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| Feds Vs. Marijuana Reformers: The Battle Escalates |
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Posted by CN Staff on September 27, 2002 at 07:56:24 PT By Michael Petracca Source: About.com 
Verbal and physical confrontations between the federal government and medical marijuana advocates have been escalating dramatically in the last few weeks.Recently, for example, the DEA and the its chief, Attorney General John Ashcroft, have been raiding about one medical marijuana dispensary or garden a week, despite some state laws (such as those recently passed in California) that allow for the use of medical marijuana. The latest assault came Thursday, when a federal agent served Steve McWilliams, operator of the Shelter From the Storm Collective in San Diego, with a letter notifying him that he faced federal prosecution if he did not shut down his garden. Shelter From the Storm is a small, six-patient collective whose patients include a 73-year-old woman with leukemia and a 70-year-old man with prostate cancer. At around the same time, federal agents raided a Santa Cruz medical marijuana facility, prompting a nationally covered medical marijuana giveaway in Santa Cruz. On Tuesday, Mayor Christopher Krohn, numerous city council members, and more than a thousand supporters attended the marijuana giveaway - limited to certified patients - held at City Hall in protest against DEA "prohibition policies." "Today we're letting the world know how compassionate we can be," said mayor Krohn. "Today we're taking a stand." The DEA's San Francisco spokesman responded: "We're dismayed that the city council and the mayor of Santa Cruz would condone the distribution of marijuana," said Richard Meyer. "I don't know what they're thinking, but they're flaunting federal law. And we here at the DEA take violations of the law seriously." Marijuana law refomers countered by speaking out critically against Meyer's statement. A representative of the Drug Reform Coordination Network (DRCNet), for example, said, "Given some of Meyer's other comments on the medical marijuana issue, it is hard to take him seriously. Last Friday, as demonstrators gathered in front of his San Francisco office, Meyer claimed the agency was only going after 'major dealers.' When asked about the patients at the rally, Meyer said, 'we see them as victims of their traffickers.'" This week, California Governor Gray Davis weighed in on the issue, telling a radio interviewer: "I'm going to work with our Attorney General, Bill Lockyer to see if we can't get on the same page with the federal government. They're entitled to have a different scheme at the federal level, but clearly we ought to find some way to have an accommodation. I mean, both the state and the federal governments work for the same people, the American people. ... I did not support the medical marijuana initiative when it was on the ballot; but as governor, it's my job to enforce the laws that the people pass, and the people passed this law." Meanwhile, newly appointed U.S. Drug czar John Walters has stepped up his offensive against marijuana on the national level. Along with supporting the DEA's efforts to fight against medical marijuana in California, Nevada and other states, Walters recently implemented the following: * He engineered another installment in the Office of National Drug Control Strategy's (ONDCP) series of ads linking marijuana users to terrorism and violence. One ad features teen pot-smoker "Stacey," then shows an image of her dealer, then moves up the chain to the person who supplies the dealer. But the final image is of a bed-ridden woman: "This is Carla, who was hit by a stray bullet from Stacey's supplier and paralyzed for life," the voiceover intones ominously. Walters, who recently had to announce that earlier, similar ONDCP ad campaigns had flopped, said, "These ads are different. We toughened up the behavior not only to look at the harms drugs can do to young people, but using their idealism, their drug buying to things they care about." * Walters introduced a new offensive aimed at curbing teen marijuana use. Walters and Surgeon General Richard Carmona have kicked off this new effort with an "open letter" advertisement that reads, "Did you know marijuana puts kids at risk? It is the most widely used illicit drug among youth today and is more potent than ever. Marijuana use can lead to a host of significant health, social, learning and behavioral problems at a crucial time in a young person's development ... More teens enter treatment for marijuana abuse each year than for all other illicit drugs combined." Carmona and Walters enlisted several national medical, educational, and anti-drug groups to sign onto their letter, including the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the National PTA. * Walters has threatened to disrupt cross-border trade with Canada if marijuana is decriminalized there, as it appears it will be. He called the Canadians "naive" to believe that marijuana has any medical uses. He told a Detroit news conference, "The claim that marijuana is an efficacious medicine is a lie. It is used by people who want to legalize marijuana, cynically," warning that the U.S. will take unspecified additional actions at the border if Canada legalized pot. "We will do what is necessary to protect this country," he said. In response to Walters' statements and actions, drug law reformers reacted critically. "Walters is a rabid dog and chronic pathological liar," said Allen St. Pierre of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. "But the drug reform movement does not have the media access to rebut him line by line, except on the Internet. We can respond in two ways. First, everyone who thinks this campaign is stupid and a waste of money can get on the phone and tell Congress to cut funding," he suggested. "We can also contact the media that are running these ads and threaten to boycott them. We can write letters saying, 'I saw you run this ad and I will not tolerate it and I will boycott your stations and tell your other advertisers that I'm not seeing their ads because I'm not watching your stations,'" St. Pierre suggested. And so the actions and counter-actions, charges and counter-charges continue, with no resolution in sight for the near future. Stay tuned to this About.com channel for updates. Source: About.com Related Articles & Web Sites: DRCNet: http://www.drcnet.org/ WAMM: http://www.wamm.org/ NORML: http://www.norml.org/ Pot Activists Face Federal Hurdle White House Ad Campaign Goes to Pot Drug Czar Blasts Legalization 'Lie' The Thrashing of a Dying Dinosaur's Tail Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help |
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| Comment #14 posted by The GCW on September 28, 2002 at 06:43:42 PT |
| Poll: S.F. Voters Want City to Fight Feds on Medical Marijuana Voters Overwhelmingly Support San Francisco Proposition S http://www.mpp.org/releases/nr091202.html By a nearly 3-1 margin, San Francisco voters support a November ballot measure that asks whether the city should explore growing and distributing medical marijuana for seriously ill patients who qualify under California's medical marijuana law. [ Post Comment ] |
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Comment #13 posted by afterburner on September 27, 2002 at 19:49:32 PT:
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| The problem with decriminalization In order for MMJ patients to get their medicine, someone has to provide it. Since the federal government refuses to let anyone provide it, providing becomes criminalized. So we have decriminals (the patients) obtaining their supply from criminals. If possession is decriminalized, then supply must be decriminalized or the equation is unbalanced. Most advocates of decriminalization advocate continued criminalization, even more severely prosecuted, of providers. They spin the fantasy that sick patients patients can grow their own. Many people are too sick to undertake this complicated task, but even if they can, it's no guarantee that they won't be busted by federal DEA agents. For this reason, among others, more and more people are beginning to believe that only marijuana legalization will solve the problem. If we can only get Congress to take a stand, we can resolve the federal issue, but as the following article points out that is not easy to do. "MEDICAL MARIJUANA My wife has had multiple sclerosis for over 30 years and can no longer move her arms or legs. The painful spasms that she suffers from are best relieved by an oral form of marijuana--butter, brownies or tincture. They are all illegal here in New Jersey. Cheryl is mostly without medical marijuana, and her suffering is increasing. People are always asking me why we don't move to California where state law would allow Cheryl to find the relief that she deserves. My answer was best exemplified by the Drug Enforcement Administration action taken in Santo Cruz, Calif., on Sept. 5. The DEA raided a medical marijuana cooperative and confiscated marijuana plants after holding patients at gunpoint, including a paraplegic in a wheelchair. Eighty percent of the patients being helped there are terminally ill. Forty have died this year so far. The DEA has seen to it that many more will end their lives with needless pain and suffering. Rob Andrews is New Jersey's only congressman who supports states' rights to medical marijuana. Make it an issue this year. Make congressional candidates state their position. Most are afraid to explain a position that is so heartless and unfounded. One day this will be recognized as the national embarrassment that it really is. Jim Miller, Toms River -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MAP posted-by: Josh Pubdate: Fri, 27 Sep 2002 Source: Star-Ledger (NJ) Copyright: 2002 Newark Morning Ledger Co Contact: eletters@starledger.com Website: http://www.nj.com/starledger/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/424 Author: Jim Miller" [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #12 posted by FoM on September 27, 2002 at 14:28:02 PT |
| I've had that happen too. I lost many comments over on the political board when I was posting there and then got an idea. Before I hit post message I drag my mouse over the whole comment and copy it so if it doesn't work it still is there to post. Maybe you do that too but it has saved me a bunch of backtracking. Just an idea. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #11 posted by eco-man on September 27, 2002 at 13:33:58 PT |
| I added 2 of your photo page links to
http://www.angelfire.com/rnb/y/asa.htm#late and
http://santacruz.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=1868 And other pages and email too. I like the new preview feature here, but I still lose messages if I enter the wrong password or name. I hit the wrong button to go back. The browser back button is the wrong button. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #10 posted by FoM on September 27, 2002 at 10:52:01 PT |
| I thought the dude on the roof was a statue but I think it's a real person. I'm going blind I think! [ Post Comment ] |
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Comment #9 posted by afterburner on September 27, 2002 at 10:46:43 PT:
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| Great pictures at the White House. The media and the government can't ignore such a spectacle right in their front yard. Thanks to the courage of Doug McVay and Charles Thomas. Don't they look like future lawmakers for an honest government OF THE PEOPLE? Who's that dude on the roof? Pardon Byron Epis, and don't forget Michael Patriquen from Nova Scotia, Canada. He needs money and legal aid for an appeal. Any givers? [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #8 posted by FoM on September 27, 2002 at 10:34:57 PT |
| I added your picture link to the page! http://www.freedomtoexhale.com/protestpics.htm [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #7 posted by eco-man on September 27, 2002 at 10:11:10 PT |
| I have linked to that excellent photo/article page of yours, FoM. That page helped inspire me to create the Sacramento page. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #6 posted by canaman on September 27, 2002 at 09:15:18 PT |
| Well it's only been 6 months since the SF MMJ club was first raided. Now Davis and Lockyer finally cleaned the $#!T out of there ears! This week, California Governor Gray Davis weighed in on the issue, telling a radio interviewer: "I'm going to work with our Attorney General, Bill Lockyer to see if we can't get on the same page with the federal government . They're entitled to have a different scheme at the federal level, but clearly we ought to find some way to have an accommodation. I mean, both the state and the federal governments work for the same people, the American people. ... I did not support the medical marijuana initiative when it was on the ballot; but as governor, it's my job to enforce the laws that the people pass, and the people passed this law." Good luck getting on the same page as the feds they're reading from a different book and making up the rules as they go! Nice to hear that the Gov and the A.G. realize that they work for the people of California and not some Czar leading some international police force(DEA). Now let's see some action and not just words guys! When the people lead the leaders will follow! [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #5 posted by FoM on September 27, 2002 at 09:11:08 PT |
| You do good work. Keep it up. I made a small picture page on the recent protests but haven't added much to it. I need a few more hours in the day. PS: I love this new preview feature! http://www.freedomtoexhale.com/protestpics.htm [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #4 posted by eco-man on September 27, 2002 at 09:04:29 PT |
| FoM. I noticed 3 pages of my website linked on your What's New page. Don't worry about links to my pages. Use whatever ones you like when you like. The more the better. Because search engines put my pages higher up in search results when more people link to my pages. Most people come to my site through search engines. My site stats tell me exactly from where people are coming. Most people don't even check out the homepage! [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #3 posted by FoM on September 27, 2002 at 08:26:42 PT |
| Last night I was looking at my freedomtoexhale web site to fix dead links etc. and I have your pages on my What's New page but I couldn't find a link to your current links you just posted. Do I need to update your current front page? Here's the link. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #2 posted by legalizeit on September 27, 2002 at 08:26:40 PT |
| They try to sound tough so they scare the kiddies into submission, but Warthog, Assa, Asscroft and all the others are "stepping up campaigns" only because they are desperately trying to keep their well-paid jobs and funding, meekly and willingly provided by the Sheeple. Just a couple of years ago, many DEA crimes against humanity were almost forgotten, but now people are speaking out with increasing strength against the thugs and their "damn the sheeple and their stupid medical studies, we will do whatever it takes to protect the childruun from the devil weed" attitude. I don't know what the DEAth is trying to prove, but their strong-armed tactics are not scaring Californians anymore. And they will definitely not stop the dying from getting the medicine that they know works, despite Walter's numbskulled comments to the contrary. And how do Warthog and his henchmen propose to undermine NAFTA if Canada legalizes? Stopping hempseed is one thing, but if Can./US commerce in general is severely impacted by Warthog's stupid MJ vendetta, eyes are going to be opened around the nation. Nevada is the light at the end of the tunnel. And it is getting brighter all the time! When enough states say "Enough!" to the crap being disseminated from Washington, maybe the Sheeple will realize that their vote DOES make a difference, and if enough sensible politicians get into the House & Senate, Warthog's advertising proposals and other funding requests will come back with a big red stamp... D E N I E D !!!!! [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #1 posted by eco-man on September 27, 2002 at 08:04:42 PT |
| Sept. 23 2002. Sacramento medical cannabis rallies, 29 arrests, civil disobedience. Sacramento is the capital of California. PHOTOS, VIDEOS, articles. State Capitol building rally, and Federal Courthouse rally and civil disobedience.
http://www.angelfire.com/rnb/y/sacramento.htm and
http://corporatism.tripod.com/sacramento.htm and
http://members.fortunecity.com/multi19/sacramento.htm [ Post Comment ] |
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