cannabisnews.com: No Laughing Matter No Laughing Matter Posted by FoM on October 05, 2000 at 16:50:27 PT By John Anderson, Madera County Sheriff Source: Fresno Bee Apparently columnist Eli Setencich thinks it amusing that law enforcement is attempting to eradicate marijuana growing in the rural areas of our counties. I do not. It is a felony to cultivate marijuana in any amount. To do so in gardens often exceeding 1,000 plants is a significant criminal enterprise. Admit it or not, marijuana is a threshold drug that often introduces our children into more serious drug use. Law enforcement's efforts are not, as he terms it, "reefer madness," but rather a coordinated crusade to control outright lawlessness in our mountain areas. The people behind the growing of marijuana, in addition to cultivating an illegal substance, violate labor laws designed to protect migrant workers, illegally kill deer that might feed on their crops, pollute the ground with rat poison to ward off pests, trespass on private property, steal water and constitute an armed threat to fishermen, hunters and hikers. Mr. Setencich's implied support of Proposition 36 is also misguided. Proposition 36 is a dangerous and misleading initiative. It seriously undermines California's legitimate drug treatment programs and weakens anti-drug laws by essentially giving felons a "get out of jail free" card, as there are no sanctions for failure to remain drug free, regardless of how many chances for rehabilitation are attempted. Mr. Setencich is a talented and entertaining columnist. Perhaps, though, his satire should be limited to less serious matters. John Anderson Madera County Sheriff Source: Fresno Bee, The (CA)Published: October 5, 2000Copyright: 2000 The Fresno BeeContact: letters fresnobee.comWebsite: http://www.fresnobee.com/Feedback: http://www.fresnobee.com/man/opinion/letters.htmlForum: http://www.fresnobee.com/man/projects/webforums/opinion.htmlRelated Articles:Madera Cultivates Millions in Pot Haul http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread7116.shtmlShot Kills 1 at Pot Camp http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread6822.shtml END SNIP --> Snipped Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #9 posted by robert hittle on May 14, 2001 at 05:24:21 PT one short announcement smoke weed everyday!!!!!!!!! [ Post Comment ] Comment #8 posted by Steven on October 07, 2000 at 14:28:04 PT: The lack of critical thought Mr. Anderson really needs to hit the books. Could it be that violence has increased because of the example provided by law enforcement? Has crime been produced because of the war on drugs? Has stupidity taken the place of reason? Major studies have been donme by responsible professionals for the last 40 years that dissagree about the status of marijuana as a "gateway drug" is false. Law enforcement over time has done much more harm than good because prejudice and fear are not what good law is made of. [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by mungojelly on October 07, 2000 at 06:12:41 PT: the strange thing The strange thing is that in many circumstances large public demonstrations seem largely ineffective in provoking change on this issue. Here in Boston tens of thousands of people gather every year for the Hempfest / "Freedom Fest" and no one seems to give a damn. Naughty, naughty, they say, you were smoking pot on the common. Bad children. But of course these are rich white children -- their children -- so nothing happens. It's a "youthful experiment." Then they go ahead with arresting the poor and minorities for this same non-crime. Make no mistake, this is a class war and a race war as much as it is a drug war. Rich white pot smokers are not politically active, because they do not feel threatened by the police. They go smoke pot on the common, with the police looking on, but it's not a mass political movement; it's just hanging out on the common. Marijuana is only seriously illegal for the unpriviledged. mungojelly [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by THOMAS on October 06, 2000 at 14:52:57 PT DUDE!!!!! ARE YOU NOT TIRED OF THE STENCH OF SHIT!PULL YOUR HEAD OUT OF YOUR ASS! [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by max on October 06, 2000 at 09:11:15 PT max worldnet.com shut up john you fucking idiot! You must have got the junior g-man of the year in DARE, you jerk off. [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by freedom fighter on October 06, 2000 at 08:38:41 PT Can you hear the children laughing? Tell me Mr. John AndersonCan you hear the children laughing? [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by i_rule_ on October 05, 2000 at 21:59:27 PT People Power We so desperately need to come up with a way to convince these brain dead people that marijuana is not the same as the the dangerous chemical man-made drugs. We tell them the truth about pot. We give references that go back as far as recorded history does. We tell them of our experiences with pot and all the benefits of legalizing it. Still they insist that it is a dangerous plant that needs to be irradicated to protect the children. Damn it, we are the children! Some of these same people use two disease causing products that kill hundreds of thousands of people every year. Alcohol and tobacco. No one has died from using pot. Where is the logic of this? I hear about the competition it would give to the mighty corporations. This is not an excuse. It would be the same korpses that would benefit from the legalization. Let them produce their oil products, let them make their cigarettes, let them make their paper, and fabric, and food products, even their pharmicueticals, but make some of them out of hemp, for Christ's sake. At least take some of the stress off of our environment!How many more *years* are we gonna try to convince these idiots that they are wrong? How many more good people are gonna be destroyed by these damned laws, enforced by these bull-headed ignoramouses? I say too many years have gone by already. I know there are many who are doing what they can to change these laws. We are not gonna change the laws until we change the people who make them, and enforce them.They can already come in your house and kill you if they think they need to. They can take your posessions away, and your freedom. What more can we *give up*? It's time to come up with a way to take something from them. Like our lives, and our possessions, and our freedom back.The Yugoslavians have the right idea, I say. But instead of just the White House, we need to overwhelm the police departments, too. Not violently, just convincingly. If we don't force the issue, we are allowing many more people to become victims of the War on US.Take to the streets. The sooner, the better.The Yugoslavians proved it can be done. [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by kaptinemo on October 05, 2000 at 17:58:32 PT: There are few things sadder to witness than the mentally challenged trying to sound like they have a full sixpack. The Sheriff's lame attempt at both intellectual pretenses and lofty condescension might work for his underlings, but hardly befits a *public servant addressing the people who pay for his salary*. Because his diatribe is not just crudely delivered, but insulting of his paymasters.What is really heartening, though, is the inclusion of this particularly pathetic attempt to garner sympathy among the more ecologically minded:'The people behind the growing of marijuana, in addition to cultivating an illegal substance, violate labor laws designed to protect migrant workers, illegally kill deer that might feed on their crops, pollute the ground with rat poison to ward off pests, trespass on private property, steal water and constitute an armed threat to fishermen, hunters and hikers.'What Sheriff Anderson seems to forget is the legion of people who are ecologically minded...so much so they are actively working towards the restoration of our forests, the preservation of our topsoil, the re-establishment of planet-friendly alternatives to Terracidal farming practices, etc... through the re-legalization of hemp. (The people who he rants against are largely the 'plantation' growers who practice de facto peonage with illegal workers; such as they are not concerned with protecting their environment, but are as hell bent on destroying it as the antis, themselves, are.)When antis try to sound like their opponents, not only should the falseness of their tone cause us to laugh at such sophomoric attempts at manipulation; it should hearten us. Because when you, who have all the power and the force at your disposal, try to adopt the mannerisms of the enemy, it's a tacit admission that they've won. [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by FoM on October 05, 2000 at 16:57:24 PT: Here's the article Hi Everyone, I didn't have the article that the Sheriff was talking about but here it is. The link might not work after some time because I'm not sure if the Fresno Bee archives their news or not so here it is for now!Another Way To Weed Out Drug Use http://www.fresnobee.com/searchSite/0,1906,198072,00.html [ Post Comment ] Post Comment Name: Optional Password: E-Mail: Subject: Comment: [Please refrain from using profanity in your message] Link URL: Link Title: