cannabisnews.com: Marijuana Advocates Ready for Next Battle 










  Marijuana Advocates Ready for Next Battle 

Posted by CN Staff on November 09, 2002 at 11:54:43 PT
By Martha Mendoza, AP National Writer 
Source: Associated Press 

Stung by the defeat of marijuana law reform measures in three states, proponents of decriminalizing the drug are preparing for a new round of political and legal battles.Voters on Tuesday defeated a Nevada measure to legalize possession of up to three ounces of marijuana, an Arizona initiative that would have likened pot possession to a traffic violation, and a South Dakota initiative that would legalize hemp farms.
Several local measures did pass, including resolutions in 19 Massachusetts districts asking state representative to support making marijuana possession a civil rather than a criminal violation.But the "crown jewel" of marijuana reform laws was passed in San Francisco, authorizing the city to make it official policy to explore the establishment of a medical marijuana growing and distribution program, said Rob Kampia, executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based Marijuana Policy Project.It is in that city, where the mayor, top prosecutor and many voters support legalizing medical marijuana, that his group's fight will be centered."We in hypocrisy-filled, stinkyville Washington, D.C., want to use your beautiful city as a beachhead in the drug war," he said.Kampia joined about 500 marijuana reform advocates in Anaheim this weekend for a three-day conference to regroup after the election and plan their next step.All attendees agreed they have a lot of work to do.Federal drug enforcement officials said the election marked the beginning of the end of the legalization movement.The election was "a stunning victory of common sense over pro-drug propaganda," said federal drug czar John Walters. He said that from now on, "the tide runs our way.""Well, I"m up to the challenge," countered Kampia. "I say we fight."The next offensive for the reform movement will take place in several different venues, said Kevin Zeese, president of Common Sense for Drug Policy.Politically, advocates plan to press the San Francisco city government to follow through on what some considered a somewhat symbolic piece of legislation and actually start planting pot gardens and giving the drug as medicine to sick and dying people.That would be illegal under federal law, despite state and local laws that allow it, said Drug Enforcement Agency spokesman Richard Meyer in San Francisco."Whoever cultivates, possesses or distributes marijuana is breaking federal law regardless of intended use," he said. "We'll be conducting business as usual."Zeese said such confrontations are necessary."Part of the process is to sharpen the conflict," he said.Eight states have approved medical marijuana and 35 states have passed legislation recognizing marijuana's medicinal value. But federal law bans marijuana under any circumstances.In the past year, DEA agents have raided several medical marijuana providers in California, mostly without support from local law enforcement.Shawn Heller, national director of Students for Sensible Drug Policy, which has chapters at 200 college and high school campuses, said other local initiatives and perhaps another state proposal should be organized.On the legal front,a federal appeals court ruled last week in San Francisco that the government cannot revoke the prescription drug licenses of doctors who recommend marijuana to sick patients.During the next few months, federal judges in California are expected to hear several more cases involving a patient's right to use medical marijuana, and in one case to retrieve pot confiscated in a raid.Angel McClary Raich, who uses marijuana every two hours to control pain for an array of medical problems including an inoperable brain tumor, has a case pending in U.S. District Court in Oakland."I'm fighting for my life, but also I'm trying to help other patients," she said.While lawyers and advocates are pushing for reform in public venues, a group of doctors have been investigating the possible medical benefits of marijuana.Those results, if conclusive, could sway the American Medical Association's opposition to medicinal marijuana and possibly result in the reclassification of marijuana under federal law.The National Organization for The Reform of Marijuana Laws director Keith Stroup said his outlook for the marijuana law reform movement remains optimistic.He said the election losses "represent a temporary setback, but it's one we know we can and will overcome."Complete Title: Marijuana Advocates Ready for Next Battle After Election Losses Source: Associated Press Author: Martha Mendoza, AP National Writer Published: November 09, 2002 Copyright: 2002 Associated Press Related Articles & Web Sites:MPP: http://www.mpp.org/CSDP: http://www.csdp.org/SSDP: http://www.ssdp.org/NORML: http://www.norml.org/MassCann: http://www.masscann.org/San Francisco To Explore Growing Cannabis http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14702.shtmlSouth Shore Backs Decriminalizing Marijuanahttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14689.shtmlState Voters Reject Legalizing Marijuanahttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14671.shtmlMarijuana Legalization Backers Suffer Defeats http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14670.shtml

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Comment #22 posted by canaman on November 11, 2002 at 09:17:34 PT
All things must pass
Beware of DarknessWatch out now, take care
Beware of the thoughts that linger
Winding up inside your head
The hopelessness around you
In the dead of nightBeware of sadness
It can hit you
It can hurt you
Make you sore and what is more
That is not what you are here forAnd remember give thanks for the day!
http://web.mit.edu/scholvin/www/harrison/c301.htm
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Comment #21 posted by FoM on November 10, 2002 at 22:27:06 PT
Dana
I removed your comment and mine. That's not information that I feel should be posted. Sorry about that but please just work with me. Thanks.
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Comment #17 posted by FoM on November 10, 2002 at 20:37:32 PT

p4me
I don't know why. That's a good question.
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Comment #16 posted by FoM on November 10, 2002 at 20:34:35 PT

Dana
I'm so sorry you didn't get to go. I really wanted you to meet Ethan. I talked to him on the phone once. You know what he sounds like? A Doctor. LOL!Seriously, I've been upset about the elections and am sorting lots thru my mind. We have to hurry and get the laws changed. It's not that I feel that under normal circumstance we would need to rush but ever since 9-11 we are losing more and more of our liberties and people are slowly accepting it all. That scares me. I'm not a person to buck the system but I feel such an urgency and I feel we won't ever get the laws changed if we don't hurry up. 
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Comment #15 posted by DANA on November 10, 2002 at 19:18:18 PT

...nope..I didnt make it....
...I live within a half hours drive of Anaheim,and the conference,,,but I didnt make it due to several reasons...The main reason I wanted to go ,would be to shake hands with,and meet Ethan!,,but things worked out so that I didnt make it...I know that I am not the only one who was disgusted,and pissed about the farcical election debacle!(SP?..??)..  but in spite of how f**ked things are,and whatever has happened ,,I am NEVER going to stop doing what ever I can do to battle against the Evil empire!....ME,,or anyone else could DISAPPEAR tomorrow,and it would be an unexplained mystery....from JFK to Paul Wellstone,,there is no such thing as accountability,or honesty left within the remnants of democracy!....I know that I may sound like a nut,,,,and I am proud to be a NUT, because I am the nut who is sounding the alarm!,,,I'm tellin' ya,,I'm telling anyone who wants to listen that things are BAD,and they are not going in some hopeful,positive direction!...Nope,,,It's time to quit jiving ourselves with some fake hope for the peoples voice to all of a sudden be heard!...We have gone beyond the point of where independent voices if dissidence can be heard!,,,...We are way past the point where the internet will provide a strong enough voice of "free press",to change the juggernaut of corporate empire dominance!...DANGER...WARNING...WILL ROBINSON!...........I know,,that I may sound kinda crazy,and nutty,,,,but if you look at the BIG picture,,the one that you would see if you were out here in Outer Space,,you would understand that things are far more f**ked than we have been led to believe!.........I heard the news,,through the grapevine,,that one of my outspoken friends has dissappeared!,,He was a stubborn,grumpy,ex marine ,who is all of a sudden GONE!..The police department has no record of busting him,,and I am now on the trail of tracking down what happened to him!...He dissappeared,and within the next two weeks,his belongings were being auctioned off by the owners of the apartment he lived in.They would give me NO information involving his fate!....WATCH OUT....things are not good,,,and dont be thinkin' they are somehow getting better,,because they are NOT!!!
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Comment #14 posted by p4me on November 10, 2002 at 17:19:19 PT

FoM
The question about Alaska is why did they not get it on the 2002 ballot? The thing about Alaska is at one time they could grow cannabis before the right-wingers pushed things back. If they would not have had the reparations in the 1998 measure it may have already brought the constitutional issues to court. Alaska is a story in itself that some journalist should cover so that we all might know that story's detail.1
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Comment #13 posted by DdC on November 10, 2002 at 13:48:41 PT

Good Comparison p4me
Prohibitionist yeasts would have long ago died of starvation if the fascist didn't continually add sugar (taxpayer-money). By feeding the prohibitionist we get a filthy waste of corruption
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Comment #12 posted by FoM on November 10, 2002 at 12:44:05 PT

p4me
I can answer the Alaska Question. It's for 2004. They have until November 19th to collect the signatures they need. I don't know if they have though.Marijuana Group Brings Effort to Juneau: http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread14246.shtmlFree Hemp in Alaska:
http://www.freehempinak.org/
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Comment #11 posted by p4me on November 10, 2002 at 12:34:55 PT

We lack concise information
Just think about what the one or two thousand people that read Cnews everyday do not know, much less someone that cannot even read or someone that is not even online.I still do not know how Alaska did not get an iniative on the ballot. I mean if their was a screw up, it was in Alaska. Someone is going to have to write a lenghty piece that fills in everyones blanks so we can put the puzzle together. Like what is the real story about Michigan if it is even Michigan that I am thinking of. It only got mentioned a couple of times and I get Wisconsin mixed up with Michigan when I remember the geography and not the state.Has anyone ever made beer or wine? I think the prohibitionist are like yeast. So when you put yeast in with a fruit it will eat the sugar as long as temperature does not kill or until it eats all the sugar or it dies in its own waste, which is alcohol. Prohibitionist yeasts would have long ago died of starvation if the fascist didn't continually add sugar (taxpayer-money). By feeding the prohibitionist we get a filthy waste of corruption, death, imprisonment, and forfeiture of the unconstitutional kind. One way or the other the yeast of prohibition will die. We need to stop feeding it taxpayer sugar, but the fascist seem to insist on poisoning themselves with the waste.1
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Comment #10 posted by FoM on November 10, 2002 at 11:30:20 PT

Just a Note
The news is very slow. The conference ends tonight and I'm sure we'll hear more about what happened when Dr. Russo gets back and anyone else from here that is at the conference. I'm looking forward to finding out what went wrong and how to correct mistakes that were made this time and how to go on to victory next year.
What's New
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Comment #9 posted by DdC on November 09, 2002 at 14:45:58 PT

When we got signatures for prop 215 we thought it
was finally over and we were witnessing the end. The majority of counties, cities and state and especially the US fascist didn't observe it as proper law and went on busting patients. Then a few, after spending time in jail got local county and city reversals on sentencing, a couple even got their pot back and still the state keeps busting. And the D.E.A.th hasn't stopped. The Governor still sends people to prison for this benign plant. Fascism is causing the state initiatives to be disregarded. The will of the citizens according to Time Mag says 75% want it totally legalized. But untill it goes National the states will be beholding to billions in budget cuts if they refuse to play ball. Thousands of citizens will be abused, lose their property and possessions and 735,000 will still become criminals next year if reality doesn't set in and replace this fascism politics. Perpetuated by vested interest, including many in the medical/hemp movement. Who wants Peace when war pays so many dividends? Regardless what side, its the profits stupids! Stop the war on plant users and the medical and industrial factions will win by default. Stay separate and hope prop 215 keeps your loved ones out of prison. The 9th district was overturned by Klintoons intervention with the Supreme court over buyers clubs and I can't imagine the latest about doctors prescribing not being overturned by a total republican legislature. It was great to work on that initiative. Talk to the people. But that was then. I always knew the fascism existed since Vietnam. But honestly believed in the process and honestly believed in prop 215. But its moot. And as long as we keep feeding the red herrings the truth will be left by the wayside. Free the plant in solidarity with the hemp and recreational users, farmworkers poisoned by alternatives to hemp, minorities incarcerated for legal slave labor in prison and those giving a damn about Liberty. Don't side with evil and try to condemn some others doing the same thing as being bad. Surely ganja patients should not go to jail, but its as insane to cage the healthy and to stigmatize the Industrial use. We know better. Shame shame! The following articles are not about protecting kids from hardrugs. Its about protecting fascist from losing profits and tax incentives. You all know better than to repeat D.E.A.th wishes! Now go sit in the corner!DdCBill Would Outlaw Internet Drug Information
http://pub3.ezboard.com/fendingcannabisprohibitionwhyitstimetolegalize.showMessage?topicID=28.topicWASHINGTON (APBnews.com) -- The days of ordering bongs and pipes and other drug paraphernalia online, getting information on the medical uses of marijuana or instructions on growing hemp may go up in smoke if lawmakers have their way. A bill passed by the Senate in November seeks to make it illegal to provide any information online about marijuana. The measure also would increase penalties for drugs classified as methamphetamines, which go by street names such as "speed," "meth," "crank," "crystal-meth"
and "glass." Free-speech advocates say the proposed law banning marijuana information violates the First Amendment.Secret Searches Bill Also provides plenty of stocked shelves.
http://pub3.ezboard.com/fendingcannabisprohibitionwhyitstimetolegalize.showMessage?topicID=107.topicMeth Bill/Free Speech by Richard Lake
http://pub3.ezboard.com/fendingcannabisprohibitionwhyitstimetolegalize.showMessage?topicID=122.topicMaking War On Free Speech! S. 486/H.R. 2987 Passes
http://pub3.ezboard.com/fendingcannabisprohibitionwhyitstimetolegalize.showMessage?topicID=118.topicThe Anti-Meth Bill - Washington Post
http://pub3.ezboard.com/fendingcannabisprohibitionwhyitstimetolegalize.showMessage?topicID=113.topicClosing Ranks on MAPA/Secret Searches Bill Passes 
http://pub3.ezboard.com/fendingcannabisprohibitionwhyitstimetolegalize.showMessage?topicID=107.topicHATCH BILL THAT STIFFENS DRUG PENALTIES IS OK'D
http://pub3.ezboard.com/fendingcannabisprohibitionwhyitstimetolegalize.showMessage?topicID=88.topicLegislation Introduced to Overturn DC Initiative
http://pub3.ezboard.com/fendingcannabisprohibitionwhyitstimetolegalize.showMessage?topicID=112.topicUrgent Warning about Industrial Hemp...
http://pub3.ezboard.com/fendingcannabisprohibitionwhyitstimetolegalize.showMessage?topicID=135.topic

Remember Klintoons Insanity...Now Bush? Wake Up!
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Comment #8 posted by FoM on November 09, 2002 at 14:06:28 PT

Just a Note
My basic answer is basic I know. I know some states don't have Initiatives like New Mexico but if there aren't many states with restrictions it could still work. That's a lot of signatures I suppose. 
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Comment #7 posted by DdC on November 09, 2002 at 13:53:52 PT

No Comment...On second thought...
Believe what you will. Blame the citizens for wanting an alternative.to Cages. Continue caging the healthy who provide for the infirm? It can't be fascism profiting on prohibition and keeping competition out of the market. The profits and $20 billion D.E.A.th budgets are only coincidence. Can't happen here in America. Oh yes solidarity of the factions isn't the answer. Kill the potheads!Don't worry, I'll still provide my patients with their ganjameds while the medical movement further stigmatizes users with the buzz word "marijuana" and scapegoating ganja users who dared to want some freedom to not adulterate themselves with chemicals. Yes it isn't the Pharmaceutical Korpses or the Government and Church in bed with them. Blame Cheech and Chong for stoking up in public. Its not the meat industry or chemicalized grain industry in competition with hempseed, its just coincidence. Yes kill the potheads who gave the first AIDs patients the relief they couldn't find with the same fascist they now bow down too. The same that will kill more kids protecting their crude oil interest while the hempcar gets shunned. Gasoline without spuing sulfur and lead emmissions. The same fascist rpison profiteers raping people in prison as deterrents. Protect the old growth forest with tree cabins to write books about while hemp has 3 times more cellulous than trees, greater tensile strength and removes CO2 while it grows without support of the Sierra Club Protection rackets. Not prudent at this Bushit juncture? While cotton requires 60% of the US chemicals causing the diseases the medical "marijuana" users now want. Grown by the ones who you blame for the governments actions. Pitiful display if I ever did see one. Peace, Love and Liberty or the disgusting D.E.A.th!DdCAin't Nobody's Business If You Do
http://www.mcwilliams.com/books/books/aint/

The Elkhorn Manifesto...Get Real
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Comment #6 posted by FoM on November 09, 2002 at 13:49:53 PT

My Idea
OK if I was the one responsible for putting together Initiatives this is what I'd do. Every state that doesn't have a medical marijuana law should be offered one. All at the same time. Yes or no type question. I don't know what should be in the specifics of an Initiative but keep it simple. Yes or No is a good way to get a person to decide easier then trying to decipher what is meant by this or that. Just my opinion.
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Comment #5 posted by FoM on November 09, 2002 at 12:55:11 PT

medicinal toker 
That's why it rang a bell but didn't register. I never liked Li'l Orphan Annie! LOL! Shame on me. That's probably unamerican.Seriously. When you build a house it is only as good as it's foundation. The Medical Marijuana Movement is the only foundation that is strong and will support the whole house later. I never understood why medical marijuana got pushed by the wayside. Like it wasn't important or something. 

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Comment #4 posted by medicinal toker on November 09, 2002 at 12:49:14 PT

Daddy Warbucks
Daddy Warbucks is an allusion to a character in the "Li'l Orphan Annie" comic strip. Basically the Kubby's are saying that it's time to get back to the basic tried and true strategy of passing more initiatives like Prop 215, instead of the ones that failed. They concur that voters are not yet ready for initiatives with the scope of Q9, ans pointed out how Q9 would have criminalized and jailed youthful pot "offenders", and that is why there was no youth vote.I have to agree with them as well as Richard Cowan's comments on marijuananews. It's time to get back to working to protect and empower patients by understanding that mmj has the support of 80% of Americans, and work to pass initiatives that actually protect patients and are not a stalking horse for other issues.This is what we need, not organizations ego-tripping trying to pass grandiose measures that leave patients out in the cold, while at the same time being used as cover to slip in non-mmj related proposals.
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Comment #3 posted by DdC on November 09, 2002 at 12:39:36 PT

SC Community TV Video of WAMM Protest is on...
Probably local. Valerie's speaking now. Such support from the community is so nice to see. Suits holding ganja leaf signs and speaking out against D.E.A.th Persecution. This is America in action, not Propagandist dictating what chemicals you must use and what natural medicine you can't. What a hero. One sign I missed seeing at the protest that was shown here was a Postage Stamp with Valerie and Mike saying We Love You. So great to be a part of what is surely something bigger than many of us even know. What a powerful gentle speaker she is. Thanks WAMM.Peace, Love and Liberty or D.E.A.thDdChttp://www.wamm.org
Jefferson v Czar
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Comment #2 posted by FoM on November 09, 2002 at 12:32:22 PT

medicinal toker 
I'd really like to watch this program but I had to uninstall my real player. My media player works fine but Pot-TV doesn't have the option so I can't watch it. I have never on any computer been able to have good success with real video. Maybe because I use all Microsoft stuff but I don't know. What did the Kubbys say? Who is Daddy Warbucks?
I recognize the name but it doesn't ring a bell.
What's New
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Comment #1 posted by medicinal toker on November 09, 2002 at 12:00:16 PT

Pot Tv on the election results
Steve and Michele Kubby make some great points on Pot-TV: http://www.pot-tv.net/archive/shows/pottvshowse-1617.html
"Voters Reject Daddy Warbucks Initiatives"A must view!MT
Voters Reject Daddy Warbucks Initiatives
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