cannabisnews.com: Cranking Up The War Against The Drug War





Cranking Up The War Against The Drug War
Posted by FoM on April 18, 2001 at 07:45:33 PT
By Peter Schrag
Source: Sacramento Bee
It's more than likely that come June, the U.S. Supreme Court will uphold federal attempts to shut down OCBC, the Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative, and similar groups distributing marijuana. Medical use of the drug was legalized by Proposition 215, the initiative that California voters approved in 1996.But however the court rules, voter-enacted medical marijuana laws in Arizona, Maine, Colorado, Alaska, Washington, Oregon, California and Nevada -- plus one passed last year by the Hawaii Legislature -- will remain on the books. One of every five Americans now lives in a place where state law allows the medical use of pot.
More important, the broader campaign to reform the nation's drug laws -- a campaign that's rolled up one victory after another in the states -- is almost certain to go on. And because the reformers feel they've made their point with medical marijuana initiatives, the focus is likely to shift to broader and more controversial issues.Late last month, as the high court was hearing arguments in the OCBC case, Bill Zimmerman, who's been running the campaign, was looking at Florida, Ohio and Michigan as possible new opportunities in the drive to reform laws covering possession of all illicit drugs.The states have been the battleground, but federal drug policy is the real target. The state initiative process merely gives the reformers their leverage. And on this issue the voters, at least in the West, have been far more restive with the nation's drug policies than the politicians they send to Congress.In the past five years, with funding from billionaire financier George Soros and a few other deep pockets, the resulting gap has given Zimmerman 14 victories in 15 attempts, making him one of the most successful political operatives in this country.Among those victories: the overwhelming vote last November for Proposition 36, the California initiative designed to sentence those convicted on simple drug possession charges to treatment instead of prison; the medical marijuana laws; reform of asset forfeiture laws in Utah and Oregon; laws legalizing needle exchanges or legalizing the sale of needles in pharmacies.So far, Washington has been slow to respond. Although the drug reformers handily won most of their campaigns, the federal government has resisted vigorously. In fall 1998, as a medical marijuana initiative was heading for a vote in the District of Columbia, Congress voted to prohibit the District from even counting the vote. Ten months later, when a federal court overturned that prohibition, the count showed that the measure had passed 69 percent to 31 percent. Despite such votes, Attorney General John Ashcroft vows to step up the drug war.The Oakland case arose from the federal government's attempt to shut the club down. Given the likelihood that juries would acquit AIDS or glaucoma or cancer patients smoking marijuana to control nausea or other symptoms, the government's most logical strategy was to stop distribution.Yet as Zimmerman points out, even if the high court lets the government shut down OCBC, it may not discourage the medical use of marijuana so much as it fosters other efforts, as in Oregon, to have the state certify users and create a decentralized supply system that makes any federal crackdown nearly impossible. Under Oregon law, anyone may grow up to seven marijuana plants for a state-certified user. Nevada, where voters last November approved a medical marijuana initiative with a 65 percent majority, is now setting up a similar system. Other states may follow.In the meantime, California is rushing to implement Proposition 36, which goes into effect July 1. That means vastly expanding treatment facilities, finding the people to run them and making certain, through testing and other means, that users successfully complete their treatment. But in some counties there's still a lot of arm wrestling between probation and health authorities over who gets the lion's share of the $120 million a year that Proposition 36 provides for the addicts sentenced to treatment.A recent poll by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press shows that 74 percent of Americans believe that the drug war is a losing cause. And while most are not ready to decriminalize drugs, a large majority support policies allowing doctors to prescribe marijuana for their patients. And in states such as California, sizable majorities are ready to send most hard drug addicts to treatment rather than prison.But those attitudes could easily change if the reform laws don't work in the states where they've been enacted. Here again, California is likely to become the bellwether state. The reformers think it can be done, but the big tests still lie ahead.Source: Sacramento Bee (CA)Author: Peter SchragPublished: April 18, 2001Copyright: 2000 The Sacramento BeeContact: opinion sacbee.comWebsite: http://www.sacbee.com/Related Articles & Web Sites:Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperativehttp://www.rxcbc.org/Pew Research Center Web Sitehttp://www.people-press.org/CannabisNews Articles - OCBChttp://cannabisnews.com/thcgi/search.pl?K=OCBC
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Comment #3 posted by Alofi on April 18, 2001 at 14:29:05 PT
holy war
The schools are already jails: strip searches, ignorant keepers and watchers, forced mind control with drugs (ritalin), crime dogs, minute-by-minute control, propaganda.The war against the Amerikan pro-alcoholism pro-cigarette pro-cancer pro-ignorance (I'm trying to take a positive attitude here) Nazis began in earnest with the petetioning for recall elections in California. We will win every recall election we can hold. These elections mark the first time that numbers are on our side. Usually it's eight screaming and obscenely armed pigs through the door against one or two peaceful smokers, or a billion dollar TV propaganda campaign versus a couple of sign-carrying protestors. But with recall elections the odds change to tens of thousands of literate freedom fighters against one ignorant drug warrior. Let's recall each and every one of them. And we'll win again and again and again.
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Comment #2 posted by Rambler on April 18, 2001 at 12:48:12 PT
Holy War
You're right DankHank.When the arrogant buttheads of the supremecourt do what they are expected to do,it will be the start of a jihad.Aiding,abbetting,and allowing bush to be installed in the whorehouse wasone thing,but mellow Californians,who are already being burned by afalse power "crisis",are fed up.(no pun intended). There is a large gentle giant group of citizens throughout the country,thathave stood silently by,and watched,as the drug war festered,and decayedtheir freedom,and Constitutional rights..We can only take so much before we reach the breaking point. I'mready to freak out when everyone else is.  Ya know, ya dont wanna bethe only one freaking out.It wont be long until the have some program to convert schools into jails.I'm quite sure that the marijuana people,outnumber the small enclave ofantis ten to one. We will come after them one of these nights with torchesand pitchforks,and run them out of town.  JAH Warriors. The angry masses.
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Comment #1 posted by Dankhank on April 18, 2001 at 10:48:48 PT:
Never stop!!!
And when the dust settles from the Supreme Court's decision should that decision run counter to the medical needs of ordinary Americans ...Be Prepared, America for a war FOR the use of medical marijuana the likes of which you never could have imagined!!The genie can never again be put back in the bottle!Pandora's box cannot be closed on the movement ...We will fight for all medical marijuana users...We will not stop ...
Hemp n Stuff
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