cannabisnews.com: DA's Drug Cartel Remark Angers Initiative Official










  DA's Drug Cartel Remark Angers Initiative Official

Posted by CN Staff on October 07, 2002 at 19:32:32 PT
By Cy Ryan, Sun Capital Bureau 
Source: Las Vegas Sun  

A chief deputy district attorney in Clark County has suggested a drug cartel is behind the effort to legalize possession of up to 3 ounces of marijuana in Nevada.But a spokesman who is pushing approval of the constitutional amendment called the statement of prosecutor Gary Booker "an outright lie, slanderous and libelous." Billy Rogers, spokesman for Nevadans for Responsible Law Enforcement, said Booker "ought to have his mouth washed out with soap."
Booker and more than 15 other witnesses appeared before the state Board of Health Friday to urge its opposition to Question 9 on the November ballot. The board agreed, saying the legalization of marijuana was a "clear and present danger to the public safety and health" of Nevada.The witnesses included a Las Vegas mother whose son is in prison for committing murder while under the influence of marijuana and cocaine, a mother who said her baby almost died from second-hand marijuana smoke and a former user who said he hallucinated on the drug.Rogers, who represents the group that gathered the signatures that put the question on the ballot, was not invited to testify.Board chairman Dr. Joey Villaflor said the legalization would lead to more young children using the drug and would increase traffic accidents and domestic violence cases. He said because of impurities, marijuana would be a 'health hazard" and increase the problems of those who suffered from chronic lung illnesses.Booker, chief of the Clark County district attorney's Vehicular Crimes Unit, suggested the marijuana campaign was tied to people connected with organized crime -- "In a word 'cartel.' "Booker said the proposal "has nothing to do with medical marijuana.""It would put the state in the business of drug peddling," he said, adding that it would cause a "major mess" on the highways with people driving under the influence of marijuana.Rogers, who took offense at Booker's remark about ties to organized crime, said the prosecutor has "a long record of lying" about the proposition.He said Booker gave out false information that marijuana seeds were available from the state Department of Agriculture for those who are in medical need, that Rogers smoked marijuana and that the proposed amendment would abolish all drunken driving laws."This guy (Booker) will say anything to scare people," Rogers said. He suggested Booker's superiors "put a muzzle on him" because he is hurting their cause with lies.The initiative, Rogers said, is about protecting people in their own homes and those under a doctor's care.It would ban smoking of marijuana while driving or driving under the influence of the drug, he said. It would also allow the state to license and regulate the sale of marijuana to adults.So far his campaign has spent $1 million, which includes about $400,000 for gathering signatures on the initiative petition, he said. And he predicted the election would be close.Villaflor said it was a well funded organization to gain passage of Question 9. He urged those who attended the Friday meeting to mobilize friends, neighbors, church members and others in a fight to defeat the issue.Some of the most compelling testimony to the health board came from those who told of witnessing the problems of marijuana firsthand.Roxane Clark Murphy of Las Vegas said her son is in prison for killing someone while under the influence of marijuana and cocaine. She called it an "insidious" drug whose use is increasing.Cindy Ogden told of her estranged husband and his friends smoking marijuana with their 1-year-old baby in the room. She said her child inhaled the second- hand smoke and would not wake up for hours until after hospital treatment."If you want to put a kid to sleep, blow a little marijuana smoke in his face," said Ogden of Las Vegas. "I thought I had lost him. We're not thinking of children in the home."Bill Paskevicius of Las Vegas said he smoked marijuana and "I hallucinated on it." He said he was not a good driver but he would stop at green lights while under the influence.Tom Murtha, director of substance abuse programs at the state prison, said 60 percent to 80 percent of the 10,000 inmates have had drugs problems and most of them tell you it started with marijuana. Even if the drug is legalized, he said there would be a black market for it."A bad situation will only get worse," Murtha said.Assemblywoman Sharron Angle, R-Reno, the only legislator who attended the meeting, said passage of Question 9 "would send a terrible message to our children."Complete Title: DA's Drug Cartel Remark Angers Pot-Initiative OfficialSource: Las Vegas Sun (NV)Author: Cy Ryan, Sun Capital BureauPublished:  October 07, 2002 Copyright: 2002 Las Vegas Sun, Inc.Contact: letters lasvegassun.comWebsite: http://www.lasvegassun.com/Related Articles & Web Sites:NRLEhttp://www.nrle.org/Marijuana Policy Projecthttp://www.mpp.org/Federal Drug Czar Coming To Nevadahttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14378.shtmlCartel Remark Angers Nevada Initiative Advocatehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14375.shtml

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Comment #21 posted by Had Enough on October 08, 2002 at 15:30:48 PT
Windminstrel
In post # 17 malleus pretty much summed it up. The mealy-mouth doesn’t work like it did. Untruths and half-lies are harder to pass off as fact. But they still try. As they try, there are now organized professionals who are serious enough to stand up and put it back in true perspective. WE THE PEOPLE need to support their efforts any way we can. Little bits and pieces will win this fight here and there, and it will be done. VOTE VOTE VOTEDo not forget our friends at http://www.nrle.org They need money, a lot of it and now. Send them anything. Every bit helps.Nevada is taking a big step for man and one gigantic leap for mankind.
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Comment #20 posted by mayan on October 08, 2002 at 13:34:42 PT
Windminstrel...
Have some hope! Now is the time for optimism. Isn't it obvious that the antis are resorting to desperation tactics? We have them in a corner & their lies will not get them out of it this time! Question 9 will pass overwhelmingly! We simply must persist to prevail. This could be the vote that turns the tide! 
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Comment #19 posted by knox42897 on October 08, 2002 at 13:07:47 PT:
I'll take that bet Windstrel
We Nevadans are going to win question 9!
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Comment #18 posted by Windminstrel on October 08, 2002 at 10:38:21 PT
Don't get me wrong
Long-term I know we're going to win. With the advent of the Internet the propagandists lost most of their power. I just think that short-term we'll be losing the battle in Nevada. The war will be ours in the end.My wager is it'll be 5 years before any US state legalizes cannabis for recreational use. Any takers?
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Comment #17 posted by malleus on October 08, 2002 at 08:32:10 PT
A good sign
Whenever prohibs start repeating themselves louder and louder, it means several things. First of all, it means that they are getting desperate. They can't think of any new lies to tell.It also means that because they are getting desperate, they have little time to come up with new lies. The strain is showing. For example, how many times would old John Pee come out to Nevada - or anywhere else, for that matter - if he thought *he didn't have to*. In the past, the prohibs tried to ignore us. They felt if they ignored us with lofty disdain, we'd dry up and blow away. We haven't. Now they have to fight for their positions. Something they haven't had to do before. They could just talk, people would listen and nod their heads, since they didn't hear any other viewpoint besides the prohibs, and the prohibs had everything their way.Not anymore. The prohibs have to stand up and make statements *that will now be challenged publicly*. No more one sided government dictation; their words will haunt them at the press conferences. As that fool Booker's statements (like the one about cannabis seeds being available from the State of Nevada's agricultural department; what a *buffoon*!) are already haunting him.The prohibs are like some boxer who won a title long ago, let himself get fat and flabby while still mouthing off that he's a champ. And we've been like some guy kept on a strict diet and exercise for years. When the two meet for an intellectual battle, the outcome is obvious. This is why the prohibs keep ducking real debates. They get KO'ed every time.
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Comment #16 posted by Sam Adams on October 08, 2002 at 08:19:50 PT
They always do, W-M
They pull out all the stops for every drug-reform referendum. During the 1999 medical marijuana campaign in Maine, the proposal was universally condemned by virtually every branch of the Establishment.All major media outlets, medical associations, law enforcement and prosecutor groups, leaders of both political parties, and the governor urged people to vote "no", and it still passed by a wide margin. Our biggest enemy in NV and in every state is apathy. One thing is for sure: if people between the age of 18-30 voted as much as people over 65, this referendum would pass by 10 or 20 percent.
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Comment #15 posted by whatever on October 08, 2002 at 07:34:49 PT
Windminstrel
People are smarter than you think. I believe this will pass. The WOD are sounding more and more desperate.....like the death throws of a dying animal that doesn't know its already dead.
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Comment #14 posted by Windminstrel on October 08, 2002 at 06:56:43 PT
We're going to lose this one, aren't we?
The propagandists are pulling out all the stops for this vote, and we don't have the resources they do. We're not gonna win, are we?
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Comment #13 posted by DANA on October 08, 2002 at 06:19:01 PT
..What is a "cartel"?
...hmmm...the ONDCP is alot like a cartel.....come to think of it,,the empire is looking alot like a cartel!Cartel n :A combination of independent business enterprises designed to limit competition;syndicate, monopoly...
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Comment #12 posted by fearfull on October 08, 2002 at 06:12:41 PT
Huh?
 "He said because of impurities, marijuana would be a 'health hazard'" yeah impurities like, dihydrogen-monoxide. What do they think , there are marijuana labs that make pot from drain cleaner & gasoline?
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Comment #11 posted by mayan on October 08, 2002 at 05:52:12 PT
Cartels?
You've got to be kidding me!!! Believe me, antis...the cartels are the last ones who want to see Question 9 pass. Their monopoly will dry up. How do you destroy a profitable,underground market? You flood it! Simple economics. Duh! Get a clue. 
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Comment #10 posted by JR Bob Dobbs on October 08, 2002 at 04:27:10 PT
LTE
Sirs,  Dr. Joey Villaflor worries about health risks from impurities in legal marijuana. Doesn't he realize that thousands of Nevadans are already smoking illegal marijuana? Legal marijuana would mean a safer product, much like Seagram's Gin is safer than the bathtub variety.  And claiming that a drug cartel is behind question nine is like saying Al Capone endorsed the 21st Amendment. If people have access to something for a reasonable price, where is the potential for a black market?
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Comment #9 posted by karkulus on October 08, 2002 at 00:38:17 PT
he should have a chart...
 If Billy Rogers doesn't already ,that shows as a bar graph the gov't money spent on anti-pot propaganda v.s. Geo. Soros and the other wealthy guys contributions...It would be like a two foot tall bar next to a 16th of an inch bar!! I'd choke on my own tongue if I tried to lie like those turds.
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Comment #8 posted by knox42897 on October 07, 2002 at 23:39:59 PT:
SETTING AN EXAMPLE
Nevada use to have the toughest laws against marijuana, where 2 seeds constituted a fenoly, punishable by 1 to 5 years in prison. Since last year, we have become one of the most lenient states. Now will legalize 3 oz.'s of marijuana. We are setting an example for the rest of the 49 states in the union. I don't have to tell you how important this is. This isgoing to be a major issue with any other state that attempts this in the future. This is the kind f example we want to set.
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Comment #7 posted by FoM on October 07, 2002 at 22:32:05 PT
A Note Richard
Numbers show up I just checked but not if you use the alexa toolbar and a proxy. I didn't know that. I'll check it out more as long as I feel secure. I'll just uninstall the alexa tool bar.
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Comment #6 posted by p4me on October 07, 2002 at 20:39:32 PT

It defies all reason
Who could think such a stupid thing? Who could say such a stupid thing? Doesn't Gary Booker have a boss or a friend he can run things by before he makes a fool of himself. It looks like a bigger margin of victory than thought possible. I say 60% will vote for Free Cannabis For Everyone.Walters will get us some more votes when he goes to Nevada to lie. I wish someone would show the plane he, Ashcroft, and Hutchinson fly on. I am pretty sure they all fly on a jet like Busch. It may even be the second plane itself. When Air Force One goes somewhere, I think they always have a second identical plane take off for security reasons. One thing is for sure, they all have some great perks and travel in style.There is a little thing at yahoo about trying to roll back the length of time a copyright is valid. It is relevant in that it shows what corporate power has done. Here is the link and one paragraph from yahoo: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20021007/ap_on_hi_te/copyright_challenge_2Lessig claims Congress acted unconstitutionally by extending copyright protection 11 times over the past 40 years. The plaintiffs contend the Constitution grants Congress the right to grant copyright protection for a limited time and that the Founding Fathers intended for copyrights to expire so works could enter the public domain and spark new creative efforts to update them.Drugwar.com has a great commentary on a natural substance in the body that is legal in Europe and quite demonized here. It concerns the date rape drug, also known as GBL. This is one fine example of writing and is an honest and straight foward view that has many characteristics of calling for relegalization of cannabis. This editorial is dated October 3rd and is titled, "THE NAIL ENAMEL REMOVER OF THE GODS." I mean it is one fine example of writing. I have utmost praise for someone that can compose something like this: http://www.drugwar.com/caddenghb.shtmDAD-D,1,2
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Comment #5 posted by canaman on October 07, 2002 at 20:37:15 PT

Here's a "message for our children"
Messenger: "Children hear those people saying bad things about a plant?"Children: "Yes"Messenger: "Those sad people are what we call liars and hypocrits, pray they may see the error of their ways".
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Comment #4 posted by FoM on October 07, 2002 at 20:32:03 PT

Hi Richard
I don't know about you but I can't see the results of the tool bar unless I don't use a proxy I think they are called. It doesn't report the site just the proxy. I don't know what I'm doing anyway. I put google search on a few of my pages over the last few days and I really like it. There news search is getting very good. It wasn't very fast but it is now. Here's a page with the search on it.PS: We here at CNews went over a 100,000 hits in one day. That's a record for us! Everyone was happy. It makes you feel like you must be doing something a little right.http://www.freedomtoexhale.com/medical.htm
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Comment #3 posted by Richard Lake on October 07, 2002 at 20:23:04 PT:

Understanding the Alexa rankings
A while back someone said that Alexa couldn't be right because druginfo.netfirms.com couldn't possibly have a ranking of 700 something.Alexa clearly says in it's documentation that hosting services for individual webpages are not broken out.Thus the ranking for druginfo.netfirms.com brings up exactly the same ranking number as http://www.netfirms.com/ the webpage hosting service.I hate to say RTFM but when it comes to understanding how Alexa works, it does help.http://www.alexa.com/ still seems fairly accurate to me when you understand that it ranks independent stand alone sites by themselves, but provides the hosting service ranking for hosting service member webpages.Richard
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Comment #2 posted by legalizeit on October 07, 2002 at 20:11:55 PT

Y A W N
... the parrots are squawking the same batch of lies over and over and over and over...You'd think they could come up with some new ones by now.I agree... Booker needs to be muzzled... or better yet sent to the pound :) he's been a bad dog for barking too much.
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Comment #1 posted by firedog on October 07, 2002 at 19:39:42 PT

Oh no... not again...
 Assemblywoman Sharron Angle, R-Reno, the only legislator who attended the meeting, said passage of Question 9 "would send a terrible message to our children." Well at least it's not "sending the wrong message" this time!
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