MPP’s Rob Kampia on CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360″ Tonight
All this week, CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360″ is doing a series of reports on marijuana and marijuana policy. MPP executive director Rob Kampia is scheduled to appear on tonight’s show, possibly debating a prohibitionist. While TV news schedules are always subject to last-minute change, the segment featuring Rob is presently set to air around 10:30 p.m. Eastern time.
Tagged with: Media and Medical Marijuana and Rob Kampia by the author
56 comments
Hope if he is debating a prohibitionist that he puts a hurting on him through use of facts and calls BS on what
lies and false data the prohibitionist tries to use.
Go get them Rob Kampia. We will be attending to support you in the live blog..
It is extremely important to debunk the “gateway theory”. This is what is holding most people back from supporting legalization.
I agree Eric . Remember the story and coverage of the govenor who told the FBI official that “the gateway theory is total BS and that no deaths ever came from marijuana.”
I love Rob, but I wish you guys had a stronger speaker. Rob comes off as far too mellow for a hardcore debate, at least in every one that I’ve seen him in. He’s too easy to talk over. I realize the opposition doesn’t play it fair and let others speak, but we have to bring our game, especially since some of these hosts don’t moderate the debates very well. We’re kinda left to fend for ourselves most of the time.
I do honestly appreciate everything Rob does for us. I just worry about his chances of getting to speak and really be heard. I long for someone with conviction in their voice to put these prohibitionists in their place.
Prohibitionist will always draw attention to the children issue by claiming that the Marijuana policy is anti-children with the intension of doing harm, and also the prohibitionist will also divert the subject matter away from marijuana into another subject such as crack, meth, and cocaine, just to avoid giving an answer. The biggest obsticle of all is the Control Substance Act of 1970.
I really hope we keep putting the light on all the injustice that has gone on because of the prohibitionist and how all the tax money is still being spent to fight something that has never killed a single person.
Good luck Rob =), beat em to the curb lol.
I bet this ’special ‘ on ac360 turns out to bet 10% talk bout cannabis 90% other bs. I still think they only are doing this to draw attention being thier ratings have tanked. Oh well,guess some coverage is better than none at all.
Hey nice job rob! Wish you would have had more time though.
Some of the arguments I keep seeing against legalizing with counter arguments.
Argument: Legalized marijuana will fall into the hands of children .
Currently Illegal marijuana is in those same hands. Children will still obtain it even if it is illegal as they do now, the only difference is they will be swiping it from their parents rather than obtaining it from a drug dealer.
Argument: There is no way to test someone to see if they have been using before working/driving.
The only test needed is a field sobriety test.
I do not respect any law that goes against GOD.
God put hemp on this planet for a reason and the government assumes higher power than GOD, and makes anyone that has anything to do with it a criminal. That’s Absurd
Good Job Rob, u did good.. but wish u could of had more time.
Rob, it’s too bad I thought of this argument too late for your interview, but listen to this:
“Sex is addictive. There are rehab centers for it as David Duchovny well knows. As well, people don’t always use a condom leading to the spread of disease and children born into a financially unstable environment.
Therefore, let’s ban sex. The only justification for sex is if you receive a grant from the government indicating that your home is financially stable and you have no instances of domestic abuse or complaints from neighbors.
Condoms are also banned because sex without the reason of reproduction is useless, only for entertainment and potentially unsafe. ”
This sounds like a good idea if everyone knew that this would be utterly ridiculous. Banning people’s right to have sex with one another, even if it’s only for entertainment value? But in many eerie ways it mirrors drug prohibition.
Just a thought.
No one in government gives a hoot about drug cartels cause the fighting isn’t a direct concern. I hate to say this but this cartel point might have helped legalize pot if the cartels were a little more dangerous to Americans. At present, they’re like insects and we just stomp them every where we see them but over all, we haven’t done anything but waste a lot of money.
Americans are not so highly intelligent! We can be played very easily for almost any purpose. Reminds me of that old show “The Outer Limits.”
The Iranian problems should be evidence enough that if large groups of people fight together, they’ll win together. They got their re-count of votes but what if they’d been asking for legalization of MJ?
Another thought that’s mainly brought about by James’ comment:
“The only test needed is a field sobriety test.”
Indeed. Now that I give this more thought, what’s needed is a series of tests. Each volunteer is able to drive a “hindered” car (that is to say, the car cannot exceed a certain speed and can be disabled at any time) and then put on a parking lot cone-based crash course.
These volunteers are then given doses of marijuana until they are no longer able to drive coherently on the road. A series of tests follows to find out what these people on average lack in terms of sensory, motor, and judgment control.
The tests are conducted at the same time a marijuana law is passed. Marijuana is not legal until it is sold by a business that’s already inspected, and only that (or those) business(es) is(are) able to sell marijuana.
one thing I’ve noticed is Rob only gets one talking point then the pigots respond with more BS until they run out of time.
Bruce when are you on next?
Good Job Rob, u did good. I did get a lot of other points out there for us as I was able to over 90% was posted so at least we educated America more and best of all is we still have more to go so now if we keep it up and all of us are on top of our game we will win or at least show that we vast in numbers and are not afraid of standing up for all of America. Every one who posted on the live blog and/or helped in any way I say as a fellow supporter thank you and a job well done.
Rob, You did a great job- I am glad we have you on our side. All of your points where well spoken. I have a point maybe no one has thought of- It deals with the theory that legalizing marijuana will mean that more children will become users- prohabitionists and government officials use it all the time. Nobody connects the deeper meaning—- you as an American parent can not be trusted to parent your own children, this is realy what they are saying when they bring up this theory. I myself have complete confidence in the parenting abilities of Americans. How many 8 year old raging alcoholics have you seen lately.Or how many 10 year olds have been caught shooting up in the school bathroom.
Has Rob watched the new documentary called, “The Union: The business behind getting high?”
I think that it should be plugged. It completely changed my views on marijuana, and now I am blogging for the first time in my life.
Saw the bs the prohibitionist used about the FDA? Rob did a great job on countering that bs.
Rob Kampia,
I saw your show Tuesday,June 16. You were fantastic, as usual. The other guy, Evans, lied when he said legalization will lead to more use. Perhaps, initially only. With regulation and adequate controls, children will be obtaining and using (and misusing) LESS.
I am a retired physician, age 88. I live in a community of seniors, most in their 70’s and 80’s. And a few thousand in their 90’s. Medical need here is major. And the population is very, very interested in Medcal Cannabis. A few dozen already on Cannabis. Many more within the coming months,
I predict.
David: “I long for someone with conviction in their voice to put these prohibitionists in their place.”
Rob & Ethan Nadelmann would be a great debate duo. Them two vs. Bennett & Walters would be fantastic. >:-)
Great work Rob!
If your getting the feeling that talk show discussions are BS/incorrect information, then we’ll have to have our own “MPP SHOW,” to advance in this TV presentation of facts game.
You can never forget that these TV Producers are trying their best to get people to watch their show and in part, producers create emotional issues to get you hooked. As a result MPP and other pot organizations are being viewed as not so powerful.
Time to get your own show Rob Kampia or form an aliance with a show like G4 to have a daily or weekly segment within their present show times.
I posted a comment above—– I would like to change the last line to how many 10 year old chain smokers do you know? this keeps a good comparison to tobacco and booze (which are both legal)
in the spot light.Again I would like to tell you thank you Rob.You are the perfect debater– you always keep your cool and you always remain level headed— I think this unnerves your opponents.
Good job Rob! Let’s all keep the pressure on. Ask others around you what they think and why, let’s get everyone we can ingauged in the conversation. We can’t take much more of this war on cannabis. Just say No to criminalizing Marijunan. STOP THROWING MY TAX DOLLARS AWAY.
Hey I sent my letter too my NC legeslature and this is what i got!
Very sad and not too hopeful… If you in NC please contact your legislature.
..this bill has little to no chance of being heard in the house.
However if it is, I will take it into strong consideration and research
the issue thoroughly. Thanks for your mail. Debbie
Senator Debbie Clary
Cleveland & Rutherford
http://www.senatorclary.com
ROB -Wow please get a debater who is not stoned when interviewed.
The glossy red eyes,the dry cottonmouth and slow responses aint exactly helping the cause.
Be a little more aggressive about your anwsers and always end with a question that debunks there questions.
(we dont have much time in the spotlight so use the time right)
Overall ok job on AC360 but please be a little more aggresive with your anwsers time & media aint on our side.
Thanks for all you do MPP! Heres a link to the video:
http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2009/06/17/legalize-pot/
that one guy, is so retarded…..he says Marinol is not 100% THC nd that is a lie, ok that guy needs to get his facts right.
Pepole Rob can not be agresive on air or he plays into the stereo type of agression of pot heads I think you did a great job I do wonder how much money the drug CO’S pay David Evens rember (It is hard for someone to understand something when their paychecks are tied to them not understanding it)
quoted from Normls daily audio stash:
My dos centavos:
#1 Oh, go get a glass of water! It’s tough enough breaking the stoner stereotype (”stoneotype?”) when your eyes naturally look half-lidded anyway, but to add the audible smacks of a dry mouth makes it even harder.
#2 When David goes for the FDA route, decent comeback on “we’d love to”, but how can you miss mentioning the FDA warning released hours earlier that says Zicam may kill your sense of smell? Or uttering the word “Vioxx”? Also need to point out the disingenuousness of the FDA route and bolster medical marijuana’s acceptance by picking up on Anderson’s AMA comment – “the AMA says there isn’t enough scientific proof of medical marijuana, despite 17,000 peer-reviewed studies that prove it, but when we try to get scientific studies of marijuana from the government, NIDA refuses to allow them to take place
#3 When David goes to the “alcohol and cigs cost more to society than the taxes they bring in”, decent comeback on how harmful they are and marijuana’s safer, but still leaves viewer with impression there will be increased usage and costs from legal marijuana. I’d add, “David, almost everyone who wants to — 22 million adults annually — use marijuana NOW, so we’re already absorbing any of these ‘imaginary costs’ you mention, while also taking in $0 in tax revenue and spending $7.7B on prohibition. Taxing existing marijuana users would bring in $6.2B and eliminate $7.7B in prohibition costs, so these imaginary costs from the few new users would have to top $13.6B/year for your theory to make any sense. Also, if these new users were giving up other drugs and alcohol in favor of marijuana, overall costs for drug and alcohol abuse in this nation would drop.”
Overall, nice job discussing a complicated issue in the sub-five minutes you were given. But I think the days where we need be polite and respectful to our prohibitionist opponents on TV are over. These people need to be treated like the liars they are and our responses should become a bit more forceful in that respect. The people are largely on our side and are thirsting for someone to smack down one of these opponents of liberty.
at least we have more coverage and with that the prohibitionists are losing to some degree while we become stronger and stronger with our facts and logical reasons. We all just need to keep on doing the best we are doing to prevail and be on top of our game this will prove to be a huge step forward for our cause and the more we post this week on AC360 the more Americans understand and realize that we are right and that the prohibitionists are wrong. Tonight on AC360 I may or may not be posting more due to the fact I want to make sure that it is more than my voice flooding them with what is good to help out our cause and if I do post tonight it may be one may be two at the most being I posted a lot in the 2 days we have had the light . If I do not post I will be on there to support every one else who shall and look forward to hearing you all on there and if in need shall be there to help out. Till later on tonight best of wishes and be safe fellow supporters.
good points #34
ac360seems a little scattered or am I half asleep.Haven’t really seen atheme or point developing yet.Melissa Etheridge was the most powerful segment thus farHoping to see a little more”beef” tonight.It’s a start.
Hey ezed, My view on ac360 is its just a ploy to get people to watch,boost thier ratings. This suject always pulls people in.
If AC360 wants ratings to go up and we want coverage as we do I think it is a fair trade for the cause as long as others are listening eventually even the president would have no other choice but to listen to the people of our nation after all is it not suppose to be “we the people of the US” according to the constitution or do we want it to be ” we the govt.” ? Our rights as Americans are being violated through prohibition and for that reason alone we need to fight for our god given right and freedom.
I just am sorry I was not able to attend tonight due to a lot of other important things other than our cause that had came up. I shall be on though the rest of the week and will be helping our cause even more as I had done in the past on the AC360 live blog. Till next time we talk be safe fellow patriots / supporters.
AC360 in this series seems to be anti legalization. His word choices, body language, and how he responds to the people he interviews. I mean the people they are interviewing that is supposed to be pro choice they are bashing, look at how easy it is to get it, look how it’s grown by the cartels, blah blah. Let’s hear some real discussion about the issue. Put on major activists and organizations like the MPP, norlm, and safer choice ect ect.. Let’s hear from Mark Emery. And, where is the DEA I would have thought they would of had them on.. They should bring in obama and ask him about his promise to stop raiding dispensaries.
Also, they are neglecting to talk about legalization for recreational use.
Eventually the prohibitionists will try to undermine the tax benefits of cannabis by claiming that “people will just grow their own.” It’s still possible to bring in tax revenue on a grow-their-own product, by implementing a Personal Use and Cultivation Permit, maybe $100 per year for a dozen plants, similar to a fishing license. It’s a win-win.
This may be common knowledge to many, but I haven’t ever heard this stated as a counter-argument against the “gateway drug” critique. But here it is:
The idea that Marij is a gateway drug must be analyzed from two perspectives: that from the side of the drug itself, and that from the side of ‘user psychology’. From the side of the drug itself, this argument makes no sense; there is no way to determine what contents of any ingestible entity can lead a free-willed, rational person to proceed to another ingestible entity. And while there may be perceivable correlations, it is erroneous to take the step from correlation to causation. This means that one must look instead at the ‘user psychology’ perspective.
Now, when this is examined, a very interesting truth comes to light: IF marij is indeed a ‘gateway’ drug, then this attribute – let us call it ‘gateway-ness’ must clearly be connected to its illegality, and here’s why: as a class, “drugs” can be divided into ‘legal’ and ‘illegal’. A person who drinks heavily, smokes cigarettes, or even drinks a great deal of coffee does so with a free conscience; these are, by societal standards, acceptable since they are legal. Now, when one tries marij and has a good experience, one has stepped foot into the ‘illegal’ realm (so to speak), where not only one finds marij but all other ‘illegal’ drugs. The common mentality is a sort of mental looting: now that I’m in this illegal realm, so the thought process goes, I might as well try these others. There is a common tendency within human thought to classify everything beyond a limit as similar insofar as they share the attribute ‘beyond the limit’. Hence, once the limit is crossed, discretion is left behind.
So it is really the fact that marij is ILLEGAL that makes it, if in fact it is, a ‘gateway’ drug. Remove its illegality and relieve it of its ‘illegal pressure’ extending the limit of the illegal further to those drugs (like Heroine) which really are dangerous.
Just a thought.
Woo rob did good ={D
Last night’s segment on AC 360 was actually quite well done by mass media standards. What needs to be stressed more is that it is not cannabis that is the gateway, but the dealer. Last night, Dr. Gupta brought a chart showing that caffeine is more addictive than cannabis. ( Starbucks = drug dealer???) That is the reason for illegal drug dealers to get kids switched to garbage like meth. Cannabis is not addictive, hence smaller chance of repeat customers. Meth etc highly addictive, hence more repeat business.
Hello all, as you know I am a big blogger on this website and I recently looked at my state’s news about medical MJ and I came across this article and would like to post it here for people to read. I dont know why MPP and NORML have not did a piece on this man. From the sounds of his story, he is gonna try and get his charges nullified by the jury. I hope this doesnt anger because its size, but I find it to be something that should be getting A LOT OF AIR TIME!
Here it is:
I’m not sure what’s in store for Kenneth Wells. I suspect it’s prison, but I hope not.
Ken called me recently to talk about his criminal case. He told me it’s a “medical marijuana” matter. Firefighters discovered his “grow room” and stash of marijuana plants while Ken, his wife and their granddaughter watched his house burn down Jan. 16, 2008.
At some point that night a sheriff’s deputy arrived. Ken lives on Pond Hollow Drive in unincorporated St. Charles County, near St. Peters. A burning candle caused the fire.
Ken, 54, has epilepsy and other neurologic problems stemming from a 1983 stroke, including pain in his left hand. The stroke occurred while surgeons removed a brain aneurysm.
Marijuana has drastically reduced his seizures, he says, as well as the pain, as well as the negative side-effects of the anti-convulsion medications he takes.
The side effects include nausea, depression, headaches, dry mouth and tiredness. Without marijuana, he says, the meds would zonk him out to where he’d sleep 14 hours a day.
“I would be sleeping much of my life away,” he says.
I asked Ken if he was sure he wanted to talk to me. You see, there is no Missouri law that allows the medical use of marijuana, no matter how much people might think it helps with the pain of cancer, the nausea of chemotherapy, ailments like epilepsy or the chronic pain, let’s say, of a broken back.
I told Ken that even if I were to write a compassionate story of why he grows and uses marijuana, the bottom line is that he’d be telling me and you and prosecutors that he broke the law.
The stakes are high. If convicted, Ken faces five to 15 years in prison.
Ken says he has no criminal record. I couldn’t find one on Casenet, the state court website that covers Missouri, where Ken has lived his entire life. Jack Banas, prosecuting attorney for St. Charles County, says Ken is charged with growing marijuana and there is no evidence he was selling or distributing it.
Banas told me he’s puzzled Ken seems willing to risk a trial.
“It certainly is not a good idea to go to trial with a defense that is not a genuine defense,” Banas says. “That is a pretty dangerous proposition.”
Ken says he waited too long to say yes to a plea deal that would have included six months of house arrest and five years of probation. That deal later became six months in the county jail and five years probation. At the completion of probation the conviction would be erased. Ken declined. If he pleads guilty, he says, he loses his right to appeal.
Ken says he called me to raise public awareness about the issue and that, in his view, the medical use of marijuana is a godsend for people who cannot otherwise find relief from pain and seizures.
He has not grown marijuana since the fire, when his equipment, including grow lights, was seized, he says. He’d been growing his own for six years. He declined to say if he still smokes marijuana.
Thirteen states allow the medical use of marijuana if prescribed by a doctor for severe pain or serious medical conditions. The most recent to do so is Michigan.
A medical marijuana bill was passed last month in the Illinois Senate. It was sponsored in the Senate by William Haine, D-Alton, a former Madison County state’s attorney. The House sponsor is Lou Lang, D-Skokie. As of now, Lang said Thursday, he doesn’t have the votes in the House. But momentum is building, and the session doesn’t end until January 2011.
“I believe I will pass this,” he says. “I just don’t know when.”
For several years there have been medical marijuana bills introduced in the Missouri General Assembly, and each has had a Democratic sponsor, says Dan Viets, Missouri coordinator of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.
Typically, these bills die early because they don’t get assigned to committee, Viets says, and there’s never been a Republican lawmaker willing to serve as even a co-sponsor.
Missouri’s Western Court of Appeals has upheld a trial judge’s decision to not let jurors consider a “justification” defense in a medical marijuana criminal case, he says. A justification defense, basically, is the argument that in certain grave circumstances an otherwise illegal act becomes legal. Breaking into a home, for example, to save a family from a house fire.
Ken’s trial date is Sept. 1. His lawyer, Wayne Schoeneberg of St. Peters, tried to suppress Ken’s statements to police the night of the fire. He lost. He tried to quash the search warrant used to discover the marijuana. He lost that one, too. If Ken is convicted, there will be an appeal, Schoeneberg says.
“I think our laws in Missouri and probably nationally are pretty antiquated,” Schoeneberg says. “I am amazed that we spend all this money chasing weed around. But if it all went away my income would drop precipitously.”
Schoeneberg, 62, says his own mother smoked marijuana – in Missouri in 1980 – during the worst of her cancer chemotherapy. The disease killed her.
“A lot of this stuff is subjective,” Schoeneberg says. “There are people who go to faith healers who believe they are healed. There are those who go to highly trained professional people and believe they are healed. And there are those who go to both and get no relief.”
At trial, there’s the possibility of a justification defense, Schoeneberg says, as well as “jury nullification.” That’s when a jury decides: Damn the law and the promises we made to follow it! We’re doing what we believe is right and in the best interests of society!
“And we all know that juries do that from time to time,” Schoeneberg says.
All I can say is Ken must be committed. Because I’m not sure I’d roll the dice on “from time to time.”
Please help this man MPP. He deserves better than what these assholes in missouri are gonna give him.
MPP, you need to get ahold of this lawyer. This man is not a criminal. I think on Sept. 1, 2009, I will be sitting on the steps of this court house, and I WILL LIGHT A FUCKING JOINT. I DONT CARE ABOUT JAIL TIME. MY BACK HURTS SO BAD I WISH I COULD DIE. AT LEAST THEN I COULD SMOKE A BOWL WITH SOME OF THE VICTIMS FROM DEA RAIDS.
JJ, this is one of far too many cases of people who just don’t deserver to be treated as criminals. But please understand that MPP is not a legal support organization, we are a lobbying and advocacy groups. There are organizations out there that do legal support, but our role is to try to change the laws that needlessly treat people as criminals who are doing no harm to anyone.
Oh, dear, lots of typos in that last comment. Gotta slow down!
Can you guys at least contact the lawyer and tell him he has thousands of americans backing him? if not, I will. also, this story came from the website of:
http://stcharlesjournal.stltoday.com/stevepokin/2008/06/behind-scenes-drama-of-making-pokin.html
and dont worry about typos, your human like the rest of us.
woops, wrong website.
http://www.mpp.org/states/missouri/news/poking-around-a-dangerous.html
So what if usage rates increase? We are talking about a substance that is physically impossible to overdose on. Maybe we will see a shift in alcohol users switching to a more safer substance. This would be a possitive step in our Society.
If our government spent half as much money educating the American public more people would refrain from smoking joints and move to vaporizing as it is the safest choice. This is CHEMISTRY 101….. you do not have to put the plant material through the combustion process to get the medicine.
I found the lawyers website and phone number. The website is:
http://www.wantagoodlawyer.com/contact.php
If you want this man to know that millions of americans are supporting him, please email his lawyer or call him. The site gives both email and phone number. Thank you MPP for letting me post this. I hope someone else besides me will tell this man that we are fighting the same fight he is. WE THE PEOPLE.
Thinking we should also put on AC360’s live blog the facts and information we share here on the blogs such as #43’s input . I had personally talked to a rep in NORML and the rep did tell me that NORML is suppose to be on AC360 this week and has been working ever since CNN contacted NORML weeks prior to this airing of the week long AC360 issue about marijuana. I shall be as said earlier be on the live blog with more information to help counter the prohibitionists with the rest of every one who shall be helping on our cause who shall be posting on the live blog their information and what not . Look forward to seeing every one on the AC360 live blog.. Lets raise the bar for them prohibitionists and help put an end to the illegalization of marijuana. Our voices as a whole shall make a huge difference and we shall in the long run win for together we are stronger than a single voice .. Lets show them we wont let our cause go with out a huge fight and that the prohibitionists are in a loseing battle that they will not win…
Washington, DC: Massachusetts Democrat Barney Frank, along with co-sponsor Texas Republican Ron Paul, will reintroduce legislation today to limit the federal government’s authority to arrest and prosecute minor marijuana offenders.
No offense to Rob but i feel this interview/debate was not such a good one. Rob would you please make sure you have some water with you if you are to continue doing these shows. It sounded like dust was coming out of your mouth. While I know your intentions are good, I feel Bruce does a much better job debating these knuckle heads.
I have long surmised that if you want to increase demand for something, anything, restrict access to it. Restriction does something to the human mind that makes it insatiable.
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