Who Is Your Marijuana Hero?

Heroes come in all shapes and sizes, from a soldier that would jump on a grenade to that person that lets you in while changing lanes. My heroes as of late are the drug war heroes. Making every smoker a criminal from occasional to daily, the war on drug has created a different type of soldier – from grower to end user, anyone can go to jail.

The war on drugs has created a violent and life threatening environment for normal people who just want to smoke (like having a cocktail after work) and be left alone. They smoke to ease pain and to gain appetites, to feel stabilized and overall okay with the world, there’s no mystery behind this. I’m not the only one that is pissed off that weed is still an issue in our American way. People in very important positions carry on life day to day, all while partaking in the weed and yet here we are.

I ‘m nobody, just a dude that talks a lot of shit by pointing fingers at our current and past political system by stating how insane it is that anybody’s life is altered by weed. There’s been a consistent hypocrisy in my America, before the War on drugs it was “get them damn hippies” but with a War we can “get ‘em all”, I just wonder why a bunch of farmers and stoners are the target for somebody’s animosity. One can get by in life by shutting the fuck up, by not stirring the pot, by not having an opinion but I think that’s more of an insult to ourselves and our children.

In Southern California I was caught with weed 3 times (less than an ounce is a misdemeanor, a.k.a just a ticket in other states it’s a felony a.k.a jail time). Two times I was cited and the third he let me go. When I was younger on the East Coast I would smoke in downtown Atlantic City, off the bus in the land of crack heads, cops had bigger things to worry about then. These days I’m less bold and casual with my smoking simply because I have more to lose now but if one of those things in the past took a worse turn I don’t know where I would be now.

These days I have more respect for a grower than a politician – farmer vs. lawyer. These days I’m more fearful around cops and my pot – smoking harmlessly vs. going to jail and being a waste of mine and other tax payers’ money.

Heroes come in all shapes and sizes; mine are the soldiers and victims of today’s ignorant drug war. Mine are normal people put into extra-ordinary positions. When I heard Rob Cantrell’s joke about smoking with a world renowned violinist and getting busted in a back alley than serving 3 days in jail, I thought it was just a joke – not a personal reality, than there is the story of Jaime Rutowski.

Jaime Rutowski recently won a lawsuit against the city of New York. She was detained against her will where she nearly died. She suffers from diabetes and as her levels rose the police did nothing for her ‘till she got to a near death situation.

The politicians live in the land of double-talk which is clearly seen here in a video (start at 1:30 but the whole thing is badass) with Congressman Charles B Rangel saying he can’t think of a single person being arrested in New York, are you fucking kidding me! I never thought there would be a time when I recognize Tennesse as more progressive thinking than New York.

Or what about the heros serving time for something I smoke in a day like Patricia Spottedcrow. A 10yr sentence for less than a quarter ounce! Somebody needs to remind the judicial system and all those against it, it’s a plant not a meth lab. Do we endanger our children with tomato plants or worse yet, jalapeno plants?

 

Lately, I agree with the mad hat tea partiers but I’m afraid some don’t know what they’re mad or even scared about. Half the shit I hear them scream and yell about doesn’t affect a guy like me, making under 40 thousand, living paycheck to paycheck ,inclined to drink and smoke excessively, after I’ve worked my ass for 8 or plus hours off that day.

What this thing in life is really about, what we should fight for or be against is the attack on our personal space. It’s the personal space we call our own to do what we want, not harming others. Whether it’s a 1500 square foot house, 10 x 10 closet, or even a mansion in the hills your rights can more than be potentially violated tomorrow, this is not the American way. Imagine your rights taken away for having a six pack in the house, what makes this different than a bong or a pound?

Take Dana Walker for example. A Washington State badass who has made a stand against the state for the equivalent of smoking a cigarette, even after having already served time in a Federal Prison for the same thing, weed. He stood up to the ass-war mongers and said I refuse to pay anymore debt to society. And why should we be paying debts to society for smoking herb.

Our country is run by fear mongering sycophants that would rather run prison systems and make revenue being a police state instead of taxes and licensing. Coming out against drugs does America one the biggest disservices the people – nobody is being rescued, we’re just handed blinders. Kind, non-threatening, people are arrested and penalized everyday from a joint to truckloads with no disregard.

I personally know of a woman who lives in Colorado and smokes pot to help her get by since she has no spleen. Somehow police got involved in her life and they called social services, now her children are taken away for something less harmful than legal shit. Having your children taken away is like living in your own personal prison, it doesn’t get much lower than that. One example of somebody losing their child’s rights that I can document for the record is that of Nicholas Pouch, proving a bitter ex can ruin your present.

When I read reports of kids dying in jails after being pulled over for an out light on their bicycle, I wonder how the other side sleeps at night. How do you call yourself good when bad shit happens because of your freaked out conservative policies?

Humans, people, Americans and everyone else on this planet have a predisposition to get away (mentally and physically). Whether you’re an American Indian on a spiritual journey eating peyote or a distinguish business man of 1839 self prescribing has always been a way of life. News flash Mr. and Mrs. America: We like to get fucked up.

Whether people want to smoke for recreational or medicinal, it should be up to them. The government recently came out and said marijuana has no medicinal value but this contradicts the fact that there have been 8 federal marijuana patients. More and more people smoke to help ease aches and pains, there’s even research showing it helps with cancer. Personally I lost my father to cancer and if I thought smoking some joints with him would give me another day with him, I would. So I think before the government puts on its blinders they should reclass marijuana and give it a chance.

Most of what I write is idealistic hippie crap but its how I feel. Life isn’t complicated for me, I work, I come home, I work at home, and I enjoy my herb – only one of these can put me in jail. Millions of people agree with me to, so I wonder why we’re still here in this position. Of all the things that could put me jail I would rather have it for something I’ve done or am willing to do, rather than for a joint or even a crop but we all take some chance just for a little piece of mind and its those people who are my marijuana heroes.

Can Adam Assenberg’s Story Help Change Federal Medical Marijuana Policy?

By Adam Assenberg

Please let me introduce myself to you,

My Name is Michael ( ADAM ) Assenberg and here is my story,

Even with me not living in your State my STORY will have impact on anyone in any state who needs MEDICAL MARIJUANA.

I used to be a Security Guard for a Company down by Riverside, California back in 1985 and on Jan. 25, 1985 was a day that would change my life forever. I was Guarding a place in Corona, California called the 3-m plant and they had TNT on the site. Well, while on patrol I went and checked the “shack” like I always do on my drives and found a white pick-up by the shack, as I started to drive up to them they spotted me and started driving to the back of the complex where they ran out of road and tried to cross a train bridge in there pickup truck. They started driving half way across and stopped in the middle.

As they acted this way I knew there would be trouble so I took my night stick in one hand and my Mace in the other ready for action if needed. I wanted to get a good look at them so I could give the police the best info, while I talked to them a number 3 man came up from behind and hit me in the middle of my back with a baseball bat, then pushed me backwards off the train bridge 15 feet down into a dry riverbed full of boulders.

I did not black-out when I hit but I acted like they killed me as I knew if I moved they would end what they started. After they left I tried to get up and found that I could not move from my waist down so I crawled up a 45 degree embankment and 2.5 miles on my hands and elbows to get to a phone where I called 911. Next thing I remember is waking in the hospital.

I ended up with breaking nine bones in my spine and crushing my Cervical Process at the base of my neck. It took six months to get some feeling back into my legs and seven years to walk again. Now I suffer INTRACTABLE PAIN 24 hours a day seven days a week. After years of different treatments and medications I have tried everything known to mankind. A friend of mine in 1987 told me about the GREAT benefit he gets from the Medical use of Marijuana, I tried it and the PAIN SPASMS and the blackouts stopped just about over night, When it became legal under STATE LAW under the 10Th Amendment that Doctors are to be allowed to act in anyway that a STATE so deemed fit to have them act, signed my paper under Washington State LAW I-692 and I became legal to use MEDICAL MARIJUANA.

Now, unlike California that has it legal to have ” Clinics ” for people needing Medical Marijuana, Washington state has it to where you need to find it on your own. Or you are allowed under State LAW to grow up to a TWO MONTH SUPPLY. Also it is also written into Washington State LAW that few people know about that it is legal for the police to give out MARIJUANA that they get from grows that are not from medical users to the sick that need it. The ONLY TRICK is they wrote it in the law that they MUST wait for the FEDERAL GUIDELINES for passing it out and that we all know will not come unless we fight for what is right. Reference: WA State Initiative – 692.

Now in 2004 my Mother passed away from Cancer and there was no one Left that was around to worry about me or for me to care about, so in Nov. of 2004 I made up my mind to end the suffering of going through what looks like GRAND MAUL SEIZURES, all RELATED to the level of PAIN I was SUFFERING from. I go through at least a dozen of them a day all related from pain when I don’t use the Medical Marijuana. The way I went about trying to end my life may seem shocking to some but to them I say, ‘you have never suffered the way I do each and every day of every week.

I stabbed myself in the heart four times and one of those times was in front of many police officers. They tried to ‘tazer’ me with three of their guns. The pain I suffer is far greater then anything those can pump into me so, I pulled the wires off of me and took the 4Th plunge, I only had a 20% chance of pulling through, The Doc’s evaluated me and found The ONLY reason I did this is due to pain. Now, without the use of Medical Marijuana, each and every day is a living hell even with the doc’s giving me 500MG of Morphine a day as well as 60MG of endocet a day for pain.

Now here is where my story is going to hit EVERY STATE that has MEDICAL MARIJUANA LAWS.

In March of the following year I was living in Tacoma, Washington and was on the Internet where I met this Wonderful woman and two Children who lived many miles away from me in Anacortes, Washington. She had raised these children since they were babies all by herself.

Then she meets me and we fall in love and the kids just about right away start loving me like I have always been there dad, Well she ends up asking me to move in with her and her two children. TheresaMcCallum the Director of Anacortes Housing Authority gets wind that I have a legal service animal plus I use Medical Marijuana with a doctor’s note under I-692. She asked me about it and I gave her my Doctors Statements. After she has these letters from my doctor she still gives us an eviction for using a controlled substance plus the use of a service animal and she said this exact thing on the eviction letter.

I fought this eviction in Federal Court and Federal Judge Lasnik, with our right to a Jury trial even with the power of what my doctor statement said about my medical need, said that no matter how much a person suffered they could not use marijuana for medical reasons, what about the right to a life or a right not to live in never-ending suffering? The way I suffer amounts to nothing less than torture without the medical use of marijuana. Another item Lasnik overlooked when he tossed out my case, without a Jury Trial, is the right not to live in Torture and without the Federal Government allowing for my Medical use amounts to the Federal Government Torturing me for as long as I live.

With the power of my doctors statement it is very clear that, no matter what our Federal System has to say about MMJ, all levels of the Federal and State Government will not allow the medical use of Marijuana for any reason, no matter how sick or disabled a person is.

My case should be a ‘wake up’ call to all people that our ‘votes’ do not count anymore. When I called the Governor of Washington State and informed them of what was going on, they hid behind the AngelRaich case. Even the Attorney General would not help protect the rights of what was voted into State Law. Judge Myers, out of Mount Vernon ‘STATE’ Court said, in open court, he does not believe in the State Law, even with him being informed of the State laws that Housing was violating by throwing my family out onto the street, said he does not feel I-692 was a good law and was not going to up-hold State Law. At the end of this letter is the case numbers if you wish to look anything up.

Also at the bottom is my phone number and web site should anyone wish to contact me. Considering this is an election year and with it being about throwing out a family over the Medical use of Marijuana with the power of my doctors statement it could kill Medical Marijuana for everyone, Everywhere. As we all know Marijuana is not legal in the United States for use in any way, under Federal Guidelines. This came to be in 1937. Schedule I drugs have the highest abuse potential and have no accepted medical use. Now, if this is the case then why, from 1850 until 1942, was Marijuana prescribed for various conditions including labor pains, nausea, and rheumatism listed in the United States Pharmacopoeia?

Now Marijuana dates back way before that even. Take a look at the Chinese medical compendium, traditionally considered to date from 2737 BC. Marijuana use spread from China to India and then to N. Africa and reached Europe at least as early as AD 500.

Not only has Marijuana been used as Medicine from way back but also as a intoxicant, giving the non-medical user a feeling of euphoria, Marijuana in all this time has never contributed to killing anyone. Can the same be said for drinking alcohol? If we take a look at the reasoning the Government gives for it’s ban on Marijuana, why aren’t Cigarettes, that are full of additives that get you hooked, as well as alcohol, banned by the Federal Government? If you want to argue that the reason the latter two are not banned is because they are not drugs, then look at the listing of chemicals that are used to make Cigarettes.

If you take a good look at the things that Marijuana is helping with today, you need only to look at the States who are helping the sick and disabled right now. Take a good look at California, at Proposition 215, The People of California voted in Medical Marijuana to help the sick in their State. Since the Federal Government did not like what California did they, the Federal Government, have chosen to give many of the sick a quicker death sentence, like they did to McWilliams who choked to death on his own vomit, because the Government did not allow him access to his Medical Marijuana. Now I don’t know about you but, how would YOU like it if the Federal Government gave your Father, Mother or your Child that sentence?

THAT sentence HAS been given to me, by a STATE judge who did NOT OBEY the LAW under I-692 Washington’s Medical Law. PLUS again by a FEDERAL JUDGE who did not allow for a JURY trial with respect as to how powerful my doctors statement was that MEDICAL MARIJUANA WAS the ONLY thing that really worked for me and that I would suffer a great deal more without it’s use.

The ONLY reason Marijuana is still listed as a Schedule I drug today is because Congress is getting ‘Donations’ from pill manufacturers. They and not looking at the facts that Marijuana helps the sick. Congress in DC is no longer for WE THE PEOPLE and the US Department of Justice is hiding behind Congress. The FDA is unwilling to act on behalf of the people. Looks like poli-tricks is the norm in DC.

You don’t have to go far to read about scandals going on in DC. While the folks in DC sit back with their donations, WE THE PEOPLE suffer to the point of wanting to die. All because money was more important to the Government than the lives of WE THE PEOPLE. Money is the ONLY reason that Marijuana is not legal in the United States under Federal Law. In California, Marijuana is listed as Medicine for: Cancer, Anorexia, Aids, Chronic pain, Spasticity, Glaucoma, Arthritis, Migraine or any other illness for which marijuana provides relief.

In Oregon Marijuana is used as medicine for: Cancer, Glaucoma, positive status for Human Immunodeficiency Virus or acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, or treatment for these conditions, Cachexia, Severe pain, Severe nausea and Seizures, including but not limited to seizures caused by Epilepsy, and Persistent muscle spasms, including but not limited to spasms caused by Multiple Sclerosis.

There are 11 states in the United States that have accepted marijuana as medicinal. We are now waiting for the Federal Government to acknowledge that marijuana has medical properties. If you were to look at the Law in Washington State, where I live, it’s used for: Chemotherapy-related nausea and vomiting in cancer patients, AIDS Wasting Syndrome; severe Muscle Spasms, associated with Multiple Sclerosis and other spasticity disorders, Epilepsy, Acute or Chronic Glaucoma and some forms of Intractable Pain.

I suffer from Intractable Pain. Every pain medication that can be used for me has been tried. During a twenty-four hour period, there is not a moment that I don’t suffer. The pain is so intense that it feels like my head wants to rip off my body and by the bottom of my spine it feels like a 500 pound weight is sitting on my back. I feel like this 24 hours a day, 7days a week, etc. So if you look at these few States that I have listed you will see that there is plenty of accepted medical use. ONLY at the Federal Level is it still a crime to use Marijuana.

When have the Members of Congress started becoming doctors? All you need do is look at the money trail. How much have manufacturers in the pharmaceutical industry donated to the Members of Congress?

Look at the congressional corruption going on with Abramoff and the sleazy way the Superior Court in California hid behind the Commerce Clause, stating that the private growing of Medical Marijuana would upset the market on Marijuana sales. Well first off, there are two items wrong with the choice the Court made. The First mistake is that there is NO legal market for the sale of marijuana so how can a market be said to be upset when there is no legal market. Plus the fact that if the person growing it for medical reasons has the grow operation in their own home and it never hits the street, then how is it adding to the market of sales be it legal sales or the black market?

The Second mistake: with all the congressional corruption, how can the Government be trusted to do what is right by the American people when so many people are sick and/or suffering and being mis-led by OUR Government?

Anacortes Housing Authority is trying to hide behind the Gonzalez v. Raich ruling of June 6, 2001 over my use of Medical Marijuana. The Gonzalez v. Raich ruling is about the Oakland Marijuana club and NOT about end users like myself. If our State Government from the Governor’s office on down the line will not protect the laws that WE THE PEOPLE put into effect then at that point we then live in a dictatorship as is VERY clear in this case.

Another item to note, when we were thrown out of our home we had to move across Washington State into Eastern Washington because I am so sick that no shelters were willing to take me in. Since our move to this side of Washington, I have NOT found any doctor that is willing to sign my paperwork. Since I am so willing to stand up for my rights, I am forced to drive to Anacortes to see the one doctor on the other side of WA that signed my paperwork.

Now by state law, with the Medical coupons I have, they are to pay to get me to my doctors appointments. At this point in time, I am having to drive to my doctor appointments on the other side of the state with out help from the state. I am now fighting that battle as well. I think it it is very important to point out that I took this to Federal Court under the right to life, Right not to have to live in Intractable pain and the right for a doctor to act in accordance with State Guidelines. ALL of which Federal Judge Lasnick as well as State Myers turned down.

Another item of interest to readers of ALL Medical Marijuana States, is that because I lost the first round in Both Federal Court and State Court I am getting ready to file a Multi-Billion dollar Class Action Lawsuit for violating what the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled we have a VERY BASIC right to above all other laws and that is a right to LIFE in ANY way that needs to be met for that person to be able to live a basic life.

This has been violated in all lower Courts all with the Court System never allowing me a Jury Trial. I am asking for anyone in Any State that would like to take part on this Class action Suit to give me a call as soon as they can. I file this suit Dec. 1, 2006 and after that I will not allow anyone else in on the suit that I am filing. The ONLY reason for that rule is that I am doing all the paperwork myself without the use of a Lawyer.

Because Washington State, starting from the Governor’s office and on down, has not supported I – 692, and because of the State and Federal Governments not supporting this law, I now have to file in Federal Court the right to end my life due to the Federal and State Government forcing me into a life of Intractable pain and daily torture, without being able to use Medical Marijuana as was guided by my Doctor under article 10 of the United States Constitution. My family also suffers from my disability, (the pain I go through, the spasms, etc) because of the Federal Governments decision.

Case numbers,

1st Federal case # Case No. C05-1836RSL ( Now in the ninth circuit court of appeals )

State Case Number No. 06-2-00999-4

2nd Federal Case # No. CV06-0987 ( Soon to be in the ninth also. )

To get a hold of me by phone please call 509-288-0830 or check out his website: http://www.marijuanafactorfiction.net/

Ten Years After Decriminalization, Drug Abuse Down by Half in Portugal

Drug warriors often contend that drug use would skyrocket if we were to legalize or decriminalize drugs in the United States. Fortunately, we have a real-world example of the actual effects of ending the violent, expensive War on Drugs and replacing it with a system of treatment for problem users and addicts.

Ten years ago, Portugal decriminalized all drugs. One decade after this unprecedented experiment, drug abuse is down by half:

Health experts in Portugal said Friday that Portugal’s decision 10 years ago to decriminalise drug use and treat addicts rather than punishing them is an experiment that has worked.

“There is no doubt that the phenomenon of addiction is in decline in Portugal,” said Joao Goulao, President of the Institute of Drugs and Drugs Addiction, a press conference to mark the 10th anniversary of the law.

The number of addicts considered “problematic” — those who repeatedly use “hard” drugs and intravenous users — had fallen by half since the early 1990s, when the figure was estimated at around 100,000 people, Goulao said.

Other factors had also played their part however, Goulao, a medical doctor added.

“This development can not only be attributed to decriminalisation but to a confluence of treatment and risk reduction policies.”

Many of these innovative treatment procedures would not have emerged if addicts had continued to be arrested and locked up rather than treated by medical experts and psychologists. Currently 40,000 people in Portugal are being treated for drug abuse. This is a far cheaper, far more humane way to tackle the problem. Rather than locking up 100,000 criminals, the Portuguese are working to cure 40,000 patients and fine-tuning a whole new canon of drug treatment knowledge at the same time.

None of this is possible when waging a war.

 

http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2011/07/05/ten-years-after-decriminalization-drug-abuse-down-by-half-in-portugal/

Israeli Politicians Approve Medical Marijuana Guidelines

By Phillip Smith

The Israeli cabinet Sunday gave its approval to medical marijuana guidelines that will govern the supply of marijuana for medical and research purposes. In so doing, it explicitly agreed that marijuana does indeed have medical uses.

“The cabinet today approved arrangements and supervision regarding the supply of cannabis for medical and research uses,” said a statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s spokesman. “This is in recognition that the medical use of cannabis is necessary in certain cases. The Health Ministry will — in coordination with the Israel Police and the Israel Anti-Drug Authority — oversee the foregoing and will also be responsible for supplies from imports and local cultivation.”

The cabinet move comes on the heels of the Health Ministry’s decision last week to deal with supply problems by setting up a unit within the department to grow medical marijuana. That unit will begin operating in January 2012.

The Health Ministry also decided that the country’s medical marijuana supply should be domestically produced. Israeli police had lobbied for medical marijuana to be imported instead, in a bid to reduce diversion.

Israel currently has about 6,000 medical marijuana patients, but the program is so popular that there are estimates that number could rise to 40,000 by 2016. Medical marijuana for existing patients is currently provided by private Israeli growers.

Artilcle From StoptheDrugWar.org – Creative Commons Licensing

Video of the Day: NORML PSA, Do You Know Where Your Police Are?

Presidential Candidate Gary Johnson: End The Drug War Now

Former New Mexico governor and presidential hopeful Gary Johnson has a plan for cutting government spending.

The libertarian-minded Republican’s campaign released a Web ad Friday that declares the war on drugs is a waste of taxpayer dollars. Mr. Johnson has repeatedly called for the legalization of marijuana. Here’s the video:

Legalize Marijuana to Decrease Usage

by Jeremiah Vandermeer - Wednesday, August 3 2011

The latest stats show the number of Americans who use marijuana has gone up since last year. If the government really wanted to reduce marijuana use, they would legalize it.

The AFP reports:

SAMHSA also looked at Americans’ marijuana use and found that numbers using pot in the past month were up for the two years covered by the report: 6.4 percent of Americans aged 12 and older said they had used marijuana in the past month compared to six percent in 2007-2008.

In the 12- to 17-year age group, marijuana use fell, but seven percent of US teens still use cannabis, the report said.
The 10 states that saw the highest use of marijuana were Alaska, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Vermont.

Medical marijuana is legal in all of those states except for Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

Perceptions of the dangers associated with marijuana use were lowest in the 10 states where the drug was used the most, according to the study.

Drug Warriors love to shout in booming voices that if we legalized marijuana, stoners would begin coming out of the woodwork and cause an epidemic of bong-rips and bloodshot eyes. Scientists completely disagree, and say that marijuana law reform does not lead to an increase in usage.

In fact, they say just the opposite. Evidence from countries like Portugal and the Netherlands shows that liberalizing drug laws actually leads to a decrease in usage. Put that in your pipe and smoke it, Drug Warriors.

Don’t believe me? Listen to The Young Turks:

Police Shouldn’t Be Proud of Seizing Bigger Marijuana Crops Every Year

By Scott Morgan

If I didn’t know better, some of this week’s headlines might have me wondering if the American marijuana market is about to come to a crashing halt.

Record Marijuana Bust: $205 Million In Pot Plants Eradicated In Ventura County

Officials from the Venture County Sheriff’s department pulled in a record haul at a massive marijuana bust last week, the department announced today.

According to the official press release, the interoffice effort between a number of local officials and the United States Forest Service (USFS) managed to collect 68,488 marijuana plants at a large growing operation in the Los Padres National Forest just north of the city of Ojai.

The estimated street value for the record breaking bust was $205,464,000. (Huffington Post)

Meanwhile in Mexico, there’s plenty of excitement in the air as well:

Mexico Finds Large Marijuana Farm in Baja California

Mexican soldiers discovered one of the largest marijuana plantations ever found in the country, just 200 miles south of San Diego, Calif., the Mexican Defense Ministry said.

Mexican officials said on Thursday that the plantation, in Baja California, stretched as far as the eye could see—totaling some 120 hectares (296 acres). The crop would yield about 120 metric tons and be worth an estimated $160 million, the Defense Ministry said in a statement. (WSJ)

This is pretty typical stuff as far as celebratory drug prohibition press releases are concerned, but that hardly excuses the epic levels of drug war idiocy on display here. Let’s just think critically for one second and consider how you’d feel if you were tasked with the responsibility of preventing marijuana cultivation, and you just kept discovering ever more mindblowingly enormous marijuana plantations every single year.

It is a sign of progress, yes, but not on the part of the vast drug war armies dedicated to stopping people from growing staggering amounts of marijuana all over the northern hemisphere. The only discernible progress any reasonable person could observe here would have to be credited to those whose mission it is to overwhelm law-enforcement with an ever-intensifying cultivation campaign that promises to make them rich regardless of whatever percentage happens to get hauled off by the cops.

You would never find an oncologist bragging that he’s finding the biggest tumors of his career and calling it a victory in the fight against cancer. Marijuana is hardly cancer, of course, but I wouldn’t bet these pot crusaders are entirely clear on the distinction, which is why I still struggle to comprehend their ongoing and obsessive tendency to boast about something they ought to find perfectly disturbing.

At this pace, we can look forward to the day when marijuana is literally the only thing still growing in our once-majestic wilderness, and as insane as it sounds, I wouldn’t even be surprised to find law enforcement still bragging about their success as marijuana fields wind their way across every hillside from Orange Country to Olympia.

Artilcle From StoptheDrugWar.org – Creative Commons Licensing

http://www.theweedblog.com/police-shouldnt-be-proud-of-seizing-bigger-marijuana-crops-every-year/

 

#AskObama Twitter Town Hall Ignores Flood of Marijuana Legalization Questions

Republicans were not the only ones flooding President Barack Obama with questions during his “#AskObama” Twitter town hall; the event also generated a huge response from those opposed to the war on drugs.

Data gathered by TwitSprout showed the most retweeted question for Obama was about the legalization of marijuana.

“Would you consider legalizing marijuana to increase revenue and save tax dollars by freeing up crowded prisons, court rooms?” was retweeted 4911 times, according to the analytics service.

A question about letting the Bush tax cuts expire came in second place, with only 1800 retweets.

Although marijuana legalization was an overwhelmingly popular question with Twitter users, Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, who moderated the online town hall, focused on questions pertaining to the economy, education and space exploration.

“#AskObama why they will answer Rep. Boehner’s question, but won’t talk about #CannabisJobs! Legalize it, start a new job creating industry,” the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws complained in tweet, which was itself retweeted more than 100 times.

During his YouTube Q&A in January, Obama was asked what his plan was to help alleviate the detrimental effects of America’s drug war.

He responded by saying that while he’s not in favor of legalization, he did see room for adjusting the drug war to focus less on incarceration and enforcement and more on medical treatment and other forms of interdiction.

The position expressed by President Obama was largely unchanged from 2009, when he told a community driven Q&A that he did not believe legalizing marijuana was a good strategy to grow the economy. He did not, however, crack a joke about the question, calling the debate over drug policy “legitimate.”

With prior reporting by Stephen C. Webster

Mexico’s Largest Marijuana Crop Ever Destroyed

Yes this is a marijuana crop in Mexico about 200 miles south of San Diego, California. It looks like some solar energy plant or something. 300-acres full of 120 tonnes marijuana worth up to $160 million. Lenny said he would love to be there when thy burn. I agree 100% with that as well. It was discovered by Mexican soldiers while patrolling the area. Only six men were arrested for this massive grow operation.  The picture below shows the decent size housing area the six men lived in. What a life that would be? Take care of 120 tonnes marijuana plants all day, everyday. Hit the jump for some amazing pictures of the bust. Spotted on MSN’s PhotoBlog.

http://hailmaryjane.com/mexicos-largest-marijuana-crop-ever-destroyed/#more-38821