cannabisnews.com: AG Wants Suit on Marijuana Initiative Dismissed










  AG Wants Suit on Marijuana Initiative Dismissed

Posted by CN Staff on August 09, 2004 at 11:26:48 PT
By Cy Ryan, Sun Capital Bureau  
Source: Las Vegas Sun  

Carson City -- The state attorney general's office has filed a motion asking the U.S. District Court in Las Vegas to dismiss a suit that seeks to get the marijuana initiative petition on the November ballot.The motion, filed Friday, argues that a section of the Nevada Constitution defining signature requirements for an initiative petition is valid and an Idaho court case decision does not apply in this state.
U.S. District Judge James Mahan has issued a temporary restraining order stopping Secretary of State Dean Heller from taking further action on the petition to allow adults to possess and use one ounce of marijuana. He will hear oral arguments Friday.In order to qualify for Nevada's ballot, an initiative petition must have the signatures of 10 percent of the voters and 10 percent of the voters in 13 of the state's 17 counties.The Committee to Regulate and Control Marijuana, the Marijuana Policy Project and the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada are challenging the section requiring that 10 percent of the voters are required in 13 of the 17 counties.They refer to a decision by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in an Idaho case that required an initiative petition to have six percent of the signatures of the qualified voters in the state including six percent of the qualified voters in each of at least half of Idaho's 44 counties. The appeals court invalidated that requirement.It said, "Because some of Idaho's counties are far more heavily populated than others, an initiative that is popular primarily with voters in sparsely populated counties can reach the ballot with support of many fewer voters than can an initiative that is popular primarily with voters in densely populated counties."Those in support of the marijuana petition cite that case as precedent for tossing out the 13-county requirement in Nevada.Assistant Solicitor General Richard Linstrom and Senior Deputy Attorney General Victoria T. Oldenburg say the Idaho case is different than the Nevada issue."Unlike Idaho, only two counties in Nevada, Clark and Washoe, are regularly populated by the vast majority of Nevada's registered voters."In June this year, the two counties held 85 percent of the registered voters."Because Clark County and Washoe County hold such a huge percentage of Nevada's registered voters, a statewide initiative that is popular with registered voters in Nevada's two largest counties could reach the ballot without the support of any of Nevada's other 15 sparsely populated counties," wrote Linstrom and Oldenburg.They said if the requirement for 10 percent of signatures in 13 counties is struck down, the two major counties "could completely control the statewide initiative process. Preventing one or two counties from completely taking over statewide initiatives is certainly a compelling state interest, and the 13-county rule is narrowly tailored to serve that interest."The marijuana petition was also found to be defective and 17,872 signatures were not counted in Clark County because some of the petition document affidavits were not signed by registered voters. In the case of two other initiatives, a District Court judge in Carson City ruled that requirement was invalid.The secretary of state's office added those 17,872 signatures back to the petition in Clark County, but the petition was still 4,629 signatures short of meeting the 10 percent requirement in Clark County. The petition meets the 10 percent requirement in 12 of the 17 counties. The petition has 50,088 signatures but needs 51,337 for the statewide total.Source: Las Vegas Sun (NV)Author: Cy Ryan, Sun Capital Bureau Published: August 09, 2004Copyright: 2004 Las Vegas Sun Inc.Contact: letters lasvegassun.comWebsite: http://www.lasvegassun.com/Related Articles & Web Site:Marijuana Policy Projecthttp://www.mpp.org/Legal Pot Petition Sees Ray of Hope http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19266.shtmlBackers of Pot Petition File Suit http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19241.shtmlInitiative To Make Pot Legal May Be Doomedhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19158.shtmlMJ Initiative Backers Forgot 6,000 Signatures http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19055.shtml 

Home    Comment    Email    Register    Recent Comments    Help





Comment #32 posted by FoM on August 13, 2004 at 14:04:24 PT
AP: Update on Nevada Initiative
Count of Nevada Marijuana Petitions Back on After Court Ruling
 August 13, 2004The count of signatures on a Nevada marijuana initiative is back on Friday, after a federal judge declared unconstitutional two state requirements for tallying ballot measure signatures.US District Judge James Mahan declined to order the state outright to put the marijuana initiative on the November ballot. He said a count of the 66,000 signatures around the state will determine if the measure qualifies. It would let adults possess up to an ounce of marijuana. The ruling invalidating Nevada's so-called "13 counties rule" could also give new life to an unrelated measure seeking to ban public employees from serving in the Legislature. The rule requires signatures from at least 10 percent of the number of voters who cast ballots in the most recent general election in at least 13 of the state's 17 counties. The judge says the rule creates too big an imbalance between rural and heavily populated counties to meet the federal Constitution's "equal protection" reqirement of one-person, one-vote. The judge also tossed out the so-called "dual affidavit rule" requiring that a registered Nevada voter sign the petition and sign a document attesting that the names on it are from registered Nevada voters. Copyright 2004 Associated Presshttp://www.krnv.com/Global/story.asp?S=2171833&nav=8faOPqhH
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #31 posted by Virgil on August 11, 2004 at 17:12:11 PT
The main thing to know about Kerry
Kerry is a drug warrior. Tigers have stripes and leapords have spots. What makes Kerry the drug warrior he is that he cannot even admit it. Kerry was chosen long before primaries started by the insiders that are all drug warriors too.Kerry as a Senator was mediocre at best and only passed 7 peices of legislation he introduced, with four of them being ceremonial. Of the other three bills introduced by Kerry one was Plan Colombia. Now there is something comlpetely whitewashed by our controlled media marvels.Kerry is a drug warrior wanting to put another 100,000 cops on the beat for the police state he owes his loyalty. As for me, I am Anybody but Bush and Kerry. The main thing is to vote. If you had not planned to vote because war criminals should not be running for president, then vote for someone else and do not stay at home on election day.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #30 posted by FoM on August 10, 2004 at 11:20:05 PT
dididadadidit
Thank you. 
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #29 posted by dididadadidit on August 10, 2004 at 10:53:12 PT
Remember the Rohrbacher-Hinchey Votes
Kerry may have the Beers baggage to overcome, but keep in mind the votes of the past two years to deny the DEA jackbooted thugs funding to persecute medicals in states that have allowed it.The Bush supporting house Rethugnicans can't muster 10% support (compassion) for the idea while the Kerry supporting Democrats have been on the order of two thirds in favor. This indicates that the Dems are reading the polls (thank heavens, finally someone is), at least with respect to the medical. We know we haven't a snowballs chance in Bagdad in August of getting any Rethugnican relief. Vote the SOB's out whereever possible, pResident, house, and senate.Longtime libertarian (decades) goin' Democratic for the first time ever - - -Cheers:?
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #28 posted by FoM on August 10, 2004 at 07:53:33 PT
Thanks EJ
That's exactly what I needed to hear. 
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #27 posted by E_Johnson on August 10, 2004 at 07:43:23 PT
Don't be manipluated by fear FoM
What matters is not what Kerry thinks about the drug war, what matters is how the majority of the Democrats feel about it.There is a very definite difference between the people supporting Kerry and the people supporting Bush.Also, Kerry has pledged to pay heed to science.Science is not supporting the drug war these days. The drug war is doing very badly in the sciences.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #26 posted by FoM on August 10, 2004 at 07:33:03 PT
Just a Comment
We have 2 choices this election season. We can vote for Bush or Kerry. I won't vote if Kerry really is as bad as Bush. I don't like politics and have only voted a few times in my life so it would be easy for me to not vote because what's the use. Hopefully Kerry if elected will find someone who will be a good drug czar like Dennis Kucinich. That's what I am hoping for. If we get Bush for 4 more years I hope the courts will continue ruling in our favor. I'll keep my fingers crossed but I might not vote because I don't like this stuff. 
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #25 posted by mayan on August 10, 2004 at 06:54:20 PT
FoM..
According to this article, Beers could be National Security Advisor or Secretary of State. Yikes! It doesn't relate to cannabis but this guy is bad news, regardless. The Toxic Career of Rand Beers - Kerry's Drug War Zealot:
http://www.counterpunch.com/donahue01262004.html
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #24 posted by kaptinemo on August 10, 2004 at 05:11:49 PT:
"By their works, ye shall know them"
I'm no Biblical scholar; many of those here could easily run rings around me in that department, and rightfully so. But some lines from the Good Book have always stuck in my mind and been validated every day of my life. And that one is especially true.We've seen what these warmed-over Cold Warriors have done in the name of 'national security', and part of their battle has been to make war on their own citizens, paticularly cannabists. This is why I am not so sanguine about Mr. Kerry having Mr. Beers sitting at his shoulder and whispering in his ear. We've seen the results of his 'works', and thus 'know' him all too well. Because of him, any American on the ground in Colombia is courting dismemberment by justifiably angry campesinos wielding machetes - for being a citizen of the nation that has poisoned their children.And, as I stated so many years ago here at CNEWS, there are treaties against chemical and biological warfare, and the US has violated those treaties in it's anti-drug madness. For that is precisely what this is: chemical and biological warfare. The concept does not limit itself to poison gas attacks during wartime; the spectrum of proscriptions includes such things as not attacking food supplies in order to force a nation's population to capitulate or starve. What's being done in Colombia is precisely that.The 'fumigation' of Colombian campesinos (as if people were bugs to be gassed!) is partly why, even before the recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan began, the US refused to join the International Court. No matter. I hold that there will someday be a reckoning, perhaps in the not too distant future, when the developers of this insanity stand in the docket of a court the US has no influence on, and answer for their crimes against humanity. This is not hyperbole: American policymakers such as Henry Kissinger dare not travel to certain parts of the world for exactly that reason, as they risk arrest on outstanding warrants for such practices in the past. The promulgators of this policy may well find themselves in his shoes, someday.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #23 posted by JR Bob Dobbs on August 10, 2004 at 02:59:43 PT
Promises
>>[Kerry] thinks states that allow medical marijuana should be left alone.Dubya said the same thing when he was campaigning. 
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #22 posted by darlingnikkie on August 10, 2004 at 00:22:45 PT
Beers for Fears
 #### "My point is that we must investigate ALL the government says about everything, even "Hard Drugs." #### If "we" is meant to summarize readers who are interested in marijuana reforms, then I disagree that "we" all must investigate everything related to "hard drugs."The war on marijuana is a lie from top to bottom. The war on hard drugs is a lie based on a truth, which, in this case, is: "addiction to opium-based substances and cocaine is not a positive thing."I think the war on hard drugs is as much a failure as the war on marijuana, and I think the war on hard drugs needs to be re-strategized and re-focused so it doesn't hurt the public more than it helps. But that's a completely different fight than the fight to recriminalize or legalize marijuana. Marijuana is lumped-in with drugs that are far more dangerous and less defendable in my opinion. Cannabis will never be legalized through deconstructing the dangers of harder drugs ... marijuana needs to be separated from those harder drugs.Besides, it's already recognized that coca and opium poppies can be beneficial despite their dangers. By the letter of the law, cannabis is utterly useless and wholly dangerous.As for Beers, I am also trying to decide for myself how and if he relates to Kerry's position on marijuana. Beers' track record on the war on drugs is not comforting .. at best, his drug warrior efforts indirectly aided previous wars on marijuana smokers.At the same time, Kerry's stance on marijuana is the most hopeful position since Jimmy Carter's. It's kind of weird, because those who support marijuana reforms should be dancing in the streets right now. Kerry has indicated that he doesn't think marijuana smoking is a bigger deal than casual drinking. He thinks states that allow medical marijuana should be left alone. His wife appears to support NORML in some indirect way. That all sounds great to me.The trouble is: no one interested in this issue believes Kerry. Myself included. Or at very least, no one believes that his campaign's "don't ask; don't tell" approach is going to amount to much if he wins in November, because we know that many of the people Kerry surrounds himself with LOVE the war on marijuana and they will perpetuate it with or without his direct support. That is, unless Kerry takes a firm stance on the issue, which he hasn't done. Democrats have proven untrustworthy on this issue, and when it comes to marijuana reforms they don't have the guts to even pretend as if they're listening to public opinion. You'd think they would have learned a thing or two in the past four years ...
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #21 posted by FoM on August 09, 2004 at 18:50:59 PT
One More Comment
When I say that society isn't there yet about hard drugs that comes from my experience over the years with people who have gotten involved in hard drug use. So it's only from my small corner of the world. It might be different in other areas of the country but I don't know for sure one way or the other. There I feel better.
[ Post Comment ]

 


Comment #20 posted by FoM on August 09, 2004 at 18:37:24 PT

About Rand Beers
I guess I still want to know how he might be when it comes to Cannabis. We know that the drug war doesn't work but society in general doesn't care about hard drugs yet. I don't know anyone that thinks that using hard drugs has helped them or anyone they know but I can't say that about Cannabis. Cannabis helps people feel better and doesn't cause addiction like hard drugs do. I found an article about Rand Beers from a while ago. Here it is.***Former Aide Takes Aim at War on TerrorBy Laura Blumenfeld,
Washington Post Staff WriterMonday, June 16, 2003; Page A01 Five days before the war began in Iraq, as President Bush prepared to raise the terrorism threat level to orange, a top White House counterterrorism adviser unlocked the steel door to his office, an intelligence vault secured by an electronic keypad, a combination lock and an alarm. He sat down and turned to his inbox. "Things were dicey," said Rand Beers, recalling the stack of classified reports about plots to shoot, bomb, burn and poison Americans. He stared at the color-coded threats for five minutes. Then he called his wife: I'm quitting. Beers's resignation surprised Washington, but what he did next was even more astounding. Eight weeks after leaving the Bush White House, he volunteered as national security adviser for Sen. John F. Kerry (Mass.), a Democratic candidate for president, in a campaign to oust his former boss. All of which points to a question: What does this intelligence insider know? "The administration wasn't matching its deeds to its words in the war on terrorism. They're making us less secure, not more secure," said Beers, who until now has remained largely silent about leaving his National Security Council job as special assistant to the president for combating terrorism. "As an insider, I saw the things that weren't being done. And the longer I sat and watched, the more concerned I became, until I got up and walked out." No single issue has defined the Bush presidency more than fighting terrorism. And no issue has both animated and intimidated Democrats. Into this tricky intersection of terrorism, policy and politics steps Beers, a lifelong bureaucrat, unassuming and tight-lipped until now. He is an unlikely insurgent. He served on the NSC under Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and the current Bush. The oath of office hangs on the wall by his bed; he tears up when he watches "The West Wing." Yet Beers decided that he wanted out, and he is offering a rare glimpse in. "Counterterrorism is like a team sport. The game is deadly. There has to be offense and defense," Beers said. "The Bush administration is primarily offense, and not into teamwork." In a series of interviews, Beers, 60, critiqued Bush's war on terrorism. He is a man in transition, alternately reluctant about and empowered by his criticism of the government. After 35 years of issuing measured statements from inside intelligence circles, he speaks more like a public servant than a public figure. Much of what he knows is classified and cannot be discussed. Nevertheless, Beers will say that the administration is "underestimating the enemy." It has failed to address the root causes of terror, he said. "The difficult, long-term issues both at home and abroad have been avoided, neglected or shortchanged and generally underfunded." The focus on Iraq has robbed domestic security of manpower, brainpower and money, he said. The Iraq war created fissures in the United States' counterterrorism alliances, he said, and could breed a new generation of al Qaeda recruits. Many of his government colleagues, he said, thought Iraq was an "ill-conceived and poorly executed strategy." "I continue to be puzzled by it," said Beers, who did not oppose the war but thought it should have been fought with a broader coalition. "Why was it such a policy priority?" The official rationale was the search for weapons of mass destruction, he said, "although the evidence was pretty qualified, if you listened carefully." He thinks the war in Afghanistan was a job begun, then abandoned. Rather than destroying al Qaeda terrorists, the fighting only dispersed them. The flow of aid has been slow and the U.S. military presence is too small, he said. "Terrorists move around the country with ease. We don't even know what's going on. Osama bin Laden could be almost anywhere in Afghanistan," he said. As for the Saudis, he said, the administration has not pushed them hard enough to address their own problem with terrorism. Even last September, he said, "attacks in Saudi Arabia sounded like they were going to happen imminently." Within U.S. borders, homeland security is suffering from "policy constipation. Nothing gets done," Beers said. "Fixing an agency management problem doesn't make headlines or produce voter support. So if you're looking at things from a political perspective, it's easier to go to war." The Immigration and Naturalization Service, he said, needs further reorganization. The Homeland Security Department is underfunded. There has been little, if any, follow-through on cybersecurity, port security, infrastructure protection and immigration management. Authorities don't know where the sleeper cells are, he said. Vulnerable segments of the economy, such as the chemical industry, "cry out for protection." "We are asking our firemen, policemen, Customs and Coast Guard to do far more with far less than we ever ask of our military," he said. Abroad, the CIA has done a good job in targeting the al Qaeda leadership. But domestically, the antiterrorism effort is one of talk, not action: "a rhetorical policy. What else can you say -- 'We don't care about 3,000 people dying in New York City and Washington?' " When asked about Beers, Sean McCormack, an NSC spokesman, said, "At the time he submitted his resignation, he said he had decided to leave government. We thanked him for his three decades of government service." McCormack declined to comment further. However it was viewed inside the administration, onlookers saw it as a rare Washington event. "I can't think of a single example in the last 30 years of a person who has done something so extreme," said Paul C. Light, a scholar with the Brookings Institution. "He's not just declaring that he's a Democrat. He's declaring that he's a Kerry Democrat, and the way he wants to make a difference in the world is to get his former boss out of office." Although Beers has worked in three Republican administrations, he is a registered Democrat. He wanted to leave the NSC quietly, so when he resigned, he said it was for "personal reasons." His friends called, worried: "Are you sick?" When Beers joined the White House counterterrorism team last August, the unit had suffered several abrupt departures. People had warned him the job was impossible, but Beers was upbeat. On Reagan's NSC staff, he had replaced Oliver North as director for counterterrorism and counternarcotics, known as the "office of drugs and thugs." "Randy's your model government worker," said Wendy Chamberlin, a U.S. Agency for International Development administrator for Iraq, who worked with Beers on counterterrorism on the NSC of the first Bush administration. "He works for the common good of the American people. He's fair, balanced, honest. No one ever gets hurt feelings hearing the truth from Randy." The first thing Beers noticed when he walked into his new office was the pile of intelligence reports. The "threat stuff," as Beers calls it, was 10 times thicker than it had been before the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings. He was in a job that would grind down anyone. Every day, 500 to 1,000 pieces of threat information crossed his desk. The typical mix included suspicious surveillance at a U.S. embassy; surveillance of a nuclear power plant or a bridge; a person caught by airport security with a weapon, or an airplane flying too close to the CIA; a tanker truck, which might contain a bomb, crossing the border and heading for a city; an intercepted phone call between suspected terrorists. Most of the top-secret reports -- pumped into his office from the White House Situation Room -- didn't pan out. Often they came from a disgruntled employee or a spouse. When the chemical agent ricin surfaced in the London subway, "we were worried it might manifest here," he said. The challenge was: "Who do we alert? How do you tell them to organize?" Every time the government raises an alarm, it costs time and money. "There's less filtering now because people don't want to make the mistake of not warning," he said. Before Sept. 11, 2001, the office met three times a week to discuss intelligence. Now, twice a day, at 7 a.m. and 3 p.m., it holds "threat matrix meetings," tracking the threats on CIA spreadsheets. It was Beers's task to evaluate the warnings and to act on them. "It's a monstrous responsibility," said William Wechsler, director for transnational threats on Clinton's NSC staff. "You sit around every day, thinking about how people want to kill thousands of Americans." Steven Simon, director for counterterrorism in the Clinton White House, said, "When we read a piece of intelligence, we'd apply the old how-straight-does-your-hair-stand-up-on-your-head test." The government's first counterterrorism czar, Richard Clarke, who left his White House job in February after more than 10 years, said officials judged the human intelligence based on two factors: Would the source have access to the information? How reliable was his previous reporting? They scored access to information, 12345; previous reporting, abcd. "A score of D5, you don't believe. A1 -- you do," Clarke said. "It's like a jolt of espresso, and you feel like -- whoop -- it pumps you up, and wakes you up." It's easier to raise the threat level -- from code yellow to code orange, for example -- than to lower it, Beers said: "It's easier to see the increase in intelligence suggesting something's going to happen. What do you say when we're coming back down? Does nothing happening mean it's not going to happen? It's still out there." After spending all day wrestling with global jihad, Beers would go home to his Adams Morgan townhouse. "You knew not to get the phone in the middle of the night, because it was for Dad," said his son Benjamin, 28. When the Situation Room called, Beers would switch to a black, secure phone that scrambled the signal, after fishing the key out of his sock drawer. There were times he would throw on sweats over his pajamas and drive downtown. "The first day, I came in fresh and eager," he said. "On the last day, I came home tired and burned out. And it only took seven months." Part of that stemmed from his frustration with the culture of the White House. He was loath to discuss it. His wife, Bonnie, a school administrator, was not: "It's a very closed, small, controlled group. This is an administration that determines what it thinks and then sets about to prove it. There's almost a religious kind of certainty. There's no curiosity about opposing points of view. It's very scary. There's kind of a ghost agenda." In the end, Beers was arriving at work each day with knots in his stomach. He did not want to abandon his colleagues at such a critical, dangerous time. When he finally decided to quit, he drove to a friend's house in Arlington. Clarke, his old counterterrorism pal, took one look at the haggard man on his stoop and opened a bottle of Russian River Pinot Noir. Then he opened another bottle. Clarke toasted Beers, saying: You can still fight the fight. Shortly after that, Beers joined the Kerry campaign. He had briefly considered a think tank or an academic job but realized that he "never felt so strongly about something in my life" than he did about changing current U.S. policies. Of the Democratic candidates, Kerry offered the greatest expertise in foreign affairs and security issues, he decided. Like Beers, Kerry had served in Vietnam. As a civil servant, Beers liked Kerry's emphasis on national service. On a recent hot night, at 10 o'clock, Beers sat by an open bedroom window, wearing a T-shirt, his bare feet propped on a table. Beers was on a three-hour conference call, the weekly Monday night foreign policy briefing for the campaign. The black, secure phone by his bedside was gone. Instead, there was a red, white and blue bumper sticker: "John Kerry -- President." The buzz of helicopters blew through the window. Since Sept. 11, 2001, it seemed, there were more helicopters circling the city. "And we need to return to that kind of diplomatic effort . . . ," Beers was saying, over the droning sound. His war goes on. http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A62941-2003Jun15

[ Post Comment ]


 


Comment #19 posted by Dankhank on August 09, 2004 at 18:22:26 PT

Hard Drugs ... ?
Here in the Land of the Free we see the end products of plants that have had many uses for people who used them where grown and used naturally, the same way Cannabis is known to be used for millenia.The Coca bush is respected by the indigenous peoples of South America for it's enervation, and food value.Refining coca into a powder is a direct result of Prohibition and has caused Coca to gain a "black-eye" in the minds of prohibitionists.The Opium Poppy is a little tougher to speak for, but I am sure there is much literature on the web about it's uses over the centuries, some of which we may know from casual reading. As a mild sedative or treatment for loose bowels and who knows what else?My point is that we must investigate ALL the government says about everything, even "Hard Drugs."

Truth
[ Post Comment ]


 


Comment #18 posted by Jose Melendez on August 09, 2004 at 18:20:19 PT

Rand Beers: UNDER OATH
from: http://www.drugwar.com/pBeersDeposition.shtmIN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA VENACIO AGUASANTA ARIAS, et al., : Plaintiffs, : vs. : DYNCORP, et al., Defendants. : Wednesday, February 27, 2002 Washington, D.C. Deposition of RAND BEERS, held at the offices of the International Labor Rights Fund, 733 15th Street, N.W., Suite 920, Washington, D.C., commencing at 10:00 a.m., Wednesday, February 27, 2002, before SHIRLEY S MITCHELL, Notary Public for the District of Columbia. EXAMINATION BY: Mr. Collingsworth WITNESS: Rand Beers Q. Are you aware of any studies conducted regarding the issue of drift with respect to Roundup, the fumigant base         that is being used in Plan Columbia? A. No. Q. Are you aware that there are any studies? A. No. Q. Do you know what kind of spray was initially being used when Plan Columbia first began? A. No. Q. Do you know what kind of spray is being used now? A. No. Q. Is it a derivative of Roundup? A. I am not at liberty to say. Q. I'm sorry? A. I am not at liberty to say. 
[ Post Comment ]


 


Comment #17 posted by FoM on August 09, 2004 at 18:02:01 PT

Rand Beers
Is Rand Beers going to be the Drug Czar or just Homeland Security?
[ Post Comment ]


 


Comment #16 posted by kaptinemo on August 09, 2004 at 17:44:30 PT:

My tuppence, for what its' worth
I have big issues with fanaticism, of all kinds.It doesn't matter whether the fanaticism is clothed in rags and gibbers in the street for *jihad* or dressed in a Brookes Brothers Suit and speaks in oblique language with dulcet tones while classical music plays in the background. It is no stretch to say the SS, at Wansee, decided upon the "Final Solution" while sipping cognac and admiring the view. Six million Jews went into the gas chambers and ovens ultimately from such an intimate gathering. In such a civilized environment genocide was planned. Both paths lead to innocent people being harmed or killed.Mr. Beers represents the latter form of fanaticism, the kind that appears at first glance to be reasonable until you get a good close look at the cause he supports. And the damage it has done, both here and abroad.Beers knows very well that the glyphosphate he so forcefully politicked to be sprayed on coca plantations is damaging both food crops and peasant children whose diets are so low in nutritive value their immune systems are compromised. He was recently named the defendant in a lawsuit by some of the indiginous people in the area his efforts have been focused on. He used every little sleight of hand and shading of innuendo to dodge culpability for a plan that was largely his.Yet he persists, prefering not to see the harm he has done, and even has doubled his efforts at said politicking. He makes no distinctions as to the worthiness of cannabis as opposed to poppy or coca. To him, in his quiet, tightly restrained zeal, all deserve eradication. And if a few campesinos die in the process, why should he care? He's already 'beaten the rap' and danced away untouched.Fanaticism doesn't just howl it's hatred in the street; it can also, in more civilized tones, promulgate the same agenda: destruction.
[ Post Comment ]


 


Comment #15 posted by Virgil on August 09, 2004 at 17:37:40 PT

Rand Beers v Roger Noriega
The drug wars are all about advancing Empire. Beers and Noriega sold out to advance Empire at the expense of things good. NarcoNews had something about Noriega resigning a few weeks ago. There was an extremely good article about Roger Noriega where it translated his Empire language into what it means in real life. The author even calls it a translation and it makes it very educational. It was the only article I have read in the last week that I would recommend reading because it is candid where propaganda is always anything but candid- http://www.counterpunch.org/solo07102004.html
[ Post Comment ]


 


Comment #14 posted by FoM on August 09, 2004 at 17:01:50 PT

mayan 
You're welcome. I hope someone will post information that connects Rand Beers with Cannabis. I just did a search and all I find is about over seas and hard drugs. I don't believe in using poison on plants even if they are poppies or coca because it pollutes the earth and those who have to live in those areas but I would be really upset if Rand Beers was any part of using poisons on american cannabis. I hope I'm not alone in thinking these are two different issues.
[ Post Comment ]


 


Comment #13 posted by mayan on August 09, 2004 at 16:57:30 PT

More...
'Vote for Change' Band Schedule: 
http://talkleft.com/new_archives/007518.html
[ Post Comment ]


 


Comment #12 posted by mayan on August 09, 2004 at 16:47:52 PT

Joyce...
If she's offended by it, I'm supportive of it! Thanks for the info, FoM!Down with the moron...Musicians reveal anti-Bush dates:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3547802.stmJohn Mellencamp turns political; joins coalition bent on defeating Bush
http://tinyurl.com/4c8wg
[ Post Comment ]


 


Comment #11 posted by FoM on August 09, 2004 at 16:46:15 PT

JR My Opinion
I didn't post that article because it sounds like the writer doesn't like Kerry one little bit. It was very sarcastic. I take articles like that one with a grain of salt. This Rand Beers issues doesn't make sense to me. Aren't they two different issues? How has Rand Beers done anything to the cannabis reform community. I haven't found any connection. Hard drugs and Cannabis are looked at quite differently by most people. Does Rand Beers hurt the cannabis community? That's what I really want to know but haven't found anything so far.
[ Post Comment ]


 


Comment #10 posted by JR Bob Dobbs on August 09, 2004 at 16:36:07 PT

Then why the narcs?
Then why does John Kerry have Rand Beers running his campaign? 
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v04/n1069/a07.html?116780
[ Post Comment ]


 


Comment #9 posted by FoM on August 09, 2004 at 16:11:15 PT

The GCW 
I'm glad you liked the e-mail and link.BGreen I know what you mean. I was AG for about the same amount of years as you.
[ Post Comment ]


 


Comment #8 posted by The GCW on August 09, 2004 at 16:00:37 PT

FoM,
I'm glad to read that e mail.I want to know everything that Joyce dislikes.This news makes Me accept Kerry more.IF KERRY GETS OUR ATTENTION HE WILL HAVE LETTER WRITERS HITTING THE NEWSPAPERS SETTING RECORDS LIKE NEVER BEFORE.Kerry should welcome and love Us, for We could grant him much.We have the Rober Sharpe's against the Joyce Nalepka's.And they have already lost.With Us:Victory Is Won -Santana, very loud, very clear.We are the winners; We know it.It is time the cagers know it.Now, in this time in history, it is good to be standing with Us cannabis activists.MOre and more, people are going to want to be associated with Us and this movement.Glory days.The cagers are going to need pro. help to deal with the reality they will face when it hits them that they have been screwing their own brother so very much.Think about it; caging your family for using a plant.Hurting Him and hurting Him and keep on hurting Him.Pitty.These cagers need Our prayers. They need Us. Let's be there for them, when the time comes and they reach out for forgiveness.Let's show them what We wanted all along.Show 'em Our love.No one has it like We do.From the heart of the love plant, We will love Our enemies.Thanks, I feel better now.The Green Collar Worker 

[ Post Comment ]


 


Comment #7 posted by BGreen on August 09, 2004 at 15:55:37 PT

As A Recovering Seven Year Member
of an Assemblies of God church (the denomination that calls john ashcroft a "true man of god,") I have to say that george bush is a dangerous and evil religious zealot.The Reverend Bud Green
[ Post Comment ]


 


Comment #6 posted by FoM on August 09, 2004 at 15:18:23 PT

CorvallisEric
I don't think Bush and Kerry are at all alike. The only thing they have in common is they both are very rich. Teresa and John Kerry are classy people. They have manners but speak their mind ( particularly Teresa ). The Kerrys listen but Bush dictates. Bush isn't concerned with what we want. I think Kerry will care and his ouspoken wife will help him from holding back if he becomes President. I sure hope so. If 2000 hadn't happened like it did I wouldn't be as worried. 
[ Post Comment ]


 


Comment #5 posted by CorvallisEric on August 09, 2004 at 15:01:14 PT

C'mon guys, speak up (comment 1)
I really wonder what the "Kerry is just like Bush" crowd think about this.
[ Post Comment ]


 


Comment #4 posted by FoM on August 09, 2004 at 13:28:08 PT

dongenero
It really must be a good organization. I really like Teresa Heinz Kerry. She is a cool lady in my book. She just doesn't want 4 more years of hell! LOL! Go Teresa! 
[ Post Comment ]


 


Comment #3 posted by dongenero on August 09, 2004 at 13:13:59 PT

Tides Foundation
That's an interesting post FoM. I was not familiar with Tides Foundation but, looking at their web site they seem to be supporting grants for many issues that I'm in agreement with.
When I saw that the nutball Joyce Nalepka was opposed to this group I figured they must be great! It looks as though they are. I'll have to put them on my list of charitable contributions. Thanks Joyce!
[ Post Comment ]


 


Comment #2 posted by FoM on August 09, 2004 at 12:54:29 PT

Link To Tides
http://www.tides.org/index_tds.cfm
[ Post Comment ]


 


Comment #1 posted by FoM on August 09, 2004 at 12:44:56 PT

Found This in My E-Mail
The Heinz-Kerry Pot ConnectionJuly 29, 2004The House of Representatives has voted 268-148 to continue letting the federal government prosecute the use of marijuana as a supposed treatment or cure for various diseases. Marijuana, a substance linked in scientific studies to mental illness, has been touted by the pro-drug legalization lobby as having benefits for cancer, MS and AIDS patients. This vote demonstrated that most members of the House don't believe in those stories about "medical marijuana." The case for so-called medical marijuana can be an emotional and persuasive one. Montel Williams appeared on the O'Reilly Factor to claim that marijuana helped his multiple sclerosis. When Bill O'Reilly asked whether he had ever used the synthetic version of the THC in marijuana, Marinol, Williams said he hadn't. O'Reilly didn't press the point and in a program a day later said he thought marijuana should be available for people like Williams, despite an official of the White House Office of Drug Control Policy telling O'Reilly that it was "snake oil." She said no credible expert believes that medicine can be smoked in the form of a cigarette. Williams is said to have been a marijuana user long before he was diagnosed with MS. The exchange demonstrates that the war on drugs continues to be an issue. Press acceptance of the misleading arguments in favor of "medical marijuana" may help explain why journalists have failed to press or expose John Kerry for his own pro-drug views. Kerry favors medical marijuana and says that, as a prosecutor, he didn't go after marijuana offenders, in a policy amounting to decriminalization. He believes that people can be "responsible" marijuana users. When Kerry was caught at a campaign event pretending to smoke a marijuana cigarette, reporters such as Ceci Connolly of the Washington Post downplayed the incident, saying Kerry was just having fun. The incident occurred when Kerry was campaigning with Peter Yarrow of the singing group Peter, Paul & Mary. Yarrow started singing, "Puff the Magic Dragon" and Kerry brought his fingers to his lips as if he were "toking" a marijuana "joint." Joyce Nalepka, president of the anti-drug group, Drug-Free Kids: America's Challenge, says she is worried about Kerry's position but is even more alarmed by the activities of his wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, some of whose fortune has gone into the coffers of pro-drug groups. These include the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, or NORML. Nalepka says the Heinz money is funneled through the Tides Center. NORML received $68,000. Responding to claims that the Heinz money is provided to Tides and that Tides then decides what to do with it, Nalepka said, "I wouldn't buy that for a second." She says millions of dollars in Heinz money have been provided to Tides, which turns around and funds the pro-drug lobby, and that Heinz officials know exactly where the money is going. " Nalepka says, "Teresa Heinz Kerry cannot disconnect herself from it." She fears that a Kerry administration would radically change America's national anti-drug policy.http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1180781/posts
[ Post Comment ]





  Post Comment