X-Message-Number: 13929 From: "Phillip Labry" <> Subject: Re: CryoNet #13913 - #13924 Date: Tue, 13 Jun 2000 11:07:02 -0400 In New Scientist recently there was an article about developing vaccines for the addictive nature of drugs such as heroin and maybe even nicotine. What this article got me thinking about however is the nature of drug use and how this could change with immortality. If we ever reach the holy grail of cryonics and humanity becomes immortal what would be the drawbacks of taking drugs? If smoking, alcohol and the hard drugs caused no side effects then why not do them? Current users would surely increase consumption. Could immortality create a world of drug-fuelled morons? I was unaware that smoking turned you into a moron? If there are no side effects what would be the problem? Joseph. First, drug use does not mean you are a moron or will become a moron. Second, many drugs like MDMA and marajuana have no long term side effects yet are illegal. Why? Because people enjoy them. That is the simple answer. If a drug were to come out tomorrow that had no adverse side effects but gave you a great high you can rest assured that the U.S. Gov't would ban it and pressure the rest of the world to do the same. Thirdly, since there are currently drugs available that are very safe and most people who use them do so responsibly it does not follow that the availability of safe drug use would entail an increase in usage. Constant recreation at some point becomes boring. It could, I guess. It might just as well create a world of people who do each drug once and call up the resulting brain state at will (actual drugs cost money, y'know), or who don't do them at all and recreate the states from a virtual reality simulation. It also occurs to me that people who don't want to experience their lives may not care to be immortal. Another possibility is that those of us who have things to get accomplished may think that drug fueling may help keep the morons out of our way. Kennita Doing drugs does not mean you do not wish to experience your life. For many it means they want to enhance or experience their life differently for a short period of time. People who believe the current government propaganda usually disregard this point. Since I'm already posting on this topic I should add the following information. I apologize for the length. I feel this information is germain to the topic of cryonics for if we have no freedom left, what is the point in being revived? Will the government even allow it? On Mon, 5 Jun 2000 18:12:44 -0400 (EDT), Libertarian Party Announcements < wrote: Sorry to clutter the list with this but this bill is so offensive I'm hoping everyone on the list, the ones who live in the USA anyway, will write or call their vile congresscritter and tell it to vote no on it. -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- =============================================== URGENT ACTION ITEM! FROM THE LIBERTARIAN PARTY =============================================== Watergate Office Building 2600 Virginia Avenue, NW, Suite 100 Washington DC 20037 Phone: (202) 333-0008 Ext. 222 E-mail: For information about the party: (800) ELECT-US Website: www.LP.org =============================================== June 6 , 2000 =============================================== Anti-Drug Bill Would Allow Secret Searches, Create New Crime: "Illegal Distribution of Information" Immediate action required: Stop the "Methamphetamine Anti- Proliferation Act" now! A bill that has passed the Senate unanimously and is now rapidly moving through the House poses a grave threat to your constitutional rights. This legislation -- HR 2987, also known as the Methamphetamine Anti-Proliferation Act -- would: * Expand the government's power to conduct so-called "sneak-and- peek searches." Police could search your house and not notify you for up to six months. * Make it a federal crime to write about any Internet site that provides drug paraphernalia. * Allow the government to prosecute Americans who teach others how to grow medical marijuana plants. Despite the fact that this legislation is a flagrant assault on your First and Fourth Amendment rights, it sailed through the Senate on November 19 without a single vote against it. Now we need your help urgently to stop HR 2987 before the House approves it as well! HR 2987 is *overdue* for a vote: It was originally scheduled to be considered by the Judiciary Committee before the Memorial Day recess, but that action was postponed. Now that the House has reconvened, a vote could be scheduled any day. (The legislation is also being considered by the House Commerce Committee.) We are asking you to act now to kill this bill before it gets out of committee. This "action item" contains: * Background on HR 2987 and a link to the bill so you can read it for yourself. * The names of the politicians on the two House committees considering this bill, Judiciary and Commerce. * Information on how to contact them and on what to say. BACKGROUND: The Methamphetamine Anti-Proliferation Act was introduced in July, 1999, by Senators Dianne Feinstein, D-CA, and Orrin Hatch, R-UT. On November 19, the bill passed the Senate by "unanimous consent" with no recorded opposition. Hatch and Feinstein claim their bill merely targets labs that produce methamphetamine, a form of speed. But the bill goes far beyond that and gives the federal government sweeping new powers. Specifically: * It would allow federal agents to conduct so-called "sneak and peek" searches without having to notify you for six months -- if ever. Current law requires that, if police want to search your home, they must produce a warrant, and if you're not home, they have to immediately notify you about the search and give you an inventory of confiscated items. But in vague, seemingly innocuous language in the section of HR 2987 entitled "Notice of Issuance," the legislation says that "any notice required" to be given for a search "may be delayed pursuant to the standards, terms, and conditions set forth in section 2705" of federal law. That section, according to legal experts, lets police delay notification for up to 180 days. That means police could conduct a "black bag" job on your house, search through your belongings -- and not even inform you they were there for a full six months. * It would allow federal agents to secretly copy your computer files and financial documents, and even take photographs of your belongings without ever notifying you. How did this happen? Lobbyists for the FBI quietly inserted the word "tangible" before the word "property" in the following sentence of the bill: "Subdivision (d) of such rule, as in effect on this date, is amended by inserting 'tangible' before 'property' each place it occurs." Since copies of your computer's hard drive -- and photographs of your personal belongings -- technically are not "tangible property," FBI and DEA agents would not have to notify you. The "sneak and peek" provision is such a blatant violation of the Fourth Amendment that it even caught the attention of Republican Rep. Bob Barr -- normally a vociferous supporter of the government's War on Drugs. Barr called the underhanded maneuver "typical behavior from the Justice Department and the FBI. That's certainly not the way to conduct business when you're dealing with people's liberties." HR 2987 also attacks your First Amendment freedoms by creating several "communication crimes." It: * Creates a federal felony -- punishable by a 10-year prison term -- called "Illegal distribution of information." Section 421 of the bill says it shall be unlawful to "teach or demonstrate to any person the manufacture of a controlled substance." Lawyers say this provision could be used to prosecute, for example, an individual who told a suffering AIDS or cancer victim how to grow medical marijuana. * Makes it illegal to advertise -- even indirectly -- drug paraphernalia. Section 5 of the bill says it shall be illegal for any "communications facility" to "post, publicize, transmit, publish, link to, broadcast or otherwise advertise" any sort of "drug paraphernalia" or "controlled substances." So, "if you had links on your web site to sites like High Times magazine, you could be threatened with a count of indirect advertising," according to Keith Stroup, executive director of NORML. Thanks to HR 2987, the War on Drugs has become a War on Words! That's why your help is urgently needed. We're asking you to help us kill this unconstitutional, un-American legislation before it gets out of the House. Please take the action below, then forward this item to a friend. WHAT TO DO: Look at the attached list of the members of the two House committees that are considering this bill, Judiciary and Commerce. (Because these two panels are so large -- with a collective total of 90 members -- there's a good chance that your representative is on one of them.) Then take the following action: (1) Call the TOLL FREE number for the Congressional switchboard: (888) 449-3511. Then ask to speak to the office of your representative. If that number is busy, try (202) 225-3121 or (202) 224-3121. The switchboard is open 24 hours, and most congressional offices have voice mail, so please make the call as soon as you get this message. WHAT TO SAY: (1) Identify yourself and let them know you are a voter in their district. Leave your name, address, complete with ZIP code, and phone number. Please be brief, especially if you are leaving a message. (2) Tell them to vote AGAINST the so-called Methamphetamine Anti-Proliferation Act, HR 2987. (If your representative sits on the Judiciary Committee, let them know the bill may come up for a vote within days. If your representative sits on the Commerce Committee, let them know that this bill was referred to their committee last September, and is expected to come up for a vote in June.) Tell them that this bill contains so many attacks on your liberty that it can't possibly be amended or improved, it must be killed immediately! Let them know you are *angry* that Congress has written a bill that would give federal agents the power to sneak into your home. Inform them that you're *appalled* that they're even considering a law that bans the "criminal distribution of information." (3) Ask them to confirm their position on HR 2987, since you'll want to show their letter to all of your friends and relatives -- who are also registered voters in their district. (4) Finally, E-mail this "action item" to a friend, and ask them to call their representative, too, if his or her name is on the list. Thank you for your help! Sincerely, Steve Dasbach National Director Libertarian Party PS: To verify any of the information above, go to http://thomas.loc.gov/ then type in H.R. 2987 in the box that says "search by bill number." Members of the House Judiciary Committee: Alabama Spencer Bachus Arkansas Asa Hutchinson California Howard Berman Mary Bono Elton Gallegly Zoe Lofgren Ed Rogan Maxine Waters Florida Charles Canady Bill McCollum Joe Scarborough Bob Wexler Georgia Bob Barr Illinois Henry Hyde (Chairman) Indiana Ed Pease Louisiana David Vitter Massachusetts William Delahunt Barney Frank Martin Meehan Michigan John Conyers New Jersey Steven Rothman New York Jerrold Nadler Anthony Weiner North Carolina Steve Chabot Howard Coble Melvin Watt Pennsylvania George Gekas South Carolina Lindsey Graham Tennessee William Jenkins Texas Sheila Jackson Lee Lamar Smith Utah Chris Cannon Virginia Rick Boucher Robert Goodlatte Bobby Scott Wisconsin Tammy Baldwin James Sensenbrenner Members of the House Commerce Committee: Arizona John B. Shadegg California Brian P. Bilbray Lois Capps Christopher Cox Anna G. Eshoo James E. Rogan Henry A. Waxman Colorado Diana DeGette Florida Michael Bilirakis Peter Deutsch Cliff Stearns Georgia Nathan Deal Charlie Norwood Illinois Bobby L. Rush John Shimkus Iowa Greg Ganske Kentucky Ed Whitfield Louisiana Billy Tauzin Maryland Robert Ehrlich Albert Wynn Massachusetts Edward J. Markey Michigan John D. Dingell Bart Stupak Fred Upton Minnesota Bill Luther Mississippi Charles Pickering Missouri Roy Blunt Karen McCarthy New Jersey Frank Pallone New Mexico Heather Wilson New York Eliot Engel Vito Fossella Rick Lazio Edolphus Towns North Carolina Richard Burr Ohio Sherrod Brown Paul E. Gillmor Michael G. Oxley Tom Sawyer Ted Strickland Oklahoma Tom A. Coburn Steve Largent Pennsylvania James C. Greenwood Ron Klink Tennessee Ed Bryant Bart Gordon Texas Joe Barton Gene Green Ralph M. Hall Virginia Tom Bliley (Chairman) Rick Boucher Wisconsin Thomas M. Barrett Wyoming Barbara Cubin -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2 iQCVAwUBOTxPi9CSe1KnQG7RAQFAIAP/YzI7r8ZzWkJ/MEEefNvJ20qQd706aiLJ RfuhDKUQBuKoyd5m1fMXoytQVGi+3bsyY5eHZmIPqLMcdhzUQcrIt7l5Ic/o6/45 KFnrgSc9B8YEV36de+gLppEDqZEYy5lIJ/EhGckNY0id/3WNI3OT5Iho/4fsTD0V q70NiCz412Y= =A7nl -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- The Libertarian Party http://www.lp.org/ 2600 Virginia Ave. NW, Suite 100 voice: 202-333-0008 Washington DC 20037 fax: 202-333-0072 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- For subscription changes, please use the WWW form at: http://www.lp.org/action/email.html Alternatively, you may also send a message to < with just the word "subscribe" or "unsubscribe" in the subject line. Phillip Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=13929