Smoking at EGA 2010

[Max Cady]

I noticed/found people smoking pot outside EGA 2010 I found this highly offensive and damaging to the credibility of EGA. I don't care what you do in your own time, did or does anyone else find this offensive?

[folias]

I personally don't like smoking pot, but dude, pot smoking is incredibly prevalent in our culture.

The people who need to, (judges, lawyers, politicians etc) smoke behind closed doors, to supposedly protect their reputation will do so. I don't see why plant people should follow the same hypocritical values!

Julian.

[Korky]

of course they shouldn't have to worry about smoking pot at the gig, but thats in an ideal world. i personally think it was selfish, we all know how the straighties irrationally react to pot, it gives them ammo to demonise the event (in their eyes).

it would have been easy enough to wait for a puff until after the event or walk away from the premises.

im not offended, but it was unnecessary.

otherwise the event was absolutely inspiring.

thankyou thankyou thankyou.

[Yawning Man]

It's sort of like an unspoken rule when it comes to this and EGA. I'm sure the majority of plant heads would agree that public use of any drug is reckless and potentially damaging to EGA. To be honest i agree with you Josho, EGA themselves make a point of mentioning that they dont want the use of drugs happening during their conferences, so i think people should honour that.

It's like korky said, because of the nature of EGA, it's so easy for the straight cunts to get all sooky and start dobbing to the authorities about the 'promotion of drugs'. So anyone who does openly use drugs at EGA should think twice.

Saying that, i didn't get the impression that it happens a lot, having attended last years conference. So i think people respect the rules of EGA, bar the occasional person.

cheers

[Alice]

To be honest I think it's a bit immature that people would light up outside the event so publicly, for all the reasons mentioned so far. Regardless of the prevalence of cannabis use in our culture, one should not risk damaging the credibility of this event by engaging in an activity that is still illegal after all. I don't think it helps to achieve our goals.

Edit: Fucking great sig Korky, just noticed it.

[Rabaelthazar]

I thought it was inappropriate.

Intentionally flouting the law at an event that is, in part, discussing ways to change those same laws is not going to bring anything positive to the cause and runs the risk of bringing negative attention to the cause. Had there been a drug related arrest made at, or outside, EGA the negative exposure could have been detrimental.

Not that I'm condoning smoking pot in public at all (disclaimer)... but there was a park only 100 metres up the road that could have at least put some distance between the event and the people smoking pot.

Having said that, there was a legalize marijuana rally about ten years ago in Melbourne where thousands of people marched through the CBD up to parliament house chanting "Celebrate now, legalize now, it's not wrong to bong". WHen we got to parliament house, the police conferred and allowed everybody from the rally to smoke pot in public as long as the smoking was confined to the steps of parliament house or the park next door. That was a fantastic afternoon with thousands of people from all different demographics smoking together in public under the supervision of the police. They were true to their word and nobody was hassled (As far as I saw).

One day....

Excellent day yesterday, Ronny. Thanks for having us along.

[The Dude]

"the police conferred and allowed everybody from the rally to smoke pot in public"

lol! A demonstration demanding the freedom to smoke pot where you had to get permission from the cops to smoke pot. It's a mental thing and as long as we ask for permission instead of just taking it they'll always have the power and jurisdiction we give them. People were gonna smoke up anyway, the police by saying so did a very tricky psyop on everyone letting them know that it's not their personal freedoms which allow this act they can merely "get away with it" ONLY because for this time only they let them .: the power is still with the policy enforcers.

Now as far as I can tell EGA is about promoting the responsible use of entheogens (of which pot is one) sure it may be irresponsible given the law, but that's a lot about what this particular conference was about yeah? My question is, why smack your head against an unmovable wall when you can easily walk around?

I'm cynical of a system built on control, restriction and secrecy allowing the freedom to openly enjoy entheogens and disseminate knowledge. It flies against everything this system has been working towards. The free responsible use of drugs is incompatible with a system where we give all our freedoms and responsibility to the [nanny] state and any steps towards legalisation will be through quicksand with the hand of the sheep society pushing you down while you're at it.

Cures would kill the medication industry anyway and we need to crank as much goods as we can out of our hydrocarbons, those pesky plants giving of themselves freely just get in the way of business. You can't argue with that! & I don't want to reason with psychopaths, who may give some allowances but are always thinking of ways to take even more.

I'm dev'd I missed it though as I'm curious what progress has been made and I admire the efforts at getting research into these substances legalised. It's just... why? These power structures would crumble if we said we didn't need them and a grassroots symbiotic ecology not a top down parasitic heirarchy would emerge.

[lickapop]

oh shit there was people smoking cannabis at ega????? how dare they What were they choppin up, rollin big joints right out the entrance? Did they have their volcanos set up passing around a huge 12ft bag? Buckets? what did you see?

dont go to ega next year then...you will just get really upset and disappointed.

Do you honestly think that a couple of peeps smoking cannabis is going to have any effect on this event? Really? seriously??

Good thing this was started in bitches and bitches and bitches section otherwise I just may think you are serious

kinda reminds me off the bitching a non smoker does at a tobacco smoker....

this non cannabis user is LOL at this thread...no offence

[-YT-]

so is there any real feedback about the actual talks?

[Max Cady]

@lickapoop Given how sensitive and rightly so some people are about being asked direct,honest,frank questions about there work within this field I find it hard to stomach when I see something as incongruent as people smoking weed out the front of EGA, from my experience unfortunately some elements of this psychedelic community in Australia reek of nepotism meaning it's ok for person a to ask person b about something but it is deemed inappropriate for person x to ask person b without first passing person a's selection criteria.

On the other hand I have found and met some really great people within it.

So yes I still find it offensive and incongruent, detrimental and potentially damaging I knew this thread and my thought's would attract negative attention but in my eyes I think you have ask yourself do you want your interest/work/study in this field to be validated or do you want to be labeled as some shit box drop out hippy still still searching for john lennon's utopia? .

[-YT-]

so you felt indignant lol?

Sorry i just dont see the point of this thread after the fact,was there even an attempt to have a chat to this persons and explain ones position? generally plant people are cool.

seems the negative attention comes from the consensus fishing on a supposed offensive act

i thought this thread was gonna be about how sexy rick doblins hair cut was and general feedback on standout talks etc

[lickapop]

@lickapoop Given how sensitive and rightly so some people are about being asked direct,honest,frank questions about there work within this field I find it hard to stomach when I see something as incongruent as people smoking weed out the front of EGA, from my experience unfortunately some elements of this psychedelic community in Australia reek of nepotism meaning it's ok for person a to ask person b about something but it is deemed inappropriate for person x to ask person b without first passing person a's selection criteria.

On the other hand I have found and met some really great people within it.

So yes I still find it offensive and incongruent, detrimental and potentially damaging I knew this thread and my thought's would attract negative attention but in my eyes I think you have ask yourself do you want your interest/work/study in this field to be validated or do you want to be labeled as some shit box drop out hippy still still searching for john lennon's utopia? .

 

cool...wasnt it at melbs uni...coulda been uni students lol. So you saw a joint then?

dont worry man Im just bustin your balls...ive started plenty of dumb threads myself.

I get your point. Im all for being discreet but cmon like I said ^^^ was it that blatant that it needs to be said?

[The Dude]

I think you have ask yourself do you want your interest/work/study in this field to be validated or do you want to be labeled as some shit box drop out hippy still still searching for john lennon's utopia? .

 

So I want it to be validated by the people that would call me a shit box drop out hippy had I smoked a joint on the street? If you're seeking validation in these kind of people that cannot look past the labels of their controlled society, how do you expect to change these controls? Anybody of any real importance will recognise the worth of your interest/work/study and the followers can follow the status quo again after it's changed.

Incongruent?... INCONGRUENT?! It is a conference which actually had a focus on plant medicines or entheogens and their suppression by the law and trying to change that. Maybe that was the point of sparking up right there.

Perhaps someone more knowledgeable than I should do a lecture on the jurisdiction hijacking of policy enforcer pirates and their sith lord masters from the sovereign people that commit no crime so far as there is no injured party. There is no such thing as a victimless crime, no victim, no crime.

The thought police are in your head when you just want to enjoy some herb and you gotta be all paranoid, hiding away from public view like a criminal when you're not. Fuck that! The change begins now. It begins when you stop believing these policy enforcers' bullshit threats, they're no more than that but we all play along like we work for them and we don't want to get fired. Fuck em! I quit!

[faustus]

terribly sorry guys... i'd really hate for actual intelligent discussion of the EGA talks to get in the way of bitching about the complexities and minutia of public joint smoking... but given that i couldn't make it this year, can someone tell me how it was? who were the best speakers? how were mr doblin and dr wodak? who was the most entertaining? please tell me the bear made a guest appearance and gave away another one of this uber-tasty roast chicken recipes

large font and underlined, just in case cunts have bad vision (grumpy people usually have impaired vision as well)

[Yawning Man]

Haha now that i think about it, it is a very misleading title. Looks like discussion is quickly going off topic. Societies attitude or whatever isn't going to change over night, EGA is an essential stepping stone toward a non-biased approach to new medicines, open minded cultures and the like. Right now, it's sooo easy for some cunts from Today Tonight, or sunrise to run a headline "Organisation (read cult) promoting the use of drugs" or for some dick reporter to come along to a conference and hear, see, smell people using, then for them to run around yelping "a festival where people just take drugs".

'This is a conference ABOUT plant substances and altered states not a conference ON plant substances so please do not bring with you any substances that would endanger yourself, the organisers or the future of the event. (but feel free to bring as many books, notes, pictures, photos etc…as you like!'

That's what this thread is about to me. It's paranoid, but i'm EGA has attracted some of the more extreme conservatives at some point. Open drug use adds weight to their bullshit arguments. Have some respect for the people who work so hard and invest so much of their own time and money into it.

Fair enough people are angry about society and the sheeple looking down on drug use, but a world with EGA is better than a world without.

cheers

[lickapop]

please tell me the bear made a guest appearance and gave away another one of this uber-tasty roast chicken recipes

 

[Max Cady]

from me this topic was/is an unsubstantiated allegation and my personal opinion

[Rabaelthazar]

Unfortunately, I only made the second day, but from the presentations I saw, I'd rate Rick Doblin, Alex Wodak and Henry Cox as the most interesting (for me).

I haven't had a great deal of interest in Pituri prior to hearing Henry Cox speak about it... I was of the impression that it was essentially a nicotine plant, however it seems that I've hugely underestimated the power of this plant. 45 minutes is a pretty short time to convey years of study, but it's inspired me to learn more.

Alex Wodak, who is the president of the Australian Drug Law Reform Foundation gave some really interesting insights into what he believes to be the future of drug laws in Australia. It's not what a lot of people are hoping for, ie: "Where ya going, mate?" "Just down to Chemists Warehouse to pick up a bag of super pure MDMA before i hit the clubs", but he put a lot of information forward in terms of quotes from politicians, economists etc... that show that the unwavering faith in the war on drugs and drug legislation as it stands is cracking and that we are coming quickly to a time when drug law reform will truly be possible.

Rick Doblin spoke about the work he's doing with MAPS and explained his aim to raise awareness of the spiritual as well as medical benefits of psychoactive substances with the goal of making headroads into the de-criminalization of psychoactives by reaching the public through a variety of channels.

The one presentation I found to be boring and irrelevant was from Dr Anna Kokavec (sorry Anna) which to me seemed like a rehash of old theories supported by a very narrow range of statistics. She demonstrated through statistics she has gathered things such as: males are more likely to use psychoactives than females and people who drink more or smoke more tend to be more likely to try cannabis. I felt that she had devoted a lot of time to an area of study that doesn't really provide much practical help in understanding why certain people tend to be attracted to psychoactives. Just my opinion. I'd be interested to see what other people thought.

The DXM presentation was interesting, even though I wasn't expecting it to be and the panel discussion was great. I only caught the last half of the ergot presentation and I wish I'd gotten out of bed that little bit earlier because I feel that that would have been fascinating as well.

Wish I could have been around for the Saturday but unfortunately I had commitments. Next year I'll definitely block out the whole weekend.

[incognito]

henry sure loves his nicotine

he was saying in between chewing pituri he lungs winny reds (at 07 ega)

[santiago]

yep i fount the topic title a bit misleading, maybe better if you put ''thoughts on pot smokers at EGA" josho but you got every right to put your point of view across, its a bit weak for these pot smoking dudes to think they are above the law, even though i hate security guards with a passion maybe EGA need to hire security to deal with the situation to give some mainstream accountability.

its a bit either way really, on one hand you have freedom....my parents used to smoke joints walkin thru the shopping malls in the 70,s, isnt it ironic at a rally about freedom....you cant actually be free, honestly tho mainstream society thinks us plant heads are just plain weird and drug driven so its a valid point that gaining respect at these events for aya or cactus or whatever you choose being some sort of lifestyle choice and future of the free thinking world and then to have to have it hijacked by your simple 2 dollar shop pot stoner is really what will last in the heads of the common man.

so did the EGA get any media coverage, did anything change??.....were any politicians contacted and will any bills get passed soon, what about you tube videos and some newspaper reports, did anything actually happen and if so where is it........i want to see something, unfortunately i have never been and live 3000kms away and hopefully one day ill go see an EGA cos i am curious, but surely in this day and age there is something i can watch.........................and may i dare ask, what happens to all the money generated by EGA, does it go in some promoters pocket or does it go to ........erm drug awareness and plant charity.

[The Dude]

Open drug use adds weight to their bullshit arguments.

 

...What? That we should be taking (illegal) drugs secretly? That we need to hide the fact we disagree with the law as it stands because it may offend their law abiding sensibilities, no matter how biased and ill-informed they may be?

It doesn't matter if it adds weight to a bullshit argument. It can be the heaviest bullshit argument ever; it's still a bullshit argument. I don't feel the need to modify my behaviour to appease someones bullshit point of view and I hope it does offend them if that's how they choose to feel.

Sorry for continuing a topic that was originally off topic. I think if we want a proper ega feedback thread we should start a new one because:

a ) this is already in the bitches and gripes and is full of bitches and gripes, it would be better to start a thread solely for discussion on the actual presentation.

and

b ) I want to continue this bitching we're having here

the laws are unfair, wa waaa

[Rabaelthazar]

It doesn't matter if it adds weight to a bullshit argument. It can be the heaviest bullshit argument ever; it's still a bullshit argument. I don't feel the need to modify my behaviour to appease someones bullshit point of view and I hope it does offend them if that's how they choose to feel.

 

Hey the Dude,

I normally have a huge amount of respect for what you post, however, in this thread (and admittedly it is in bitches and gripes so you can let go a bit) I think you're missing the point that the choice to flaunt the law in a situation like this is putting others at risk without their consent.

Santiago referred to his folks walking through a shopping mall smoking pot. I have smoked pot in public more times that I can count and I would assume from your words in this thread that you have too. In a situation where you are in public and choose to smoke pot and everyone you are with agrees to that, then no problem. If the cops do come and decide to hassle you or worse, charge you, you have taken the risk and you take the fall. Easy.

Smoking pot outside a plant/drug/whatever awareness conference of which the organizers have specifically asked you not too is unnecessary and placing others (the organizers) at risk of bad press and reputation without their consent.

You're a very switched on dude and I'm surprised that you haven't twigged to this.

[incognito]

I can see how this could have caused a risk to the EGA organisation, particular in regards to the Uni's support.

Perhaps gaining unwanted attention from campus security, or any fuzz in the area. Wouldnt be a good look.

As has been said there was a park 100m away.

[lickapop]

OMFG somebody please tell me was there buckets??

HOW big was the joint/S in question?

Was it good shitz? cured enough? Smell? Bush? Hyge?

Approx how far are we talking from the main entrance? could you say they (alleged cannabis user/S) were closer to the aforementioned park or closer to the event that this alleged cannabis use(pot smoking..granma lol) took place?

And more important.....did they ( alleged cannabis user/s) look like hippies? dreads? were they wearing a smelly hypercolour t-shirt that hadnt been washed since 82?

Could you say purely out of speculation that these cannabis users would use cannabis at other events like festivals, soltice, bush doofs?

I think these are very important questions that really need to be considered so we can get to the bottom of this

[lickapop]

y...........and may i dare ask, what happens to all the money generated by EGA, does it go in some promoters pocket or does it go to ........erm drug awareness and plant charity.

 

I had something sarcastically funny to say but I canned it. it doesnt work online.

I stand corrected but I would say an event like this would be a break even event. There is no cash left over. Why would you ask? Are you thinking of kicking off an event? You could call it Drug Free Drugs Symposium. You will attract those who like it drug free and those who like free drugs.

Make sure you hand out little maps to the nearest park for all the pot smokers