“This is not an idle threat. … What we’re trying to do is send a message as broadly as possible. … We are serious about enforcing federal law. … We are not just talking about it, but we are doing something about it. … Prosecuting marijuana cases is a higher priority now.”
–statements of the US Attorneys for the four federal districts in California
We’ve seen this coming for some time, but today the gloves officially came off. No more memos filled with false promises; no more phony pledges to respect states rights, no more giggles. Like a caged animal backed into a corner, the federal government is snarling and spitting back. It has no other way to defend its morally bankrupt policy except through a show of strength and intimidation.
California’s Top Federal Law Enforcement Officials Announce Enforcement Actions Against State’s Widespread and Illegal Marijuana Industry
via the US Department of Justice, Eastern District of California
SACRAMENTO, Calif.: October 7, 2011 – The four California-based United States Attorneys today announced coordinated enforcement actions targeting the illegal operations of the commercial marijuana industry in California.
The statewide enforcement effort is aimed at curtailing the large, for-profit marijuana industry that has developed since the passage of California’s Proposition 215 in 1996.
… While the four United States Attorneys have tailored enforcement actions to the specific problems in their own districts, the statewide enforcement efforts fall into three main categories:
· Civil forfeiture lawsuits against properties involved in drug trafficking activity, which includes, in some cases, marijuana sales in violation of local ordinances;
· Letters of warning to the owners and lienholders of properties where illegal marijuana sales are taking place; and
· Criminal cases targeting commercial marijuana activities, including arrests over the past two weeks in cases filed in federal courts in Los Angeles, San Diego, Sacramento and Fresno.
The enforcement actions being announced today are the result of the four United States Attorneys working with federal law enforcement partners and local officials across California to combat commercial marijuana activities that are having the most significant impacts in communities.
“The actions taken today in California by our U.S. Attorneys and their law enforcement partners are consistent with the Department’s commitment to enforcing existing federal laws, including the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), in all states,” said Deputy Attorney General James Cole.
… Laura E. Duffy, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of California, commented: “The California marijuana industry is not about providing medicine to the sick. It’s a pervasive for-profit industry that violates federal law. In addition to damaging our environment, this industry is creating significant negative consequences, in California and throughout the nation. As the number one marijuana producing state in the country, California is exporting not just marijuana but all the serious repercussions that come with it, including significant public safety issues and perhaps irreparable harm to our youth.”
Melinda Haag, the United States Attorney for the Northern District of California, said: “Marijuana stores operating in proximity to schools, parks, and other areas where children are present send the wrong message to those in our society who are the most impressionable. In addition, the huge profits generated by these stores, and the value of their inventory, present a danger that the stores will become a magnet for crime, which jeopardizes the safety of nearby children. Although our initial efforts in the Northern District focus on only certain marijuana stores, we will almost certainly be taking action against others. None are immune from action by the federal government.”
Dozens of letters have been sent over the past few days to the owners and lienholders of properties where commercial marijuana stores and grows are located. In the Southern and Eastern Districts, the owners of buildings where marijuana stores operate have received letters warning that they risk losing their property and money derived from renting the space used for marijuana sales. In the Central District, … prosecutors have sent letters to property owners in selected cities where officials have requested federal assistance, and they plan to continue their enforcement actions in other cities as well. In the Northern District, owners and lienholders of marijuana stores operating near schools and other locations where children congregate have been warned that their operations are subject to enhanced penalties and that real property involved in the operations is subject to seizure and forfeiture to the United States.
… The statewide coordinated enforcement actions were announced this morning at a press conference in Sacramento.
It has been apparent for some time now that the Obama Administration is escalating its efforts to both crack down on existing above ground, medical cannabis operations in states like California, as well as to thwart the establishments of similar operations in additional states.
So why these stepped up efforts now? The answer ought to be self-evident. The intention of these and other recent, well-publicized threats by the Obama administration is to stifle the development of a viable legal cannabis distribution industry, even in states that have enacted legislation to allow for such an industry.
During today’s conference, all four US Attorneys affirmed that their intent is not to target individual, state-compliant medical cannabis consumers per se, but to emphasize that the Department of Justice is opposed to the regulated commerce of medical cannabis. That’s because once this industry has legitimized itself to the public and local lawmakers in California, Colorado, and elsewhere, then voters will become accustomed to safe, secure, well-run businesses that deliver consistent, reliable, tested cannabis products. They’ll appreciate the way well-regulated medical dispensaries revitalize sagging economies, provide jobs, and contribute taxes to budget-starved localities. They’ll realize all the years of scaremongering by the government about what would happen if marijuana were legal, even for sick people, was nothing but hysterical propaganda. And the voting public will eventually ask: ‘Why we don’t just legalize cannabis for everyone in a similarly responsible manner?’
And that is a question this administration has consistently indicated that the President is unable or unwilling to answer.
Fact: The Great Seal
The dexter talon holds not an olive branch, as is traditionally stated, but a cluster of cannabis leaves with buds visible.The marijuana symbolism on the great seal is confirmed by the use of the colors red and white in colored versions, and on the flag of the United States. Red and white were first used as official colors by the followers of Hassan i Sabbah founder of the Hashishim or The Assassins. By 1094 these elite troops, wearing the white tunics and red sashes characteristic of their sect, had made Hasan the most powerful warlord in the area now called the Middle East. They imported hemp from India and extracted a narcotic which is today named, hash for their sect. They used hash to reach “illumination.” More will be said about “illumination” when the reverse of the Great Seal is discussed. The thirteen horizontal red and white stripes have been associated with the drug trade, at least since they were used by the British East India Company on their ships carrying narcotics. The number thirteen is also the traditional code for marijuana. The code for marijuana is shown in the shield placed upon the eagle’s chest. The shield bears the thirteen stripes of the British East India Companies flag (later the flag of the United States) turned vertically.
This is what’s going on . I found this guy to be quite intelligent so i am asking NORML and thanking them for allowing me to provide this link so you can see what’s going on on America . Both Muslim & Christian alike agree the time is coming fast .Be ready .
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=bcb_1317966561
Thanks for keeping us up to date on the news, now how about doing what NORML was supposed to have been doing since it’s inception, PUT SOME OF OUR DONATIONS TO USE GETTING THE MARIJUANA LAWS REFORMED!!!! When we complain about the drug war lasting decades it doesn’t say much about organizations that have been fighting just as long trying to end it.
-LIFETIME MEMBER
Finally, the Obama administration has dropped the last shred of their facade. They have been having it both ways for a while, cracking down on medical marijuana while giving people the impression that they were in favor of science-based social policy. The DEA has ramped up the reefer madness propaganda with their latest position paper on marijuana issued in January, 2011. Now the administration is acting on the lies they are spreading. It sickens me a little to think I bought the bullshit that Obama was selling as a candidate. I even sent money to help elect him. He is either a staunch prohibitionist or a weak suck who can’t stand up to the law enforcement complex that needs the war on cannabis in order to survive at their current budgetary level. Either way, it’s sad. He’s like a sad clown to me now as he demands action on his jobs plan. The only thing sadder is that we will have Romney as the next president most likely. Of course, cannabis use will always be with us whether it’s legal or underground. Surely the prohibitionists know this. Surely they are in this for the money that continues to flow from our pockets into theirs. And so it goes.
That bitch Melinda Haag said California pot stores are “a magnet for crime”. DIDN’T THE FUCKING RAND GROUP JUST DEBUNK THIS INHERRENTLY FLAWED QUOTE? In fact it’s the opposite. Go ahead bitch, make the crime increase. You’re KILLING YOUR OWN CHILDREN. Pot has never KILLED ANYONE. So who gives a fuck how much they’re influenced…which they’re not…because POT WILL NEVER KILL A HUMAN BEING THROUGH OVERDOSE. FUCKKKKKKKKK YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUU assholes! You will burn in HELL.
Does Obama think this is going to help his re-election?
This is all fine and dandy. The government can try all they want, but they will NEVER stamp out Cannabis. It will not happen. Just keep on smoking, grow your own and give the finger to those who oppose. I’m not going to play into their fear anymore, I have the right to do what I want with my body. People in Cali should pick a day to smoke publicly in defiance of these fear mongering morons in power. Better yet, after they close you down…start selling at farmers markets and on the side of the road..that’ll really piss em off.
What I dont understand is why it’s so important that dispensaries be non-profit. Are Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, Roche, GlaxoSmithKline non-profit? Are RITE-AID and Walgreens non-profit?
Haag is een kreng!
#1 The Feds are wrong, and should be moving toward regulation instead.
#2 They don’t have enough prison space.
#3 If they think they’ll first tackle the for-profit dispensaries, then go after the non-profit ones, they’re just going to be playing WhackaMole.
#4 They just love wasting taxpayer money and resources, all the while fucking with people and ruining their lives even more that the shitty economy and debilitating medical conditions already have.
Can they all be recalled? Probably not.
I think they are just expecting all the protests to go away once the winter sets in, and that it’ll be too cold for people to be out in protest for Occupy Wall Street or medical cannabis or whatever.
Late spring sounds like a good time for a General Strike to shut everything the fuck down.
Protest no fuckin jobs, Wall Street greed, no legal weed all starting on the same day…gives cover to everyone under the umbrella so you can’t be fired because the general strike/protest is for weed only.
Sick out!
Want this drug crack down to stop? Simple.
Hey Obama’s administration you are about to put yourself out of work by LOSING the Californian vote.
Want this medical marijuana crack down to end?
Hey Obama’s administration you are about to put yourselves out of work by LOSING the Californian vote.
Kind Folk,
Perhaps you’re unaware of the correlation between Santa Claus, Uncle Sam, and cannabis; so I present to you a pictoral lesson in History. I present to you the images of Thomas Nast:
http://www.google.com/search?q=thomas+nast+santa+claus&hl=en&biw=1144&bih=637&prmd=imvnso&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=pmWPTsLKJMSatwfy77yUDA&ved=0CEUQsAQ
Yours in the Spirit of Gifting,
Jeremy E. Simpson
Kringle, A Corporation Sole
Tyranny.
(In addition to damaging our environment, this industry is creating significant negative consequences, in California and throughout the nation. As the number one marijuana producing state in the country, California is exporting not just marijuana but all the serious repercussions that come with it, including significant public safety issues and perhaps irreparable harm to our youth.”) quoted text..
How is this damaging our environment? too much thc in the air? Yea i would say keep away from school areas but if the states want legal weed then we need to overturn the fed laws. I think the fat cats in Washington need to wake up and see what our nation wants.
Well, at least it loos like we have the answer on the most popular petition. :/
This is ridiculous. People DO need it for medical reasons, and those who use it for pleasure are ruining it for others.
Be safe and use responsibly, friends in California.
We should make it a priority to ask about this decision at every Obama Q&A session during his campaign and bringing up the fact he said ” Its not a priority to go after medical marijuana patients” In my personal opinion this is a set up for him to ride in on his white “horse and save the day in a twisted campaign strategy. Theres no doubt that by now the White House has seen the petition responses, heard the Canada Journal of science findings, and is grasping at straws to find away to push 4 more years of broken doctrine. This is just another twisted way of doing just that. If this country doesn’t start listening to Ron Paul in 2012, then we had best get ready for the “cattle brand” that is planned for all our hides.
The timing, Obama’s falling in the polls, and others stirring up other options for presidency, as his re-election odds are low – combined with, while he is a poor leader, he is sneaky and a showman.
SUCH THAT it would not surprise me at all
to find that this anti-marijuana effort was actually orchestrated by him, so that he may step up and appear the hero, by taking down the barriers he is now putting up.
He has been talking out of both sides of his mouth on this marijuana topic, and these government agencies didn’t suddenly find it a good time to press the populace – there is something more here…
Watch, I expect him to try to use it as a way to shine-
the marijuana vote is a large one…
It’s really getting to the point where I feel like we need to get together for one huge protest… I’m sick and tired of being bullied by morons. We need to fight back.
Many responses to the article in our local rag, The Fresno Bee, by non-users is: We are tired of hearing about mj. Go do it somewhere else and don’t let us smell it. Our Sheriff invited the Feds to town to do her work. I also noticed US Marshall’s are patrolling at the Big Fresno Fair. In all my years living in CA, over 35, I have NEVER seen the Us Marshall’s at the Fair. I think they are going after everyone, not just dispensaries.
wow whoever is making these laws about this situation is the Antichrist because there is nothing wrong with being happy and giggling every now and then but to waste tax payer money on this BULLSHIT is a joke i hope all of you people get elected out of office and when i run for president in 2041 i will make it my priority to fix these ridiculous marijuana laws if its still an issue that is.
I just don’t understand why all you haters are hating marijuana its a freaking plant that produces oxygen. why would anyone want to stop the process of oxygen making?
I know that there are some people are ruining it for the others that are responsible cannabis consumers and i dont see why Marijuana law reform isnt a bigger issue in the white house all of yall must be un educated idiots if you dont regulate hemp and marijuana
George Washington in 1789 said this ” Make the most of hemp and grow it everywhere ”
what happened to this?
Dear Federal government,
It’s either you legalize and regulate marijuana or the system will fall apart due to not listening and lack of knowledge of the fact that cannabis is a cash crop and is a job creator if you people dont do these things the economy will fall apart because it need marijuana to keep it all balanced.
NUFF SAID
Just more waste of Federal dollars to perpetuate a failed war on drugs with an election year approaching. This effort shows nothing but political motivation to put down the peoples will. These states are being targeted by the Feds as they are leading the effort in the MMJ arena. If cannabis can cure cancer, many oncologists would be out of work. That’s why the Feds would prefer them (the doctors) keep pumping poison into patients instead of actually curing them.
This pisses me off beyond belief. I’m fed up with this country, it has completely lost its morals and its values. I smoke marijuana on a daily basis and i have never become violent or harmed others simply because i was “high”. I support medical use but come the fuck on, this stuff is healthier than alcohol and tobacco, and is a better treatment for depression than ANY drug on the market (drugs like abilify have been known to cause teens to commit suicide). I’m not saying i hate this country just because of its marijuana laws, but dammit it pisses me off. I hope everyone who runs this country gets fucking shot. god fucking dammit
Wow so for the first time since 1988 Cali will be a red state in the presidential election.
They are terrorists! They are organized and will win because no one is willing to fight. There are more of us than them. Do more than smoke pot and flip them off. This isn’t a football rivalry; this is a fight against tyrrany imposed by bankers and their lackies. The DEA gets to make policy when no one in that agency has ever been elected.
Take it back…
The time has come. The time has come when if the federal government wants to complain about cannabis commerce-start giving it away dispensaries. Yes. Give your cannabis to those citizens suffering from extreme pain, from debilitating medical conditions-give your cannabis away for no renumeration whatsoever. Not gas money to bring it;not money to run a storefront-there needs to be true non-profit cannabis charities in the state who make absolutely nothing in return for the cannabis they give: and if the feds go after that-it’ll really expose their true intentions in this war to many of those who don’t know how bad it had become. How many of our individual rights must be trampled before we all stand together as the Americans we all are: every one of us trying to make our lives in this place-and stand against those who wish to make our America less free.
: “The Pharmaceutical industry is supposed to be providing medicine to the sick. It’s a pervasive for-profit industry that is denying your human rights. In addition to damaging our environment ( ever heard of all those drugs in our water ? ), this industry is creating significant negative consequences, in California and throughout the nation. As the number one Pharmaceutical producing Country in the World we are exporting not just pharmaceuticals but all the serious repercussions that come with it, including significant public safety issues and irreparable harm including even death to our youth.
I think Obama just wants to retire rather than be president for another four years.
We have to do something, and we have to do something now.
Republican Presidential candidate Gary Johnson responds:
http://dailycaller.com/2011/10/07/the-federal-governments-misguided-war-on-california/
“And beyond the legal arguments and the policy debate, what is the
practical, on-the-ground effect of DOJ shutting down dispensaries? Is it going to make life better for anyone? NO. It is only going to turn a lot
of people who are trying to abide by the law into criminals. Instead of
going to a dispensary under medical supervision, thousands of
Californians will be going to street corners to buy pot from the
cartels. Now that is a great outcome. Thank you, DOJ.”
http://www.garyjohnson2012.com/gary-johnson-on-fed-crackdown-on-medical-marijuana-dipensaries-doj-has-better-things-to-do
Regardless of one’s view of medical marijuana, Americans who believe in states’ rights should be extremely disturbed that the federal government is in the process of shutting down businesses, threatening criminal charges, and confiscating the property of small businesses operating under good faith according to state law.
These laws are ridiculous
I wonder if this is goinng to be the same “official response” from the administration we were promised with the petition.
I recently did a speech, in a class im taking, about the variety of the nationwide cannabis prohibition. The feds dont recognize state laws in anyway. While some states have cannabis decriminazed, others are very strict.
They must listen to their citizens who have votes. Its is a matter of time. I believe that, one day, we will have lefalized cannabis. Support NORML and anyy politician with values that match your own. Regardless od their position on cannabis.
our govt is out of control we might as well be a communist country its a sad day for the legalization movement,now the greedy growers will pay for not voting yes on prop 19 i told u cali that this would happen if u didnt get prop 19 passed because of the greed
Forgive me for errors because I am on an android key board.
It is time for us to join the occupy crowd!
the employers will not hire pot heads and that is what the GOV is trying to do, bring back jobs and employers say a pot head is less producing. Legalize just like alchohol, what is the problem??? just another mechanism to control the population, the laws are the problem, Obama has to crack down because of employers-the people who run the world-the rich, but then there are the irresponsibles-having families,driving,going to work high etc., have to be sober in public or they’ll come hunting, people are killers/very unhappy because of this inadequate, very disingenuine, corrupt society. All the land is fenced, ever notice that,stay your ass on the concrete, better yet in your rental with the shades closed, can’t even park on the side of the road anymore, beginning to look like England.Born workers of a corporation-to produce and consume, the indians had it right, so how do you live if you think this way, the laws driving people underground their whole lives, sincerely this world is very sad, not as intended at all and it could be so beautiful and harmonious but people are resistant and fear change, can’t disconnect and think for themselves, have kids and become vested in the corrupt/greed system and turn on all their fellow man for their family’s security and prosperity-The Darth Vader story, fear drove Annequin Skywalker to turn to the dark side-sincerely good lesson.
If this happens, about 2,000,000 or more people will be behind bars
a very beautiful but very restricted world, frustrating, made progress but now receding back to the dark side. Now making it worldwide, very sad and on King Obama’s watch.
I’m not sure if my thinking on this is correct or not, but doesn’t this go against the 10th amendment. My understanding is that each individual state can decide for itself what it laws are governing these things. The only reason that the federal government was ever able to effectively ban marijuana is because it has jurisdiction over interstate commerce. So my thinking is that if manufacturing and distribution is limited to the respected states that have legal marijuana laws, the federal government should not be able to step in.
Is this going to stop me or you from smoking pot. I think not. This sounds like a great idea for a fucken moron. Throw some more of my tax $$$ at this. WTF
Hopefully this will now kick off a giant fundraiser for CA legalization in 2012.
Obama – I am a Democrat who voted for you last time around and whose vote you officiall have lost. Congrats, dipshit.
The patients in California need to have a friendly protest and we need to fight harder for this. We need to come up with ideas that will make the government give up and have our way. I know this sucks and it seems unlikely but its gonna make these patients unite stronger and harder than ever and make it even a bigger deal. God is watching down and will make these feds pay for their injustice. How could you take away medicine to people who NEED IT! Power To The People!!!!!
also the hypocracy with the govt is amazing and its so sad that none of the sheep see the hypocrisy….o the horror of cannabis dispensaries, when they have pharacuticle companies and pharmacies and liquor stores, gun stores, porn/sex shops, massage parlors, tanning salons (skin cancer o the horror). all over the place, but the real HORROr is the cannabis….THINK OF THE CHILDREN FALLACY and all that BS….you see its ok for pharma to make money off of the morphine and the Oxycontin but….those are safe drugs, cannabis however is schedule 1 and is the most dangerous…o the HORROR!!!!!
I bet the Cali growers are wishing they would have voted for prop.19 now.
IT IS BIG BROTHER FLEXING ITS MUSLES ONCE AGAIN JUST IN CASE THERE MIGHT BE A FEW PEOPLE WHO GORGOT THAT FACT. I DO KNOW WE HAVE ADVANTAGES BUT DON’T LET THE FILM ROLL OVER YOUR EYES. WE HAVE A LIMITED FREEDOM IN THIS COUNTRY AND THAT FACT WAS MADE VERY CLEAR BY THE PROCLAIMATION WE ALL JUST HEARD. THE GOV’T. HAS SPOKEN AND PUNISHMENT WILL OCCUR. THE USSR ALL OVER AGAIN ONLY IN OUR OWN BACK YARD. I AM A BABY BOOMER AND PROUD OF MY PAST. I GOT UP AND MOVED THEN AND AM READY TO GET UP THE BEST I CAN AND MOVE NOW. I WILL BE LOOKING TOWARS NORML OTHER GROUPS AND MYSELF TO SEE WHAT WE WILL BE DOING EN MASSE. CAMILLE FIE L.I.N.Y.
[Editor’s note: NO CAPS!]
Its time to declare war on the DEA then. The gloves are off and they are not willing to back down. Its time to fight
With only 45 days to all cannabis shops in cal have to shout down. Will there be an out cry pouring in the streets I hope so. If not then i will say o well that how its goes. there no one in cal that has the Guts to stand up and start a march.
Dictatorship
man I cant believe this shit. what was all that garbage obama spewed about having bigger fish to fry? economy? unemployment? war? I remember when they tried to crack down before and obama put a stop to it, but I think he’s well aware of it this time. And if he is, he’s going to lose tons of votes (including mine)
I feel safer at my local dispensary then the 7-eleven.
not helping people? horseshit. pure horseshit.
laura e duffy & melinda haag are toolbags
Now can you see the reason why We need Ron Paul ? The government is out of control, and it is our Duty to correct it as citizens. As our government gets more oppressive, we need step up our education of the public and we need to start coming together and stop this bickering between legalizers and Medical Patients and understand, divided you are easy prey, but if you come together with a single purpose. It’s time to money bomb, get the media on it, and get in contact with other organizations like LEAP, NORML, DPA, ACLU, Prop 215 people Judge Grey, Judge Napitano, and you can’t let up. It’s really time to set aside your differences and come together, remember it’s yours to lose.
[Editor’s note: There is no reason to deify any single politician (certainly one that has no chance of being elected president) as the federal system is one of majorities, not the cult of personality. The end to Cannabis Prohibition at the federal level is paved by voters electing anti-Prohibitionists as policymakers (and encouraging fence-sitters to favor reform). Not by hoping for a political white knight…let alone a flawed one that can’t deliver a modicum of reforms without majority support in Congress.
The end of Alcohol Prohibition is instructive as 1) ultimately reformers got more ‘wet’ than ‘dry’ politicians elected to pass reform legislation and 2) A major party candidate, Franklin Roosevelt, campaigned for President as a ‘wet’. The former is most certainly the harder to achieve than the latter for reformers…]
the feds are a bunch of over-payed, ignorant, dinosaurs that are running this country into the ground. the laws are ass backwards. In oklahoma recently this pig bitch that was convicted of beating a child to death,guess what her stiff penalty was ? she got a 5000.00 dollar fine ! thats right folks ! eveyday, people are basically getting away with murder in the grand old usa. but when it comes to a little bit of grass here and there in a couple of states, the feds are ready to take action ! the proof is around us everyday everywhere, that are government politicians don’t give 2 shits about the real story, they just care about covering there own asses so they can keep the B.S. flowing, and keep the big wigs happy.
That is contradictory to what was being said just a couple years ago. Apparently they were lying to people. Big surprise! The states have governments to limit the power of the federal government and they should respect a state’s right to govern itself. It’s in the constitution, but that will be absolved soon enough by the global government along with any of our legal rights we had a couple hundred years ago. And of course, our privacy.
I don’t see where freedom is in this situation. I enlisted in the Air Force to defend the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, and it is sad to see hypocrites attempting to rob of us the freedoms I fought for and the right to use medicine that is non-lethal all the while supporting drugs that are known to be lethal. Alcohol is the main one. It is a hard core drug and it is completely political that it remains legal while the other is a crime. But there was Prohibition, which was another attempt the government made to take away part of our freedom. I have the right to ingest any thing I want- the government is not my mommy and I don’t like it patronizing me, a grown ass man. I risked my life for this country and the freedom they taught us of- Respect my sacrifice and let people grow what God put here for man to enjoy- what happened to the value of freedom and rights?
“Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.” Genesis 1:29
I say the american citizens need to take their gloves off, and fire, or not re-elect any public employee who is ruining this country by continuing the long lost drug war ! we’re what, 14 trillion in debt and climbing by the millions every minute, but the almighty dea, and all the rest of those fed assholes in D.C. want to keep pumping the system, till the cash cow falls over dried up and dead.
What I find so outrageously hilarious about this situation is that the collapse of both the U.S.S.R. and now the USA shows that no matter what system is put into place, it WILL become corrupted. The “status quo” needs to be upset more frequently than we would like and a new system needs to be put into place. I offer that we adopt neither communism nor capitolism, but find a place somewhere in the middle. A place where individuals are respected and where corporations are FAR more strictly controlled. A place where WE are free to make our own decisions and to suffer consequences for mistakes, but we shouldn’t be fucked for life because of it. OK, now to tie this into the NORML foundation: People should be free to do what they want with their own bodies, ESPECIALLY cannabis, which has been PROVEN to be not only NON-toxic, but ACTUALLY IS BENEFICIAL for you. As much as this angers me, we should try DESPERATELY to fix this peacefully.
Laura Duffy & Melinda Haag are evil people that deserve to lose their jobs! They don’t care about the health of people, they just want weed to be illegal so they can benefit from it. It needs to be exposed that all of these politicians who want weed illegal just want to make money off of it. That needs to be said more than weed itself needs to be legal. Let’s all protest against this in a non violent protest and not give up until we have want we want! To everybody reading this….WE NEED TO FIGHT HARDER TIL WE GET WANT WE WANT AND THAT WILL BE THE KEY TO MAKING WEED LEGAL! WE ALL NEED TO ALSO HAVE AN OPTIMISTIC VIEW ON THIS! WEED WILL BE LEGAL, NO MATTER WHAT AND TO ANY POLITICIAN READING THIS, WE WILL NOT GIVE UP ON OUR RIGHTS! LET’S ALL START THINKING POSIIVE ABOUT THIS, NO MATTER WHAT THE FEDS DO!
The Devil is laughing.
The dreaded curse was caused by the practice of the two individuals, the late former Attorney General, John M. Mitchell and the former late President Richard M. Nixon, who wanted to get back at those Viet Nam War protesting hippies.
The two paid dearly on their actions to go even further, which ended both of their careers. John M. Mitchell was sent to prison while Richard M. Nixon resigned and received a pardon from the next late former President Gerald R. Ford.
The first writings of the Controlled Substance Act of 1970 which stated pacifically about marijuana was passed quickly without any medical review.
To this very day the FDA still has no evidence of why marijuana is a Schedule One Controlled Substance.
The DEA Storm Troopers and those who are allied with them will destroy liberty and all of humanity. Hell has risen and the prohibitionist are rejoicing.
fuck obama
And i might say our only hope is a white knight mr editor but thats not going to happen. Money is driving this train.
Plant your extra seeds everywhere. In public parks, interstate exchange green areas, any place green. Wrap the seeds in fertilizer and start planting. If you can’t change the entrenched mindset then make it expensive for them to continue to ingore the will of the people.
Usage of the term “marijuana” is part of the problem. Was it not under the label “marijuana” that cannabis was first marginalized and then criminalized?
Also, though medical and medicinal marijuana was a noble banner by which to refurbish the maligned reputation of cannabis, it is not primarily a medicine.
Cannabis is a versatile plant that is decorative, therapeutic just being in the presence of, as well as also being an important cultural and nutritional factor for Human-Beings.
In other words, the medical/medicinal marijuana movement may benefit from a contextual overhaul in favor of culinary cannabis (which includes its medicinal qualities).
Cannabis is an herbaceous flowering plant of global: cultural, nutritional, recreational, medicinal, sacramental, and developmental significance for human-beings and the planetary biosphere itself.
I don’t know why I put Ron Paul in there,(I was a little angry with the report) But my post is about forming coalitions with others that may not always agree on everything, but recognizes that you have a common link to each. I guess I am talking about what Russ Belville called “Stoners against legalization” and the growers.
What can I say, other than our federal government is mentally ill and incapable of making decisions, and in addition, quite incapable of acting reasonably as lawmakers. There is absolutely no justification for the present prohibition of cannabis, nor the pig-headed attitudes regarding federal laws against cannabis.
I write to my Congressional reps, and receive much the same, that marijuana is dangerous, and we must protect the children. It’s like a twisted warp in time and space from a Dr. Who series. Nothing about the war on drugs, the prohibition of cannabis makes sense. To arrest parents, young adults, medical MJ recipients of cannabis or their lawful providers is sick. How the hell does that protect children? How the hell is it safe to openly endorse and sell dangerous drugs like alcohol and tobacco? To pretend that is okay, when history proves it’s not.
None of us want to see alcohol or tobacco treated the same as cannabis, but the truth is, tobacco is the poster child for a Schedule One drug. Alcohol has for decades been recognized as dangerous. Both pose a hazard to youth, especially as regulation of those drugs is 1/1000th what it is for cannabis.
Why is that? These aren’t aliens we’re talking about, a fantasy, a real danger to society, if it were you can bet 3/4 of the population of America would be vegetables by now.
Why the lie, lack of objectivity in Congress? Why insist it protects youth? When it obviously doesn’t?
The danger of marijuana are the laws prohibiting it. The regulations that artificially create a danger.
We The People are the USA. We The People need to find a way to communicate the truth to Congress. Just how do we do that?
It’s been really fun reading all of your comments up to this point.
I think what you’re witnessing is just the same old American political games. I’m sure Obama is counting on Pharmaceutical companies being a strong “ally” in his re-election efforts.
Unfortunately Big Pharma has more money than the Marijuana legalization effort. And money talks.
The “War on Drugs” as it relates to marijuana is a fool’s errand. Legalizing marijuana would solve many current problems and actually create some benefits for the public good. Certainly the current way the government deals with this problem only prolongs the problem.
Marijuana never should have been included on the list of dangerous drugs. Marijuana isn’t dangerous, and it isn’t a feeder drug. I believe the La Guardia Committee Report made a clear case on the harmlessness of marijuana and exposed the blatant propagandized lies. Everyone knows how wrongfully propagandized, distorted, and racially motivated the law enforcement efforts were in the America’s anti-marijuana campaign. Harry Anslinger was an ambitious, lying, and deceitful man with a bureaucrat’s interest in the slander and disinformation of marijuana. Other organized interests were against hemp as a resource: Logging wanted to capture the paper industry; cotton growers and synthetic cloth manufactures, such as DuPont, were also to blame for this inclusion while trying to eliminate hemp fiber competition. Today it is big pharma, liquor, tobacco, DEA & Justice Dept., & prison for profit companies protecting their rice bowls that keep up the ignorance of this war on cannabis.
Legalizing marijuana would:
-Cause the black market in marijuana to be gone, along with the violence related to it. You can’t beat that.
-All of the marijuana money going south would stop, and remain here to be spent legally in our own economy. That is 60% of a cartel’s income. Losing that would be a serious blow to these groups.
-Law enforcement, judicial, and incarceration expenditures of public funds for this would no longer be needed- Free the people.
-The growing on and damaging of public lands would end, as people would rather grow it at home, ending the illegal cartels involvement.
-People with medical needs would be able to seek some small comfort there.
– (IMO) A decrease in drunk driving statistics would occur. People would soon realize that they enjoy marijuana more than the oncoming sickness of drinking, thus the non alcoholic would drink less, and be safer to the public concern overall.
Another very important factor: Legalizing marijuana would allow for the acceptance of a large group of productive and responsible American citizens who only differ from everyone else in one intelligent way: they intuitively prefer thought stimulating marijuana to the dangerous sloppiness and oncoming sickness of drinking.
Liquor lobbyists and the pharmaceutical companies would fight against legalization of marijuana for their self preservation reasons, as would the DEA. The DEA is a major recipient in the forfeiture of assets game, and they love the power they have, and they, along with the prison guards, and Wackenhut, want to remain fully staffed and budgeted.
Let me stress that marijuana is safer and more enjoyable then liquor. Liquor companies know this, but do not want the public to adapt and adopt a safer smarter way. I’m no expert but, if people self medicated with marijuana wouldn’t that reduce the need for Zoloft and a dozen other mood drugs? Certainly there is little better with coming to grips with PTSD than the herbal remedy.
The government’s issue is: Who will grow it and sell it? How do we manage it? How do we tax it? How can we monopolize it, diminish it‘s quality, and tax it for as much as we can get away with? Those are greedy selfish interests, and as usual the government should leave it alone and stop looking at things in that self serving manner. The government needs to stop playing omnipotent God. In most cases government regulation creates more problems than it solves.
Some of this issue is a 10th Amendment issue relating to federal rights verses states rights, and the people’s rights. In California marijuana advocates were willing to let the government camel’s nose into the tent tempting them with tax revenue. Do you want your government in vice control for greed and profit? Letting the government into the equation is a mistake, because it is in their nature to monopolize at the people’s expense.
I propose that American citizens, of legal age, be allowed to “grow their own”. If every citizen of age that desired could grow say 12 mature plants for personal use, then all illegal black markets would dry up. The surplus would cause marijuana to not have much monetary value.
One economic plus for my proposal is that good citizens who enjoy marijuana are a smart proud group of sociable people and will invest money into growing supplies. Your average proud grower will invest a few hundred dollars, or more, in the domestic economy to be able to properly grow, and show off, their little crop. This expenditure times 22 million people and you have a major boost in our economy, instead of the current hemorrhage of funds going to illegal drug lords, and the ugliness that comes with that.
In conclusion: the current way the government deals with marijuana only prolongs the problem. If profit is to be made a black market will always exist. It is high time Americans stood up for freedom and demanded these repressive marijuana laws be changed, ending decades of unjust persecution. Give marijuana back to the people and freedom and liberty itself will turn what was an ugly problem into a favorable outcome.
I can not get on a soap box and argue the merit of other drugs, but as far as marijuana I will defend it and speak my peace as a freedom loving American.
“Make the most you can of the Indian hemp seed, and sow it everywhere!”
George Washington (1794)
The Writings of George Washington, Volume 33, page 270 (Library of Congress)
“Two of my favorite things are sitting on my front porch smoking a pipe of sweet hemp, and playing my Hohner harmonica.” ~ Abraham Lincoln
If the federal government really gave a damn about the most impressionable people in our society, they’d do something about the less than appealing ghettos that many people have to grow up in. Are they trying to push some self-fulfilling prophecy garbage?
Itz ok that the feds hav control on profits for tobacco,though grass and everything has a price itz alrite for them 2 continue poisoning the air and water and food,this iz a disgrace on how the political machines hav eaten our last bit of dignity
Weed shouldn’t be illegal, it shouldn’t be taxed and it doesn’t need to be regulated. Like someone above said, we can have gun stores, liquor stores, porn shops, tobacco sales, but pot – whoa, look out!
Its 2012 for God’s Sake. I first ran across pot 37 years ago. Look what it did to me: I’m a tax paying, law abiding (aside from anti-pot laws) employer who handles millions of other people’s dollars every year without ripping them off. Better outlaw that stuff quick!
You gotta fight for your right to party. It ain’t just a good song.
I suppose the editor gets his news from fox and cnn, making an “editors note” that Ron Paul has no chance of being elected. You’re way off base with that statement. Not to mention, besides Gary Johnson, which other candidate is advocating the repeal of cannabis prohibition at the federal level? Ron Paul is our best chance at really getting the ball rolling towards getting the feds out of our state medical cannabis laws. If you smoke herb for medical reasons or for recreation, you had betting get your ass out to the polls next year and vote for Ron Paul. Shame on you NORML.
[Editor’s note: Neither Paul or Johnson appear to have any real hope of winning the GOP nomination, probably because the modern GOP is not libertarian.]
I have been saying it for years and I will say it again. People need to get up off their ASSES and DO SOMETHING!!!!! nothing changes without a fight. Look at the 60’s. Where would african americans be if people did not fight in the streets. We have become so lazy and apathetic! We sit on our buts and complain to each other or even here, about the injustice of it all. Social change is brought about, not by playing nice and being polite, but by fighting in the streets in vast numbers. 10 people marching in front of the white house changes nothing. Ten thousand or a million people is another story completely! SO let’s stop preaching to the choir and get our collective asses out there and fight for what we want!!!!!
What a dicktatorship we got on our hands
We need a real president.Not no half ass one.
can someone pleaze explain to me who these people are and their unjustifiable hatred and aggresion towards pot users? can they get a life of their own and mind their own buisness? this is bullshit and harrassment of innocent people. your a fucking idiot if you think the sale of tobacco and alchohol within a school zone is any less harmless. everything this country stands for makes sense to me except for one thing this old retarded plant law that they jusy cant seem to get over and cause so much distress over i mean really wtf gives.
Shame on You for saying Ron Paul has no chance. He has no chance with Editor’s like you and the #MediaBlackout
“[Editor’s note: There is no reason to deify any single politician (certainly one that has no chance of being elected president) as the federal system is one of majorities, not the cult of personality. The end to Cannabis Prohibition at the federal level is paved by voters electing anti-Prohibitionists as policymakers (and encouraging fence-sitters to favor reform). Not by hoping for a political white knight…let alone a flawed one that can’t deliver a modicum of reforms without majority support in Congress.
[Editor’s note: Shame on you for being delusional and out of touch politically…as Paul can’t possibly win the GOP nomination because the modern GOP is not at all libertarian. Campaigns like Paul’s and Johnson’s can’t succeed as long as the GOP cares more about God, Guns and Gays…]
Let’s join occupy EVERYWHERE. Enough is enough.
The medical patients and the overwhelming majority of the California citizens are waiting, Obama Administration. Do you really have the guts do go down in history and expose the FRAUDS that you all are by picking on sick people? I dare you to come down here like a bunch of THUGS after your fast and furious FAILURE of an operation exposed the frauds you all are. Show your SHAMEFUL faces on TV as you’re hauling away clean, high quality, healing cannabis from a successful and flourishing market (despite all the laws against it). Shame on the THUGS… as they’re caught shipping guns to Mexican drug cartels.
Obama doesn’t realize that the majority of Americans (I’ve seen polls with numbers as high as 85%) support medical marijuana. The question will be whether his 2012 contender is smart enough to throw him under the bus for it and promise a new approach to treat seriously ill people.
As someone with a chronic and quite painful disease, this issue is personal to me, and my vote will reflect that.
The Federals are no different than the Romans, throwing Christians to the lions. Why? They can’t handle the truth.
I knew Obama was a fake from the beginning sorry to all the fools out there. I was raised a democrat and then was rescued from that backward thinking by a libertarian who mentored me in internet telecom equipment and software.
The two hot wars are winding down so it’s time to start another one against the cannabis users. I am normally for peaceful resolution of differences of opinions. The people may have to do something more assertive.
Please sign my petition to eliminate the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), the “Drug Czar”. The ONDCP is the head of the snake and needs to be cut off.
You can view and sign the petition here:
http://wh.gov/4kR
Here is the text of my petition:
Eliminate the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP).
The legislation that congress used to create the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), also known as the Drug Czar’s office, requires that the ONDCP reject any attempts to reform laws for any substances on the List of Controlled Substances.
Because of this restriction, the ONDCP has shown time and again that it is willing to lie and distort facts in order to fulfill that mandate. This behavior by the ONDCP is un-American and immoral, and should not be allowed in a free and democratic society.
This petition requests that the ONDCP be eliminated.
Oh Great. Where was uncle Sam when all the banks where blowin the real estate bubble. But now poor sick people they can whip. What a pathetic bunch of creeps run this country.
MAN don’t u just kno this just made the cartel’s smiling laughing and now knowing what our gov is doing just made their business even bigger than they were 10 yr’s ago..this will just rake in more profits for them..as we will just ruin lives with criminal records mean no job’s which means no tax’es from those charged..And now that our own gov has armed the cartel’s with ton’s of gun’s the cartel’s will now grow richer and stronger they just keep feeding the violence south of the border..i mean is it just me that seems like our gov is just flat stupid..we will 4sure have a different president the next 4 yr’s..or right at the end he will play the regulate card cause after this he is flat done period…what happened to by the people for the people…were losing all this and not just on weed ya’ll..
You ever notice in the midst of nearly a million individuals per year arrested and now the threat to businesses operating openly and safely for patrons that we ne reasonsver hear about what these large budget federal agencies were supposed to be for: the take down of the big drug lords. The property forfeitures were designed in order to keep drug lords from using their “ill-gotten” gain to buy high power attorneys. Mandatory sentencing was enacted for similar reasons. How many of these drug lords are being investigated and tried? Any?
Maybe the drug lords have told their government servants (since they don’t appear to be our servants) to crack down or else.
Gary Johnson 2012
The above should have read “…we never hear about….”
Prohibition on alcohol never ended.. Micro brewing and making wine is kinda legal but try and set up a still even if its to distill well water..Felony..So i ask why is that a crime to have the same chemical in a more pure form? Oh i forgot its about WHO is making the money not the chemical itself..Sounds familiar..Its bullshit that people have to resort to illegally “gorilla” growing a substance that our brain naturally accepts with little side-affects. I don’t condone illegally growing but i also say the same thing about providing law enforcement a full time job harassing this countries communities for a plant that doesn’t even have the potential for producing mind altering chemicals until the last part of its life cycle..I like how they kept referring to the children when kids can’t walk in head shops..Sounded like a cry for help for some facts for opposing but pulled a blank..Keep calling our officials out make them stumble on words and listen to them make fools of there selves. sorry for typos…
I guess we should have seen this coming.It’s campaign season and how else is he supposed to get his campign contribution from the drug cartels.He’s got to guarantee them it will be buisiness as usual.I’m starting to think we would be better off if we filled washington with republicans and just let them defund all the pot nazi squads.
we will stand back, fight back! legalization now!
yep. Come on all you mexican mafia cartels grow n sell all the pot you can to US. Just get bigger n kill all you want. WTF you thinkin obama. He’s got to be the devil.
It’s a credibility issue. We’re just “crazy potheads” to them.
We need someone with credibility and inherent trust. Basically we need Oprah on our side; doing PSA’s telling the American people “you’ve been deceived”.
Short of that we’re spinning our wheels here…
This is fckn stupid, Obama is a lying freakin toad that needs to get the hell out.
Rant # 1:
Here is what I have to say about this:
1st thought: Election Year – Pres OB JUAN KA NO BE can’t control the border traffic so the DEA needs a show of force to take the ‘heat’ off the real problem.
**Caution friends in responding in a reactive, hostile manner to these Grand Standing,Propaganda mouth pieces who delivered outrageous statements.2 of the 4 US Attorneys had a mouthful of crap to spew and were a show of force with their team of ‘LAW ENFORCEMENT PARTNERS’. Just who the hell are they referring to, Law Enforcement Partners? Any peace officer in this state knows the coffers are empty and their jobs are on the chopping block…are they really going to cut off the tax revenue that pays their paychecks?
Inflammatory statements worth tearing down and sorting out what is being said:
#1: Civil forfeiture on properties involved in ‘Drug Trafficking’ (which includes, in some cases MMJ sales in violation of Local Ordinances..FEDS & LOCALS working together? Where the hell is the State of CA intercepting this show of force?
#2: Laura Duff, US Attorney says: Pervasive for-profit industry violates Federal Law…we’ve been ‘legal’ in California since 1996…Grandstanding/Distracting statement. Laura, what is wrong with a small business owner making a profit, hiring staff and paying their taxes, legally in the state they live?
#3: Laura Duffy, US Attorney syas: MMJ Industry is Damaging our environment…Creating significant consequences in CA & the Nation. Oh really Laura? Please say more about this…any data or details to back up the rhetoric?
#4: Melinda Haag, US Attorney says: Huge Profits send the wrong message to those in our society most impressionable. Let’s see…The Booze/Alcohol industry makes huge profits, which you tax and receive a great coffer of cash from annually….Are we cutting in on the profits of the recognized lobbying team of the Alcohol industry?
I’m not so naive as to think there aren’t some ‘dirty players’ in the MMJ industry. The number of Businesses seeking to legitimize their storefronts and adopting best business practices speaks volumes about civic duty and compliance with states laws, zoning laws and responsible club citizenship.
I’m all for responsible use of MMJ. The stuff soothes what ails you. I’m also eager to see some positive business activity in this down economy. The MMJ & Hemp industries are good for Mother Earth, the economy and a smart solution in these tough times.
I refuse to get angry; this new flash fight of inflammatory slander is our wake up call to stay involved in solution based dialog.
Threatening American Citizens with statements of’NONE ARE IMMUNE FROM ACTION BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT’ really makes me quiver! Remember your history…enemies of the state were removed by the Nazi’s in Germany.
Not interested in thugs, fighting, violence all because the Pres needs to grow a pair and look like he’s doing something good for the nation – propaganda.
At the end of the day those with good language skills will be the catalyst of change for our MMJ community. Don’t let these US Attorney’s words be the only this read on the subject. Speak Up, Stand Up for your rights……
Question Authority…Respond in kind to stop this oppressive interference. I’m a California, an American and this is supposed to be the land of opportunity and freedom of speech, right?
Be safe out there.
#49 Callum Yeater Says: (October 7th, 2011 at 8:07 pm)
“Its time to declare war on the DEA then. The gloves are off and they are not willing to back down. Its time to fight.”
Here’s an idea … every time there is a DEA raid on a dispensary, there should be a ‘flash mob’ alert sent out to gather in the troops.
Video all of the unmarked LEO vehicles, every participant in the raid, document what they take, who they take, and what these fascists destroy in place. Find out who these people are, where they live, who their families are, where they go to school, where they shop, etcetera etcetera etcetera.
They have done this to us, repeatedly, and it is high time that We turn the tables on them — call it ‘equal opportunity domestic terrorism’ if you must, but I wouldn’t. I would say that turn-around is fair play, especially against a bunch of Fascists. They have their ‘Fusion Centers’ and their FEMA camps. Perhaps Wiki-Leaks could host the aggregation of data on these sociopathic LEOs.
And why stop there … there are plenty of crooked politicians at every level of government that don’t like the fresh air and illumination of ‘open government’ as well. We the People deserve to know at least as much about Them as They do about Us. If They don’t like it enough, They can always rescind the PATRIOT Act, the Military Commissions Act, the War of Terror, the War of (Some) Drugs, and the national security surveillance police state.
I wouldn’t mind That.
Watch for Obama to deploy unmanned drones to target dispenseries and growers. Can’t wait to see the defense department footage with commentary in the background like “run hippie,run”. Obama’s 2012 slogan should be, “Can you fear me now?”
Editor’s note: There is no reason to deify any single politician (certainly one that has no chance of being elected president)
Wake up editor. There is literally just ONE pro legalization candidate in this race and you’re going to dismiss him as a political “white-knight”? If you think getting Ron Paul in office isn’t going to help legalize marijuana, then that’s your deal. But why try to spread that jive here on the boards? Oh oh I know why, because with a true reformer like Ron Paul in the office, there would no longer be any need for “NORML” and you guys would fade right off into obscurity. Your continued attempts to discredit and ignore Ron Paul should be evidence enough to any thinking member of this board that you, like drug cartels, are in favor of the continued war on drugs which allows your existence. What a shame.
[Editor’s note: How is Ron Paul polling among the other GOP field? How has he done in the past? While it is too bad that America is not as libertarian as many would like it to be, it is even worse when some folks pretend that it is and delusionally believe in the white knight scenario that will never happen in a large and purposely separated federal government.
Actually there are two other GOP candidates who support cannabis law reform beyond Paul: Gary Johnson and Fred Karger. However, unfortunately, none of these libertarian-leaning candidates appear to be very popular among GOP voters.
For all an intent purposes no president from any party can end Cannabis Prohibition (and logically put NORML out of business) without majority support from both houses of Congress.
If you don’t want NORML to exist anymore you’ll need a more popular and politically viable presidential candidate than an ‘also ran’ like Ron Paul.]
Medical marijuana was/is now/and always has been a BS movement(18-27yr olds make up 70% of the Med Marijuana patient population…..Really? yup!); anyone that says different is/was not a true activist “or” had something to gain by its presence.
I know alot of you may disagree, but things are better now. A line has been drawn with clear opposition and the Grey area (med marijuana) has been removed like a cancer that it was to the true movement (Legalization).
Marijuana should be legal; any other outcome is not acceptable. Having said that, this topic should not dominate your life and definately should not be atop of any activists “to-do list”; there are far more pressing issues to wrestle with that if dealt with would assure your beloved legalization. Legalization will come but it will be achieved indirectly.
I promise you all the medical marijuana movement was going to do was give the pharm companies another big pad day……and with the recent resched that ship may already be sailing.
Hi Paul….Im back :0)
All Hail Obama……..
No body threatens me………I say we take our cause to the lawn of the white house…..Lets fight this like the African Americans fought for their rights…
I admire the courage they showed……..We need that same courage to win this……
Just lost my vote. Good job, I campaigned for you last time around and i was considering doing it again.
Funny that the useless federal government won’t enforce their laws and protect our borders but they can pick and choose which laws they want to enforce by going after med. mj as if theres a horrible problem with it.
What about the violence pouring over our borders a$$holes(gov) Why don’t you stop letting the cartels bring drugs in and giving them weapons and profiting off poisoning and jailing our people? Why don’t you stop letting your greedy friends send our jobs to China and others if you really care about the “children”?
There is a plot to destroy America by design here people. If we get rid of the federal reserve(those who hijacked this country in 1913) we will have our country back from the puppet masters that control our polititions and make laws that serve us, not them and their friends! All this is happening as a war against us(and a distraction), as we close in on the banks/wall st./& the fed. reserve we’re not stupid! WE WANT OUR COUNTRY BACK “NOW”!!!!
As for those who are in controll, your days are numbered, so keep indoctrinating the illegals you let come in, and keep manipulating our schools and collages with propaganda cause we will counter it with truth. Justice will be ours, the 99% that have no say in our country are gonna force their say on you by getting rid of your self serving rich greedy assess! A big F U from the American people!
From,
Somebody who gives a shit about this country
Our government (if that’s what we call it now) is falling to pieces! We have got to take control of what is constitutionally OURS. It is not the right of the federal government to do what they’re doing. They just need to read what our founding fathers put into words and then find out that Americans are now starting to self-educate. Welcome back 1969! 🙂
As someone who truly cares about America and wants only the best for my country, I am once again saddened that our Federal Govt has decided to continue to “Make War Not Love”.
I’m starting to understand how the war-mongers think. I’ve been watching a TV show called “Bully Beatdown” on MTV. When they interview these bullies and show how they think and act toward their victims, I have come to realize that it is exactly how some of the top powers in our Federal Govt apparently think.
Lone Ranger-Looks bad Tonto. Tonto-What now Kemosahbee?? Lone Ranger-Lets ride and settle this once and for all. FREE THE WEED
Best thing Cali can do is suceed from the union and tell the FEDs to get the F@#k out!
In California we have a population of marijuana users that could be studied for the dire consequences that are supposed to occur from regular use of not-your-grandfather’s-marijuana. Are these folks suffering from increased rates of cancer, schizophrenia, traffic fatalities, and listless, unproductive lives, etc.? Why not take a look and see if the harms that our government insists must be there are actually there?
Seems in 2008 that NORML pushed pretty hard for this Obama guy or am I confused..
[Editor’s Note: You’re confused as NORML is non-partisan and has not endorsed a presidential candidate since 1976.]
Editor: I don’t see anyone deifying Ron Paul. He is the only major candidate who’s anti-prohibition. He may have little chance of winning and you may disagree with his other policies, but if drug policy is a big issue for you, who would you vote for for president?
Why can’t we have reform without majority support in Congress? The President has authority over the DEA and DOJ and enforcement policies can be changed as we see with the current crackdown.
Yes, we need to get reformers elected to Congress. We need to get them in as many positions of power as possible in all three branches of government.
[Editor’s note: Ron Paul is not the only GOP candidate who supports cannabis law reform….he is joined by other currently unpopular GOP candidates Gary Johnson and Fred Karger. The DOJ and DEA are not controlled by the president, they’re government bureaucracies that were created by Congress. If the president wanted to get rid of or seriously reform the DEA and DOJ, Congress can pass laws that overrule the executive branch (and the courts will affirm the primacy of Congress, not the Executive branch).
The reality is Congress created Cannabis Prohibition and they are the ones that have to amend the laws, not the President.]
it seems the feds are only going after the people who can’t fight back, so if the feds are so right about their cause they should also seize any tax revenues collected by the states, since the states are in violation of federal law
Schopenhauer:
“Every truth passes through three stages before it is recognized In the first it is ridiculed, in the second it is opposed, in the third it is regarded as self-evident”
This seems bad, but we are almost out… them reacting this way is actually a bit of relief because it means we are near the tipping point.
You know– you can say Ron Paul can’t get elected but if HERMAN CAIN wins the nomination and we have Obama vs Cain and Ron Paul stepped in…. not to say America is racist, but America will pick him in that situation.
[Editor’s note: Both your scenarios are fanciful at best as Cain is a very unlikely GOP nominee (Do you really think GOP voters in SC, GA, WV, MS, AL, LA, etc…are going to vote for Cain as their presidential nominee?) and the idea of Paul re-entering the race as an Independent that could garner a majority vote in the general election–because he is white–is ridiculous.]
There is “Occupy Wallstreet.” There is “End the Fed.” Get ready for “Occupy the DEA, DOJ and the White House!”
The time is now to stand up for what is right!
And to the Editor: How dare you paint Ron Paul as “certainly one that has no chance of being elected president.” Who does NORML support for 2012 then? There is NO OTHER CANDIDATE. Ron Paul is HUGE with the Liberty movement (forget marijuana supporters) and he may very well surprise everyone in 2012. We all need to band together!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
RON PAUL 2012!
[Editor’s note: What planet do you live on that makes you believe that a candidate who is NEVER in the top tier of other candidates can both win the GOP nomination and the general election against a sitting president? Again, there are other unpopular GOP candidates who support cannabis legalization–Gary Johnson and Fred Karger–but they’re candidacies are currently as feckless as Paul’s.
You may want America to be a libertarian country that elects Libertarians, but, the country self-evidently is not a Libertarian country.
Rather than delusionally hope for a Libertarian president in a non-libertarian country, the cannabis reformers who embrace libertarianism should instead roll up their sleeves and start the long and hard work of electing libertarian political candidates to local and state policy-making offices.
In America, politics bubble upwards, not trickle down from the top…]
funny…. maybe steve jobs dont pay him anymore….
Sounds like a perfect time to point out Ron Paul regularly puts up bills to legalize cannabis and has pledged to pardon anyone convicted of federal Marijuana charges if elected.
[Editor’s note: Talk about ‘pointing out’….How have those Paul bills done? Paul has such little political pull in a GOP-controlled Congress that his bills can’t even get a subcommittee hearing. How many bills in his long career in Congress has Paul been credited for passing? Unfortunately, Paul is not a very productive legislator and his bills generally have gone no where…sort of like his hopes of ever being nominated to be the GOP standard bearer for president and winning in a general election.]
Obviously, we will all be at the occupy wall street protest to show our discontent and disgust with our government and Obama on this issue and all of the other issues. See ya’ll there.
Editor says, “The reality is Congress created Cannabis Prohibition and they are the ones that have to amend the laws, not the President.”
Yes, but the president sets the tone. If the president worked toward cannabis reform, many in Congress would come out of the closet and support. We see the tone Obama is setting, and it has gotten the whole Fed on a witch hunt. I doubt that this witch hunt would be happening if Obama was a staunch supporter of cannabis reform. So what were you saying about the president?
[Editor’s note: Sure…a president has the bully pulpit…but that is it. Congress drives the lawmaking in America and your projection that “many”, a majority of the members of Congress, would go from being supporters of Cannabis Prohibition to supporting legalization because of who the president happens to be is truly not based in today’s political reality.
Of the 535 members of the US Congress and Senate…according to NORML’s lobbying efforts, only 5-10 members of Congress (and no one in the Senate) support legalizing cannabis. To pass a bill in the House 218 members have to approve the legislation.
Cannabis law reformers have much more hard work to do to increase the number of supportive members of Congress from 10 to 218….]
@105 MikeNY – If California does that half of America would want to become Californian’s. The major problem with that, aside from a huge population problem, is that there are major earthquakes predicted for that State’s future…
What would be better is if America just cuts itself in half. Half would be those of us that believe in freedom and are capable of thinking outside the box our Govt tries to stifle our thoughts in; and that certainly includes our right to use cannabis. The other half could be the nanny-state that does what the Govt tells them to do; and what the Govt tells them to think.
But better still is if we could only get leaders that truly believe in the American way, listen to the will people, and make decisions based on the good of the country instead of what will give them more power and money. We need leaders like Gary Johnson, Paul Armentano, and Bill Richardson (the former Gov of New Mexico).
Yes, I did say Paul Armentano! Sir, I’d vote for you to be our President in a heartbeat over any of the current offerings!
To Comments #94, 95, 96…
Especially #94, Kate Glenn, kudos for a well written response!
#95… Agreed the War on Cannabis is Fascists in nature, very much reminiscent of Hitler’s Germany in the 1930’s, and here’s why. We all know the facts the federal government are using to validate cannabis prohibition are baseless, unscientific, guided by and enforced based on decades of lies, deceit, and Unconstitutional policy. We know our Congress as a majority believes cannabis prohibition is a “save the children” stand, which somehow WE all know is also baseless and not true – if it were true, alcohol and tobacco would be right in there with cannabis, and it’s not. So they’re deluded into believing that the fact that alcohol and tobacco being legal provides those drugs with a scientific basis for acceptability, and in fact, Constitutional protections to advertise such drugs, and the slap in the face is Pres. Obama flouting beers at the White House as proper, which it’s not, as drugs on the job we tell young people is wrong. Yet there he is, drinking beer on the job!
As to a Syrian type resistance to the DEA, I rather doubt it will accomplish anything. As #96 said, the Pres. would not hesitate to launch drone-strikes against civilians attacking the DEA. You can bet there’d be snipers on the roof-tops, and SWAT teams on the ground with automatic weapons. It would be a bloodbath, and for what? To prove our government is no better that that of Syria??? We already know that. The entire 20th Century was a buildup of laws and regulations to ensure the federal government controls all facets of society, all businesses, what is freedom and what is not.
The US Constitution is not the basis for our democracy any longer. It hasn’t been for decades. The protests during the 1960’s, the civilian deaths at Kent State, the March on Wall street, all were and are digested by the establishment, and propaganda is released to drug the American public into feelings of shame and guilt.
The fact is – you will believe, the ONDCP is GOOD, the ACLU is BAD; that cannabis/marijuana is a danger to our society and especially youth; that alcohol and tobacco use is a legal enterprise that will not be threatened, or amended, and that eradicating the use of cannabis in this country will proceed without hesitation, without Congressional opposition, and that anyone not in a position of power will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Of that there is no negotiation. No matter how many Americans voice opposition to the War on Drugs, it will be ignored by the federal government as they have already established irrefutable policies with regards to “recreational/medicinal plants”.
Yes, this is bad news, but the truth shall set you free. We need to understand the federal government has shown zero interest in addressing the concerns of Americans opposed to the current status quo, and chose our actions wisely. Despite the impossibility of the situation, one fact remains unchanged: as Bob Dylan sang: “The Times they are a’changing…” All things change, even the immutable, pig-headedness of the federal government.
The Viet Nam war did finally end. McCarthyism did end. Women’s rights and Civil Rights did become a reality and all this despite impossible odds to change the status quo.
There is hope… but violence is not hope… violence is being initiated by the federal government in the form of raids, seizures, incarcerations, the destruction of families for their principals. Let the government hang itself, as there appears to be no stopping the War Machine, and the War Machine against American civilians in pursuit of Constitution Happiness will be it’s undoing. The March on Wall-Street is only the begging of the American Spring.
Have faith, laws against cannabis are not just, right, nor scientific. To be arrested and incarcerated for peaceful use of the cannabis plant is a miscarriage of justice. The penalties and consequences may be severe, and not befitting the crime, which makes it unconstitutional, but here in NH as Senator Kelly Ayotte was quite to point out in a speech of hers, NH has a motto it lives by and believes in: “Live Free or Die”. Which means, hurt no one, live free, and let the feds arrest us and destroy our youth… in the end, we will have crashed the prison system, we will have harmed no one, and although half of all Mexicans will be dead as a result of this War, eventually, commonsense will prevail, and the laws will change.
I’ll be dead by then, no doubt, but at least I’ll die knowing my pursuit of my right to Live Free or Die will benefit future generations. The War Machine will burn itself out eventually, the robots will turn on their makers, and the “Meek will inherit the Earth”.
Amen
If the President has nio authority over the DOJ or DEA, who is responsible for the increased enforcement?
“Of the 535 members of the US Congress and Senate…according to NORML’s lobbying efforts, only 5-10 members of Congress (and no one in the Senate) support legalizing cannabis”
One has to wonder if our Govt could possible be more out of touch with it’s citizens than the current bunch of losers!
The attorney general is nominated by the president of the United States and takes office after confirmation by the United States Senate. He or she serves at the pleasure of the president and can be removed by the president at any time
So if Obama is attacked in the debates next year for not enforcing the law(CSA) he can say “I don’t contol the DOJ or DEA” ?
I think this is a political move by Obama. He doesn’t care about cannabis users. Are you going to vote for Romney simply because of this increased enforcement effort?
On 4/20, all stoners unite and March on your nearest federal building, courthouse, etc. Bring the Country to its fucking knees!!! They constantly attack the people, its time to fight back.
Paul Armentano is correct about congress, though it would be helpful if the president appointed rational people to head the DEA and maybe someone like Norm Stamper as ra the Drug Czar.
So really, would it not be more logical to just vote for every libertarian on the ticket next time around? If it becomes obvious that a third party vote will be the norm until the major party candidates get a clue, it will make a difference.
We seem to be moving toward a day when one cannot get arrested for MJ possission. That’s right CANNOT GET ARRESTED. Arrest, trial, incarceration all cost money, and we don’t have enough anymore. Good news, NO. What will replace it will be even worse. Getting caught with weed or a failed drug test will result in haveing your name added to a national list of official second, maybe third class citizenship. Registered MJ offenders will be denied, the vote, driving privledges, employment, housing, mortgages, health care, 2nd amendment as well as the other 9 amendments (yes there are 9 others), and a list that will grow with each election. A non arrestable MJ infraction will drop your credit 300 points, show up at the emergency room with a heart attack, we’ll see you as soon as you piss test negative for MJ, maybe 6 months, hang in there.
I hope everyone tivo’d the Ken Burns Prohibition documentary. I think it was great. There was no need to mention MJ prohibition because the parrallel was obvious. Go back and watch the 2nd hour of the first episode again and again. A couple of quotes about the Anti saloon leages tactics in passing Prohibition.
1. He ( pres of anti saloon league ) didn’t need a majority, he didn’t need 51% he only needed a margin, that 10% that can sway an election.
2. Anti Saloon league pres speaking – “The anti saloon league is not in politics as a party, nor are we trying to abolish vice, gambling, horse racing, etc… The gold standard, free silver, free trade and currency reform ( Big issues in 1900) do not concern us in the least.”
My own thinking on single issue voting has been forced to evolve. I agree with NORML that MJ reform is hardly our most pressing problem in 2012. Most of us have very real political passions on other issues. Half of us care a lot about having a living planet, heath care for all, and the declining middle class. The other half care a lot about well, the opposite of everything the first half wants. Unfortunatly political victory in this counrty goes to the single minded. As long as we stay on the present course the Republicans will paint us as modern day witches, and Obama will continue the, lets agree to disagree on MJ while working together on other things.
And that’s where I think Obama is at. 1. He doesn’t like wedge issues and wishes we would just go away. 2. He ( as well as most Republicans ) know all those old talking points are bullshit, any sane person does. He also knows there’s no payoff( and a lot of pain) in being for MJ reform. I think Obama’s biggest nightmare is that Gary Johnson runs as an independent third candidate with MJ as his sole issue. No talk about letting the uninsuered die, No talk about the planet not being polluted enough, No talk about the poor millionaires being persicuted. Just one issue that will siphon off that 5-10 % of the otherwise Democratic voters that he NEEDS to be re-elected. No he’s not going to win in any scenerio, he knows that. If Gary Johnson were to do that, and really what does he have to lose, the Republican establishment has treated him like, well a pot smoker, he could do more for MJ reform and for that matter ensure the Republicans win in 2012. Which do not doubt for a minute the next Republican Administration will initiate a new ” reign of terror on MJ”. But although they’ll never admit it, they (politicians of both parties) will all know, KNOW, that while 40% of their natural constituancy is against legel weed, elections are won by 50% or more, and that last 10% of legel weed voters (maybe we should adopt the terms WETS and DRYS, I know it doesn’t apply to something that is smoked rather than drunk, but it is a classic reference that everyone would recognize) are not to be antagonized.
# 119:
I’M NOT WILLING TO WAIT THAT LONG!!!!!
My whole fucking life I have been lied to about cannabis. My father fought in the Battle of The Bulge so I coud be free. I am not free. Therefore I will fight, like my father, for my freedom, and in the same way the enemy fights me.
http://www.tenthamendment.com “Nullify Now”
Time to March on DC, name the time and I will be there!!!
Anyone else ready? Can’t make it, then march need to take place in every state capitol
So very many of these unreasonable measures by the federal bacon are about simple personal greed and job security. Those in “power” cannot resist the easy opportunity to APPEAR to be fighting the “good” fight. They believe it is a battle with no down side for them because, what can proponents of safe access do?
Vote.. that has proven irrelevant.
Defend ourselves and our property.. Impossible! The bacon wields VAST and devastating power, LETHAL power that they seem almost anxious to unleash against Americans pursuing liberty and happiness.
Should we wait for “Occupy” to eventually trickle down and help us in our specific injustice? I think not!
The problem with “Occupy” or even some suggested similar actions specific to safe access is the scale required to make a difference. You need literally thousands of same minded individuals TAKING ACTION to even be noticed by any of the bacon.
“Civil disobedience” needs to be more than a bunch of decent folks standing around in the “town square” to be effective so..
Here is the twist on “Occupy” I suggest for OUR cause.
What would be the result of 100 automobiles “stalling” in close proximity on major commuter bottlenecks on interstate freeways at morning rush hour in almost any large city in the US? -I don’t think it is illegal to have car trouble-
The resulting traffic jams would last for hours, SURELY garner unprecedented media attention..
“Today’s top news story…”
and cost tens to hundreds of millions of dollars in “lost productivity”.
Maybe the bacon would think twice before violating our right of access to meds if this happened every time they did.
I am not going to stand around in a “peace rally” style protest because it won’t help in my lifetime but I WOULD happily not be able to get my vehicle restarted if I accidentally stalled in traffic near a hundred or more of my “friends” who did the same.
Editor says, “What planet do you live on that makes you believe that a candidate who is NEVER in the top tier of other candidates can both win the GOP nomination and the general election against a sitting president? Again, there are other unpopular GOP candidates who support cannabis legalization–Gary Johnson and Fred Karger–but they’re candidacies are currently as feckless as Paul’s.”
No sir, what planet do you live on. Ron Paul is a top tier candidate; he continues to win straws poles and comes in the top three in the debates. It is the “whore media” that is deliberately burying Paul in the news. Please see John Stewart video on YouTube. So in the mainstream Paul is a joke; but in the alternative media circles, like RT, Ron Paul is GOD. Gary Johnson and Fred Karger are not even in the same league as Ron Paul, who are you kidding.
Talk show host Alex Jones, who is probably the leading alternative media outlet is striking huge blows against Rick Perry right now; and because of this guy’s power and usually spot-on political expertise and world economic understanding, may very well finish Perry for 2012. And the mainstream media is so afraid of this Alex Jones that that won’t even mention his name.
And guess who this uber popular underground guy is pushing for 2012? Ron Paul! NORML can just play in the mainstream arena and be missing the bigger piece of the pie by not also embracing the alternative, or it can really put up a bigger fight. The mainstream media and their mainstream candidates are gonna get broadsided by the people who want truth instead of corporate whore media agenda propaganda.
I would suggest that NORML team up with Alex Jones and be guest speakers on his very popular radio and internet TV shows. Success for the people will come when they team up with other like minded people to create even larger, more powerful groups.
What I would really like to see, is the state police in CA. arrest DEA agents and the US Attorney General in CA. for violating CA. state’s right to govern themselves, and violating CA. citizenry their civil rights! Will CA. law enforcement and Governor simply submit to the federal governments bullying? Do they have any balls? Serve and Protect? Does that mean anything? If the DOJ and DEA, and ATF want CA. to submit and beg for mercy? I suppose we will find out if CA. and elected representatives of the people, or cowards!
Editor…You might see NORML as ending with prohibition, but maybe not. I think reform will be needed after prohibition. God knows how long we are going to live with drugs and plants, but I don’t think traditional Homo sapians are going to disappear for a while.
And, Jeedi- Please, let Ron Paul be the RNC nominee so that I can vote for Obama. Ron Paul would serve my agenda well (I’m pretty much a liberal as of current)
Is the U.S. purposefully making Mexico unstable? Between Operation Fast & Furious, and the ramped up war on Cannabis, that will most assuredly lead to more violence in Mexico involving the Drug Cartels. It seems like the U.S. is attempting to destabilize Mexico for some reason…really strange news.
Ron Paul 2012, he will legalize marijuana on a federal level. He wants states to handle what drugs they prohibit, they federal government has no business dictating what we do with our personal lives, in his own words.
We need to construct a think tank. Come up with a fool-proof plan that changes the status quo quickly and painlessly. Sure, it seems silly, but a bunch of intelligent minds brainstorming about this could yield some pretty interesting, and possibly useful plans that will solve this problem once and for all. Some sort of viral marketing, or synchronized world wide movement orchestrated through a widely-used social networking platform (Just examples, mind you). The Egyptians fought back when things got desperate..and they utilized technology and grass-roots willpower to make dramatic changes within their government within in a short amount of time. These regular protests we try never seem to get anywhere. We need dramatic, widespread, peaceful realization of the truth about marijuana. I’m sure there’s a way.
What is Obama’s plan? Suck at leadership so much that we kick him to the curb? Solidify a larger public percentage for legalization? Let all the Nazis in our government have one last hurrah busting pot heads; before they have to start working again? Where’s the change when the plan is to abuse us again???
Jeedi is right. Dr. Ron Paul is the only viable candidate who is on the right side of this issue.
Broaden your scope NORML! Form broader alliances to reform Congress and the White House!
This CAN BE the last gasp of marijuana prohibition if we want it that way! Stand up for your rights people.
https://wwws.whitehouse.gov/petitions#!/petition/stop-all-current-doj-dea-ondcp-and-irs-attacks-against-medical-cannabis-dispensaries-california/FkSf2Y1w
And give $4.20 each month to https://donate.garyjohnson2012.com/?refcode=CLTX and help him keep spreading the word.
I HATE TO BREAK THE NEWS TO YOU, BUT THIS IS WHY I STOPPED SUPPORTING PAUL!!!
Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas, my home state) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamar_S._Smith was instrumental in kill the Paul-Frank Bill and has introduced the new GLOBAL “War on Drugs” bill…
He was endorsed by none other than Ron Paul… think about it. Ron admits he’s never smoked. He would leave it up to the states to make drug policy and has said nothing of granting a pardon to all non-violent offenders…
Gov. Gary Johnson has been an advocate for legalization since the time he was a Governor. The media is blocking him at every turn. The proof is now black and white with the latest debate coming up. It’s theme is supposed to be the economy. Gov. Johnson has the best economic record of ANY candidate bar none. Yet, he is excluded. He out polls several other candidates and delivered the most memorable line of the last debate. Well here’s the rules they set up:
1) Received measurable popular support in a range of national polls. (Johnson qualifies)
2) Campaign reported at least half a million dollars raised in its FEC filing through the 2011 second quarter reporting period. (Johnson doesn’t qualify, but neither does Perry and he’s invited)
3) Is a legally qualified candidate for the Republican nomination for president. (Johnson qualifies)
4) Participated in at least three nationally televised Republican presidential debates during the 2012 election cycle. (This ONLY and specifically excludes Gov. Johnson)
http://washingtonpostlive.com/conferences/2012-republican-presidential-debate
One more thing, I will be filing and official formal complaint with the FEC if Perry is on stage as that means all objectivity just went out the window as is required by Federal election regulations. The left-wing media is scared of Johnson gaining traction, because Obama wouldn’t stand a chance. The right is scared because he doesn’t represent their typical social right wing holier than thou attitude.
Did most of you not see this coming? I tried to convince dozens of myopic small growers and collective operators who were voting against prop 19 that if it were defeated the feds and the state would use that to go after medical marijuana with a vengeance!!!! Be careful what you wish for and actions have consequences!!!! Maybe next time it comes up for a vote you guys won’t be as shortsighted and foolish and vote against your own interests. Time to grow up and learn more about history and politics. Sorry if I’ve offended any of you, but I’m 62 and have been funding you guys for over 40 years!!!! Catch my drift – those are my dollars from my hard work that went to support you guys all these years!!!! Thanks a lot for screwing up the best chance to date to defeat the prohibitionists!!!!
Close down the clubs? Then put what there? They are already great tax paying businesses. Bottom line is people are going to do what they want. So give the people what they want. If your laying in your death bed and have tried every medicine know to “cure” your ailment and find something that works. You’d be a fool not to medicate yourself with it. I’ve seen multiple sclerosis patients suffer far to long.
To hell with Obama and his administration if he gets another term we should all just move to Canada.
Ron Paul 2012 he won’t stand for this shit
It’s ironic that it’s a conservatively favored government that acts opposite its own supposed principles of government getting smaller, and cutting spending, yet they seem to have no problem finding the money to fund these acts of oppression of law abiding american citizens. I’m starting to think about moving to Canada.
The law makers are using the war on drugs to keep violence/gun crime high.Law makers then use the statics of that violence to pass more and more laws.We have 11 year old kids selling crack on our streets and all we get is more laws.You would think that if you want drugs off the streets one would put them in the hands of our doctors and not our kids.As usual we the people get the laws and the lawmakers get the freedom. If you do not think so,when did any law maker take any type of a drug test,and how about you ever take one.
Everybody here in Cali and the rest of the country need to stand up as one and fight. For all you “closet” stoners, you need to come out of your safe area and fight. I’ve been smoking the plant now for over 15 years, and have been actively on the “front lines” of this war for 9 years.
It seems to me that ,this is a war on the citizens of this country. The Federal goverment is just trying to keep us in our place, under their thumb!!!!This whole Federal Govement should be impeached or fired. We no not need a Federal anything. Talk about BIG goverment, they are the worst.
Let us all remember who started this crap. A republican named Richard M Nixon in 1972. A favorite song of mine put it the best back in the late 60’s. The revolution will not be televised it will be live. Best to us all.
REGARDS Al Coholic!
Obama had better realize that many of the voters that elected him reside in California, and that California nearly legalized, with a narrow margin favoring criminalization.I think Obama would do much better going after the wealthy institutions that are causing the working and middle classes such grief, rather than hassling an industry that is relatively benign.Besides, many of us in this state are cultivating our own, so it will be impossible to just make cannabis go away. I agree with the other posters that have said that now is the time to legalize completely. If the feds can’t handle it, then f**k them.
I have a question for you Mr. Obama: As someone who supports the rights of medical marijuana patients, would you ask your family to obtain their medicine from the streets or from a regulated, open market? Someone needs to ask him this.
You’re about to piss of some 1 million plus cannabis patients in California alone. Good luck.
That’s hilarious. I say bring it on! It’s 99% vs 1% The Feds aren’t likely to win. They’re a PRIVATE interest. They can take their private agenda elsewhere. America is not interested.
When it comes to MARIJUANA PROHIBITION, the FEDS have a blank check that they can write out to themselves, money equals power. Election year around the corner and somebody wants to look good not to satisfy us, but to satisfy FEDERALISM and 21ST CENTURY INQUISITORS to protect us from something we do not want to be protected from, MARIJUANA. The DRUG WAR goes on still trying to justify the means of their fantasyland utopia of what drugs we can and cannot ingest on the level of BIG PHARMA and FDA approved drugs, NATURAL vs SYNTHETIC. People are getting tired of hearing this is FEDERAL LAW and we are above all other laws including the ones our citizens of this country voted for marijuana use. It just shows you that your vote does’nt mean shit in a NEW WORLD ORDER UTOPIA OF LIES AND PROPAGANDA. The escalation of war on marijuana is a war on the Constitutional rights of the American people. What the government can do to twist the laws to their own advantage in the name of FEDERALISM.
Let’s hope the Feds don’t consider marijuana energy consumption, too.
The carbon footprint of indoor grows is enormous, Kym Kemp’s Redheaded Blackbelt reports today. Can efficient grows really discount marijuana by 25%? Can medical dispensaries truly be more popular than Starbucks in sunny California?
The article and answers are at Redheaded Blackbelt: Holy Smokes!
The government has been out of the public’s hands and in the hands of Business/banks etc. since the creation of the Electoral College. Educate yourself about the EC, thankfully many are trying to reform it, but I don’t think that’s enough. The Electoral College needs to be ABOLISHED.
New Mexico was the only state that had it as a felony if the EC reps didn’t vote as the people in their districts did. Some states votes are automatically discarded ie. California, Florida, New York.
Whats a misdemeanor 100 dollar fine to an EC voter for not voting as the people did? When they get handed millions in campaign money? Ever notice he who raises the most campaign cash wins? Even on the local level? It’s not for all those lame signs or commercials, it’s to buy the position they are running for.
Why are the FEDs cracking down on on marijuana reform now? Hmm the Marinol patent is about to expire…big pharma can drop big bucks to campaigns. States pro medical marijuana and dispensaries, where growing fast enough to soon become the MAGICAL 2/3rd’s majority. When 2/3rd’s of the states say enough is enough the government and Potus HAS TO listen.
So they are scared, and know they are going to lose their grip. They’ve been losing it since the 60’s no one is content to sleep and trust that GOV’t is out there doing everything in your best interest and you don’t need to know what, that they just are. Well time keep’s on ticking and these old fucks keep kicking.
The only people that have ever wanted CHANGE besides Obama has been bums on the sidewalk, and that’s where they are trying to put us. Maybe he was saying Change as in you’re gonna be rolling coins when I am done.
The FED is already a puppet institution so they don’t really care, if they have to declare marshal law. They already have their systems in place so they don’t care…that’s what they want. We lose freedoms more and more everyday, and as far as they are concerned the Constitution isn’t worth the hemp it’s written on!
The only vote that counts is on the local level! if you’re lucky and don’t get a faker, promising what the voters want then, turn ass on them for the banks, and corporations.
The funny thing is all this material shit is just that shit, utterly worthless of no real intrinsic value and also whatever happiness it brought doesn’t last. It’s designed that way you are a consumer to them, they crank the machine consumers eat the shit that comes out of it.
What really lasts? What is one of your fondest memories? Did it have to do with sharing a moment in time with a friend or family member? I bet it was, I seriously doubt it was getting an I-anything, and if it was then you’re helping feed the machine of greed and hate and helping others stay asleep and you’re just sitting in the GOVT’s lap waiting for another worther’s original and a pat on the head.
By far one of the best talks about the “war on drugs” I’ve ever heard:
“The War on Drugs” explained by Graham Hancock
It comes as no surprise now that Obama has dropped all pretense. Do you remember the hope during his election campaign that he would be the champion that was needed? It was dashed shortly afterward. IF…and I do say if..he had really been the man of his word we all hoped he would be, he might have a few friends left in the movement. Now? I doubt it.
I believe the president has been corrupted. It is a sad thing when we can’t get an honest man to lead this country. I won’t even go into the gun loving, people hating monsters at the DEA.
He is false! Our government is a cartel.
Dear Mr. President
You said you would not target states that have voted for Medical Marijuana………….more political LIES!!
I voted for you in the last election. BUT you will not get my vote in 2012!!
Your approval rating is down to 40% bout what George W Bush’s was……………..Are you trying for 0%
Dennis Maddix
Like a damn fool I sent $25.00 dollars to reelect or dictator Obama. He is a shill and a liar! No more money for any of those bastards in Washington…….. Washington can go to Hell………..
One more thing,
something that I wanted to raise attention to,
a similarity (in THEORY as to the WHY)
the Occupy Wall Street, whether on the ball
or off in space (I see aspects of both)-
but what they are right on, even if misguided
is that they are AGAINST corporate dominion.
That means against the perceived majority (by power if not by numbers)
Ron Paul is for the same, whether or not them-
that is
He is an Independent.
He is not Republican – and, if elected, wouldn’t owe shitloads of crap to the corporations who funded him.
And he is not a Democrat – he wouldn’t be bogged down with unions and nepotism.
He is an Ace, all by himself.
I looked into some Repubs, and some Dems,
and they all look the same, with a detail different.
And ALL of one party or another seem to imply the same baggage as the rest of their party, yeah,
casserole, only one with onions and one with mushrooms.
Great.
Ron isn’t casserole he has something else going…
It would re REALLY refreshing for a president that did things on his own terms, his own ethics, and unhindered by prejudiced (already decided) mechanisms.
He also happens to be the only one that DECIDEDLY wouldn’t lock you away for years for a nice bag and some doobs.
Fuck going to prison for a bag (dealing) and a doob (paraphernalia).
They need to get our brothers and sisters in lockup for marijuana out. That would take some legislation TO GET RIGHT, and you know damn well these corporate prison execs don’t want it. Why doesn’t OWS mention that shit??
The banks cheat everyone and trash out the American Economy and the evil federal government bails them out and goes after the cannabis smokers? Anyway, you can screw the government do it. Cheat them like they cheat you! Vote for acquittals if you are on a jury. Refuse to cooperate in any way with the “authorities” The American government no longer receives it’s just powers from the People. It’s a Lie!
?”In addition to damaging our environment, this industry is creating significant negative consequences, in California and throughout the nation. ” Significantly damaging our environment ??? I dare the federal government to have an open conversation about tobacco production, corn production, hell any big agriculture. Maybe we can take a tour of the ~6500+ square mile dead zone we’ve created in the gulf of Mexico thanks to agricultural runoff and blame that on cannabis. I’m sure the Mexican cartels promised the EPA that they’ll make sure their farms don’t violate any regulations…Or maybe we should have an open conversation about the “negative consequences” of Mexican cartel operations that are funded and armed by the US Gov’t. Hey, if anything maybe when you get busted for cannabis you can get a cell next to Attorney General Eric Holder who has been arming these Mexican cartels for longer than anyone would care to find out. Let’s not forget that the gov’t was openly involved in the drug trade until they passed the food and drug act of 1906 thereby creating a lucrative black market with fattened profits for them to now share with their front organizations, all the while claiming they are the good guys. Let’s not forget that the governments of the world created the international drug trade. How many times has the CIA has been outright busted smuggling drugs into this country to help oppress entire races of people and control dissent ? I’m sorry I’ve lost count. If you’re going to sit here and believe the government isn’t involved in the drug trade anymore and isn’t simply eliminating it’s competitors then I ask what the inside of your a**hole looks like because that’s where your head is.
what everyone sould see is big bussiness is behind this along with the drug cartels in mexico. they are losing billions to medical marjuana aqnd wont let go I dont think its obama and if another republican gets in. well allot of old druggies will be in jail.
instead of worrying about how many shops are around the schools how about these “upstanding citizens” worry about how many piece of shit child molesters are setting up residence around them and everywhere else…they’d cause much more harm to any of these children than a silly little joint would and what about all the liquor stores that are allowed to be next to these schools? Dont they have issues with crime themselves?…but i suppose that would make too much sense right Obama? and that fucking idiot Haag? Quit the bullshit and stop acting like youre trying to look out for the kids
Hi . Some are bashing Obama . Some are swearing . IF ::
all of you with angry and demeaning attitude are one a
variety of bud and I noted 4 basic varieties which Ron
Paul campaign is apparently dealing to demean The Obama
Administration as a joke to consider actual effect the
[m word] ‘ma ri jua na’ had as “loco weed” is to begin
what is noted as unrational statement and altered thot
{thoughts} about standard chemistry and nutrition about
the way low quality cannabis alternate quality known as
“ma ri jua na” or sub-species group known as cannabe or
cannebem you are not ‘fighting’ for organic cannabis .,
It seems most are upset with the Republic State Dept en
government imposing as bashing Obama also because money
and money for prohibition are more conservative “greed”
and not the ‘liberal’ choice of Free Will and cannabis.
Republic[en] seem to make alot of money on prohibition.
What is low quality cannabis and why is it illegal .|.
It’s known as “ma ri jua na” and [m word] is illegal ,.
I don’t see another way about it. Cannabis can and we
hope will be legal when we stop using the ‘dangerous’ :
drug : schedule of criminality : prohibit{ion} : loco :
“weed” , mentality about Money and Payment about older
laws saying prohibition (with the what planet are you)
from . , . attitude about Lincoln , Truman and Obama .,
who all seem to support pot recreation and thn Republic
Govern(ing) tells so-and-so to promote greed lipservice
to say the President isn’t allowed to promote Free Will
and then the conservative factoring makes it sound like
Obama doesn’t support pot with strictures given about :
not liking [m word] , not wanting dangerous additives ,
and “stepping up to prohibition” .|. is probably what *
he said is he will “step up to prohibition” and former
improper controlling govern~ment changed his commentary
to what pleases the money conservatives about Bills and
somewhat counterfeit Greed . !! Lighten Up . B Obama
is with my opinion the best deal we’ve had on free will
preventing shadow govern control since before Clinton .
Look at : : Presidents get a Skull and Bones order to
falsify control and begin Dept of War former payment .
There’s been Arab conflict since Contra .,. and Obama
is taking it back as best he can and ending the former
travesty about a sort~a Modern Crusade.s . None of us
should want wartime nor dangerous rallying . So who is
the best choice for actual intelligent ruling and good
tidings with World Peace .|. I’d say our dark skin tone
President is doing better thn anyone recently . . It’s
the same with the war on drugs . Shadow Govern want to
not allow free will pot smokin~ and inexpensive economy
as they give prohibit and war (on drugs) orders and get
Greed Money for it [from who I’m not sure] So Whatever.
You want leader to be most aligned to progressive thots
{thought} and New Age World Peace and manna ecology .,.
so let not the best man . . . though the Best Leader to
Pre~side over all what will be Free Will and progress ~
.ive ecology including New Age organic cannabis peace!!
Manna Peace . OK[+] ‘m word’ and unnatural dutch strain
are becoming illegal . . uh ya they already were not a
legal form of recreation , medicinal or otherwise . . .
Thanks and Hooray . Good Luck with Manna Peace and Pot.
_\|/_ ~n ideal manna pot and cannabis and New Age OK{+}
😀 Bryan . Midwest former activist and Tea Party *
Obama lied to all of us, just to get our votes. It is pretty clear that will not happen again.
If he can’t count on your vote, the only other course of action is to stop you from voting.
How can he do that?
Arrest as many of you as possible on Federal Drug charges.
You cannot vote if they have made you a Felon.
You all will be a new kind of citizen. You will not be able to speak your opinion in public, you won’t be able to defend yourself, you will have no say in your rulers(goverment)decinsions. It will become near impossible to get a good job. You will be denied any and all public benefits. No school, no home,they can even take your children from you and put them in foster care.
If this is what you want, just keep doing the same thing you’ve always done. Bitch and Moan!
At least the wall street protesters are DOING something.
We need to join Them. Even if you don’t like their stance. Their getting media coverage. While your waiting around to get arrested. They’ve had their cause in the media more than we ever have.
We don’t have to join their cause. We need to stand next to them.To show how much all of the people are being completely ignored and abused by a goverment that is not just abusive to it’s own people, but actively promotes and protects companies that are doing the exact same thing. Obusing the American people, however they want, for what ever they want.
If you think I’m just full of it. OK.
But you dare not ever forget. America’s shame!
The unpopular Terrorist attack!!
May4.ORG
I did not read through all the comments, and this may have been posted earlier, but what about jury nullification?
“Let us all remember who started this crap. A republican named Richard M Nixon in 1972.”
Democrat Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1937
Reminds me of Nazi’s .. they Know there is benefits to this plant.. Why does the US Government grow it ? I am tired of this Country.. I Support Legalization I support Freedom.. Ron PAUl… please win in 2010 I am voting for you…
I meant 2012.. How did I type 2010.. LOL
Would it be better to vote for a free will President
or allow Shadow Govern to control all Republic
concern of voting and national command .|.
If we want cannabis legally , is it better to give thot
{thought} to Democratic promise though controlled by a
false bureaucracy with the available definition : : :
bu reau cra cy : 1 a : a body of nonelective government
officials b : an administrative policy-making group ~
2 : government characterized by specialization of func-
tions , adherence to fixed rules , and a hierarchy of
authority 3 : a system of administration marked by
officialism , red tape , and proliferation [MerrWeb]
so will Obama want cannabis legally and can’t say it .,
and will Republican hopefuls be any more promising by
the affiliation to common bureaucratic controlling gov-
ernment . He’s doing his best and I don’t see why it
must be the problem with what Republican independent ~
would go through if they were associated with Republic.
obama needs big pharma’s money. all candidates need big pharma’s $$. you cant patent a plant. its about money and control. and how will all the border police keep getting their mega pay-offs if they arent fighting marijuana? follow. the. money.
but we wont know the truth- the masses are asses and conservatives still believe this drug is comparable to heroin (same class, after all, right? ugh). many states trying to revoke/limit MM laws and asking for feds involvement (how much $$ is this costing? whywhywhy spend fed $$ w/ the tanked economy?? ya gotta ask- why? DEA NEEDS pot to be illegal to justify the department? how about that??)
dispensaries dont sell to kids. street dealers do. dispensaries are smartest thing for taking the weed off the streets, tax it and you’ve got profit for the state.there is a big secret reason they keep this illegal. and its about money. its always about money.
stoners are typically NOT activists. but that is the only way to bring attention to this insane and contradictory argument about marijuana.if you cant get off the couch, then send an email to your congressperson, and to the white house. and get your friends to send emails. and send every week til we eliminate these arcane laws.
wHY DON’T THEY DEVOTE THEIR FOCUS TO THE ESCALATION ON THE WAR ON MURDERERS, RAPISTS, AND HARD DRUGS LIKE HEROIN, METH, AND CRACK? THIS SHOWS HOW BIG OF IDIOTS THE GOVERNMENT REALLY IS. THEY NEED TO BUY A GLASS STOMACH SO THEY DON’T HAVE TO PULL THEIR HEADS OUT OF THEIR ASSES TO SEE THAT MARIJUANA IS A GODSEND AND THEY JUST NEED TO LEAVE IT ALONE. OVER HALF OUR GREAT NATION CANT BE WRONG… DECRIMINALIZATION NOW!!!
It is time for we the voters to let Jerry Brown, our State Attorney General, and the majority Democrats know that if they don’t tell Obama/Holder and their crowd to back off they will loose CA in the 2012 election. Do they truely believe we don’t vote?
Why are they not out screaming bloody murder in defense of the laws we have enacted in this state? They were supportive of us previously, where are they now? Why are they hiding like wounded dogs? What do they know we don’t? Or are they so afraid of Obama/Holder that they will not act?
Hey take a look! Obama/Holder and gang give guns to the Mexican Cartel, then go after Legal Cannabis usage and sales in CA. Whose side are these people on anyway?
Alot of the illegal Cartel money is being used to support Terrorism against the U.S. While alot of Cannabis growers in the last election sent $$$ to Obama’s campaign organization. Yet he wants to put us in jail, while he feeds guns to Mexico. Think about it, it is just a thought!
Just one more thought for the day. During which Republican Administration did any President/ or Federal Attorney go after the LEGAL cannibis industry or users as agressively as Obama/Holder? NONE baby NONE! Not Bush 1 or 2. If you voted for or supported Obama in the last campaign, then you deserve what you get.. he is from Chicago kids and they don’t know how to be anything but two faced liars there!
BTW just so you all know I have degenerative disc disease, arthritis in my pelvis and colitis. The Morphine the doctors were giving me only lasted 2 hours for sleep time then the pain breaks through. Of course they gave me Vicodin or Norco’s for that, but then I was wide awake the rest of the night. Now I take a shot of ticture, or eat a brownie and I sleep right through the pain, and the best part is I am no longer spending $300 a month at the pharmacy. I do not smoke this stuff as no one can make he hack a lung for nothing, but ingesting it has helped me tremondously and I thank The Great One for the ability to grow my own!
I don’t agree with you Lynda . When did a Bush help to
legally procure cannabis .|. My opinion , GW Bush kind
~a said he would support Proposition 215 supporting the
Green Cross standard and then disallowed changing older
United States Code saying prohibition for payout to the
Super Govern would allow or disallow state laws Govern~
ing state’s rights to disseminate and dispense legally.
Medical cannabis may be legal at state and decrim ideal
though it won’t be allowed in national U.S.C unless the
actual rights of Raich vs. State begin ~ending~ bylaws:
keeping [m word] “ma ri jua na” prohibited as dangerous
to the Schedule of Potency and instead refer to chemist
rights to Schedule on Ballot to Organic and Miscible @~
Standard of Chemical Value to consider cannabis valued:
To Edible and Miscible Natural and Organic Standards so
It Will Be Considered Beneficial to Health and Medicine
as the ‘m word’ standard is what keeps it illegal with:
Premise the Prohibition Wording of Cannabis as Illegal:
refers to [m word] : ‘ma ri jua na’ as ‘dangerous among
miscibility of loco properties of classically unnatural
cannabis or species cannabe noted with Kingdom England*
Ruling of Elizabethean 100 Year Council as Brazilian@!!
Loco Manna and not as efficacy minded nor provoking the
sanity of nobility who use it for calm mind and Peace’.
Maybe Obama gets alot of ‘censure’ about ending older *
Laws of Prohibition though he’s not the one prohibiting
it or we would not have his administration’s blessing ^
at D.C. medmana and East Coast medicinal availability .
Maybe the Powers Being Money and Prohibition Payment .,
disallow Obama Admin in speeches so he won’t say what :
I Know He Said is : He , “inhaled , that was the point”
and GW Bush couldn’t say it and Clinton wouldn’t say it
so what if Republican Dishonesty affects his wording.,.
for their Almighty Want of the Dollar uh Prohibition 🙁
Did anyone other thn the GW Bush statement about States
beginning Green Cross show any better progressive thots
{thoughts} and will you support recreation equivalent :
when the Midwest States begin Green Smoke with accorded
promotion of trying National Legality thanks to *Barney
Frank* and Ron Paul trying to sort out the Natl Ethics.
Every President gets opposition from false bureaucracy.
My opinion , Obama’s our most progressive recently . !!
op po si tion : 2 : the relation between two proposi-
tions having the same subject and predicate but differ-
ing in quantity or quality or both 4 b : often cap ::
a political party opposing and prepared to replace the
party in power . , . is the opposition at caucus though
who will take the power to run the govern~ment ecology*
and health to promote cannabis and Obama is trying .!!.
Admin : JaH Bless for the new NORML site information 🙂
and please allow this comment ‘though oppositional’ as:
it is written to begin new ideas and Free Will in Peace
so thanks and hooray !! . Bryan , Green Smoke _\|/_ /~n
Forget all the arguments about MJ being medicine….it’s about rights. This is your right to your own body but this Damn Nazi govt made it illegall so they can profit off it plain and simple. This is the big lie they’ve been feeding us for over 40 years. Every official Nazi who condones the Drug War on the People is complicit in perpetuating tyranny. They are sending us to jail so they can make money and shit on your rights. War has been declared on us long ago and everyone of those pricks in the alphabet agencies are guilty of crimes aginst humanity and fraud. We need a French style revolt now.
Every pig cop and politician who claim MJ is dangerous is right…it’s dangerous to their illicit monetary gains through the unconstitutional drug war R.I.C.O and not to mention the privatized prisons industry. Greed and evil pure and simple. War has been declared on the USA and the sheep let it happen. We should’ve revolted long ago. They don’t give a shit about freedom…it’s all evil greed and the lust for power. Let’s stop the bullshit thinkspeak now. Tell it the way it is…war.
Hello John and Tracey , different people . I thank you
for your incensed thoughts on drug “war” and trade . Ya
in my opinion its a foreign power of State who cannot *
give up on drug money of the prohibition of cannabis .,
and it’s the regimeist power of enforcement who make on
premise~s they are hired by Republic Society alot less:
money of prohibition and granted thought of enforcement
if cannabis will be the responsible use of free will en
ways the ideal of Manna Legal will be good for economy,
and they’re not Good [coppers] . Also thanks for newer:
mention about Willie Nelson’s TeaPot Party and coffee .
May your humor of enlightened cannabis ecology improve.
Thanks and Hooray Free Will . Bryan ~ cannabis activist
and former environmental activist and Midwest “Kingdom”
with hope the Kansas ballot will respect mental health:
Reason to Begin Cannabis Health rather thn medication ,
as Green Cross started with naturopathic medicinal and:
Green Smoke will want a deal on good recreation and .,
the taxes proper to begin legal referral to Decrim2 .
Dudes, really. We all smoke for the same reason as we drink wine, rum, or scotch. It makes you feel good after working all week. For those that don’t quite get it, well continue your ritious preaching.
What does it cost to produce 750 ml of cheep booze what maybe $2 including the bottle ?
Or a pack of cigarettes what $1
If pot cuts alcohol use as it will
and also cuts cigarette use as it will
the Feds and states stand to loose MILLIONS in Vice taxes
Not to mention all the money it will cost in social security when people start to live longer by using the Legal drugs