cannabisnews.com: Illinois Legislature to Vote on Banning MJ Speech
Illinois Legislature to Vote on Banning MJ Speech
Posted by FoM on October 28, 2001 at 17:56:17 PT
Press Release
Source: NORML
Recently HB219 was introduced into the Illinois legislature. It would make it a misdemeanor to transmit any information about cannabis over the Internet, “knowing that the information will be used in furtherance of illegal activity.” This bill is a blatant violation of the 1st amendment protection of freedom of speech and of the press and takes the erosion of our civil liberties in the name of the war on drugs to a new extreme.
Someone in Illinois could seemingly face arrest and prosecution simply for including a link to NORML on their website. Were this bill to be enacted, aside from being a violation of the 1st Amendment, it could conceivably by used by prosecutors to go after doctors who talk to seriously ill patients about the benefits of medicinal marijuana. With increasingly more correspondence conducted electronically between doctors and patients, this law would give law enforcement an excuse to violate doctor - patient privilege. Currently there is no ban on posting information about bombmaking, pedophilia, murder, bestiality or any other socially questionable act. Lawmakers can not in clear conscience make a case that marijuana use is more detrimental to society than any of these acts and therefore speech pertaining to it must be banned. It's time to put to rest the myth that marijuana smoking is a fringe or deviant activity, engaged in by those on the margins of society. In reality, marijuana smoking is extremely common, and marijuana is the recreational drug of choice for millions of hard-working, middle class Americans. HB219 is a violation of both the constitution and common sense. Tell your legislator to oppose this bill.Note: Illinois Residents: Urge your legisltors to oppose HB219 Complete Title: Illinois Legislature to Vote on Banning Marijuana Speech on the InternetDL: http://capwiz.com/norml2/issues/alert/?alertid=8189Newshawk: puff_tuffNORML's News Bulletin Indexhttp://www.norml.org/news/index.shtmlCannabisNews NORML Articleshttp://cannabisnews.com/thcgi/search.pl?K=NORML
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Comment #24 posted by mayan on October 30, 2001 at 00:57:04 PT
WTC Evidence Destruction
Off topic,but here is a very interesting piece regarding what could have been the real motive behind the WTC bombings.
http://www.rense.com/general15/evi.htm
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Comment #23 posted by observer on October 29, 2001 at 23:16:26 PT
Smooth Moves, Brought to You by Your Government
Recently HB219 was introduced into the Illinois legislature. It would make it a misdemeanor to transmit any information about cannabis over the Internet, “knowing that the information will be used in furtherance of illegal activity.”Many people have used this publication, http://www.usdoj.gov/dea/concern/abuse/contents.htmAnd some people decidedly used that DEA site "in furtherance of illegal activity." Now, knowing this to be true, does the DEA commit a crime under this brilliant new law?Biblical scholars tell us that cannabis is an ingredient of the sacred anointing oil. (See http://www.google.com/search?q=kaneh+bosm ; Exodus 30:22-23)Many people have used this publication, http://www.bju.edu/bible/exo/30.html#22 And some people decidedly used that BJU Bible site "in furtherance of illegal activity." Now, knowing this to be true, does the BYU commit a crime under this brilliant new law? Or the author of that "content"?
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Comment #22 posted by observer on October 29, 2001 at 21:41:11 PT
Government Abridging the Freedom of Speech
“knowing that the information will be used in furtherance of illegal activity.” ... This bill is a blatant violation of the 1st amendment protection of freedom of speech and of the press and takes the erosion of our civil liberties in the name of the war on drugs to a new extreme.Yes . . . ''Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.''This is pure political grandstanding, and is unconstitutional on the face of it. Par for the USA's police state course.These rights aren't for Peter Rabbit warm fuzzy nicey speech; they were made to restrain thoroughly upset government officials who "just know" they are doing "the right thing" by "just this once" limiting "irresponsible" talk. "... a lot of people say there's too much freedom. When personal freedom's being abused, you have to move to limit it.
-- Bill Clinton“knowing that the information will be used in furtherance of illegal activity.”This is aimed at chilling dissent --[8.] Anyone Questioning [the 'war' on people who use certain plants] is Bitterly Attacked and Characterized as Part of the Problem That Needs to be Eliminated
http://drugwarpropaganda.selfhost.com/t.cgi?8 In any civilized society, it is every citizen's responsibility to obey just laws. But at the same time, it is every citizen's responsibility to disobey unjust laws.
-- Martin Luther King Jr.
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Comment #21 posted by Mari on October 29, 2001 at 19:35:23 PT
Something REALLY Scary !
Check out the article at : www.NUVO.net, "Homeland Insecurity".
Homeland Insecurity
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Comment #20 posted by The GCW on October 29, 2001 at 18:20:56 PT
ACLU?
How does the ACLU react to this? Is this their interest?
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Comment #19 posted by lookinside on October 29, 2001 at 17:17:39 PT:
jose...
thanks for posting the text of the bill...my experience this morning was kinda spooky...i keep waiting for the online
censorship to start...all of us need to write everyone we know online about the guvminy's idea concerning centralization of the net...i'm beginning to think that these "elected" jerks believe that the country can survive incarcerating 10% of the population...like african americans, cannabis users, political dissidents, free thinkers, anyone who opposes big oil...etc.
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Comment #18 posted by The GCW on October 29, 2001 at 15:59:47 PT
mayan and other Illinois residents...
Illinois constituents would be in a better position to add an extra boost to the verbal input needed to help save the planet.You know that in many ways, that is what we're trying to do here. Save the world from idiots.Thay may well be why it then is a Christian concern, on my behalf. They become one in the same. Saving the world from evil. Christians ask for protection from evil.
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Comment #17 posted by mayan on October 29, 2001 at 15:57:58 PT
Also...
Senator Bowles is going to reintroduce the industrial hemp study bill,which has been vetoed twice by Governor Ryan. Please urge your Representatives to override d*ckhead's veto!
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Comment #16 posted by mayan on October 29, 2001 at 15:48:58 PT
ACTION!!!
The Illinois General Assembly convenes on Wednesday,November 7th. They may try to sneak this through in light of the current media blackout. As a resident of Illinois I consider myself obligated to contact my elected representatives & let them know how I feel about this atrocious bill. I stongly urge everyone else to do the same. When the voice of freedom is silenced,freedom itself is doomed. We cannot let this happen!We will stand up now or lay down later.Save Hemp!
http://www.votehemp.com
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Comment #15 posted by silentone on October 29, 2001 at 15:15:41 PT:
No Way
No Way should any censorship be allowed on the net. Do you realize that it would be the exact same thing as saying certain words on the phone or in a private letter.This cannot be. This is the exact opposite of American belief systems and shows how much propaganda is used against the drug war.This is just too too much.
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Comment #14 posted by kaptinemo on October 29, 2001 at 12:39:32 PT:
Elfman, maybe you better ask Al Gore
He claimed he invented the Internet, remember? :)Every few years some dim-witted hayseed thinks he or she can perform a miraculous feat of political prestidigitation and bamboozle other hayseeds into thinking they've made the Bill of Rights disappear. The problem of course, is that not everyone is as ignorant as these goofballs think we are. Were I a resident of Illinois, these people would have third drgree burns on their ears from all the heat they'd be receiving from phone calls from an irate vet who took his oath of fealty to the Constitution far more seriously than these pinheads evidently do.Might I suggest that those who are residents consider such a vocal means of registering their displeasure?
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Comment #13 posted by greenfox on October 29, 2001 at 11:00:53 PT
Gestappo
Guess what? BUSHY WUSHY is up to his f*cking tricks- again.http://www.cnn.com/2001/US/10/29/rec.airport.security/index.htmlAnd, why would we need checks and ballances? Let's just eo everything that we can. We don't need congress- scrap `em!!!!!!!!!!!!!-gf
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Comment #12 posted by Elfman_420 on October 29, 2001 at 09:22:14 PT
Wow.. the government is pretty up-to-date here..
29 "Access" and "computer" have the meanings
ascribed to
30 them in Section 16D-2 of the Criminal Code of 1961.
So the personal computer of today has what in common with a computer from 1961?
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Comment #11 posted by The GCW on October 29, 2001 at 05:27:48 PT
Lets help this brother and neighbor, before he hur
...before he hurts someone.knowing
13 that the information will be used in furtherance of illegal
14 activity.What if my intention is not to further, but to change?
The worst of the worst, the extent of ignorance is unfathomable. Most of us will not be able to put this level of ignorance into perspective.Very sadly, as a Christian, and on a Christian level, this neighbor and brother is letting down all of his fellow creation. Our approach should be how to help him, all while our natural desire is to ring his neck, including verbally. In many ways, for me, this is a mission to help my neighbor and brother, so he will not stumble so easily. All while I wish to not stumble or create a stumbling hurdle for others.
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Comment #10 posted by JR Bob Dobbs on October 29, 2001 at 05:13:19 PT
I wrote my rep. - because I -COULD-
I wanted to write my Illinois representative and tell him that I opposed this bill... before it became illegal to do so!! I got a form letter in the mail a few weeks later, along with a handwritten note which said that they had tabled the bill and probably wouldn't get around to looking at it again until spring 2002. The bill began its life in January of this year - I'm surprised it's taken this long for NORML to file a press release about it. The only reason I knew about it was because I went to the "write your elected official" area of NORML and found out about it because I live in Illinois. (Which should make all of you run to the NORML website to see if there's anything devious your elected officials are up to which you don't know about yet!) Anyway, if you look at the Bill Status, you'll see it went through a bit of procedural policy, but appears to have been tabled and last heard from on April 6 of this year. Again, I wonder why NORML didn't pick up on it back then - I really don't remember seeing anything about it at the time. And does this NORML announcement mean that they have information that the bill may be coming up for a vote sometime soon? The bill does specify that it's not -all- MJ related info, just any info which was used in the commission of a crime. So, if I watch the 4:20 News on Pot-TV, that should be OK. (Of course, it's all at the whim of the arresting officer.) If I watch the BubbleHash show on Pot-TV, that's questionable. If I go ahead and make BubbleHash, then they can definitely slap me with a violation of HB219. If they enact this legislation, I say we take the fight to our CD burners. Everybody burn a CD-ROM full of cannabis related information and distribute it as widely as you can within Illinois. The bill doesn't say anything about non-Internet means of communications, right?
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Comment #9 posted by Jose Melendez on October 29, 2001 at 05:08:04 PT:
Question: Is unconstitutional illegal?
Here is the complete text of the bill.
from: http://www.legis.state.il.us/legisnet/legisnet92/hbgroups/hb/920HB0219LV.html
92_HB0219
LRB9202520RCcd 1 AN ACT in relation to the transmission of drug
2 information by the Internet. 3 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
4 represented in the General Assembly: 5 Section 5. The Cannabis Control Act is amended by adding
6 Section 5.3 as follows: 7 (720 ILCS 550/5.3 new)
8 Sec. 5.3. Illegal transmission of cannabis information
9 by the Internet.
10 (a) A person commits the offense of illegal transmission
11 of cannabis information by the Internet when he or she
12 transmits information about cannabis by the Internet knowing
13 that the information will be used in furtherance of illegal
14 activity.
15 (b) Illegal transmission of cannabis information by the
16 Internet is a Class A misdemeanor.
17 (c) In this Section:
18 "Internet" means an interactive computer service or
19 system or an information service, system, or access software
20 provider that provides or enables computer access by multiple
21 users to a computer server, and includes, but is not limited
22 to, an information service, system, or access software
23 provider that provides access to a network system commonly
24 known as the Internet, or any comparable system or service
25 and also includes, but is not limited to, a World Wide Web
26 page, newsgroup, message board, mailing list, or chat area on
27 any interactive computer service or system or other online
28 service.
29 "Access" and "computer" have the meanings ascribed to
30 them in Section 16D-2 of the Criminal Code of 1961.
-2- LRB9202520RCcd
1 Section 10. The Illinois Controlled Substances Act is
2 amended by adding Section 407.3 as follows: 3 (720 ILCS 570/407.3 new)
4 Sec. 407.3. Illegal transmission of controlled substance
5 information by the Internet.
6 (a) A person commits the offense of illegal transmission
7 of controlled substance information by the Internet when he
8 or she transmits information about a controlled substance by
9 the Internet knowing that the information will be used in
10 furtherance of illegal activity.
11 (b) Illegal transmission of controlled substance
12 information by the Internet is a Class A misdemeanor.
13 (c) In this Section:
14 "Internet" means an interactive computer service or
15 system or an information service, system, or access software
16 provider that provides or enables computer access by multiple
17 users to a computer server, and includes, but is not limited
18 to, an information service, system, or access software
19 provider that provides access to a network system commonly
20 known as the Internet, or any comparable system or service
21 and also includes, but is not limited to, a World Wide Web
22 page, newsgroup, message board, mailing list, or chat area on
23 any interactive computer service or system or other online
24 service.
25 "Access" and "computer" have the meanings ascribed to
26 them in Section 16D-2 of the Criminal Code of 1961.
House Sponsors: STEPHENS-WAIT-BELLOCK-O'CONNOR, SCHMITZ, JONES,JOHN, DANIELS, KURTZ, KRAUSE, MITCHELL,JERRY, SAVIANO, MYERS,RICHARD, MEYER, MOFFITT, MATHIAS, HULTGREN, BIGGINS AND MULLIGAN.
Short description:
CANNABIS & CONT SUB-INTERNET Synopsis of Bill as introduced:
Amends the Cannabis Control Act. Creates the offense of illegal
transmission of cannabis information by the Internet. Provides that
it is a Class A misdemeanor to transmit information about cannabis by
the Internet knowing that the information will be used in furtherance
of illegal activity. Amends the Illinois Controlled Substances Act.
Creates the offense of illegal transmission of controlled substance
information by the Internet. Provides that it is a Class A
misdemeanor to transmit information by the Internet about a controlled
substance knowing that the information will be used in furtherance of
illegal activity.
FISCAL NOTE (Department of Corrections)
There would be no population or cost impact to the Department.
CORRECTIONAL NOTE (Department of Corrections)
Same as DOC fiscal note.
Last action on Bill: RE-REFERRED TO RULES COMM/RULE 19(A) RULES HRUL Last action date: APR-06-01 Location: House Amendments to Bill: AMENDMENTS ADOPTED: HOUSE - 0 SENATE - 0
Drug War is TREASON
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Comment #8 posted by lookinside on October 29, 2001 at 04:11:58 PT:
4:08AM..
clicked on the lehder's link...got,"Legislative System not available at this time.java.net.ConnectException: Connection refused XX XX"weird
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Comment #7 posted by Lehder on October 29, 2001 at 03:24:57 PT
HB0219
Here it is - sponsors, summary, link to full text.http://www.legis.state.il.us/scripts/imstran.exe?LIBSINCWHB219
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Comment #6 posted by bruce42 on October 28, 2001 at 22:35:20 PT
Right.
Sadly, I can see so many slack jawed sheeple cheering these ogres on. An obvious ploy to deprive people of thier legal right to information. Question: Is this drive toward ignorance A) orchestrated by those in power in order to maintain control B) a fight or flight reaction provoked by recent legislation in other countries C) a sympton of a corrupt western society bent on self destruction D) just a product of pure stupidity?I am really puzzling over this one. Either these guys are really, really stupid or they know something we don't. we can't conceive that such a bill should even exist, and they probably know that, too. Yet here it is. Why? Why? Why? The mind boggles.
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Comment #5 posted by null on October 28, 2001 at 20:48:19 PT
I sound my barbaric yawp...
across the rooftops of the world. This is the sort of legislation that makes me want to scream in people's faces.Bills don't emerge from thin air. I want to find out WHO introduced this bill and make sure that they are ridiculed and marched straight out of office. The next election must be crushinggly against them.The courts will shoot this one down. If not at the State level, it will make it to the U.S. Supreme court. There is NO WAY it can stand up in court. It is too blatantly a violation of the first ammendment.
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Comment #4 posted by Patrick on October 28, 2001 at 19:46:09 PT
Hey Everyone
Me thinks we now know where Grandma lives!
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Comment #3 posted by p4me on October 28, 2001 at 19:22:31 PT:
how sick can you get
I would not think of writing those idiots. How can the press not blast this to pieces? Who do those guys think they are? I have never heard of anything so stupid coming from the government in my whole life and I am 48 years old.The largest Sunday newspaper in Britain commissioned MORI to do a poll resulting with 65% of those surveyed saying Blunkett did not go far enough and want cannabis legalized and sold under license. It is getting massive coverage. MASSIVE. What is going to happen when the story comes out and says the whole world has changed its laws on cannabis and the American public says when did this happen? The whole thing is eventually going to blow up in the prohibitionist face. The war on MJ is stupid and lost and the government agencies keep coming back for larger budgets. I am more than dissapointed in our elected officials. Do they think that MJ is going to stay a Schedule 1 narcotic for a 100 years? Maybe 50? Maybe 10? Why not change it now and be done with it and show there is such a thing as good judgement in government? I am totally appalled that someone did not talk to this idiot before he introduced such a bill. The big book or the big movie is coming. All it takes is a camcorder and a computer to edit with and anyone with determination can make a documentary. There are plenty of medical marijuana patients that would like to have their voice heard and with broadband the internet will be carrying the material even if the large corporate media wants to hide it. Personally I cannot wait until the explosion comes. I say the fuse is burning.Vote against all incumbents all the way down to dog catcher. Out with the old and in with the new.
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Comment #2 posted by The GCW on October 28, 2001 at 19:21:46 PT
Wow.
Just outside Chicago, there's a little place called Illinois. No reality or integrity, just ignoids feeding on ignorance. Nothing personal...
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Comment #1 posted by lookinside on October 28, 2001 at 18:34:55 PT:
insanity...
i think that state needs a referendum making it state law that anyone elected to office in the state of illinois be executed with extreme prejudice upon being elected...seems fair under the circumstances...idiots!
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