textfiles/magazines/ONESHOTS/inhale01.txt

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                                I N H A L E !
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  Issue #1        For the Freedom to Choose Our Choices...           Feb '94
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                                Introduction:

     Hello! Congratulations for picking up Pekin's first politically
(in)correct (depending on how you look at it) publication. We at INHALE!
believe that each American should have the right to choose what he or she
wishes to do, independantly from another individual. We neither condone or
disagree with the use drugs. We agree that violence will change nothing and
only education on countless topics will benefit societies around the world.
     A little introduction is in order; who I am, where I came from, and why
I believe in these principles. My name is Greg, and I am twenty years old. My
political thoughts started at what I consider to be a young age. I was about
twelve, living in a middle class home, with a loving family, and a computer.
I have to mention the computer, because this is where my political values
emerged.
     It started one day when (don't you love stories that start that way?) I
bought a modem for my computer. A modem is something that translates computer
language to sounds that are fed through the phone lines to another computer
with a modem. Anyway, I started calling a few other computers (which are
called bulletin board systems or BBS for short). The more memorable one was
run by a guy called Whirlin' Dervish. He had the best BBS that I had ever
called. There were many files that dealt with the anarchist way of life. I
would get these files and pour over them for hours, trying to grasp the
meaning of what the authors had written. This made me think that there ARE
other ways of thinking other than what is socially acceptable.
     Then there was the military at age seventeen. Thirteen weeks of boot camp
and two years in the national guard convinced me that there was definately
something wrong with the way the government thinks. It also made me wonder
how they could get away with so much waste and misuse of our tax dollars. It
just doesn't stop at the military though, as most of us know by the countless
times we have heard of scandals, under the table dealing, and general screw
ups by our wondrous government system.
     Ever since these things in my life have happened, I haven't been the same
person. For the last four years, I have been refining my logic and my
opinions on things, of which you are about to read herein. My principles are
constantly being modified through education.
     This is what we at INHALE! wish to offer you, education. You have a
right as an American citizen, to stand up and let your voice be heard. Believe
me when I say it does matter when you write your congressmen/woman as it does
show that you care about what goes on in this society based country we call
America.
     With that, I can only offer these simple words of advice: Prepare for
tommorrow, but live today. Yesterday is history, and tommorrow may never come.
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  To get a one year subscription        !      WHAT'S INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
to INHALE! send $5 to the address       ! Introduction to INHALE!..........pg1
below. The hardcopy version looks quite ! Lobbying Agencies................pg2
nice and has scanned cartoons, grafix,  ! Sphinctor of the Month...........pg3
and other cool stuff. You may obtain a  ! Freedom Fighter..................pg4
sample copy by sending a S.A.S.E. LARGE ! Cease Fire!......................pg5
to:             INHALE!                 ! Employee Surveillance............pg6
              PO Box 1073               ! Political Sellouts...............pg7
         Pekin, IL 61555-1073           ! Addresses........................pg8
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 INHALE! #1 FEB '94                 Greg S                              Page 2
                       The ACLU Fights For Your Rights!
     The American Civil Liberties Union is the nation's foremost advocate of
individual rights--litigating, legislating and educating the public on a broad
array of issues affecting individual freedom in the United States.
     The mission of the ACLU is to assure that the Bill of Rights--amendments
to the Constitution that guard against unwarranted governmental control--are
preserved for each new generation. To understand the ACLU's purpose, it is
important to distinguish between the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. The
Constitution itself, whose bicentennial we celebrated in 1987, authorizes the
government to act. The Bill of Rights limits that authority.
     What rights are guaranteed in the Bill of Rights?
     First Amendment rights: These include freedom of speech, association and
assembly, freedom of the press, and freedom of religion, including the strict
separation between church and state.
     Equal protection of the law: The right to equal treatment regardless of
race, sex, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, age, physical
handicap, or other such classification.
     Due process of law: The right to be treated fairly when facing criminal
charges or other serious accusations that can result in such penalties as loss
of employment, exclusion from school, denial of housing, or cut-off of
benefits.
     The right to privacy: The right to a guaranteed zone of personal privacy
and autonomy which cannot be penetrated by the government or by other
institutions, like employers, with substantial influence over an individual's
rights.
     Expanding those protections: Although some segments of our population have
traditionally been denied those rights, the ACLU works to extend protection to
racial minorities, homsexuals, mental patients, prisoners, soldiers, children
in custody of the state, the handicapped, and Native Americans.
        The ACLU address is on page 8.

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                                    Be NORML!
     NORML, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, demands
that marijuana be decriminalized for medical, industrial, and personal uses.
NORML lobbies in congress as well as individual politicians for these personal
choices.
     NORML demands that marijuana be available to all those who are in pain,
have nausea from drug therapy, have problems controlling seizures, who have had
eye surgeries, and many other purposes.
     The stated purpose of marijuana prohibition is suppression of both use and
dissent. Prohibition thrives on division, because a people divided against
themselves cannot stand in opposition to tyranny.
     Resistance to marijuana prohibition must be based on forging coalitions
and demonstrating common ground with our fellow citizens.
     Now entering it's third decade, NORML has been America's leading and most
visible opponent of marijuana prohibition.
     Marijuana prohibition is an expensive failure in which citizens are forced
to pay taxes to finance the erosion of their liberty.
     You can help by joining NORML, and by encouraging others to do the same. A
one year membership in NORML is $25, and includes a subscription to the NORML
quarterly newspaper. Send your membership dues to:
       NORML
       Temple Heights Station
       P.O. Box 53356
       Washington, DC 20036
         Info address is on page 8.
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 INHALE! #1 Feb '94                Greg S                               Page 3
                             Wilt Does It Again
     The sphinctor of the month column will feature our personal choice for
the person that displays fascism, bungles things beyond the normal realm of
bungleness, or just outright displays ignorant behavior.
     This months choice happens to be a fellow by the name of Jack Wilt.
Which on the same token, happens to be the superintendant of dist. 303. As
most of us know, he really screwed things up this time.
     The actual offense is censorship. Mr. Wilt took it upon himself to
decide that certain letters to the editor were racial and offensive. What he
actually did was far worse than being racist in my opinion.
     Not only did he violate the reporter's 1st. Amendment by taking away
freedom of the press, but also took the rights of the writer away also. I
realize that the paper is actually a publication of the school, but tell me
what kind of a picture this would make to a young junior who might just be
getting into journalism and decided that the school paper might be a good
place to start. This could take away that person's chance of ever reporting on
what he or she would really want to report on. Essentially, very little, if
any, faith in the 1st. Amendment could occur.
     The way the Pekinois is set up is just like a real newpaper, with an
editor in chief and a chain of command. There is an advisor there that is also
the journalism teacher. It's set up to be a pretty good simulation of what
working on a real paper is supposed to be like. Wilt's choice to pull the
paper, displays a real lack of (there are a million words that could be used
here) judgement regarding the realism of the school paper experience. Isn't he
the one that should be sticking up for the cirriculum of the school?
     If one was to get techinical about things, one could say that Wilt
himself was inflicting racial damage by pulling the paper. The surrounding
media snatched the opporutunity to make another racial shot at Pekin. If left
alone no one except the people that read the paper would've even known that
anything racial had been written. Now, to most people, the situation looks as
if Pekin is just as racist as ever, with the superintendant just trying to
make the school look like they are cracking down on racism when they've done
nothing to actually help releive it.
     One should keep in mind that this was a letter to the editor. Therefore
completely editorial. Everyone knows that an editorial is based on one
person's, or the opinion of a group of people. Also, how hard could it have
been to just make the editors put a disclaimer at the top of the page, saying
something to the effect of: 'The views of writers of a letter to the editor is
not the opinion of this school or any other faculty member at this school.' ?
    A few last comments about this.
I was reading the Times the other day, and I did see a letter to the editor
from a lawyer for the Peoria chapter of the ACLU. In it, he too saw that
pulling the paper was wrong. He too wrote about what kind of example was
being set by the superintendant.
     One final comment. The advisor to the Pekinois, Diana Peckham,  should be
commended for her part in this fiasco. She gave the students working on the
paper the choice to go ahead with putting the articles in or not. Thank you
Diana for making the right decision. Too bad there aren't that many more of
people like you on the faculty at PCHS.
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 INHALE! #1 Feb '94              Hoffman II                             Page 4
                        Freedom Fighter Of the Month
     This is INHALE!'s freedom fighter of the month column.  Unlike High
Times's freedom fighter, you dont have to go to jail to be in ours, proving
that expressing your ideas won't get you behind bars ALL of the time.  This
month's freedom fighter of the month is Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders, who
proposed that legalization of drugs should be studied to reduce violence. She
raised several important points, and was quickly rebuffed by the Clinton
administration.
     Elders was right about drug legalization; the war on drugs is a fiasco, a
disaster, and does nothing except to make the streets less safe, taxes much
higher, and the plight of drug users much worse.  In the 1920's and 1930's,
alcohol prohibition only led to more gang violence and mobster crime.  The
gangster era finally ended when prohibition was ended and alcohol became
relegalized.  We must realize that it's time to legalize marijuana and let
people take responsibility for their own actions.  It is clear that drug
prohibition has resulted in too much violence and the current "war on drugs"
has not helped the problem.  We should be concentrating on education efforts
rather than interdiction.  Also, the war on drugs is dangerous in that it
"allows" government to seize people's property without a trial by jury.  Drug-
related seizures have taken place against innocent people who had no drugs.
     Unfortunately, it looks like not too many people in tho government agree
with her. (Suprise)  President Bill Clinton pubically rebuffed her suggestion.
She did not even propose a plan for the decriminalization of drugs; she merely
suggested that drug use be further studied.  Yet, the GOP is now calling for
her resignation.  Bill put his tail between his legs and panicked that Elders
would dare raise the issue, even parenthetically.  He basically told her that
nice girls should be seen (and photographed by the press) and not heard.  He
may think that she's a nice girl, but don't nice girls have some brains behind
their mouth?  His behavior was shameful. This is one more sign of a floundering
administration.
     A poll taken seems to show that the Surgeon General is not alone.  Out of
61,000 respondants, 53% say legalizing drugs might reduce crime.  This means
that more in this poll sided with Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders' view that
legalizing drugs could make America a safer place than with President Clinton,
who said the costs would outweigh the benefits.  His view was, however, backed
by those in his own age group--45 and up.  Younger respondents and men and
women, as well as respondents from all US regions, are more likely to agree
with Dr Elders.  I think its time for the younger generation of Americans to
take a stand.  Only by searching for the truth by ourselves will we be able to
escape what is being covered up.
     This is just one more example of how today's government tries to keep
people quiet whenever they challenge what the government has decided is the
truth.  I chose Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders as Freedom Fighter of the Month
because without becoming completely revolutionary, she did what she could to
try to change America for the better.  I commend her for reccomending drugs to
be legalized to reduce violence, and I am shocked at the reaction people had to
her ideas.  This is proof that it will be up to us to help support movements to
get our agenda passed.  If you agree with us, that Surgeon General Joycelyn
Elders had a great idea, feel free to write her office and tell her you suport
her.  Her office's address is on page 8.
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 INHALE! #1 Feb '94                 Greg S                             Page 5
                             A Call To Cease-Fire
     Here are nine things that could be the key to ending the war on drugs:

     1. Stop talking about winning the drug wars. In the broadest sense,
there is no way to win because we cannot make the drugs or their abusers go
away. Our goal should be to fashion methods of living peacefully with drugs
that create the least possible harm for users and their nonusing neighbors.

     2. Recognize that the line between illegal and legal drugs is a historic
accident based primarily upon emotion rather than science. All drugs--including
alcohol, heroin, tobbacco, marijuana, and many others--are
dangerous. Yet, all can be used by people in nonharmful ways.

     3. Start thinking about drugs and users in new ways. Start thinking
drugpeace instead of drug war. Think of users as potentially nice neighbors,
not evil criminals intent on robbing you because the drugs they take drive
them crazy.

     4. Protect the sick from the ravages of the drug war. If they are ill and
suffering from diseases such as cancer or glaucoma, then heroin and marijuana
should be made available to them by prescription. If suffering from the
disease of addiction, they should have available non-cost rehabilitation
programs. If they are injecting addicts, they should be provided with clean
needles.

     5. Demand of addicts in return that they live productive and noncriminal
lives. Thus the social contract we make will be legal drugs in return for
legal, loving lives.

     6. Protect society from the ravages of the drug war--from criminal
traffickers, from criminal drug addicts, and from criminal policemen. Large
scale, hard drug traffickers should be locked up. The same thing goes for
addicts that repeatedly break laws. Policemen who grossly misconduct
themselves should be put in prisons and jails with no special treatment
letting them out after a short term.

     7. Provide low cost treatment of all kinds as often as needed to
addicts. A good network of treatment experts and facilities that meet the
individual needs of each addict is also needed.

     8. Trim the criminals out of the drug-treatment business. Many of our
leading experts, including prestigious physicians, are abusing and stealing
from the public by locking people up needlessly and charging obscene fees.
These medical jackals must be controlled and only the best elements must be
encouraged to step in and help the addict.

     9. Convince the police that they are among it's saddest victims of the
drug war and that they should be in the leadership role of the reform
movement. In that role, they can be very effective.
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 INHALE! #1 Feb '94                Hoffman II                          Page 6
                             Are You Being Watched?

     "HEY! What about my rights?" you ask. Uhh, guess what--you don't have
that many left. After all this talk about the 200th anniversary of the Bill
of Rights in 1990, the Fourth Amendment means next to nothing if you have a
job in the private employer domain, which is where most Americans work. As
soon as you walk through their doors, you're not protected by the Bill of
Rights. This means if you find out that they are recording and/or monitoring
your phone calls, there is little you can do about it except ask them to
stop. This is only possible if you know it's going on, which you probably
won't. The increased anxiety on the part of employers concerning substance
abuse in the workplace has increased on-the-job surveillance. This can mean
anything from monitoring and/or recording phone calls to having undercover
cops put in the workplace.
     A former police detective who now heads a company that deals in
undercover operations and drug education, explained to me how it works.  "We
go in and we evaluate the situation as an independant source," he said.
"Management might have recieved anonymous tips, gotten complaints from other
employees, or maybe they've found paraphenalia out on the floor and all of a
sudden they start seeing increased absenteeism and low productivity hampering
the quality of their product.  They suspect that something is taking place
that they can't see during day-to-day activities.  So what we do is provide a
credible investigator, who then becomes the eyes and ears of the corporation,
recording everything he sees and hears."
     An American Civil Liberties Union attorney has this to say on the topic
of undercover investigation in the workplace: "The practice is becoming more
and more common. It harkens back to company spies, Pinkertons, and now
in-store detectives. It's very problematic. It's not regulated by the
Constitution at all. It's a very dangerous practice and it has the same
characteristics as drug testing. Confidences you would share in the workplace
are not necessarily ones you would want your employer to overhear, and
although they say that they only give the employer drug-related information,
there's no way to know."
     Employees in the public sector (ie: government employees) are better off
than private sector employees because supposedly the government has to adhere
to the Bill of Rights and people who work for Uncle Sam are therefore
protected by the Fourth Amendment. Distressingly, this is changing as the
rules are bent in the case of public sector employees who are "responsible for
public safety."
     In two recent cases, the majority court held that urine tests are
searches but, in the case of these particular employees (customs guards and
railroad workers) testing was allowed without probable cause on the ground
that their Fourth Amendment rights were outweighed by the government's
interest in maintaining a drug-free workplace.
     The new bi-partisan bill called the Borne-Hatch Bill is being sold
as a new way to regulate lab standards. What it really does is remove any
threat of an employer from being sued by an employee in the future. Already,
most law suits brought by employees against employers in relation to drug
testing have been lost, but some have been won. Removing that small threat of
retaliation will only open the flood gates for more random testing.
     Ultimately, drug testing is being used as an excuse to take away all of
our freedoms and create a chemical police state. If you and the people you
know don't stop it, who will?
     Partial credit to High Times June 1990
     --All rights stolen by Nixon--

     --Writers note:
     While watching the Dr. Dean Edell show one time, there was a story of a
woman being fired from a company because a random drug test showed she had
NICOTINE in her blood! The company has an anti-smoking policy which includes
smoking at home. They escorted her out the door and fired her.
     Sad but true.... Big brother is here, just not always in big government
but in big business as well.
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 INHALE! #1 Feb '94                Hoffman II                          Page 7
                      Have You Sold Your Political Values?

     If you have picked up this newsletter and are still reading it, you have
probably, like a bunch of other people, figured out that most of what you have
been told your whole life is basically a big pack of lies, brought to you by
the joy of government propaganda. Like a crowd of other people, you are ready
and willing to reform/rebel against what you are forced to put up with. There
is one mistake that you must be careful not to make, some if not most people
already have. That mistake is losing sight of what is important, the real goal
of achieving change/rebellion.
     Too many people and groups that want change get caught up in games.
Immature people that walk around saying, "I'm an elite anarchist!" and they
start insulting and fighting with people that have a slightly different
viewpoint is what we're talking about. They then become majorly screwed
individuals that don't do anything good because they spend a majority of their
time and energy arguing against those on the same side. Instead they should be
uniting against the government that has left them with a rotten earth, tries
to divide them through lies, and has oppressed them.
     For the most part it is fairly easy to tell which side a person is on. Do
they sit around unaware of what is going on in the world around them? Do they
calmly accept that the government is right and set with thier fake morals
wrapped around them? Or have they become WILLING FOR CHANGE? It isn't all that
HARD to realize that if one is up against the government, fighting against
others on the same side is a real pointless and asinine thing to do.
     Stay out of the ego wars. Join the SCA, the GA, or GreenPeace. There are
many groups fighting together for a common cause. Join one of these groups.
Remember, that only by uniting, taking refuge among ourselves, and taking
advantage of the opporutunity to stand out, not only up, can we make change.
We must belong to what we create. We must not make the same mistakes of those
in power. We must evolve past that, or we will become yet another regime in
power, repeating the failure of what we are supposedly fighting against.
     Action by the whole, on the whole, will be our only movement for a
redeeming revolution. This time must mark the end of this wasted effort
brought by many generations of "pass me down politics". We must rebirth and
rise anew free of what hinders us if we are to survive.
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 INHALE! #1 Feb '94                                                    Page 8

     Where to write for info and/or help on many different topics including
many of which are covered in this issue.

American Medical Marijuana Movement      The closest NORML Chapter:
San Francisco HQ                          Normal N.O.R.M.L.
Dennis Peron--President                   P.O. Box 441
3745 Seventeenth St.                      Normal, IL 61761
San Fransico, CA 94114
(415) 864-1961                            Illinois Marijuana Initiative
                                          P.O. Box 2242
The Alliance for Cannabis Thereaputics    Darien, IL 60559
P.O. Box 21210                            (708)859-0499
Kalorama Station
Washington DC, 20009
(202)483-8595                             American Civil Liberties Union
                                          132 West 43rd St.
Family Council on Drug Awareness          New York, NY 10036
P.O. Box 71093
Los Angeles, CA 90071-0093                National NORML HQ
(213)288-4152                             1001 Connecticut Ave NW
                                          Suite 1119
Nearest ACLU location                     Washington, DC 20036
ACLU of Illinois                          (202)483-5500
203 North Lasalle
Suite 1405                                Criminal Justice Policy Foundation
Chicago, IL 60601                         2000 L St.NW
                                          Suite 702
The United Campus Coalition               Washington, DC 20036
P.O.Box 341                               (202)835-9075
Mill Valley, CA 94942
                                          HIV positive, order prepared reg.
The Drug Policy Foundation                packet for medical marijuana,
4801 Massachusetts Ave NW                 MARS Project          $15 donation
Suite 400                                 P.O.Box 21210             requested
Washington, DC 20016-2087                 Kalorama Station
(202)895-1634                             Washington, DC 20009

The Illinois Drug Ethnics Alliance
P.O. Box 4205
Urbana, IL 61801
(217)367-5674

     Where to lobby:

President Clinton                          Senator ............
1600 Pennsylvania Ave                      Senate Office Bldg.
Washington, DC 20500                       Washington, DC 20515

Representative ............                Lloyd Bentsen Sec. of Treasury
U.S. House of Representatives              15th & Pennsylvania Ave NW
Washington, DC 20515                       Washington, DC 20220

United Nations Com. on Human Rights        Exec Dir. John Healy
UN Plaza                                   Amnesty International
New York, NY 10017                         322 Eighth Ave.
                                           New York, NY 10001
Donna Shalala                              (212)807-8400
Sec. of H