cannabisnews.com: Californians Out To Recall Anti-Pot DAs Californians Out To Recall Anti-Pot DAs Posted by FoM on February 19, 2001 at 12:32:48 PT Thomas D. Elias, Special To The Washington Times Source: Washington Times Advocates of medical marijuana use who won public approval of their cause in a 1996 ballot initiative are now using recall campaigns against county prosecutors around California in an attempt to muscle law enforcement into accepting legalization of medipot. Already, activists for the American Medical Marijuana Association (AMMA) in Orange County's Dana Point have qualified a recall of Marin County District Attorney Pamela Kamena for a May 22 special election vote. The special election will cost the county an estimated $500,000. They group has also "warned" a half-dozen other district attorneys to cease prosecuting patients who smoke marijuana to ease the pain and nausea of some illnesses or face a recall. To force a special election, petitioners must collect valid signatures of 15 percent of voters who cast ballots in the last general election. "We see recall actions as a means of convincing local prosecutors to comply with Proposition 215," said Steve Kubby, founder and director of the AMMA. "This isn't a vindictive thing on the part of patients. It's a matter of survival." Proposition 215 legalized the use of pot for medical purposes with a physician's recommendation. The initiative passed by a 56 percent to 44 percent margin and has produced confusion and controversy ever since as U.S. attorneys, judges and some local sheriffs and prosecutors refused to recognize it as a defense in marijuana possession cases. Statewide, defendants in 23 criminal cases have used it as a defense since the initiative was passed. Of those, 16 persons have been acquitted of possession charges. A jury in the Sierra Nevada Mountain town of Auburn voted 11-1 to acquit Mr. Kubby of most drug-possession charges last month stemming from a 1999 raid on his home near Lake Tahoe. Mr. Kubby, who ran in 1998 as the Libertarian Party's candidate for governor of California, and his wife were tried on a variety of drug-possession charges after police netted more than 100 small marijuana plants in that raid. Mr. Kubby says he has used marijuana since 1976 to combat a rare form of adrenal cancer. His physician testified that he needs the pot to survive. Mr. Kubby was convicted only of one count of possession of a hallucinogenic mushroom but has appealed that verdict on grounds the mushroom was a souvenir that had long since lost its potency. One of the district attorneys who has been warned of impending recall is Bradford Fenocchio, who supervised the Kubby prosecution. The recall in leafy Marin County, just across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco, comes despite what its district attorney, Ms. Kamena, calls her "progressive view" about medipot. Her office has issued guidelines exempting from prosecutions anyone with fewer than seven mature cannabis plants and less than half a pound of dried marijuana. "These people want you to believe this is about medical marijuana," Ms. Kamena told a news conference last week. "It is not. This process is about the rule of law and the entire legal process." Lynette Shaw, director of the AMMA's Marin County branch, argued that even when medipot patients are not prosecuted, authorities in the county frequently confiscate their supplies. "We're looking at 300 people who lost their pot," she said. "After they get arrested and lose their pot and go through all these hoops, only then are they let go. They're harassing these poor patients to death." Opponents of the Marin County recall say the petition signature drive that qualified the issue for a vote was misleading. The petitions, they note, did not mention medipot and instead attacked Ms. Kamena for prosecuting a woman convicted of falsifying a court document in a child-custody case. Retired county Judge William Stephens told the San Francisco Chronicle he believes the recall effort is "a fraud being perpetrated on the citizens of this county. The primary interest of those seeking to advance the petition is to have the district attorney look away when marijuana is used." Meanwhile, most prosecutors say they will not allow themselves to be pressured by any recall efforts. "We're not going to react to someone wanting to put some type of political pressure on us to make a decision on how we should apply the law," said Edward Berberian, assistant district attorney of Sonoma County.Source: Washington Times (DC)Author: Thomas D. Elias, Special To The Washington TimesPublished: February 19, 2001Copyright: 2001 News World Communications, Inc.Contact: letters washtimes.comWebsite: http://www.washtimes.com/Related Articles & Web Sites:American Medical Marijuana Associationhttp://americanmarijuana.org/Marin Alliance for Medical Marijuana http://www.cbcmarin.com/Taxpayers League Blasts Placer DA and Sheriff http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread8703.shtmlSmoke and Smearers http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread8681.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #26 posted by Ethan Russo, MD on February 20, 2001 at 11:01:41 PT: Lehder, Please Get in Touch You're a helluva persuasive writer. Please E-mail me if you're comfortable doing so at erusso blackfoot.net [ Post Comment ] Comment #25 posted by Dan B on February 20, 2001 at 10:30:28 PT: Whoa there! I appreciate everyone's comments here--really, I do. What I meant by the "shady" nature of this first recall effort is not a matter of fact, but a matter of perception--not my perception, but what will be portrayed in the media, etc. When it comes to politics (and make no mistake, when you talk about the war on drugs, you're fundamentally talking about politics), perception is everything.I am all for the recall effort. I just don't want to be blindsided by those who would try to weaken the momentum of drug policy reform by saying that we "hijacked" a petition intended for other reasons.However, I am all for the recall.That's all.Dan B [ Post Comment ] Comment #24 posted by Lehder on February 20, 2001 at 09:12:30 PT sic 'em! >Why stop there? Should this initial effort succeed, it would be high time to recall other public officials, particularly those in law enforcement subject to this sanction. Anyone who has spurned the law of the people on this issue should be made to engage in a sincere self-assessment.I'm with Dr. Russo on this point, and intend further to see these counter blows against the drug warriors all the way through to trials for war-crimes and treason. When those are finished I wanna dig up Nixon and punish him too, and his spaced-out wife.No way is this recall election going to 'boomerang' back on us. Nah, quite the opposite. First, the antis are going to be absolutely stunned to see their victims striking back. That one of them can even be scratched while they send thousands of innocents to prison is by now beyond their comprehension. They are comfortable in their invincibility, and it will be amusing to see them try to adjust. Two or three successful recalls will send the entire warrior establishment into pandemonium that will break their ranks; they'll cast their ideologies aside without a second glance as they run for cover, hide and try to disguise themselves as progressives. Really, do you expect to find any heroes among these opportunists and ignoramuses, sadistic sheep of the totalitarians? I don't. Look at George Bush. Hasn't said a word yet about drugs or drug czars. A movie scared him.Against all their abuses, what have been our defenses? Only our suppressed and ridiculed efforts to provide honest information, and the sheer weight and numbers of our losses that slow the killing machine. But now we have teeth, little baby teeth against guns and clubs - and they're enough.Second, a couple of recall victories are going to animate a lot of people who have just been taking it, people who wisely kept a low profile just to survive the drug wars, people who are sick of pissing in cups, sick of having to get f**ked-up hair cuts to hold second-rate jobs, sick of the propaganda, just sick of it -- a lot of voices unheard so far will be heard soon when they see that they're not going to be killed just for their opinions about this drug war and our repressive masters in general. Yup, our successes, if a couple of warriors can be defeated and exposed for the cowards and weaklings they are, will only snowball. Gee, I'm feeling good today, optimistic like the kaptin!Oh there will be repercussions, but these are not specific to a recall election; they are characteristic of the fall of totalitarian movements and, as such, are unavoidable. First, the persecutions will become more intense and mindless, more arbitrary. When Hitler's armies were in retreat did the genocide stop? No, it was intensified. In part it was intensified to eliminate witnesses against the SS and the Einzatsgruppen; murders in the camps were carried out to the very last prisoner and the killing grounds were bulldozed and covered with grass seed to deny their very existence. And the killing was intensified too purely out of hatred by those who knew they were defeated. They imagined they would feel better to at least destroy a few more victims.When the drug warriors are finally on the run, when the career opportunities in hatred and destruction begin drying up and the money starts getting scarcer, another ugly aspect of the human psyche will manifest itself. The warriors will begin distrusting each other; we will see the most egregious back stabbing and perfidy among the warriors as they fight each other over the last caches of drug war booty, as they attack and destroy each other jockying for position in the coming postwar world.In the early winter of 1944 when Budapest was being shelled by the Soviet armies, incredibly, the Germans, and the Hungarians who had chosen to act as their puppets, began killing each other: the murderous madness has no end, no limit. the Nazis kill for pleasure; they torture from lack of anything better to do. Sometimes they go so gfar as to kill each other. Some Nylas [Hungarian Nazis], becoming suspicious of the behavior of a German SS, force him to take off his pants; the man is circumcised ( as a result of an illness, he protests), and they prepare to execute him despite his protests. The SS manages to get a messge out to his comrades, however. they arrive in time to free him and, without flinching, massacre every Arrow Cross on the spot, because everyone of them is considered guilty of an unforgivable error.In all the absurdity and madness that encircles them, the partisans try to keep their heads. From all available signs, the enemy is losing control of his own actions. He is like a cornered animal, alll the more dangerouss for being the more vulnerable.--Gilles Lambert, Operation HazalahLet us hope that, finally, after at least two great lessons in one century, we will have learned the true nature of bigotry and its consequences and will never again have to play out on the stage of life. Let us hope that men and women come to recognize the vulnerabilities of our own nature, that when we forget that we are individuals and are to be judged as such, that when we fan the hatred that lies dormant in our prehistoric souls by inventing and condemning classes of people as a whole, then we invite the horrors of totalitarianism and genocide. Such will be the purposes of war-crimes trials, official trials even if the punishments are to be mostly symbolic in nature. We can forgive too, but let us never forget. Never Again.PAZ [ Post Comment ] Comment #23 posted by CannabisMythsExposed on February 20, 2001 at 05:32:15 PT Latest Kubby News from MarijuanaNews.com FOM, thanks for the link, I'll add yours on my link page.Check out todays MarijuanaNews, great Kubby article.ThanksPedroCannabis Myths Exposed League of Placer County Taxpayers Criticizes County Officials [ Post Comment ] Comment #22 posted by dddd on February 20, 2001 at 05:12:26 PT research Testing these HTML things does not bother me at all....after all,some ofmy strange,drawn out,off topic commentaries are less interesting oreducational....besides the dazzle of flashing colorful boldface fonts addsinterest and variety...what the heck......I was thinking about griping aboutthis stuff,,but I changed my mind.,,,even though I think content is moreimportant than dazzle.,,,hypocricy is worse than good experimental learning. [ Post Comment ] Comment #21 posted by irok on February 20, 2001 at 04:43:35 PT test for echo 3 Last try Fom please delete these 3 post. tanxCool">http://www.420gear.com/flash/420gear.swf">Cool 420 Gear flash intro put mouse here [ Post Comment ] Comment #20 posted by irok on February 20, 2001 at 04:26:37 PT test for echo ">http://www.hotrodder.com/irokz/catchme.gif"> [ Post Comment ] Comment #19 posted by irok on February 20, 2001 at 04:24:00 PT test for echo ">http://www.hotrodder.com/irokz/catchme.gif"> [ Post Comment ] Comment #18 posted by George W. Bush on February 19, 2001 at 21:03:13 PT: "We're not going to react to someone wanting to pu I thought district attorneys are sworn under othe to uphold the "State Constitution" a protect its citizens from the Fedral Government! each state is like its own country I think they should take there individual power back form those dirty morther f*ckers(feds) \ \ / _\_ _____| ||_________| [ Post Comment ] Comment #17 posted by dddd on February 19, 2001 at 20:26:54 PT the good and the not so good After reading through these posts,I have to agree with the ugly scenariothat Tim Stone suggests.The powerful and well funded antis,will quite likelyrespond with a national media blitz.They will portray the recall efforts as anattempt to subvert true democracy,by a fringe group of drug using freaks. Remember who owns the national media,and dont take lightly the awesomepower this gives them. But on the other hand,,I say "go for it!",,recall all the lyin',cheatin',phonybastards.After all,what else can we do?....dddd [ Post Comment ] Comment #16 posted by Imprint on February 19, 2001 at 20:01:32 PT: What’s good for the goose……. There have been plenty of special interest groups (including the government) that have used this tactic and no one cried wolf. Only because it would put a chink in the armor of the war on drugs the drug warlords are upset. I think the bigger point here is that this hits the local government in the pocket book. Taking our hard-earned money has always been a weapon of the drug warlords and now they will have to spend $500,000 for a recall election. It won’t take too many of these incidents to get local officials thinking twice about over zealous prosecutions. I like the recall idea. Use their weapons against them, a little misdirection and take their money. [ Post Comment ] Comment #15 posted by zenarch on February 19, 2001 at 19:12:44 PT germaine to this discussion . . . . The Kubby's have a new show on pot-tv. <B>The Kubby Files [ Post Comment ] Comment #14 posted by iJAH on February 19, 2001 at 18:33:38 PT recall yea she is right this is not about medpot this is about if this country is really run by the people or by they (gov't) will the constitution prevail or will darkness and run the country chant down babylon down babylon [ Post Comment ] Comment #13 posted by FoM on February 19, 2001 at 17:52:30 PT CannabisMythsExposed CannabisMythsExposed I put your page on my page here. Keep up the good work.http://www.freedomtoexhale.com/act.htm [ Post Comment ] Comment #12 posted by CannabisMythsExposed on February 19, 2001 at 17:48:47 PT: Sure hope Kubby wins this one I've followed the Kubby story for a while now. Kubby is right to recall Kamena. It is she who is breaking the law. Unlike Kubby, the worst that can happen to Kamena is that she loses her job. If Kubby had been sent to jail, he probably would have died.Prop 215 should be amended at the next elections to make it a CRIMINAL offence to wilfuly disobey it. Cannabis Myths Exposed [ Post Comment ] Comment #11 posted by Duzt on February 19, 2001 at 17:12:48 PT who are you listening to? the only person saying that this was sneaky or that anybody was deceived is Ms. Kamena. Over 20,000 signatures were acquired, and the people collecting those signatures explained the petition. The petition started because of another incident, Ms. Kamena has not only abused her power in arresting medical marijuana patients. Nobody has been deceptive, this will be shown on the May 22. [ Post Comment ] Comment #10 posted by Dan B on February 19, 2001 at 17:09:49 PT: Sorry! Here's A Better Link Sorry about the extra post and the bad link. Here's a good link to my new article. War on Drugs: Is Prevention Effective? Part 1: D.A.R.E. [ Post Comment ] Comment #9 posted by Dan B on February 19, 2001 at 17:07:13 PT: Thoughts on the Origin of this Recall Effort I first heard about these efforts from Steve Kubby on a segment of the 4:20 Marijuana News on POT-TV. I was delighted that medical cannabis reformers were trying out a new method of influencing the DAs in California to uphold Prop. 215, but I have to admit that I was a bit suspicious of the petition's origin. I think that recall efforts would be more effective (would send a clearer message to those who ignore the law) if we were more forthcoming about our petitions from the outset. Using a petition originally designed to achieve one end in order to achieve another is the kind of underhanded trick the antis would pull against us. We need to make it clear that the antis are the bullies, not us. Don't we have enough supporters to get a recall petition on the ballot just for injustices related to arresting and prosecuting medical marijuana patients? Given the recent jury decisions acquitting medical marijuana patients of growing "too much" cannabis, we surely should have enough.I believe these recalls could work, but the shady nature of this particular (first) recall petition could undermine efforts to use this tool elsewhere. Recall Kamena? Definitely! But not at the expense of future efforts to do the same to other DAs.I'm still a bit iffy on this part of the issue. If the recall is successful, it will be a testament to the growing support for medical marijuana in California, particularly in Marin County. But if it fails, I fear it will place a damper on any further recall efforts.Dan BP.S. Please, check out my new article (first in a series) and let me know what you think. (link below) War on Drugs: Is Prevention Effective? Part 1: D.A.R.E. [ Post Comment ] Comment #8 posted by Tim Stone on February 19, 2001 at 16:46:49 PT Agree with zenarch As a supporter of medpot, and drug law reform in general, I fear that this recall thing will prove to be a disastrous tactic that will boomerang back against the movement. It's unlikely to succeed, and it lends itself easily to being cast by the media as thuggish, coercive behavior on the part of policy reformers. And then everybody nationally will be tarred with that brush. Also, the recall supporters had to go for a county where they were most likely to get enough signatures on the recall petition, rather than a county where the D.A. really, really was flouting 215 and really deserved to be recalled. To repeat: I agree with the ends, but think the means of d.a. recall will be a severe tactical setback for drug policy reform. [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by zenarch on February 19, 2001 at 15:41:58 PT I think I disagree Stripey . I don't doubt that Kamena is worthy of a recall but I wish it wasn't necessary to co-opt some other petition. Particularly one with a sordid history such as this one. The Medical Cannabis movement has garnered ample public support on it's own merits, and I think this effort could have a negative impact on that support, though I hope not. The same may be true of recalls in general - Proactive reform has brought us a long way but if prohibitionists are able (with willing support from a lap-dog media) to paint the movement as bullies (imagine that) it seems our momentum could be blunted (pun intended)Somebody tell me if I'm just blowin' smoke!peace [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by sm247 on February 19, 2001 at 15:10:48 PT YOU CANT IGNORE US "We're not going to react to someone wanting to put some type of political pressure on us to make a decision on how we should apply the law," said Edward Berberian, assistant district attorney of Sonoma County.Excuse the mm mm out of me but these are American citizens exercising their constitutional rights of which even is the right to seek regress for a law which they disagree with. This is the will of the people and this person is going to speak like this against them this sounds clearly like the gestapo neo nazi communistic bastards which have treaded on peoples Freedom in the past. I hope you all remember what happened last time you ticked of the people I remember clearly the riots that erupted last time. [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by Dan Hillman on February 19, 2001 at 14:55:24 PT Not surprised to hear this from Wash. Times Dankhank, don't forget the source of this information. The Washington Times has been one of the staunchest supporters of the war on drugs ever since I can remember. Clues throughout the article illustrate the support the Wash. Times gives to "medipot" persecution. > The special election will cost the county an estimated $500,000. How much does wasteful arrest and incarceration of cannabis using adults cost?> To force a special election, petitioners must collect valid signatures of 15 percent of voters who cast ballots in the last general election. The word "force" here is telling. Of course, there is no mention of the "force" that prosecutors and their police accomplices wield in the war against cannabis users.> "These people want you to believe this is about medical marijuana," Ms. Kamena told a news conference last week. "It is not. This process is about the rule of law and the entire legal process."Ms. Kamena is more correct than she knows. The entire US legal system is now geared to persecute and imprison drug users. Recall Kamena! [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by Stripey on February 19, 2001 at 14:42:21 PT For Kamena. . . It doesn't matter why you're being recalled. Sorry, but it doesn't. If MMJ patients sign a pettition based on a bad call about a child custody case, so what? All that means is that you have more than one group of people pissed at you.Why the punch is being thrown is moot. The fact remains that it's a perfectly legal recall, and you're stuck with it. Perhaps stepping on so many toes wasn't such a good idea, eh? [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by Dankhank on February 19, 2001 at 14:22:27 PT: They're blind or stupid ... nah ... BOTH !!!! --------Advocates of medical marijuana use who won public approval of their cause in a 1996 ballot initiative are now using recall campaigns against county prosecutors around California in an attempt to muscle law enforcement into accepting legalization of medipot.--------The opening sentence to the whole story ... and all I have to ask is the one question ... and you may quote me at your whim. In deference to the rules of this board I will use stars, but you will know the depth of my feeling, and if you chose to quote me then feel free to fill in the blanks. Phew ... now for the question ...WHY THE F*** DO WE HAVE TO MUSCLE THE PIGS AND THE PROSECUTORS INTO OBEYING THE LAW???? HEMP n STUFF [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by Ethan Russo, MD on February 19, 2001 at 13:30:47 PT: Momentum Why stop there? Should this initial efforts succeed, it would be high time to recall other public officials, particularly those in law enforcement subject to this sanction. Anyone who has spurned the law of the people on this issue should be made to engage in a sincere self-assessment. A few will get religion and do the right thing. Those that fail should experience the wrath of the electorate. [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by Duzt on February 19, 2001 at 13:03:57 PT We will continue... These recalls are just the beginning. All of our efforts (everyone with AMMA) is being directed towards this recall. The others are in the process of being filed, but it takes almost a year for a recall to go through to the actual voting process, so this is the biggy. If we get this through, no matter what the anti's say, they will have to listen. They can talk all they want, but in May, when Ms. Kamena is looking for a new job, they will rethink their strategy, or join our list. http://www.wonderbuds.com [ Post Comment ] Post Comment Name: Optional Password: E-Mail: Subject: Comment: [Please refrain from using profanity in your message] Link URL: Link Title: