Seeds on several occasions.

Picture used to illustrate what you can buy online, according to the paper

Fact or propaganda? An extract from the beginning of the article states:

“ [Based] In the Netherlands, the Sensi Seed website unapologetically advertises their ‘cannabis seedbank’ in all languages. They sell complete culture tents, similar in size  to wardrobes, ‘bloom boosters’ and even teach how to ‘grow with the Moon,’ to optimize growth according to the lunar calendar. From “Shiva Shanti” at 20 euros for ten seeds to the “Marley’s Collie”, 120 euros, “a strain of ganja celebrated by the great Bob Marley”, the bank offers hundreds of varieties. And even accessories: caps, t-shirts, playing cards. Everything is available worldwide, sent in express parcels.”

• Firstly, which companies would not promote their products on their website?

What seems to offend the newspaper is the casualness with which a company can advertise cannabis and hemp, but in Holland, freedom of expression is not limited by legislation as it is in France (where portraying any illegal substance in a good or positive way is strictly forbidden by law). Furthermore Bedrocan, the only company to legally grow cannabis in the Netherlands for pharmaceutical supply, uses Sensi Seeds varieties. What company would not display pride in such an achievement and credit to their product?

• As to advertising in ‘all’ languages, it is becoming quite normal, indeed essential, for a renowned international company to communicate in several languages. The Sensi Seeds website is available in nine languages, which for some journalists (at least those of Figaro), apparently covers every tongue.

• Factual error #1: No cultivation materials  are available on the site, neither tents nor crop fertilizer.

The company has indeed sold such equipment in the past, but in 2007 ceased to retail all types of grow and cultivation supplies both on the website and in the stores, located in  Amsterdam. As to the lunar calendar, though there are none on the site, they are easily accessible on the net and not only for cannabis growers. Farmers and gardeners have relied on such almanacs for thousands of years to successfully cultivate all types of crops; they are hardly a radical or subversive tool.

• Lost In Translation: “Marley’s Collie… a strain of ganja celebrated by the great Bob Marley”.

On the site sensiseeds.com the exact phrase is: “a strain of ganja to celebrate the great Bob Marley.”
Some confusion here: Le Figaro has a person who died 30 years ago celebrating a variety that did not exist during his lifetime! If anyone could celebrate cannabis from beyond the grave it might well be the unofficial Jamaican patron saint of smoking herb, but this would be a stupid claim for anyone to make, let alone a company that made a point of honoring him.

• Factual error #2: it is stated that Sensi Seeds sends everything they sell- including the cultivation materials mentioned earlier-worldwide, by express post no less.

The site has a page dedicated to the availability by country; the reader cannot fail to see  that most countries are not shipped to for legal reasons. The only countries available are European countries. This is not ‘worldwide’ in any way! Perhaps Le Figaro defines ‘the world’ as Europe, which would also account for the world only having nine languages. Perhaps the shock value of the article would be lessened by the truth: Sensi Seeds is in fact operating in accordance with French and European law. They were even wrong about the express delivery, although insured post is featured as a shipping option.

Illustration from the French police describing the main 5 evidences to catch growers

So this is the propaganda launched by a newspaper that is widely known for  very close links with the Elys?e (the Presidential Palace, French equivalent of the White House or 10, Downing Street).

The rest of the article is of the same ilk, describing the techniques used by French cyberpolice to track down criminals, using new technology.
It can be speculated that the article is a response to a program recently aired on TV channel France 2, which  openly discussed the legalization of cannabis in countries where freedom of expression is not restricted as it is in France. Did Le Figaro decide the French public needed a reminder  that essentially they live in a police state?

But what power does the French police have over a site hosted in another country? Technically they can discover who visits which website by spying on citizens and their Internet usage (not only in connection with cannabis), but it stops there. They cannot tell who actually bought a product on a (foreign) site, and who just visited. Dutch law is strict on the protection of personal data and in no way can France challenge the Dutch authority over the site.

Le Figaro are attempting to scare people who have chosen to self-produce a substance which is less harmful than alcohol or tobacco. However the illegal cultivation of cannabis puts them in greater danger than if they turn to the black market to obtain it. In more and more cases people are growing for personal medicinal use, prepared to take the legal risk to obtain a safe an effective medicine denied them by their own government.

The first paragraph of the article describes the Netherlands as contradictory. This must make France, which has never ceased the production of hemp but has the most repressive laws in Europe regarding the use of cannabis, flat out hypocritical.

The only details that are correct in the article are the prices of seeds (apparently they cannot lie when it comes to money) and the conclusion, which grudgingly admits that the police, cyber or otherwise, must overcome one handicap: having cannabis seeds shipped to France is not a criminal offence.

We thank them however for realizing that Sensi Seeds is the quintessential place to buy cannabis seeds!

The recent photos of the Dutch Prime Minister wandering around in a ‘FUCK DRUGS!’ t-shirt and swigging from a can of Grolsch at two in the afternoon would suggest so.

He was visiting Volendam, the small fishing village where hard drug use is so prevalent it’s known as ‘Cocaine Town’ in  Amsterdam. Being spiked with Rohypnol and dragged to a festival might have explained all this, as well as why the t-shirt seemed to have been forced onto the politician over the top of his shirt and tie without due care and attention.

The group of laughing blokes in the background, drinking beer and taking phone photos of the CDA leader as he grins like a twit, completes the illusion that this is the PM having it large on a day off rather than a serious flesh-pressing junket just days before a general election.

New campaign to “FUCK DRUGS”

The reason for both his visit and his t-shirt turns out to be ‘Moedige Moeders’ (lit.’Courageous Mothers’), an anti-drugs group (so probably no Rohypnol was involved). The t-shirt accompanies their new ‘FUCK DRUGS!’ campaign. According to their website the Premier was wearing it as “an example to the youth”, who can presumably now use it as justification for wearing t-shirts with the word FUCK on them, delighting Christian Democrats everywhere.

In the same article the Mothers refer to the government’s drug tolerance policy as “hypocritical” and a “co-conspirator in all the disaster” of vandalism, football hooliganism, and violence. I assume this was pointed out to him as they were giving him beer and stuffing him into the t-shirt as it was his party that instigated the tolerance policy in the first place.

Beer is apparently ok with the Moedige Moeders. Their website lists alcohol as a drug and condones 1-2 glasses per day for women and 2-3 for men, with the handy recommendation of no alcohol for two days a week to prevent building up a tolerance. A more honest campaign slogan might be ‘FUCK UNTAXED DRUGS!’

Twitter This

The goal of preventing substance abuse and addiction, especially in children and young adults, is absolutely to be applauded. A photo opportunity with a vote-hungry Prime Minister supporting this cause should be a winner for both parties. The image that was placed on Twitter by Balkenende’s top media adviser Michael Sijbom, spread across the internet faster than you can say “OMG ROFL” and appeared on the front of the Volkskrant, should be an embarrassment to all concerned.

What’s in a name?

Giving a Dutch campaign an English name might seem like a good idea to make it ‘hip’ and ‘edgy’; using an English obscenity, even more so; and the word ‘fuck’ isn’t that offensive to the Dutch (just as the word ‘cancer’ isn’t that offensive to English speakers but is one of the worst things you can say in the Nederlands).

However, the global arena that politicians now perform in has an audience that is unlikely to assume the t-shirt supports a serious anti-drug group, especially when the wearer is holding a beer. Unfortunately for ‘Moedige Moeders’ their presence is still so small that most of the Dutch audience probably won’t realize either.

What the Mothers need is a good media advisor to help them come up with a more accurate campaign slogan that won’t offend English speaking people the world over. Perhaps Micheal Sijbom will have some free time once JPB realizes that people are not, in fact, laughing with him.

That is, the two terms are applied to most indoor weed that’s sold for profit, and both names are used to suggest that the cannabis being sold is highly potent, rather than to indicate any particular genetic heritage. Before being adopted as the strain-name buzzwords of the moment, both “Skunk” and “Kush” were fairly strictly defined strains, with clear breeding or geographical origins.

More worryingly, when the buzzwords of the youth or underground cultures seep into the mainstream, they get picked up by the hysterical MSM and turned into the latest scare story.

No doubt, all of the forum’s British members will be aware of the garbage that’s written and broadcast about “Skunk” in Blightly – as if it’s some new, child-incinerating super-weed that just dropped out of the sky, rather than a fairly common, medium-to-high potency strain that’s been around for at least 30 years.

What’s especially nauseating about this claim what it tacitly suggests. Most members of the current establishment (government and media) have personal experience of consuming cannabis, in their ‘experimental student days’ or whatever. The subtext of the “new, super-potent weed” claim is that, in hindsight, the harmless old ‘natural’ cannabis of their youth was actually fine after all (as was the hashish of the times, apparently, despite it being orders of magnitude more powerful than today, but that’s another story).

No matter that thousands were deprived of their liberty due to the draconian laws covering old-timey, harmless ‘natural’ cannabis in the 60s and 70s, it turns out that version of the demon weed was fine and harmless. Mistakes were made.
But this new “Skunk” weed … that really does live up to all the fantasies that were spread back then, about the stuff we now know to be harmless.

Anyway, it seems American prohibitionists have embraced the tactic of defining slightly more potent cannabis as a different drug deserving of even greater and more ridiculous penalties

As might be expected, US lawmakers have taken it to the next level.

Kirk and Law Enforcement: Super-Marijuana “Kush” Hits Suburbs
Monday, 15 June 2009

CHICAGO – U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk, Lake County Metropolitan Enforcement Group Director Larry Lindenman, Waukegan Police Chief Artis Yancey and representatives from Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran’s office today unveiled tougher penalties for a new type of “super-marijuana” hitting the northern suburbs.   “Kush,” street slang for a strain of highly-potent marijuana, has a tretrahydrocannabinol (THC) content of at least 20 percent.  According to the National Drug Intelligence Center, the THC average of seized marijuana was less than 10 percent in 2007.  In the early 1990s, THC levels were less than 4 percent.

“According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, more than 25 million individuals age 12 and older used marijuana in 2007 – significantly more than any other drug,” Congressman Mark Kirk said.  “That’s why Kush and other high-potency marijuana strains are so worrying.  Local law enforcement reports that Kush users are ‘zombie-like’ because of the extreme THC levels.  Drug dealers know they can make as much money selling Kush as cocaine but without the heavier sentences that accompany crack and cocaine trafficking.  Higher fines and longer sentences aren’t the total solution to our nation’s drug problem.  But our laws should keep pace with advances in the strength and cash-value of high-THC marijuana.  If you can make as much money selling pot as cocaine, you should face the same penalties.”

The rise of Kush mirrors the increasing popularity of high-THC marijuana, which has become more accessible with the rise of hydroponics.  Drug growers are able to strictly control light, temperature and humidity and can cross-breed to maximize THC content.  It takes growers approximately four months from planting to harvest to produce the high-potency marijuana.  Other types of Kush are known as Bubba, Paris, Bubble Gum, Sour and Orange Kush.

According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, Kush has been known to sell for as high as $600 per ounce – creating the same profit potential as crack cocaine. (Er.. really?)

Kirk’s legislation, the High-Potency Marijuana Sentencing Enhancement Act of 2009 (H.R. 2828), increases federal fines and sentences for the distribution of high-potency marijuana.  It defines high-potency marijuana as marijuana with a THC content of 15 percent or more.  The legislation targets drug trafficking only and not possession of marijuana.

Under current law, unlawful distribution, possession with intent to distribute, manufacture, importation and exportation of marijuana under 50 kilograms or 1 to 49 plants carries a maximum fine of $250,000 for an individual, $1 million for a group and up to five years in prison.  H.R. 2828 increases maximum fines to $1 million for an individual and $5 million for a group, with a maximum sentence of 25 years.  If death or serious bodily injury occurs, sentencing would be 20 years to life in prison.

A second offense after a drug felony conviction would result in a minimum fine of $2 million for an individual or $10 million for a group, with a maximum sentence of 35 years, or life if death or serious bodily injury resulted from the use of the marijuana.

We came across this interesting thread on the BBC website which refers to a lecture given by Professor David Nutt, of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs.  Professor Nutt used a lecture at King’s College in London and a briefing paper to attack what he called the “artificial” separation of alcohol and tobacco from illegal drugs, accusing ex-Home Secretary Jacqui Smith of “devaluing” scientific research. He also criticizes the scare-tactics of the U.K government on the issue and claims that the link between cannabis use and schizophrenia is hugely over-exaggerated;  This story has some traction and has been on rotation on both BBC News 24 and British terrestrial television!  It is a blow to the U.K government as Professor Nutt is the new chairman of the Government’s Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs – popularly known as the government’s “Drug Czar”.

Many observers are worried about the contradictory and incoherent nature of the U.K’s current drug policy which clearly hasn’t worked – The U.K has the 3^rd largest cannabis consumption rate in the western world! The Home Secretary has herself admitted to smoking cannabis as a student whilst attending Oxford University – making her a MASSIVE hypocrite – if she had been caught under her own rules, she would never have been able to hold the position of Home Secretary!

I also came across a video on the subject… enjoy!

]]> http://weedforneed.com/2009/10/top-u-k-government-scientist-says-cannabis-evidence-%e2%80%98was-devalued%e2%80%99/feed/ 0 http://weedforneed.com/2009/09/u-k-politicians-who%e2%80%99ve-admitted-to-smoking-cannabis/ http://weedforneed.com/2009/09/u-k-politicians-who%e2%80%99ve-admitted-to-smoking-cannabis/#comments Tue, 29 Sep 2009 13:31:20 +0000 kanaman http://marijuanacannabis.wordpress.com/?p=723

Here’s a little video I found which lists some of the U.K Politicians who’ve admitted to trying cannabis at one point in their life:

Why are they still in office?!  If they had been caught and criminalised they could never have entered politics in the first place with a drug related criminal record. Why are they so keen to impose the new classification when they obviously had no respect for the law themselves. ]]> http://weedforneed.com/2009/09/u-k-politicians-who%e2%80%99ve-admitted-to-smoking-cannabis/feed/ 0 http://weedforneed.com/2009/09/so-how-harmless-is-skunk/ http://weedforneed.com/2009/09/so-how-harmless-is-skunk/#comments Fri, 18 Sep 2009 13:39:27 +0000 kanaman http://marijuanacannabis.wordpress.com/?p=708

With this post we want to clarify some of the misconceptions that a lot of people seem to have on skunk.

Firstly, let us point out that Skunk is nothing more then a name for (mostly indica) potent weed. It is NOT some genetically engineered super dangerous new type of weed. (special announcement for the media; did you guys notice the word NOT? )

For your information, the Dutch ska band “Doe maar” made an album called skunk back in 1981! So the term has been around for a while. However, even if it was a new kind of weed.. Will this new super potent weed be somehow more dangerous than the weed smoked 20 years ago? So what if weed is more potent? This only means that you have to smoke less of it.. Isn’t that supposed to be a good thing? And what about hash? Shouldn’t this be even more dangerous? Even in the seventies people smoked hash which is a lot more potent than any skunk you can buy nowadays.

The third argument that the anti-legalization lobby likes to use is that skunk/cannabis use somehow causes schizophrenia? Let’s pretend for a moment that this is proven to be true ( scientists still seem to disagree ) isn’t that all the more reason to have a legal and regulated market for it? What is the worst that can happen? In the Netherlands adults are allowed to buy small amounts of weed and this has worked just fine for the last 20-odd years.

Just to compare the two systems.. 9.7 percent of youngsters (15-24) use cannabis at least once a month in the Netherlands, compared to 15.8 percent in the UK.

Just over a year ago we brought you a spectacular video of ENCOD?s Frederick Polak, trying in vain to get a very relevant question answered by UNODC Executive Director Antonio Maria Costa.

Here’s the follow-up;  Costa reportedly went to Amsterdam to see for himself, yet still manages to avoid the question and tell blatant lies:

For those who didn’t see the original post; here’s the link to it:

Costa vs Polak ]]> http://weedforneed.com/2009/09/antonio-maria-costa-just-refuses-to-answer-the-question/feed/ 0