cannabisnews.com: Green is The Scene





Green is The Scene
Posted by CN Staff on September 11, 2005 at 06:14:17 PT
By Nancy Pasternack, Sentinel Staff Writer
Source: Santa Cruz Sentinel
Santa Cruz -- He’s smoked pot since he was 14. Eighty-four-year-old George Van Vlaenderen’s early experiences with marijuana were in the mid-1930s, before its use was prohibited by federal law. Now, smoking the drug relieves eye pressure caused by his cataracts, the World War II veteran Navy pilot said.He stood in the sunshine near a members-only smoking tent at the Wo/Men’s Alliance for Medical Marijuana gathering Saturday and shared his thoughts. Those who could legalize the drug, he said, have a vested interest in keeping marijuana illegal.
Allowing people to use products of the cannabis plant legally, he said, "would eliminate the need for a lot of prescription drugs.""They’ll do everything in their power to make sure it’s not legal," Van Vlaenderen said, "because it would cost them millions of dollars ... they’re scared like hell." In spite of his jaunty beret and ready smile, the WAMM member’s perspective represented more serious aspects of WAMMFest.Beyond the cemetery of paper gravestones set up by the festival’s organizers to represent deceased members, less grave aspects of the festival were in evidence."Get laid by a WAMM member: only $5" read a sign advertising Hawaiian-style leis of strung plastic cannabis leaves.And a dreadlocked Homer Simpson toking from a bong graced the front of a tie-dyed "original art" shirt hawked by Jerry Converse. "Ahh, bong hits," the shirt reads.Another shirt features Calvin (of Calvin and Hobbs) smoking a large marijuana cigarette."But on the back," Converse said, picking up the garment and showing it off, "he turns into spaceman Spliff on a giant Rastafarian joint planet."WAMM co-founder Valerie Corral dismisses purely recreational users who try to associate themselves with her group.More pressing issues are at hand, she said.Earlier this year, the U.S. Supreme Court did away with protections for marijuana cooperatives. Drug Enforcement Agency raids are a reality once again.But eventually, she said, medical necessity will overcome politics."Everybody faces death — we’re all future skulls," she said. And keeping marijuana illegal "hasn’t saved or extended a single life." WAMM member Diana Poppay, 48, emerges from the smoking tent. The mother of two said she has suffered with multiple sclerosis since 1975, and that medical marijuana’s effects have helped relieve pain, stop her muscle spasms and it allows her to eat and sleep in peace.She said she’s thankful for the pure, organic drugs she gets through Corral’s cooperative. She doesn’t trust other sources of marijuana."On the street," she said, "you don’t know what they’re doing with that stuff."Corral said she welcomes government scrutiny."If (government officials) watch us closely enough, they’ll fall in love with WAMM," she said. "We’re going to charm the DEA."Complete Title: Green is The Scene: Serious and Not-So-Serious Issues Highlight Local Pot Club’s FestivalSource: Santa Cruz Sentinel (CA)Author: Nancy Pasternack, Sentinel Staff WriterPublished: September 11, 2005 Copyright: 2005 Santa Cruz SentinelContact: editorial santa-cruz.comWebsite: http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/Related Articles & Web Site:WAMMhttp://www.wamm.org/Medical-Pot Festival Sethttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread21030.shtmlPot Backers Rally in Santa Cruzhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread20964.shtml700 Protesters in Santa Cruz Rally for Marijuanahttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread20963.shtml 
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Comment #3 posted by Richard Zuckerman on September 12, 2005 at 13:44:45 PT:
WEED WORLD COLUMN
Has anybody read this month's issue of WEED WORLD? The WEED POLITICS column of this month's issue of WEED WORLD is so interesting that I photocopied it and mailed it out to Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr., the ONLY member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Subcommittee on Health, representing New Jersey! I also mailed it to New Jersey State Senator Bob Smith, Chairman of the Senate Environment Committee.My appeal against liar cops is proceeding, entitled Richard Paul Zuckerman, Plaintiff v. Borough of Highland Park, et al., Defendants, Docket number A-4461-04T1. Edward Costantini is the Appellate Division Team 1 Leader of this appeal, telephone number (609) 292-4822. This is the case of the 3 minute time limit on the public pay telephone, even when nobody is waiting to use the phone, arrest by 3 Highland Park policemen [www.HPBoro.com] for refusal to produce identification [visit www.supremecourtus.gov, type "Hiibel" into the search, then click on the search button, to download and read Larry Hiibel v. Sixth Judicial District Court of Nevada, holding that 21 States require pedestrians to produce identification, BUT NOT NEW JERSEY!!!], a COMPLETELY FABRICATED "disorderly conduct" charge. I was only convicted of the "disorderly conduct." The civil action was dismissed based on Heck v. Humphrey, because I have not had the conviction thrown out. It is now on appeal. This week, the appellate panel will hear my motion to supplement my Appellant's Brief to assert Bembenek v. Donohoo, 355 F.Supp.2d (E.D. Wisconson January 2005). You see, people, the lower court dismissed my lawsuit based on Heck v. Humphrey, which requires the conviction to be thrown out in order to sue for damages. This court decision was 5-4. Four years later, in Spencer v. Kenma, one of the 5 Justices turned around and now sides with the 4 Justices of Heck v. Humphrey! The 2nd Circuit wrote a panel Opinion in 1999 holding that Heck v. Humphrey is no longer good law! 7th Circuit followed this 2nd Circuit Opinion. Bembenek v. Donohoo, supra, followed these panel decisions holding Heck v. Humphrey is no longer good law! Bembenek, in case you people did not know, was a policewoman who became a Whistleblower, drilled out of the police department, and was subsequently framed and convicted of murder by her former colleagues. In the Bembenek v. Donohoo case, the federal district court holds that in light of the 2nd Circuit and 7th Circuit decisions, the courthouse doors should not be closed in her face simply because she is not eligible for post-conviction relief. Heck v. Humphrey was the primary reason for dismissal of my lawsuit! I should be entitled to reversal based on the ratio decidendi of Bembenek v. Donohoo, supra, and the WELL ESTABLISHED CASE LAW IN NEW JERSEY, such as Trisuzzi v. Tabatchnik, 285 N.J.Super. 15, 25, 666 A.2d 543 (App. Div. 1995)(Municipal court convictions are inadmissible in any civil court and do not estop relitigation of the underlying facts). This appeal is the reason for my absence from the Seattle Hemp Fest and other festivities! 
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Comment #2 posted by afterburner on September 12, 2005 at 08:23:36 PT
Congressional Cannabis Records Found in Bookcase
Harry Anslingers 1937 position on Just Cannabis 
http://www.nimbinaustralia.com/aclrm/fringe-tax-37.html
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Comment #1 posted by afterburner on September 11, 2005 at 07:34:20 PT
Outliving the Law. Go George Go.
{He’s smoked pot since he was 14. Eighty-four-year-old George Van Vlaenderen’s early experiences with marijuana were in the mid-1930s, before its use was prohibited by federal law. Now, smoking the drug relieves eye pressure caused by his cataracts, the World War II veteran Navy pilot said.}Turned into a criminal by federal folly, lies and superstitions, George fights a never ending battle for the recovery of the healing plant, the laughing grass.
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