cannabisnews.com: Drug Czar To Get S.F. Invite To Pot Clubs 





Drug Czar To Get S.F. Invite To Pot Clubs 
Posted by FoM on February 13, 2002 at 18:36:31 PT
By Jim Herron Zamora and Michael Pena
Source: San Francisco Chronicle 
A San Francisco supervisor wants to invite America's top drug cop to check out local medical marijuana programs before his agents completely destroy them. "I would like (DEA Administrator) Asa Hutchinson to come and see for himself what we are doing here," said Supervisor Mark Leno, who will present a formal resolution to the full Board of Supervisors this week. "Before his agency attacks our public health system, I would like him first to see how we are helping the lives of many unfortunate people." 
Leno's resolution asks the Drug Enforcement Administration to reassess its plans to shut down medical marijuana clubs and prosecute the proprietors and suppliers. "We want the federal government to respect a model program that we have designed and is administered by our Department of Public Health," Leno said. "We reiterate that medical cannabis is a health issue, not a criminal issue." The resolution comes in response to yesterday's DEA raid on a South of Market medical marijuana club. Agents confiscated hundreds of plants and arrested three Bay Area men who allegedly provided the drug to patients. The raid came the same day that Hutchinson told a hostile crowd of 200 in San Francisco that "science has told us so far there is no medical benefit for smoking marijuana." Hutchinson also said that it is his agency's job to enforce federal law outlawing marijuana -- even if California voters approve of its medical use. Among those arrested were Edward Rosenthal of Oakland, the author of more than a dozen books on marijuana cultivation and a longtime columnist at High Times magazine. He turned a former Carnation dairy in West Oakland into a sophisticated pot farm, according to court documents. The DEA also raided homes in San Francisco, Oakland and Petaluma where hundreds of plants were allegedly grown. Yesterday's bust focused on the Harm Reduction Center at 52 Sixth St., which serves about 200 patients a day, including many with AIDS or cancer. Under a plan developed with help from the district attorney's office, the patients were required to show proof of a doctor's referral. "They wiped us out, essentially," said David Witty, who runs the center with Richard Watts. Watts, Rosenthal and Kenneth Hayes of Petaluma, who allegedly supplied the Sixth Street center and allegedly grows pot plants at his home on King Road in Petaluma, were charged with cultivating more than 100 plants and maintaining a place to grow pot. If convicted, each faces up to 40 years in prison. The timing of the dawn bust -- 12 hours before Hutchinson gave a speech on federal drug policy in San Francisco -- angered marijuana advocates. But the raid spotlighted the Bush administration's tougher stand on medical marijuana. "At a time when everyone is on alert for terrorism, the DEA has decided to go after chronically ill people who use marijuana," said Jeff Jones, head of Oakland Cannabis Buyers Cooperative. After California voters approved medicinal marijuana under Proposition 215 in 1996, many local prosecutors have been reluctant to pursue medical pot clubs. The Clinton administration wanted to close the clubs, but focused most criminal efforts on cocaine and heroin trafficking. That has changed since President Bush took office and the U.S Supreme Court affirmed last year that federal drug laws take precedence over Proposition 215. Last fall, the DEA shut down the Los Angeles Cannabis Resource Center in West Hollywood and confiscated thousands of records from a doctor in El Dorado County who gave medical marijuana referrals to patients. Yesterday's raid came the same day that Bush announced plans to reduce illegal drug use by 25 percent in five years. "These guys all like states' rights until it comes to medical marijuana," said Keith Stroup, of the National Organizational for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. "Then they suddenly back big government." Hayes, who was detained for extradition in Vancouver, Canada, was released on bail today after he asked authorities there for political asylum, his attorneys said. In San Francisco, bail was set at $500,000 for Rosenthal today and his attorney expected him to be released shortly. "It's absurd when the people of the state of California have said people should be able to smoke marijuana if they need it medically, and the feds don't care," defense lawyer Dennis Roberts said after the bail hearing. Rosenthal, 58, has been referred to as the "guru of ganja" and "is probably the leading author on marijuana cultivation," Stroup said. "These arrests are high-profile. They are not drug busts. The feds are trying to quash a political movement." San Francisco District Attorney Terence Hallinan joined supervisors Leno, Tom Ammiano and Chris Daly yesterday in denouncing the raid to a crowd of about 100 outside the Commonwealth Club, where Hutchinson spoke. "I call on the DEA to respect the wishes of the voters of California and stay out of the marijuana clubs of San Francisco," Hallinan said. Chronicle staff writer Bob Egelko contributed to this report.Note: Supervisor hopes he'll rethink policy after seeing benefits Newshawk: Is My Medicine Legal YET? http://www.immly.orgSource: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)Author: Jim Herron Zamora, Michael Pena, Chronicle Staff WritersPublished: Wednesday, February 13, 2002 Copyright: 2002 San Francisco Chronicle Page A - 1 Contact: letters sfchronicle.comWebsite: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/Related Articles & Web Sites:NORMLhttp://www.norml.org/Los Angeles County Research Centerhttp://www.lacbc.org/DEA Raids Medical Marijuana Clubhttp://freedomtoexhale.com/raid.htmFeds vs. S.F. on Pothttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread12002.shtmlPot Raids Stir S.F. Protests http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread12001.shtmlDEA Chief Faces Protests After Agents Bust http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11999.shtml
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Comment #23 posted by tr on March 07, 2002 at 16:08:06 PT:
tipping point
 I agree with comment that a "turning point was coming." This past summer I realized that the 8-9 states that legalized medical marijuana were upsetting the power applecart. I had been reading the history of marijuana-reefer madness-1937 marijuana tax act-1969 tax act declared unconstitutional-etc. I knew that this was big. too big. A little chill down my spine. Reading Shaffer drug library records. I noticed one where Anslinger said he reported to the U.N. This prohibition was about money and creating world government. And I wondered if the freedom of american citizens would be allowed to stand in the way of Global Powers. Can you imagine going to all that trouble to lie, cheat,ruin lives, destroy constitutional checks on due process, cover up, hide, misinform, disinform,murder,etc and then letting states ruin it all by waking up and voting. Democracy? ...Then, 2 months before world trade center I told my Mom this would be a communist country in 3 months. She must have thought I was nuts. Then along came September 11, 2001. Not so surprising anymore is it, mom. I'd say 99.9% chance that was all about drugs. But, then from internet research it looks like I was wrong. NWO had this planned for years and years. There's only one thing I know. We All need medical marijuana now. Who can afford prescription drugs? And who wants to support the pharmacuetical companys, when they conspired against us all those years. When MONSANTO-type Beast controls the air,water food,and owns all the land. Crude plant marijuana will be 'acceptable'medically to the global government. And only then will fields of hemp and marijuana be free. But they will be surrounded by barbed wire and it will cost YOU a FORTUNE.The government don't give as GOD gives. From Global pirates nothings free. God Bless everyone who has had to endure this unconstitutional, unholy prohibition. 
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Comment #22 posted by E_Johnson on February 14, 2002 at 14:34:42 PT
Faith hope and love
What about a prayer vigil in front of the federal building with banners readingYOU ARE HARMING US, BUT WE FORGIVE YOUAnything good is worth having faith over.
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Comment #21 posted by Zero_G on February 14, 2002 at 12:24:44 PT
NewsMedia
As citizens, the broadcast spectrum is, in theory anyway, our property, licensed in our name to the various companies.While this argument doesn't hold for cable, it does for digital satellite broadcast. To the best of my knowledge, anyway.Imagine an orchestrated campaign to start having license renewals denied...
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Comment #20 posted by FoM on February 14, 2002 at 12:06:31 PT
News Media
The news media shouldn't receive money from any one or corporation if they attach strings and chew them out and threaten to remove advertizing if they say something that is against their beliefs. Money corrupts and that's the bottom line.
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Comment #19 posted by Zero_G on February 14, 2002 at 11:55:11 PT
On Sheriff's / Media
I heard LAPD Police Chief Parks on a radio call in show the other day. He is currently seeking a second term and the Mayor has come out against him.Anyway, a caller asks him about the LAPD arresting mmj patients in violation of prop. 215, and he actually used the Supreme Court decision as his basis for the policy. As if the city police dept. is responsible for enforcing Federal Law. This is specifically contradicted by the Constitution of the State of California.But as police departments (Sheriff's depts. included) derive $$$$$$$$$ from asset forfitures, as well as direct Federal dollars, do not expect too many Sheriff's coming riding to the rescue, except in rare counties. ******************************************************NewsMedia losing money? Anybody else remember when they weren't EXPECTED to make money? Not much interest these days in a well informed, active electorate/populace.0g
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Comment #18 posted by FoM on February 14, 2002 at 11:43:59 PT
Dankhank 
Thank you for the nice words. I try hard not to let this irritate me but this irritates me. All they tell us is the reporter might be dead or he might be alive or he might be dead or who knows but it sure is wasting news time. Thank goodness for the Internet or we would be just sweet talked in the news just like they want. I'm sorry but I didn't like Clinton but I can't type the words that I feel when I see that narrow eyed appointed guy they call the president. 
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Comment #17 posted by freedomtoker on February 14, 2002 at 11:35:05 PT
Sheriffs Kicking the Feds out of the county
From: Dave Champion 
Subject: Sheriff controls federal actions
Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 09:07:25 -0800Don't we all wish we had a sheriff with this much integrity working for us!Dave
___________________________________________________________________________________________Sheriff Dave Mattis of Big Horn County, Wyoming, said this week that as a
result of Case #96-CV099-J, U.S. District Court, District of Wyoming, he now
has a written policy that forbids federal officials from entering his county
and exercising authority over county residents unless he is notified first
of their intentions.After explaining their mission, Mattis said he grants them permission to
proceed if he is convinced that they are operating within the legal
parameters and authority limitations set forth in the U.S. Constitution.The sheriff grants permission on a case-by-case basis only. When asked what,
if any, repercussions he had gotten from the Feds, he quickly and
confidently replied, "None whatsoever." He explained by saying, "They know
they do not have jurisdiction in my county unless I grant it to them."Mattis clarified his position by saying the federal court had ruled that the
state of Wyoming is a sovereign state and the state constitution plainly
states that a county sheriff is the top law enforcement official in the
county.Additionally, Sheriff Mattis contends that the U.S. Constitution, Article 1,
Section 8, clearly defines the geographic territories where the federal
government has jurisdiction. Amendment X, he said, states that "the powers
not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it
to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."Therefore, Mattis thoroughly believes the Feds have very limited powers in
any state unless the local high-sheriff allows them to exercise power beyond
that which the Constitution provides."Put another way," Mattis said, "If the sheriff doesn't want the Feds in his
county, he has the constitutional power and right to keep them out or ask
them to leave."Accompanied with other legal interpretations Mattis stands on the definition
of the world "sovereign," which is defined by Webster's as "paramount,
supreme. Having supreme rank or power. Independent: a sovereign State."Mattis said he grew weary of the Feds coming into his county and running
rough-shod over county residents: i.e., illegally searching, seizing
property, confiscating bank accounts, restricting the free use of private
lands and other abuses, without a valid warrant and without first following
due process of law as guaranteed by the Constitution to every citizen.As long as Mattis remains sheriff he says he will continue to see to it that
the citizens of his county get their day in court.Mattis went on to say that, to his knowledge, even the IRS has not attempted
to seize any citizen's real property, bank account or any other
private-owned possessions since he ran the Feds out of his county.Sheriff Mattis emphasized that he is not a radical man. He said he is only
dedicated to protecting the constitutional rights of the citizens of his
county.He added that ordinary citizens are not the only ones bound by and expected
to obey laws. Elected officials and government employees at all levels of
government are also bound by and should be expected to obey certain laws.As long as Sheriff Mattis is the high-sheriff of Big Horn County, he seems
determined to make sure private citizens and government officials alike act
within the law and their designated powers.Sheriff Mattis came across as a soft-spoken, polite man whose only interest
is protecting the citizens he was elected to serve. That being the case, he
might be the sheriff for as long as he wants to be.Sheriff Mattis is hopeful that other sheriffs will assume the same stance.
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Comment #16 posted by Dankhank on February 14, 2002 at 11:21:08 PT:
Snippy
FOM ...You snippy, I am way past snippy ...My lovely wife bears the brunt of my ire that results in screaming fits at times.I just vented to one of the priests in my church, and will have opportunities to do so again.It is maddening what is happening amid silence.I'd self-medicate if I could, alas, my pharmicist is unavailable for a day or two.Let's try to cheer up, God knows we have a hoe to row ...Peace and Love to all who fight ...
Hemp N Stuff
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Comment #15 posted by freedomtoker on February 14, 2002 at 11:13:21 PT
Sheriffs can kick the feds out of the county
The Sheriff, who is the highest law enforcement officer in the county, can KICK THE FEDS OUT, anytime he so chooses. This happened a couple of years ago. Yes, it was in this country.
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Comment #14 posted by E_Johnson on February 14, 2002 at 10:51:04 PT
Have faith in our own capabilities
Things are tough right now for the news media. The crash of Internet advertising took ALL of adveritising with it. News media are really hurting for revenues, and the giant corporations that own them are obeying the laws of capitalism and protecting their bottom lines at the expense of social sentiments like the public's right to know.I don't think journalists can be happy with all of the corporate interests in the ownership chains of their publications. I was first trained as a journalist before this all happened, and I don't know how I would cope with the changes in the economics of the news business that have transpired over the last two decades.But we are our own media, the Internet has given us that gift, and things could be a lot worse.
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Comment #13 posted by E_Johnson on February 14, 2002 at 10:42:18 PT
Information on the news media
Here are the layoff reports:http://www.journalismjobs.com/layoffs.cfmHere is the Columbia Journalism Review:http://www.cjr.org/
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Comment #12 posted by E_Johnson on February 14, 2002 at 10:34:35 PT
Things about journalism not being reported
There are major layoffs going on right now in all news organizations. This is not really being reported in the news.But it's a crisis. They don't have as many reporters and editors as they had before, but there is more news than ever before.
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Comment #11 posted by FoM on February 14, 2002 at 10:01:49 PT
Patrick and everyone
I'm looking for news and being real snippy with my husband and that's not my nature and said I was sorry but I am furious about the silence that is happening about the raids. I hope writers send emails to CNN etc. and ask them why they aren't doing anything on this story. I found a few articles today but don't want to post them. The one is a degrading article about the Rainbow Gathering in Florida. Nothing constructive at all. Another one about the antidrug campaign from the Christian Science Monitor but it doesn't have any substance either. I'll keep looking and I guess I am snippy. Don't they understand that Cannabis calms a person down and makes them more reasonable? They must hate reasonable people.
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Comment #10 posted by kaptinemo on February 14, 2002 at 09:24:41 PT:
TarBaby, 2002 version...
 Any one familiar with the old American South folk tales of Br'er Rabbit knows the story of the Tar Baby. And what happens to stupid Br'er Bear when he picks a fight with it. Well, Asa has just stuck a hand and a foot to the DrugWar Tar Baby...and is about to learn that he has gotten himself into more trouble than he thought he'd have.We've all been waiting...in some cases, for decades...for the 'tipping point'. The one singular moment in time in which the built-up social pressures behind a long simmering issue can reach a boiling point...or something even more explosive. I truly believe that we have reached the very beginning of that point. Asa has, with this action, removed any further reason for fence-sitting. It's act...or eventually die. The murder-by-judicial-decree of Peter McWilliams and the attempted murder of Todd McCormack under the Reno Regime should have been a wake up call...but it was done so quietly and with such tender concern for the legal niceties that it has slipped under the public's radar screen. The Ashcroft Regime's Federally planned murders of Crosslin and Rohm were only the latest stage of a Federal government emboldened by public apathy to take the next step; what amounts to, shorn of the veneer of civilization, as a form of Social Darwinism of the worst sort: ethnic cleansing. Which can only take place here in an atmosphere of fear allowing civil rights to be suspended. Which the antis no doubt believe they have achieved with this latest lumping of the failed War on Drugs with the equally doomed-to-fail War on Terror.But now, it's gotten too public; officials of a major city in a politically powerful State have warned the Feds not to do what they have done. The Feds, just like Br'er Bear, ignored the warning...and now the long awaited public spectacle of a DEA chief facing his would be victims has finally occurred. And Asa has proven himself to not be up to the task of explaining his actions in a reasonable light, dissembling and mumbling about "parameters of social mores". Asa has, with one single sentence, opened the door to the debate the antis have been terrified of ever having to engage in. Because it is here, amongst other places, the DEA has to admit that it is engaged in a cultural war. And that culture outnumbers it by a huge margin; the only thing that has kept it in check was the fear of force, and the hope of many of us that that force will not be used against us. So many of us have been, like Pastor Niemoller was in Nazi Germany, standing mute in the face of murderous injustice. That hope is now torn to shreds. Take a good look at your future, stoners. Take a good look.As Tricky Dick said in his famous interview, it's "Sh*t or get off the pot" (certainly no pun intended here; this is truly deadly serious). There won't be any more wake up calls; the battering ram and dynamite at dawn has replaced the 'midnight knock at the door'.And doing so, they have sounded their own ideological death knells. Equating potheads with Osama Bin Laden? Cancer patients are aiding and abetting al-Qaeda? Would you care to apply another appendage to the Tar Baby, Mr. Hutchinson?
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Comment #9 posted by eco-man on February 14, 2002 at 09:23:43 PT
Raid news probably on European TV, but not US TV. 
Use Indymedia to post the news yourself. BE the media. San Francisco Indymedia (part of the well-known, international, Indymedia network) for ongoing reports on the DEA raids. Anybody can post info there: 
http://sf.indymedia.org/ and 
http://sf.indymedia.org/news/search/ --Fast search engine for site archives. NEWS sites. All types of news. Drug war, too. 
Europe, USA, world. 
http://corporatism.tripod.com/fairuse.htm 
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Comment #8 posted by Patrick on February 14, 2002 at 09:03:48 PT
FoM On the subject of TV
A co-worker of mine has no TV at home. Like many students they haven't the time for study & TV. I mentioned the raids in San Francisco and that the major broadcast media was silent on the subject. He was not even shocked about the lack of coverage and said it will be all over the university campus in no time and thanked me for keeping him informed. Grass roots and word of mouth is older than TV. The only difference with this raid is that no one has been shot by a sniper that we know of. I say screw the networks. My curiosity about the world around will keep me watching news programs anyway but now..., they have lost my faith in their ability to be objective and cover important subjects of the day. Instead I am to keep my eyes open for teddy bear valentines day bombs and not pay attention to the DEA goon squads in California? Yeah right.Wait till I tell my co-worker today that Ed Rosenthal was one of the arrested! 
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Comment #7 posted by FoM on February 14, 2002 at 08:52:13 PT
No TV
I've put up with having the news on all day yesterday and so far today too and not one mention of the raid. This really concerns me. This is very imporant and they aren't giving it ANY air time. If this is hushed up what else are they hushing up?PS: The news has ground to a halt it seems today.
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Comment #6 posted by Morgan on February 14, 2002 at 08:11:41 PT
Total echo from 1974
The revolution will no be televised
You will not be able to stay home, brother. 
You will not be able to plug in, turn on and cop out.
You will not be able to lose yourself on skag and skip, 
Skip out for beer during commercials, 
Because the revolution will not be televised. 
The revolution will not be televised. 
The revolution will not be brought to you by Xerox
In 4 parts without commercial interruptions.
The revolution will not show you pictures of Nixon 
blowing a bugle and leading a charge by John 
Mitchell, General Abrams and Spiro Agnew to eat 
hog maws confiscated from a Harlem sanctuary. 
The revolution will not be televised.
The revolution will not be brought to you by the 
Schaefer Award Theatre and will not star Natalie 
Woods and Steve McQueen or Bullwinkle and Julia. 
The revolution will not give your mouth sex appeal. 
The revolution will not get rid of the nubs. 
The revolution will not make you look five pounds 
thinner, because the revolution will not be televised, Brother. 
There will be no pictures of you and Willie May 
pushing that shopping cart down the block on the dead run, 
or trying to slide that color television into a stolen ambulance. 
NBC will not be able predict the winner at 8:32 
or report from 29 districts. 
The revolution will not be televised. 
There will be no pictures of pigs shooting down 
brothers in the instant replay. 
There will be no pictures of pigs shooting down 
brothers in the instant replay. 
There will be no pictures of Whitney Young being
run out of Harlem on a rail with a brand new process. 
There will be no slow motion or still life of Roy 
Wilkens strolling through Watts in a Red, Black and 
Green liberation jumpsuit that he had been saving 
For just the proper occasion. 
Green Acres, The Beverly Hillbillies, and Hooterville 
Junction will no longer be so damned relevant, and 
women will not care if Dick finally gets down with 
Jane on Search for Tomorrow because Black people 
will be in the street looking for a brighter day. 
The revolution will not be televised.
There will be no highlights on the eleven o'clock 
news and no pictures of hairy armed women 
liberationists and Jackie Onassis blowing her nose.
The theme song will not be written by Jim Webb, 
Francis Scott Key, nor sung by Glen Campbell, Tom 
Jones, Johnny Cash, Englebert Humperdink, or the Rare Earth. 
The revolution will not be televised. 
The revolution will not be right back 
after a message about a white tornado, white lightning, or white people. 
You will not have to worry about a dove in your 
bedroom, a tiger in your tank, or the giant in your toilet bowl. 
The revolution will not go better with Coke. 
The revolution will not fight the germs that may cause bad breath. 
The revolution will put you in the driver's seat. 
The revolution will not be televised, will not be televised, 
will not be televised, will not be televised. 
The revolution will be no re-run brothers; 
The revolution will be live. Gill Scott Heron
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Comment #5 posted by Morgan on February 14, 2002 at 07:22:43 PT
Why no TV?
The Revolution will not be Televised...
The Revolution will not be Televised...
The Revolution will not be Televised...
The Revolution...
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Comment #4 posted by Zero_G on February 14, 2002 at 07:21:18 PT
mainstream media coverage...
You would think this should be self-evident that this is an issue of worth. However, just as the story about trade policy protests from Seattle to Genoa to Toronto to Qatar to NYC, ad infinatum, is only whether the protests were violent, or indeed, whether it is legal to protest at all and not about the issues involved, here even if we would get front page coverage in the NY Blinds, or the Washington Pist, or maybe prime time coverage on Alphabet Networks, what do you really think the spin would be?The Supreme Court says this is illegal, and the Court is Supreme.That's IT. No matter if that is the technical wording of the Court case or not.Why should we expect Ed Rosenthal to get more favorable TV coverage than Peter McWilliams, Todd McCormick, Todd & Rollie, Rene Boje, or your neighbors kid, ourselves...?I'm reminded of an interview I heard on local TV a few years ago with Woody Harrelson, about his latest film of the time. I paraphrase:inter: By the way, that's a great shirt.Woody: You like it? It's made of Hemp.inter: We aren't allowed to talk about that on this station. (cut to commercial...)But perhaps the public doesn't entirely trust the mainstream media anymore. (Ends on a hopeful note.)0g
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Comment #3 posted by goneposthole on February 14, 2002 at 04:59:06 PT
"They wiped us out."
George Armstrong Custer would have been happy to be able to say those words after he was attacked by 
Sitting Bull and the 5,000 Indian braves and chiefs who joined in the massacre.Custer wasn't quite so lucky. The DEA will one day meet its own "Little Big Horn", a figurative one. "If foresight were only as good as forethought."- Napoleon Bonaparte 
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Comment #2 posted by JR Bob Dobbs on February 14, 2002 at 04:29:03 PT
Where is the TV coverage?
  I have seen a big fat NOTHING about this story on MSNBCNNFOXetc. "News". The only pro-cannabis thing I did see on TV was Ralph Nader expounding the virtues of growing hemp - on Comedy Central's The Daily Show, of all places, where it got a large burst of applause. But why is the cannabis club bust not a TV newsworthy event? Would it not go well between ads for Paxil and Bud Light?
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Comment #1 posted by E_Johnson on February 13, 2002 at 20:24:50 PT
They've really screwed themselves now :-)
"These arrests are high-profile. They are not drug busts. The feds are trying to quash a political movement." Absolutely, and they're going to be even less effective at it than the KGB was in quashing the Soviet human rights movement.The KGB gave into the temptation to make high profile arrests, and it completely backfired on them. In the sixties they thought they scored a victory when they sent two high profile Soviet intellectuals, Andre Sinyavsky and Yuli Daniel, to labor camps for five to seven year terms for publishing politically suspect science fiction in France under pseudonyms.But what Sinyavsky and Daniel found in the labor camp both shocked them and gave them new purpose in life. They found out that there were a great many small movements against the Soviet government, some political, some religious, some ethnic, some cultural. None of these people had a way to connect EXCEPT inside the Soviet labor camp.Daniel started to smuggle out descriptions of his fellow inmates and their legal cases on cigarette papers.And that tiny bit of information getting back out to the members of the intellectual elite in Moscow ended up leading to the whole Soviet dissident movement, because the families of all of these different prisoners ended up meeting and working together, and forming a sense of common purpose that went beyond their own individual struggles.Nobody gave a damn about Sinyavsky and Daniel before they went to prison. They were a couple of fancy linguists. So what if they published science fiction in France? All in all, that was a helpless gesture, one that only alllowed them to comply with an evil system by cheating it in secret.As two privileged intellectuals cheating the Soviet system and having their own tiny bit of secret privileged freedom under pseudonym in a foreign country, they had no impact. The KGB would have done much better to leave them alone in their little universe of secret self-fulfillment.As two political prisoners facing an extreme sentence for an absurd crime, they became an inducement for other people to feel honor bound to work against the system that imprisoned them.In this situation, the mainstream media has been hewing to an orthodoxy about marijuana that requires censoring the fact that there is a political or cultural movement going on. That's over the minute they have to explain who Ed Rosenthal is.And the DEA, and Bush, will be more screwed if he ends up in prison than if he doesn't.
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