cannabisnews.com: Another Drug War





Another Drug War
Posted by CN Staff on December 16, 2002 at 22:10:22 PT
By Stephen Stetson, Staff Writer
Source: Troy Messenger 
Loretta Nall could have done a lot of things when the helicopters started to target her. She could have gotten scared. She could have moved to another house or into an apartment. She could have just tried to ignore them and prayed that they'd go away.Instead, when police helicopters began hovering over her rural Tallapoosa County home, whipping the trees with high-speed winds and deafening her with thunderous noise, she got organized.
"I think they were looking for marijuana, but I don't know why they thought that I was growing it," she said. "I wasn't."On Sept. 19, the cat and mouse games with the drug helicopters came to a head."They came over and were just sitting over my house and it was so loud. So I went outside with my video camera and pointed it up at them. That must have set them off, because within minutes, there were seven different law enforcement agencies on my front lawn," she said."They told me that they were looking for marijuana and they thought they had seen a plant. They asked me if they could search and I told them that would be fine because I knew I didn't have anything. I walked them around the property. Then, I told them that they should have spent all of that surveillance money to buy some glasses for their helicopter pilots and that I was going back inside to get a video camera to film their search. As soon as I went back inside, they all started to scramble to get back into their vehicles and peel out of there," she said.Unsatisfied with her video footage of retreating officers as a souvenir of the police helicopter raid, Nall decided to take things a step further. She decided to set up a network designed to publicize the effects of the war on drugs and to promote reforms in American drug policy. Thus, the Alabama Marijuana Party was born."I started off asking some questions about the budgets of the area drug task forces and then I met some activists and then some politicians and now, we've got a web page -- http://alabama.usmjparty.com -- an e-mail listserv and a mailing list," she said.The organization is now one of the most visible elements of the political struggle to craft fair and effective drug laws in Alabama and throughout the nation. Nall said that she has met with politicians from the Alabama Libertarian Party and hopes to spread word of the destructive consequences of the war on drugs to as many people as will listen.The fact that Alabama now has an organization devoted to pushing reform of state and federal drug laws comes as a huge surprise to many political observers. In a conservative state not known for progressive or experimental stances on social policy, a movement to legalize drugs could be about as popular as a group of atheists or an Osama bin Laden fan club.In fact, as this article was being compiled, Nall was arrested for possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia."On Nov. 13, investigators with the Tallapoosa County Narcotics Task Force, Tallapoosa County Sheriff's Department, Alexander City Police Department and Newsite Police Department executed a search warrant at 4633 Pearson Chapel Road, Alexander City, Alabama," said a press release from the Tallapoosa County Sheriff's Department."Recovered at the residence was approximately 5 grams of marijuana, rolling paper and a set of triple beam scales," the release said.Nall was arrested at the residence and charged with Possession of Marijuana, 2nd Degree and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.Now free on bond, Nall said she was set up by police officers who are unhappy with her activism. "We didn't have any marijuana here and the scales were used by my husband to measure legal herbs, like catnip," she said.Nall said she plans to fight the charges. Her trial is currently scheduled for Feb. 11, and Nall said she intends to plead not guilty.Nall traces the history of opposing the drug war back to Biblical times."If apples were the first controlled substance, then the first activist would have to be Eve. She and Adam got busted and had their assets seized and they had to emigrate. Not much different from today, huh?"From ancient times, it's a short leap for Nall to trace the history of pioneers in drug policy reform through Harvard professor and LSD guru Timothy Leary and writers such as Aldous Huxley and William S. Burroughs."Each one of them became active in promoting drug responsibility and peace with journalism, with protest, with cultural and academic activities," she said.The federal government maintains that marijuana is a dangerous substance and conducted a major public relations effort this fall to convince the public that its legal status is good public policy.The DEA targeted Alabama for a new anti-drug program, launching the Integrated Drug Enforcement Assistance (IDEA) Summit in Mobile and Pritchard last week.According to Nall, Alabama is one of the 13 states without a branch of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. So she decided to start her own organization.According to Kris Krane, affiliate coordinator for NORML, Alabama has not traditionally been fertile group for grassroots organizing against drug laws."We haven't had anybody come up to us and identify themselves as willing to start a chapter. We only have a five person staff in the D.C. office," he said. "Generally, a chapter will start when somebody approaches us and says that they want to start one. Then, we'll follow up on that, but nobody in Alabama has done that - at least, not in the two and a half years I've worked here. Maybe an e-mail, but no follow up."Nall said that her personal history of drug policy activism began at an early age."I first realized that smoking pot had a political side in 1990 at the age of 15 when the Gulf War started. I had recently read Jack Herers' The Emperor Wears No Clothes and realized that if hemp were legalized, no one would need to fight over petroleum-based oil. I understood then that it wasn't because people can get high off of marijuana that hemp isn't legal," she said.With a court battle ahead of her, a relatively apathetic general public and no death of hostility from the law enforcement establishment, Nall has her hands full as a grassroots organizer for an unpopular cause. Yet, with the Canadian Senate issuing a report recommending a full legalization of marijuana, sentiments may be shifting. For now, Alabama jails grow more and more crowded with non-violent drug offenders, possibly, depending on the results of her upcoming trial, including Nall herself.Source: Troy Messenger (AL)Author: Stephen Stetson, Staff WriterPublished: December 17, 2002Copyright: 2002 Troy MessengerWebsite: http://www.troymessenger.com/Contact: amy.lansdon troymessenger.comRelated Articles & Web Sites:NORMLhttp://www.norml.org/Alabama Marijuana Partyhttp://alabama.usmjparty.com/Drug Prohibition Costs More Than It's Worthhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14908.shtmlMarijuana Activist: Police Persecuting Me http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14774.shtml
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Comment #12 posted by greek_philosophizer on December 18, 2002 at 07:07:34 PT:
Alabama might not be so bad
Alabama might not be so bad. I have heard that because
of their history of racial violence ( KKK etc ) that they
are much more sensitive about hate organizations than other 
places in the USA ( like Northeast USA ) and because of
that hate groups have a much harder time operating in 
Alabama than they do in other places ( like Maryland, Pennsylvania or California )               Kind Regards,        ( Call me )   Poisoned_2181_days
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Comment #11 posted by BGreen on December 17, 2002 at 17:38:48 PT
Wolfgang Wylde, I don't know if you'd seen this
It was posted Nov. 16 and explains a little more than the current story.
 Marijuana Activist: Police Persecuting Me
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Comment #10 posted by mayan on December 17, 2002 at 17:05:17 PT
One Plant?
"They told me that they were looking for marijuana and they thought they had seen a plant."One plant? All this started because the cops "thought" they had seen ONE PLANT? What a friggn' joke! Get a real job.
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Comment #9 posted by FoM on December 17, 2002 at 09:42:21 PT
druid
I got the article posted and then saw your link or I would have named you Newshawk. Thanks for staying on top of important articles. 
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Comment #8 posted by druid on December 17, 2002 at 09:27:49 PT:
great minds 
... :D
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Comment #7 posted by druid on December 17, 2002 at 09:11:06 PT:
Pot backer convicted of tainting jury
http://www.sacbee.com/content/news/story/5621830p-6598057c.htmlThe Oakland cannabis co-op director handed out a flier at a marijuana grower's trial.
By Denny Walsh -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 a.m. PST Tuesday, December 17, 2002
A leader in California's medical marijuana movement was convicted in Sacramento federal court Monday of attempting to influence the outcome of a fellow pot advocate's trial
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Comment #6 posted by FoM on December 17, 2002 at 08:03:39 PT
Just a Note
Hi Everyone,I haven't found any news to post so far but will keep looking. It always comes to a grinding halt over the Christmas season. We bought this really cool fiber optic tree on line. It is really pretty. Have a nice holiday season! Ho Ho Ho!http://artificial-christmas-tree.com/
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Comment #5 posted by WolfgangWylde on December 17, 2002 at 07:13:26 PT
I'm well aware...
...of the games the cops play. Apparently she wasn't. She should have taken the time to become better informed before making herself a target. There is a reality to be dealt with, that's all. As for passing judgement, she'll get her day in court. 
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Comment #4 posted by BGreen on December 17, 2002 at 05:35:31 PT
Scales Aren't Illegal
People use them for a lot of things, and thankfully we don't have to explain WHY we use a legal item. Too bad the prohibitionists are as judgmental as that comment seems to be, Wolfgang Wylde.Zip-Lock bags are never used for anything else except illegal drugs, also, as long as that's the most convenient way for the cops to manufacture a story.
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Comment #3 posted by The GCW on December 17, 2002 at 05:34:10 PT
Biblical reference / kaneh bosm
Nall traces the history of opposing the drug war back to Biblical times. (She is on to the Truth)"If apples were the first controlled substance, then the first activist would have to be Eve. She and Adam got busted and had their assets seized and they had to emigrate. Not much different from today, huh?"The Holy Spirit of Truth has emited some of that to Me in the recent past. Examine that it is taught that We, are the Sons of God. Examine that while God, We think is ONE, THAT God gave Us all the green plants AND said thaey were good on LITERALLY THE VERY 1ST PAGE OF THE BIBLE. Now this Adam & Eve story starts emediately, and they are repremanded... NOTICE THIS IS A REFERENCE TO THE 3RD PAGE. Gen. 3:22, Then the Lord God said, “Behold the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil;... (what is the plural all about? Read all the 1st few pages...)Biblically, the prohibition of cannabis is the original sin and here is an example... We on the very 1st page are told ALL the plants are good, then on the 2nd page We are shown an example of what may be Sons of God, having children and telling them not to eat cannabis in their garden by using lies and then they eat it and the parents scorn them, and stunts The Spirit of Truth. Jesus Christ taught an example that would have brought a different outcome to that example. It is an example that applies today and is partly why Christ “HAD” to come. Here in almost 2003, We still haven’t learned, and We still carry on like Adam and Eve’s cartakers(?). When You wish to examine a problem and want to go to the root of the problem, You go as far back toward the beginning of the problem. With cannabis / kaneh bosm, You can Biblically go back to the very 1st page of the Bible, to examine the problem of cannabis in Biblical terms, like no other present problem. WE know intrinsically, that cannabis is acceptable to Him who created it, AS HE HAS SAID. THAT’S WHY THE PROHIBITION OF CANNABIS IS THOUGHT OF AS THE ORIGINAL LIVING SIN. The Bible was not about the Begining, it is about the New Beginning and what ever came before it, may have required that when the Bible was printed, God inspired that the goodness of green plants, not be put off for even the second page. Perhaps the attempted lesson is to: beware of the rulers on the earth killing civilization over plants. The Bible even tells Us who will prohibit the foods, which is those who have fallen away from the faith, for example in 1 Timothy 4:1-5 subtitled APOSTASY.Jesus Christ is about Truth, and not the sort of Truth disobedient Christians are proclaiming.You would never have heard Christ insist on caging His brother for using a plant.Not even on Christmas.Pray for the cannabis prohibitionists (especially the Christian ones), for they know not what they do.The Green Collar Worker
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Comment #2 posted by WolfgangWylde on December 17, 2002 at 04:52:44 PT
No offense...
...but weighing catnip? Puh-leeze. 
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Comment #1 posted by Dark Star on December 17, 2002 at 03:34:30 PT
Mistake
"They asked me if they could search and I told them that would be fine because I knew I didn't have anything."Never surrender your constitutional rights. A person can not rely on law enforcement to be honest because many of its members are not. There used to be a concept of "probable cause" that required they convince a judge to issue a warrant to search your property. No warrant, no search. End of story. Don't give liars the opportunity to nail you.
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