(Huffington Post) A group of civilly-disobedient hemp farmers and business leaders were arrested Tuesday morning while digging up the lawn to plant industrial hemp seeds at the headquarters of the Drug Enforcement Administration.
David Bronner, the president of Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps, a more than 60-year-old company that does tens of millions of dollars of business annually, was among those arrested.
Bronner buys the hemp used in his soaps from Canadian farmers. He was arrested outside the DEA museum, which shares space with the headquarters.
“Our kids are going to come to this museum and say, ‘My God. Your generation was crazy. What the hell is wrong with you people?'” he said as Arlington County Police handcuffed him and walked him to a waiting car.
Wayne Hauge and Will Allen, farmers from North Dakota and Vermont respectively, brought shovels and seeds to the protest, where they were joined by representatives of Vote Hemp, which advocates for federal legislation that would allow states to craft their own hemp policies.
Currently [eight nine] states — Hawaii, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Montana, North Dakota, [Oregon,] Vermont, and West Virginia — allow industrial hemp production or research, but federal law, which requires nearly-impossible-to-obtain-permits to grow hemp, trumps those state laws. A bill introduced by Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) and Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) would allow states to craft their own policies.
Of all the insanities in the War on (Certain American Citizens Using Non-Pharmaceutical, Non-Alcoholic, Tobacco-Free) Drugs, the ban on industrial hemp is the looniest. We have the Drug Enforcement Administration enforcing a ban on something that is not a drug! They’ll tell you that by strict interpretation of the law, hemp does contain THC, so it has to be banned, even though the THC contained in hemp is so minute that you could literally burn a field of the stuff and not catch the slightest of buzzes.
They’ll tell you that if hemp were legal, growers of illicit high-THC pot would hide their crops in-between the rows of hemp. Any farmer can tell you that what you’d get is cross-pollination; the hemp would ruin the high of the pot and the pot would ruin the strength of the hemp.
Then they’ll tell you that if hemp were legal, law enforcement would be burdened trying to determine which fields were hemp and which were pot. This doesn’t seem to be a problem for the police in China, Australia, Canada, or most of Europe, however, as they seem to be able to tell the difference between a tall, reedy hemp plant and a short bushy pot plant without much difficulty. Maybe our American cops are just too stupid to handle basic botany.
The ban on hemp remains for two reasons. One is to protect the entrenched business interests that would stand to lose market share to legal hemp crops. Hemp can produce anything you can make from a tree or a barrel of oil, and do it cheaper, make it better, and cause less environmental damage along the way. Hemp paper resists oxidation far better than wood paper. Hemp pressboards are as strong as steel and save our forests. Hemp seed oil has the highest energy value of any seed oil crop – all current diesel engines can run on hempseed oil with no modifications required. Hemp seed is one of nature’s highest protein foods and a source of important anti-oxidants. Hemp cloth is impervious to mildew, repels water, and holds heat better, and requires no pesticides. Can you begin to imagine all the companies that would lose money if forced to compete fairly with hemp?
And the second reason is psychological. If hemp is legal, cannabis is just a plant. It’s a subtle thing, but under the current framework, the government can tell us cannabis is an evil drug. But if hemp is legal, then sometimes cannabis is an evil drug and sometimes it is just a plant. Once cannabis is sometimes just a plant, it is harder to scare people into thinking it can be evil.
We are approaching the 400th anniversary of the first colonial hemp plantations in North America. Hemp is our American heritage – this country exists because of hemp and our entire history is infused with its cultivation and use. The forces that combined to ban hemp in the 20th Century have stolen our very birthright and declared nature itself to be illegal.
Russ, this is one of your best pieces yet. Keep up the good work! We should be celebrating hemp at this very moment for everything it does for us!
Dear God! They went it alone, people! They went it alone and were arrested!
We must all be that brave! To march up to the DEA headquarters and take them on directly was very heroic!
But, we should increase our numbers! We should be at the level of Gandhi’s “March to the Sea” to cultivate “illegal” salt from the Indian Ocean.
We, friends, can join in a “March to the Seed”. A civil act to plant a seed, regardless of whether it will grow – why? To provoke a response from our federal government!!!
We, as these brave soldiers should have, should tell everyone before we march. The press, our friends, our family, and our government. Tell them our intentions, and gather peacefully to make good on our promise! No surprises, only the revelation of a national injustice!
NORML, will you help us?!
think its time to shed a little blood for lady liberty… Its time to start forcing our views onto society. By pen or sword!!!!!
[Editor’s note: Um…no. Please don’t make posts to NORML’s blog that encourage violence…The pace of cannabis law reform is not satisfactory for most cannabis consumers and law reform supporters, but violence born of frustration will not advance the cause for ending cannabis prohibition.]
Unbelievable. I’m shocked at the moxie of these brave and couragous patriots. The world needs more people and events like this.
Once again I am asking NORML to find out if Obama’s decision to not waste federal tax dollars on raiding medical marijuana dispenseries in states where it is legal also applies to hemp farms in states where hemp farming is legal.
More importantly I want to know Obama’s policy on hemp farming by Native Americans on sovereign land.
I posted this question on Obama’s website change.gov but we all know how that farce worked out.
I think a challenge by Native Americans now that Obama is in office might yield more successful results than what Alex White Plume experienced under Bush.
I think NORML is one of the few organizations that could get the ball rolling on this idea but they seem to have little interest in the hemp issue.
[Editor’s note: Since the late 1990s there are hemp-specific law reform organizations (i.e. Votehemp, HIA, NAIHC, etc…) that regularly ask ‘legalization’ and ‘medical’ organizations to NOT get steeply involved in hemp lobbying, which groups like NORML, DPA, ASA, SSDP, etc…have largely obliged in deference to their reform strategies and hard work.
Today’s well-conceived protest today in support of American farmers to cultivate industrial hemp by David Bronner, et al deserves uber-kudos for what will be an interesting p.r. and legal battle with the DEA. An Obama DEA/DOJ….Stay tuned!]
Does Presidnet Obama cares?
Shawn: no. no blood. don’t post anything like that again.
AP: yes. we should all be doing things like this. planting a seed is not a crime.
Thank you for that info.I didn’t know VoteHemp wanted you to stay out of it.I get the VoteHemp newsletter and have written them about the Native American issue but never got a response.I think I understand their reason for not wanting to be connected with the marijuana issue but we do have to stick together.
Thanks NORML for all you do!
How many of us out on planet earth have thought these words, “Our kids are going to come to this museum and say, ‘My God. Your generation was crazy. What the hell is wrong with you people?’”, We said this to ourselves or others over these long years of crazy insane unjust behavior of our employees. What will our child think when they get left with it’s mess?
The fact that the government just outlawed the hemp farmers in America, never took the moment to ask them represents how the Constructive Fraud upon the poeple has caused a public harmed and is damaging to the health and welfare of the Nation. Arresting these folks clearly violates the equal protection right secure in the people.
We must wake up the government just like these folks who were arrested, let this crazy shit thrown into the light.
Where isour president in this issue? He could save billions of dollars just with the stroke of a pen. Why is he not moving to save our national resources and return the hemp farming industry rights. Allow doctors unrestricted of cannabis for traditional medicine. Allow the make of the holy oil for those requesting it in order to practice their belief system. We all know the listed goes on, so where is this President who is going to bring ethic and justice back to the nation?
“They’ll tell you that by strict interpretation of the law, hemp does contain THC, so it has to be banned”
What about Marinol? Oh, thats right…. big pharma says marinol is ok so its fine.
Cops are too stupid, in my state you can get arrested for “look-alike” substances ie. oregano, salvia.
“Maybe our American cops are just too stupid to handle basic botany.” HAHAHAH! That’s brilliant! And sooooo true.
The stupid, hypocritical, self-serving cowards of the D.E.A. and their ilk could give a shit about truth, justice and the Constitution of the United States. They will continue to inflict their insanity on this nation until enough true American patriots demonstrate the inclination and will to end this reigh of counter-productive terror. Not cultivating hemp in this country is the very essence of the meaning of the word stupid.
i have to say this is one of the most brilliant pieces i have read in a while… thanks again!
Don´t get me wrong I love to smoke herb, but the hemp issue in my opinion is by far the most important. We could literally save the plant from fossil fuels, and grow a plant that we could make just about anything from ending our need to import lots of things(ie helping the American economy instead of China´s). Read ¨The Emperor Wears No Clothes¨ by Jack Herer(stay strong and keep fighting Jack!!!) if you have not, if you have read the book or when you finish reading it give the book to a friend or family member and tell them to do the same. Keep talking about the book to everybody! Let´s save the world literally with a plant we all love! Great writing Russ, loving the stash and norml show live!
A very well written piece. And yes EVERY cop even the very few good ones are all sadly dumb. You can see it in their slack-jawed faces. Lolol and what HUGE balls to plant hemp at the freakin DEA hq!
Well , if somebody was digging my yard up I’d want them arrested , too .
Wow # 13 Jon………….that’s incredible !
They can arrest you for anything . They’ll find some reason to arrest you if they want you out of society . Look at , Marc Emery ….tens or even hundreds selling cannabis seeds & they never get arrested . Marc Emery was outspoken / pro marijuana & he gets arrested . It doesn’t take a Rocket Scientist to figure that one out .
“Our kids are going to come to this museum and say, ‘My God. Your generation was crazy. What the hell is wrong with you people?’” Sorry to repeat what the doctor said but it is what we who are educated have thought all long. Our children have witnessed liberty under these condition described correctly above. It has been crazy, unjust, the law puts the general public at harm. It violates the mind and will of the people. It is based on a set of lies, O! yes, I want my children to think freely, learn creative, but restrict themselves to the guidance and educational constructs of the those who are supporting this grand Constructive Fraud which has injuried millions of our beloved nation’s people.
This Scam is bigger than Watergate yet no media coverage, No 360, No investigative reporting about such a grand scaled fraud that has destroyed millions of lives it swore to protect.
Did anyone think t bond these folks out of jail. Then give the folks a metal for attempting to plant seeds in the face of our wayward government.
May the Nation of cannabis users follow his example and seed American Government Property! Forthy million people throwing a handful of seeds here and there in the face of this wayward government will expose this Constructive Fraud and the Media will not be able to suppress this movement, they will not be able to ignor this Sub-Culture any longer.
Great move doc, sorry I wasn’t there to be arrested with you folks. I promise to continue to throw my seeds where they will be seen.
We wouldn’t be such a strong nation today if not for Hemp!
Gary Indiana can’t get rid of it! They have cops patrolling the fields in order to kill baby plants and they have been doing so for over 30 years! might as well use it instead of killing it and burning it creating massive carbon monoxide to be in the air.. Try breathing that in! Gary Indiana smells like Hemp almost everyday, and the fields are so nutrient rich that u can’t kill the hemp that was grown for world war 2!
Fuck you American corporate bastards who fatten their wallets by destroying the environment.. fuck you.
“The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions, that I wish it to be always kept alive. It will often be exercised when wrong, but better so than not to be exercised at all. I like a little rebellion now and then.” – Thomas Jefferson
Nature is not illegal.. what is wrong with American hemp activism? you guys are insane- whether from huffiing bud or spite of it- you are old and redundant and boring and never achieve anything in 70 years of fighting the man- this time with matching chromed shovels on the DEA front lawn..sowing hemp seed in October-Duh- what did you expect it to grow into over the winter ?? – a Christmas tree??
Duh you hippy retards
try making a rail road tie from hemp..or a 2 X 4 = or a pencil–FAIL
[Russ responds: do a little research next time. Railroad ties, 2x4s, pencils (other than the graphite)… all possible from hemp.
http://www.ukcia.org/research/BuildingTowardTheFutureWithHemp.htm
http://www.ratical.org/renewables/plywood.html]
PS – the guy who got busted swinging a shovel of the front lawn of satan was DAVID BRONNER– not > DR Bronner..
” Dr ” Bronner was the forward thinking inventor of the wonderful natural soaps that Grandson DAVID Bronner now makes with hemp oil.. DAVID Bronner is the only one of the bunch with a sincere career in job – the rest are almost hemp farmners, & almost famous hemp activists .. almost something something etc.. but all under arrest ..
Say hello to Marc Emery when you see him in the exercise yard
[Russ responds: Thanks for the correction.]
can’t take a few truths huh ??
> so somebody at the NORMAL HQ hits the delete button..
have a nice day everybody
[Russ responds: Truths are fine with us. But all new posts are moderated and may not show up immediately or even soon after you post them.]
RR ties possible from hemp?? get real there hippy office staff
it would take a 50% binder to hold the chips together, a binder made from petroleum.. and then compress them in a huge hydraulic press – you could never keep up VS a saw mill knocking off precision cut logs..
hemp composite wood products are way heavier than tree cut virgin wood..and only a fraction as strong as tree wood- a hemp RR tie would be one huge presto fireplace log laying under two steel rails.. swelling up after a rain and bursting into sawdust = FAIL
how about sharpening a hemp composite pencil? you’d need a lathe.. Maybe forget pasting links to fantasy explanation and start thinking rationally – & for yourself
” Do a little research next time ? ”
excuse me your Googleness
how about getting some real life experience ?
I suggest the DEA get their shovels ready because people have been and will continue to plant seeds.
BTW Russ-
Canada has already crossed the 400 years of hemp threshold,,The first hemp sown in North America was in New France 1608 – Did you know that Canada has had fully commercial legal hemp for over a decade now?
Canada has a much more suitable climate and industrial /agricultural infrastructure >in place to grow & process hemp than the USA ever had, has now or ever will… they grow hemp by the tens of thousands of acres every year at a fraction of the cost the US ever could, And its a better fiber & seed product from growing so far north on fresh moist soil during such – looooong summer days
Chromed shovels- forward to hemp for victory !! – just as soon as the DEA gives them back from the evidence locker
Aspirin. For you who don’t know it comes from the Willow tree. Surprising, I would have thought it would be illegal to. Quite some time ago we started banging our heads against a seemingly solid concrete wall, well even concrete breaks. The thirteen states with legal medical cannabis, and decriminalized cannabis are some very big cracks. The Berlin Wall came down, this one will fall to.
Yes Russ, in complete agreement.
But I have a heavy heart and today am very sad that cannabis is illegal. We are seriously considering moving to the Netherlands.
Everyone start purchasing Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps too.
hey everyone. Heres an Idea. Next time there is a protest such as David Bronners, we need to join them. Yes many thousands(if not million)standing side by side planting seeds.
Now these are the kind of people that deserve a Nobel peace prize.
I agree with the first poster, David. It was a very thoughtful article.
I’ve noticed some folks on this forum and on Paul’s recent piece regarding law enforcement’s opposition to cannabis reform on Opposing Views who are very critical of NORML. They’re not being critical because they disagree with some or all of your goals. They’re more critical of some apparently imagined lack of progress.
I’m sure this is nothing new. I’m sure NORML has taken some shots, because I know you’ve fired some. As far as firing shots go, I commend you on your very peaceful, pro-law approach. While Smokey Stover makes the point that a relatively small amount of progress has been made over the years, I note that things ARE progressing… and you know what? It’s better than nothing. I mean, now that its ok to openly advocate for legalization again, suddenly everybody is impatiently saying, “what’s taking so long?” and “get out of the way!” I haven’t experienced those criticisms before. It sounds a bit like a divide and conquer thing, but that’s just me being paranoid, right?
I can’t decide if its some mass phsychological phenomenon or if its an organized effort. Maybe its both? Anyways, as I said before, well written piece, Russ. IMHO you struck just the right tone of righteous indignation coupled with American patriotism.
so how do we get the governement to shit or get off the pot. They make marinol but say thc isnt a medicine. SO WHICH IS IT?! They cant have it both ways under current law.
” Dr ” Bronner was the forward thinking inventor of the wonderful natural soaps that Grandson DAVID Bronner now makes with hemp oil.. DAVID Bronner is the only one of the bunch with a sincere career in job – the rest are almost hemp farmners, & almost famous hemp activists .. almost something something etc.. but all under arrest ..
Can’t see the forrest for the “smoke”, please don’t tell me he’s a happy member! FYI, although David Bronner is and has been a true hero in my book for many years, he is not the only person in the group to have a full time, productive job. Judgement of your fellow man is a weakness of spirit that, in my opinion keeps people like David, Steve, Wayne, Adam, Alex Whiteplume, Jack Herer, the list goes on and on, from cementing the bond we need to reach our goals. We gain momentum, then “smokey” clouds the issue and the responses stop along with the momentum. I might also add that none of these men are working for personal recognition, don’t care if they’re famous, and do this work from their hearts and pockets and have done so for at least the past fifteen years and more. I’m proud of them all and owe them a profound debt of gratitude. You go guys:)
*sigh*….some Stovers will never come to terms that he has been backing the WRONG side all his life. Can I order this soap by mail/online??? Sounds like a business I’d like to support.
gee smokey, seems you have a thorn way up in your ass.wow i guess someone may have made a mistake.ah suppose you have never done that.come on dude, these people at norml are doing something good but it requires a collective effort from us all.maybe if they had some more funds to work with, or waiting for opportunity to make a difference.lighten up dude.you need to hit the bowl once or twice….
Smokey Stover you are one ignorant bastard. It goes beyond cannabis into just plain freedom. And i kno violence is shunned on this site, if i ever come across a smokey stover braggin about bein a dick on the norml comments area…. or hatin on weed period im gona beat his fucking head in. Than YOU have a good day.. dick.
I’ve used Bronner’s soap and shampoo for years. A great soap, and nice scents. Support this company that supports hemp.
i just mix my seeds in wild life feeders so there is a lot of bush weed in DC
Hey Smokey
Hey Smokey, I suppose you never heard of a demonstration. Belittle people if you must, it appears that makes you happy, and ridicule things you don’t understand. It was never their intention to plant the hemp seeds and have them grow. The entire thing was to bring media attention to the ridiculous policy concerning hemp prohibition. Without the enormous backing of most politcal lobbyists, grand gestures are all most people have.
The laws against industrial hemp are even more senseless than cannabis prohibition. Even second graders in Nebraska know the difference between ditch weed ( wild hemp left over after WWII)and the good stuff growing in the neighbors back yard (they always manage to snitch a little while checking it out). If law enforcement can’t tell the difference then I guess they are not as wise as a 2nd grader.
SHAWN, STFU !!!
When Shamwell does a demonstration,
they manage to mop up all the water
media attention?? maybe- but that stunt set US hemp farming back ten years- its called NON COMPLIANCE – who issues cannabis permits?? the people who’s lawn they messed up//the DEA– they did a demonstration and you didn’t seem to care for that one too much.. it was called enforce the laws they are charged to enforce.. so how did 6 hippies getting arrested fit in to the wider media attention plan? that sounds more like _desperation for attention..
anyway– nice shovels– your HIA dues at work
& maybe i do understand,, maybe thats why you are so annoyed and as for violent hippies? who cares? go smoke your worries away – again
you weepy hippy flakes are real sad sacks..no wonder hemp is illegal in America -YOU don;t know the difference between credible and fanciful.
— spark up for freedom- stay out of traffic and enjoy your pizza
Fantabulous article.
To think you could take a container of hempseed oil, fill your tank with it, and then finish it off by bringing it to your mouth and drinking the last of it is astounding!
It would be very unwise to fill your fuel tank and then take a swig from the hemp oil can.. as hemp oil, first has to be processed with strong non organic alkaline chemicals to precipitate the pectins before it can be burned in a diesal engine, No engine could burn cold pressed food grade hemp oil for long before it would gum up and seize up and die . — Seed oil, even old french fry grease has to be chemically altered first.
Maybe let that woodstockian fantasy slide before you start drinking motor fuel, of any kind- unless, of course, you get off on chugging vegetable oil out of the jug..
Incredible article!! Someone in the Gov. needs to answer for this mess. NOW!
Hey Smokey,
News flash: you whine more than all the hippies put together, you ignorant douche.
The most ironic part of your blatantly antagonistic attitude, Stoney, is that you don’t even have your facts right. The gentlemen that were arrested were not arrested for non-compliance and did not set the hemp movement back 10 years. If you had bothered to actually read the body of the article, and not just skim it, you would know that they “planted” roasted crushed hemp seeds that were purchased for consumption. How on earth, or any place in the universe for that matter, would a seed that has been cooked and crushed for consumption be able to grow through the winter, as you said, or any other season?
The entire proceeding was to draw attention the insanity that hemp is still bundled with marijuana. Continue to spew your vitriolic hate. One day the cosmic scales will balance and antagonistic mealy mouthed prohibitionists will either see the “light” or be washed away in the inundation of caring about people’s basic human right for choice .
Teach Jury Nullification to any and all who may one day sit on a jury. Fastest way to change the situation is simple, Jury Nullification, if we don’t convict our peers of this unjust cannabis law the government can do nothing about it.
Don’t forget to plant your seeds.
I don’t see anywhere in the body of the article above anything about the patriots planting ” roasted hemp seed snacks” as you claim ..The article above states that they were QUOTE ” digging up the lawn to plant industrial hemp seeds at the headquarters of the Drug Enforcement Administration.” I didn’t see any recipies attached
Industrial hemp seeds, unless specified as non viable are, by default VIABLE.. aka germanatable ..
suggestion: before you accuse people of skimming, maybe become familiar with the passages you claim to have superior insight into. Messing up something like that is not” ironic ” , it’s ” moronic ”
As long as hemp is a botanical aspect of Cannabis sativa L – & like marijuana. hemp is and will will remain a controlled substance, under the direct supervision of the DEA.. thats why the officer who first approached the patriots asked ” DO YOU HAVE A PERMIT? ” and he wasn;t refering to a landscaping certificate
Thanks to hemp watchers such as what you demonstrated here I upgrade the POd’ six packers with chrome shovels setting the hemp movement back… 11 years.
Hemp Farmers Arrested Planting Hemp at DEA Headquarters
Twenty million Americans have been deprived of their liberty and property for violating the marijuana laws.
Criminal laws affect individual rights.
Marijuana is property. The right to acquire and possess property is a fundamental right.It is stated and probably in every state constitution.
Liberty is a fundamental right. A full custodial arrest is a severe intrusion on an individual’s liberty.
“‘Where there is a significant encroachment upon personal liberty, the State may prevail only upon showing a subordinating interest which is compelling.’” Griswold v. Connecticut, 381 U.S. 479, 497, 85 S. Ct. 1678 (1965); Bates v. Little Rock, 361 U.S. 516, 524, 80 S. Ct. 412,417 (1960); Roe v Wade, 410 U.S. 113, 155, 93 S.Ct 705, 35 (1973); Ravin v. State of Alaska, 537 P. 2d 494, 497 (1975).
So why are marijuana laws reviewed by rational review by the judiciary?
So this incident is posted on youtube- so what- ?
maybe a million hippies were impressed
but the DEA were not impressed.
thats the cultural followup to civil disobedience?
counting hits to yesterdays news on Youtube?
thats all the mighty stoner army can do is tune in & turn on ?
a million strong puffed up self glory projections who just want to watch others perform pointless symbolic actions on TV
from the sidelines, bong in hand. the only real part was the handcuffs – just to be charged with the epoch of freedom defining radical social act of….. trespassing..
unauthorized corporate landscaping..
Che Guevera Lawn Services
good one eco geniuses..I can hear the ripple of old glory waving defiance in the winds of change from here
whew! No wonder the US government won’t answer your emails..
because the great American
420 resistance movement
is just so many squirrels
scampering across the roof.
That lame stunt pushed the hemp legalization back > 12 years
35 R.O.E.
1 to 3
SHIT OR GET OFF THE POT.
Reschedule from 1 to 3. I have said in the past that this would make a great T-shirt.
1 to 3
SHIT OR
GET OFF
THE POT
Manfor Mantis
@ Smokey Stover, you’re obviously very intelligent and passionate about this issue. Tell us, what can we do to strengthen our cause?
I personally do not consume cannabis because 1) my neighborhood is quite conservative and 2) well, it’s an illegal trade in the United States!
But, I want to change that. And I think you do, too. So, what’s the best strategy? We’ve already heard the worst strategy, thanks to your suggestions. But, flip the coin for us, if you will!
More Food for Thought
Our Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments of the United States Constitution, our very contract with our government employees curbs all three branches of government employees from acting as tyrants. It subjects all departments of government (our employees) to a rule of law and sets boundaries beyond which no official (employee) may go. It emphasizes that in this country a person walks with dignity and without fear or it’s government (employees), that people need not grovel before an all powerful government / the hired help.
The Constitution is not primarily designed to protect majorities, who are usually able to protect themselves, but rather it is designed to preserve and protect the rights of the individuals and minorities against arbitrary actions of those in authority – (our employees / hired help).
Every person who, (is an employee) under color of any statue, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage thereof, of any state or territory, subjects or causes to be subjected, any citizen of the United States (employers) or other person to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the constitution and laws, shall be liable to the injured in an action at law, equity, or other proper proceeding for redress.
Therefore Government Agents Beware! To ALL and ANY of those in government jobs / hired or elected employees alike, you all are hereby given this public notice by at least one of your employers that your continuos unlawful behavior in the enforcement of the unconstitutional cannabis laws will hold you personally liable under U.S.C. Title 42 1983. Beware that a Class Action U.S.C. Title 42 1986 thru 1986 suit is being prepared at this time against all conspirators and co-conspirators who have acted and continue to create harmful injury by unlawfully abrogating the inalienable rights secured and retained by the United States People. Further Beware that “I’m just doing my job” statements will not protect you from being found liable under the Color of Law by a Jury of your Peers.
To my PEERS, fellow citizens it is time to act. It is time that we all start to put this government on notice. That if they can not pull their heads out of our ass we must do it ourselves. We must warn them that we can and will take each everyone of these agents of government to Court. We can act through our Courts and our peers will decided this issue not the government. It is time for each and everyone of you to start the process of putting this government on notice. After that we can attack this government in the Courts and they can do nothing to stop it. We are in control, the veil has been lifted, the wool pulled back from our eyes. It is time, It is time and we must not waste it. Each and everyone of us must push now, together we must push at the local and national levels. We are united and we have told no lies, it is the government that lacks foundation in this issue of cannabis. It is they who built this fraud upon one lie after another. It is time, so will you strike with me and the others who have suffered at the hands of these unlawful employees? Send them their notice and let the shit fly.
Stompedonmyrights, I absolutely will stand with you and will sign up for such a class action suit!
While a million-man march to plant seeds with brass shovels is nice and good, we MUST first exhaust the courts.
If we can only find remedy using those tools we’ve been endowed by our forefathers and foremothers!!! 🙂
Blessed be!
Awesome! This story has been all over the net lately.
It’s great to see a founder of one of the US hemp brands standing up for commerce like this.
The best way to show your support is by actually purchasing hemp and showing the nation that hemp should be legalized in the US.
Build on your strengths oh stoners of America
Paris Hilton smokes pot– and look at her..
I guess you couldn’t handle the idea of
a NORML/ DEA policy task force
that would compromise
the eternal conflict business
that animates the 420 nation
besides if pot & hemp laws
actually were reformed in the USA
NORML would, of course
have to disband
[Russ responds: Yes, just like after prohibition ended, the National Beer Wholesalers Association had to fold up… oh, wait, says here they formed in 1938, five years following the repeal of prohibition, and act as a very influential lobby representing the beer industry to this day. Why wouldn’t NORML, in a post-legal world, just become the National Organization for Relegalized Marijuana Lovers? Plus, we advocate for the sensible regulation of marijuana. Regulation means laws, which means there would still be marijuana laws, and some of them would be bad and in need of reforming, right?]
An observation: you are all the biggest obstacles to your own success, which probably has more to do with the stagnation of the issue than anything else…you spend more time arguing among yourselves, dividing and conquering your own best efforts in your self righteousness, than you do actually practicing anything that resembles unity, all the while as the pigs laugh all the way to the bank.
Another observation: you seem to think you can induce revolution without applying the revolt…and you wonder why you’ve been spinning your wheels and getting nowhere for how many decades? Seven, eight?
It seems that most people who reply in these comment sections want to pick and choose the parts that best suit their arguement, via patriotism, constitutionalism, religio-spiritualism etc etc ad nauseum….you want to quote a founding father, or an old document, or invoke your faith, but you do so while taking it outside of its context, or selectively-forgetting about the parts that do not apply to your position or which ran contrastingly.
the real world is not lollipops and rainbows, as most of you seem to think it will be from your safe anonymous shelters.
Not yet.
Maybe at one time it was (highly doubt it) or maybe someday it can be (again, highly doubt it) but you won’t get there with spitwad efforts and tough legal talk.
This fact has been historically proven so many times it shouldn’t even bear repeating.
If you want to make an omelet you are going to have to crack a few eggs.
The system has already learned that in order to keep a handful of dissidents down, all you have to do is crack a few skulls.
If you pay taxes, you already condone violence whther you realize it or not.
You already have the blood of many women and children on your hands, since the government has been using YOUR money to kill THEIR enemies in YOUR name…your failure to do anything to stop them sooner only means that you have been condoning their behavior all along…which means all of you anti-violent pacifistic types are the very epitome of panty-waist passive aggressiveness: too lazy to otherwise stop the nightmares performed in your name but too cowardly to pull the trigger yourselves…but still just as guilty as LBJ, Nixon, McCarthy, or both Bushes combined.
We seem to be the only society that thinks it can sit on its ass and change will just happen around us, and happen the way we want it to.
Every other group in the world has had to fight for its rights, but Americans are so fat and complacent that they think they are entitled to it without making any actual effort.
More like a society of lazy consumer egomaniacs being led by the elected culture of megalomaniacs.
It would seem that things are the way they are because we are perfectly made for each other.
Why don’t you just go all out soccermom; get a minivan, and do a four lane change at 80mph without a turn signal, stinking of gin with a cellphone shoved up your ass and four of someone elses’ kids in the back.
Like it or not, Smokie Stover makes a really valid point when he notes the fact that the planting of hempseed when it is not even the right time for it is a very empty effort.
You all are so eager for someone or something to call ‘hero’ that you are far too eager to overlook that these guys apparently also failed civil disobedience101.
At least it appears safe to say that apparently our cops are not the only ones who are too stupid to grasp basic botany.
You may not like the way Smokie delivers the message, but there is more to him that is right than wrong…and besides free speech protects the that language that you don’t want to hear. That’s the way it was supposed to work, not the other way around, since the other ‘speech’ is not what is in need of protecting.
I would be much more impressed to hear this story occuring in the Springtime, otherwise it just seems like some lame ass publicity stunt by a handful of hippies looking for some attention, which appears to have worked from the immediate assessment of just how many of you are now repeating their names like a mantra, all ready to go buy the products offered like good little consumer lemmings.
To the asshole who made comment #39: you’re a spineless jellyfish and argueably the worst kind of hypocrite that exists…the kind that masquerades as an ally while looking for any excuse to express your typical toothless two-faced internet tough guy cowardice.
Kind of like a Republican administration but without the authority.
Way to rise above, dipshit. Not.
Same thing applies to whatever stupid moderator it was that decided that allowing such a comment to be posted had anything to do with taking the moral high ground, or vindication of anything; all you did was stoop to the lower level by permitting it, thereby displaying your own ineptitude.
You took the bait, hook line and sinker, and probably grinned to yourself with a feeling of indignant satisfaction the whole time.
Millions of hippies on youtube? I personally wouldnt describe 15-35 yr olds as hippies. I think you are romanticizing the past by calling anyone who supports cannabis reform a hippy, especially in 2009. Your old nemesis has now morphed into your friends, neighbors, and coworkers so the lines are a bit blurred.
Our society will progress because of the open minds of the next generation, not because of the closed minds of the past. It has always been this way, and the open minds are in control now so brace yourself.
That is an ignorant and blatantly hypocritical thing to say.
By your logic, the only open minded people in the world belong to the ‘next generation’, whatever that means…apparently the same 15-35 year-old pill-popping ADHD crowd content with shooting up malls and schools, that now faces early diabetes and would never think to ride a bike without pads and a helmet.
If society will supposedly progress because of the open minds of the next generation, why has it not occurred in the last….four or five generations?
Our society has not progressed because of the closed minds of the past. It has always been this way.
Anyone older than 25 knows this, because they have watched it happen.
Not to mention that it is stupidity to even think that the entire generation is open minded, much the same as it is stupidity to think that everyone in this blog will one day agree with each other.
open minds of the next generation definitely have the potential to create change, the question is will they?
Historically speaking, the proof is that they will not because they are, generally speaking, ignorant to anything outside their immediate sphere of influences.
Also, it is not the ‘next generation’ that is trying to institute change, so much as the remnants of previous generations, who constantly find themselves held back by ‘the closed minds of the past’ as you put it.
Take a walk around a college campus sometime for a glimpse at the reality of things.
The ‘open minds’ are not in control of themselves, let alone anything else, and are very much affected by the decisions of the ‘closed minds’
As a side note: Hippy is a state of mind, not an age bracket, in the same context as say….’stoner’.
…and if you really think the ‘open minds are in control’….you better brace YOUR self.
All this was inspired by the principle–which is quite true in itself–that in the big lie there is always a certain force of credibility; because the broad masses of a nation are always more easily corrupted in the deeper strata of their emotional nature than consciously or voluntarily; and thus in the primitive simplicity of their minds they more readily fall victims to the big lie than the small lie, since they themselves often tell small lies in little matters but would be ashamed to resort to large-scale falsehoods. It would never come into their heads to fabricate colossal untruths, and they would not believe that others could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously. Even though the facts which prove this to be so may be brought clearly to their minds, they will still doubt and waver and will continue to think that there may be some other explanation. For the grossly impudent lie always leaves traces behind it, even after it has been nailed down, a fact which is known to all expert liars in this world and to all who conspire together in the art of lying.
—Adolf Hitler , Mein Kampf, vol. I, ch. X[1]
Hemp prohibition illustrates the validity of that principle.
Personally I oppose the “legalization” of hemp because awarding it LEGAL status would, in effect, lend credibiltiy to it’s former ILLEGAL status. We can’t change history but when hemp is no longer banned the “powers that be” must acknowledge the fact that hemp should never have been illegal in the first place.
In a Journal of the American Dietetic Association study published in 2001…women who lost weight on a reduced-calorie plan that included meal replacement beverages maintained their losses after a year by drinking at least one diet shake a day in place of a regular meal. Their counterparts in the study…who lost weight on a conventional low-fat diet that did not use meal replacement beverages…regained most of their initial weight.
Police can tell the difference between a bagel and a doughnut. Hemp shouldn’t be that hard.