Gallup Poll: Support for Legalization on the Rise

By Ron Crumpton

According to a new Gallup Poll, more Americans now support the legalization of marijuana than ever before.

The results of Gallup’s annual crime polls show that 46 percent of Americans now support the legalization of marijuana. This equates to a rise of 15 percent over the last 10 years. If the current trend continues, the majority of Americans will be in support of the outright legalization of marijuana by 2013.

The poll shows that liberals are by far the largest group with 72 percent in favor of legalization. The majority of young people (18- to 29-year-olds, 61%), Democrats (55%), independents (54%), political moderates (51%) and Men (51%) support legalization. On the other hand, Republicans (29%) are the least supportive followed by conservatives (30%), older Americans (over 65, 32%), southerners (40%) and women (41%).

In a separate question, Gallup found that 70 percent of Americans support the use of medical marijuana, but unlike the numbers for legalization, that number is falling.

In 2005, 75 percent of Americans supported medical marijuana. Most experts, including the one writing this, believe that the fall in support for medical marijuana can be attributed to those who once supported it, but have now bought in to the back door to legalization propaganda.

Colorado Favors Marijuana Legalization but That Could Change

By Ron Crumpton

Polling by SurveyUSA has found that likely voters in Colorado support the complete legalization of marijuana in their state; the poll, which was conducted from October 19-21, shows that 46 percent favored legalization, 43 percent opposed legalization and 11 percent were undecided.

Due to a lack of excitement on the part of Democrats, the models used were heavily skewed toward older voters that are more conservative. Historically, this group is more apt to oppose legalization than most other groups.

If this poll had been conducted during a presidential election year, the results would likely favor legalization by an even greater margin. The turnout among younger voters, who are typically more likely to support legalization, is much higher during the presidential elections than they are in midterm elections. Therefore, if the poll had used the models for the larger elections it would have favored legalization by an even greater margin.

Since Colorado’s constitution allows voter initiatives, legalization will probably be put before voters in the 2012 elections.

While most people believe that passage of Proposition 19, in California, would improve the chance of passing a referendum, that may not be the case.

The reaction by Attorney General Eric Holder and the DEA to legalization in California could be a major factor in future support. If the Department of Justice, Los Angeles Sheriff’s department and the Los Angeles District Attorney follow through on threats to “vigorously prosecute federal marijuana laws in California,” the polling numbers could take a nosedive.

Unfortunately, unless President Obama decides to support the rights of California voters, they can be expected to do exactly that.

They realize that unopposed legalization in California would essentially be the end to the war on marijuana. A successful legal marijuana state would reduce the fear involved in passing similar laws in other states, and would force a more reasoned response to legalization on a national level.

Clinton Era Surgeon General Supports Legalization

By Ron Crumpton

Clinton era Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders said on Sunday that Marijuana should be legalized.

"What I think is horrible about all of this, is that we criminalize young people. And we use so many of our excellent resources ... for things that aren't really causing any problems," declared Elders. "It's not a toxic substance."

Former Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders

She continued by stating that in her medical opinion, “marijuana is not addictive.” Unlike cigarettes, which Dr. Elders called the most addictive substance on the planet; marijuana does not cause physical addiction.

The doctor then compared marijuana to alcohol saying that while alcohol causes the user to have violent tendencies, marijuana does not generate the urge to commit violence.

Elders has already voiced her support for Proposition 19. In July, she issued a statement to be published in a voter guide; Dr. Elders said the legalization bill would help divert law enforcement resources to more serious threats. “We can let police prevent violent crime, or we can accept the status quo, and keep wasting resources sending tens of thousands of nonviolent marijuana consumers — a disproportionate number who are minorities — to jail.”

It is not a surprise that Dr. Elders supports legalization; she has always been quick to voice her opinion about the status quo and hypocrisy in politics. In 1994, she was forced to resign from her position as Surgeon General because of her comments in support of the legalization of drugs, gay rights and the passing out condoms in schools.

Editorial: Justice and Law Enforcement Officials to Ignore the Will of the People

Attorney General Eric Holder

By Ron Crumpton

Attorney General Eric Holder stated yesterday that the federal government would continue to aggressively prosecute marijuana laws in the state of California, regardless of how the people vote.

This led Los Angeles Sheriff Lee Baca and Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley to announce that they will continue to enforce marijuana laws even if Prop 19 passes because federal law trumps state law.

It is amazing that some of the more prominent people in the American Justice System or willing to blatantly ignore the will of the people in a country that was founded on the principles of government of the people, by the people and for the people.

However, this is nothing new when it comes to the way the United States government treats the will of anyone who does not conform to their strict definition of what “the people” should be.  Apparently, I missed the passage in the constitution that states that the rights in this document or only valid if you blindly follow you leaders and believe exactly as they do.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca

      For years, the marijuana community has been persecuted. Persecuted when it was a fledgling community of outsiders in the late 50’s and early 60’s, and now it is persecuted even when residents of a state vote for constitutional initiatives to allow the use of marijuana for medicinal reasons.

Illegal raids of  marijuana dispensaries by federal, state and local law enforcement officials just show that today’s justice system believes that it is above the law. They believe that it is their job to choose which laws to follow or not to follow. They believe that regardless of what a law says, they are free to interpret it however they damn well please.

They claim that they are protecting families, but it is their actions that are causing the violence, death and destruction of lives that are associated with the war on marijuana.

Every year 780,000 Americans have their lives ruined when they are arrested on simple possession charges. Students are kicked out of college, young men and women have their entire lives ruined because they are unable to get hired by companies that would normally hire them, even if they had a DUI, but will not hire them because they were arrested for a gram or two of marijuana.

Every year children, cops and average Joes die, not from the consumption of marijuana, but from the violence and illegal empires that the prohibition of marijuana has created.

Our government has a constitutional obligation to protect the citizenry, but Americans are better off without this kind of protection. 

Law Enforcement officials apparently believe that they must create the dangers, so they can protect us from them.

Editorial: Prohibitionists Control Your Own

By Ron Crumpton

There is absolutely nothing unusual about the anti-marijuana community being hypocritical, disgusting and downright pathetic, but occasionally you see something that makes you ask yourself what kind of monsters are these people.

I spend a lot of time scouring the internet looking at articles and searching for topics to write about.  Sometimes, I will read the comments posted along with these articles. I have seen some pretty objectionable stuff come out of the mouth of these prohibitionists.

                   

Over the years, I have developed a thick skin. I have seen some very grotesque comments to articles, and due to my own writings, I have been called just about every objectionable name that you can think of and none of it seemed to bother me anymore.

However, recently these attacks on the NORML section of America have become so disgusting that I have to speak out.

It is not that uncommon for someone to post the comment in a news article that all drug users should be shot. I have seen it in countless newspapers from California to Alabama, but when someone is disturbed enough to post the comment in an article that refers to a 13 year-old girl being arrested and charged with possession of marijuana… I am sorry, but that person is just sick, and the authorities should be more concerned with finding that person and putting them in a mental institution than putting someone in jail for smoking a joint.

Another trend that just seems so shocking is that many of the vilest and disgusting comments come from users with the screen name ____Christian. Now whether you believe in god or not, most people would agree that the Jesus everyone talks about would not want these comments made in his name. So, for one to profess a belief in Jesus, and then make comments that defame, defile and denigrate everything he said and taught is the worst kind of sin you can perpetrate against your own god.

In the past, it seemed that the prohibitionists were simply uniformed and ignorant, but more and more it seems that some of these individuals are truly sick.

When advocates receive death threats for trying to get a valuable medicine into the hands of patients with cancer, Multiple Sclerosis, and other chronic conditions it tells you just how deranged some prohibitionists are.

When the Federal authorities raid dispensaries, even though the citizens of the state where it was located exercised their constitutional rights and voted to ease the suffering of patients, it shows that these people have infiltrated law enforcement.

Do not make the mistake of thinking that everyone in the anti-marijuana society is evil because to do that would make us no better than they are. Most are severely misinformed and misguided by propaganda and honestly believe that they are doing the right thing. For these people, the government is to blame for their ignorance, and it is our job to show them the truth.

However, I do not know of anyone in the marijuana community who would resort to these tactics. When I, and most of the advocates that I know, see people from our community make inappropriate comments, we are not afraid to call foul on our own, and it is well past time for the prohibitionist community to exercise the same kind of responsibility.

Threats, violence and name-calling are not going to solve this or any other issue. Instead, it only goes to degrade our causes, our nation and ourselves.

Editorial: Marc Emery is the Latest Casualty in the War on Marijuana

Marc Emery was sentenced to a five-year sentence

By Ron Crumpton

Seattle – On Friday, in U.S. District Court, Judge Ricardo Martinez sentenced ‘Prince of Pot’ Marc Emery to five years on the charge of conspiracy to manufacture marijuana.

At least there was some good news; Judge Martinez did recommend that Emery be allowed to serve his time in his native Canada. However, both the U.S. and Canadian governments would have to agree on the terms of extradition for this to come to fruition.

During his trial, the prosecution painted Marc Emery as the criminal in this affair. They said that he broke federal law and provided criminals with a means to perpetrate a crime.

However, the real facts are that the United States government is the one that has given criminal enterprises across the globe a means to perpetrate a crime. The federal government created and still maintains these criminal empires because they do not want to legalize… a plant?

How the United States government can accuse Marc Emery for a crime in this, considering the number of lives that have been ruined or lost in a senseless drug war that the government started, is incomprehensible.

Just a quick point to the federal government; it is the government that is responsible for every single death in the war on marijuana!

There should never have been a death in the war on marijuana because there should have never been a war on marijuana. Congress fired the first shot when it passed the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937.

Thus, we have been fighting a war for the last 73 years over a series of laws, that violate our personal liberties and that violates our right to think for ourselves without being fed a bunch of bullshit propaganda by our government.

If it was not for these trumped-up, unconstitutional, destructive and unnecessary laws thousands of people like Marc Emery would not have to serve time in prison for a selling a fucking seed that produces a damn herb or for just possessing an herb.

If it were not for this despicable, treacherous, unimaginable and un-American war on marijuana, thousands of Americans from innocent schoolchildren, average Joes and law enforcement officials would still be alive today.

Marc Emery is the latest casualty in the war on marijuana, and his prosecution, or persecution, is just another case of how our government treats people when they have the courage to say “that is not true,” and it is how they treat those who try to educate the masses to the lies and injustices that their governments have perpetrated against them in the name of prohibition.

Marc Emery is a hero, and he has done so much to further the cause of legalization, but while he sits in prison, we cannot sit idly by and let his work go to waste. There is nothing that would be a greater betrayal the work that Marc has done on the behalf of marijuana enthusiasts everywhere.

There are many marijuana warriors currently incarcerated in the federal penal system as well in those of the states. Thanks to these people and others like them, the cause of legalization has gone from an indolent movement to a vigorous and vibrant society of like-minded individuals dedicated to a wonderful cause.

Tonight, Jodie Emery – and many other wives and lovers like her – will go to bed without the one they love because our government insists that it must continue this insane war on marijuana for the good of the country, when the only way for the government or anyone else to win this war… is for the government to end this war!

EDITORIAL: Will Unlikely Voters Pass Proposition Nineteen

By Ron Crumpton

According to a SurveyUSA, a September survey of likely voters revealed that 47percent of those polled favored legalization, while 43percent were against legalization.

The key phrase here is likely voters. If proposition 19 passes it will be because of unlikely voters, not likely voters.

If a state has ever had the opportunity to stand and say, “we are not going to go along with the bullshit any longer,” California is that state. By being registered and going to the polls, the counter culture has an opportunity to pass its dearest piece of legislation, legalization.

Once again, California has the opportunity of being the guinea pig for the rest of the nation. Once again, California has the opportunity to show the rest of the nation that the prohibition of cannabis is more dangerous than the legalization of cannabis. Once again, California has the opportunity to show the rest of the nation that the propaganda shoved down our throat, by the government, for the last 100 years is nothing more than a bunch of twisted lies from the ignorant, the insidious and the insane.

The facts show that cannabis is less dangerous than alcohol and cigarettes, and unlike these substances, cannabis has legitimate medical uses. The legalization of cannabis would allow law enforcement to focus on drugs that are actually killing our kids such as crystal meth, heroin and cocaine. Legalization and legal production of cannabis would put many criminal gangs out of business and prevent violence.

Amsterdam has already proven that when you separate cannabis users from hard drugs, you have a much lower rate of cannabis users transferring to hard drug use. With prohibition in America, it is not uncommon for dealers to sell more than one product. Cannabis is a gateway drug only in the sense that it tends to make other substances more easily available to cannabis users. Legalization would end this contact, if you want other substances you would have to cultivate other sources.

Aside from the many reasons that pot should be legalized, this is an opportunity for anyone who believes that the federal government tries to enforce too much control over our personal lives, to stand up. Anyone who truly believes that liberty means that you have the freedom to do whatever makes you happy in the privacy of your own home – provided you are not harming anyone else – should support this issue.

This is the biggest opportunity that cannabis community has ever had. Not only is it a major step for the citizens of California, but it is a necessary first step toward the end of cannabis prohibition for the entire country. This can be easily proven because since the birth of Proposition 19 in California and the release of their tax projections, many other states have started to show interest in legalization.

However, if the mass of California cannabis users whom have never voted in any election fail to vote in this election; legalization will not pass. The result, the cannabis community will suffer its greatest setback since the passage of the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970.

EDITORIAL: Legalization for Medication

On Saturday, members of Alabamians for Compassionate Care -- a group that supports the use and legalization of medical marijuana – were at the Vulcan Performers "Revamped" Night of Arts, Dance, and Attitude.

They were there to educate others about the Michael Phillips Compassionate Care Act (MPCCA).

They expect the MPCCA will be introduced to the Alabama Legislature sometime in March. It is modeled after the laws that are in effect in 14 other states and the District of Columbia, and it would allow doctors to recommend marijuana to patients who suffer from seizures, have chronic pain, have been diagnosed with cancer and other chronic illnesses.
It is beyond reason that people would seek to deny a person medicine that would help them with their ailment, especially when there is absolutely no reason for them to do so.

Marijuana has been used as a medicine for centuries. The people of India have been using ganja (its Indian name) since the 11th century to treat headaches, muscle spasms, chronic pain and more. Native Americans used it for mental illness, and it was the staple in most of their herbal recipes for the cold and flu, childbirth and relaxing wounded warriors as well as easing their pain. Even Queen Victoria of England smoked marijuana to lessen the effects of menstrual cramps.

Now I can tell you from personal experience that it works not only for chronic pain, but also for the other ailments that chronic pain creates. For 16 years, I have suffered from chronic low back pain, sciatic nerve pain in my right leg and muscle spasms in my back and buttocks.

The modern medical establishment chooses to treat a condition like this in one of two ways: first, they will do nothing, and you just have to deal with the pain, or they put you on narcotic pain pills like Percocet and strong muscle relaxants like Robaxin or Valium.

Neither of these is acceptable. The combination of 30 to 40 mg of Percocet with 3,000 mg of Robaxin causes depression, respiratory depression, anaphylactic reaction, allergic reaction, malaise, asthenia, fatigue, chest pain, fever, hypothermia, thirst, headache, increased sweating, hypertension, jaundice, nausea, vomiting, amnesia, confusion, insomnia and seizures.

Considering that marijuana usually helps more, and your biggest worry is that you are going to drink a gallon of milk and eat three bags of Oreos: which would you rather take?

Now granted, marijuana has more side effects than that. According to familydoctor.org, the primary side effects of marijuana are slowed reaction time, difficulty concentrating, sleeplessness, anxiety, paranoia, altered time perception, tremors, nausea, headaches, decreased coordination, breathing problems, increased appetite and reduced blood flow to the brain.

I think most reasonable people would agree that if you could choose between the side effects of narcotics and the side effects of marijuana, pot is the way to go.

Furthermore, with commercially grown marijuana you would be able to accurately measure the level of cannabinoids. Marijuana high in cannabinoids, also known as giggle weed, creates a euphoria that can aid in dealing with the depression and anxiety that so often comes with chronic pain.

When you have chronic pain you have to stay physically strong, you cannot allow yourself to weaken because chronic pain is one of those conditions that if you do not fight it, you will succumb to it and essentially give in.

The problem is that when you are in pain you usually do not want to eat, and this can cause you to deteriorate physically. That is where the gallon of milk and three bags of Oreos come in handy.

I cannot personally testify to its affects on seizures and cancer. I do not suffer from those ailments. However, there are many more ailments, other than the ones that we have mentioned, that patients say is helped more by marijuana than by prescription drugs.

It helps conditions such as migraines, digestive diseases such as irritable bowel syndrome, ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease, fibromyalgia and dozens more. Recent studies show that it slows the onset of Alzheimer's disease, reduces the chances of lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and helps reduce the tremors and muscle rigidity associated with Parkinson's disease.

So, the question is not "Why should medical marijuana be legal?" The question should be "Why in the world is it not legal already?"

Marijuana is the closest thing out there to a miracle drug because there are few if any other drugs that can be used to treat so many different ailments.

The problem, like with so many things in society, is that it has been deemed unacceptable by a small number of the population, so they start the propaganda machines. They go to the conservative press and church organizations, and they poison the minds of the public with half-truths and outright lies.

Propaganda such as Reefer Madness, Assassin of Youth posters and comics and articles published by people like William Randolph Hearst, whose articles claimed smoking pot caused young black men to commit murder, polluted the minds of the public in the early 20th century.

The reasons that marijuana should be legal are too many to list, but we will list a few.

First, there is no reason to for Americans to suffer when there is a remedy that will help them with their ailment, especially when that remedy has fewer and less dangerous side effects than the drugs that doctors prescribe and does a better job. It could be argued that pot has fewer side effects than Extra Strength Tylenol. There is no argument that it has fewer side effects than narcotic pain medication, NSAID's (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) and high-powered muscle relaxants.

Second, through the proper legal and regulated growth and sell of marijuana it can be far less expensive than the cost of the drugs that it replaces. Marijuana is relatively inexpensive, but if it were grown legally and treated like a legal drug, the cost of production would drop. As it is now, the price is inflated due to the risk that people take and the cost of smuggling.

Third, in a free country there is no reason for it to be illegal to anyone in the first place. It is one thing to pass laws regarding its use -- not smoking it in a public place, for example. However, what someone does in his or her own home that does not harm society is not society's business.

Fourth, the truth is that there is a big lobby fighting the legalization of marijuana. Do you think that Budweiser wants Bud to be legal; do you think Jack Daniels does? No, they sell far more harmful substances that anyone over the age of 21 can pick up at almost any convenience or liquor store.

Fifth, we have been fighting and losing a drug war for longer than any of us can remember, and a large reason that we are losing is marijuana. If this relatively safe substance were legal, it would remove more than half of the problem. This would allow the drug agencies to focus on real drugs like methamphetamines, cocaine and heroin, and then we could finally make some progress towards taking these dangerous drugs of the streets.

Sixth, everyone needs an excuse for drinking a gallon of milk and eating three bags of Oreos.

Finally, for those of you that say it would make it easier for children to get their hands on marijuana, that is just BS or stupidity. When I was in high school, it was easier to buy unregulated marijuana -- I could usually find a bag between the front of the door of the school and my locker --than it was to buy a regulated bottle of Jack Daniels. Dope dealers do not check IDs.

The truth is that the war on marijuana is almost over; the stigma is gone. The lies about it have been largely disproven, and there has been so much research done on cannabis that the anti-pot establishment is finding it hard to pass off new lies about it.

For that reason, the legalization of marijuana will happen sometime in the not so distant future.

The question is: should we deny people medical marijuana now when we know it is eventually going to be legal for all?