cannabisnews.com: Logical To Legalize Marijuana





Logical To Legalize Marijuana
Posted by CN Staff on July 03, 2004 at 09:32:46 PT
By Michael Fitzgerald, Record Columnist
Source: Stockton Record
Lo and behold, a famous conservative and his magazine are calling for an end to "marijuana prohibition." William F. Buckley's seminal right-wing journal, National Review, is hitting the stands bearing a big, fat marijuana leaf on the cover and the headline, "Going to Pot: The Growing Movement Toward Ending America's Irrational Marijuana Prohibition."
Coming up at 11: John Ashcroft opens a leather bar in the Castro. Buckley is showing admirable intellectual honesty. The soul-searching introduction to his column bears reprinting: "Conservatives pride themselves on resisting change, which is as it should be. But intelligent deference to tradition and stability can evolve into intellectual sloth and moral fanaticism, as when conservatives simply decline to look up from dogma because the effort to raise their heads and reconsider is too great." Translation: We were wrong. Of course, about 100 million Americans -- the number who say they've at least tried pot -- knew that. So do the 700,000 Americans arrested for marijuana every year. Stocktonian Danny Lopez was arrested for cultivating marijuana. "It was horrible," Lopez said of the experience. "Three huge policemen came in pointing their 9 mm guns at my mug." Lopez was handcuffed, taken away and booked. "They put my name in the paper," Lopez cringed. Tried, he was sentenced to counseling and informal probation. "I had to go to a psychiatrist or a psychologist. It cost me $80 a visit. For six months." His plantation: one 6-inch marijuana plant. There may be a "perfectly respectable" case for keeping marijuana illegal, Buckley writes; but not for locking up an estimated 100,000 Americans. Not for wasting $10 billion to $15 billion a year minimum fighting a substance that has never produced one fatal overdose. Not for denying people in pain medical marijuana. "What we face," Buckley wrote, "is the politician's fear of endorsing any change in existing marijuana laws." Buckley, together with the man who wrote the cover story, Ethan A. Nadelman, the executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, then tears the hide off every bogus argument against marijuana. God, what a pleasure. Rather than recap the refreshing logic, let's wonder instead how much money and manpower law enforcement in Stockton and San Joaquin County could save for real crime if McGruff weren't sniffing for pot. Wonder, to some extent, is all we can do. Local officials all say it's impossible to come up with either dollar figures or man-hours spent enforcing state and federal marijuana laws. "It's significant," said Sgt. Wayne Filipowski, the head of the sheriff's narcotics division. It must be. It involves everybody from the beat cop to narcotics divisions and to CAMP, a seasonal, multiagency task force that flies around seeking pot plantations and burning them. To say nothing of court time and money. And the cost of prisons. Bravo, Buckley. Honest conservative leaders should publicly say what they privately mutter: government insanely overreacts to pot. Leaders right here in River City should check their conservative consciences. Raising taxes while pouring money into pointless marijuana prohibition only makes citizens cynical about the institutions conservatives are supposed to protect. Source: Record, The (CA)Author: Michael Fitzgerald, Record ColumnistPublished: Friday, July 2, 2004 Copyright: 2004 The RecordContact: editor recordnet.comWebsite: http://www.recordnet.com/Related Articles & Web Site:Drug Policy Alliancehttp://www.drugpolicy.org/High Time To Eliminate Drug Laws?http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19118.shtmlAn End To Marijuana Prohibition http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19112.shtmlFree Weeds: The Marijuana Debatehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19103.shtml 
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Comment #8 posted by rchandar on July 03, 2004 at 17:56:49 PT:
buckley
It's impressive that we've finally got Republicans to see the wisdom of changing or ending marijuana prohibition, but--Nothing will absolve our government of the terrible evil that it has managed and overseen in the destruction of so many lives. Injustice is something that we must fight, must still hold in our heart as an event that needs to be fought and defeated. We are not interested in a "country" for only a few, and know that the problem is so widespread that it necessitates radical change and accountability for those who suffered...For my part, I had to serve three years of federal parole. How disgusting and stupid. End marijuana prohibition. Peace.--rchandar
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Comment #7 posted by rchandar on July 03, 2004 at 17:50:07 PT:
william buckley
It's just so stupid--why can't they see that we're harmless, that we just want to live our lives without harming anyone......but the horrific demonization of marijuana use in the US will not go unchallenged. We are a people, a voice in the world, and it is time we spoke about the brutal characteristics of an evil system that destroys lives and pretends fantastically that it is upholding "justice" and "the law" in our country.No court will ever absolve the fate of hundreds of thousands of men and women forced through the Drug War politics and their insensitive and destructive laws, laws penned by men who couldn't give a f#%k less about what happened to the families of these people. It is evil, that is all. And it must stop, or our country will become a sick and despicable parody of it's "democratic" and "just" intentions.End the stupid War on Drugs. Peace.--rchandar
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Comment #6 posted by FoM on July 03, 2004 at 17:38:19 PT
mamawillie
Here's the article you wanted posted. Thanks!http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread19128.shtml
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Comment #5 posted by Jose Melendez on July 03, 2004 at 15:16:21 PT
I'm offering amnesty.
Don't hang them, expose their crimes in public and make them sin no more:from: http://pipepeace.com/video/ Listen to retired narcotics detective Jack Cole's powerful speech for Law Enforcement Against Prohibition at the Rotary Club in Keene, N.H.                                             I compressed the 45 minute speech to about 22mb of Quicktime audio, for you to preview.                        A DVD with multiple camera angles of this event is available, please send donations of $20 or more to:Jose Melendez1630 Lake DriveDeLand, FL 32724                         
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Comment #4 posted by global_warming on July 03, 2004 at 13:45:28 PT
Corruption
"CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) -- South Carolina's attorney general said Friday that it was "grossly inappropriate" for police to draw their guns during a drug raid at a suburban high school last year, but no charges will be brought against the officers."This Mcmaster AG, should be taken out and hung, from the nearest tree. The "zealot" police men, should be placed in the nearest prison, whre they may taste some hard penis up their asses.This kind of law enforcement is so beneath the proffesionialism that is required from officers of the law, men and women who we trust to protect our children and our properties.This story illustrates, the insanity, that this "drug war" has brought to us, to our doorsteps, into our communities.The members, the zealots for this drug war, need to be placed into treatment centers.America, we need to get our country back into our control, the leaders, politicians, have largely userped our freedoms, and our consitution.America, stand up, your jobs, your freedom, is being sold to the highest bidder, stand up, hold on to what is yours, what you have earned, it is yours, it has been fought for,..Remember the 4th Of July, its Independence Day.gw
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Comment #3 posted by Virgil on July 03, 2004 at 13:32:25 PT
If something is rotten in Denmark, they got it 
from us, the US. Where did that expression come from anyway, McBeth?As we sit here and wallow in the study of CP, a person cannot help but be overwhelmed by the absurdity of it all. There is no intent on the part of government to do the right thing and they use public money to insist on doing what has long been proven wrong, with failure and misery not to be discussed.The new conservatives that somehow see things as a game of football that took up spectating and rooting conservative, now have a dose of what real conservatives think. The conservative sheep should now just accept their programming and root conservative and root for the end of cannabis prohibition.There is something inciduous about always dwelling on cannabis prohibition. Just like the media is to distract with sports and Janet's boob, people are watching the watch on cannabis policy and lulled into a trance that ignores the largest tactic of them all. By always talking cannabis and going round and round with the same old stuff about MMJ, we are letting the big picture escape us. The big question in all of this mess, is why do the drug wars continue. The only reason CP is fought so hard is that it is necessary to keep the War for Prohibition alive.To say that we are just rearranging the chairs on the Titanic is not quit accurate, because the ship is not doomed. But if you want the chairs on the south side and they are on the north, turning the ship around would solve the problem and the ship needs to turn around anyway.While I might use the mean-spirited federal policy on hemp and MMJ as clear violation of reason and service to the common good, I adopt the tactic of ex-governor Johnson and say that we need to adopt a health care approach to substance use/abuse and abandon the failure, waste, and corruption that comes with using a criminal justice/injustice approach. Then I can add that the first important step of implimenting harm reduction is to legalize cannabis.But the big question is what drives the drug wars and where does the mania come from that drives the crazed drug warriors. It is about global domination. Global domination means controlling the resources of the planet and especially the oil/natural gas like they have in Colombia, Venezula, and Bolivia.Plan Colombia was introduced into the Colombia legislature in English. Just how insulting can you get with US imperialism. The drug warriors may well give up the hoax once the resources of Latin America have been brought under control by the Corporate States of America. Plan Colombia was drawing too much heat and they changed the name to the Andean Initiative. Cocaine production has not been affected by all the mass murder of people, plants, and animals, but with the "success" of the Andean Iniative, their has been a call to be more successful. This article talks of more militarization and the use of contractors- http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=9&ItemID=5807While the CSA uses the War for Prohibition to evaporate wealth up from Latin America, it cannot do quite the same thing in southwest Asia. There they let the drug trade accumulate money so that the military industrial complex can make those billion dollar sales- http://globalresearch.ca/articles/STA406B.html
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Comment #2 posted by kaptinemo on July 03, 2004 at 12:02:53 PT:
So, it's not 'criminal' 
to threaten a child's life?I said it before when this first happened: one slip of some sweat-slicked, adrenaline tripping cop's finger on the trigger could have resulted in multiple casualties and/or deaths. (Ricochet's an inconsiderate, deadly bitch, and that's just what would have happened with those parabellum rounds bouncing off the cinderblock-backed hallway walls. Bullets in flight don't stop until they get in the way of something. Usually something living.)Now, imagine: what do you think the reaction might have been if a parent of one of those so traumatized decided to turn the tables, and give the policemen's children a taste of what his own kid has experienced? THAT would immediately be a matter of criminal endangerment.And as to the Mayor's remarks: He's the mayor of ALL citizens of Goose Creek, not just the police. I hope Mayor Heitzler has had experience at writing resumes; he may need some before too long. His idiotic blathering shows just how dangerously callous and incompetent he is. He should join the principal in resigning. 
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Comment #1 posted by mamawillie on July 03, 2004 at 11:20:20 PT
FOM.. please post
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/S/SCHOOL_DRUG_RAID?SITE=SCAIK&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULTJul 2, 5:51 PM EDTNo Charges in Armed Drug Raid at School CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) -- South Carolina's attorney general said Friday that it was "grossly inappropriate" for police to draw their guns during a drug raid at a suburban high school last year, but no charges will be brought against the officers."There is no evidence of any degree of criminal intent on behalf of the police officers or school personnel. Thus a criminal prosecution would not be appropriate," Attorney General Henry McMaster said.The Nov. 5 raid by Goose Creek police at Stratford High School drew national attention after a surveillance video showed students being ordered to the floor and a drug-sniffing dog prowling the hall.No drugs were found and no arrests were made in the sweep, though some students were handcuffed for a time.The raid led to allegations of excessive force and racism because many of the students at the school during the early morning raid were black. Two lawsuits have been filed over the incident.Police have said they felt the tactics were needed to ensure the safety of the officers and students.The state's chief prosecutor said school officials had probable cause to conduct a search, but he criticized police officers' decision to draw their weapons as a highly dangerous tactic that could have been deadly."The tactics were good tactics for a crack house, a drug den or a methamphetamine lab, but highly inappropriate tactics for a school house," McMaster said.Seventeen Stratford students sued in December, alleging Goose Creek police and school officials terrorized them during the raid. The American Civil Liberties Union sued on behalf of 20 other students, alleging their constitutional protection against unlawful search and seizure was violated.In January, the principal who asked police to come to the school after receiving reports of marijuana sales announced his resignation.Goose Creek Mayor Michael Heitzler said he saw no reason for the police department to punish the 14 officers who took part in the raid.
 
"Police officers have to make hard decisions and it's so easy to be Monday morning quarterback," he said.Badge Humphries, an attorney for some Stratford High students, said none of his clients had sought criminal charges.He added that McMaster's ruling wouldn't affect the lawsuit.© 2004 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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