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.

Calderon’s Argument Against Marijuana is Based on Fallacy

By Ron Crumpton

President Felipe Calderon of Mexico has criticized the Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010 as an encouragement to smoke marijuana and said that it would only compound the efforts to control drug violence in Mexico.

He went as far as to condemn the medical marijuana community as being a sham, and to state that he was disappointed in the federal government’s refusal to openly oppose proposition 19.

President Felipe Calderon of Mexico

"Drugs kill in production. Drugs kill in distribution, as is the case in the violence in Mexico, and drugs kill in consumption," Calderon said. It is his belief that loosening American drug laws would cause "serious consequences for American and Mexican society."

It is good to see that the stupidity of the prohibitionists is not only limited to those serving in the U.S. government. Apparently, their brethren south of the border are just as ignorant and uninformed as they are.

Anyone capable of rational thought can tell you that if you want to end the violence in the war against marijuana, the quickest and easiest way would be to eliminate the reason for the violence. The reason for the violence is prohibition, not the common marijuana smoker.

Legal marijuana will do that in California. If Prop 19 passes, it will eliminate the need for an illegitimate source of marijuana.

With the rest of the country still suffering from prohibition, there will still be illegal marijuana crossing the border from Mexico and into California, but that amount will drop with a legal and safe market for marijuana.

Actually, the end of prohibition in the United States would allow Mexico to end their prohibition and with a legal market in both countries the need for the illegal trade would end, but the Mexican farmer, who is desperate for a viable cash crop, would be able to find a place in that market as a legal producer of not only marijuana, but it would also allow them to produce industrial hemp that could be sold for use in American factories.

The president’s insinuation that marijuana kills in the production, distribution and consumption is completely erroneous. The only deaths in marijuana are caused by its prohibition and the way the government enforces that prohibition. No one has ever died from the consumption of marijuana, the other dangers associated with the production and distribution would cease to exist with a legal market.

His denial of marijuana as a medicine, in the face of overwhelming evidence, only goes to show that he does not have the mentality needed to lead his people during this crisis. It shows that he does not have the right plan to solve his countries problem and his ignorance of the truth and inability to formulate and effective solution, leads one to ask if he has the intelligence to lead his people during this crisis.

If you first base the cause of a problem on a fallacy, it all but eliminates your ability to find a credible solution to the problem.

In his interview with The Los Angeles Times, President Calderon said, "I think they (Americans) have very little moral authority to condemn a Mexican farmer who for hunger is planting marijuana to sustain the insatiable North American market for drugs.”

Well, President Calderon, Where do you get the moral authority to condemn Americans for creating a market for what is one of the most useful substances on the planet. The blame for this falls at your feet and the feet of all leaders, of all countries who continue to breed hate based on lies and misrepresentations. 

When leaders do not have the courage, intelligence or wisdom to see the real enemy, their people will suffer from the violence and depravity that they continue to propagate.

EDITORIAL: Congratulations on Decriminalization, Prop 19 Still Needed

By Ron Crumpton

The decriminalization of marijuana is a huge step in the rights of Californians, but the shortcomings of decriminalization still cause major problems for smokers and the rest of Californians.

Marijuana is now an infraction, and that means that thousands of people will no longer be sent to prison for minor marijuana possession. This will save the state of California millions of dollars now that they will not have to house, feed and care for the medical needs of offenders.

However, it does absolutely nothing to stop the dangers involved in the continued illegal drug trade.

Basically, it is now legal to possess marijuana in California, but as long as you have the legal consumption of marijuana that is dependent upon the illegal production of marijuana the most hideous dangers that prohibition causes will still persist.

Street level dealers will still be facing jail-time for selling it, so it will still present a danger to the average smoker who has to purchase it.

It will still be sending billions of dollars to the Mexican drug cartels, and as long as the market for illegal marijuana exists, it will continue to fuel the violence on the Mexican side of the border.

In addition to keeping this money in California, Prop 19 would create legal jobs where the workers do not have to go to jail and would have to pay taxes on their salaries. Cities and counties would be able to collect sales taxes.

With all of California under such a budget crunch, why would you not make it legal to produce it?

Decriminalization helps smokers in some of the issues they face, but it fails to make marijuana productive for communities.

The one thing that Californians cannot do is see this as a reason not to turn out and vote for Prop 19.

Not only would it help with economic and safety issues, but it will allow Californians to take another step forward. A chance for the cannabis community to take another step towards legitimacy, a chance to say that our time has come and a chance to say that we cannot be persecuted for believing in the spiritual and healing value of this plant.

“If people let government decide what foods they eat and what medicines they take, their bodies will soon be in as sorry a state as are the souls of those who live under tyranny.” – Thomas Jefferson

This prohibition has caused our community to live under tyranny. After all, we are talking about a medicine here. Most people who smoke marijuana have some ailment that marijuana helps to ease. It could be as serious as AIDS or cancer, or it could be something less threatening, yet still damaging, such as depression or stress.

Prop 19 will end California’s criminalization of an herbal remedy that has been used for thousands of years by numerous societies all over the world.

Prop 19 is an opportunity not only for Californians to stand up for themselves, but it is also an opportunity for Californians to stand up for the rights of our community throughout America and the world.

Prop 19, if it passes, will be the first death nail in the casket of prohibition. It will be a catalyst that sparks the fires of legalization in other states, and it will send a clear message to the federal government that the will of the people still means something in this country.

The passage of Prop 19, the Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010, is the biggest opportunity the cannabis culture has ever had, and if it fails, then who knows when another opportunity of this magnitude will happen again.

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.

He Prosecuted Marc Emery but Now Says Legalize It

John McKay

By Ron Crumpton

John McKay, former U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Kentucky, said in a Seattle Times 0p-ed that our marijuana policy is dangerous and wrong and should be changed through the legislative process to better protect the public safety.

Marijuana prohibition "has utterly failed," McKay stated. "The demand for marijuana in this country has for decades outpaced the ability of law enforcement to eliminate it.”While he continues to believe that Marc Emery – a man he prosecuted for shipping marijuana seeds into the United States – and all marijuana smokers for that matter are idiots, but he sees the absurdity in continuing to try to enforce this country’s ineffectual drug policy.

He continued to write that while marijuana is nowhere near as dangerous as other drugs we continue to fill the pockets of Mexican and other international drug cartels, while needlessly putting the lives of cops, border agents and other law enforcement officials at risk for no legitimate reason. He states that he and other prosecutors, judges and law enforcement officials know that they cannot win a war on marijuana by arresting those involved in the importation, growth or distribution of marijuana, nor does it make any sense to continue to try to lockup all of the pot smokers.

Now he does not believe that the DEA is headed anywhere soon, but he does agree with me and many of you.

"We should give serious consideration to heavy regulation and taxation of the marijuana industry. We should limit pot's content of the active ingredient THC, regulate its sale to adults who are dumb enough to want it and maintain criminal penalties for sales, possession or use by minors, drivers and boaters," McKay said.

What he thinks of Marc Emery, me or pot smokers in general is not the issue, but when a major adversary of many, many years speaks out in favor of legalization, it is a victory.

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?