Adam Brook Story

INSIDE THOUGHTS by ADAM BROOK

BOY WAS I SCHOCKED to see that Former Police Chief BILL DWYER has come out against the WAR ON DRUGS.   My late father was friendly with “the chief” and used to argue with me saying “if intelligent men like the chief are against the legalization of pot, so am I!!!!”  Now the let down in the realization that “the chief” had come to the dark side for me was that I can’t share it with my father, who NEVER agreed with my politics.  The Chief was quoted as saying “I think you will see in the very near future marijuana legalized here, as it has been in other states” and “I always believed it was a gateway drug to other drugs.  I’m not sure that it is anymore”.  Now to me this is a HUGE kick in the nuts.  He thought it was a gateway drug?  Where did he get that crap from?  I bet he thinks/thought marijuana kills brain cells, REEFER MADNESS crap!!!!  If there is a War on Drugs, then those types of thoughts should be considered war crimes.  As you know if you repeat a lie long enough it will be thought of as truth.  The chief was considered a General in the War on Drugs.  He was considered a local WOD hero.  Now that he has wised up, do his former supporters consider him a ZERO?  I consider him a traitor.  I am sure now that he has left public service he feels comfortable about coming out against the War on Drugs.  I have yet to hear him repent for ALL those people whose lives he ruined by arresting them and sending them to prison?????  FUCK YOU CHIEF!!!!  Personally I think ALL law enforcement officers (all ranks) should be tested every 20-30 days.  If they test positive they should be fired.  YES! Fired. Hypocrisy really PISSES me off and I have decided I will no longer allow it to be part of my life.  I will even admit that I had a good friend for many years (he actually kept me from doing something REALLY REALLY stupid during my break up with my first wife) who was a retired officer and it always bothered me that at one point in his life he was destroying people’s lives by arresting them on drug charges.  He is a stand up guy and while his past really bothered me I have to say I do like him, plus he has since more than made up for his past in my eyes.  Unfortunately Chief Dwyer will probably be getting paid when he gives speeches about how he has come out against the War on Drugs.  Stay tuned, I’ll find out how much he charges.

     I wanted to take up some space this month with a little bit of congratulations to Tim Beck for his win over the City of Detroit.  Only a broke ass city like Detroit would fight as hard as they did against a ballot proposal brought to them by one of its own residents.  I lived in Detroit for many years and my family was in business in Detroit for over 80 years.  All I can say is I am happy I left before this bankrupt steel company owner took over as mayor.  I am looking forward to seeing the proposal pass and the city once again looking like fools for wasting the people money on stupidity.

I also have to applaud Brad Forrester for his letter to the editor of the Lansing State Journal.  As I have stated in this column in the past, those of us who actually use marijuana should be the ones making comment about its effects.

Also kudos go out to the Lansing City Attorney and the Lansing Police Department for saying that “selling pipes and bongs, while undesirable to some, doesn’t violate drug paraphernalia laws because they can be used for legal purposes.”  Brig Smith, the city attorney, was quoted as saying “we see no way to prosecute, as there will almost always be a legally permissible use (e.g. tobacco, medical marijuana) which would prevent successful prosecution.”  I am happy to see that the city attorney gets that medical marijuana is a part of Michigan law, which makes just about ALL smoking devices legal………

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VGIP AUGUST

Vote Green Initiative Project

Ben Horner

I am pleased to confirm that the Committee for a Safer Flint pushed hard and has completed the task of collecting the need signatures to place a dicrim amendment to the City of Flint Charter. The city clerk has confirmed signatures and we are about to discuss the ballot language.  This amendment exempts adults over the age of 19 for position of less then an ounce of marijuana in the city of Flint.  Baring any complications, Flint will join Detroit and the sister motor cities can once again craft a new industry of innovation and prosperity.

Last month the VGIP folks met with the Republican Genesee Senator, David Robertson. The lobbying effort started with discussing the bill in the Michigan Senate that aims to remove glaucoma from the list of qualifying conditions. We explained that the very first federal patient was qualified for glaucoma and that marijuana has a proven track record of helping these patients. He didn’t care and was committed to removing medical marijuana from home cultivation and thought Michiganders would be best served by placing marijuana in the hands of the “professionals.”

He also warned that this was the general consensus of the Michigan House and Senate to remove access to the medical marijuana program based on the theory that Michigan Voters were being tricked into legalizing marijuana.  Senator Robertson also stated that he was impressed with the lobbying efforts put forth by the White Pine Mines and the Subterra Group. “These medicines need to be highly regulated to be effective,” insisted Senator Robertson. “I think people are just going to have to except that the free-for-all is over.”

I am looking forward to the upcoming meeting this month and at the Ann Arbor Conference in August.  We have a free Jazz, Blues Funk Concert at Kearsley Park in Flint. John Sinclair will be back for our August events and he has promised to help the cause one last time as the local campaigns to reduce or remove the penalties for marijuana possession.

The lawmakers in Lansing are on the fence. Tell them not to change the MMMA and to embrace marijuana law reform. The November elections are really going to be very important.

Come out to one of our meeting, get a tee shirt, and make a difference.

Meeting with lawmakers

August 21^st& 22^nd

We need patient testimonies to make a good impression.

Call 810-820-8953 to reserve your seat, space is limited)

Connoisseur Consulting

9046 North Dort Hwy.

Mount Morris, MI 48458

August 2^nd, 7-9pm (political workshop/fundraiser for Eric Gunnels)

Blues, Jazz and Funk Concert

Kearsley Park

·         1700 Kearsley Park Blvd

Flint Michigan

August 11^th3pm-9pm (Flint Promotion with John Sinclair and Friends)

Michigan Medical Marijuana Conference

Clarion Hotel and Conference Center

2900 Jackson ave - Ann Arbor, Michigan

August 17,18,19

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MX CARD

MMMP Registry, Ken Beyer and the MX Card by Ben Horner

When Allegan County Sheriff’s department arrived at eleven in the evening on a quiet July night, Ken Beyer was startled from his work.  He was informed that the officerswere investigating complaints regarding marijuana odorspermeating from Ken’s house. The officers had no warrant and Ken knew that he didn’t have to let them in, but Ken was curious.

See, Ken is the owner of Michigan Testing Authority (MTA), which is a cutting edge medical marijuana testing company, and at the time of the unannounced visit he was knee deep in testing. Coincidentally he was in the process of pioneering a new Medical Certification ID Card, (MX card) to replace the state issued Michigan Medical Marihuana Program ID card. This card focuses on certification forms signed by the Doctor approving patients to the program and a legal affirmative defense, given new grounds by the Supreme Court cases, Kolanek and King.   

Ken invited the officers in. They asked him if he was a grower. Ken explained the testing that he doing and the Wayne State study that his data was being used in. Info from the Znos testing machine is given to Dave Peters, who is the lead researcher on the study. That’s when the officer asked Ken for his medical marijuana card.

Mr. Beyers handed them his new MX card and chuckled as they examined the card. On the MX card was Kens’s picture, address, and a statement from a physician stating his approval to the medical marijuana program in Michigan. After they had scratched their heads toponder over his new card, Ken found his paperwork application and doctorattestation and handed it over to the officers. This document was familiar to them and they quickly acknowledged that Ken was in fact a legal MMJ patient. Ken later admitted that the situation made him nervous.

Michel Komorn from Komorn law, likes the idea. He explains, “These cards can help protect the privacy of patients while at the same time it reinforces the bonafide-patient relationship. This card system will encourage standardization of medical marijuana practice by promoting follow-up care. The data collect will help the doctors better advice their patients to use medicine in appropriate applications. The medical efficacy is the key to using a medical marijuana defense in court as well treating the patients for their specific condition”

As patients become increasingly more concerned about there person medical information being kept private these new cards may be the answer.  Some legislation being considered in Lansing seeks to provide law enforcement with access the state MMMP registry. By privatizing the ID cards will patients be safer? Will this be the end of the state registry program? Only the future can tell for sure. 

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SIMPSON OIL RECIPE

Making Simpson Oil:

15 oz. of medical grade marijuana (preferably strains that are high in CBD)

7 liters Isopropyl alcohol 99% pure (solvent)

10 ml of purified water

2 Large mixing pans/buckets

Mashing stick

Strainer

Cheesecloth

Two rice cookers

Pair of oven mitts

Hot plate (coffeemaker will work)

Heavy gage small stainless saucepan or glassware

Heat tempered Spatula

Oscillating fan

Large syringe (50-100cc)

1. Place marijuana in mixing pan with 4 liters of Isopropyl alcohol and mix with mashing stick for 10 minutes.

2. Using the cheesecloth strain the liquid. Hold the cheesecloth containing the herb and squeeze the liquid out. 

3. Poor the marijuana back into the mixing pan and repeat steps 1 and 2 using the remaining 3 liters of isopropyl alcohol.

4. Combine all of the liquid and restrain it into the rice cookers.

5. Prepare the rice cookers to be turned on. Be sure to cook down outside or with an exhaust system. WARNING! The fumes are EXTREMLEY FLAMMABLE. Make sure there are no open flames, sparks or elements that could ignite the fumes. DO NOT BREATH IN THE FUMES!

6. Turn on the cookers making sure the fan is blowing off the fumes into open air. Combine the liquid into one cooker when the solution is reduced by half.

7. When the last of the solution is down to two inches add the purified water, and continue to cook down.

 8. Using the oven mitts, pick up the cooker and swirl the liquid every few minutes until the cooker clicks to its low warm setting.

9. Transfer the remaining oil into the small stainless steel or glassware saucepan. Place the pan on the hot plate of coffee maker. Continue to let the water evaporate until the oil stops bubbling.

10. Using the syringe draw the oil up out of the pan. When the oil cools it will have the consistency between thick and waxy, to loose and oily. 

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CAN COLORADO DO IT?

Can Colorado Do It

By: Benjamin Horner

Amendment 64 was put together by the by The Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol. Amendment 64 is a 2012 statewide ballot initiative to end marijuana prohibition and regulate marijuana like alcohol in Colorado.  According to the campaign’s website:

*“In summary, Amendment 64, the Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol Act:

·         Makes the personal use, possession, and limited home-growing of marijuana legal for adults 21 years of age and older;

·         Establishes a system in which marijuana is regulated and taxed similarly to alcohol; and

·         Allows for the cultivation, processing, and sale of industrial hemp.

·         In particular, Amendment 64 removes all legal penalties for personal possession of up to one ounce of marijuana and for the home-growing of up to six marijuana plants, similar to the number allowed under current medical marijuana laws, in an enclosed locked space.

The initiative creates legal marijuana establishments – retail stores, cultivation facilities, product manufacturing facilities, and testing facilities – and directs the Department of Revenue to regulate a system of cultivation, production (including infused products), and distribution.  Under the provisions of the measure, the Department will license marijuana establishments at the state level, and should it fail to act, localities will be permitted to issue such licenses.  Localities will have the right to ban marijuana establishments through either their elected representative bodies, or through referred or citizen-initiated ballot measures.

The general assembly will be required to enact an excise tax of up to 15 percent on the wholesale sale of non-medical marijuana applied at the point of transfer from the cultivation facility to a retail store or product manufacturer.  The first $40 million of revenue raised annually will be directed to the Public School Capital Construction Assistance Fund. This new tax must be approved by a majority of voters in a statewide general election in accordance with the Colorado Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR). The general assembly will also be required to enact legislation governing the cultivation, processing, and sale of industrial hemp.

The initiative does not change existing medical marijuana laws for patients, caregivers, or medical marijuana businesses. Medical marijuana will be exempt from the excise tax mentioned above. “*

Mason Tvert is the Co-Director of the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana like Alcohol. He responded to our inquires about the status of the campaign.

Question: How many signatures did it take to get Amendment 64 on the ballot?

Mason Tvert: We ultimately collected about 175,000 signatures to qualify the initiative for the November ballot.

Question: What do you expect to happen during the lead up to the November Election?

Mason Tvert: The campaign is primarily focused on educating voters about the initiative and, more importantly, about marijuana. Our goal is to ensure that as many voters as possible are aware of the fact that marijuana is objectively far less harmful than alcohol, and that regulating marijuana like alcohol would be a far more effective way for Colorado to handle marijuana.

Question: What is your public relations strategy for victory?

Mason Tvert: We are using a variety of tactics, ranging from provocative billboards and paid television ads to online social networking and grassroots canvassing. Our focus is on promoting interpersonal communication, such as conversations and other forms of contact with family, friends, and neighbors. The focal point of this effort is TalkItUpColorado.org, our online action center and clearinghouse for those wanting to get involved.

Question: What do you expect will be your toughest challenges still yet to face?

Mason Tvert: We are up against 80 years of marijuana prohibition scare tactics and misinformation, and we will undoubtedly hear more of it from our opponents. We are going to be aggressive and take it head on, highlighting their support for a system that strips away all control over the sale and production of marijuana, and makes it easier for teens to access it. We will certainly ask why they believe adults should be criminals simply for using a substance less harmful than alcohol, and we will be sure to raise the prospect of generating significant new tax revenue and job growth by regulating marijuana in a similar manner as alcohol.

Question: How can people from outside of Colorado do to help to pass Amendment 64?

Mason Tvert: We are encouraging folks to contact anyone they know in Colorado to ensure they are aware of the initiative, and to ensure they are aware of the facts. We will also be setting up an online phone bank, through which supporters around the nation can contact Colorado voters to have conversations about this issue, provide them with the facts, and encourage them to vote yes on Amendment 64.

In Detroit, Tim Beck has masterminded a real victory.  After over a year of fighting to get the petition to Amend the Detroit City Code, to allow for all adults to be able to possession of up to an once, on the ballot. Per order of the Michigan Supreme Court, a writ of mandamus was issued on June 22^nd by the Wayne County Circuit Court. Judge Michael Sapala, ordered the Detroit Election Commission to place the proposed amendment on the ballot. The question as to whether or not it should be a crime under Detroit City Code to "posses an ounce or less of marijuana on private property by anyone who has attained the age of 21 years." Matt Abel and Tim Knowlton aided in the legal efforts that made it possible. The measure will be on the November ballot. We caught up with Mr. Beck and he gave thoughts from the inside.

Question: How does it feel to finally beat all those who stood up to resist placing the Amendment to the Detroit City Code to except people over the age of 21 to possess up to an ounce of marijuana?

Tim Beck: "It feels wonderful to be vindicated at last. We were very confident of our legal position from day one that is why we were determined to fight this to the end. I guess the City was hoping to wear us out in court and bleed us so badly in legal fees, that we would just give up and they would win by default."

 Question: How many different local campaigns are going on in Michigan currently?

Tim Beck: "There are three other local campaigns now looking to attain ballot status. Flint, Jackson and Ypsilanti. All of them are similar in nature to Detroit, in that they focus one way or another on taking away police motivation to arrest peaceful adult cannabis users, possessing under and ounce of marijuana. These campaigns are now in the signature gathering stage. In addition, Kalamazoo voters will be voting on a charter amendment to authorize the creation of up to three medical cannabis facilities within the City limits."

Question:  How can people help with these local campaigns?

Tim Beck: “Detroit and Kalamazoo are already on the ballot for November. Help is needed in Flint, Ypsilanti and Jackson to complete the signature gathering process. If these measures make the ballot, polling numbers and local political conditions make victory virtually certain in all of these cities. The key is to get them on the ballot. That is the biggest challenge.”

Question:  Are there any lessons to learn from California's Proposition 19?

Tim Beck: The lesson to be learned from Prop. 19, which lost at the polls, is that, unless activists have a minimum 6-8% lead in the polls going into the election, you are highly likely to lose on Election Day. Once the attack ads start, support for your measure does not go up. It goes down. Unless you have a good lead going in, you are wasting your time. Support for Prop 19 was barely above 50% from day one and that was fatal for the measure in the end.

Question: How do you feel about the Colorado's Amendment 64?

Tim Beck:“Prop. 64 has a fighting chance to win. The poll numbers vary from 60-54% in favor of the measure. That is why the effort has gotten serious financing from wealthy individuals and institutions. The Prop 64 campaign team, led by Mason Tvert, have considerable past experience under their belt running ballot initiatives. They are seasoned, sophisticated players and are veterans of at least a half dozen initiative campaigns over the years. The wording of the measure was also carefully crafted to make the proposal as palatable to the public as possible--- anticipating all likely political attacks which will come its way.”

*1 http://www.regulatemarijuana.org/about

 

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Inside Thoughts July by Adam Brook

This month there a few things I want to cover in this column. BAD NEWSPAPER HEADLINES, SMOKERS BEHAVIOR IN PUBLIC, and DO PRO-POT PEOPLE WANT POT LEGALIZED?

I decided a few months ago to start getting the Lansing State Journal, as it covers the goings on of the Legislature better than the Jackson paper. While the LSJ is nowhere near the quality of say a Detroit Free Press or News, they regularly re-run stories from both of those papers. Every once in a while they have a local story that catches my eye. Their coverage of the current “K2”epidemic has enraged me to the point of a letter to the editor. They ran a story with the headline “City urges action against SYNTHETIC MARIJUANA”. Now I have been watching the BATH SALTS K2 products since they hit the market years ago. PERSONALLY I am all for better living through chemistry, If we know the chemist. Of course one has to assume that any chemist who is looking for retail sales is going to produce a clean and safe (if used properly) product. Now of course there are unscrupulous people who would take advantage of the naiveté of people looking to  catch a buzz, but if you are looking for mass distribution your product will be safe (again if used properly). What upsets me is the attempt to connect this to MARIJUANA. Every article I have read says the side effects can include rapid heart rate, vomiting, agitation, seizures, paranoia, loss of physical control, and hallucinations. Now I have smoked copious amounts of marijuana both here and in Amsterdam, and while paranoia and rapid heart rate might be the only thing in common, I am sure you can suffer from both of those by watching the latest R rated horror flick. To me this is more REEFER MADNESS. Now instead of claiming that smoking marijuana will cause “black men to rape white woman” they claim that smoking an herb sprayed with a chemical is akin to smoking pot. The editors of these newspapers have to hear from US that these products are nothing like marijuana. It has to come from those of us who know what we speak of as we are users of marijuana. If they were trying to ban alcohol I would bet an ounce of weed, that politicians would be getting up, one after another, and admitting that THEY use alcohol ( responsibly ) end all the evil being spread was untrue. Of course we all know that alcohol is such a moneymaker they will never try to ban it again, no matter how many lives it ruins.

I also want to comment on some behaviors that I have noticed seem to be used against us in the court of public opinion. Twice on national TV news and even on a Mi internet talk list (that my wife prints out and sends me) smoking in public places has been mentioned as an issue. While talking about possession a civil infraction, in New York City, punishable by a $100 ticket, a preacher from Los Angeles says that with the change in CA marijuana law, everywhere you go you smell burning weed. He said it’s openly smoked in parks, on the street and even restaurants. Now I don’t really believe what he says but I am sure there are people who heard him who do. A reporter from NYC said that currently people openly smoke in the parks and clubs. Now I have been there and while I know it happens in some clubs, you have to look hard to find someone in a park smoking as you are likely to get arrested if a cop sees you. Now I do think if they made it a civil infraction, like Ann Arbor, there are many of us who would risk a ticket (even a $100 one) but would never risk arrest. Even in Amsterdam, smoking in public is frowned upon. Only the tourists do it.

I think some people get spoiled by events like Ann Arbors HASH BASH. Which in MY opinion has been and always will be a SMOKE-IN.? Yes, many of us will get together and puff on the Diag and then out in front of Dominick’s, but we know we are breaking the law. We do it in protest. When we rent out a building for an event, even if that event is open to the public, we are on private property.  There we get to make the rules (with permission of the property owner). Now hotels are a little different. When you rent a room you generally can do anything within the law inside. However if a hotel gets a complaint about people smoking pot in a room they generally will respond. For that reason, for many years now, I travel with an ozone generator. I have never had a problem. The fact that we may have a medical card may NOT keep you from getting kicked out.

Do POT PEOPLE want to legalize pot? That is an interesting question. We know that there are over 130,000 medical marijuana card holders.

We also know that to get a question on the ballot it takes just over 420,000 good signatures. To me it’s simple math. Each card holder gets 4 signatures. Now we know that many medical patients are not able to go out and get signatures, which means that the rest of us would have to pick up the slack. Unfortunately the one thing I do know, which has nothing to do with marijuana, is that volunteer ballot proposals DON’T GET ON THE BALLOT! If my memory serves me right, the Headly Amendment was the last one to do it.

As a parting shot I would like to suggest that you all read David Maraniss’ newest book “Barack Obama: The Story”. I have read a few sections that my wife sent me that were available online. All about Barack Obama being a pothead while growing up in Hawaii. Imagine that, a president who smoked pot. OK, so maybe it’s about more than him being a pothead, but that got me interested in reading it…

Peace and smoke one for me

Adam Brook

816462

Parnell

Jackson, MI

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Free The Weed 16 by John Sinclair

FREE THE WEED 16

A Column by John Sinclair

Highest greetings from London, where I’m resting up from my little tour of Ireland, Scotland and the UK with Mr. Nice called Breathin’ Air with Howard

Marks & John Sinclair and smoking some tasty locally-grown medicine while I’m here. I intend to be back in Amsterdam by the time you read these words and cashing in my new Dutch prescription for 10 days worth of cannabis at a gram a day, as well as enjoying recreational marijuana over the counter at the 420 Cafe.

I’ll pick up my eye-witness coverage of the attempted adulteration of the Dutch coffeeshop culture in my next column, but this week the good news is all coming from the States, where a new Angus Reid Public opinion poll reveals that fully two-thirds of American adults believe that the drug war is failing and a majority says that marijuana ought to be legalized.

According to the poll, only 10 percent of respondents believe that the so-called “War on Drugs” has been successful, while 66 percent deem it a "failure." Pollsters also found that 52 percent of Americans support the legalization of marijuana, versus 44 percent opposed. This is the fourth consecutive survey conducted by Angus Reid to report majority support among Americans for legalizing marijuana.

I’m not clinging to a lot of hope for the success of the 2012 Michigan Marijuana Initiative because of the severe underfunding of the effort, but there’s very encouraging news from several other fronts in the U.S.A.

In Colorado a recent Rasmussen Reports poll of likely state voters found that 61 percent favor legalizing and regulating marijuana like alcohol, while only 27 percent opposed the concept. This bodes well for the chances of the passage in November of Amendment 64, the ballot initiative aimed at eliminating civil and criminal penalties for the limited possession and cultivation of cannabis and regulating the commercial production and distribution of marijuana by licensed retailers.

Widespread support for Amendment 64 includes NORML, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Colorado, SAFER, Sensible Colorado, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP), the Drug Policy Alliance, and the Marijuana Policy Project.

And finally moving from the voters’ initiative route to legislative action on

medical marijuana, on June 1st Connecticut became the 17th state since 1996 to legalize the limited use of cannabis for therapeutic purposes, and New Hampshire lawmakers have sent Senate Bill 409, which allows for the personal possession, cultivation, and use of cannabis for therapeutic purposes, to Governor John Lynch for his signature.

Governor Lynch, a Democrat, has opposed SB 409—passed by more than two-thirds of House members—and previously vetoed similar legislation in 2009. The 13 to 9  Senate vote in favor is two votes shy of the necessary two-thirds majority necessary to override the governor’s expected veto this time.

Republican Senator Jim Forsythe, the bill's prime sponsor, said that he would continue lobbying to gain the two additional votes to insure an override of the anticipated veto. "Most senators now agree we have a moral obligation to protect seriously ill patients from being arrested in our state," he said. Amen to that!

The news from the federal front, however, is not at all encouraging, as Tara Culp-Ressler from Think Progress summarizes: Justice Department Targets Medical Marijuana Despite Increasing Support For Legalization. Despite the fact that medical marijuana may be legal in up to 24 states and the District of Columbia by the end of this year, the Department of Justice (DOJ) continues to crack down on medical marijuana on the federal level.

Federal prosecutors have been pressuring the landlords of medical marijuana shops in California to either shut down their shops or risk losing their property under a civil statute originally designed to allow the government to seize drug-trafficking organizations’ assets.

The Obama administration has continued to restrict medical marijuana despite the fact that 3/4 of the American public believes the federal government should back off enforcement against medical marijuana in states where the drug is legalized.

What is with our president? Last month a new biography drew a vivid portrait of young Barry Obama as a wigged-out college pothead sometimes known as The Interceptor for his practice of jumping his place in the toking order and seizing the joint in progress prior to appointed turn.

As a candidate for president in 2008 Obama promised to leave state-approved medical marijuana alone, but since taking office his so-called Department of Justice has continued and extended the insane anti-marijuana policies of the Bush administration.

For example, as Angela Lee reports in AlterNet, the number of drug offenders in prison and jail, or on probation and parole, continues to skyrocket. During 2009, the first year of the present administration, almost 337,500 people were incarcerated for drugs in the United States, nearly twice as many as the 179,070 being held in 1990—only 20 years

earlier.

Even more alarming is the number of drug offenders in federal prisons, which has exploded from 30,470 in 1990 to almost 100,000 in 2009. (In 1980, there were only 4,900 prisoners housed in federal facilities for "drug" offenses, less than 5% of the present number.) The conviction of "drugs" means that possession or sales of an illegal drug was the person's most serious offense, even if he or she were convicted of multiple offenses.

Ms. Lee points out that this analysis omits counts for "drug" offenders in local jails, even though these facilities housed an estimated 767,434 inmates in 2009.

Anthony Gregory, a research assistant at The Independent Institute, wrote an impassioned plea in the Huffington Post for an end to this madness, arguing that “The entire drug war is a monstrosity, a crime against the Bill of Rights, the greatest contributor to gang violence, a wholesale attack on our civil liberties and the right of individuals to control their own bodies.

“Characterizing drug problems as a criminal justice issue has been an unmitigated failure, except for serving law-enforcement special interests, growing the bureaucracy, and deepening the pockets of drug kingpins who profit off this madness…. No result of legal cannabis could be as bad as what we have now.

“Since October 2009, the Obama administration has executed over 170 SWAT raids of dispensaries. But right now, 3/4 of Americans—including 2/3 of Republicans—want these federal raids against state-legalized medical marijuana dispensaries to end.

“If ever there was an issue where a president was out of touch with the American people, especially with those in his own party, the war on marijuana is it.

“The war on pot is hypocritical and immoral. It needs to end. Unfortunately, the prison and police lobbies want to keep this calamitous crusade going, because the war on pot is a lynchpin for the rest of the drug war. The DEA and Drug Czar require marijuana to be included in their data on illicit substances, which they use to make the drug problem appear as big as possible.”

Gregory concludes with a serious challenge to all of us: “If the American people want to end the misery of the war on pot, it will take more than a casual opposition to the laws. We must rally against the entire prohibitionist mindset and the cult of absolute power.”

—London

June 17-18, 2012

© 2012 John Sinclair. All Rights Reserved.

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