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Marijuana campaign turns ugly in Massachusetts
Dear friends:
Last week, I sent you MPP's new video about the lies being spread about marijuana by the Drug Free America Foundation (DFAF).
DFAF is now taking its lies into Massachusetts, where a measure to decriminalize small amounts of marijuana is on the ballot this Election Day. Its new radio ad â which you can listen to here â claims that the initiative will âput marijuana, a dangerous and addictive drug, into the hands of our children.â
If you want to fight back against the dishonorable attempts to keep Massachusetts voters from passing a far more sensible law, please give what you can to the campaign today. With just three weeks remaining until Election Day, every dollar you can give will help.Â
Bizarrely, the ad criticizes the campaign for accepting âout-of-stateâ contributions â yet the opposition ad itself is sponsored by the Florida-based Save Our Society from Drugs (SOS). SOS is DFAF's lobbying arm.
Even more disgustingly, DFAF was previously known as Straight Inc., one of the most notorious drug war abominations: It ran a network of âtreatment facilitiesâ that were shut down amid lawsuits and investigations regarding horrifying physical and emotional abuse of the young people in its care.
That's the sort of shady opposition that the campaign is up against in Massachusetts. They're willing to say and do anything to keep the initiative from passing on November 4. Would you please consider donating $10 or more today so that the campaign has the resources to continue fighting back?
Sincerely,
Rob Kampia
Executive Director
Marijuana Policy Project
Washington, D.C.
In The Trenches
Press Release: Reformers Call For New Policy to Protect Forests From Marijuana Farms
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEÂ Â Â
OCTOBER 14, 2008
Reformers Call For New Policy to Protect Forests From Marijuana Farms
New Approach Needed to Curb Environmental Damage, Advocates Say
CONTACT: Bruce Mirken, MPP director of communications ............... 415-668-6403 or 202-215-4205
SAN FRANCISCO -- Recent alarming reports of environmental damage caused by illegal marijuana farms in national forests and wilderness areas in California and elsewhere show that an entirely new approach is needed in order to solve the problem, officials of the Marijuana Policy Project said today.
   "Year after year we hear from law enforcement and U.S. Forest Service officials about growing environmental damage caused by these criminal operations, even as law enforcement seizures of marijuana plants set new records every year," said Bruce Mirken, MPP's California-based director of communications. "What we've been doing is plainly not working and has actually caused the problem in the first place. It's time to get off the treadmill and try a new approach."
   An Oct. 13 Associated Press story quoted Forest Service agent Ron Pugh describing the problem as "a crisis at every level."
   "California is a world-leading producer of two popular psychoactive drugs -- marijuana and wine," Mirken said. "California's wine industry is a huge asset to our state's economy and reputation, generating tax revenue, tourism and prestige, with no meaningful environmental problems. There is no reason marijuana should be different. They're both agricultural products, and there is nothing inherently dangerous about marijuana cultivation. The difference is that wine is legally regulated, while we consign marijuana -- the state's leading cash crop, based on government figures -- to the criminal underground where it is completely unregulated and untaxed, while all the profits go to criminals. In the process, we've effectively invited the violence from the Mexican drug trade over our borders. The problem isn't marijuana, the problem is dumb policy."
   "Last year the number of Americans who have used marijuana reached an all-time record of over 100 million. It's time to stop imagining that we can make this industry go away and time to start bringing it under responsible regulation just like our wine industry."
   With more than 25,000 members and 100,000 e-mail subscribers nationwide, the Marijuana Policy Project is the largest marijuana policy reform organization in the United States. MPP believes that the best way to minimize the harm associated with marijuana is to regulate marijuana in a manner similar to alcohol. For more information, please visit http://MarijuanaPolicy.org.
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In The Trenches
4:20 Drug War News 10/13/08 + DA Debate
Drug Truth Network Update: 4:20 Drug War NEWS from 90.1 FM in Houston and dozens of radio affiliates in the US, Canada and Australis & on the web at www.kpft.org.
We provide the "unvarnished truth about the drug war" to scores of broadcast affiliates in the US, Canada and Australia.
NOTE: On Tuesday, October 14 from noon to 1 PM (CT) DTN's Dean Becker will host a debate between the DA candidates in Houston. (Democrat and former Houston Police Chief Clarence Bradford Vs. Republican and former judge Pat Lykos.) You can tune in live at www.kpft.org or listen later that day at www.drugtruth.net This debate is happening in the Gulag city of the world, moderated by Dean Becker, DTN reporter and speaker for Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. (This program will immediately follow the Century of Lies program as described below, featuring a working judge and a former police chief of Seattle.:)
4:20 Drug War NEWS 10/13/08 to 10/19/08 now online (3:00 ea:) Select online at www.drugtruth.net
Sun - Ryan King, Dir of Sentencing Project discusses voter disenfranchisement & the drug war
Sat - Norm Stamper 2/2
Fri - Former police chief of Seattle, Dr. Norm Stamper, author of "Breaking Rank - A Top Cop's Expose" and speaker for Law Enforcement Against Prohibition
Thu - Susan Boyd, 2/2
Wed - Susan Boyd, author "From Witches to Crack Moms - Women, Drug Law and Politics"
Tue - Fritz Wenzel of Zogby Intl. reports 76% of Americans see drug war as failure
Mon - Terry Nelson of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition reports on Mexican drug gang activity
Next - Century of Lies on Tues, Cutural Baggage on Wed (Now With Transcripts):
- Cultural Baggage 12:30 PM ET, 11:30 AM CT, 10:30 AM MT & 9:30 AM PT: Martine Ehrenclou: author "Critical Condition"
- Century of Lies 12:30 PM ET, 11:30 AM CT, 10:30 AM MT, 9:30 AM PT: Judge James Gray & Norm Stamper Former Police Chief Hundreds of our programs are available online at www.drugtruth.net, and www.audioport.org
Check out our latest videos via www.youtube.com/fdbecker:
Please become part of the solution, visit our website: www.endprohibition.org for links to the best of reform.
"Prohibition is evil." - Reverend Dean Becker, Drug Truth Network Producer
Dean Becker
713-849-6869
www.drugtruth.net
In The Trenches
ACLU Obtained Damage Award Used to Purchase RV Prison Art Gallery
[Courtesy of Prison Art Gallery]
We are pleased to announce that we have purchased a beautiful and well-equipped motorhome RV (see below) with funds that the ACLU obtained for us in a settlement with the City of Washington, DC, following the illegal actions of DC police who tried to prevent us from displaying and selling art by imprisoned artists on the sidewalks of DC. Lawyers working with the ACLU successfully argued that the actions of DC police against us violated DC law and our First Amendment constitutional rights.
We are planning a tour of much of our extensive collection of prison art with the mobile unit this winter throughout the Southern states. Would you or your organization be interested in hosting a prison art show in your city? if so, please write or call us at [email protected] 202-393-1511. Thank you.
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Salvia Divinorum: Ban Bill Filed in Texas Legislature, Another Would Bar Sales to Youth
Texas is the latest state to see an effort to ban salvia divinorum with a bill introduced this week. Another bill would limit its sales to adults, but it's not the one getting attention.
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Drug Cop Admits His Career Was Built Around Lies and Wrongful Convictions
Even if you support arresting people for drugs, do you trust the people who are paid to fight the drug war? Via DrugWarRant, here is but one example of what can happen when police are given too much authority and not enough oversight:
This happened in New Zealand in the 1970âs, and we only found out about it now and only because the officer could no longer contain his guilt. Imagine how many people sit in prison around the world at this very moment because of this kind of viciously dishonest drug war policing. And if you think police arenât taking advantage of the innocent right here, right now, just scroll down an inch or two.
"They called it Doomsday work and instructed me to take this dreadful secret to the grave," O'Brien wrote.
"In every case I lied to the courts and I lied to the juries to obtain convictions against my targets.
"Telling lies was easy - 'policemen don't tell lies' - and my targets never stood a chance." [New Zealand Herald]
This happened in New Zealand in the 1970âs, and we only found out about it now and only because the officer could no longer contain his guilt. Imagine how many people sit in prison around the world at this very moment because of this kind of viciously dishonest drug war policing. And if you think police arenât taking advantage of the innocent right here, right now, just scroll down an inch or two.
Blog
Police Steal Money from Elderly Medical Marijuana Patients
It is not at all uncommon for the war on drugs to target the very last people among us who ought to be treated as criminals:
This is the real war on drugs. Itâs not some magic formula that only screws over bad people. The drug war proliferates injustice everywhere it goes.
For example, the 90-year-old couple, Lester ("Smitty") and Mary Smith--who were raided at their Philo home last week (9.24.08) with law enforcement seizing their life savings and all their plants in the process--are qualified patients with doctors' approvals and did nothing wrong.
Smitty said, "I wasn't worried a bit. I knew it was legal. I planted six plants two years in a row and this year, I planted 17 for me and Mary. That's not too many is it? My wife is very ill, confined to a wheelchair or recliner. She likes the bud tea. She has severe arthritis. It makes it easier for her to get around. She walks easier; she can walk to the bathroom even by herself."
Smitty has health issues too. "I have heart problems, blood clots, stomach cramps, emphysema, bad hips. I've had a heart attack. I sometimes get strong chest pains and can't breathe right. I take nitroglycerine. That brings me back. My doctors want me to take more x-rays here locally but that would be a big expense. Usually, I go to the Veterans Hospital and they pay for it."
Mary Smith was forced to stay in the house by herself during the 5-hour raid while additional warrants for an adjoining parcel were telephoned in and delivered, allowing sheriff's deputies to enter all the residences.
The elderly Smiths were not arrested or charged with a crime, because there was none. Sheriff's deputies were apparently more interested in robbery than arrest (excuse my french). They seized the two things that mattered most to the ill couple--their medicine, all 17 plants, leaving nothing--and their life savings, $52,000 from Mary Smith's inheritance and $29,000 in cashed in CDs.
"As soon as the bail-out hit, I cashed in my CDs and put the money in a safe in my house. I did not sell pot to get it. But turns out my money was not safe. They stormed in here and turned our world upside down. I thought I was legal." [IndyBay]
This is the real war on drugs. Itâs not some magic formula that only screws over bad people. The drug war proliferates injustice everywhere it goes.
Blog
Laser-Guided Missiles Arenât the Answer
I was just chatting with a gentleman outside our office who was interested (as most are) to learn what exactly it is that we work on up here. Iâm not sure he quite understood, however. He told me his silver bullet plan for winning the war on drugs:
Heâd clearly thought about this before, but maybe without working through the details. I replied, "Well, what about all the children that live in and around these farms? These are poor children in 3rd world countries. We should just blow them up?"
He had no response. It had never occurred to him that his plan involved blowing up poor people.
What we gotta do is use all this satellite technology we have know and identify the crops from space an then just blow âem up with laser-guided missiles.
Heâd clearly thought about this before, but maybe without working through the details. I replied, "Well, what about all the children that live in and around these farms? These are poor children in 3rd world countries. We should just blow them up?"
He had no response. It had never occurred to him that his plan involved blowing up poor people.
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