After years of writing such great guides as "Europe Through the Back Door," and producing great videos for public television, Rick Steves has become a people-to-people diplomat. Lately, he's been lecturing about "Travel as a Political Act." It's no surprise he was just awarded the Citizen Diplomat Award from a huge gathering of the National Council for International Visitors.
Steves recently traveled to Iran "to build understanding between Iran and the U.S. and to defuse the tension that could be leading to war."
In case you missed his Iran travelogue, watch it now. Steves has a knack for connecting with people, and he sidesteps preconceptions (his and theirs) to explore Iran's rich and glorious past, as well as it's perplexing (to us) present. Will these prejudices lead us into a war with this nation? Let's hope Steves--and the new administration in Washington--are ushering in a new age of diplomacy, where we don't bomb first and ask questions later.
Rick Steves in Iran:
Visit Rick Steves' excellent travel site, Europe Through the Back Door," here Bread for the World, is located here.
Past presidential pot preferences? Chris Matthews reviewed transitioning public attitudes towards marijuana by reviewing the statements of past presidential candidates about their own drug use, from Bill Clinton to Barack Obama.
Michael Phelps is no dope-smoking slacker. Phelps has won 14 career Olympic gold medals, the most by any Olympian. By the end of 2008, he held seven world records in swimming. Now he's been "caught" with a bong, and he admits smoking marijuana, and the world is stunned that he would do something so despicable. If the swimmer had had a few beers the world would march on dumbly, but smoking marijuana--even in this day and age--has a terrible stigma. Recent scientific studies dismiss outdated "reefer madness," and bolster arguments calling for decriminalization. It's against the law, critics cry. It's a crime. So was your beloved martini, at one point.
Today, the Associated Press reports that "In the past six months, four [sumo]wrestlers have been kicked out of the ancient sport for allegedly smoking marijuana, creating the biggest drugs-in-sports scandal that Japan has ever seen."
Is the whole world going to pot?
Like many jazz musicians, Cab Calloway was no stranger to the Reefer Man.
Anti-pot propaganda from yesteryearwas often tied to racist fears of blacks and Mexicans, in whose communities the use of the weed was more common. Sex was a part of it, too. A puff might result in "drug-crazed abandon," turning a "good" woman into a wanton harlot enslaved to dope, ripe to be sold into "white slavery."
Let's get real. Smoking pot a victimless crime, and according to the scientific research less harmful than alcohol, but it's been lumped with heroin and crack cocaine and other dangerous drugs for so long many people believe it belongs in that deadly category. Of course, others know better. Anyone who has been around isn't startled with the news that someone as successful as Phelps can smoke pot and not be a drooling junkie or lose his mind completely.
The government needs to loosen its grip and allow scientific research to give us the answers--but research is being stifled by our outmoded views, according to the Scientific American. "...Outdated regulations and attitudes thwart legitimate research," say the editors, and the "current restrictions on marijuana research are absurd." (read the rest of the SA article here)
Maybe it's time we looked at the pot laws again. Maybe it's time to examine the evidence with a cool head (no pun intended) like intelligent, scientific people in the modern world.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Washington has launched a multimedia public-education campaign on the country's marijuana laws and their impact on taxpayers, communities and those arrested.
As part of this effort, travel guru Rick Steves hosts this infomercial-style panel discussion produced by the Washington ACLU. Marijuana: It's Time for a Conversation
As you may know, Rick Steves, the travel guru, is an advocate for the legalization of marijuana. A successful businessman, and far from the a-motivational syndrome suffering stereotypical pothead, Steves admits smoking grass when he's in Europe (where the laws are different) and doesn't hide the fact. He works with NORML ( the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws) and speaks openly at Hempfest (coming this weekend in Seattle) .
Meanwhile, TV station executives are tripping over their martinis trying to justify not airing a short infomercial calling for a dialog about pot. What gives?
The ACLU launched the infomercial (hosted by Steves) about the unjust history and legacy of marijuana law, and the show was ready to air on local KING 5 TV, but the station yanked it at the last minute. They say that according to station guidelines, the 30-minute show cannot advocate any legal reform.
Popular travel guru Rick Steves has joined forces with the ACLU to promote the decriminalization of marijuana. Steves, a longtime supporter of a sensible pot policy, admitted five years ago that he smokes pot when he visits Europe. In a Seattle Times article, the Edmunds, Washington-based writer says he's not “pro-marijuana,” but in favor of discussing the laws that affect the 830,000 Americans who are arrested annually under existing marijuana laws. About 90 percent of the arrests are for possession.
“Marijuana use should be treated primarily as a health issue, not a criminal one," Steves said. "In Europe, I've seen how more thoughtful approaches to social issues can really work. Our government's war on drugs sounds very tough and results-driven, but all it really succeeds at is being enormously expensive, tearing families apart and treating nonconformists as criminals."
In a related story from today's LA Times: The American College of Physicians (ACP), 124,000-member group that is the nation's largest for doctors of internal medicine, contends that the rancorous debate over marijuana legalization has obscured good science that has demonstrated the benefits and medicinal promise of cannabis. The ACP is calling on the federal government to ease its strict ban on marijuana as medicine and hasten research into the drug's therapeutic uses.
"We felt the time had come to speak up about this," said Dr. David Dale, a University of Washington medical professor and the ACP's president. "We'd like to clear up the uncertainty and anxiety of patients and physicians over this drug."
The following clip shows Rick Steves interviewed at the 2007 NORML conference in Los Angeles. Ignore the silly song intro. For more Rick Steves at the "Europe Through the Back Door" website, click here.
After years of writing such great guides as "Europe Through the Back Door," and producing great videos for public television, Rick Steves has become a people-to-people diplomat. Lately, he's been lecturing about "Travel as a Political Act." It's no surprise he was just awarded the Citizen Diplomat Award from a huge gathering of the National Council for International Visitors.
