cannabisnews.com: A Powerful Victory A Powerful Victory Posted by CN Staff on June 11, 2004 at 12:41:58 PT By Rebecca Kaplan Source: Oakland Tribune In a powerful victory recently, the ACLU, the Drug Policy Alliance and other groups defeated the Bush administration in federal court. Our freedom of speech and our right to tell the truth were at stake -- in the face of a federal law that banned, from certain public areas, advertisements that question any aspect of the federal policy of prohibition of marijuana. The law that was struck down had even banned paid ads on public transit facilities regarding the legalization of medical cannabis. In other words, even though the voters of California legalized cannabis for medical use in 1996, the federal government would prevent information about it from reaching the public. Thanks to the advocates, we have won the right to tell the truth. Now, we must make sure to take full advantage of our freedoms while we have them. Since Richard Nixon launched his "war on marijuana," hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars have been spent to prosecute and imprison non-violent people, primarily young people of color, while our schools, libraries, and public health facilities suffer for lack of funding. Attorney General John Ashcroft has said that he considers the medical use of marijuana to be the same as non-medical use, even if the voters of a state explicitly pass a law legalizing medical use -- and he insists on treating marijuana more strictly than cocaine. The federal government has ignored its own findings, including those from the marijuana study commissioned by Richard Nixon, that: "Most users, young and old, demonstrate an average or above-average degree of social functioning, academic achievement, and job performance. ... marijuana does not cause violent or aggressive behavior; if anything marijuana serves to inhibit the expression of such behavior. ... Neither the marijuana user nor the drug itself can be said to constitute a danger to public safety" (The Shafer Commission Report, 1972). When the public questions the wisdom of the expensive policy of prohibition and imprisonment, the government tries to ban speech. Once again, the administration is trying to continue an expensive and wasteful war even in the face of mounting evidence that this war destroys lives and is also a miserable failure. There is a better way. We don't need to put up with the endless violations of our civil rights, civil liberties, financial health and human dignity that the war on cannabis has become. The Oakland Cannabis Initiative seeks to promote a more sensible, less war-oriented policy toward cannabis while advancing the national debate. The initiative calls for policies that tax and regulate cannabis for adults to keep it off the streets, away from kids, and to raise funds for vital local services. To learn more or to get involved, please visit www.taxandregulate.org or call the Oakland Cannabis Initiative 268-3227.Rebecca Kaplan, an Oakland activist and community organizer, holds a law degree from Stanford University, where she studied constitutional law issues. Source: Oakland Tribune (CA)Author: Rebecca KaplanPublished: Wednesday, June 09, 2004Copyright: 2004 MediaNews Group, Inc. Contact: triblet angnewspapers.com Website: http://www.oaklandtribune.com/Related Articles & Web Sites:MPP: http://www.mpp.org/ACLU: http://www.aclu.org/DPA: http://www.drugpolicy.org/CTC: http://www.changetheclimate.org/Ads in Favor of Legalizing Drugs OKd http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread18942.shtmlJudge Voids Law Against Drug Ads On Metro http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread18941.shtmlJudge: Ad Restrictions Unconstitutionalhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread18940.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #20 posted by observer on June 12, 2004 at 16:21:04 PT re: Sexual harassment and urine testing the drug hysteria of the eighties served partly to keep women and gays and anyone else from talking about these issues and the topic of urine testing as a sexual violation of workers was never raised.Good point. Once your boss has your pee, what's to prevent him from testing his female employees for pregnancy. And then, what's to stop the boss for "letting her go" for being pregnant and likely to make insurance claims, take time off, etc. A plausible excuse can always be found for letting her go.The lab procedure is a second invasion of privacy. Urinalysis reveals not only the presence of illegal drugs, but also the existence of many other physical and medical conditions, including genetic predisposition to disease – or pregnancy. In 1988, the Washington, D.C. Police Department admitted it used urine samples collected for drug tests to screen female employees for pregnancy – without their knowledge or consent. PRIVACY IN AMERICA: Workplace Drug Testing http://archive.aclu.org/library/pbr5.html concept-based auto-categorized cannabis/drug breaking news feeds newsbot [ Post Comment ] Comment #19 posted by E_Johnson on June 12, 2004 at 13:54:22 PT Sexual harassment and urine testing If America had been through a national dialog on workplace sexual harassment prior to 1986, I think this whole program might have been discussed as a workplace sexual violation and tossed.But the drug hysteria of the eighties served partly to keep women and gays and anyone else from talking about these issues and the topic of urine testing as a sexual violation of workers was never raised.The whole thing is outraegous to me, that the government can force me to pull my pants down to get a job.I consider that a sexual violation, no matter what they choose to call it. [ Post Comment ] Comment #18 posted by afterburner on June 12, 2004 at 12:01:23 PT Legacy of Just Say No and Contra Financing OPED: Ronald Reagan On Drugs By Stephen Young, (11 Jun 2004) DrugSense Weekly United States http://www.drugsense.org/dsw/2004/ds04.n353.html#sec5 [ Post Comment ] Comment #17 posted by E_Johnson on June 12, 2004 at 09:44:58 PT Boondocks has really flipped on this issue He has done a couple of anti-pot strips in the past so it looks like his opinion has been changed somehow.I think we can thank Bush for making anti-marijuana ads that look like Nazi propaganda from the thirties.I think those ads caught the attention of the PC left for that reason. They just stopped short of saying potheads drink blood drained from newborn Christian babies.It's pretty recognizable what's going on from those ads. [ Post Comment ] Comment #16 posted by JR Bob Dobbs on June 12, 2004 at 05:11:45 PT One more Boondocks I love it! Four in a row! http://www.ucomics.com/boondocks/2004/06/12/ [ Post Comment ] Comment #15 posted by observer on June 11, 2004 at 20:19:03 PT FYI - cannabisnews.com RSS newsfeed Cannabisnews home page RSS feed (XML)http://www.drugpolicycentral.com/dpcgi/cnews2rss.pl?xml=1RSS lets you deliver cnews to your aggregators and palmtops and much more. more cannabisnews RSS newsfeeds [ Post Comment ] Comment #14 posted by Virgil on June 11, 2004 at 18:39:33 PT US ignores WTO and NAFTA to screw Canada From http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2004/06/11/canada/soft040611WASHINGTON - Canadian softwood lumber imports pose a threat of injury to U.S. lumber producers, the U.S. International Trade Commission reaffirmed Friday in renewed defiance of a NAFTA panel ruling. The Canadian government was swift to condemn the decision. "This decision is clearly without basis and seemingly unsubstantiated," said International Trade Minister Jim Peterson. "Time and time again, both the NAFTA panel and the WTO have found no evidence of injury – or even threat of injury – to the American industry," he said. [ Post Comment ] Comment #13 posted by Hope on June 11, 2004 at 18:18:04 PT Since we have the Nanny State (albeit she's a violent and merciless creature) we should behave like determined children and pester them and never give up until they let Epis out and give us back our freedom. Nanny State. Aaarggghhhh. [ Post Comment ] Comment #12 posted by Hope on June 11, 2004 at 18:12:08 PT lol...GCW...from one of the articles you posted "Yes, drugs can affect a person's personality. So can an inordinate attachment to zoning restrictions, as the residents of Granby can attest following the bulldozing of several buildings there." [ Post Comment ] Comment #11 posted by FoM on June 11, 2004 at 18:09:36 PT MMJ Patient Wants Out of Federal Prison ASA: Epis Appeal Arguments in Ninth Circuit 6/16 - press conf to follow Medical Marijuana Patient Wants Out of Federal PrisonNEWS ADVISORY – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE MEDIA CONTACT: June 11, 2004 William Dolphin (510) 919-1498 Chico Man Serving Ten Years Alleges Misconduct and Constitutional Violation San Francisco – A Chico man will be before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco next Wednesday, arguing that his 2002 conviction for conspiring to grow medical marijuana was not only unconstitutional but based on misconduct by the U.S. Attorney’s office in Sacramento. A press conference on the steps of the courthouse with his attorney, his mother, and fellow-patient Angel Raich will follow. Bryan James Epis, 37, was the first person associated with a California medical marijuana dispensary to be tried under federal law. He is currently serving a mandatory ten-year sentence in federal prison. On Wednesday, Mr. Epis’s appellate attorney, Brenda Grantland of Mill Valley, will argue that the Court of Appeals December 2003 decision in the case of Raich v. Ashcroft, which found certain prosecutions of medical marijuana patients and caregivers to be unconstitutional, should also apply in this case. She will also argue that prosecutors only obtained conviction on the most serious charge, conspiracy to grow more than a thousand plants, by misrepresenting spreadsheets found on Mr. Epis’s home computer. Prosecutors contended at trial that Mr. Epis was projecting income of millions of dollars from his marijuana growing; his attorney will be showing that the documents were unrelated to what he was being tried for, and that the prosecution knew it but used it anyway. Mr. Epis was arrested June 25, 1997, after Butte County sheriff's officers reportedly uncovered a grow operation at the basement of his Frances Willard Avenue home in Chico and seized 458 seedlings and plants. WHO: Bryan James Epis, medical marijuana patient and caregiverWHAT: Appeal of his federal conviction and 10-year sentence; Press conference with his mother, Barbara Epis, Attorney Brenda Grantland, Angel Raich and others.WHEN: Wednesday, June 16, 2004, 9:00am; press conference to follow.WHERE: U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, Courtroom 3, Third Floor, 95 Seventh St (at Mission), San Francisco, California For interviews or more information, contact William Dolphin at (510) 919-1498. A national coalition of 10,000 patients, doctors and advocates, Americans for Safe Access is the largest organization working solely on medical marijuana. Hilary McQuieCampaign DirectorAmericans for Safe Access1678 Shattuck Ave. #317Berkeley, CA 94709510-486-8083http://www.safeaccessnow.org/ [ Post Comment ] Comment #10 posted by Hope on June 11, 2004 at 18:08:54 PT GCW...Amazing...truth in print media "But, the prohibitionists argue, people who take drugs sometimes drive dangerously, abuse their children and commit crimes. Yes, and this is true of the drug alcohol, too. The proper recourse is to address all those crimes directly and lift prohibition for all drugs." [ Post Comment ] Comment #9 posted by Hope on June 11, 2004 at 18:00:46 PT Is it my imagination? Or should this article win some sort of journalism award? [ Post Comment ] Comment #8 posted by Virgil on June 11, 2004 at 18:00:32 PT Rerun of Reba on the WB is the pot episode Reba comes on at 9PM on the WB here. [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by Virgil on June 11, 2004 at 17:12:37 PT Comment4 and Raygun Today the gooberment said that alcohol abuse is up and alcoholism is down. Must have something to do with changing definitions or moving the goal post type of thing- http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apscience_story.asp?category=1500&slug=Alcohol%20AbuseI am still waiting for what Molly Ivins says on Raygun, but today Alexander Cockburn at CounterPunch wrote on Raygun- http://www.counterpunch.org/cockburn06112004.html There is nobody I respect more than AC and he has the benefit of having a father that wrote and some combination of brothers and sons. He has close relationships of learned people to compare notes with. He is one person that is continually assassinated as a messenger on the Internet. The man must be discredited because he conveys way to much truth. I have tried Opera and the Avant browsers. Almost everyone knows of IE. But my favorite browser is Mozilla Firefox. I mention this because the .9 version was to be released Monday and the news has made it rise in downloads. It will stop the pop-ups that slow us dial-up users down. I thought it worth a mention. [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by lag on June 11, 2004 at 16:49:39 PT Man ashcroft is a gimp no offense to all the non-evil gimps out there, but that man deserves stuff that as a liberal I shouldn't be wishing on anybody. So I won't, but he deserves it. [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by The GCW on June 11, 2004 at 15:45:09 PT Second (Has this news been out? The God of Jesus Christ seems absent in Mr.'s Bush & Ashcroft. I refer to that as, God without Christ. And what You want is the combo that also includes the Spirit of Truth. Then You are set. TRI)From Capitol Hill Blue (www.capitolhillblue.com) Bush Leagues!Bush's Erratic Behavior Worries White House Aides!By DOUG THOMPSON Publisher, Capitol Hill Blue Jun 4, 2004, 06:15President George W. Bush’s increasingly erratic behavior and wide mood swings has the halls of the West Wing buzzing lately as aides privately express growing concern over their leader’s state of mind. In meetings with top aides and administration officials, the President goes from quoting the Bible in one breath to obscene tantrums against the media, Democrats and others that he classifies as “enemies of the state.”Worried White House aides paint a portrait of a man on the edge, increasingly wary of those who disagree with him and paranoid of a public that no longer trusts his policies in Iraq or at home.“It reminds me of the Nixon days,” says a longtime GOP political consultant with contacts in the White House. “Everybody is an enemy; everybody is out to get him. That’s the mood over there.”In interviews with a number of White House staffers who were willing to talk off the record, a picture of an administration under siege has emerged, led by a man who declares his decisions to be “God’s will” and then tells aides to “fuck over” anyone they consider to be an opponent of the administration.“We’re at war, there’s no doubt about it. What I don’t know anymore is just who the enemy might be,” says one troubled White House aide. “We seem to spend more time trying to destroy John Kerry than al Qaeda and our enemies list just keeps growing and growing.”Aides say the President gets “hung up on minor details,” micromanaging to the extreme while ignoring the bigger picture. He will spend hours personally reviewing and approving every attack ad against his Democratic opponent and then kiss off a meeting on economic issues.“This is what is killing us on Iraq,” one aide says. “We lost focus. The President got hung up on the weapons of mass destruction and an unproven link to al Qaeda. We could have found other justifiable reasons for the war but the President insisted the focus stay on those two, tenuous items.”Aides who raise questions quickly find themselves shut out of access to the President or other top advisors. Among top officials, Bush’s inner circle is shrinking. Secretary of State Colin Powell has fallen out of favor because of his growing doubts about the administration’s war against Iraq.The President's abrupt dismissal of CIA Directory George Tenet Wednesday night is, aides say, an example of how he works."Tenet wanted to quit last year but the President got his back up and wouldn't hear of it," says an aide. "That would have been the opportune time to make a change, not in the middle of an election campaign but when the director challenged the President during the meeting Wednesday, the President cut him off by saying 'that's it George. I cannot abide disloyalty. I want your resignation and I want it now."Tenet was allowed to resign "voluntarily" and Bush informed his shocked staff of the decision Thursday morning. One aide says the President actually described the decision as "God's will."God may also be the reason Attorney General John Ashcroft, the administration’s lightning rod because of his questionable actions that critics argue threatens freedoms granted by the Constitution, remains part of the power elite. West Wing staffers call Bush and Ashcroft “the Blues Brothers” because “they’re on a mission from God.”“The Attorney General is tight with the President because of religion,” says one aide. “They both believe any action is justifiable in the name of God.”But the President who says he rules at the behest of God can also tongue-lash those he perceives as disloyal, calling them “fucking assholes” in front of other staff, berating one cabinet official in front of others and labeling anyone who disagrees with him “unpatriotic” or “anti-American.”“The mood here is that we’re under siege, there’s no doubt about it,” says one troubled aide who admits he is looking for work elsewhere. “In this administration, you don’t have to wear a turban or speak Farsi to be an enemy of the United States. All you have to do is disagree with the President.”The White House did not respond to requests for comment on the record. [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by The GCW on June 11, 2004 at 15:37:15 PT First US CO: Demon drugs (coming soon to MAP) Pubdate: June. 10, 2004 Source: Boulder Weekly (CO) Contact: letters boulderweekly.com Website: http://www.boulderweekly.com/ Author: Ari ArmstrongViewed at: http://www.boulderweekly.com/libertybeat.html Demon drugsWhy don't modern drug prohibitionists want to return to the full prohibition of the drug alcohol? One answer, as expressed by the drug czar's deputy, is that there's no political will for that. Another reply is that most people use alcohol responsibly. That's what U.S. Attorney John Suthers said when we met on Reggie Rivers's television show last week, and that's what Denver DA Bill Ritter said at a recent debate sponsored by the Independence Institute.Yet alcohol obviously can be abused, as CU's football scandal reminds us. As Jacob Sullum reviews in his book, Saying Yes, alcohol is associated with approximately a third of violent crimes and around two-thirds of domestic-violence cases. "Alcohol is the drug that is most strongly associated with violence," writes Sullum.Yet, while some people abuse the drug alcohol, most people use it in moderation. Those who abuse the drug (as I did in my younger days) generally learn to stop using it in self-destructive ways. Alcohol, while it has some reputed health benefits, is used almost exclusively for recreational purposes, and often to get drunk. Yet we don't normally see much of a problem with this, at least when we consider adults who don't drive drunk.If we consider those few who abuse alcohol or become violent when consuming it, is the user to blame or is the drug to blame? Sullum goes on to argue that, while alcohol is associated with violence, it isn't responsible for the user's behavior. The user's expectations and choices come into play. For example, a guy who gets drunk and beats his wife probably gets drunk for the purpose of beating his wife.What's true for alcohol is true for all other drugs. Sullum argues that, for all drugs, including cocaine, heroin and amphetamines, the overwhelming majority of users use the drugs in moderation, and they never resemble anything like the crazed poster-children of prohibition.Yes, some people abuse all these drugs and become violent or otherwise antisocial while using them. But the users are to blame, not the drugs. Yes, drugs can affect a person's personality. So can an inordinate attachment to zoning restrictions, as the residents of Granby can attest following the bulldozing of several buildings there.Go rent Reefer Madness. I hear it's coming out in a digitally enhanced version. That movie is a cult classic because it shows the absurdity of anti-drug propaganda. Nobody today seriously believes marijuana makes people do the things suggested by the movie. Yet the same mythology has played out with alcohol, marijuana and many other drugs.Sullum calls it "voodoo pharmacology." He challenges "the idea that certain substances have the power to compel immoral behavior." It's no accident that drug use (at least the use of certain politically targeted drugs) is often compared to demonic possession. The pseudo-scientific equivalent is a crude determinism that denies human free will.A half-truth seems to make the prohibitionists' case plausible: Some drugs are worse than others. Only a self-destructive fool would consume methamphetamines produced in a modern "meth lab." Where cocaine grows naturally, locals chew on it much like Americans consume the addictive drug caffeine. Coors is a more innocuous form of the drug alcohol than what was produced in toxic "alc labs" during alcohol Prohibition.And that suggests the core problem is prohibition, which spawns impure production of more potent drugs. Sullum points out "amphetamines were available without a prescription until 1954," yet it is prohibition that has created the problem of meth labs and the most destructive forms of amphetamines. It's a self-perpetuating cycle: Prohibition creates all sorts of social problems, which the prohibitionists then use as a pretext to expand prohibition.But, the prohibitionists argue, people who take drugs sometimes drive dangerously, abuse their children and commit crimes. Yes, and this is true of the drug alcohol, too. The proper recourse is to address all those crimes directly and lift prohibition for all drugs.All drugs can be used self-destructively. And all drugs can be used in moderation. Of course, one can argue that even the moderate use of some drugs is immoral or harmful. But that's how the issue should be addressed: by doctors and community leaders, with spiritual guides, among friends, in reasoned discussion. Not by the prison-industrial complex.The fact that alcohol is so often abused is not an argument for the prohibition of that drug. People have a right to consume alcohol, they usually do so in moderation, and prohibition is a cure that is orders of magnitude worse than the disease. The same goes for all other drugs.People are not the playthings of drugs. Instead, people choose whether and how to use drugs. "Addiction is a choice," as Dr. Jeffrey Schaler puts the matter, and that applies to television, sugar and irresponsible sex, as well as to drugs. The "demonic possession" theory of drug use is false. Eventually, a saner society will view drug prohibition in much the same way that we view things like witch burnings. [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by mayan on June 11, 2004 at 14:57:15 PT Going Down "Attorney General John Ashcroft has said that he considers the medical use of marijuana to be the same as non-medical use, even if the voters of a state explicitly pass a law legalizing medical use -- and he insists on treating marijuana more strictly than cocaine."Of course they are going after cannabis more than cocaine. Cocaine can't produce paper,plastics,food,fuel,fiber, building materials and thousands of other products. The end of the age of oil will usher in the beginning of the age of cannabis!Tenet is gone. Ashcroft & Powell may be next. The walls are coming down on this ruthless administration! They are losing allies by the day and cannot afford to create any more enemies. Americans are finally realizing what the rest of the world has known all along...that BUSH MUST GO, NOW!!! The fascist's backs are against the wall and they will do anything to maintain their grip on power. God help this country!The way out...9/11 Whistle-blower's Hearing Delayed Again! http://www.911citizenswatch.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=288&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0The Explosion of the 9/11 Truth Movement -- U.S. Media's Dirty Little Secret: http://www.newtopiamagazine.net/content/issue17/oped/911.php9/11 Truth: http://www.911truth.org/ [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by E_Johnson on June 11, 2004 at 13:29:25 PT Boondocks and Bush The comic strip Boondocks seems to be really going to town on marijuana hypocrisy.Perhaps Bush has so overstated and overfought the war on pot that he has finally succeeded in turning black intellectuals on the left against it. That would a major accomplishment. That would undo what Clinton did to line up the political left against pot. [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by FoM on June 11, 2004 at 12:43:59 PT Link I Missed in Article http://www.taxandregulate.org/ [ Post Comment ] Post Comment