California Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, along with five other Republicans and six Democrats, has reintroduced legislation to prevent the federal government from criminally prosecuting individuals and/or businesses who are engaging in state-sanctioned activities specific to marijuana.
HR 1094 states, “Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the provisions of this subchapter related to marihuana shall not apply to any person acting in compliance with State laws relating to the production, possession, distribution, dispensation, administration, or delivery of marihuana.”
Representative Rohrabacher sponsored a budgetary amendment last year to limit federal interference in states with marijuana regulation schemes. (That provision expires this fall.) However, the Department of Justice has recently claimed that the law does not prevent the government sanctioning individuals or businesses in states where marijuana is legal.
“The American people … have made it clear that federal enforcers should stay out of their personal lives,” Rohrabacher said in a statement upon the bill’s reintroduction late last week. “It’s time for restraint of the federal government’s over-aggressive weed warriors.”
According to national survey data released today by Fox News, 51 percent of registered voters say that they favor “legalizing marijuana.” The figure is an increase of five percentage points since Fox pollsters asked the question in 2013. It is the first time that a majority of respondents have favored legalization in a Fox News sponsored poll. The poll is the latest in a series of national surveys showing majority support for legalizing and regulating marijuana
To learn more about HR 1940, or to contact your elected officials in support of this or other pending legislation, please visit NORML’s ‘Take Action Center’ here.
FOR THE PEOPLE ; BY THE PEOPLE = LISTEN TO THE PEOPLE.THEY’RE SPEAKING VERY CLEARLY.WE DO NOT WANT GOVERNMENT INVOLVEMENT~THEY’VE DONE ENOUGH DAMAGE!!! THE TIME HAS COME FOR ” THE TOTAL LEGALIZATION OF MARIJUANA “…
The complexities of proper wording and appropriate interaction of multiplexed laws, (end results of complex layers of policy),
require writing it in form such as this,
but… does this not open the door for alternate laws to intrude upon this ~’freedom’?
”
HR 1094 states, “Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the provisions of this subchapter related to marihuana shall not apply to any person acting in compliance with State laws relating to the production, possession, distribution, dispensation, administration, or delivery of marihuana.”
“
Clearly, The recent Federal Court prosecution (and appeal) of 7 men in the North Eastern District of California after passing budgetary amendments has even Republicans all riled up
“Weed warriors” ay? And so the tough get tougher.. But did Congress really believe that the DOJ, specifically the DEA, wouldnt come up with the funding when they’ve been writing the DOJ a blank check for 45 years, gave the DOJ the unconstitutional authority to write drug policy creating asset firfeitures world wide and allowed propaganda abominations like Fox news to exist?
Seriously, though, I think that’s great that Fox news caught up to what the rest of us already know. That they painted themselves into a corner of self-serving prohibitionist corner-of-shame and had no other recourse but to tell the truth… As best as Fox news can do…
Oh no! But where will we get our fix of racist diatribe of contrived news advertising, marijuana lies and propaganda? Aaaaah wait… There’s still Congress…
Prove me wrong Congress… Please prove me wrong.
I’d be interested in the names of the other 5 Republicans and 6 Democrats. I didn’t see that info anywhere when I quickly inspected the links.
Presumably Jarid Polis of Colorado and that bow-tied guy from Washington state are among them. Persumably Diane Feinstein and Grassman are not.
This legislation really needs to become law. The spelling marihuana seems to me to be kowtowing to the international prohibitionist’s world organization, the UN. I just want cannabis out of the schedule completely. I don’t want medical cannabis in its naturally derived form to be in any kind of a Schedule, however synthetic drugs, pharmaceuticals Big Pharma will peddle in pills, capsules, sprays, whatever can be in a Schedule for all I care. Not cannabis, not the plant, not the buds or what you can make from the buds, concentrates not in a schedule either.
Which US government official has to petition the UN Secretary General to remove cannabis from the UN/WHO and all international schedules so that signatories to the Convention on Narcotics 1961 treaty don’t have to withdraw or rework it. A small group of UN people simply remove cannabis from their schedule, least number of people get the job done rather than inconveniencing every nation on the planet.
I want to see progress on the removal internationally. When is that date at the UN? Before they meet again and we have to wait for the next window, next scheduled meeting which may not be for years.
What has to happen between now and then to make it happen at the very next meeting?
I just read about Vancouver on The Cannabist site, and without the US leading the way by passing this legislation, how will Canada deal with cannabis banking and cannabis taxes? Have they already solved that problem?
What will Canada do if the US doesn’t pass this, and goes ahead with regulation? What will Canada do if the US passes this into law, something even more expansive and pro-legalization?
Everyone is listed on the govtrack link:
11 cosponsors (6D, 5R) (show)
Amash, Justin [R-MI3]
(joined Apr 22, 2015)
Blumenauer, Earl [D-OR3]
(joined Apr 22, 2015)
Cohen, Steve [D-TN9]
(joined Apr 22, 2015)
Hunter, Duncan [R-CA50]
(joined Apr 22, 2015)
Massie, Thomas [R-KY4]
(joined Apr 22, 2015)
McClintock, Tom [R-CA4]
(joined Apr 22, 2015)
Pocan, Mark [D-WI2]
(joined Apr 22, 2015)
Polis, Jared [D-CO2]
(joined Apr 22, 2015)
Schakowsky, Janice “Jan” [D-IL9]
(joined Apr 22, 2015)
Titus, Dina [D-NV1]
(joined Apr 22, 2015)
Young, Don [R-AK0]
(joined Apr 22, 2015)
From the article:
HR 1094 states, “Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the provisions of this subchapter related to marihuana shall not apply to any person acting in compliance with State laws relating to the production, possession, distribution, dispensation, administration, or delivery of marihuana.”
vs.
According to national survey data released today by Fox News, 51 percent of registered voters say that they favor “legalizing
marijuana.”
The disconnect is right there in these two statements. The government wants to entrench their definition of “marihuana”, but the people want to legalize “marijuana”.
It would be better to reform the definition of “marihuana” to make it conform to our Constitution by eliminating its riddled form and racist spelling, then follow that by rescheduling marijuana.
The current definition contemptuously flouts the Necessary and Proper clause, as well as the Ninth and Tenth Amendments, all of which are satisfied by this commonsense definition:
The term “marijuana” means all parts of the smoke produced by the combustion of the plant Cannabis sativa L.
This year is a good time to fix the definition of marijuana.
So when the Feds get tossed aside (and they should), why is it any better that a state can determine what and how much a free person can choose to consume?
Anybody?
Free people don’t need permission to use their own bodies, but slaves do.
@a non e-mouse
Thanks for the info
I can’t figure out which link is the ‘govtrack link’, I’d like to be able to follow this info.
It’s a damn good sign to see all those Rs and Ds together on an issue.
Legalize cannabis. The nation needs cannabis.
How sad is it that we still have to fight for the rights of a plant that has existed long before mankind? A plant that has been used since ancient times as medical marijuana. Everybody should learn how to grow medical marijuana, if not as a patient, as a caregiver. It is literally a cure for damn near everything!
At least with the state’s choices, you have 50 chances to find one that suits you. With the federal prohibition everyone loses.
I can forsee this becoming a cascade of arguments within each state. However, states that don’t legalize cannabis will cause migration to states that do. Money talks as we all know.
@ Bob Constantine
That reminds me of something I read about what Jared Polis said about “marriage-juana” (I love everything the man has done and is fighting for) but the way it was worded comparing cannabis to gay marriage made me think the same way you just worded in your comment.
“Polis does see one major difference in how the two issues should be handled. Whereas he wants local communities to set marijuana policies that work best for them, he sees marriage as a fundamental right that should be protected nationally.”
http://www.marijuana.com/news/2015/04/congressman-legalize-marriage-juana
I agree with you Bob, How is what a person chooses to put in their own body not treated as a fundamental right? Why is it the states decision? We do need education and warnings about things that can be consumed. (Like any caring society would do)But overall people need freedom over their own body.
[I forgot to add] Overall people need freedom over their own body and the freedom to commune with nature.
If every cannabis user turned himself in, we would inevitably jam, and break the justice system. They don’t have enough jails or personnel to incarcerate 25+ million people, not to mention it would cripple our economy and thus our society. The federal government would have to change it’s stance. If we somehow made politicians realize this and made the federal government fear this as real possibility, we could win a serious victory. There is power in numbers.
This legislation really needs to become law to get rid of the new Jim Crow from cannabis prohibition.
Have any of the investigative journalists or news shows mentioned that the police put Freddie Gray in a full Nelson, a double Nelson, out on the street and broke his neck? When you see the video of the cops dragging Freddie Gray to the paddy wagon, his feet are dragging, and his head is limp, hanging down. They didn’t drag him away kicking and screaming, struggling and dragging his feet the whole way.
Then they come up with this bullshit story that he wasn’t strapped in on the ride to the station. It didn’t happen in the paddy wagon. As much as the pigz want the public to think he broke his neck by accident inside the paddy wagon because of a sudden stop or something, it defies logic. Since he was limp before in the paddy wagon the cops didn’t do the double Nelson and break his neck in there out of public site. They couldn’t just leave him there dead on the street.
Theze pigz did wrong, Jim Crow wrong.
I’m waiting for the toxicology report to say Freddie tested positive for weed. So what? That’s a non-crime, just like felony running, running while Black.
This shit pisses me off. You need to remove the excuses cops use to pull this kind of shit. It’s a Civil Rights Issue, and especially for people of color.
Legalize NOW!
I do not understand what the problem is ! Why not reschedule the Herb as a “natural therapy”
Anne,I agree…Should i not be able to buy a head of cabbage at the store, knowing full well of the vitamin,mineral,antioxidant benefits.Knowing that this could be a preventive as well as a possible curative for conditions of the human body,for all kinds of healthful as well as simple reasons,like taste, with salt and butter.
And why should anybody(including Pharmaceutical Companies) disagree?What kind of sinister motivations would deter us otherwise?
$$$$$$??????……..NO!!!!!!
Just read the article in High Times “Congressmen Blame Baltimore Riots on Prohibition” and I fully expect the Maryland legislature and executive branch to legalize cannabis outright for both medical and recreational consumption. They’ve got to get their seed to sale operation going, and just legalize the sale of viable seeds, too.
The governor moved his office from Annapolis to Baltimore, so now the Republican needs to forget about his party’s unreasonable prohibitionist stance and legalize cannabis in the Old Line state.
The City of Baltimore should simply make cannabis offenses the lowest possible priority, lower than jaywalking or a parking ticket. Defund cannabis prohibition in Baltimore.
Allow cannabis cafes and Amsterdam style cannabis coffeeshops to operate openly, without police interference. I want to be able to ask a Baltimore cop how to get to a kofieshop and have them give me directions with a smile, just like in Mokum Amsterdam.
The East Coast needs a Mokum, a place where a cannabis consumer is treated like a mensch. They should have treated Freddie Gray like a mensch, but instead they acted like a pack of dawgz out on a hunt.
If DC can’t do it because of Republican prohibitionist bullshit from Congress, then Baltimore needs to. That will make it easier to let their shit expire and Congress not renew the funding and implementation restrictions for the next fiscal year, thus allowing DC to legalize.
Barry, call off the dawgz!
http://hightimes.com/read/congressmen-blame-baltimore-riots-prohibition
Too bad North Korea is on the world’s shit list, because if it weren’t they could be running cannabis banking, and if they were international folks might be able to do everything from their computer over the Internet.
There you go, war hawkz, Republican prohibitionist. You need to legalize cannabis banking so North Korea doesn’t because North Korea is the only country on the planet where cannabis is NOT considered a drug, hence is legal/not illegal.
Are you going to tell me that after the US and other countries have up-and-running cannabis regulation structures and nobody gives a shit about cannabis banking that the US government is going to have cleared the way for a North Korea to cash in on international cannabis banking? That might be a good way to ease them into social acceptance, I guess, but I’m having difficulty seeing the US strategy in that. Then it becomes a national security issue that North Korea has hard currency and a lot of it because the US Congress is too effing retarded to realize their prohibitionist policies and rotten. How much more of a security issue would North Korea be if it had tons more cash?
Well we lost by three votes. But there is still the Carers Act! So call your Congressman. We picked up 15 more votes than we had last year so hey, at least our movement has momentum!
Galileo Galilei:
I wouldn’t get that excited about the bipartisanship. You pretty much have to hope for overwhelming support from Democrats, plus a decent number of “states’ rights” Republicans. Amash and Massie are libertarian Republicans, so it’s no surprise they’re taking this seriously (seriously, Amash is one of the best congressmen ever–he explains all his votes on social media, which is unheard-of in Congress). The other three are from districts with fiscally conservative voters that have liberal views on cannabis.
Unfortunately I don’t see middle America behind this at this time, and govtrack gives this 0% chance of passing. It’s getting close though; I think the most promising thing here is the Fox News poll. Give it three to five years, and 30 or 40% of social conservatives will favor at least decrim and medical legalization, which should be enough to get something through two or three congresses from this one, although it might be a bit watered down.
To the good men and women who are elected to govern our republic:
Here is a harmless natural herb which the medical research is actually proving to prevent [or at least slow the onset of] cancer, multiple sclerosis, glaucoma, alzheimer’s, high blood pressure, diabetes, and other health hazards. It is also a curative for many conditions and the most effective of pain relievers. Everyone can check the legitimate research about it as I have.
Why is there still a debate about legalization?
Correction to my previous post; we lost by three votes on the medical marijuana for our veterans act, not the legislation proposed in this blog.
Still, 3 votes not only shows our growing momentum in legalization and humane regulation of marijuana, it reveals the evil purchased members of our Congress prior to elections in 2016.
There are more than 17 U .S. Veterans a day committing suicide for PTSD attained in wars our Congress called them to fight for; Congressman who denied our soldiers the safest most non-toxic medicine to relieve their symptoms and keep them from a deadly prescription of opiate overdose surpasses shame and borderlines on treason.
Complete Roll Call (or link, thereto) , please!
[Editor’s note: Roll call vote on HR 2029]
http://thinkprogress.org/health/2015/05/02/3653713/synthetic-marijuana-health-risk/
The longer prohibition remains in place, the more harm that will continue. It seems that many people have turned to “so-called” synthetic marijuana since they either can’t get the real thing, or need to pass a drug test. Unfortunately for those poor souls, the synthetic stuff is very dangerous! People are dying from it and others are seriously damaging their health; sometimes after using it only once.
Wake up Congress! Many of you are responsible for the damage that prohibition continues to cause to otherwise good law-abiding Americans. Your rhetoric about all things anti-cannabis has done tremendous damage. It’s time to man-up, admit you’re wrong, and finally do the right thing – LEGALIZE IT!!!
As for the American people, take careful note of the politicians that want to continue their reefer madness agenda and vote them the hell out!
@Oracle;
Here is an excellent article from the Post back in November with links that basically say that Fetodov, the UN Drug Czar, cant stop U.S. Legalization of marijuana.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/11/14/the-u-n-really-wishes-that-voters-in-alaska-and-oregon-hadnt-legalized-weed/
To answer your questions, the UN General Assembly meets over Drug Policy in 2016, largely regarded as a benchmark or pivotal year in the legalization of marijuana in the U.S. That is, where we officially break past the critical %50 mark in U.S. Population with pro marijuana policies in effect.
As for “what we can do” to expedite the U.N. General Assembly, the obvious answer is to continue to remain active at the local level, from voting for City Councils to educating our State Congressman. These are the roots of our movement; The U.N. Assembly are merely the leaves.
But as Fetedov reminds us, some leaves are dying, withering, saprophytic branches that need to be sawed off and sprayed with pruning spray so they never grow back or attract fungus. (Ok, so maybe I went a little too far with that analogy, but if you read the article and see this guy’s face you’ll know what I mean. He looks like an old Cold War Dr. Evil crime boss out of 007. “So we meet again agent 007…”).
Sure, I like to entertain the idea of going abroad and working for the Organization of American States to rile up more international support for legalization, But as I am constantly reminded from NORML and my local lobbying efforts work begins here in our hometowns. American law influences international laws and opinions that need to form independently without direct force but rather exemplary influence and good drug policy. I just wish our insurance policies worked that way, but unfortunately were gonna have to drag that cat kicking and screaming.
Which brings me to another topic touched on by Mr. D and others about “owning our bodies” and a more deregulated, Libertarian approach to drug policy. My advice? Watch out; deregulation is what we already have; without a fairly taxed policy with adequate representation we get what we have now; private interests kick the responsibility to legislate drug policy over to the executive branch, law enforcement, and police-state-communist drug czars that have no business writing any legislation whatsoever in a Democracy.
Here’s the reality;
Legalization is happening through moderate yet sustainable bipartisan Congressional support, from Representatives that realize we are Americans before we are Democrats or Republicans, and …well, the polls sure aren’t going down for supporting legalization are they?
With that said, here is an analysis for the growing (and hopefully changing for Hillary, and American women thanks to Weed 3 and educating momentum) debates over cannabis legalization up to 2016, as we discuss party ideology, taxes and regulation:
Republicans are run by Insurance companies which want to maintain control over the price of medical care, something that legalized marijuana reduces at the core. So these Libertarian pipe dreams of keeping the “guv’mint outta our business,” are inherently flawed, legally un patentable and politically untenable.
Fair taxation + revenue for education= sustainable policy and fair representation.
If Jeff Bezos from Amazon wants legalized weed so he can sell it from door to door using drones, so be it, but expecting prohibition to end without regulation or fair taxation is about as realistic as asking Mosantos to stop poisoning our food and water without using regulation or taxation. Good luck with that.
Look, I believe in sustainability. I also believe we speciated from our hominid ancestors, found religion and God, self-awareness and civilization all with the coevolutionary assistance and symbiotic relationship we have with this synergistic pharmacopeia we know as marijuana, or the cannabis plant. From this perspective, prohibiting a plant of this nature is nothing less than prohibiting ourselves.
But we also live in a capitalist society that rewards the acquisition of profit and property at any perceptible cost. It would appear it is only when we are faced with war in a world of limiting resources that we look towards the value of sustainability over an artificially contrived, unsustainable economy based on petrol, prohibition and Federally Reserved Banks that are all too happy to facilitate racist policies based on the acquisition of property. Wouldn’t HSBC and Bank &@”* America just LOVE more deregulation? It’s like intrauterine cannibalism; we feed off of people’s credit before credit is even established or evaluated. Just print more money and bail out the people hiding all the cartel money and get ready for the next economic collapse. As long as we let big Banks determine the value of the dollar, they’ll continue to Launder and plunder our consumer economy.
Legally taxed and regulated cannabis can help change this evil, cyclical and parasitic economic culture from main street to wall street by decentralizing the banks, boosting rural trade, innovation and the small family farm into more diverse and sustainable agrarian economies. With the creator of Tesla introducing home batteries that can store solar energy, and the coinciding legalization of fairly taxed and regulated cannabis, the United States and the entire planet will experience a period of creative enlightenment that will lead to more sustainable forms of government and agriculture.
In a world where money and politics are trying to divide and exploit us with fear, anger and propaganda, Sustainability is the core policy that binds liberal and conservative policies, and cannabis legalization is at the forefront of this movement. Following this line of logic, it is easy to understand why more extreme and less moderate representatives are afraid of legalization. Beware the campaigns fueled by fear that allow anger to impede scientific and clinical judgement.
Falling into the propaganda of “low to no tax” party without READING policy is about as stupid as voting “yes” to a local Homerule law because the Wal-Mart being built in town says “lower taxes.” For the record, Homerule means you no longer have any say what the government, or the highest bidder, such as WalMart chooses to do with your own property. The city council gets purchased and so does your property; and at whatever assessed value the city council (Wal-Mart) chooses to give you, even if they want a road through your house. Sort of like how Texas and Oklahoma prevented cities from prohibiting fracking after indisputable scientific evidence demonstrated that earthquakes were being caused by fracking. We really have to watch out for these “no regulation” camps that might sing the song of freedom during prohibition but as soon as we legalize and the science is law, corporations are ready to trick us out of our hard earned freedom by dangling the “low taxes ” carrot in front of prohibitive laws that take our rights and give them to the highest bidder.
Fairly taxed regulation for all prevents unfairly taxed deregulation for the profit of the few.
Now plug any big bank, pharmaceutical company, drug-testing clinic or Prohibition Inc. you like into this equation and you can see how the public gets blinded by “lower taxes” and “deregulation.”
The irony of a “no tax” theory on marijuana is that Colorado, due to fair (yet complicated) taxes and regulation, actually owes taxes BACK to its citizens because they made way more revenue and recovered way more from their debt than lawmakers had anticipated after legalizing marijuana recreationally. And because they created regulation to balance their fluctuating expenses from homes to schools. Stick THAT into your “no tax, no regulation” theory.
I mentioned earlier that the push back from Republicans to legalize is rooted in insurance companies that wish to retain price control of medical expenses. Democrats, on the other hand, are run by trial lawyers which makes this party completely satisfied with proving the principals of legalization in court both domestic and international. (Ever wonder what the international damage receipt looks like after more than 70 years of CIA and “US AID” using prohibitive drug policy to topple Democracies in smaller countries just to make them weak for corporate exploitation and organized crime? The U.N. Doesn’t need a Drug Czar, they need a mediation docket and more international Judges).
There ARE prohibitionist Democrats, namely Debbie Wasserman Shultz from Florida who is on the Democratic chair. This is mainly from drug testing money that continues to purchase our Democracy. But the lion’s share of drug testing money is Republican based and tied to insurance. Here in Texas, lawmakers recently passed legislation that forces the state Congress to be drug tested, which they reluctantly agreed to after ensuring them alcohol would not be tested. It ‘s not hard to see where THAT is going to end up, “oh it looks like Senator so-and-so had marijuana in his blood before the accident” (never mind the open bottle of prescription meds and vodka). But so what; Let these dirty piss testing Republicans go on a piss-hunt. No one believes their propaganda anymore , not even those who profit from it.
If Employers have the right to test for harmful substances they better start with the meds, the alcohol and the dirty campaign donations.
“Marihuana”
So did they misspell it on purpose so that it doesn’t apply to ‘marijuana’?
When are we going to start making the idiots who are preventing legalization unemployed? Time to rock the vote my friends.
What did the Obama administration tell the Supreme Court, regarding the lawsuit against Colorado by Oklahoma and Nebraska?
http://cannabisculture.com/content/2015/05/04/Justices-Seek-US-Governments-Views-Colorado-Marijuana-Law
Let Puerto Rico grow its own MMJ on the island. They ought to have some premium sativa strains, ought to be breeding even more.
@ Julian
Thanks. I enjoy your take on things.
I read that 1961 treaty a while back, and it contains a method for changing or removing cannabis from the international prohibitionist schedule. Someone, a representative of a country, has to petition the UN Secretary General to take up the matter. That means the US representative to the UN would be the one who files the paperwork for that to happen before the 2016 meeting. Then at the 2016 meeting they can rubber stamp removing cannabis from the schedule altogether.
I heard on KYW radio in Philadelphia today that there are several competing pieces of marijuana legislation moving in the California legislature, like right now, today. They have to do with setting up the regulatory structure that would be able to handle legal adult retail which is expected in 2016, basically one piece of legislation would hand over control to the state’s liquor control system, and another would create a Colorado style marijuana enforcement division or administration, whatever it’s called, separate from the alcohol control apparatus of the state.
It’d be nice to see Baltimore, if not Maryland, legalize cannabis and Philadelphia as well. There is some movement on the medical marijuana legislation in Pennsylvania this week, too, as Philly NORML emailed me there are some amendments the cannabis community wants to the legislation when it is read in the full Senate this week. Vaporization amendment, expand the list of ailments MMJ can be used for amendment. I just have to hear what kind of bullshit arguments against it the prohibitionists come up with.
If I were President, I’d issue a blanket pardon for all things pertaining to Marijuana, except across state lines – THAT is the only issue the Feds SHOULD be enforcing, to protect those states that decide against the use of this herb. This Presidential action suits the times and would immediately release thousands from our prisons. The pardon would not release related convictions, like firearms being involved, for example. Perhaps Obama will consider this as one of his lame-duck pardons.
@Oracle
https://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/RL34543.pdf
Here’s a good read from the Congressional Research Service.
The ONDCP has requested no less than 27.6 BILLION dollars to satisfy their drug enforcement budget in 2016.
How many hungry children could be fed with 27,000,000,000 plus dollars?
How many students could benefit from 27,000,000,000 plus dollars?
What might be the outcome of spending 27,000,000,000 plus dollars researching a cure for cancer?
We are letting the lunatics run the Asylum?
Bob Constantine gave one of the best analogies I have ever heard, when he said “free people don’t have to ask permission to use their own bodies, but slaves do.” This topic is about freedom and it’s time our government needs to start listening. Polls show that 85% of Americans believe that medical marijuana should be legal and over 50% say it should be completely legal overall, but our federal government refuses to respect the wishes of the people. What happened to the democracy in this country, and how long will we tolerate the disconnect between “the people” and government? This subject is just another symbolic example of the disrespect to the citizens and the Constitution by this government. It may be time to hit the restart button in this country and take back what is rightfully ours. You can either give me my freedoms of I’ll die fighting for them. The concept of just sitting idle and bending over ain’t working anymore.