cannabisnews.com: Drug War's New Front: Ballot Box





Drug War's New Front: Ballot Box
Posted by CN Staff on October 20, 2002 at 08:56:47 PT
By Dick Polman, Inquirer Staff Writer
Source: Philadelphia Inquirer
Las Vegas - The dawn sky above Sin City was streaked with pink as John Walters' bodyguards scanned the street for marijuana terrorists.Satisfied that the perimeter was secure, they put the federal drug czar in his van. They were just being careful, an aide said. Their intelligence indicates that some Nevada freedom-lovers don't appreciate Walters' coming out here to inveigh against the current movement to legalize marijuana.
But because Nevadans might soon try to end pot prohibition - something that has never happened in America, not in 30 years of sporadic drug reform - Walters says that "it's my responsibility to push back. We can't allow major government institutions to become facilitators for drug-dealing and drug addiction."Nevadans, who already treat most vices as revenue, are weighing a serious plan that a group bankrolled by insurance magnate Peter Lewis has put on the Nov. 5 ballot: Legalize adult possession of 3 ounces or less, and allow the state to grow it, distribute it, sell it and tax it.Under state rules, a ballot item must pass twice to become law. This means that a yes vote on legalization would need to be repeated in 2004, but Nevadans have already approved the medical use of marijuana by saying yes twice - the second time, in 2000, by a larger majority.Early voting in Nevada's elections began this weekend. And with money from Lewis and two other billionaire businessmen, marijuana initiatives are also on the ballot in Ohio (steering offenders to treatment, not prison) and in Arizona (reducing small possession from a felony to a civil fine).Walters thinks this is dream-world stuff, "a 2 a.m. dorm-room conversation," but Nevada's polls are dead even - and not just because the state already hosts 214 medical marijuana patients. It's also because legalization advocates are painting themselves as wholesome Americans, not party animals anxious to put the Grateful Dead on the state seal.They chose a mainstream name, Nevadans for Responsible Law Enforcement (even though no police agencies support them). They're championed by a Vegas assemblywoman who looks like a soccer mom from central casting. And they urge their followers to wear "business casual."At a rally the other day, organizer Tyler Whitmire wore a nice pair of blue Chaps and pinned his ponytail under his cap. And when a security guard bellowed that some demonstrators were standing on private property, they nudged their shoes onto the sidewalk and genially cried out, "No problem, sir!... Thank you, man!... Please don't hate me!"Campaign manager Billy Rogers, a veteran Texas Democrat, declared in his office: "This is not a pothead operation. This isn't about wanting to get high. This is about clear eyes and clear minds. It's not like six months ago I had hair down to my ass. I didn't. This is about changing laws that are wrong."Their beef is that, under current law, Nevada's authorities can slap you with a felony and four years in prison for possessing more than an ounce. And how is that fair, they say, when so little else in Nevada is illegal?It's not illegal to drive without a seat belt; or to promenade on the Strip with an open bottle of beer; or to summon a "private dancer" to your hotel room, simply by dialing a phone number posted on a billboard.Besides, they say, why should firing up a doobie in the privacy of home be deemed unacceptable in a town like Vegas, where, just the other day, the mayor was strolling around with some zaftig showgirls, swilling gin from an oversize martini glass?It's rumored that a lot of police silently support the pot push; one retired officer, Andy Anderson, shows up in a pro-pot TV ad. Another ex-cop, Richard Mack, says he junked his hard-line attitude while working undercover. He became golfing buddies with one suspect - "a law-abiding guy who worked, took care of his family, and just liked to take the edge off at night by lighting a joint.""We should leave those people alone. I'm a conservative guy, and isn't that what Republicans say they want - limited government? But is the Bush administration any different from the big-government types? Only difference is, they don't party as much in the White House as the other side did."But to Rick Barela, a well-muscled sergeant with the Vegas Metro Police, legalization would sow chaos: "We'd have vehicular traffic from all the border states, people driving in just to purchase and party. Your line cop already has enough problems."We see what alcohol does; we're the ones pulling the bodies out of cars. We already can't keep drugs out of the hands of children. Yet somehow these legalization folks seem to think that throwing another drug into the mix is a good thing."That's what bothers Erin Breen, a university worker with a teenage daughter: "Look, there's still something to be said for keeping it on the books as illegal. It gives parents a tool, it sets some limits, because the child thinks, 'I'm going to get my butt kicked if I get caught.' "Actually, pot would remain illegal for teens, but everyone seems to be fudging the facts as passions run high. At legalization headquarters, Billy Rogers complains that 3,742 Nevadans were busted for pot in 2000, but omits that, last year, state lawmakers reduced possession of an ounce or less to a misdemeanor and a $600 fine.Drug czar Walters, meanwhile, says that "more people are coming into [addiction] treatment for marijuana than for any other illegal drug," yet that is contradicted by his own office. Nevada treatment admission statistics show that in 2000, methamphetamine topped the list by a wide margin.Then there's the squabble over how many pot cigarettes would be permitted by law. Rogers says 3 ounces equals 80 joints (if rolled tightly). Police and prosecutors, at various times, have said 90, 120, 250, or 300 (if rolled loosely). Rogers fears that Nevadans will vote no if a big number sticks.That debate sounds comedic, but not to Holly Brady. A longtime Vegas resident, she smokes 3 ounces a month to ease the pain of multiple sclerosis. She and her husband, Tom, a former pit boss at Bally's in Atlantic City, view marijuana as "a plant that God put on this Earth for us" - and they want easier access.Nevada has a Catch-22. Like eight other states, it allows ailing adults to smoke pot under a doctor's care - but it doesn't provide it. Patients must find it on their own, from illegal sources, or grow their own with seeds illegally obtained. Tom Brady said, "You've got to ask around, same as you'd do it in Cherry Hill." But they can't count on a steady supply."All I know is, the pain goes away immediately," said Holly Brady, who has toked for 10 years. "I can get myself together enough to go with Tom to watch football at the sports parlors. Like, it's noon now, and I've had three joints already. It doesn't make me act like Cheech and Chong. It's about survival."For drug czar Walters, the medical patients are a PR problem; as he said in his motorcade, "nobody wants to deny comfort to suffering people." But he dismissed marijuana as "snake oil," and said the legalization crowd was trying "to use suffering people for political purposes. It's immoral."So the feds cede nothing. Walters figures that if legalization wins Round One in Nevada, he can still work to defeat it in 2004. And even if it wins twice, he says the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration would move in and shut down any sales operation."I respect the frontier spirit," he said, "but we're not raised by wolves. We can't act as if we're all on our own individual islands. A civilized society has to maintain the public health and safety. Society has to provide some direction. There has to be a partnership between freedom and responsibility."Note: Nevadans to vote on legalizing marijuana.Source: Philadelphia Inquirer, The (PA)Author: Dick Polman, Inquirer Staff WriterPublished: October 20, 2002Copyright: 2002 Philadelphia Newspapers Inc.Contact: inquirer.letters phillynews.comWebsite: http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/Related Articles & Web Sites:NRLEhttp://www.nrle.org/Marijuana Policy Projecthttp://www.mpp.org/Question 9 Supporters, Opponents No Middle Ground http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14510.shtmlNevada Pushes Next Frontier: Legalizing Pot http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14503.shtmlPondering The Ballot Questionshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14491.shtml
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Comment #4 posted by DANA on October 20, 2002 at 20:33:40 PT
...A good Article....
....Federal ghouls like Walters,Hutch,and Ashcroft,,are going to be chagrined when the Nevada initiative passes.....It will be sort of "fun",(in a sick way),to see how they will continue to try and trump State law,with their federal mandates....Here in California,they have been able to sic the DEA on the Cannabis Clubs,and medical providers,,BUT..it's going to be a whole different thing in Nevada. ..Nevada will be much more complex than California...Federal intrusions in Nevada will be much more akward,,as the feds attempt to make key busts in the name of federal law,the whole anti crusade will continue to become more and more nebulous...The poignant embarassment of raiding,asnd busting sick people.....The agents of the empire will eventually start to feel pangs of guilt for the brutal harrassment,and incarceration of peaceful,innocent citizens,who use Marijuana....
...
...then,,the evil empire will continue to crumble,,but before there is peace,and the empire scumbags are driven from office ,,, .The End Of The World will occur!!............More on all this later.............d
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Comment #3 posted by BGreen on October 20, 2002 at 18:54:59 PT
Anheuser Busch donated to both Senate candidates
from Missouri. Over $60 thousand to challenger Jim Talent and over $40 thousand to incumbent Jean Carnahan.Most politicians are whores to the peddlers of death and despair.
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Comment #2 posted by freedom fighter on October 20, 2002 at 16:51:01 PT
Speaking of big bad wolf
As a pot grower, Mr. Walters, why is that I get the feeling of being stalked by wolves dressed in sheep clothings?? Peeking in my bedroom window. What does this freedom means anything to you unless it is your brand of freedom when this big bad wolf breaks my family's door down? All over a plant? You spoke of public health and safety, pray tell me how is it when I plant a seed are harming the Society in general? By sending the big bad wolf to my house, I could very well be killed by the goons. So much for freedom and responsibility.How is it responsible to send goons to a hospice, a place where people expect to die peacefully, because they smoked pot? How is it responsible to send the goons blasting and killing our fellow countrymen because they ingest cannabis?You had the nerve to speak of partnership, freedom and responsibility. But the problem is, sir, you would not even know if the freedom bit your bottom. There are two things you, Mr. Walters got that right. The People are not raised by the wolves and We are civilized. We the People are in process of deciding wither to vote or not to vote YOU out. That is the term of partnership you have now sir! So keep lying Johnnny! Keep slinking out the back doors. ff
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Comment #1 posted by Nasarius on October 20, 2002 at 12:21:33 PT
Gee...
"We can't allow major government institutions to become facilitators for drug-dealing and drug addiction."I sure hope no Congressmen are taking campaign contributions from tobacco companies!
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