cannabisnews.com: Protesters Target DEA Offices Over Medical Pot Protesters Target DEA Offices Over Medical Pot Posted by CN Staff on June 07, 2002 at 09:44:20 PT By Josh Richman, Staff Writer Source: Oakland Tribune In a scene echoed in cities from coast to coast, more than 100 protesters decrying a federal crackdown on medical marijuana forced the city's federal office building to close most of its doors Thursday. The protesters tried to deliver "cease and desist" orders to the Drug Enforcement Administration's office, commanding the DEA to stop raiding medical marijuana clubs, as it has in Los Angeles last October, in San Francisco this February and in Santa Rosa last week. DEA offices in the latter two cities were besieged Thursday too, each attracting about 150 protesters. An unknown number of protesters went to the San Jose DEA office. Seven San Francisco protesters were cited for failure to disperse and released. The DEA said it was unfazed. "It is the right of all American citizens to demonstrate peacefully in support of their beliefs," said Special Agent Richard Meyer, the agency's Bay Area spokesman. "As far as we are concerned, federal law remains the same and our mission has not changed." But Oakland protesters said forcing Federal Protective Service officers to seal most of the building's entrances was a moral victory, and they promised that any DEA raids from now on will be met with coordinated grass-roots resistance and civil disobedience. "You keep closing doors on us, we're going to close doors on you," longtime medical marijuana activist Debbie Goldsberry of Berkeley vowed through a loudspeaker. "We're not going to tolerate zero tolerance anymore." California voters passed Proposition 215, the Compassionate Use Act, in 1996 to legalize medical marijuana use with a doctor's recommendation. Federal authorities insist the drug remains illegal for all purposes under the Controlled Substances Act. "The people of California have spoken, and it's outrageous for the federal government to continue to undermine our democratic process," Oakland City Councilwoman Nancy Nadel told Oakland protesters Thursday, pledging her support. Protesters, some wearing wreaths of fake marijuana leaves, hoisted picket signs with slogans such as "I'm a patient, not a criminal" and "DEA go away." They cheered as passing vehicles -- including an AC Transit bus and a City of Oakland van -- honked in encouragement. Don Duncan of Americans for Safe Access, which organized the nationwide protest, led a few protesters to the federal building's other side, where government workers were filing through a single door under uniformed officers' watchful eyes. Duncan and his party were denied entry. "The building is closed to the public," an officer said. "There's nobody here from DEA who can see you today. It's open to employees only." Duncan immediately dialed the Oakland DEA office on his cell phone, asking either to be allowed upstairs or for someone to come down and accept the "cease and desist" orders he was trying to "serve." He was put on hold several times, and eventually they hung up on him. Upon returning to the rally, Duncan urged the protesters to monitor news reports carefully for future DEA raids, and if there is one, to rush to the site to protest and bear witness. There will be a protest outside the federal building at noon on the day after any local raid, he said. "The federal government is hereby on notice: We will not tolerate any more raids in California." Complete Title: Protesters Target DEA Offices Over Medical Pot Crackdown Source: Oakland Tribune, The (CA)Author: Josh Richman, Staff WriterPublished: Friday, June 07, 2002Copyright: 2002 MediaNews Group, Inc. and ANG NewspapersContact: triblet angnewspapers.comWebsite: http://www.oaklandtribune.com/Related Articles & Web Sites:Americans for Safe Accesshttp://safeaccessnow.org Medicinal Cannabis Research Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/research.htm200 Join Santa Rosa Protest of Federal Pot Laws http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13068.shtmlMedical-Pot Backers Protest To Fedshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13067.shtmlMany PHOTOS. 10 Arrests at Washington D.C. DEA. http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13062.shtml#8 Video. 10 D.C. DEA arrests at Medical MJ Protest. http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13063.shtml#1 News Reports from Richard Lake, Mapinc. Senior Editorhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13065.shtml#12 Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #9 posted by The GCW on June 08, 2002 at 05:01:00 PT Paul good info...I did not know Marinol was an Ill. product & I did not know about it being made by Unimed / ONE MEDICINE... [ Post Comment ] Comment #8 posted by paul peterson on June 07, 2002 at 16:30:15 PT: CHICAGO POLICE ARE FRIENDLIER BY FAR I have spoken with perhaps 400 police officers in Chicago and suburbs on these issues. As soon as they recognize that I support their valid efforts to rid our communities of the more "troublesome" drugs and problems associated with them (including any violent gangs that traffic in pot), they seem to open up quite a bit. Most policemen live in the communities they serve. They have friends, family and cohorts that (have) used marijuana, and in fact, I have spoken with prosecuting attorneys that have had cancer, and it is the police that often have recommended that they try pot to alleviate the nausea!The DEA, now they are a different breed. They have been trained to foam at the mouth at the very mention of medical marijuana (there, did you hear that growl when I typed those words?). They either get bonuses when they get this "drug" away from people that claim a medical need, or they get bonuses when they confiscate property belonging to innocent people or something else, go figure.The State Troopers, they appear to be rather cordial and communicative about these things as well as the police. Why, last summer, when I solicited the State of Illinois to allow for valid research and treatment under our current MM statute (720 ILCS 550, section 11 - salute when I type that, and that's an order!), when I wrote the troopers, they responded with the nicest letter that they would cooperate with whatever the DHS wanted to do (within reason, they only wanted to ensure that there was no illegal activity going on). I called them back and thanked them for the "nicest letter anybody had ever sent me on this thing! Now, of course, it is the DHS that is the stick in the mud. They took a virgin statute, with no DEA approval language, and did these arcane "regulations" that say the DEA must authorize any research or usage of this stuff! The regulations talk about mainly MARINOL, oh yeah! That is because ILLINOIS IS THE HOME OF MARINOL- You see, ABBOT labs (an Illinois company), got the nod to make this stuff. They didn't want to sully their own name, so they started a company called UNIMED (that means one medicine), to do the dirty work. They also are in Illinois. That does it! Illinois will never let go of their sacred cow, MARINOL. Why, if they let the cat out of the bag, their home town "one medicine" medicine company (UNIMED) would lose profits-and they probably all have a long list of stock certificates to prove that they have something to lose if they take away the losses (to the drug war prisoners). Oh well, I'm done now, time to move to another state, I think (one without a lotta drug war drug companies, I think!). PAUL http://ILLINOIS-MMI.org [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by monvor on June 07, 2002 at 15:13:09 PT Kickin' DEA butt!!! It's about time!!! Keep up the great work. [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by Richard Lake on June 07, 2002 at 15:11:55 PT: Still another collection of DC protest photos Good Afternoon All,A page of my photos from the June 6 action is now up on the CSDP site athttp://www.csdp.org/news/news/june6asa.htmIf anyone is interested in high-res copies or prints, let me know.Have a great day,Doug-- Doug McVay Editor, Drug War Facts Research Director/Projects Coordinator Common Sense for Drug Policy 1327 Harvard Street NW (lower level), Washington, DC 20009 202-332-9101 -- fax 202-518-4028 http://www.csdp.org/ -- http://www.drugwarfacts.org/ dmcvay csdp.org [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by Richard Lake on June 07, 2002 at 14:46:59 PT: Cultural Baggage with Dean Becker and Kevin Zeese From the Hot of the Net section of the current DrugSense Weekly http://www.drugsense.org/current.htmCULTURAL BAGGAGE WITH DEAN BECKER AND KEVIN ZEESEKPFT Radio, Friday June 7th.Host Dean Becker and guest Kevin Zeese of Common Sense for Drug Policy take calls from listeners on the Day of Direct Action, medicinal marijuana and harm reduction.Website: http://www.cultural-baggage.com/ Source: KPFT Radio (TX) Contact: dean cultural-baggage.com Audio: http://www.drugpolicycentral.com/real/dpft/kpft.smi ---------------------This is a low bandwidth audio broadcast that even folks with slow 'net connections should be able to listen to easily at the audio URL above.Also the top daily news stories and more are posted as a low bandwidth audio report each day at DrugSense Net Radio http://www.drugsense.org/radio/topdaily.htm - listen while you surf the 'net! RealAudio Cannabis Reform Radio Program [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by E_Johnson on June 07, 2002 at 14:34:06 PT Let's honor all the dead on this battlefield I am neither for nor against marijuana. I do know that pot smoking causes law enforcement zero problems. The prohibition of pot causes police officers and others to die every day. And for what? We've all had bad experiences with cops but maybe we'd pump up the positive karma of our movement if we honored their dead as well as ours.It's a big battlefield and many have fallen. [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by The GCW on June 07, 2002 at 13:25:20 PT Retired Police Officer / testimony This is astounding! Canada: PUB LTE: Smoke Screen Pubdate: Fri, 07 Jun 2002 Source: Globe and Mail (Canada) http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n1055/a03.html?397 If this were pursued more, we would see more of these! We know these people are out there!Show me a man who doesn’t know the difference between cannabis and drugs, and I’ll show you a man that doesn’t know the difference between right from wrong.Most cops know the difference between right from wrong. If it weren’t for the war on drugs, I would have a more true respect for them.GCWGCWGCWGCWGCWGCWSMOKE SCREEN Fort Worth, Tex. -- Lynn Crosbie's recent comments on marijuana ( Testing Positive With The Stoner Demographic -- June 5 ) reminded me of Reefer Madness, the 1930s U.S. government propaganda film. I especially liked her comment that users are, "by nature slow and methodical people." I stopped using pot two weeks before starting the police academy. During my seven years of use I became fluent in German and French, received a BA and bench-pressed 130 per cent of my body weight. Slow and methodical types include hundreds of professional athletes, the current mayor of New York and the former president and vice-president of the United States. I am neither for nor against marijuana. I do know that pot smoking causes law enforcement zero problems. The prohibition of pot causes police officers and others to die every day. And for what? Howard J. Wooldridge Retired Police Officer [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by Naaps on June 07, 2002 at 13:10:28 PT In Vancouver The protests against the DEA succeeded in generating some publicity, as well as helping to build an espirit de corps among the protestors. I applaud the efforts of everyone who endeavored to speak out, voicing the need for greater compassion.In Vancouver, there was also a small protest attended by people such as Michelle Kubby, David Malmo-Levine, John Gordon, Ken Hayes, and Chris Bennett, as well as some others. Essentially, they were located in front of the American Embassy, passing out literature, answering questions, smoking. The public and police received them well. There were no arrests and all was peaceful. [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by p4me on June 07, 2002 at 10:18:02 PT stuff Federal authorities insist the drug remains illegal for all purposes under the Controlled Substances Act. One of the things Bill Maher says about reporting is that the reporters just quote what the government officials say and leave out there as gospel. This is another perfect example because the DEA has the power to regulate the Schedules. I mean if you are a reporter instead of printing the same old government blahblahblah, don't you think the Fourth Estate and Guardian of Democracy should tell people that the DEA controls the Schedule 1 classification of marijuana and that it is fraudulently sticking to a political position that disregards science and suffering?Our favorite Dr. Russo was on pot-tv for June 7th and the Dr. Weil article was read. They acknowledged the significance of someone of Dr. Weil's stature saying what he did and noted that the UPI covered the story and that took the news worldwide. They did not have any mention of protest in front of the DEA office in Vancouver that many Canadians take as a slap against the sovereignity of Canada. There was no article at the homepage of bcmarijuanaparty.ca or discussion in that forum. I went to the websites for Vancouver and Ottawa from the Canada.com. You can just type the www.canada.com and it will let you chose your cities but my link in favorites goes to http://www.canada.com/ottawa/ I thought Canada would have made a big splash. Apparently not.Did you ever hear the joke about the prisoners that were in jail so long that they had assigned numbers to the jokes. One prisoner would call out "4" and everyone would laugh. So a few numbers were called out and everyone laughed and a new prisoner just chose a number and shouted it and no one laughed. He asked why everyone laughed at all the other numbers and not at his and the cellmate said "That joke is not very funny."Well instead of throwing a ICBS,VAAI.POW at you maybe I should just type a 1 and spare us all the endless repetition.1 [ Post Comment ] Post Comment