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  Pot vs. Pills
Posted by CN Staff on March 12, 2007 at 13:51:47 PT
By Bret Yager, Tribune-Herald Staff Writer 
Source: Hawaii Tribune Herald  

medical Hawaii -- Several pro-marijuana measures have been introduced in the Hawaii Legislature this year with the backing of Big Island lawmakers.

A renewed effort to transfer the medical marijuana program from the Department of Public Safety to the Department of Health received unanimous nods Thursday from the Senate's health and judicial committees. Other proposals would allow medical marijuana users to have more pot and plants, and better protections for doctors who prescribe it to alleviate medical conditions.

Proposals also call for decriminalization of marijuana and for police to focus efforts on more dangerous substances like ice. While other states have moved to legalize marijuana use for medicinal purposes and Hawaii's medical marijuana program is in its seventh year, the federal government maintains there is no legal medical use for marijuana, leaving doctors open to federal charges.

The bills have been referred to public safety, health, judiciary, finance and education committees, but most have not yet been given a hearing.

HB 300 and companion SB 905 -- which appear to have the best chance among the measures after SB 905 passed Senate committees with amendments March 1 -- revive provisions that have been attempted in the Legislature for several years. The legislation to transfer the medical marijuana program from the safety to health department says administration would be more effective and that medical marijuana use should be treated as a health issue rather than simply a legal issue.

Certification for medical use of marijuana would last for two years instead of expiring after one year. The laws would also limit doctors to the role of certifying that a patient has a debilitating condition, and that benefits of using the drug outweigh risks. The provision would help insulate doctors who recommend marijuana from federal prosecution. State Rep. Cindy Evans, D-North Kona, South Kohala, sponsored the house bill.

"SB 905 is the only marijuana bill that's really alive right now; it's the only one that has had a hearing," Evans said.

Groups like the Drug Policy Forum of Hawaii have pushed for years for transferring the program. Evans, who is chairwoman of the Public Safety Committee, said it makes sense to treat medical marijuana as a health and treatment issue rather than a legal issue.

"I've had medical marijuana users from the Big Island feel they're being harassed, that someone is watching over them, when maybe they should be looking out for other things," Evans said.

The Big Island has the lion's share of the state's medical marijuana patients and caregivers.

"I think we're filling up our jails and courts with small drug offenses," Evans added. "We're getting tough on fraud, theft and burglary and maybe these are the things we should be spending our time on."

She noted that SB 905 has both support and opposition, and was hopeful the legislation would move forward.

"This is the one to watch," she said.

However, since doctors decide who gets medical marijuana and Public Safety merely handles the paperwork, it doesn't matter who oversees the program, said Keith Kamita, administrator of Public Safety's Narcotics Enforcement Division. He added that studies show the program shouldn't be moved.

"Groups try this every year," Kamita said. "As the program is written, both departments would do the same thing. The physician makes the decision."

HB 493 would increase the amount of medical marijuana a patient could possess from one ounce to 24 ounces, the number of allowable mature plants from three to six, and the number of immature pot plants from four to 18. State Reps. Dwight Takamine, D-Kohala, Hamakua, Hilo, and Faye Hanohano, D-Puna, Pahoa, Hawaiian Acres, Kalapana, are co-sponsors of the resolution.

Takamine said he signed on to the bill not because he had strong feelings about the amount of marijuana a patient should have, but because the issue is about ensuring access, often to terminal patients who have no other alternative.

"I feel the legislation is well-intended and, with proper safeguards, that medical marijuana can be used in the manner it was intended," Takamine said.

Takamine cautioned that a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling upholds the federal government's right to prosecute marijuana users regardless of the medical marijuana programs that various states have launched.

"Given the posture the feds have been taking, whether states will still be allowed to use marijuana as medicine is a question," he said.

Hawaii's chief federal prosecutor, Ed Kubo, has called for tougher laws to make sure medical marijuana goes only to those who are qualified for it "to make sure the law is not a farce." Kubo would like to see background checks for suppliers and random inspections of grow operations.

HCR 10, co-sponsored by Takamine, Hanohano and Evans, among lawmakers from other islands, calls on Maui County to develop a program for growing, regulating and taxing marijuana for medical use, allowing licensed farmers to grow enough plants for 200 qualified users. Saying that many Maui residents have no other treatment for painful and debilitating diseases, the resolution also asks the county to direct its police department to "make investigation, citation and arrest for private adult medical marijuana offenses the lowest law enforcement priority."

"Allowing farmers to grow the marijuana would actually put it under more control," Evans said. "Rules, regulations and taxation might be the way to go. I think it's worthy of discussion."

Takamine agreed that the resolution is all about starting a discussion and that he had signed onto the bill to that end, not because he had "any strong desire to address conditions on Maui."

HB 1711 and SB 1296 would change possession of less than one ounce of marijuana from a petty misdemeanor to a civil violation, saying the drug is one of the safest psychoactive substances available, and that users shouldn't have a blot on their record that could affect their ability to get college loans, jobs or enter the military. The bills say that 12 others states which have made the same move haven't seen increased use of the drug. The bills would also take marijuana out the "detrimental drug" category as long as it appears in quantities less than an ounce. Violators would pay an unspecified fine.

Roger Christie, founder of the Hilo-based Hawaii Cannabis Ministry and a cannabis minister, said he's thrilled to see respected, veteran lawmakers behind the legislation, calling the support unusual.

"These are great steps, more positive legislation than I have witnessed in 20 years here," said Christie. "Some of the bills have a host of lawmakers who introduced them, people willing to be named and seen as being in support."

Christie said provisions to allow more marijuana possession by qualified users is important because consistent supplies are hard to find.

Other new bills seek to rein in drug use. They would establish programs allowing drug-sniffing dogs in public schools at the request of principals, and random drug testing for teachers and other DOE employees. The moves would help fight drugs where they can do the most harm, and the use of drug-sniffing dogs has been consistently supported as constitutional by the Hawaii Supreme Court, according to HB 1123.

SB 1139 says the call to test teachers has risen in the wake of allegations of two Hawaii middle school teachers smoking pot before class, and a high school teacher allegedly dealing ice last year. The incidents could point to a pattern of drug abuse among school teachers, according to the bill.

And HB 1645 would require counties to adopt policies where a uniformed officer must respond to each report of drug manufacture, distribution and use.

Note: Medical marijuana use is on the rise, and several isle lawmakers are getting behind new bills to show support.

Newshawk: The GCW
Source: Hawaii Tribune Herald (Hilo, HI)
Author: Bret Yager, Tribune-Herald Staff Writer
Published: March 4, 2007
Copyright: 2007 Hawaii Tribune Herald
Contact: letters@hawaiitribune-herald.com
Website: http://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/

Drug Policy Forum of Hawaii
http://www.dpfhi.org/

Hawaii Cannabis Ministry
http://www.thc-ministry.org/

CannabisNews Medical Marijuana Archives
http://cannabisnews.com/news/list/medical.shtml


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Comment #17 posted by josephlacerenza on March 15, 2007 at 17:29:26 PT:

Hawaiian compassion
I am an advicate for medical marijuana. My concern was with the wording in the artical. The statement was, "prescribed by a doctor." My understanding is no doctor can prescribe M.M., but only recommend its use. Is this not the case in Hawwaii? If not, way to go!!!

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #16 posted by dongenero on March 13, 2007 at 12:49:42 PT
konagold
Whew! Awesome testimony!

I don't know how the legislature could do anything but atone for these wrongdoings. It is absolutely ridiculous.....and reckless.

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #15 posted by konagold on March 13, 2007 at 11:21:48 PT:

on topic
Aloha

this article is outdated

I testified on SB905 it has passed from State Senate to Satae House STRIPPED of the provision to move the program to Dept. of Health and adding insult to injury doubles the registration fee from $25 to $50 and makes no change to the amount of plants

Here is the testamony I gave 2-17-07

We are here today to discuss the modification of the law regarding the medical use of Cannabis. I am a patient who has benefited from the current law yet has also suffered and been persecuted under it and in direct disregard of it by law enforcement.

Over three sessions of legislative hearings I testified for the passage of this law recounting my stepsons terminal battle with cancer, how cannabis allowed him to overcome uncontrollable vomiting the result of the intense chemo-therapy and this with 100 fresh stitches in his gut and he being only seven years old, yet he lived to 8and3/4 when he passed in 1981.

I come with a different tale today not of my illnesses or those of my family members who also obtain Cannabis facilitated relief from their documented illnesses rather we seek relief from State sponsored terrorism and persecution by bullies with badges who beat up on sick people.

Did I say STATE SPONSORED TERRORISM??

Yes I did

The photograph I am holding up is of a helicopter operated by the State of Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources

The rain gutter and roof are my home

If anyone of you can not understand that having a helicopter buzz your home repeatedly is TERRIFYING then you are a fool

Further acts of state sponsored terrorism that I have suffered as a victim in this state sponsored civil war on civilians who use pot: March 14, 2006 A DLNR eradication helicopter landed less than 500 feet from our house at 12:02pm after flying over my house and water tanks at less than 500 feet, dangling an herbicide rig which hangs 100 feet below the helicopter. Past incidents have revealed that this herbicide rig has leaked, leaving swaths of dead vegetation through the forest. I felt terrorized having it over my water tanks and roof which acts as catchment for my families drinking water. I complained to the FAA and DLNR; the FAA told me that because it was a government contract that the rules which apply to all civilian aircraft that are designed to protect our public safety DO NOT APPLY. The DLNR told me it would never happen again after I informed them that my home was a registered grow site

July 13, 2006 A DLNR helicopter lands 3 times, 300 or so feet from the house [see attached photos]. One of these photographs which shows our gutter and roof as well as the helicopter less than one hundred feet above our house. It was trailing a weighted rope line through the tree tops and over our house. Ohia trees on the ranch next door are sixty feet and taller, to be trailing a rope which could become entangled in the tree tops is reckless and endangered the families in their houses nearby. September 10th or 11th, 2006 My adult son and I hear a helicopter directly overhead. We observed what appeared to be photographic equipment in a military style helicopter, circling our house. It went over houses at a lower elevation for a very short time then it came back, buzzed my house one more time before leaving. September 15th, 2006 in spite of Hawaii County police regulations requiring a search warrant certify that a grow location is not a registered grow site with the "Narcotic Enforcement Agency" a warrant was issued to search my home a legal grow site; and so nine cops in bulletproof vest in 5 vehicles spent hours driving up a winding narrow coffee road to find that we are in fact legal

this waste of taxpayer resources would have never happened had they simply called Keith Kimita's office as required by said regulation to the telephone number even supplied by these regulations. But then they would not have been able to raid my home and rip off any thing through forfeiture that they could, unfortunately for them we are law abiding.

tho the Hawaii County Police department is currently understaffed by 37 positions that they cant fill, medical pot seems to be deemed so bad that hours of helicopter time and five vehicles, all 4wd, two 'dually' stake bed trucks of two ton capacity and nine cops vested and armed were invested in a wild medical pot chase

if that weren't bad enough a month and three days later my eldest son Nathaniel , 29, who is a registered and legal Cannabis patient, was beaten up knocked unconscious this was reported by the witness who called 911 and to everyone's astonishment the same cop who was the lead officer in the home invasion was heard to instruct officers on the site that the victim of this witnessed and reported assault was to be arrested and his assailants be released, word on the street is that these thugs were snitches and that’s why they were let go

Nathaniel was held for 14 hours without medical treatment even tho he repeatedly asked for help for his horrible headache and repeatedly told them he was a survivor of a class five head injury with a titanium plate and pin in his head from injuries suffered in 1998 he was given no medical care for fourteen hours until a medic told the jailer that his treatment was inhumane

following this , and after six weeks of constant headaches, he experienced two grand mal seizures was ambulanced, hospitalized, cat scanned subsequently flown to Oahu then MRI'ed and EKG' ed and finally TDI'ed for 6 months until he is cleared to drive again, he was told that if he went four years with out a seizure that unless he sustained further head injury he wouldn’t get them.

There is only one real law, the great law of human fairness that we should do to others that which we would want that others do to us.

How would any of you, being a lawfully abiding citizen in the sanctity of your home and castle, how would you like to have nine armed, bulletproof vested cops, storm trooping unnecessarily over your rights of privacy, your medical privacy rights, ones religious freedom and religious privacy rights mockingly asking you how long you have been a hippy the way a Nazi would ask a German ghetto dweller how long they had been a Jew.

The administration of this bill must be moved from the Department of Public Safety Narcotic Enforcement Agency to the Department of Health patients should not be under the jaded administration of the fox watching the hen house. If the so called public servants of the Health department shirk from accepting this assignment MAKE THEM after all you are legislature they are only bureaucrats they work for you and all of you work for us the citizens including the law abiding patients.

No criminal record search should ever be allowed of any patient or caregiver as folks with former records involving cannabis cultivation have the expertise in growing cannabis that many patients do not.

The number of plants should be increased form seven to fourteen as the seasonal variation in harvest times do not allow for an adequate supply to cover the needs of many patients. I am a Macadamia Nut farmer these last 30 years and offer these plant numbers given my attempts to supply and adequate amount these last few years and there is simply not enough plants nor enough of an on hand supply to allow for the lapses between winter and summer solstices.

Mahalo for listening

Aloha

Rev. Dennis Shields

The Religion of Jesus Church

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #14 posted by dongenero on March 13, 2007 at 08:39:51 PT
thanks for the link in #7 - #8
Bill Maher has some really great comments.

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #13 posted by FoM on March 13, 2007 at 06:57:55 PT
Toker00
You don't need to apologize for the important information you post. I hope the march is very successful.

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #12 posted by FoM on March 13, 2007 at 06:55:48 PT
mayan
That's really good to hear. We might not all be interested in the same people who are running for President but we finally have a few good choices. I am looking forward to the Presidential Debates.

PS: I watched a program the other night about Iraq and Ted Koppel was the host. To sum it up the show implied that this will be a very long war and it made me think why? Why can't we say no more killing? Why do we have to allow this war to go on? I don't think we do. Haliburton is moving and I read that it won't effect the 4,000 employees in Houston but I don't believe that is true. How can Haliburton be touched by anyone if they are in Dubai? They know what they are doing.

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #11 posted by mayan on March 13, 2007 at 06:12:21 PT
It's Official!
Ron Paul is running for President of the United States! If you hold The Constitution dear then he is your man...

Texas congressman announces White House bid: http://prisonplanet.com/articles/march2007/120307paul.htm



[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #10 posted by Toker00 on March 13, 2007 at 05:46:48 PT
Sorry, FoM. Only a few days left to rally for peac
e and Impeachment.

This Saturday, March 17, March on the Pentagon for Peace and Impeachment

Make plans now to join hundreds of thousands of veterans, military families, and peace and impeachment activists in a nonviolent march for peace and impeachment, beginning at 12:00 at the Vietnam War Memorial (23rd Street and Constitution Ave. NW) and ending at the Pentagon.

http://www.marchonpentagon.org

At the assembly site, between 8:00 a.m. and 12:30, there will be a pre-march People's Assembly. Contingents and organizations will be providing information displays and literature tables. We will be joined by the famous Bread and Puppet Theater. There will be children's activities, including sign-making for the march, where our children can also pick up anti-war balloons. There will be a large Impeach Bush tent with impeachment materials and a place for impeachment advocates from around the country to gather.

We are encouraging every impeachment organization to register to march with the impeachment contingent, so we can publicize the groups making up the Impeachment Contingent. You can do this by clicking on this link for the contingent form and specifying "Impeachment" for the "Name of contingent." http://tinyurl.com/2jlfyu

______________

Tell the Media About the March - And BE the Media Too

We know the Corporate Media will give the least possible coverage to this march - just as they have done with every previous anti-war and impeachment event. That means it's up to us to break through the media blackout using every possible strategy to tell the American people that the majority of Americans want peace and impeachment, and we're taking to the streets in huge numbers to tell the politicians in Washington!

Call-in shows (radio and TV) are a great opportunity to reach thousands or even millions. Carolyn Kay has an excellent list of progressive shows with times and call-in numbers: http://makethemaccountable.com/index.php/listening

For extra credit, call a rightwing show using media provocateur Mike Stark's list: http://www.callingallwingnuts.com/wingnut-directory/ Be sure to prepare using Mike's tips: http://www.callingallwingnuts.com/calling-tips/ Even more wingnuts shows are listed on the Republican Party website: http://www.gop.com/GetActive/CallTalkRadio.aspx

Progressive blogs have paid far too little attention to peace and impeachment activism, including marches. When you visit your favorite blogs, post a diary or simply comment about the importance of joining with large numbers of activists to take political action in the streets, not just blogging and hoping for change.

C-Span's Washington Journal deserves extra attention. Every day this week, between 7:00 and 10:00 a.m. ET, please phone and express your views about peace, impeachment, and the need to join the march on Saturday. In particular, at 7:30 a.m. on Monday, March 12, please phone and ask the scheduled guest if he will introduce Articles of Impeachment. The guest, Congressman Ron Paul, is the only member of Congress who has said Bush should be impeached. Yet, he has done nothing about it. Invite him to join the march!

Watch the show at http://www.c-span.org

Phone the appropriate number for you: Support Democrats: (202) 737-0002 Support Republicans: (202) 737-0001 Support Independents: (202) 628-0205 Outside U.S.: (202) 628-0184 Email: journal@c-span.org

More ways to be a media activist for impeachment: http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/media

______________

Tell Congress: No More Money for War

This week will be the crucial vote on funding Bush's disastrous Iraq War for the coming year. The vote is called the "Supplemental" because Bush needs $93 billion more than the $363 billion he has already spent on a bloody occupation that could last until Iraq's oil runs out: http://costofwar.com

Please call 202-224-3121 today and ask for your congress member's office. Or find their number at http://www.democrats.com/congress

Ask them to make sure there is a floor vote on Barbara Lee's amendment to the "Supplemental" for a "fully funded withdrawal" - and to vote YES. Lee's amendment would require that all Iraq war funding be spent on a safe withdrawal by the end of this year.

Ask them to commit to voting NO on the Supplemental unless Lee's amendment passes.

Another $93 billion for the Iraq War is not what we elected a Democratic majority to do. The smaller items added to the bill (care for veterans, Katrina victims, farmers, etc.) all can and should be passed separately and cannot justify a vote to fund the war.

More here, including a podcast with Rep. Lee: http://pdamerica.org/articles/news/2007-03-07-17-50-28-news.php

______________

Make Hip Hop Not War

Join the tour for peace and impeachment!

3/17/2007 – March on the Pentagon, Washington, DC 3/19/2007 - Charlottesville, Virginia 3/21/2007 – Manchester, New Hampshire (University of New Hampshire) 3/22/2007 – Boston, Massachusetts 3/24/2007 – New York, New York (Columbia University) 3/27/2007 - Greensboro, North Carolina (North Carolina A&T) 3/29/2007 – Orangeburg, South Carolina (South Carolina State) 4/1/2007 – Atlanta, Georgia (Morehouse and Spellman College) 4/4/2007 – Memphis, Tennessee (University of Memphis) 4/8/2007 – Crawford, Texas (Camp Casey) 4/9/2007 – Phoenix, Arizona (University of Phoenix) 4/10/2007 – Los Angeles, California 4/11/2007 – San Francisco, California (University of California) 4/14/2007 – Des Moines, Iowa (Iowa State University) 4/17/2007 – Chicago, Illinois 4/18/2007 – South Bend, Indiana (University of Notre Dame) 4/20/2007 – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 4/21/2007 – Baltimore, Maryland (Morgan State University) http://www.hiphopcaucus.org

______________

Four Years of War: Events for Peace and Impeachment

The Impeach07 campaign is helping to organize pro-impeachment and peace events all over the country, March 18 - 20, marking the fourth anniversary of the official beginning of the war. Find an event near you or add one to the calendar. And find great resources: speakers, flyers, videos, scripts, creative ideas: http://www.impeach07.org

Toke.

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #9 posted by Toker00 on March 13, 2007 at 05:35:54 PT
OT: March on the Pentagon/Impeach Now!
Impeachment now! A message from Ramsey Clark about the March on the Pentagon

**Please forward this message to your friends, family members, and email address book**

Dear People,

Consider the consequences for the people of the planet, particularly the poor, and for “We the People of the United States” and our Constitution, if our people fail to compel the House of Representatives to do its duty and prosecute impeachment proceedings against President Bush, Vice President Cheney and the principal civil officers of our government responsible for high crimes and misdemeanors most grievous. It is clear that the last best hope for the security, for equal dignity, precious rights and well being of every child, woman and man on earth will be devastated.

Support the March on the Pentagon

I urge you to join the March on the Pentagon on March 17, if at all possible. It can be the turning point to impeachment. I’ve believed for forty years that the October 1967 March on the Pentagon was the turning point to the withdrawal from Vietnam. I felt the power of the desire for peace within the marchers from inside the Pentagon that time. It was palpable and inspiring... We cannot let impeachment fail for lack of funds. We must organize in many key congressional districts, lobby hard on Capitol Hill, lease buses, run newspapers ads, go house to house across the country to the House of Representatives to spread the word IMPEACH. Please give as much as you can now by clicking this link. “This America is only you and me,” as Walt Whitman wrote in "By Blue Ontario’s Shore." We must act.

Let us count the consequences within the immediate future of a failure to act now.

1. As President, George W. Bush will escalate U.S. militarism and aggression. The current war in Iraq (and elsewhere) will become embedded and spread to Iran, Syria, Somalia, Sudan or other nations Bush may attack. The “Surge” to “win” in Iraq is a palpable fraud intended to provide the opening for further and permanent U.S. military occupation intended to reach Iran and Syria and establish U.S. domination of the region. The new “surge” General, David Petraeus, acknowledged in his first press conference on returning to Iraq in February 2007, that, “Any student of history recognizes that there is no military solution to a problem like that in Iraq” while acknowledging that with the U.S. “Surge”, the Iraqi “insurgents” where stepping up their attacks. The U.S. are the real insurgents. Now we see hundreds of Pilgrims killed on their way to Holy Karbala, families destroyed in Sadr City, more blood everywhere. We must hold the Bush Administration accountable now for its crimes, or we will endure with their consequences for years.

A great American, Robert Drinan, once Dean of Boston College Law School and later a Member of the House of Representatives, who died in February, introduced a Bill of Impeachment against Richard Nixon for ordering the bombing of Cambodia in 1973. Cambodia was a neutral nation. This was a murderous crime. Had the Congress acted on that bill, rather than the comparatively minor offense of the Watergate break-in, Presidents after Nixon would have been more cautious about authorizing armed aggression against other nations and George W. Bush might not have dared attack Iraq which posed no threat to the U.S.

2. As President, George W. Bush will escalate U.S. military spending and military force. The radical increase in U.S. military spending by President Bush, which already exceeded that of all other nations combined, following his Shock and Awe assault on Iraq beginning on March 19, 2003 will escalate steadily supporting his further threats, confrontations and war with other nations. The single greatest step toward peace is the reduction of U.S. military expenditures to the level necessary to defend our country. This should be at least a 50% reduction during the next several years with further major reduction thereafter, as international developments permit.

3. As President, George W. Bush will increase U.S. nuclear armaments and missile defense leading to nuclear proliferation, a nuclear arms race, and cold war. Even while Bush threatens Iran and North Korea and warns others that they must not take any action to obtain nuclear weapons, or the ability to make them, President Bush is upgrading U.S. nuclear weapons systems and developing a new generation of nuclear weapons primarily for tactical uses in war or to destroy selected targets in foreign countries. This is a direct violation of U.S. obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty which the U.S. ratified more than a third of a century ago. In addition, the U.S. is developing and installing a Star Wars nuclear missile shield. It is planning to install missiles as a part of this shield in Poland, the Czech Republic and eastern Turkey, all close to the Russian Federation, and is already creating new tension between the U.S. and the Russian Federation tending toward a new cold war. The need is to eliminate all nuclear weapons on earth as intended in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

4. As President, George W. Bush will continue to propagandize his War on Terror, increase the indiscriminate death and destruction it brings further alienating nations and people, creating fear and international tensions that will enable him to violate international laws including the Geneva Conventions and the Constitution of the United States. He will maintain the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and ignore clear international and U.S. Constitutional rights of prisoners there and in secret prisons in other countries. He will continue to authorize torture of prisoners; motivate and cover up violations of the rights of U.S. citizens and foreign nationals using the Patriot Act to obtain confidential information on people illegally, and other vehicles to cause the CIA, F.B.I., military intelligence, U.S. contractors, and surrogate government agencies of other nations to wage war on human rights.

5. As President, George W. Bush will continue to frustrate and prevent the two state solution he claims he seeks in the Middle East Peace process by such acts as punishing Palestine through life threatening economic sanctions for the election of Hamas by the people of Palestine in a fair democratic contest, by further isolating the U.S., paralyzing its ability to function effectively among Arab states and subjecting U.S. citizens to physical danger.

6. As President, George W. Bush will continue to cause, or tolerate serious violations of U.S. law as in the I. Louis Libby case, to cover-up the falsity of U.S. propaganda that Iraq sought to purchase raw materials for Niger to manufacture weapons of mass destruction by having high officials in his office lie under oath even if their acts endanger a covert CIA employee and the projects she has worked on. He will cause and condone the removal of United States Attorneys from office, if they fail to protect political friends of his Administration in violation of law. The U.S. Attorney is the chief prosecutor in his federal judicial district of crimes against the laws of the United States and the lawyer for the U.S. in civil litigation. At least eight U.S. Attorneys have been wrongfully dismissed for political reasons. It is not known how many of the other 84 U.S. Attorneys retained their offices by illegally submitting to political pressure to protect interests of friends of the Bush Administration corrupting the rule of law.

7. As President, George W. Bush will continue to damage the United States by failing to provide competent government services including medical care for the 20,000-30,000 seriously wounded veterans of his Iraq war even at the flagship Walter Reed Hospital, FEMA services in Louisiana and other Gulf States after hurricane Katrina, and through his own travels in Europe, South America, and elsewhere, to nations where the people do not welcome him, where he is met with angry crowds and requires unprecedented protection for his own safety further alienating the U.S. from friendship essential to friendly relations and peace.

The authors of the Constitution were serious about impeachment and intended that the carefully prescribed procedures and principles for impeachment written into the text be faithfully executed. Provisions for impeachment appear in Article I creating the Legislative Branch, Article II creating the Executive Branch and Article III creating the Judicial Branch. No other issue is treated with such detail and care in the Constitution.

Article II, Section 4 mandates: “The President, Vice President, and all civil officers of the United States, shall be removed from office or impeachment for and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors”.

The authors of the Constitution were steeped in English history. It was largely their history. They knew the power of impeachment had liberated England from the tyranny of the King. That history described impeachment as “The chief instrument for the preservation of government” and “the most powerful weapon in the political armory, short of civil war.”

At the very time the Constitution was drafted, impeachment proceedings in England against Warren Hastings, Governor General of India for corruption and abuses against the Indian people were at a critical stage. That trial resonated strongly with their own experience leading to the U.S. war for independence.

We must make the Members of the House of Representatives become as serious and courageous about the power of impeachment as the Founding Fathers were.

I urge you to join the March on the Pentagon on March 17, if at all possible. It can be the turning point to impeachment. I’ve believed for forty years that the October 1967 March on the Pentagon was the turning point to the withdrawal from Vietnam. I felt the power of the desire for peace within the marchers from inside the Pentagon that time. It was palpable and inspiring. The New York Times, reviewing Norman Mailer’s book on the March in 1968, wrote "The Armies of the Night is witness to a victory..." So can this March be. We need you.

The impeachment struggle is expensive. We cannot let impeachment fail for lack of funds. We must organize in many key congressional districts, lobby hard on Capitol Hill, lease buses, run newspapers ads, go house to house across the country to the House of Representatives to spread the word IMPEACH. Please give as much as you can now by clicking this link.

Sincerely,

Ramsey Clark

ps. For more information on the March on the Pentagon, visit http://www.MarchOnPentagon.org/. If you were forwarded this email, you can sign up to get important Impeachment updates by going to ImpeachBush.org.

Toke.

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #8 posted by fight_4_freedom on March 12, 2007 at 22:50:27 PT:

so I was completely off on his actual comment lol
"What do you think about all the coverage the media has given Anna Nicole's death and its legal fall-out?"

MAHER: Horrible. I love you and love CNN but CNN needs CNN 2. When MTV stopped showing music videos which is the original reason people watched MTV, they got MTV 2, OK, here are the videos back.

When something like this happens, it's very hard to find news on a news channel, not just this one. And that is very disturbing.

KING: Why?

MAHER: Because the news division is now a division that has to make a profit. It didn't used to be that way. William S. Paley didn't care if the news division at CBS made a profit. It was any loss leader. That was the point.

KING: CNN can't be a loss leader, it is a news product. CBS wasn't 24 hour news.

MAHER: It is part of a giant corporation which also pays my check.

KING: Right. HBO is owned by the same people who own this.

MAHER: Also I think what was interesting about the Anna Nicole Smith situation, nobody seemed to make a big deal of the facts she died from prescription drugs. Again, this is a big pet peeve with me. Street drugs, you go to jail for, they're awful, they kill you, but marijuana, which is illegal, never killed a single person that I know of. But as long as your name is on that little bottle, it's OK, no matter what you're doing, what you're mixing with other drugs. A lot of people die from prescription drugs. But that's OK because they have a lobby in Washington, the Partnership for Drug-Free America. Which of course does not want a drug free America, they want an America free of the drugs that are their competition, like marijuana.

Because if they had to go up against Prozac, they'd lose.

here's a link to the entire interview....sorry about the miswording

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0703/12/lkl.01.html

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Comment #7 posted by fight_4_freedom on March 12, 2007 at 21:47:13 PT:

bill maher on larry king live......
as soon as I turned it on he was finishing a comment about how pharma companies are scared of natural medicines to become legal, particularly marijuana. This is not word for word cause there were people in the room talking at time.



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Comment #6 posted by The GCW on March 12, 2007 at 21:14:18 PT
List of immoral corporations to avoid.
US NC: Column: Reefer Madness Redux: Above The Influence

http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n307/a02.html?397

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #5 posted by FoM on March 12, 2007 at 19:06:20 PT
For Interested People in Oakland
Join Barack Obama for a Rally at Oakland City Hall Plaza!

When: Saturday March 17 -- Gates open at 3:00 PM

Where: Oakland City Hall Plaza, One Frank Ogawa Plaza, Oakland, California

How: The event is free and open to the public. Please RSVP below to obtain your ticket.

http://my.barackobama.com/page/s/oakland0317

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #4 posted by mayan on March 12, 2007 at 18:25:36 PT
Off Topic
Rudy is now toast as 9/11 will prove to be a liability instead of a medal for him. His icompetence/complicity is reaching the mainstream. Is that why Chuck Hagel and Fred Thompson have suddenly joined the race? John McCain just can't win. The PTB are very afraid.

Firefighters Blast Rudy For Post-9/11 Acts: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/03/09/politics/main2554103.shtml

THE WAY OUT IS THE WAY IN...

Firefighters Urge "Peeling Of Giuliani's 9/11 Onion": http://www.infowars.net/articles/march2007/120307Giuliani_onion.htm

Firefighters Union Blasts Rudy Giuliani: http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/03/11/firefighters-blast-rudy-giuliani/

Newly Unearthed Footage Exposes 9/11 Media Scripting: http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/march2007/120307mediascripting.htm

Former Air Traffic Controller Robin Hordon speaks out on 9/11, NORAD and what should have happened on 9/11: http://www.communitycurrency.org/robin.html

July 7th as Machiavellian State Terror? http://julyseventh.co.uk/july-7-article-david-macgregor-july-7th-as-machiavellian-state-terror.html

What was the "Big explosion from much much lower" on 9/11? (video): http://infowars.net/articles/march2007/110307explosion.htm

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #3 posted by FoM on March 12, 2007 at 18:00:58 PT
UK: Home-Grown Cannabis is a Booming Business
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/crime/article2352789.ece

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #2 posted by FoM on March 12, 2007 at 16:35:47 PT
World Link TV: Once Upon A Town
The program will be on tonight at 11 EDT on Channel 375 on DirecTV for those who might be interested.

Length: 01:00 Type of program: Documentary

1971 some hundred hippies took over a deserted military base in the middle of Copenhagen. They created an alternative society and named it “Christiania – The Freetown”. In 2003, the Danish government decided to “normalize” the area. In Once Upon A Town, the filmmaker obtains unique access to both the police and the Christianites and follows low-key characters in high tension conflicts.

Program Airtimes: http://www.worldlinktv.org/programming/programDescription.php4?timezone=E&code=once

[ Post Comment ]

 
Comment #1 posted by FoM on March 12, 2007 at 15:32:33 PT
News from Israel
Rightist MK Presents Bill Authorizing the Use of Medical Marijuana

***

March 12, 2007

By Zvi Zarhiya, Haaretz Correspondent

A new bill presented to Knesset on Monday would allow for a greater amount of growing, cultivation, and manufacture of marijuana plants for medicinal purposes.

The initiator of the bill, MK Professor Aryeh Eldad of the right-wing National Union party, stipulated that the growth and possession of marijuana which the bill would allow would be performed under the supervision of governmental authorities.

According to Eldad, medical research has shown that the use of cannabis improves the condition of seriously ill patients, and therefore, his bill must be approved.

The bill stipulates that the Justice Minister in collaboration with the Health Minister would determine the conditions under which the use of cannabis would be approved.

In recent months, several other bills dealing with the cultivation and/or use of cannabis for medicinal purposes have been presented to the Knesset, but none have attained approval.

Copyright: 2007 Haaretz

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/836363.html

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