Bill O'Reilly proves my point: Tony Bennett is Wack!

Whitney Houston Understood Her Addiction

In this interview with Oprah, Whitney Houston proves my point; that addicts have a disability when new to recovery. Clearly, Whitney describes how she was harassed by her own feelings about drugs. This is a disability. We have to start looking at people who are getting sober from addiction, as people who are handicapped. Addicts get better over the years but most of us heal slowly, which means it takes years not to feel the feelings Whitney is describing in this video.

I drafted the Addiction Rehabilitation and Protection Act, which recognizes people suffering from addiction, as people who should be protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act in their first two years of recovery.

Many addicts do not survive relapse. Call on your elected leaders to create laws that punish those who sell drugs to known addicts. Once an addict commits to rehab, that person is ready to let go of addiction. But really letting go takes years, not days. Keep drug dealers and unethical doctors away from vulnerable people trying to recover. We must draw the line if we want to save those we love.

Why California Marijuana Laws are the Laughing Stock of the Country

Did you know Frisbee throwing is more dangerous than pot possession in the County of Los Angeles? Yep, it’s true! Last week, the County of Los Angeles created an ordinance on things you could and could not do at L.A. beaches. One of the things that stuck out like a sore thumb was the fine of $1,000 for throwing a Frisbee. This was not to be believed!

Under California state law, marijuana possession of an ounce or less costs a $100 fine and after passage of S.B. 1449, possession no longer goes on the offender’s record, it is now considered an infraction. With all due respect (yes, I am gritting my teeth), thank you Ex-Governor Schwarzenstoner!

Residents quickly saw the Frisbee throwing law as greedy cash hoarding by the County and when the media caught wind of it, the County reconsidered (CBS, 2012). Only a day later, the County announced that now when someone throws a Frisbee on the beach, they could face a fine for $100 for the first offense, a $200 fine for the second offense and a $500 fine for the third offense. That’s five times more than the fine for pot after the third offense! Hey, while we’re at it, why not send Frisbee throwers to jail for a year, on the fourth offense, for felony Frisbee throwing? Might as well!

This is a sad and laughable example of how marijuana, a Schedule I drug, that causes impaired driving and has high potential for abuse, is viewed as so innocent that a Frisbee ends up being the greater threat. If this is not an example of unintended consequences of drug decriminalization in California, I don’t know what is?

Guess if anyone gets caught with a Frisbee, they should just blame their dog and say; “Hey! That’s not my Frisbee! I don’t know how that ended up here? Ask my dog, maybe it’s his!”

Goodbye Whitney

Excuse Me, But Tony Bennett should Shut His Pie-Hole!

Frank Sinatra, who told Tony Bennett to lay off the hard stuff years ago, is turning over in his grave! The same Tony Bennett who went on the Howard Stern Show and said 9/11 was the fault of the United States and then had to apologize to the entire country for saying so, has done it again.

According to MSNBC, this time Tony Bennett was grandstanding at the Clive Davis pre-Grammy party over Whitney Houston’s death by saying: “First it was Michael Jackson, then Amy Winehouse, now the magnificent Whitney Houston, I’d like every person in this room to campaign to legalize drugs.” All my sadness over Whitney’s death came to a screeching halt when he continued, “Let’s legalize drugs like they did in Amsterdam. No one’s hiding or sneaking around corners to get it. They go to a doctor to get it.” Hello? In case he missed it, many celebrity doctors have proven they are part of the problem!

Tony Bennett has either not been paying attention to the news, or he’s just plain losing his mind! The whole world knows Michael Jackson went to a doctor by the name of Conrad Murray, who is now in jail for killing him by giving him too many drugs. TMZ reported straight from the court records, during the time Murray was MJ’s doctor, he bought four gallons of Propofol!

Amy Winehouse is dead because in England drug laws are so lax, that getting drugs such as heroin has been made easy through decriminalization, which has clearly not worked out in Amy’s favor. It was finally concluded Amy died from alcohol poisoning, alcohol being a legal and widely available addictive substance.

And then for Tony Bennett to say the United States should follow the Amsterdam model “because of its success” is absolutely and totally irresponsible. It’s times like this where I am glad I was not in the room because I would have been all up in his grill.

Working with many drug policy experts, I have learned straight from the media in Amsterdam that the grass is not greener on the other side. Amsterdam has had to go backwards on their drug laws, making them more stringent because of drug tourism and drug zombies wandering around in the streets and alleyways. That's not what the doctor ordered!

Just because Tony Bennett sang in a duo with Amy Winehouse does not make him an expert on U.S. and global drug policy and it certainly shows that he has no idea what he’s rambling on about. He needs to stick to what he does best and sing the songs we love - to help us forget our troubles, not grandstand over things he is clearly very confused about and give us nightmares!

[Update: Feb. 13, 2012]

Today, Bill Bennett made some remarks of his own about Tony Bennett's comments regarding Whitney and drugs. On his show "Bill Bennett's Morning in America" he called Tony Bennett "an idiot." Nuf said!

Whitney Houston: She Said She Needed Help, 10 Years Ago

Whitney Houston was an American Music Icon, adored throughout the world. Many who watched Whitney’s life unfold in the past decade knew there was a growing chance that drugs and alcohol might end her life early,... if she did not take care of herself.

Whitney even coined the phrase "crack is whack." Translation: I NEED HELP! What we all feared might happen to Whitney sadly came true. Yesterday afternoon, she was found dead at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in the bathtub, with her head submerged under water and her legs out of the water. According to TMZ, in wake of tonight’s Grammys, Whitney had been partying heavily the night before she died and authorities confirmed that there were downers such as Xanax, Valium and Lorazopam, found in her hotel room.

Certainly it is easy to speculate what might have happened to Whitney, but let's face it, chances of someone drowning in the bathtub without a sleep aid or some other from of intoxicant are pretty slim. The question now is, did Whitney take downers before she went in the tub?

The drug culture refers to Xanax as “the sleep of death” and according to those closest to Whitney, she liked to take Xanax before she would go on stage. What’s worse than that, like Michael Jackson, Whitney admitted she had a drug problem long ago. Why was no one watching her? How could a doctor or anyone else stand by and let her go back into the gates of hell by continuing to condone her drug abuse?

The financial impact of Whitney’s death is greater than those around her might have thought. Like Michael Jackson, Amy Winehouse and so many other music icons who have died as a result of drug abuse or accidental overdose, so many people lose their jobs as a result. No one was interested in paying attention to Whitney’s continued recovery, especially those closest to her. And now she’s gone.

Macaulay Culkin: Angel on My Watch-List

I found this picture at E! Online two days ago. I made some calls and I am glad to see people are pointing out the obvious:

Macaulay Culkin looks like hell and if the recent pictures of him looking emaciated and skeletal are any indication, Macaulay looks like he’s not going to be here five years from now. His rep. says there is nothing wrong with him, but one could easily argue that his rep is only trying to protect his public image, instead of his very apparent poor health. Yeah Macaulay, you're not fooling me. I've been there and it looks like you are still losing your way like you did in '04. You don't look healthy to me.

If nothing is wrong with Macaulay, can we get a blood test please to make sure he doesn’t need to go to the emergency room? Nightclubbing as a DJ, which is as of late Macaulay Culkin's favorite past time, is a Smorgasbord for someone who is abusing drugs. DJs also sleep very little and have a need to be constantly amped up and because they're so busy, they forget to eat.

Whatever the issue is, cause there clearly is one according to this doctor who gave an interview to Entertainment Tonight, Macaulay Culkin is not the guy we used to know. Someone better make sure he gets some help! NOW!

Going back to School is good for Recovery

When we fall into the abyss of addiction we lose many things. We lose friends, family, possessions, ability, credibility, respect, social status, our reputation and the list goes on and on. In summation of all the things we lose, what drives all these losses is a fading ability to think critically.

We can be doctors, lawyers, scientists or high school drop-outs, addiction and all the loss that comes along with it, consequentially causes misguided instinct and a down-ward spiraling, poor decision making process. Once we get sober and gain recovery, we must do more for ourselves. Addiction causes behavior of entitlement and the seeking of selfish actions driven by motives of addiction.

When we recover from the obsession of drug addiction and our mind quiets down, we replace our thoughts with thoughts of prayer, spiritual connections and ego-deflation. These are however, all processes that modify our social behaviors and leave our intellect in the dark, sometimes causing "shoot from the hip" intellectualism.

Going back to school teaches structure and discipline in places where religion, therapy and meditation cannot. Making the choice to expand and learn new subjects, allows for a comprehensive self-evaluation and aids in remediating our critical thinking skills.

“Talk to someone if you feel alone in your pain”

I have not seen Don Cornelius since I got sober 13 years ago. Back in the day, I used to be part of a group who would meet at the Polo Lounge at the Beverly Hills Hotel. We would sit and drink and tell the silliest jokes as social drinkers often do. Don would join in and he was always the voice of reason between laughs. One night, Don invited me over to his house in Studio City on Mulholland, the same house he took his own life in at 4:00am on February 1^st.

His house was beautifully designed in African décor and it was apparent from the start that he had very good taste, class and that he had a lot of books and other mementos about African American heritage and history. We sat up the whole night and talked till the sun came up. It was kind of like hanging out with your favorite uncle and getting an amazing crash course in African American studies. After that night, he left an impression on me that lasted and when I found out today that he ended his own life I was very saddened by this terrible news.

It is so hard for me to understand how someone like Don Cornelius could feel right about ending his own life. He knew so well how to get along in the world, that the last few years of strife in his life seemed so much out of the ordinary of his character. This showed he clearly had pain.

The mother of soulful vocalist Phyllis Hyman wrote in her memorial address of Phyllis, pleading to people they should not feel alone in their pain as Phyllis did who also committed suicide. For Phyllis Hyman it was drug addiction, relationship troubles and overdose. Mrs. Hyman said, “Talk to someone and know that you are not alone in your pain.”

If you’re out there and you’re feeling like your problems are too big, when you talk to someone about them, someone who will listen, they will seem much smaller and easier to handle. Feelings are not facts and actions can change the way we feel about a lot of things. So keep talking and go where the love is.

Prayers, peace, love and soul, R.I.P. Don.

Pharmaceutical Grade Medical Marijuana in 2014?

I personally would like to see us do away with everything we know to be so-called medical marijuana and have no interest in such methods of "medication." Today's marketing pitch on marijuana has so much deliberate misuse of language and brainwashing involved with it, we are better of getting rid of it so we can have a sane dialogue about proposing marijuana as medicine, which should be discussed by scientists and pharmacologists, not hacks, retired judges and retired cops.

New data shows the FDA is working on clinical trials, some of which have already been completed, to bring pharmaceutical grade, medical marijuana to the United States. In this article by the Scientific American more can be learned bout the drug Sativex, which has government approval in the United Kingdom.

"The medical marijuana drug Sativex, which could be approved in the United States in the coming years as a treatment for pain relief, has little potential for abuse, experts say.

The British pharmaceutical company GW Pharmaceuticals is currently testing the drug, which is delivered as a mouth spray and called Sativex, in clinical trials. The company plans to seek U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for the drug as a treatment for cancer pain when the trials are completed, likely sometime in 2014, a spokesperson for GW Pharmaceuticals told MyHealthNewsDaily..."

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